davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22

from 81 to 81 a ton, or from the f1uctu-
ations in price when a pool does not
control prices. 1t would put the state
in position to reap some of the benefits
of pool methods by the increase of
taxes that would result from the in
crease in price of ores. If it be urged
that this would not only tax the ore
but the subsequent charges of trans
portation, it may be answered that it
is no more than what the state does to
the railways. If, however, it is deem
ed better to make a fat tax per ton,
then the rate proposed by the Reeves
bill is not excessive, while the rate
adopted by the house is below the av-
erage on other property. The average
rate Of taxation in the state is % mills
which, at an average of $3.65 a ton
for ore, would amount to SOB cents
a ton. But, whatever. method is adopt
ed, one thing is clear; this session of
the legislature cannot afford to go back
to the people with any action indicat-
ing that the iron interests have been
more influential with it than are the
interests Of the people
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
CLEAN ALL SIDEWALKS
An Important Bill Before the Legis-
Iature.

To the Editor Of the Globe.
VIII you please let me call the attention
OF your readers to the fact that a bill is be-
fore the state legislature which proposes to
give the city council authority and power to
clean all sidewalks in winter and keep them
free from snow unless this is done by the
owners of property adjoining the sidewalks.
The bill is proposed by my friend Mr.. Snyder,
who is, l firmly believe, an able and hon
est man. | am sorry he has presented the
proposed bill. 1t is, in my judgment, step,
and long and important one in the wrong
direction. 1t would give vast power into the
hands of our aldermen, more than they now
have, as l understand Minneapolis is nine
miles long and seven wide, approximately.
By far the larger part of the lots are owned
by men and women of limited means, who
have complained for years that taxes are as
large as they are. The taxes on my home
are more than $50 a year. l am in favor,
strongly in favor, of clean sidewalks, but it
is not as much the business of the city au-
thoritieS to keep in order the sidewalk for
men and women to walk on as it is their
business to keep in proper condition that
part of the street on which men with car
riages drive. How is it that the owners of
property, poor men who have had to struggle
to get home, are called to bear this burden?
1t is a new thing If the council had power to
tax us for work of this kind they
would not now ask for this legislation.
All the people in the city have the advantage
OF good sidewalks, if they are good, and the
city council exists for the good of all the
people and the proper cleaning Of the side
should be introduced asking a farmer to keep
up sidewalk all the length Of his farm, give
the land upon which 1t is laid, pay for the
materials and laying of 1t, keep it in repair
in summer and keep it free from snow in
winter, such bill would be laughed to scorn
by every man in the legislature. That now
proposed is just as unreasonable. 1t is said
the council will only order the walks cleaned
in the center of the city, and only St. Paul,
Duluth and Minneapolis will be included in
the operation Of this act. If this is true, it
is fatal to the best interests Of this state.
Nothing is more demoralizing than to pass
laws which are not intended to be enforced.
| hope Mr.. Snyder will withdraw this bill.
He is too good a man to have his
name connected with legislation which will
cause the comparatively poor to curse
the men who pass it IL it be-
comes law. Let us have clean sidewalks
wherever needed; let the city clean them eff
fectively, but at as reasonable a cost as
private man would pay for like work, and the
people will bless the men who give us this
blessing. William Wilkinson.
Minneapolis, March 19.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
THEIR GREAT HEADS.
New York SUN POkes Fun at Our
Legislators.

Phrenology has been a favorite science Of
the Minnesota legislature this year, and bills
to appoint state commission of phrenologY,
a state phrenologist who is to examine not
less than 200 heads a year and an assistant
state phrenologist,. have been introduced A
learned professor of phrenology has been hav-
ing free use of the hall of the house of repre-
sentatives at night for the purpose of giving
instruction in the exterior details of head
works. In short, nowhere else has phrenology
seemed to find warmer welcome than among
the Gopher sages: and certainly it could find
nowhere else a more mountainous collection
of bumps. 1t is painful, therefore, to have
to record the fact that a member Of that
the bump man be no longer allowed to have
the hall for nothing. Phrenology is neces-
sary to sages in the law-manufacturing line.
They love to have their warehouses exam
ined. 'Your perceptive powers are remark
able" says the professor who knows a thing
or two about human peculiarities; your
tiocinations are of a high order; you have
speech developed in an unusual degree; you
carry firmness almost to the point of pugnac-
ity in behalf of any cause which interests
your extraordinarily developed faculties Of
veracity. honesty, and sympathy: the front
part of your head reminds me Of Daniel Web
ster, whose magnificent head | have often ex-
amined. and always with new admiration;
from Sir Isaac Newtons on dull afternoon.
The chart will show You to be one of the
ablest and most high minded men in this
or any other country" Why should any
member Of the Minnesota legislature wish to
eject so fatterins an analyst? Perhaps the
professor will not be disturbed, after all
New York Sun.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
In the Banana Belt.

