Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, July 30, 1902, Page 6

| \'THE OMAHA DALY BEE p— E. ROSEWATER, EDITOR PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. r— TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. ily Bee (without §anda; ily Bee and Sundag, On ustrated Bee, Onv Bee, One Year. DELIVERED BY CARRIER E:ly Bee (without Sunday), per copy. ly Bee (without Sunday), per week. ily Bee (nejuding Sunday), per week..lic unday Bee, per COpy...................... B vening Bee (without Sunday), per week .10y "nl:l Bee (including Sunuay), Pper weel egular ery ed to vity Clrculation + Complaints of ould be addre: partment. OFFICES. Omaha~The Bee Buliding. Bouth Omaha—City Hail Bullding, Twen- ty-fifth and M BStreets. uncil Bluits—10 Pear] Street. icago—1040 Unity Bullding. Jew York—Temple Court ‘ashington—501 Fourteenth Street. CORRESPONDENCE. | Communications relating to news itorial matter should be addre maba Bee, Maitorial Department. BUSINESS LETTERS. Business letters and remittan addressed: The Hee Pubishi y, Omaha. REMITTANCES. & t by draft, express or postal order, able lo’ The Bee Publishing Company. 2-cent stamps accepted in payment of accounts, Fersonal checks, except on or eastern exchanges, no L THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANTY. ot i} tupreesstetiniihn i AR \ BTATEMENT OF CIRCULATION. te bras| Cot 3 Bae,ot Rk, Doseler Ot N, i Company, being auly that the actual number oi full plete coples of The Dally, Morning, ening and Sunday Bee printed a month of June, i%2, was as follows: Pess unsold and returned coples. Net tothl sales. Net dafly average. 3 GEO. B. TZ8CHUCK. N L T lay of June, A. D. (Beal.) %.°B. HONGATH Notary Publie. Down in New Jersey is evidently the place where the need of primary re- Yorm cries loudest. —— Now that the deficiency In rainfall has about been overcome, we will start in Inaking up on the deficiency in tempera- ture. Y ‘Whether the fistic flasco at 'Frisco was & fake or not it has been given alto- gether more attention in the public prints than it deserves. Isn't it about time for the sham re- formers to import Joslah Flynt once fmote to tell us again that Omaha is the Iwickedest city in the world? If our consclentious county attorney nd his mountebank deputy were on the Bquare they would prosecute the gam- blers in the courts instead of in the hewspapers. T— | No danger of the Union Pacific im- porting mechanics from abroad. It takes tralned American mechanics to operate the complicated machinery of modern WAmerican rallway repair shops. CaEEE— | 1t Congressman Mercer were gifted as B mind reader he would know by this kime that a very large majority of the people of the Second congressional dis- itrict think that he has had enough. Sm————— ‘To secure a revision of our charter pro- wislons relating to paving and other improvements will be one of the portant duties devolving on the Doug- las delegation to the coming legislature. =—————————y Another expert declares that an all- mail route from Paris to New York via ghe Bering sea is perfectly feasible. But (we may have an all-air route in opera tlon before the allrall route mate- wlalizes. # gttty Tt is noticeable that Spain manifests no disposition to mix into the friar mat- ter in the Phillppines, although most of the objectionable friars are Spanish. Spain has had all the trouble it wants fwith the United States. —_———— Congressman Mercer is said to be in & brown study over the tantalizing ques- ftions that were propounded in the de- /bate over his candidacy for a perpetual seat In congress which Mr. Gurley, who s not a mind reader, found himself un- @ble o answer. | ———— } It would have been extraordinary it 1Nohrukn did npot experience a few #hocks while so many volcanoes are mrtomln' around the edge of the con- {Binent. - Nebraska always gets every- thing that comes this way, from cloud- bursts to smallpox. e ———— __J Director of the Mint Roberts is re- puted to have written the platform resolutions of Iowa republicans for years in succession and that no devia- tion from precedent be committed, the resolutions committee this year will surely avall itself of his services. —_——e———— Bomething surely should be done for Rbat nine-month Iufant that is distress- fog the neighborhood by eating meat. (With the price of beef at present high twater mark the example is likely to be mitogether too expensive should it be emulated by the other children-in-arms in the vicimity. E— Complaint is entered down east that the lobster has been following the cow . that jumped over the moon so that lob- ster cutlets, even in the home of the animal oo the New England coast, com- mand higher prices than slivers off a side of beef. ‘The western farmer who thought he was getting the edge on the meat packer by collecting top-notch fig- ures on marketed live stock should istart at once to raising lobsters. TAXATION IN RAMILTON COUNTV. Bulletin No. 80, issued under authority of the railroads of Nebraska, is devoted to an exhibit of comparative taxation In Hamllton county. That county has been singled out by the raliroad tax bureau to show the great wealth of Hamilton county and the small amount of prop- erty returned for taxation, with the variations in value between the assess- or's returns and the census returns. For the purpose of befogging the peo- ple comparisons are Instituted between the assessments for 1883 