The Peoples Voice (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 1897 Page: 3 of 10
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RAILROAD QUESTION'.
*N ABLE DISCUSSION OF THE
SUBJECT BY JOHN DAVIS.
lrrndent Itlpley of the Sunt* Fe Hystoin
liamuarml by % man Mho li «* n t «le m
ktudy of the Irmupurllllttu problem
in all 1U pliniN.
[OOVTINUKD PKOM I,AST WKKK. ]
Kditor of the Kansas Commoner!
When wo coil tempi a to the blunder-
iug rascality of the corporate manage-
ment of the American railroads, the
patriotic mind is disposed to inquire
for a better way. And, then, when
the hanquinary feature is considered;
when it is understood that more peo-
ple are annually killed and wouuded
in America than by any other railway
management on earth; that the annu-
al casualties—the unnual number kill-
ed and wounded, are nearly forty
thousaud persons—about equal to two
battles of Shiloh—the thinking and
civilized man is appalled and must cry
out in anguish—"who shall deliver us
from the body of this death?"
There is but one way or method of
relief. The railroads—these American
public highways—the most magnifi-
cent system of public transportation
in the world, must be wrestled from
the highway men who now hold and
control them for the sole purpose of
despoiling the people and enriching
themselves. The people through their
national and state governments must
possess, hold aud control their own
public roads. There is no other just,
reasonable or safe course.
But how can this policy be adopted?
The reply is plain, practicable and
easy. The people now own the roads.
The title is in the people and cannot
be alienated. Neither Congress nor a
state legislature, nor any power In
this country can either sell or give
away a railroad, without the unanim-
ous consent of the people. All have a
title in the public highways, and they
cannot be sold or transferred to pri-
vate parties without the consent of all.
No legislative body can sell or trans-
fer a railroad to a private party any
more than it can sell or transfer the
Mississippi river or lake Michigan to
a private party. All arc public high
wayB, and all the people alike have
commercial and property rights in
them. To alienato them without the
consent of all is confiscation of proper-
ty rights of the living as well as of the
iioborn that are to come after us. This
country cannot be justly or lawfully
dismembered in that way. In effect
all the courts are a unit on this sub
ject; and, judging by the facts of his-
tory since 18G1, the American people
are of the same opinion.
A railroad corporation owning a rail-
way in this country as a private party
would be a government within a goy
eminent, with hostile interests. That
condition of things cannot exist One
is a government in the interest of the
people; the other in the interest of
certain private parties who are, often,
a iens. No corporation can bo solely
entrusted with the uncontrolled man-
agement of the public highways of the
nation.
Private property in this country may
be condemned, taken and paid for in
accordance with law, for public use
only. If a strip of private land is so
taken on which to build a public high
way in the form of a railway, and that
railway should afterwards be trans
ferred to a private party, the lands
must revert to the former owners. The
railroad loses its public character, and
becomes a mere tresspass subject to
ejectment by the owners of the lands.
The question of abstract title being
settled the next step is, how c^i the
people, through their governments be
come possesssd of their public roads?
There arc several ways:
first; the corporations hold certain
franchises, or charter rights granted
them cither by the national 01* state
governments. These grants name cer-
tain specified terms on which the cor-
porate franchises or rights may be re
tained and enjoyed, on the part of the
railway companies. Any violation of
the terms of those chartered rights
works a forfeiture of the franchises,
and the roads naturally and lawfully
drop into the hands of the government
(state or national) that granted the
charter.
In reply to this it is claimed that the
companies in some cases, have built
the roads with their own money, and
that they have vested property rights
in the roads. Granted; but, they put
their money in the roads on certain
specified terms named in their char-
ters. A violation of these specified
terms must work legal forfeiture, and
then, if the companies can show that
they still possess equities let them do
so in due course of law and recover
their money- There is nothing wrong
or unusual about that. They surely
cannot lawfully hold and operate the
roads while they are daily violating
the charters through which they de-
rive all their rights. The roads are,
ultimately, the property of the people
and they cannot be alienated.
Second: the government may buy
the equities of the companies, and thus
gain possession of the roads. That
does not mean to buy all of the false
capitalization piled up by forgery and
means a purchase of the equities in
cases where the companies actually
poasess equities which, on examina-
tion will be teen to be a mere moiety
of the present fictitious amounts of
forged capitalization.
Should certain companies refuse to
surrender their alleged rights, then
let the roads Im% condemned and takeu
on payment for the corporate equities.