1t is impossible to believe that there are
from thrre and one-half to five feet of snow
over certain parts Of Minnesota, and that
railroad trains have been blocked by snow
in the Dakotas The inhabitants of those
states are too CHEEKY to believe such tales
themselves. They know that they live in the
great banana belt. in the land of flowers;
and they will nots permit any superficial ap
pearances and mere shows of things to delude
them. These drifts. l''n1iles long and from
ten to thirty feet deep are of cherry bios
SONS. If any trains are stopped, they have
stopped that the passengers may eat their fill
of the oranges, the bananas, the lemons. the
olives, the datesb which grow on the trees
along the embankment. If the temperatura
has dropped it is only that the lnilkweed
may pe condensed into ice cream. If the
wind is blowing, it blows solely to break
the force of the heated wave which comes
from the impinging intelects CT the legis-
lature II the sky has been overcast. it was
from fear that the goldfish and mullet in
Devils lake would hurt their eyes All night
the early nightingale sings in Sleepy Eye.
All day the camel with ice on his head
marches across the burning sands of Bis
marck Ask the Northwestern poets next
summer if these things not so: and you
will find that all the Northwestern folks are
poets who delight to hymn their unriyaled
troDic cl:me.-New York Sun.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22

Of the ludicrous in school boy The
Journal. for example, again explains its
flop by saying that 1t insisted upon
this hospital being placed where it
would best accommodate the people for
whom it was intended. "The people for
whom it was intended" are such unfor
tunates from the entire state of Min
nesota as may need it's ministrations.
But the Journal makes clear it's mean
ing when it says that '3the location of
the hospital within the territory to be
served has been defeated" Even if one
were to accept the forced interpreta-
ton that "the territory to be served
means the northern part Of the state
instead Of the southern, what ridicu-
lous assumption it is that one city
which lies in the southern third of the
state answers this description better
than another city which lies in the
southern third of the state.
We repeat that the distance between
Hastings and Anoka in a north and
south line is only about thirty miles.
A circle drawn with St Paul in the
center, with radius of twenty-five
miles. would include both places. With
the geographical center of the state not
far from Brainerd, and with the two
competing towns lying so close to each
other that this little circle about st.
Paul and Minneapolis would include
them both, it is not worthy of serious
Journalism to talk about the geograph-
ical element as having anything what
ever to do with the choice between
them. No matter which location is the
better on general principles, one of
them answers the requirement of "the
territory to be served" north and
south, exactly as we'll as the other. 1t
is another case for getting rid of hum
bug and standing on fact
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
Rad. BUT CONSISTENT.