and 1600, with the stereotyped exhibit of the radical divergence between the estimated valua- tions of the census enumerators and the réal valuations of the assessors. These invidious comparisons are intended to create the impression that the rallroads have actually been overtaxed in Hamil- ton county and are entitled to a large retund. Before this demand is pre- sented The Bee respectfully directs the attention of the tax bureau to a few figures that have been omitted from Bulletin. No. 30. According to the state auditor's report, the aggregate assessed valuation of all property in Hamilton county for 1801 was $1,988,077. This included sixty-six miles and a fraction of rallroad assessed for $822,420. For the year 1002 the assessed valuation of all property In Hamilton county aggregates $2,204,907, and the same railrond mileage as in 18901 is returned for $289,557. Now, mark the 'striking discrepancy. In 1891 all property in Hamilton county, exclusive of railroads, paid taxes on $1,666,448. In 1002 all prop- erty, exclusive of railroads, is assessed at $2,005,440, or an Increase of $338,902 over valuations for 1891. On the other hand, the railroad property in Hamilton county, assessed for $322,420 in 1801, has shrunk to $289,557 in 1902, In other words, the assessment of railroad prop- erty is §82,872 less this year than it eleven years ago. Reduced to percen- tages, the comparative taxation of Ham- fiton county shows that the assessment of all property in Hamilton county has appreciated 20 per cent since 1891, while the railroads have depreciated 10 per cent. ) Granting that all property in Hamilton county has appreciated 20 per cent since 1891, does any one contend that the railroad property has depreciated 80 per cent since 1891, for that is precisely the divergence between the raflroad assess- ment of this year and the raflroad as- sessment of 18901, The rallroad tax bureau will hardly contend that the rail- roads that traverse Hamilton county have not Increased in value in full pro- portion with the increased value o all other classes of property. Estimates of census enumerators, per capita figures and mileage tax compar- jsons are simply designed to confuse and confound the paramount issue, and that 18 whether the ralroads are paying thelr proportion of taxes according to the present market value of their prop- erty and its enormously increased earn- ing capacity. E— DOMESTIC AND EXPORT PRICES. It is not denled that certain American manufactures are sold in foreign mar- kets at somewhat lower prices than are obtained for them in the home market, but the attempt to make political cap- ital out of this is not likely to be very frultful. It is the testimony of ex- perienced trade authorities that ‘where our manufactures have been sold abroad for less than they are here, it has been for the purpose of avoiding domestic over-production and the inevitable re- action and depression In American in- duétries that would have followed. “As a matter of fact” remarks the American Economist, “the granting of discounts to foreign purchasers has been grossly exaggerated for political effect. American wage earners, Who constitute the great bulk of domestic consumers, are not finding any fault on the score of discounts to the export trade. What they know is that there is abundant employment at good wages and they are not the ones who clamor for such a ripping open of the tariff as would close the miils and factories when the llmit of domestic consumption should be hed.” Those who make so great an ado about the difference be- tween export and domestic prices choose to consider only one side of the ques- tlon. e PROTECTED RAILWAY CONSOLIDATIONS. Accozding to reports from New York which appear to have & substantial foundation, nothing but the law’s delay interposes now between momentous changes in the corporate methods of the railroads of the country. Referring to the reported tentative plan for finan- cing the Rock Island system, the New York correspondent of a Philadelphia paper says this is only one of several plans of magnitude and of far-reaching consequence which are sure to be de- veloped in the autumn in case the courts hold that there is nothing illegal in the Northern Securities proposition. He says that not only would the release of that company from the constraint now put upon it by the pending litigation tend enormously to stimulate rallway actlvities in the northwest, but it would certainly be followed speedily first by an attempt to bring under the patronage of a corporation of like character the two rallway systems in the south and southwest wherein Morgan interests are now either wholly or partially dominant. There seems to be no doubt that al- ready the project of organizing a se- curities holding company that will be- come the patron and protector of the Southern and the Loulsville & Nash- ville systems, with perhaps one other, {8 belng formulated, beth upon its finan- clal and its legal side. It 1s said that the financial question presents no dif- culties, but the projectors are appreben- sive that there may be legal and polit- jcal obstacles quite as troublesome as the Northern Securities company has met with in Minnescta. Reports are current regarding other schemes of rail- way consolidat or what amounts to practically ‘.fl:‘ thing, the ecentrol b L4 THE OMAHA of various railroad systems by corpora- tions such as