Or, if preferred oriHhe part of the gov-
ernment, let the roads l e paralleled
by competing lines, built aud handled
by the government This policy will
bring the overgrown corporations to
rcasou as soon as earnestly adopted.
Hut, what would be the gaiu by got
eminent possession and management
of the railways?
1 answer, (I) unity of management,
and the regularity and reduction of
rates. (2) Consolidation of the entire
system, and the discarding of all cost-
ly appendages now maintained by
those petty and oerpetual annoyances,
known among the roads as "competi-
tion," which now exists now only in
name to fool the people. It is estima-
ted that through unity of management
by the general government, at least
one hundred and sixty million dollars
per annum would bo saved. (3) The
present payment 011 tictition capitali-
zation, amounting to not less than
three hundred million dollars annual-
ly, would, also, be saved. (4) These
savings would enable the government
to employ a greater number of men in
the operation of the roads, with short-
er hours and better pay. (." ) Uovern-
ment management would eliminate
the millionaire railway kings; aud the'
iminensi) saving thus effected would}
reduce the charges for transportation
of passengers, freights, and the U. £.
mails to a mere fraction of present
rates. These highway men, known as
railway kings, are the most costly ap-
pendages of our railway system. Their
greed is unappeasable, and the waste
through incompetence and petty hos-
tilities toward each other, are incom-
prehensible. (6) Under government
management the operation of the
roads would be far better, more econ-
omic, more business like, and more
satisfactory. This fact is often proven
by the usual practice of the incompe-
tent corporations, which, when they
get their matters into a general and
hopeless tangle, hand the roads over
to a government "receivership." The
courts quiet!y take the roads in baud,
undo the tangle, remedy the difficul-
ties and hand them back to the in com
potent corporations. This practice is
so common that all have seen examples
pass all nations on earth in the de-
struction of life and property? It is
the legitimate result of corporate greed
and parsimouy. Government manage-
ment would change all this. Human
life would be respected, and the loss
property prevented- The eight or ten
hour day would be adopted. The ex-
tra crew carried on long runs could be
armed as a defense against train rob-
bers, all in the government service.
And, in the case of a wreck, there
would be double the men on board to
help recover from the disaster.
The whole case may now be stated
I in the form of an alternative. Shall
the American people continue to sub-
mit their property and their lives to
spoliation aud destruction by alien
coi porations? Or, shall the people as-
sume the possession and management
of their own public highways? Shall
we continue to fatten those great rail-
way kings whose business it is to rob
and destroy us? Or. shall we pay our
money to our own public servants,
whose surplus earnings will go into
the public treasury for the benefit of
the people?
For the present I end these brief
discussions of a very great subject
On its proper disposal depend the pros-
perity, and the very liberties of the
freeest people on earth. If 1 have said
anything which appears untrue or un-
reasonable to any of my readers, I
hope they will so state in the columns
of the Commoner, that the matter may
be settled on the basis of truth and
justice. Uespecufully submitted.
John Davis,
Junction City, Kan.
DIRECT LEGISTATION.
IT WOULD REDUCE THE NUMBER
OF LAWS,
l.aw« on which people * t direct woultl 1
he aurh a* arc neetled ami would he .
enforced l jr the people «li« made (
them.
Direct legislation proposes this: |
Whenever any law is pronounced un-
constitutional by that fact, without .
any further action, it becomes impera-
tive to refer the law in question to a
yoto of the people. The decision of
the people settles at once and without j
any further dispute the constitutional-
ity of the law. If affirmed by the peo- j
pie it has behind it precisely the same ;
sanctions which make any part of the
constitution binding, to-wit: the ap- i
proval of the legislature aud also of J
COLORS ON OUR HILLS. 1
VARIED TINTS TO BE USED ON
PAPER MONEY.
Secretary Case'* Scheme Ft plained - I
Facli Denomination and Karh Kind of
a Note to Ite l>Utlngul*lied bjr Color
—"High" Art Discarded. V
HE new paper
money, printed in
different colors,
will goon be in cir-
culation. Some ot
the designs have
already been pre-
pared, and others
are being executed
at the Itureau of
Engraving. All of
them will undergo
criticism and more or less alteration
before final acceptance. President Mc-
Kinley has expressed bis approval of
the idea in a general way, and Secre-
tary Gage is anxious to issue the notes
and certificates as quickly as possible.
