Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, September 25, 1916, Page 4

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE FOUNDED BY ED“'-AED ROSEWATER } VICTOR ROSEWATER EDITOR : -fi BEE PUBLISHING CU!&PANY PBO-PNETOR 3 | T Entered at Omaha postoffice as second-class matter TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. By Carrier per month. By Mail per year 6.00 ! Daily and Sunday . Daily without Su | Evening and Sunday. . Evening without Sunday Sunday Bee only Daily and Sunday Bee, three years in 3 0. Send notice of change of nddress or irregularity in de- livery to Omaha Bee, Circulation Department. REMITTANCE. Remit by draft, express or postal order. Only2-cent stamps taken m payment of small accounts. Personal checks, except on Omaha and eastern exchange, not accepted. OFFICES. Omsha—The Bee Building. South Omaha—2818 N street. Council Bluffs—14 North Main street. Lincoln—526 Little Building. Chicago—818 People’s Gas Building. £ New York—Room 808, 286 Fifth avenue. St. Louis—603 New Bank of Commerce. Washington—726 Fourteenth street, N. W. CORRESPONDENCE. Address communications relating to news and editorial matter to Omaha Bee, Editorial ment. AUGUST CIRCULATION 55,755 Doily—Sunday 51,048 bbwgzm Williaras, b’fi"“l.d“nln manager of '{‘::! l:;: Publishii any, ing duly sworn, says g e mranfot the. month 'of August, 1916, was 56,165 daily, nd 61048 Sunday, DWIGHT WILLIAMS, Cireulation Manager. h“l::u:inhd‘lg;d rauf;;‘-nd sworn to before me tl lay 'mber, 3 | % ROBERT HUNTER, Notary Publie. e o ROBERT HUNTER, Notry.d Subscribers leaving the city temporarily ' should have The Bee mailed to them. Ad- dress will be changed as oftea as required. et b sadl et { If Great Britain's military execution equalled | its volume of excuses the war would quickly see | its finish. 1 ! The tussle between “manana” and “watchful | waiting” serves one useful end. It keeps New London on the map. | The glorious days of autumn help the intelli-( gent citizen mightily to a more cheerful view of the prophecies of spellbinders. | Owing to the complete modern equipment of . Omaha hotels the proposed new rate card can readily take the elevator to the roof. ' The Old Man with the Scythe, famed as the Grim Reaper, wisely backs off the stage and 1 hands the laurels of ages to the Peoria juggernaut. Slowly but'surely the big silver dollar re- cedes from public view and no whisper of pro- test comes from the caves of “free and unlim- ited.” | The route of the land bank board throughout | | the country has been sprayed liberally with the [ | literature of rural uplift, Politics? Perish the | | thought. 8 — An Eskimo just in from the Arctics offers to tell all about the North Pole for a million dol- ‘| lars, Peary and Cook might club together, buy the secret of the ages and end the worry of rival claims, . Specialists in such matters assert that “speed- ing weakens the mind.” Those who have flown | over the windshield or somersaulted into a ditch redched the same conclusion, but refrained from telling it. ——— ‘Several hundred cities plead 'for land banks. A score or more are bidding for an armor plate factory. While these slices of democratic bacon || whet the appetite, it behooves the applicants to || demonstrate their qualifications at the polls. The latest bulletin from the judicial trenches of Nebraska indicate little damage from the bom- bardment of federal and state injunctions. The || aim is good, but the execution poor. A decision is unlikely without a material enlargement of the gas area. £ | The deposed democratic insurance examiner, in his come-back, lets the cat out of the bag. He " refers by name to one member of the board “whose appointee I am,” indicating that the pay- roll jobs were parceled out as personal perquisites to favorites regardless of experience or fitness for the work. Another fine exantple of “democratic reform.” ’ | The worm is turning and mere man is getting a show for his coin. Hitherto, courts held to the || rule that alimony ccased on the remarriage of - the divorced wife. An Jowa court extends the ~ rule in another direction by relieving a divorced husband of the alimony penalty on his remar- riage. Should this novel precedent stand the | acid test of the high court, alimony on the in- stallment plan will cease to be a joymaker in the Hawkeye state. ] I The Incred le’ | Chicago Post . For these thrilling days we need a new prov- ~ erb—"It is the incredible that happens.” Two prosperous citizens from a north shore community discussed the story of the new British “tanks,” as thex traveled loopward on a sub- urban train. They reached the conclusion that it was an extravagant fairy tale, concocted by - mendacious newspapey men in order to fill space. - “Stupid business,” said one, “to try to put over - such ridiculous stuff.” “Yes" said the other, . “but the papers must have something to print.” ~ With 3, miles of battle line popping it never before; a presidential campaign in full | swing; an epidemic of failure