that against which judicial proceedings are pending. The opinion I8 expressed that these various attempts to perfect community of interest through the organization of a sponsoring and pro- tecting company will, if they are made in the fall, as some of them will be con- tingent upon the Northern Securities de- cision, be sure to result in a season of unsurpassed rallway activity, greater than, though of a different kind, that which followed the resumption of specie payments and continued for several years. Herein is suggested the great impor- tance of the result of the Northern Se- curities company case. If the decision should be against that corporation it will check and perhaps put an end to attempts at railway consolidation, or the control of great systems by powerful financial organizations. Otherwise it ap- pears to be certain that a tremendous effort will be made to put into general effect the community of interest policy respecting the raflroads, centralizing the rallway systems of the country into four or five groups and establishing a mighty monopoly that would absolutely control transportation rates and despotically dominate the commerce of the country. Sm—————— POSING IN BORKROWED PLUMES. Representative Mercer of Nebraska rushed & bill through congress in record time dur- ing the last hours of the session. The measure, which appropriated $75,000 for a quartermaster's warehouse at Omaha, was introduced in the house at 2 p. m. and signed by the president at 4 p. m.—Gretna Breeze. Mr. Mercer’s spectacular performance during the last hours of congress has furnished his admirers with a good ¢ »al of borrowed capital. The true inward- ness of the rapid transit of the quarter- master’s warehouse bill from the speak- er's desk to the president's table has not been disclosed In the accounts piinted for home consumption. As a matter of fact, the bill was re- ported from the military committee in May and could have been passed in the house without being held back until the last moment for dramatic effect. When it did pass the house, however, Mr. Mer- cer had no desire or intention to have it put through the senate during that sessfon, and the credit for its prompt passage through the senate s due ex- clusively to Senator Dietrich. Mercer is posing In borrowed plumes. Senator Dietrich’'s version of the incident to a representative of The Bee is as follows: “I knew mothing of the bill until the vice president sent a page to tell me that a bill carrying an appropriation for Ne- braska had passed the house and had reached his desk. I looked the bill up and found that It had been introduced by Mr. Mercer, and immediately sent for him. He came over and I told him that I thought I could pass the bill if I could get the committee to report on it, and that I could get the committee to report it I knew something about it. “He replied that there was no use try- ing to pass it at all. That he had talked the matter over with#Senator Millard, and that they had agreed that there was no chance for it to go through the senate at this session. Senator Millard bad left ‘Washington for home, convinced that there was nothing of importance to Ne- braska coming up that need detain him. Notwithstanding Mercer's protest that the thing could not be done and there was no use trying, I sent for a copy of the house report on the bill, polled the senate military committee in executive session, and prevailed on the chairman of the committee to make a verbal re- port in favor of the bill as soon as the senate reconvened in open session. By unanimous consent I got the bill up and had it passed. “Only & short time remained, however, before adjournment, and I knew that the bill had to be engrossed and en- rolled and signed by the speaker and president of the senate, so that it could reach the president for his signature. By this time Mr. Mercer was awake to the necessities of the situation. He took the bill to the speaker and got it signed. 1 had it signed by the president of the senate and then turned it over to Mr. Mercer, who took it to the president, in the president's room, where the latter affixed his signature.” Three questions paturally present themselves: 1. Why did Mercer hold the bill up in the house until the last day of the ses- sion, although it had been reported by the committee or military affairs more than six weeks previously? 2. Why did Mercer agree and arrange that the bill should lay over in the sen- ate until next December? 3. Did Mercer want the bill hung up plum to assist him in his campaign for & sixth term nomination? m——— Twelve years ago an effort was made to inaugurate a tax reform movement, which was only partially suecessful, but nevertheless blazed the way for the more recent efforts to secure tax reduction. The original document in possession of The Bee reads as follows: The undersigned property owners and tax- payers of Omaha hereby associate them- selves for the purpose of protecting their interests and co-operating to prevent ex- travagant and unlawful expenditures of the public moneys by city and county authorl- ties and the creation of illegal dobts and maintenance of agents and officials not authorized by law, and the unlawful levy of taxes. In order to carry out the object of this association we propose to employ competent attorneys to enforce our rights in the courts and hereby agree to share the expenses incurred, which