There is just one good feature about
the Dingley bill, and that is a bad one
1t is good only when viewed from the
policy of the whole bill and bad when
viewed from the point of view of the
simplest of human rights. 1t is har-
monious with the bad logic Of the policy.
and that is the best that can be said of
1t. 1t has whatever merit there is in
relieving the policy of inconsistency
and from the hypocrisy of former bills
framed to protect" industry. We re-
fer, of course. to the provision which
taxes the clothing bought in and
brought home from foreign countries
just the same as if it were imported
by dealer. The Wilson bill permitted
this, but that bill was only protective
by coercion; it's animus was to mt
everything possible on the free list. and
1t was consistent in giving to American
citizens the right tc buy their clothing
Wherever they could get it cheap
est But the Mckinley act and its
predecessors, while claiming to have
soIlcltude for working people, allowed
the importation by returning tourists
Tree OF tax, of practically all the wear
ing apparel they cared to bring in.
1t was to be such in quantity as s'be-
ntted the station in life" of the return
ing tourist Under that the Bradley
Martins brought home so enormous a
quantity of clothing, dresses. gowns
and other apparel from Paris as to
draw the fire of the carica turis+saeot
the time. In one case some forty odd
thousand dollars worth were brought
nome by lady and her daughter and
the courts held that the quantity was
not incompatible with their. station in
llfe When clothing was cheap abroad
anu dear here, it was the constant prac-
tee OF persons on the Atlantic coast to
make European trip for the sole DIR
pose OF laying in a stock of clothinr
making the expenses of the trin IN +bo
saving OF cost 1t was one of the scan
Gals OF former protective tariff bills. r,ut
50 powerful were the influences behind
the practice that the exemptions were
continued even in the Mckinley act
We have no doubt that did the sanoo
conditions prevail now, if clothing in
the foreign markets could be bought az
cheaply as it can in this country. tour
ISIS would still be able to make profit
out OF their tours by their saving in
purchases of apparel But so great has
been the reduction in cost of manufac-
lures OF cloths and clothing within the
past few years, and especially since
wool was free of tax, that good CLOTHING
can De bought as cheaply here as any,
where. Nothing being gained bv adj
mltt1ng free of tax the suitable and
necessary clothing of the import
ing person, the virtue of being consist
tent can be cheaply assumed and du1v
paraded. Still, useless as it NAV ba T.
is obnoxious as an assertion of right
to preclude men and women from q nos
slole opportunity to clothe themselves
with the least cost while being in strict
harmony with the purpose that runs
like a connecting thread through every
schedule of the bill.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
NARROW ESCAPE OF A SAILOR.
Owes His Life to Swordfisb That
stabbed an Approaching Shark.

Speaking of wonderful adventures"
SAID the retired sea captain, II doubt
II anything ever was more wonderf,,I
than the one I'm goingto tell YOU saws
the New Orleans Times Democrat ar
happened good many years ago b1lt
tHdt DOESN'T alter its excellence nor in
terIere with its truth / was frS+
mate on the Lovely Lou. of RanonT
ana we had been on our way to South
Ainerlca Tor about four weeks The
wiIlo nad left the ship during the last
Gay OF this period and we were dipping
our peak to lolling swell that seemei
49, ooiIe from nowhere and return to
lIe Same place without making a rim
PIE on the blue surface of the ocaap
Inc sans We're all set and thair
shadoWS fell clear upon the CLASSY civ
Iace, but where the sun fell the watar
was as clar as crystal. We were well
WlInin the tropics then and several hip
~ oiIo4 AS Aau peen seen playing about the
vessel. Suddenly there came q snIash
and the cook ran to where 7 was stanJ
ing on the poop deck, crying that one
OF the sailors had tumbled overheard
Inc Lou had no way and I laughed az
the Idea Of him drowning, telling ths
cook to throw him a rope, and watkins
TO the rail as l did So The sailor was
swimming ABOUT the quarter enjoying
MS bath when / suddenly saw an orof'
nous black fin make it's appearance a
hundred yards or 50 from the ship.
yeued for the rope and as l yelled 7
saw the fin move toward the sailor.
cutting the water like a knife.
knew that unless the man was taken
out quickly he would be devoured ann
Iushed TO the cabin grating to get A
4lne. Se1zlng piece of rope. / hasten
eu 10 the rail just in time to see the
FORM OF an immense shark turn on it's
sue sue 10 seize the sailor. AS he did so
there was an instant's glimpse Of 4
long brown body and then the water
was slashed into a sea of yeasty foam.
the shark seemingly being in trouble. /
threw the line and in a moment the
sailor was aboard scared out of his
Wits. but safe and sound. The thrash
Ing IN the water still continuing. we
proceed to investigate and directly we
were able to see that the shark had
oeen pinned by a large swordfish. the
sword running through the jaws Of the
Ilsh In such manner as to prevent the
hsh from opening them. Whether the
SHARKS antagonist had deliberately at.
lacked the shark we know not, but its
tlnely and unexpected appearance saw
ed the sailors life beyond a doubt. as
announcer instant would have sent the
teeth of the shark into the body of the
man. We managed to release the sword
from the shark and killed the latter.
letting the other go free. 1t was a mar,
row squeak, 1 tell YOU
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22