among private | banks; Villa on the march in Mexico, and the federal authorities running down “society” black- mailers, the newspapers have not been sorely tempted. to employ invention lately. e incredible has been happening under the noses of these good citizens for years. The in- credible flight of man through the air has been demonstrated for them by an incredible hydro- aeroplane cruising back and forth over their pri- vate littoral. The incredible wireless has shocked their credulity many a time with stories from overseas—hard to bel but true. The incred- guns of the Germans have de- [ the indestructible. The European war it- self was of all things the most incredible in the -~ early, n-Bryan summer of two years ago., That a crawling gun' turret should be con. *It:% armored to resist rifle and machine-gun fir capable of advancing over a shell-pitted ‘battlefield, ruined masonry, barbed-wire barricades and other obstacles, is a minor marvel 35 Doasht & thing Tacesdioc ae e Aposle a e?” as the Apostle Paul exclaimed about a much less materialistic le. . e shall see greater wonders than these. P g ; their credulity in cotton wool he:d. e it out and exercise it. Harder tests I i The President’s Plea in Avoidance. President Wilson's answer to the attacks on his wage increase force bill is what the lawyers would call a “plea in avoidance.” Instead of a defense of the measure as he drove it through congress while the labor leaders held the stop watch, he endeavors to befog the issue by pre- tending that it is a law for an eight-hour work day. “The first thing I told both sides before I requested their opinion,” he declares, “was that I stood for the eight-hour day. I believe in the cight-hour day because a man does better work within eight hours than he does within a more extended day. And, therefore, I stated to those gentlemen of both sides at the very beginning that the eight-hour day ought to be conceded.” But the president knows, and no one who has read the text will deny that not one word written on the statute books aims to cut the working day of a trainman by an hour or by a minute, The law itself does not purport to establish an eight- hour day but merely to give for eight hours the pay formerly earned by ten hours’ work, with overtime pay beginning at the end of eight hours. It is a wage increase law pure and simple. It does not carry even the usual penalty as a deter- rent against overtime of time-and-a-half wages for the excess hours. In a word, it merely raises the wages of brotherhood members working more than eight hours without changing the number of hours a particle. Another point President Wilson carefully evades is the compromise made by the law, with his con- sent, with the principle of an eight-hour wage basis, The senate amendment excepting from the opera- tion of the law employes of interstate transporta- tion companies with a mileage of less than one hundred miles, or operating interurban electric roads, produces this situation: The fireman who brings a train of live stock into Omaha, for ex- ample, is entitled, on principle and by the require- ments of humanitarianism, as the president puts it, to have overtime pay after eight hours, but the fireman who takes over the train for the Union Stock Yards company is entitled to no overtime no matter how long he works, because he works for a road less than 100 miles long. By the same compromise with the principle of the eight-hour wage basis, humanitarianism requires the locomotive fireman who crosses the Union Pacific bridge to get overtime after eight hours but the motorman who crosses another bridge a thousand yards away, although employed by a street railway company, likewise subject to the interstate commerce law, is left to work for the same old hour rate for as many hours as he is kept agoing. The wage increase law not only does not estab- ’llh an eight-hour day for any one but in itself violates the principle it is supposed to embody and all the president says in his explanation merely sidesteps the point. Recurrence of Wildcat Banking. The epidemic of private bank wrecking in Chi- cago halts for a moment with a record too long and painful to list. A dozen were swept on the rocks within three months, Nothing like it has happened since the panic of 1893 cycloned the banks of the country. In some of its features the epidemic resembles the era of wildcat banking, when bankers multiplied as rapidly as mushroom towns and flooded their neighborhoods with pa- per promises to pay. Even in those days the be- ginnings of state supervision were evident in re- quiring legislative charters for banks, Through- out the three-score years since the wildcatters stripped the middle west, the state of Illinois, progressive in other ways, stood still and stag- nated, and permitted private bankers to beat un- known thousands of depositors out of their money. Hardly any business venture in Illinois is less handicapped in starting than a private bank. Usu- ally the word bank