are to be limited to not exceeding $50 per annim for any member of this assoclation. It will be noted that while the original tax reform assoclation left out of its program the revision of assessment rolls, it sought to accomplish what the Real Estate exchange has not yet even at- tempted. The field is still open for co- operation to prevent wasteful and un- lawful expenditures of public moneys by city and county authorities, and that, of course, would also include the school board. Alleged differences between officials of the Agriculture department and the In- terior department over methods and DAILY BEE: WEDN plan of operations under the mew irri- gation law are denled. There is no good reason why any of the government authorities should trouble themselves now as to the question between federal, state and private ownership of Irrigation warks. Congress has settled that ques- tion by the action It has taken providing for national initiation. All the depart- ment officlals have to do now s to ex- ecute the work which the law imposes upon them. It would seem that now is the time to renew the efforts made during the war to bring about the immigration to this country of considerable bodies of Boers. Boers likely to look favorably now on the suggestion of rebullding their for- tunes in this country instead of at their old home will not be so easily moved at a later period when again firmly rooted to South Africa. Can it be that all the talk emanating chiefly from railroad land agents about planting Boer colonles In the west was nothing but & bid for free advertising? —— It 1s given out semi-officially that Gov- ernor Odell of New York has decided to retire from politics to accept an im- portant executive poeition in Union Pa- cific headquarters at Omaha on a salary of $100,000 a year. Would it be con- sidered impertinent to ask whether Gov- ernor Odell is to be installed as editor of President Burt's rallroad gazette, which is to eclipse and submerge the degenerate Onuaha dailies? g—— According to reports from Lincoln cer- tain rallroad managers are evincing a re- markable interest in the personnel of Governor Savage’s new police board for Omaha. But what special interest have the railroads In the management of the Omaha police? - Are they figuring on contingencies of possible labor strikes? e —— ‘Where Democrats All Agree. Detroit Free Press, A man would not be much of a democrat if he did net think jt was Mr. Roosevelt's moral duty to disrupt the republican party. Inconveniences of Prosperity. . Washington Post. The immense corn crop threatens o pro- Quce a freight car famine. All our incon- veniences these days seem to be produced by prosperity. In Good Industrial Health. New York Mall and Expre The people are no longer sick in heart and pocket as they were in 1896; they are not merely convalescent, as in 1900, They are clear-eyed and strong, in full finan- clal and industrial health. And more plainly than ever before they see the worth- lessness of the polsonous nostrums of Bryan and his fellow quack: No Issue for Democrats. Philadelphia Press. Any revision of the tariff must come from its friends, and the assoclated re- publican policy of reciprocity, applied as it ought to be, will disarm any objection and relieve any restiveness there may be in the west. Turn which way the will the democratic leaders find no issue on which they can hopefully fight. —— Should Penstom;Attorney: Buffalo Express. An investigatian made by Commissioner Bvans before he retired from the pension bureau convinced him. that practically every man who served in the Spanish war had been solicited by pension attorneys to ap- ply for a pension. Perhaps the surest way to reduce the pension bill would be to re- fuse every application with which a pension connected. Barred? stic Proclivities. Philadelphia Record (dem.) If Mr. Bryan is to have his way there will be no harmony with the sound money demo- crats who opposed him and his free silver humbugs in 1896, He regards these demo- crats as dangerous ballast-for the demo- cratic ship, to be thrown overboard along with all others who decline his captaincy. On the other hand, the sound money demo- crats offer no obstacle to harmony, inas- much as they look upon free silver as a dead issue beyond the power of restoration. Even in the silver producing Rocky moun- taln states democrats and republicans alfke have abandoned the issue and its only sup- porters are a remnant of the popullsts, of whose doctrines Mr. Bryan s a true repye- sentative and champlon. e — PERSONAL AND GENERAL. ‘There are 257,006 names in the new city directory of Boston, an increase of 4,732 over the number last year. Surprisingly, the John Sullivans this year outnumber the John Smithe three to one. One of the victims of the St. Plerre disas ter was a French painter, Paul Merwart, who was at Martinique on an artistic mis- slon from the government. He ascended to the crater of Mount Pelee as lato as April 28, Mre. Adelalde Augusts Jones Dean of Boston, now nearly 84 years old, is the only surviving member of a juvenile chorus that gave the first famous . ‘“‘Americi at s patriotic celebration held in the Park Street church on the evening of the Fourth of July, 1832. In Japan it is always the rule of polite- mess to pay a trifle more than the sum mentioned In your hotel bill. T¢ tle the account net would be considered an insult or at least & mark of great dissatis- faction. People who have traveled in Japan say that the Japaness always tip the waliter on enfering & hotel. The csar has & larger number of phy- siclans In attendence than any other sov- ereign in the world. There are twenty- four, and, needless to add, they are se- most celebrated is first & physi- in chief, then come ten honorary physicians and four honorary surgeons, two oculists, a chiropodist and an honorary chiropodist, two court physcians and three specialists for the czarina. Prof. Berthensohn of St. Petersburg, who recently visited Count Tolstol at Yalta, saye that he is quite well again and, at the urgent solicitation of his friends, s writing his autoblography. The Russian painter Pasternsk of Odessa, whe the illustrations tor Tolstol bas lately completed a painting rep- resenting the novelist in the midst of his family. His wife s reading to him and the others are listening, too. Mr, W. J. Pirrie, chairman of the steam- ship bullding firm of Harland & Wolff, has had a wonderfully successful career. Born in Quebec of Irish parentage in 1847, he was educated in Belfast and subse- quently entered the service of Mesars. Harland and Wolff, by whom his talents were so much appreciated that within twelve years, and when he was still only 27, be was made a. partoer in the firm. Mr. Pirrie spends most of bis time in Bel- fast, where as ex-lord mayor of the city he enjoys great respect and influence, but be has & charming London residence in Downsbire house, Belgrave square. clan ESDAY, JULY 30, 1902. TRANSCONTINENTAL TRAFFIC. The Prize for Which All the Rallway [ New Clothing Regulations as They Magnates Are Strug San Francisco Chronicle. There seems reason to belleve that rall- road projects now proposed or In progress may result in a situation simflar to that which brought on the great “merger of the northern lines. What are known as the “transcontinental lines” are not trans- continental at all, but end at the Missour! wourl river, or, in the case of the Santa The lines rumming from Atlantic seaboard are known as the “trunk lines,” and the con- nections between Chicago and the Mis- souri have another designation. At first the distribution of freight among thesn lines was a simple matter, easily settled by formal arrangement or otherwise. As the traffic increased, however, and with it the number of new eastern connections in & position to give and demand a share of the business, the situation has become very complex. As the different roads be- came consolidated into powerful systems the struggle for shares In the trade be- came very severe, indeed, and is with the utmost dificulty prevented from degener- ating into rate wars. The tendency of all this is to the forma- tion of really through transcontinental lines extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and each trunk line desires to be- come part of or control such a system. As the number of trunk lines exceeds the num- ber of central transcontinental lines, this 1s likely to resuit in m roads running te this city, of which one is now bullding, and in & struggle of eastern interests to get con- trol of the Santa Fe, the Southern and Unfon Pacific being already tied up to the Vander- bilt interest. It is said that an active effort te accompish this is now in progress on the part of those controlling the great Rock Island system, which just now seems rather out In the cold as regards transcontinental trafle. Of course, no euch project is pro- claimed from the house tops, but a banking house which has heretofore represented the Rock Island people has been for some time accumulating Santa Fe stock on a constantly rising market. If those in control of the Santa Fe have other views it is quite pos- sible that we may see truggle eimilar to that some time ago for the control of North- ern Pacific and which sent that stock up to $1,000 and would have rulned many specu- lators except for the mercy of the victors. No great amount of stock is ltkely to be bought at figures much above the real value, but if at the end there should be a small block required to secure a controlling inter- est a llvely fight may develop for its posses- sion. If the stock takes a big jump while considerable remains in the market the ef- ort to secure it will naturally be postpsned till a more convenient season. But 1t will not be dropped. PUBLICITY FOR PRIVATE AFFAIRS, Absurdities to Which Growing Orase for Personal Notoriety Leads. Brooklyn Eagle. The increasing publicity that is given to private affairs may betoken an increasing brotherhood in the race, that justifies every member of it In what would once have seemed like impertinent inquiries into the finances, family relations, industries and fads of every other member; or it may be denote an Increasing willingness on the part of people: who do not see & clear wa: to fame in any other direction, to attain it by opening ths parlor windows that the under world may see the doings of the over world on reception and dinner night: or it may be merely a part of modern news- paper enterprise that conceives the survival in cities of the gossiping spirit of the cen- tury. Aunyhow, we have the publicity, and therp s no_doubt that it s ncreasing, like the material fortunes that occasion the most of it In ng other thing do we find so remarkable an explanation of affairs that are none of the pubiie’s business as in weddings. It