Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, July 10, 1902, Page 6

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: THURSDAY, JULY 10, 1902. THE OMAHA DAILY BEE. E. ROSE WATER, EDITOR PUBLISHED EVERY MURN!NO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. ly Bee (without £unday), One Year.3} (0 iy Bee and Sundag, Une Year Tllustrated Bee, Une Year Bunday Bee, One Year Baturaay Bee, One Year... Twentieth Century Farmer, On cal DELIVERED BY CARRIER Dally Bee (without SBunday), per copy.... Dafly Bee (without Sunday), per week.. Dally Bee (inciuding Sunaay), per week. Bunday Bee, per copy.. Evening Bee (without fl\mdn) Evening Bee (nciuding ow week per week ay), h") Complaints of irregulariti should be addressed to Oy ‘Cirdula don Department. oxrnr.ms aha—The Bee Bui.din th OmanaCity Jaail Bullding, Twen- -nfth and M Streets. Councli Bluffs—lo Pear| Street. Chicago—_iei), Unity Bullding. New York—Temple Court. Washington—b0l Fourteenth Street. CORRESPONDENCE 4 Communications reiating to news an editorial matter shouid be addressed: Omaha Bee, mditorial Department. BUSINESS LETTERS. letters wnd remittances ghould ed: The Mee Pubushing Com- pany, OUmaha. REMITTANCES. = Remit by draft, express or postal order, yable 1o The Bee Pubiishing Company, E‘nly 2-cent stamps accepted in payment y! lll u:ounl ‘ersonal checks, except on tern exchanges, not accepted. P BB PU BLISHING COMPANY. " BTATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. tate of Nebraska, Douglas Count e ol ook, serotatry of The Bee Fublishing Company, being auly sworn, s that the actual number of full an plete copies of The Dally, Morning, ning and Sunday Mee printed during e month of June, 1%2, was as follows: 0 1. 20,460 Eowmuarsnnr BEEE Net dally average. GEO B. TZSCHUCK. Bubscribed in resence and sworn to betore, me this 30th ay of June. A D 1902 al.) b T ENGATE, ’ Noury Public. —en The hearing before the snoreme court of the suit ated by Bd- ward Rosewater and M. F. Har- ton on behalf of the Bee ng company and the peo- of the state to compel the state board of equalization by wwrit of mandamus to reconvene the franchises of the of Nebraska is to close at moom today. The full 0= sraphic report of the testiniony, proceedings and arguments in appearing tomorrow uing from day to d This is a good time for the ralnmakers to take a vacation. E——— The revised list of democratic heroes shows that Admiral Dewey's numo bas \been expunged. ———— ‘When it comes to evading taxes, the community of Interests, between the railroads is all-Inclusive. il The ratio agalnst Tracy, the fugitive Oregon' convict, is steadily becoming more unequal. At last accounts it ‘was 1,000 to 1. Another curfew ordinance has been passed by the city council. What has becom of all of the curfew ordinances mvlum\ly passed? E—— Because every rallroad attorney may 'be a friend of the court, it does not fol- low that every friend of the court must be a rallroad attorney. e ——— ‘When the State Board of Equalization comes to fix the state levy Douglas ‘county should be entitled to the best Fate given to any county in Nebraska. | Mssour! democrats have endorsed the Kansas City platform. As the Kansas Olty platform is a Missouri product, its sponsors would certalnly be In hard lines If Missour! went back on it. S——— Ak-Sar-Bén's motto this year will again be, “Let there be light.” With $2,600 appropriated for the purpose out of the city tréhsury, the carnlval {llumi- mation should excel all former efforts. _——rr—— It looks as it the seeretary of the in- terior were In earnest in ordering down the-illegal fences on thé government do- main. The cattle syndicate that wants to keep out of trouble will conform to the order. e ‘While about it, why should not the school board' make three-year contracts with “the book trust, the coal dealers, the arclitéct, the Janitors and the ice man and. then take a three years' ad- Journment? 5 S According to the weather bureau sum- mary for the entire country, our trouble s not t.hn! we have too much raln, but that It is not properly distributed. A new set of distribution pipes should be ordered at once. e—e— . A great fuss is always made by the banks over thelr assessment for taxa- tion by the county board. But the banks keep mum about the offset they are enjoying by absorbing the interest on deposits of county funds so graclously remittéd to them by the lenient county treasurer. _If this Interest were cred- ited to the taxpayers the tax rate might bc.pn!!