Another pretense of the MINNEAPOLIS
Journal has been exposed by the
b e in the matter of it's position
upon the location Of the fourth hospi-
tai for the insane. It cannot give anv
reason whatever for raising the uues-
ton of the need of such an Institution
at this time when that objection was
not advanced at any period Of the con-
troversy until the claims Of Hastings
had preference over tnuse Of Anoka.
The business proposition" which the
Journal puts forward proudly, that we
ought not to build another hospital for
the insane unless we actually need if
admits no dispute. That ground, as we
have said, was gone over two years
ago, and the men who know best, in
Guiding the stale board Of charities and
corrections, are as convinced now as
/ they were then that such an institu-
ton is necessary. Therefore, we say
that this question, having been settled
so far in the past, and not having
been raised again until the hopes Of
the friends Of Anoka were disappoint-
ed, leaves their motives open to pre-
ciseiy the Interpretation that was put
upon them.
This is proved and clinched by the
continued repetition of the foolish ar
gument over geographical location
which would appeal even to the sense
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
DEPARTMENT STORES.
What Mr. Nash's Proofs Do Not
Prove.
To the Editor of the Globe.

To the Editor Of the Globe.
Will you kindly permit me to take a little
Of your valuable space to discuss the argu-
ments made against the department stores at
the hearing before the senate last week.
There were several speeches made, the princi-
pal one by that great benefactor of man
kind. as he himself says, Louis Nash. Let
me examine some of Mr.. Nashs points, and
carry them to their logical conclusions In
the first place l contend that in arguing the
question from ethical standpoint Nash
made a most serious mistake. To argue a
business question from such standpoint is
like discussing a question of interest to the
Methodist church from the standpoint of Col.
1nSersoll. There is no common ground IN
either case. A man who will be successful
in business follows Of necessity an entirely
unethical career. MT. Nash first attempts
to prove that the department stores are trusts
that are grinding the life out of the purchas-
ing public. l believe it VIII be commonly
admitted that the main object of trust is
to force up the prices of commodities. Yet
even the bitterest opponents of department
stores admit that they have kept prices down.
This is the whole burden of the song against
them. The men who had small businesses
OF their own and tried to get high prices for
their merchandise. could not compete with the
lower prices offered at the large stores. It
is this which has driven the poor unfortu-
mates into bankruptcy, and has, if Mr.. Nash's
picture be true one, ruined all values and
depopulated all large cities. This argu-
ment falls to the ground by its own weight
The tendency of department stores is TO pre-
vent the formation Of trusts by offering mer-
chandise az lower rates than it is offered for
in the stores Of the small dealers
Mr.. Nash next makes this rational and
logical plea:
s'As a retail clerk, gentlemen, 1 ask you
to put yourself in my place! What is our
hope, our ambition, our aspiration, but to be-
come retail merchants ourselves in the near
future
but there should be a higher ideal than that
of profit in our existence. If human greed
and selfshness have limit, then the gov-
ernment must step in. in the interests of
common humanity. and establish a limit
His aim as retail clerk is to become re-
tail merchant, but profit is not the end OF
his existence. What would Mr. Nash go
into business for? Probably for an ethical
and humanitarian purpose. His business
would last about long as that of the other
poor merchants who have been forced to the
wall. never heard of any man going into
business for any other purpose than to make
all the money he can, whether he runs a
department store or the smallest possible en-
terprise, carrying only one line of goods.
Now, let us carry out this line Of argument
A few years from now we walk down Sixth
street, and we see over small store the
great name of that champion of the rights
of down -trodden humanity Louis Nash He
carries one single little line. Next door Is
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
SPONGE FISHING.
Method of Securing the Useful Arti-
cIes-A Trying Occupation

Lying on his chest along the boats deck.
the sponge fisher, with his water -glass-a
pane set in a box fitted with handles-looks
down forty feet into the clear depths. With
one hand he grasps and sinks a slender pole,
sometimes fifty feet in length, fitted at the
end with double hook. The sponge once
discovered, the hook is deftly inserted at the
rock base, and by a sudden jerk is detached.
This curt description or what seems the
simple work of sponge fishing gives no idea
Of the real skill and exertion needed. The
eye Of the fisher has to be trained by long
experience to peer into the and tell the
commercially valuable sponges from those
that are worthless. He must have a deft
hand to detach the sponge without a tear.
Above all, while doing this with one hand
he must manipulate with the other the
water-glass, as the waves sway it sideways
up and down. The strain on the eye and body
is most intense, to say nothing Of the
cramped position and exposure to wind and
wet, which, first and last, make almost every
sponge fisher a victim Of acute rheumatism
Yet, with all his arduous toll, an expert
sponge fisher earns not more than SIS a
month, besides his keep" on the boat. which
barely deserves the name of existence.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
SUPER STETTON
Regarding Blue Gums Among the
Negroes of the South