cannot be alleged that there is anything uncommon about weddings. They are hap- pening every hour, all over the world, and they involve in happiness or trouble every sort and shade of people. They are not quite so usual as births and deaths, but they are almost. One would think that they deserved no more advertising than does the conduct of & grocery or the taking of a va- cation. Yet, if elther party to the marriage contract has a certaln number of dollars, be sure that the outer world will know all about the wedding. We shall have full re- ports of what {s worn the food at the break- fast will be described, critical comment on the frock-coats and coatless frocks of the invited will be furnished by experts, there will be a complete list of that noble army apdbys known as “among those pres- bride and groom will be watched as they enter the church and If either of them flinches or repents or cuts a caper of joy, the report will be sent to a syndicate of newspapers all over the land, and finally there will be pictures of the bride, the groom, the parents of both, the house of each family, the house or hotel of the young couple, the decorated dining room, the church, the table covered with presents, and at least one enterprising paper has beaten various contemporaries by furnishing ple- tures of the bride’s most intimate raiment. Well, if the persons In Interest like this kind of thing they have plenty of what they lke. Yot there is a lingering and old- fashioned sentiment that private affairs, ke fumerals, weddings, christenings, re- ceptions, bells and dinners concern only participants and relatives there Is & certaln similarity in these functions, which -enables the reader to draw infer- ences from verbal outlines, there need be at least no extended descriptiod. Probably a few people employed in monotonous tasks at low wages llke to read about the way people of monotonous lelsure make tasks for themselves by the distribution of \igh incomes, just as it is sald that the most confirmed readers of soclety news in London are the servants, but to the mass of Americans it can matter little whether Miss Smythe-Perkins goes to the altar in & white organdie with mauve swiss blased on the etamine, or in a purple velour gar- nished with percales and foulards sewed in the gores. Nor can the parents of Mise Smythe-Perkins, nor the husband of her, concelve how the public can be lifted or educated or amused or iu anywise inter- ested in the matter. Yet, for some Teason there is an ever greater tendency to ex- pl the private doings of private families and open the doors of private houses to the gaze of the unrelated multitude. Is it worth while, as a matter of mews, and is the tendency commendable? Does not the giving of national publicity to af- fairs that are of only personal or loctl nd to invasions of privacy encroach on right and de- cency, and also intensify that struggle for notice on the part of those who by en- dowment, occupations, alms or charitl have done mothing to deserve it? And, rich families increase and the papers more and more filled with accounts of their eating, drinking, driving and giving of par- ties, will not the people who are busy about matters of more consequence sicken of it and ask for a return to the publication of news? If so, the evil is one that will cure itself. People Pay the Fr Chicago News. Before engaging seats for the great rail- road war which is being extensively adve: tised the public should lock its valuables in the safe, as somebody will have to pay the cost of the spectacle. ARMY VIEW OF NEW UNIFORM. Are Seen Through Military Glasses. Army and Navy Register. publishing the new clothing regulations. The changes, however, seem to meet with approval. There are minor detalls, of course, upon which officers differ in opinion as to the advisabllity of the decision of the uniform board. One of the things criticized is the placing of the decoration on the sleeve of the dress coat too near the bottom of the cuff. It is claimed that & better effect would have been obtalned if the band of gold wire brald had been placed at the junction of the cuff with the sleeve proper instead of two and onme-half inches from the end of the sleeve. This would have brought the rank insignia, in- dicated by flat gold brald, above the elbow and would have given a less squatty ap- pearance than Is now the case, it is sald. There continues, of course, to be critictsm of the frock coat which is retained for mounted and dismounted officers. Colonel J. D. Bingham proposed that the dress coat should be something on the style of the colonial garment, without, of course, the buff facings. This, it will be recalled, has & cutaway effect of the ekirts. The belt could be worn underneath the coat, an arrangement which would enable the tailors to make a better fit and one of greater convenience in the case of officers who are mounted. The frock coat, as has been re- peatedly stated, does not lend itself easily to the figure of a man who js not of normal proportio: The stout man and the thin man have about equal right to complain, as neither of them appears to sartorial advantage in such a coat. Of course, it was not to be expected that the. uniform regulations would meet with approval on every side and it {s some- thing of an achievement for the army board that the members have wrought so satisfactorily. The suggestion has been made