-d down another notch, f—br s All that can be done under the new frrigation Jaw this season is to procure thé préliminary surveys which will de- termine the location of the experimental nnrvoln. With this work completed actual construction’ should begin by the opening of next spring, so that when the Fitty-eighth congress meets It will have several object lessons to draw from in case further legislation is needed. THE APPROPRIATIONS. The democratic congressional cam palgn managers will endeavor to make political capital for thelr party by al- léging that the present congress has been extravagant in appropriations. It will not be denfed that the congress has been 1fberal j this respect, but as was sald by Mr. Cannon, chalrman of the house committee on appropriations, the appropriations of the session com- pare favorably with those made at any previous seselon of congress and in thelr every detall they will stand successfully | the test of the most searching examina- tion by fair-minded and intelligent men who belleve in wise, prudent and suffi- clent provision for every proper function of government of our great, growing and progressive country.” It Is nearly Impossible, we suppose every Intelligent man will admit, to avold some expenditures that are not absolutely demanded in the intprest of the public service, or that are not some- what In excess of the requirements of that service. In the muititude of mat- ters to be provided for and with the vast number of Interests asking con- sideration, it would be most remarkable it there did not get into the appropria- tion bills some provisions that are un- necessary and which could be dispensed with without disadvantage or injury to the public service. This is the uni- versal experfence. No European par- liament escapes criticism on this score. In his statement just before the ad- journment of congress, Chairman Can- non said that the total appropriations made, exclusive of that toward the isth- mian canal, aggregated a little over $750,000,000. The chairman of the house committee on appropriations, than whom there has never been In congress a more earnest advocate of economy in public expenditures, said: *“The great in- crease In population and the phenomenal expansion of commercial and industrial interests throughout the country are of themselves sufficient to explain the necessity of this apparent increase.” He went on to point out where appro- priations, in comparison with those of the last session of the previous con- gress, had been decreased or Increased, and we think no fair-minded man can read Mr. Cannon's statement without coming to the conclusion that on the whole the first session of the Fifty- seventh congress, while confessedly lib- eral in the matter of appropriations, was not inordinately extravagant and that_all things considered its record in this particular compares very favorably with that of the last democratic con- gress, which it Is well to remember was a billlon-dollar congress, with much less reason for being so than the present congress had for its large appropria- tions. 1t should be borne in mind that a very considerable portion of the expenditure authorized by the first session of the Fifty-seventh congress will extend over several years. This Is so in regard to the appropriations for rivers and har- bors, public bulldings and an increase of the navy. -All the money appro- priated for these purposes will not come out of the treasury at once. It Is also to be considered that this money will be distributed in the channels of trade and industry, thereby contributing to the general welfare and prosperity. Re- garded from the practical point of view, therefore, the wcmocrats will not be able to make any political capital out of the appropriations at the first session of the present congress, for while re- publicans will not hesitate to admit that perhaps & few are unnecessary or ex- cessive, a whole they are justifiable and'in the public interest. S EXPORTS T0 SOUTH AFRIOA. Already exports from the United States to South Africa are increasing in a marked ratlo, A New York paper states that three allled transportation lines, which have been doing all the bus- iness, are advertising six sailings a month and are dispatching large steam- ers with full cargoes, the trade being 80 good that two other companies have established a joint service, clearing a steamer every two weeks. This new concern got out one steamer with be- tween 3,000 and 4,000 tons of merchan- dise just two weeks after peace wi agreed on., The demand from South Africa 1s maluly for lumber and all bullding materials, and agricultural im- plements. More freight is going at pres- ent to Natal and Algoa bay than to Capetown, the business methods of the Dutch residents of the latter being slow and primitive, while Durban, in Natal, is full of energy and modern methods and consequently is growing rapidly. There I8 every reasou to expect that a large trade will be built up between this country and South Africa within the next few years and it will not be con- fined to the products now In demand. South Africa will want a great deal of American machinery, a large amount of our cotton goods, provisions and other things and there is every reason to ex- pect that the demand for these will grow from year to year. There are 150, 000,000 people in Africa and there will be sharp competition for the trade, par- ticularly on the part of England and Germany, but the United States is in position to secure a liberal share of it and our merchants and manufacturers will not fail to take