Being a banker himself, ho fully ap-
preciates the defects of the currency
the people. It is evident that such a
procedure would have several whole-
some results; first, the judges would
be lieptSinder a realizing sense of their
responsibility, for the judge himself
would bo put on trial before the court
of last resort, the people; secoud, a
law receiving such endorsement would
have binding force, for there would be | now In the hands of the people. It
The bankers are very much opposed
to the state of the law which allows
co-operative colonies to issue labor
no question of power behind it. And
third, this would eoinpel much greater
care in framing laws than is now used.
Direct legislation would 1 er.sen in a
great degree the number of laws. At
the last session of the state legislature
of Michigan nearly eleven hundred
bills were introduced and some four
hundred were passed; of these only a
j few were of general application to the
stale, the rest were local measures.
I'nder direct legislation local self-gov-
ernmcnt would inevitably result. It
is notorious that the mass of local bills
are passed, not after due deliberation,
checks, these checks being employed , but at the persouui request and on the
as currency by the colonists. The j individual indorsement of members
bankers do" not allege that this prae- ' from each locality. It cannot be oth-
tiee has pr.vcntad them fro n gaining erwise. Only the voters aud tax-pay-
the usual profits of their business, but ers of a village know whether they
they do say that these bits of paper ! <ed and wish to pay for a bridge over
are an element of peril. The idea may 'he udjacent creeL. 1 lie legislators in
be taken up by a corporation of some ' general cannot know. All local meas-
klnd and then the country "would be '"res ought to be, nnr. under direct leg-
flooded" with substitutes for bank j islation would be settled by the citi-
curreney. The contemplation of sucit /ens of the locality interested. I his
atiiing as the circulation of substitutes would leave to the state legislature the
for bank currency plunges the philan- | consideration of measures affecting the
trophic bankers into the wildest alarm. | whole state. There would be ample
Accordingly, the American Hankers'
Association will be asked to look into
the question and, if necessary, prepare
a bill prohibiting any currency of any
kind that is not issued under the cur-
rency laws. This would mean that
come to an end, and
of commodities on
•n the exchange
the co-operative
plan would be next to impossible if ,'t is now there is a constant Hood of
lhis principle of legality is to prevail, laws which, having no public opinion
Here we have an instance of the sharp- behind them, are not enforced. This
uess with which the financiers look breeds a general contempt for the
out for their own interests. The labor .law s; not a safe or wholesome thing,
checks have not done them any harm, Br. David Inglis, in the Michigan
but they are already attacking them I<aw Journal.
because they contain limitless po&si liFTIl'ING THC (il'FKMiAi lv-
bilities of "mischief."—Twentieth Cen- ]I] spceeh at St. IjouIs eoncern-
tury. ' ing the retirement of the greenbacks,
1 Mr. liryan said:
The t'ltlmate Security. ... ' .
I " e are opposed to the retirement
'lhe national bank notes are secured 0f the greenback, and when we oppose
i it we are applying to this question the
by deposits of government bonds. In
consideration of such deposits the
United States undertake* to see that
the note holder will lose nothing, even
if the bank fails. When a national
bank goes into liquidation its notes are
called in and redeemed by the govern-
ment, and thus it happens that no note
of the successful government manage-j the circulation of labor checks must
ment, as compared with corporate in-
capacity. (7) The management of the
roads by the government, employing
more men with shorter hours would
save a very large per centage of the
present railway carnage.
There are many causes of railway
accidents, among which are prominent;
(1) crossings at the same grade; (2)
varieties of couplings; and (3) curva-
ture of tracks. All of these causes are
intensified by the overwork of the
yard men. In fact, all other causes of
accidents in existence are intensified
by the employment of overworked and
exhausted men. Take the case of an
engineer after a run of a dozen or
twenty hours without rest; can he see
the signal with the clearness of a fresh
man? May he not, often, approach
crossings with less carefulness when
exhausted than when rested? Can lie
keep in his mind the exact location
and radius of the numerous curves of
the track, that ho may approach them
with a safe speed, when worn out as
well as when rested?
Hut engineers have told me that
when on long and exhausting runs,
they often steal a little sleep, permit-
ting the fireman to have charge of the
engine. That is to say, an incapable
man takes charge of the engine be-
cause the engineer is worn out and
must have rest. That is risky; and,
when the fireman must look into the
white blaze of the furnace attending
to the fire, it diverts his attention and
so dims his sight that lie loses the lo-
cation of the crossings aud curves of
the road, and it disables him from
seeing aud obeying signals, and thus
bad accidents often occur. In all cases
of long and exhausting runs, a dupli-
cate crew should be kept on board, and
no conductor, engineer, fireman, or
other important man should be allow-
ed to remain on duty more than six or
eight consecutive hoars without rest
This is the rule adopted in many of
the great industrial establishments,
where the work is exhausting, and,
it is necessary that it proceed safely.