''While down in South Carolina recently"
sand naval officer, Il found that the col
Ored folks were terribly worked UP in con-
sequence Of the wanderings of a blue gum
negro, whose bite they regarded even
more deadly than that of a copperhead snake,
says the Washington Star. The popularity
of this bitter was that his gums were blue
and that he found the greatest satisfaction
in biting many with whom he came in con-
tact. On the 4th of January he bit another
negro on the arm, and on the 25th, three
weeks afterward, the bitten man died. The
superstition among the blacks is that a bite
of blue gum man is exactly like that of
rabid dog, and causes death by rabies or
hydrophobia. The physicians who made the
post mortem reported, however that death
was caused by blood poisoning. and that there
was nothing. like the symptoms of hydro
phoba in the case Notwithstanding this,
there were parties of negroes out hunting
fer the blue gum man, like the parties wkO
occasionally go out hunting for mad dog
and they were determined to kill him if they
caught him"
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
WITH INTENT TO A1IVSE

i guess there's trouble over at Smiths,
Yes Yes ANYWAY: Mrs. Smith just ran out
looking quite agitated, and asked where the
nearest penny-in-the-slot divorce nacb;-lo
was. Detroit Journal
Cumso-Why don't Mr. GilgaI and Miss
Perkasie get married?
Cawker-Shyness on both sides
How do you make that out?'
ohe is shy little thing by nature. and
ne Is shy Of cash. Detroit Free Press.
''I can especially recommend this gown for
service" said the clerk
SIR, said the young lady. with her
naughtlest lntonation, Il am not going out
to service. Cincinnati Enquirer.
Tradesman-You want pair of sIipners for
your mother, Ell? Do you know What si9a
slippers she wears? size
Boy-smallest ye got, boss. She wears 'em
out on me.--Richmond Dispatch
Here is a joke about an electric shock >,
said the humorist Ao0h'
Put it under the head of Current Fun .,
replied the editor.-Life
The sultan looked up in alarm from tbe
portfolio of war sketches of his frontier cor
respondent. Heavensr' he shrieked. sTs If
as bad that?'' "
His secretary FASTENED to reassure him
That sire " he said, sis a picture of a
Greek soldier
The sultan reached for a sherbet. CIV the
beard of the prophet" he gasped, II thought
by the knee skirt it was a new womanI'~
New York Press
A young man of this city knows only one
story, but he is fond of telling it, and always
prefaces it with the remark:
The best thing about this one is that it is
absolutely true
He had just repeated the formula when he
was stopped by the intense solemnity of his
friends gaze.
'Why-what's the matter?" he exclaimed
Anything wrong?''
No; was merely thinking that after all
a person may be too good. Now that's the
case with you What you really ought to do
is to go away somewhere and learn to tell
falsehood. od.'-Washington Star.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
Professional Jealousy.

Nothing else will satisfy met" exclaimed
the prima donna II must have a ad-
vance agent"
But this. one is clever and popular"
Il know that"
"And he is so well known"
That's just the trouble. He gets into
town week before | do. If he goes Oh at
tracing attention the public will conclude
that he's the best part of the show, and
there won't be any use Of keeping me on the
pay roll. Washington Star.
The Saint Paul globe., 1897-03-22
0NN~~~~~
9A>SG GG%3>S
To the Editor of the f.Ioh1

To the Editor of the Globe.
l read with great interest your editorial
of this morning relative to my book "Func-
tions of Government"
l enjoyed the editorial very much, since,
to me, it evinced such comprehensive view
of the subjects treated of in the book.
1t seems to me also that the writer has
taken very broad and liberal view. 1t is
refreshing, since the dailies are too apt to
condemn everything not in line with precon-
ceived ideas. The editorial is source Of
great personal qualification, and l hope that
it is not improper for me to extend to you
my heartfelt thanks for the consideration that
the book received at your hands. Respectfully
F. D. Larrabee.
MINNEAPOLIS March 19