advantage of their opportunity. , - e———— THE CASE OF THE FRIARS. In the Instructions to Governor Taft regarding the Philippine friars the con- dition was made that all friars of the four orders shall withdraw from the islands within two years from the first payment for their lands. This require- ment was made on the ground that the removal of the friars is necessary to convince the Filipinos that the anclent regime of the Spanish friars is finished and there is no doubt of the expediency of having these people gradually with- draw from the archipelago, since they are very gemerally disliked and dis- trusted by the natives. But it Is a rather embarrassing matter for the vatican. There will probably be no difficulty in reaching a satisfactory arrangement for the purchase and trans fer of the lands of the friars, but the question of getting them out of the country 18 a much more serious one. The vatican authorities are not dis- posed to assume the somewhat grave responsibility of attempting to compel the friars to leave the Philippines and appear to be seeking some compromise plan that will save them from the ap- pearance of voluntarily ordering the de- parture of the friars. Should there be failure to reach such a plan our govern- ment will be called upon to consider whether it shall expel these churchmen from the archipelago and it is easy to see that this would be a rather embar- rassing question. To deport hundreds of these people, on the ground that their presence in the country is objectionable to the natives, would be a proceeding which it is doubtful if the government would adopt, even if it can do so under the law just enacted. Manifestly there }ln presented in the case of the friars an altogether unique situation and one that may prove very embarrassing to the government. CLASSIFICATION OF CITIES. The decision of the supreme court of Ohlo, declaring unconstitutional stat- utes relating to the Incorporation of clitles of a certain clash on the ground that although In general terms they are really speclal laws prohibited by 'the constitation, has prompted the Lincoln Journal to suggest that the same point might be successfully made against our Nebraska statutes providing for the in- corporation and government of citles and towns. It is pointed dut that in this state the classification has been aade so as to make each of the larger cities stand In a class by itself, giving the laws relating to that claes the char- acter of special legislation because they affect no other city. The situations in Ohlo and in Nebraska, however, are entirely different—so dif- ferent that without great stretching the decision of the Ohio supreme court would hardly apply to the Nebraska municipal Incorporation laws. In Ne- braska the limits of classification have not: been overstepped. On the con- trary, the boundaries of the different classes are natural and broad, dividing cities according to population at points where the necessity for more compli- cated governmental machinery appears. In Ohlo the classification theory has been worked o far as to provide that a particular law shall apply only to cities which by the last census had a popula- tion, for example, of not less than 27,600 nor more than 27,720. Such palpable attempts to evade the spirit of the con- stitution requiring all laws relating to the government of citles to be general could not fool anyone, much less the judges of the court when called to pass upon them. But this does not militate against the validity of classification on broad, gen- eral lines, which has been recognized and upheld by courts In nearly every state in the union, including Nebraska. The Ohlo decision need not cause any uneasiness in Nebraska. E—— The campaign for tax reform in Omaha and Douglas county Is ‘only a small part of the fight for equitable taxation. The fight for the assessment of railroad property and franchises on the same basis as other property throughout the state is the same fight over agaln, but on a much bigger scale. Where the fight for a better local as- sessment in Douglas county has added between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 to the grand assessment roll, the fight for a more just assessment of the railroads ghould add from eight to ten times as much to the aggregate of taxable prop- erty in Nebraska. As a result of the campaign for more equitable assessments and a lower tax rate, the city levy has been reduced Zrom 34 to 30 mills and the county levy from 17.2 to 15 mills. The reduction in the city levy would be greater if the school board had reduced its levy for the school fund proportionately to the increase In the grand total of taxable property. The net result is that the tax rate has been reduced materially for each of the local authorities except the school board. It will be up to the school board to make a showing of economy next time or explain the reason why. e Secretary of the Interlor Hitchcock is sald to be ambitious to solve the Indian problem during his term as a cabinet officer, so that his