In some of the great rolling mills, cer-
tain men near the exhausting heat are
changed every half hour. In some of
the great w indow glass factories they
change blowers hourly. In all of the
great industries men are limited as to
hours of continuous work. In the C.
S. army men on guard are changed
every two hours. But on the Ameri-
can railways, where men have charge
of human life and immense amounts of
property they are compelled or per-
mitted to remain on duty, it is said,
from ten to twenty or more eoutinu-
timc for real consideration, the knowl-
edge that the people could at any time
veto the action of the legislators would
compel careful consideration. A few
well devised laws would be passed and
the legislators would retire to their
homes. There would be a great sav-
ing in expense, and such laws as were
passed would not be dead letters. As
may be artistic, but the various de-
nominations are not easily distinguish-
able from each other, and even the
numerals on them are obscure and
hard to mako out. Thin makes count-
ing troublesome, i.nd a person has to
look sharp if he would avoid giving a
$3 note for a $1.
Secretary Gage Is of the opinion that
everyday usefulness is of more impor-
tance in tho currency of the nation
than high art. Pretty pictures of re-
cumbent ladies and naked boys are
well enough in their way, but tliey cut
no particular lee, so to speak, In con-
nection with hard and vulgar cash.
The most important point in a piece of
paper money is It shall be easily recog-
nizable. Its denomination must be ap-
parent at a glance, and its kind also,
whether treasury note, bank note, or
certificate. Of course, safety against
counterfeiting Is not to be lost sight
of. It Is believed that all of these re-
quirements are met by the new de-
signs. Anybody who has a handful of
these bills will be able to separate
them in an instant into their different
classes, so as to count them offhand
and without scrutiny. At the same
time, the greater simplicity of their
patterns will render tliein actually
more difficult to imitate successfully.
The very elaborateness ot tho notes
now in circulation confuses the eye.
For illustration, take the $1 bill. The
designs for this denomination are al-
ready finished, and are very handsome
There aro only two, one for the face
and one for the back, berause all $1
bills will have the same patterns,
whether certificates, hank notes,
treasury notes. When you see a bill
with a big spread eagle In the middle
of tho face, you will recognize it as a
$1, without even looking at the large
numeral beneath. How, then, are you
to understand what kind of a $1 bill
!t Is? The answer Is, simply by the
•olor In which the big numeral of de-
i jomination, the treasury seal and the
number of the bill are printed. If it
s a treasury note, these will be in
•ed; If a silver certificate, they will
oe in green; if a bank note, they will
je in blue. There will be no other
inferences, except that each kind of
are preacribed formulas for the mix-
tures required for various purpose*.
For the faces of the treasury notes and
certificates for example some P-ussiwi
blue is added to the black powder to
give brightness to the black ink. The
mixture Is thoroughly stirred and sift-
ed, after which it Is combined with
linseed oil and fed tn a machine with
steel rollers. The machine grinds it.
and finally ejects it as a beautiful,
smooth printing Ink. It Is poured Into
Iron buckets, which are labeled "Legal
Tender." this being the technical name
for the particular preparation de-
scribed.
For the brown backs of the national
bank notes the mixture is composed of
Venetian red, orange mineral, vermil-
ion—the best quality from quicksilver
ore and some black. The gold figures
on the faces of the gold certificates are
of chrome yellow, vermilion and white
lead; but the treasury Is not printing
any gold certificates nowadays. The
most Important color used Is chrome
green, 280.000 pounds of which are
used annually for the greenbacks
alone. It Is a beautiful emerald pow-
der. All the mixtures are converted
into ink In the same way, with linseed
oil. Every twelvemonth the treasury
uses 50,000 pounds of Paris white. 68,-
000 pounds of hard black, 3!>,000
pounds of soft Mack, 2,.100 pounds of
vermilion, 1,G00 pounds of Venetian
red, 7,000 pounds of Prussian blue,
2,000 pouuds of chrome yellow, 4,000
pounds of orange mineral. 500 pounds
of Indian red, 500 pounds of Ital-
ian burnt sienna, and 100 pounds
of Chinese blue. Tills does not Include
the Ink required for the postage
stamps. The money is all printed by
hand, and each printer gets every
morning his day's allowance of it, for
every bit of which he Is obliged to ac-
count.