that perhaps the board would have found it useful to have invited competitive designs from tatlors and other experts in military apparel. This, to the minds of some people, seems to offer the hope that the board wWould have been aided in its conclusions by original propositions which would have resulted in the adoption of a uniform at once original and distinctive. There might have been a temptation on the part of such advisers, however, to have suggested something so radical in the re- vision of uniform regulations as to have yielded the taflors the greatest pecuniary results. The board was guided in its find- ings apparently by the very commendable desire not to add more than was absolutely necessary to the expense of individual offi- cers, notably those of the junfor grades, all of whom must be put to the personal cost of equipping themselves with the new service habiliment. One of the complaints made by army officers against the mew uniform arises from the number of hats and caps required. In the case of general officers and officers of staff corps and departments the head- gear will comprise eight pleces of different styles, and in the case of all other officers there will be seven pleces. They are the chapeau, which will be worn only by general and staff officers, the full dress cap, the dress cap, the white cap, the service cap, the white helmet, the service helmet and the service hat. There has been some comment also made on the use of the expression “service” in conjunc- tion with, different articles of apparel. It 1s pointed out that “service” is a very general term which might well apply to all parts of the military babiliment and that a more accurately descriptive adjec- tive would have been “campaign,” since it 1s evident that articles described “gervice” are such as would be worn in the fleld and on campaigns, and during opera- tions. A provision of the new uniform regula- tions which is meeting with a good deal of favor is that which substitutes German silver for steel and brass for the guard and scabbard of the saber of all officers “except chaplains.” The new metal will give the effect of nickel plating and will be lighter in weight and easier to keep clean than the material formerly em- ployed. There seems to be a general misconcep- tion among army offic respecting the employment of the term “olive drab” in the uniform regulations as applied to the uniforms commonly known as khaki. The term is intended to apply to the present khaki suit worn in hot weather and at tropi- cal stations well as to the new woolen material which is of slightly deeper shade than the tropical uniform and which is now pravided to meet the necessities im- posed by serylce in cold climi . The blue uniform je not entirely abandoned, of course. It will still serve for garrison use and for those occasions when soldiers de- sire to ap) “a ed up.” It will be the dress substitutes for the light and heavy welght khaki or the olive drab uniform of the regulations. The retention of the aiguiletts as & part of the uniform of certain officers of the army recalls the fact that much mystery has always surrounded the origin and significance of this elaborate device. It has commonly been accepted that the algullette was originally s cord which supported a pencil used by ind adjutants in writing military orders and dispatches. Its utility, of course, has long since ceased and it has become only an attractive ornamentation. The clothing experts of our army have pos- sibly discovered the origin of the algullet at any rate they have run across an anc! tradition which might be accepted as bear- ing with veracity upon the subject. It seems that the Spanish duke of Alva many years ago had cause to eomplain of the con- Quet of & body of Flemish troops. He issued orders that in view of the misconduct en the part of these troops the {ndividual mem- bers should be punished by banging wher- ever they were found, without regard to rank or grade. The. Flemish soldiers re- plied that to facilitate the execution of this order they would hereafter wear on the shoulder & rope to which would be attached s nall. This convenlent appliance they consequently adopted, but their subsequent conduct became so brilliant and exemplary, 1t 18 safd, that this rope and its pendant nail were transformed 1nto & brald of passemen- terle and became a badge of honer to be worn by officers of princely households and others who were of notable and conspicu- ous career. In our own army the aiguilletts, which may er may not be the descendant of the Alva decoration, will be worn by adju- tants general, inspectors general, officers of the record and pension office, aides to gen- eral officers, regimental adjutants and the adjutants of the artillery districts. The abandonment of the Gel s cross as an emblem for the army medical d partment is in reality a return to the insignia, that of the caduceus, worn prior to the Geneva convention. The emblem has always had a significance which makes its adoption by our medical department pecullarly fitting. The new uniform regu- lations provide that in time of war with & signitory of the Gemeva conventl persons. 