successor may be re- lieved of the Indian as a ward of the nation. In furtherance of this laud- able ambition the secretary is deter- mined that no rights of the Indian be sacrificed and no Indlan left a helpless prey to unscrupulous white freebooters. It Secretary Hitchcock succeeds In his plans he will be almost canonized In the Indian folklore of the future. Our consclentious county attorney wants the courts to come to his rescue with a mandamus to compel the chief of police to furnish evidence agalnst gamblers In Omaha, which he himself and all of his private sleuths have been unable to get in the three years he has been in office. But the county attorney does ndt ask for any court order to compel the police authorities of South Omaha to help him convict Bouth Omaha gamblers. Is he on the square? King Edward is said to be insistent on holding his coronation in August, de- spite the protests of his doctors. In anything that relates to illness the king is a submissive subject to the medical experts, but when It comes to questions of royal ceremony, his sovereign au- thority must be vindicated. The quarterly balance sheet of receipts and expenditures shows that the busi- ness of the postal service is practically self-sustalning. If congress would only shut off the franking privilege on con- gressional garden sass and oratorical narcotics the postal surplus would soon assume tangible form. S——————— Thoughttul Consideration. Philadeiphia Ledger. Happlly for human nerves, the Steel trust and the Standasd -Oil company do not exploit thelr fabulous profits at the Crockery. Chicago Tribune. The trouble with Grover Cleveland is that every time he makes a movement of any kind he knocks down a lot of tragile democratic crockery. Poor Lo Jumps at Work. Minneapolts Journal. Great surprise is expressed because the Indians of the Rosehud reservation in South Dakota went to work when they were offered employment. Can it be pos- sible that the Indian hasn't worked in the past becanse he has had no opportunity? A Bunce Trick. 8t. Louls Globe-Democrat. Congress ought to insist on finding out how it happened, without its knowledge, to_ relieve brokers of $3,000,000 taxes due on bond sales. Such bunco tricks upon congress can never be stopped by neglect- ing to identify the persons who engineer them. Writing History by Law. Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. Loulsiana’s legislature has enacted that no history be allowed in her schools that does not give the credit for the victory at Santiago to Admiral Schley. The Loulsiana legielature may be a judge of history and Schley may be entitled to all the credit for the victory, but the Loulstana legislature is none the less an ass for its attempts to write history by legislative enactments. Business Methods in Postnl Affaire. Indlanapolts Journal. The Postoffice department has just footed up its receipts and expenditures for the first quarter of the year 1902, which ended with March. The receipts for the quarter were $32,400,000 and the expenditures $31,- 500,000. A surplus of $500,000 in any quar- ter of the postal service is a thing unheard of. Moreover, the expenditure was larger than usual because of the establishing of so many free delivery routes. It s estimated in Washington that the deflcit for the full fiscal year will be considerably less than $3,000,000. This is a decided change from a deficit ranging from $7,000,000 to $12,000,000 a year.with a much less diffusive service. Objections to Consolidation. Chicago Tribune. A corporation which controlled the meat industry of the United States and abused its power would awaken competition which would pull it down. But however con- servatively such a corporation might be managed and however reasonable the prices fixed by it might be, the public could not be persuaded the prices were reasonable. It would believe It was being overcharged because the corporation had the power to overcharge it. This 18 one reason why the consolidation of the great packing com- panies will be inexpedient. It will be es- peclally inexpedient if the packers select Mr. Rockefeller as their patron saint. The people will ot take kindly to the sugges- tion that he is to regulate the price of thelr beef, pork and mutton. LAND GRABBING IN ALASKA. Rallroad Corporations Plugging for a Large S| Ban Franciseo Chronicle. Several applications have been made to congress during the session just closed for land subsidies’ by ‘the promoters of rail- roads in Alaska. ‘A half dozen such bills, Introduced in the senate during the earHer part of the session, were referred to the committee on public lands. They were permitted to repose there undisturbed. During the last days of the session another was added to the list, passing through the same course. The bill grants the right-of- way to the Valdes, Copper River & Yukon Rallway company from Port Valdes to Eagle City. The latter place s on the Upper Yukon, near the boundary line, and convenlent to Dawson City. But besides the right of way, which follows the