The fiber paper Is to be retained in
the new currency. It is deemed an ex-
tra safeguard against counterfeiting,
though criminals have found several
ways of getllng over the difficulty.
retired? Is it the national bank?
Why? Because it is the national bank
that ivaut the money that the peopla
now save by using the greenback.
* ' Why opposed to retiring the greeu-
holder ever lost a. dollar under the j hack? Because we are opposed to
present system.
liut what makes the national bank
bank notes secure? The government's
credit. Are they any more secure than
the greenbacks, which rest upon the
government credit and the govern-
ment's promise of redemption? Not at
all, since both rest upon precisely the
same foundation.
Therefore, so far as security is con-
cerned, the public would would be
equally safe whether the paper money
principle of equality before the law.
.Vho is it that wants the greenbacks | 5nj wm have its own legend. lJut peo-
ple do not want to stop and read the
legend in order to find out whether a
bill Is a bank note or a certificate.
They do not have to do so, inasmuch
is the color shows that."
At present there are three different
designs of $1 hills. Under the new
farming out to individuals the fuuc*
tions of government. Wo are opposed
to picking out the bankers as the fav-
orite sons and giving them a coat o1
many colors to the detriment of the
people.
tkl wonder if you have all examined
this question until you understand the
real secret of this demand? The pres-
ident of a New York national bank
gave testimony before a committee ol
congress; that testimony is a matter ol
of the country is issued by the govern- j record. He declared himself in favor
ment direct or by national banks se- . of retiring the greenback and treasury
cured by deposits of government bonds, notes with a per cent gold bond, lie
The ultimate security in each case is ! thought the bond would float at par,
the government's credit. If the gov- and then he said if the government
ernment issues the notes direct, it would allow the national banks to is-
saves interest on the whole issue; if
the notes are issued through national
banks, the government pays the inter-
est on the bonds deposited to secure
them.
The proposition, that is now under
discussipn, of retiring the national
bank notes, instead of retiring the
greenbacks, and issuing an additional
volume of greenbacks to take the place
of tho national bank notes, may be
characterized in some quarters as a re-
vival of tiatism, but it is nothing of the
kind, since it is proposed to make every
United States note rodeemabl
now, in coin. The entire burden of
specie redemption is now upon the gov-
ernment It would be the same if the
national bank notes were retired. Hut
if all government notes are retired and
their places filled by national bank
issues, then the burden of specie re-
demption would of necessity be placed
upon the banks. Would the banks be
sue up to par all the bonds and take
tho tax off circulation, lie thought the
issue of bauk notes would be suffi-
ciently largo so that the national
banks would issue their notes to take
the place of the greenbacks and treas-
ury notes retired.
"Now that is the calm and deliber-
ate statement of a president of a na-
tional bank. I want to analyze it and
see what it means. The retirinent of
§500,000,000 of greenbacks and treas-
ury notes, with an issue of per cent,
gold bonds would mean that the peo-
as ( pie would tax themselves 315,000,000 a
year to pay the interest on the bonds
before they came due, and then tax
themselves §500,000,000 to pay the
bonds when they becarnc due. Then
the banks would take those bonds, de-
posit them, issue notes at par and bo
relieved of any tax on circulation.
What docs it mean? If the bonds iloat
at par it means that a bank can organ-
us capable ot maintaining specie re- ize with 5100,000 capital, buy 8100,000
ous hours without rest. And cases | demptiou in times of depression and worth of bonds, issue 8100,000 worth of
have been reported where records of; panic as is the government? Could the
forty or fifty hours have been reached,
resultiug in the wreck of trains and j
the loss of life and property.
banks have maintained specie redemp-
tion in 1803 and 1894 if the burden had
been upon them? These are important
This is a picture of the corporate I questions which must be answered in
management of our American rail- j the coming discussion of currency re-
fraud by the corporations. It merely roads. Is it auy wonder that w« si r- form.—The Representative.
uotes on them, and then have back in
notes the exact amount paid for the
bonds; so that the bank would have
nothing invested, but would draw in-
terest at 83,000 a year, and that beat'
any investment in any enterprise J
know of, even with confid —uia restored
arrangement there will be only one de-
sign, the sole variation being in the
colors, as described. It will be the
same way with the $2 bill; instead of
three patterns there will be one. This
scheme vill be carried out through all
r)f the denominations of paper money.
There are nine denominations in all.
Running from $1 to $1,000. Under the
present system there are 27 patterns.