conveys to the average person the idea that owners possess cash capital as well as practical experience in the banking line. Be- sides these primary requisites popular belief as- sumes that the government in some way insures its reliability. None of these essentials are looked into or required by the state. All that is needed to_launch a private bank in Illinois are the out- side sign, the inside fixtures and the owner's front aglow with enthusiasm for other people’s money. One of the recent banker failures graduated from a scalping ticket office, anpthe\r from a smithy's forge and a third leaped from ‘a railroad section hand to the mahogany and then into the lake to escape the rage of duped depositors, Now the state shows signs of coming out of its Rip Van Winkle sleep. Bank regulation has become a state issue and legislative candidates are pledging themselves to enact laws which will end a gross public scandal and make swindling cloaked as banking a penitentiary offense. — American Inventions In War. America's contribution to the mechanism of war leaps to higher levels by the surprising feats of the armored tractor on the west front. Its identity as an American invention seems fairly established, although the makers are not respons- ible for the use to which it is put. Designed for such peaceful pursuits as plowing uneven ground, tearing up trees or drawing trains of vehicles, its unique mode of propulsion made it peculiarly. adaptable to a shell-torn country, and its trans- formation into an armored juggernaut supplied a long-felt want. The tractor is the latest of many American inventions which are playing a leading part in the titanic struggle. The roster embraces atero- planes, the eyes and scouts of modern armies; the submarine, conceded to be the terror of the seas, and the telephone, which is a mighty factor in strategy and generalship. Electric light ban- ishes much of the gloom of the trenches dug by American trench diggers, and American barbed wire blocked innumerable attacks until special artillery blew it off the earth. American weap- ons are in use to some extent on both sides. The Gathmann field piece and shell, originally re- jected by United States ordnance officers, was snapped up by Germany and was used extensively at the beginning'of the war, A similar fate be- fell the Lewis machine gun at home, yet it has become the chief weapon of iterkind in use by the British forces, In these and many other ways American in- genuity and resources have revolutionized the conduct of war and vastly increased the ma- chinery of destruction: It certainly takes gall for Congressman Stephens to introduce Senator Hitchcock with an appeal for his re-election on the ground that President Wilson needs a staunch supporter in the senate. As everybody knows, the senator has been fighting the president openly or secretly all the time, and the president was never able to count on his m?on at any stage of the game. Wilson’s Fall-Down on Conservation Gifford Pinchot The conservation of natural resources has be- come one of the largest issues of our time. In the campaign of 1912, it formed one of the chief planks in the democratic platform, and was often endorsed in Mr. Wilson's speeches. His inaug- ural address committed him fully to support it. For these reasons it is important to know what the Wilson administration has done. As one deeply interested in conservation and familiar with the record, I am writing to lay it briefly before you. When he took office, Mr. Wilson ceased to say much on conservation, preferring to let the members of his cabinet Spcafi for him. After his inauguration, the friends of conservation, regard- less of partisanship, offered him their help in put- ting the conservation policies through. The op- ortunity invited action, The fight to save Alaska rom the Guggenheims had created a living body of public opinion which lacked only official leader- ship to save what resources still remained in ublic hands. It seemed at first that President Wilson would lead. At the outset the work of the Wilson admin- istration in conservation was good. Congress passed, and Mr. Wilson signed the Alaska rail- road bill and the bill which assured government control of coal lands in Alaska. These measures were excellent, and President Wilson deserves praise for their enactment. So he does for his veto of a bill to give away national forest lands. Unfortunately these creditable instances form but little of the record. Politics came into con- trol, Thus a bill seeking to turn the natural re- sources of Alaska over to a political commission was repeatedly recommended by the administra- tion through the mouth of the secretary of the interior. If passed it would have thrown Alaska into the hands of the special interests and estab- lished a policy almost certain to destroy the na- tional control of natural resources everywhere else as well. This m?sure we were fortunately able to stop. When Wilson became president, the reclama- tion service, in its