line of the trail surveyed at the expense of the government, the bill grants all alternate sections of the public domain within five miles on each side of the road, or, In the event the odd sections or parts thereof shall have been previously homesteaded or pre-empted within these limits, lieu lands shall be selected within a belt of twenty miles, that fs, of ten miles on either side of the rallroad right-of-way. It is stipulated in the bill, according to the tele- graphic report received from Washington, that the lands granted are to be exclusively non-mineral, but for the purposes of the grant coal and iron are not to be con- was Introduced into the house on April 5 in behalf of the same corporation, the only difference In it being that all unoccupled odd sections within the belt described were applied for, irrespec- tive of the agrlcultural or mineral char- acter. The house made short work, how- ever, of not only this but of all other railroad land subsidy bills before it, the committee on public lands reporting ad- versely on all of them and declaring itself unqualifiedly against reviving the old pelicy of subsidizing railroads. Under cover of a supposed military necessity, congress granted in the sixties an immense area of the public lands to en- courage rairoad construction. The gran- tees were enormously enriched thereby, Subsequently & tion set in, and public sentiment has since been unalterably op- posed to the: pollcy. If any section of the territory under the jurisdiction of the United States is a suitable field for rail- road building, the builder must rely upon the legitimate business he can get out of it for his compensation. That policy is fixed. It raflroad promoters think that public sentiment will be relaxed as to the dis- position of the public domain in Alaska because of its remoteness from civiliza- tion and the central seat of government, they are sadly mistaken. The people have a fair appreciation of the value of the public lands in that territory, where not even the filmsy excuse of a “military necessity” for a railroad can be advanced to persusde the government to part with them with the popular consent. The elimination of mineral land, except coal and iron, from the proposed grant does not alter the conditions. in both coal and iron, and there are doubtless big deposits of both in the belt to be traversed by the Valdes, Copper River & Yukon rallway, or the promoters of the scheme would not exempt them In the claesification. Besides, the. country has learned by experience that the exemp- tion of mineral land in rallroad grants is virtually meaningless in practice, vast areas of the mineralized belts in this state have passed Into the possession of the subsidized raflroads. Furthermore, the timber and agricultural lands of Alaska are far too valuable to be given away. It will not be many years before bona fide sottlers will be seeking these lands In the territory, and the public do- main should not pass into the possession of any onme except actual settlers. When congress convenes again the senate should follow the e; & quietus to Al land subsidy rallroads. Alaska is rich | BITS OF WASHINGTON LIFE. i Scenes and Incldents Sketched on the Spot. Consternation reigns among the feather- bed naval officers quartered in Washington. Being poesessed of soctal or political pulls, or both, they bave for years monopolized the most attractive assignments “on shore duty,” and have had more experiemce in navigating the dizzy soclal whirl than in breasting tho briny billows. Mr. Moody, the new secretary of the navy, inclines to the belfef that the salt sea air would be & great benefit to the eocial pets and proposes glv- ing them a taste, while the latter fear the salty water will epoll their good clothes, but refraln from saying so, themselves with wierd lamentations to their friends. The shortage of officers to man’ the ships rendere necessary the abolition of shore sinecures, apart from the desirability of re- quiring all officers to render the allotted term of sea duty. In an article on “Soclal Life at the White House'! Anne Hollingsworth Wharton writes in the Era Magazine: ““Mr. Roosevelt, in addition to being emi- nently soclal by nature, poseesses the happy faculty of throwing aside the cares of state and entering into the bright talk of the luncheon or dinner table with the spirit and zest of a colleglan, while Mrs. Roosevelt's afternoon teas are as easy and informal as thoee of ahy other Washington lady. “Mr. Roosevelt is usually assisted by the president’s sister, Mrs. Cowles, Miss Alice Roosevelt, who {8 one of the debutantes of the season, and by some of the cabinet ladles. After being received by the hostess at the door of the Blue room and enjoying & few words of conversation with her, if other guests do not claim her attention, the visitor passcs on to the Red room, where the charming hostesses who preside over the small afternoon tea tables draw groups of guests around them to exchange the last Washington gossip or bonmot over a soclable cup