10 the MUILAry service ueuilal by the terms of that convention will wear & brassard of white cloth with s Geneva cross of red cloth in the ocenter. This emblem will be worn on the left arm above the eibow while on the field of oper- Army officers have hardly had time to digest the provisions of the general order SURGICAL OPERATIONS How Mrs. Noted 0&&5 Singer, Escaped an Operation. Proof t Operations for Ovarian Troubles are Un- NOCOSSATY. “Dran Mns, Prvxnas : —Travelling for years on the with { lar meals and sleep and p beds, brol down my th so completely two yeoars that the physician advised & com rest, and wi I had gained sufficlent vitality, an operation for ovarian troubles. Not a very cheerful prospect, to be sure. I, however, was advised to try Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound and San~ ative Wash; I did so, fortun: for me. Before a month had felt that general health im- proved; in three months more I was oured, and I lrva been in perfect health since. I did not lose an engage- ment or miss & meal. ‘ Your Vegetable Compound is cer- tainly wonderful, and well wm-th,‘l:he aise your admiring friends who have n cured are yzrvnyom I alwa; ke h] and so."—Mns. G, .avul, ing, Mich. #6000 forfelt If teetimontal s net genulne. The fullest counsel on this subject canp be secured without by writing to Mrs Pinkham, Lynn, Mass. Your letter will be entirely confidential. ations. Of course in a conflict with the Indians or in a rebellion in the Philippines or in such an emergency as that which carrfed our troops to the Chine capl- tal, the Geneva cross would not ‘wora. Then will be worn only the caduceus. EVIL OF BETTING, Degénerate Practice that Appears to Be Making New Headway. Chicago News. ‘When & man bets his money on the re- sult of a horse race, or of any other con- test, he does it because he wishes to get some other person's money through his own superior shrewdness or good fortume. The pleh that excitement i the main consideration in making the bet falls to the ground when one considers the chagrin with which the loser views the outcome of his venture. Yet bookmakers and gambling house proprietors amass fortunes, ‘while their patrons in a vast majority of cases see the momey they risk depart from them forever. The fascination of the thought of large winnings of other people's money is {rresistible to many thousands of persons. That the customary losses lead to crippled fortunes and even to em- bezzlements in many instances, while less re suffered in fnnumerable is a matter.of eommon knowledge. Yet the betting fever grows apace. To many persons who do not appreciate the harmful nature of the vice, [feeling secure In their own persons so far as bank- ruptey or fortune or morals is concerned, the vulgarity of striving to get other peo- ple’s money should serve as a reason for giving up the practice. “What's mine Is my own; what's yours is mine.” There- fore, why bet? Cullure is an uncompro- mising enemy of the betting vice. The dis- tractions which attend the unlovely game of trying to get another man's money on a bet dissipate thought, which must be con- centrated on some useful purpose to be of any value to its possessor. As an eco- nomic waste of mental energy the betting evil costs even more deadly than in actual cash squandered from private fortune ‘weekly 'wages or employer's till. The sooner the general publioc accepts this whol le view the better for honest industry of every sort. SAID TO BE FUNNY. Chlclfo News: Little Willle—Pa, w)l, was it that said “Dead men tell no tales?" Pa—8ome automobile fiend, probably. New York Sun: Johnny—Pa, what's the difference between a fort and a fortress? Henpekt—1 should _think it would be easler to silence a fort. Yonkers Statesman: “Do you know the spent for rum mount of money that is ch year?' asked the prohibitionist. replied the man add o No,"" 'm ot Interested in the price which staggers umanity.” Philadelphia Press: I don't suj it's very expeusive to keep & horse down. in your country.” “Sometimes,” replied the Texan, “it's as much as your life is wortn to even take one.” “Mother, can I go in swimming?" ‘"When, my son?" “Yesterday, if you please.” ‘Washington Star: seems to me,” sald m the east, “that you stand a Fost deal more from ‘that man who just !]ll you than you would from anybody else. d i he gets arrogant he knows he's in a place where we can't resent it, 'cause if snybody got the drop on him it would stump us for shore.” “Who fs he?” s he? “The only undertaker in two hundred miles.” TOO LATE, Youth's Companion, The summer wind blew softly; wide open stood the door, To let the worn old body pass through, and out once more; betore it to find For the soul had goi #rom which the weary traveler need never- that distant bourne more return. And the farmer-son stood gasing upon the lacid face, Which nevermore would meet him from its accustomed Kllce; And & tremor shook his body, as a tree shakes in a gale, And beneath the sunshine's bfonzing his face was deathly pale. ““What alled you, dear, to shake you looked at father last?” All‘ehlhh good wife of her husband, when at A he blessed as 5 And we'd done our best—"' “No more of ~that!" the farmer roughly cried. “I thought of all the long days when we'd let him sit alone, Bach of us sllent to him; yes, slient as & o, when stone! Or talking to each Gther, not caring it he ear Or answering, if he spoke, with & shortly spoken word. @I thought of how he'd thenmk us for every little thing, If I gave a hand to hflr him, how his hand T'a slye the farm ihe Bichard, the cow ve the fa e orc % “ihe bees in d‘u hive, W o8, 'ything, for one mome ey o day with