great work of irrigating the arid lands of the west, was wholly free from politics, By the mouth of his secretary of the interior Wilson advocated, and later signed, a bill which leaves the choice of lands to be re- claimed to a committee of congress, and so makes politics dominate the service. Director Newell was the man who created the reclamation service. He made and kept it one of the most efficient bureaus under the government. The secretary of the interior forced him out, and replaced him by a commission in which politicians control. The Newlands bill is a conservation measure which proposes to develop all the resources of our inland waterways—water power, navigation, irrigation and domestic supply—for the public benefit. Although Wilson strongly endorsed it during his campaign, as president he let it drop, and fiu(ud has signed two waterway bills of the old pork-barrel type, which are everything the Newlands bill is not. Water power is the most valuable resource still in public hands. There is undeveloped water power in our navigable streams equal to twice the ower of every kind now used in the United gtltel. It is a huge prize. For years the water power interests have been fighting to seize it, and the conservationists to save it for the people, A water power measure, the Adamson bill, came before the house in 1914, It favored monop- oly, and gave the special interests, for nothing, the public water power on navigable streams. Nevertheless Wilson endorsed it, On its way through the house, the bad Y‘nrts of the Adamson bill were stricken qut, and the pub- lic rights were secured. Thereupon Wilson re- versed his previous stand, and endorsed the amended bill. 'This good bill then went to the senate, where it was shelved, and the indefensible Shields bill was reported in its place, The Shields bilk gives away the public water powers forever and for nothing. Both Roosevelt and Taft vetoed bills drawn on the same principle. Yet, by another reversal, the Wilson administration got behind it, and when a widely-circulated public appeal was made to the president for his help to defeat it, he refused. As to water power on the public lands, there is but one reversal instead of two. Wilson first, by the mouth of a member of his cabinet, en- dorsed the Ferris bill, which was mainly good. It was replaced in the senate by the Myers hill, which is thoroughly bad. Among other things this bill lctulllr throws the Grand Canyon, the greatest natural wonder of America, wide open to individual mrtoprinion. Nevertheless, Wilson reversed himself in order to give it in the same way his endorsement. Both as to water power on navigable streams and on public lands, the last reversals leave the administration standing with the special interests against the people. The Phelan oil land measure would hand over to private individuals who have no legal irghts the valuable oil lands set aside as reserves for the navy. The Navy department has made public announcement that the mere threat of the Phelan bill's passage has caused it “to seriously consider the advisability of abandoning” the policy of con- structing oil-burning ships. Only oil-burning ships can develop and maintain the high speeds required in modern war, and without them no navy can be even second class. The secretary of the inte- rior actively supported this surrender of national safety to private greed. The secretary of the navy and, the attorney general opposed it. Wil- son remained neutral and did nothing. Because Wilson refused to take sides, or took the wrong side, the question whether the people or the interests shall win or lose in the Shields and Myers water power bill and the Phelan oil bill is still unsettled. These bill are still before cong and will pass or fail at ‘the coming session, The public water powers and the effi- ciency of the navy are at stake. There can be no compromise between the men who would rab the public resources for private profit, and those men who would conserve them for the use of all the people. Either the interests will get them or the people will keep them. There 18 no middle ground. To sum up, as in many other matters, the promise made was not performed. Instead of progress in conserving our resources, the last two years have seen a bitter and often a losing fight to hold we had. Wilson talked well, began to act well, and then, yielding to the political pressure of the special interests, went back on conservation, People and Events The Cape Cod cranberry crop is nearly har- vested and promises to yield 20,000 barrels. Re- ports from turkeydom are equally appetizing and will remain so until the price tag is visible, Just as Peoria adjusts its “tank” laurels Phila- delphia reaches for the gory wreath by claiming jpatent righ to a superior slaughterhouse weapon. It is an aeroplane bomb of the most destructive variety, timed to explode in the air and wipe out all living objects within a radius of 200 feet. Uncle Sam- secures use of the new killer, consequently