of tea.” It has been fully demonstrated that the house can furnish on the shortest notice a splendid vaudeville team, capable of an evening’s entertalnment, reports the Wash- ington Post. On Sunday quite a large delegation of members sailed down the Potomac seventy miles and back again aboard the fine revenue cutter Algonquin. The alr was bracing, the scenery inspir- ing, and the surroundings on the cutter most congenfal. But withal the company sighed for varlety. At that juncture Representative Hamil- ton of Michigan, an orator of no mean abllity, came forward and rendered in en- trancing tenor voice some topical songs. His Interpretation of negro melodies on encores developed a surprise, for Mr. Hamilton appeared as an artist of merit. There were calls for Mr. Kahn of Cali- fornia, formerly a tragedian of note, and he gave some impromptu parodies on Jullus Caesar that brought down the con- gressional audience on Algonquin’s broad deck. There were also Scotch ballads and buck and wing dances, making altogether a rare al fresco performance such me the local theaters probably could not duplicate. On the way down Algonquin approached Sylph, whose passengers included Speaker Henderson, Secretary Moody and Represen- tatives Gillett of Massachusetts, and Met- calf of California. The channel being blocked for Sylph it was forced to pull down its flag, after which some of the congres- sional contingent ralsed a megaphone and ehouted friskil “Dave, what's the ante?"” ““There has been a great deal sald and written about the colossal bronze statue upon the apex of the dome of the capitol,” sald an attache of the force of that build- ing, quoted by the Washington Star, “‘with reference to its facing what is supposed to be the ‘wrong way,’ and other features of this commanding representation of a draped female form, but the statue itself is almost invariably designated by the wrong name and the fringe, or cluster, or bunch of feathers, or whatever else the imagination of different persons may consider its head- never seen satlsfactorily ex- p! “In the first place, the fringe fs not that of the Goddess of Liberty, as it is almost untversally called, but its correct designa- tion 1s that of the Statue of Freedom. This may be a difference without a distinction, | only the first 1s incorrect and the latter is correct. “As originally designated, prior to the clvil war, there was no fringe of feathers on the lady’s head, as this fringe is intended to represcnt eagle's feathers. I understand the true story of this adornment to be as follows: “Jefferson Davis was at the time the statue was cast secretary of war. In com- pany with some of the officlals of the gov- ernment he visited the foundry where the bronze lady was to be cast. He happened to notice & cast of eagles' feathers, and, con- sidering that it would be a good idea to have them adorn the head of the statue, ordered them to be cast therewith and it was_done. “This reminiscence of bygone days calls to mind the long-cherished wish of the venerable senator from Vermont, Mr. Mor- rill, that the bronze lady be trated to an outer covering of polished gold leaf during his lifetime. The times were many when ged senator from the Green Mountaln e arose in the senate, his bent frame and snowy hair making him a personage of interest among his dignified colleagues, and asked that the sum of $5,000 be speclally appropriated for this purpose. In fact, he expressed this wish but a few weeks before bis death and I well remember the occa- slon. His wish was never fulfilled, as the Statuo of Freedom wears today her robe of dusty bronze instead of one of gold 80 much desired by Mr. Morrill and others who shared his views. “The statue faces the right way from an artistic and architectural standpoint. It faces the front of the buflding, if not that portion of the city where the great bulk of the people live. Every day strangers say to me, ‘Why don't they turn 1t around? A reversal of the position of tho statue, would be as incongruous as would be the placing of the elock tower on the Post- office department bullding on the C street side of that structure.” A Tobaceco Generation. New York Tribune. Never since Bir Walter Raleigh enjoyed his first pipe has the warfare of anti-to- bacco crusaders been less effective than it is now. To the man about town the prob- lem of the continued exlstence of so many clgar shops becomes more perplexing every year. In almost every hotel, large or small; in almost every barroom and drugstore, ci- gars are eold. Nevertheless, in the cities nd towns and villages, from Alaska to Pat- | agonla, 1n every zone and every clime, every | shop In which nothing but tobacco tn one form or another is sold, seems to exe out an existence. How can such hosts of shops get a sufficlent number of patrons to keep them going? In this city amazing rentals | for quarters on frequented corners are paid | by the dealers who cater to the tastes of | the devotees of tobacco. The ranks of the chewers and the takers of snuff have been extensively