Just think of it—27 sorts of paper cur-
rcncy! It is enough to confuse the
people, especially when it is consid-
ered that during the last few years the
ilesigns have been undergoing radical
changes with every new administra-
tion. Obviously, counterfeits are much
more likely to be detected if the users
of the currency are thoroughly famil-
iar with its appearance, so as to be
struck by anything that is not exactly
as it should be.
For the new $2 bill a head of Wash-
ington has been chosen provisionally.
On either side of it two classical fig-
ures of tho allegorical sort will re-
cline. Thus something will be done
for art incidentally. It would be a
mistake to suppose that the new mon-
ey is to be executed In a spirit of
commercial Philistinism; on the con-
trary, it will be very handsome indeed.
One thing very noticeable about It is
the broad blank spaces which are left
on both face and back of each bill.
Something like one-third of the entire
area of the note in each case Js a
blank. The back has not so much as
one-half of the usual amount of lathe-
worK engraving. The purpose of this
modification Is twofold. It will show
the distinctive fiber in the paper much
more plainly, and the eye in examin-
ing a bill will be less confused.
One of the largest items of expendi-
ture in the Treasury department is for
colored inks used in printing the pa-
per money, revenue stamps and post-
age stamps. Nearly 1,200.000 pounds
of these are required annually. The
materials *re bought in the shape of
dry colors, which are mixed with lin-
seed oil. Tho colors must be the very
finest, and some of them, particularly
red, are very costly. They reaeh the
JUST A FAMILY AFFAIR.
Tlio Umpire of the ltuHohull (Imim U«
KverTliocly Into Trouble.
"Of course 1 used to play base ball,"
declared the old resident to the De-
troit Kree Press man. "Very few
healthy men have grown up in the
last forty years without indulging
more or less In the national sport and
I'm convinced that we're a hardier peo-
ple for having adopted it. But it has
ils drawbacks and I'll be content for
the rest, of my days just to read about
some of the most Interesting games,
without making comments or offering
an opinion. Last fall we had our fam-
ily reunion. We are a large relation-
ship and nearly a hundred wore pres-
ent at the gathering. After a few of
the patriarchs had made their
speeches, telling stories aud cracking
Jokes that we hear every year, some
of the young and middle-aged men
proposed a game of baseball. My
blood warmed right up and I was as
eager to play as was my grandson, but
they lot me down by choosing me for
umpire. I was disappointed, but be-
ing rather an Influential member ot
(he tribe I accepted the responsibility,
giving fair notice that there should
be no appeal from my decisions, All,
went merrily enough till I called ona
of my big nephews out on a foul
bound. He was so mad that he could
do nothing but sputter at flrst, but he
finally got out the announcement that
I was about as unmitigated an old
chump as it had ever been his fortune
to encounter. I insisted at flrst on
having him put oft the grounds, but
there were difficulties connected with
this because of the backing that ral-
lied to his support. I dropped the mat-
ter after giving him and his supporters
a piece of my mind. A few mlttijSw
later I called a little grandson out for
knocking the ball over the fence. lie
talked so recklessly about the matter
that I took him over my knee. His
mther Interfered, there was about as
lively a five minutes as you ever saw,
the game broke up aud next year there
will be no reunion." r ' V
SuppoHo lie Tries Whinky.
I'rom the Cleveland Leader: A
learned scientist says that the whole
human system is full of microbes, and
that a person is healthy as long as ills
microbes are in good condition. The
question now is, what can a fellow
take that will always be good for his
microbcs?
SCRAPS.
A Frenchman estimates ' nat there
are in ths world about 10,000 libraries,
worthy of the name.
A grerter number of men than wom-
en become stout late in life. No satis-
factory explanation is offered ot this
fact.
The long tails of the Shah of Persia's
horses are dyed crimson for six inches
at their tips—a jealously guarded
privilege of the ruler and his sons.
Tho King of Siam carries back to
his country from ICurope a big box
filled with nothing but Insignia of dis-
tinguished orders conferred on him by
b'other ncnarchs.
Tho annual consumption ol wine In
France is estimated at one billion gal-
lons. This, by the way, is the exact
quantity produced in that country In
1S98.—New York Post.
Padlocks are being manufactured
with an auxiliary chamber which car-
ries an explosive to be fired by a ham-
mer Inside the lock and giv# an alarm
when the leek is tampered with.
The average mental and physical
strength of the women of the royal
families of Europe is greater than that
of the men.
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Allan, John S. The Peoples Voice (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 1897, newspaper, December 3, 1897; Norman, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc115799/m1/3/?q=+date%3A%2A-1905: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.