foreigners must be content with the devices in stock. The commissioner of weights and measures of New York City urges housewives to use their scales to test every article purchased by weight. There is money in it. The commissioner points out that one of the bakers who said he could afford to put more than twice as much bread into a 10-cent loaf as in a S-cent loaf was found to be selling a twelve-ounce loaf for 5 cents and only twenty ounces for 10 cents. By using the kitchen scales this system of scaling weight will quickly reveal itself. THE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER, Thought Nuggests for the Day. We see times furrows on another's brow, And death intrenched, preparing his assault; How few themselves in that just mir- ror see! ——Anon. One Year Ago Today in the War. English fleet bombarded German bases in Belglum. Austria claimed minor victories on western front of the Tyrol. French gained footholds at points In German lines north of Arras. Great allied advance in France after a twenty-five-days’ bombardment. British attack on nearly their en- tire front and captured German posi- tions near Lens. . In Omaha Thirty Years Ago. v Mr. Belle lsle, proprietor of the Omaha employment bureau, on Six- teenth street, has just returned from the east with his bride, formerly Miss K. W. Gittings of Drisco, 111 Articles of incorporation were filed of the Omaha Toboggan and Slide company with W, L. Croft, B. P. Mul- len, L. C. Stephenson, A. E. Hutchin- son, William Banks and John McDon- ald as Incorporators. The company has a capital stock of §1,000 and pro- poses to construct a toboggan slide and deal in toboggan supplies. The officers of the Omaha Mutual Loan and Building association, of which Mr. G. W. Nattinger is secre- tary, marched to his residence and resented him with a handsome call gell and music box combined, which requires only a gentle shake to warble the latest fashionable airs. Mrs. Nat- tinger was presented with a beautiful brass clock. The presentation speech was made by Councilman Thomas Dalley. Jaller Miller of the county jail has left for Minneapolis, where he will tes- tity In the suit against James Kelley. The Lake school is completed and will open there Monday, the 27th. Chief Galligan of the fire depart- ment has left for a five-days' trip to Chicago, during which he will make arrangements for the caps and other articles of uniform for the use of the department. ' Walter Q. Gresham, formerly post- master-general of the United States, is in the city visiting A. U. Wyman, late treasurer of the Unit States and now president of the Omaha Loan and Trust company. This Day In History. 1832—Cholera appeared in St. Louis, destroying about 4 per cent of the population within a month, 1841—General John Chandler, sol- dier of the Revolution and the war of 1812, and first United States senator from Maine, died at Augusta, Me. Born at Epping, N. H,, in 1762. 1843—Willilam C. Macready opened his second American tour in New York. 1846—General Zachary Taylor con- cluded a treaty for the capitulation of Monterey. 1857—General Havelock relieved the garrison at Lucknow, beseiged for eighty-seven days by rebels. 1866—A national convention of union veterans met at Pittsburgh to volce opposition to President John- son’s reconstruction policy. 1877—First successful experiments in quadruplex telegraphy were made between London and Liverpool. 1883—Presiednt Arthur attended the dedication of the Burnside monu- ment at Bristol, R. I. 1888—William IL, the new Ger- man emperor, set out on a round of visits to the European sovereigns. 1891—Rev. San.uel D. Burchard, originator of the phrase, “Rum, Ro- manism, and Rebellion,” which was supposed to have cost Mr. Blaine the presidency in 1884, died at Saratoga, Né Y. Born at Steuben, N. Y, in 1812. J The Day We Celebrate. R. M. Wahigren of the Omaha Op- tical company is just 28 years old to- day. He would have been an Omaha born boy except for having ‘been a native of Council Bluffs. William Morris, Hughes, the Aus- tralian prime minister, now recognized as one of the biggest men in British empire political circles, born in Wales, fifty-two years ago today. Allan M. Fletcher, former governor of Vermont and recent unsuccessful candidate for the republican senatorial nomination, born in Indianapolis, sixty-three years ago today. Paul O. Husting, United States sena- tor from Wisconsin, born at Fond du Lac, Wis., fifty years ago today. Bishop Wilbur P. Thirkield of the Methodist Episcopal church, born at Franklin, O., sixty-two years ago today. Charles Edward Russell, well known author, and socialist candidate for president in 1912, born at Daven- port, la., fifty-six years ago today. Dr. Charles A, Lory, president of Colorado Agricultural college, born at Sardls, O., forty-four years'ago today. Dr. Joseph H. Hertz, formerly of New York, now chief rabbi of the British empire, born in Hungary forty- four years ago today. Timely Jottings and Reminders. Charles E. Hughes, republican