reduced in this generatlon, but the innumerable host of men and boys who seek solace in cigars, cigarettes and pipes, and spend a great deal of money In the worship of the nicotine goddess every year, grows even more rapidly than the percent- age of advance in population. Abeve all other tobacco-smoking eras of the past, this 1s sending clouds of smoke into the alr, contenting | HOW IRRIGATION WILL HELP. Cheek kely to the Mash for Canadian Lands, 8t. Louls Globe-Democrat, Irrigation will atd the country in one particular which fs not commonly kept in mind. At the present moment there is A strong drift of American farmers across the line into Canada. James J. the Great Northern railroad estimates that 162,000 settiers were carried by the north- ern ralfway lines between January 1, 1902 and the beginning of June. As he figures, 67,000 of these have located west of North | Dakota's western boundary—in Montana, 1daho, Washington and Oregon—and 25,000 have gone to Manitoba. The drift across the international bound- ary Jias been under way for a year or two, according to the indications, but it 1s In far larger volume now than at any previous time. The loss of these 25,000 settlers in the firet five months of 1802 is something which ought to attract a little attention from the country. Thess persons evidently suppose that they will have advantages across the line which they can not get on our side. Of course, one of the reasons why th& country has not been able to hold them is that the quantity of cheap and fertile lands ia get- ting smaller with great rapidity. Theoretically, there are many hundreds of millions of acres of government land still to be had in the United States, but most of this is in the arid region, and it can not be utilized in any important de- gree for agricultural purposes except by irrigation. Private enterprise has done much irrigating in the last twenty years, but it can not do much more In that di- rection at the present time. The states would be willing to do this, perhaps, if the government would give them the lands, but even the states could not do it as easily and satisfactorily as could the national government. There are in the arid section of the country, which extends from the 100th meridian onward to the Cascade mountains, somewhere about 60,- 000,000 acres which can be rendered highly productive by irrigation. The act which will start in operation this reclamation of the arid lands will at once go into effect. As a means of holding Americans in Amer- fca it is essential that this law be put into effect as fast and as far as practicable. Let us make our wild lands so attractive that no American farmers will cross the line to locate. PERSONAL NOTES, The suspicion grows that Oregon's illu- sive bandit la none other than P. Crowe. Rubber plants are becoming popular in many households. In most instances they are useful as gemealogical trees. An alligator has been caught in Chicago river. The weary saurian ght that lmpid stream, doubtless, with sulcidal in- tent. Willlam C. Whitney of New York has glven a handsome house and lot to the physiclan who attended Mrs., Whitney in her long {llness. The frequency and persistency of sum- mer showers are without rational explana- tion. No Methodist conference is in ses- slon hereabouts. The number of fingers lost by small boys In celebrating the Fourth was not a marker to the number of “fingers” ac- quired by their fathers in the same pa- triotic employment. Yankee notions continue blazing the path of civilization. Rural free delivery has been established along the shores of Lake Winnipiseogee. The lake is not in the Philippines, but in Massachusetts. Not long ago a New Yorker, well known for his convivial habits, sent a box of candy to a girl uptown and wrote on his card the hackneyed sentence, “Sweets to the sweet.” The next day he recelved a briet acknowledgement which read: “T'anks to the tank." John E. Milholland s trying to get the federal government to purchase for $30,000 the ruins of old Fort Ticonderoga and re- store it to the exact status it bore when Ethan Allen demanded its surrendér. H formerly was editor and proprietor of a Ticonderoga newspaper. A former Virginian who migrated to Aus- tralla twenty-four years ago, is making & visit to this country after his long absence and in conversation with a gentleman In Washington regretfully said: “Though I am a British subject now, I must confess to the superlority of some of the social customs of my native land. For Instance, though mint is grown in Victorla, some- how or other the people have never learned the old Virginia way of making a julep.” James Fergus, a Scotchman of Lewis- town, Mont., called the ‘“ploneer of four states,” died at his western home.a few days ago In his 89th year. He came to America In 1832. He spent some time in Chicago. In 1840 he went on to Iowa and founded the town of Sabula. In 1854 he went to Minnesota and alded in found- ing the town of Little Falls, bullding a dam across the Mississippl at that place. Then