nomi- nee for president, is to be the chief speaker at a big rally to be held at Dayton today to mark the formal opening of the republican state cam- pdign in Ohlo. Men who built a million horse- drawn vehicles last year will meet in Cincinnati today for the forty-fourth annual convention of the Carnegie Builders' National association. Plans to protect Canadian labor against the vast influx of foreign workers expected after the close of the war in Burope to be the chief subject of consideration at the thirty- second annual session of the trades and labor congress of Canada, meeting today at Toronto. The coast guard board of life sav- ing appliances will meet in Boston today to examine and test inventions that have been submitted to the serv- jce for saving life and property at sea. Members of the National Grain Dealers’ association, representing the trade in all sections of the country, will assemble in Baltimore today for their annual conventicn. Former Senator Albert J. Beveridge of Indiana is to be the principal out- side speaker at the annual banquet to e given by the Middlesex - club in oston tonight. Chemists from all over the country are expected in New York today for the opening of a great convention and exposition to be held under the aus- pices of the Ameri Chemical so- clety. g Delegates representing prominent French Catholic socleties throughout the United States are to confer today at Woonsocket, R. I, on plans for the formation of a national federation. The claims of Indianapolis to a lo- cation for one of the farm loan banks to be established under the rural cred- its gct will be presented today at a hearing of the federal farm loan board in the Indiana capital, ThePees LeSHer Save the Over-Worked Horse. Omaha, Sept. 23.—To the Editor of The Bee: . “‘Should the willing, faith- ful horse strain and tug his useful life away when it could so easily be avolded?” I asked myself that ques- tion after watching, last evening be- tween 5:30 and 6 o'clock a heavy heaped-up coal wagon, belonging to one of our local coal companies, being hauled up the gradual slope from Fifteenth to Sixteenth on Harney by two worn out horses who, to begin with, had not even the frames of work | horses and who had become so at- tenuated that it seemed as if they would break every poor, lean apology for a muscle in their willing, faithful bodies. Half way up, one of the poor creatures slipped in one of the water- filled holes in our city pavement and fell with all his weight upon his straining bony knees. He struggled to his feet and, as a matter of course, kept on tugging in an almost impos- sible effort to stir the heavy load. At last, after stumbling and slipping against each other, the horses reached the rough cobble stones between the car tracks and, fastening their hoofs there, they managed to drag the heavy load up the hill. Should these poor, thin, worn-out beasts be used to do the work that is only fit for strong, heavy, muscular work horses? At least, if they are used for that purpose, why is not an extra horse put on to pull a load of this kind up this hill, and others where the strain. is so great on man’s faithful friend—the horse? A G Why the University Should Teach Typewriting, Genoa, Neb., Sept. 23.—To the Edi- tor of the Bee: In a recent issue of The Bee I note with much interest an article from our state regent, Frank L. Haller, severely criticisig the Oma- ha Commercial club, as well as many others over the state for passing a resolution ‘“requesting the establish- ment of a business chair of merchan- dising in connection with the school of commerce at our state university, and that typewriting and shorthand be added there, to.” He also states that E. M. Spear of our little city is alone responsible for the agitation of this move. Being personally ac- .quainted with Mr. Haller in a business way for many years, I judge from the tone of his letter that he thinks he is sitting in his Omaha office chair dictating replys to many of their terri- torial dealers who have complained of the failure of a certain farm machine to do its work satisfactory, thus: My Dear Bir. “Your letter at hand and am Indeed very much surprised to hear of the trouble you are having with this particular machine. We have hundreds of dealers out over our territory who are selling them with great success, not having recelved a single complaint from one of them. You must be mistaken. You have set it up wrong or lack the ability to operate it and etc.”” Mr. Spear is but one of the many hundreds of business men over our state who sees the great injustice of class legislation. Our brother farmer can send his sun to our state institution and have him equipped and qualified to return and make a successful farmer, but our sons return to us with a classic educa- tion, but woefully lacking in practical business knowledge. To get this we are compelled to send them to private institutions, at a great expense, say- ing nothing of the extra time re- quired. Why should our local high schools establish this expensive branch for the few in each locality that must qualify themselves with these neces- sary branches? Business now days re- quires rapidity and our sons must ac- quire it or make a business failure, and no one knows it better than you do. Then why take this arbitrary stand? We seek equal rights and de- mand them at the bar of justice. H. M. M'FAYDEN. Are Abstractor’s Charges Excesive. Omaha, Sept. 28.—To the Editor of The Bee: I am about to mortgage my property and must have my ab- stract continued to date. The abstrac- tor enters on my abstract a short tran- script of the deed to myself and my wife and two mortgages with two re- leases thereof, for which he charges $3.60. It appears that my deed was recorded ten days after this same ab- stractor last extended the abstract, and for certifying as to judgments and suits for the ten days, and as to my- self and wife, he charges me $4. For certifying as to taxes he charges $2, | making a total of $9.50, less $1.90 dis- | count for three pages of ordlnary typewritten matter, which requires less | than one hour's work at the court | house. About a i ago, I had an abstract extended and at the rate then | paid, this bill would have been $4.80 When [ complained to the abstractor, he answers me by saying that he and | his fellow abstractors have raised the | price. |” Upon further inquiry T learn that sometime ago an atfempt was made by some of the leading abstractors of | Omaha to form a corporation for the | purpose of avoiding competition and raising the priee of abstracts. This apparently falled, but an agreement was entered into between the ab- stractors which, as far as the public is concerned, has had the same effect, and as a result the price which the public now is obliged to pay for ab- stract work has been raised 25 per cent and 40 per cent, Is not this a matter which the county attorney ought to look into? If not, is it not about time that we ser- fously consider the matter of introduc- ing the Torrens system? A. MORRISON SMILING LINES. “What did your wife say about that lie you told her?" “The one she nalled me in?" “Yes."” “I caught her in a good humor, so the Ille passed off as a fib."—Loulsville Courier- Journal. | He—TYour cousin Alice looked awfully bored at the party last night. 8he—Oh, I don't know. He—But I do. Wasn't I talking to her nearly the whole evening—Boston Tran- script. “Is his word good?" “I don’t know as to that. Tve never taken his word for anything, but I've got four of his notes that weren't any good."— Detroit Free Press. “I am not afral ever marry in hai “Why not?” “It will take at least six months to pre- pare any trousseau she would consider fit to marry In.”” Kansas City Journal. hat my daughter will TEAR MR, KABIBRLE, \WHAY 18, YOUR YDEA OF i ~—HECKE) KRIZBENG Obnoxlous Sultor—Angling, eh? And have you caught a flsh yet? Dolly—Only one—and he looked so much Iike you that I threw him back!—Puck. Here's a mlillionaire says rich men soon get tired of riding in limousines.” “I don't notice that any of them are tak- ing measure to recuperate from that speclal fatigue.'—Baltimore American. Sillicus—In trying to please a woman what is the first thing to do? Cynicus—Make a fool of yourself over her. —Judge. Diner—Seo here, waiter, this Water isn't fit to drink; it's discolored. Walter (lifting glass und_replacing it)— Oh, no, sir, the water's perfectly all right; it's only the glass what's dirty.—Boston Transcript. “While out west dld you see many cow- boys?"" “Troops of them." “But I thought barbed-wire fences had largely displaced cowboys in the cattle country.” ) I wasw't in the cattle country. 1 vis- fted a motion-plcture city.”—Birmingham Age-Herald. EYES. L The unfriendly eyes Of those who gaze Can keep my feet In narrow ways; Like a crawling worm Or a convict serving A lengthy term; They can weld strong chains ‘With which to fetter But they do not make My life any better. pid But the triendly oyen With love ashine Can fathom the depths Of this soul of mine; Can loosen the fetters That long have bound, And disperse the gloom That has gathered around; And I find my feet Left free to tread The path of service That leads ahead. Omaha. —BAYOLL NE TRELE. el — S— To California September 24th to October 8th—via\ Rock Island Lines—Tourist Sleeping Cars daily via Colorado—the scenic route—and via El Paso—the direct route of lowest alti- tudes. Choice of Three Routes Via Colorado Scenic Route to Salt Lake City —thence Western Pacific thro’ Feather River Canyon. Via Colorado Scenic Route to Salt Lake City and Ogden—thence Southern Pacific. Via El Paso and New Mexico—the direct route of lowest altitudes in connection with the E. P. & S. W. and Southern Pacific. For tickets and reservations J. S. McNALLY, D. P. A,, 14th and Farnam. W. O. W. Bldg. SALES AND SERVICE STATION HOLMES-ADKINS CO., Chassis, $325.00 Runabout, $345.00 Coupelet, $505.00 24th and N Streets Touring Car, $360.00 Sedan, $645.00 Town Car, $595.00 F. 0. B. DETROIT |