he assisted in founding Fergus Falls, In 1862 he joined an expedition to Bannock, Mont., and spent the regt of his days in that s Hill of | | WHITE HOUSE IMPROVEMENTS. Extensive Alterntions Under Way in the Historie Man: Philadelphia Ledger. The most important and most geners ally interesting of the Washiugton im- provements authorized by the present con- | gress is the removation and, to a certaln oxtent the remodeling of the hiatoric White Congress appropriated for this pur- of which $476.445 | House. pose A total of $540,641, | 18 to be expended for “alterations and addl | tions,” decoration and refurnishing for the | White House, and the sum of $65,196 goes for the erection of an office building for the use of the executive clerical force, Work 1s progressing rapidly, already on the White House and office building, and in the meantime the temporary presidential residence is at 22 Jackeon place, which is famillarly known as the “Little White Hous The plans for the renovation of the White House will in the main meet with general approval. At one time during the long dis- cussion about the improvement of the pres- {dential residence it seemed likely that one of the several schemes involving radical change or practical destruction of the build- ing which is closely associated with our history would be adopted, but the compro- mise plan finally agreed upon fetains the old building as it stands today, and makes additions which will probably harmonize with the old structure admirably. The ex- terior wallé are not to be touched at all, nor 18 there to be any marked change of the interior arrangement. The conservatories and greenhouses which adjoin the White House on the west are to be removed and will be replaced by a marble terrace leading to the office bullding at the extreme end, to which entrance for the public hav- ing business there will be from the street, between the War department building and the White House. This alteration de- scribed as in the nature of a restoration, since President Jefferson had his offices where the new office bullding is being erected. From the east side of the White House another marble - terrage, sym- metrical with the first, will run td the road- way between the White House and the Treasury building. By this plan the presi- | dent will have the proper privacy for his | tamily and the addition of the office bulld- ing will offer much needed facilities for the transaction of executive business, while the White House, which s one of the most beautiful of the nation’s bulldings' will re- main essentially unchanged. POINTED REMARKS, Brooklyn Lfe he hasn't much of = fi‘llre. has she but her father has.” has had another ad- Puck: aigion _t* Ryap—0dd oi Philadelphta Cathollc Standard: Mrs. Clubb—1 tell you, this discussion of the l(rvln( irl Emblem is a serious_thing. Mrs, Housekeep—It is, indeed. Youjcan't tell what minyte the servant girl will over- hear you. Ohlo State Journal: Muggsy—How much aia yer bet on de home team? 'W ey—Two cents, ‘Muggsy—Aw, why didn‘t youse bet more? | Why, de home team’s got a cluch! Swipsey—Dat's all right, 1 oniy T'm not goin fer riak al cents an’ me fortun’ Bell-He {8 only e doesn't love her, || Ino' hnndker- ehle( llll nllhl lnd he l her ylck it Bomervl J firth vuh her.. N H 1] g—Mlss Pe o P o vesm Miss D{ .N-y mernly sald your r.ult was your unlimited cred- greatest ‘BragecTndeed? * Miss Sharpe—Yes, she sald you belleved in yourself without. sufficlent reason. New York Tim Abraham Gruber sald to & Triend the other day: -1 aiways like me museums. fi‘m his frien “‘Because, "’ Mr. Gruber, “whenever I'm there I'm . mullntly impressed with the fact that this is a freak country.” HIS FORTE, New York Times. In early life ‘twas thought of course he'd be the dent. He was ently fitted, but, instead of him, The people gave to baser men the reins of vernment, 'was a shame to see how others got ahead of him. He _tried eommmmum, but somehow it wouldn't He found 1&%illeq with intrigue ana du- i) He 'swore that corporations smacked of re- sions down below ARE that financiers were wary of pub- it Y. It seemed a moral certainty that literature and ‘Were x’fldl in_which he'd shine and wi ‘would bring to him Tlut':u :: nen'lltlon that he craved, but crlt.\u “didn't do & thing it wuv would_appear that from s la- Hh coumry “lfl regard him as a credi- *"Veritas" he' 0 writes the “Letters to struck Here’s a Chance And a fine one for those looking for “something for nothing” or there-about. ‘We place on sale Friday —for one day ONLY—75 dozen Madras Negligee Shirts in several patterns and all gizes from 14 to 18—these are exceptional values and at_this special price of 55 cents each ought to interest eyeryone. Our Douglas street window is filled with the different patterns. Make your selection and buy Friday—POSITIVELY limit to quantity. for: that day only—no N. B.—~This is No. 1 of a series of bargains we will offer Fridavs of ssch week hereafte Ryrowning- King 5@ Exclusive Clothiers and Furnishers, R. 8. Wilcox, Manager. ot 3 *