davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
A VEHEMENT oUTBURsT.

Algernon Charles Swinburne, though
sometimes spoken of as EngIand's
greatest living poet, is not just the
person one would accuse of too much
veht mence, either in action or in
poetry. The greater part of the verse
he has perpetrated so far has been
rich with passion, full of high word
coloring Cor purple patches" as some
critics love to say), and to a
degree. Evidently, however, Mr..
Swinburne. has been reading the dis
patches from the Transvaal and has
had is soul stirred within him. He
has formed a pr~onouncedly u%nfavora-
BILE opinion of the Beers and is moved
to express that opinion, even "as the
sparks fly upward" Furthermore, he
has evidently taken a pointer from
mercuric Mr.. Kipling. This is what
our friend of erstwhile classic fields
has to say in the last issue of Litera-
ture. and no one will maintain that it
is not vehement:
patience, long sick to death, is dead.
Too long
Have sloth and doubt and treason
hidden us be
What CromwelFs England was not,
when the sea
To him bore witness given of Blake
how strong
She stood, a commonweal that brooked
no wrong
From foes less vile than men like
wolves set free,
Whose war is waged where none may
fight or flee
With ONE and with weanlings.
Speech and song
Lack u%tterance now for loathing.
Scarce we hear
Foul tongues that blacken Gods dis
honored name
With prayers turned curses, and with
praise found shame
Defy the truth, whose witness now
draws near
To scourge these dogs, agape with
jaws afoam,
Down out of life. Strike, England,
and strike home"
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07

have heard his story, to be given after
he has had an interview with his fell
low archbishop of Manila. They say,
in private, that they believe the Roman
Catholic church will use its power to
its utmost to prevent the growth of
Protestant power. Whether it does so
or not Presbyterians are preparing to
see it do so. Members Of the commit
tee say they do not demand any spec
|ial privileges. All they ask is the rights
of American citizens. That right car
ries with it the one to worship God in
their wv way and preach Christ at all
proper times and places. Protestant
workers in Manila, in their official and
private reports home, are known to
have said of late some severe things
on the facility with which saloonkeep-
ers are able to secure licenses and the
prictical impossibility of securing a
permit to sell Bibles. The committee
is known to be willing to await a lit
tie further development of military OPP
erations in the Philippines before act
ing, but once peace is secured a vigor-
Gus protest will be made, it is said.
The chairman of the committee is
Rev. DR.. Wallace Radcliffe, of WASH
ington, last years general assembly
moderator.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
PRoWEss OF THE RoERs.

None OF the prowess, which it was
expected that the Beers in South Africa
would show. has been seen during the
present war. Even those who did not
sympathize with them thought it
probable that Dom Paul's men would
win decisive victories in the first on
test with the emissaries of John Bulls
strength in the Transvaal. 1t is very
probable that the victories obtained at
Maiuba Hill and in the repulse of
Jameson's raid gave the Beers entirely
too high an idea of their own military
strength. They seem to have culti-
waited their conceit and to have sedu-
ously neglected the study of tactics,
both in the smaller and larger sense
Of the term.
AS for their commander, General
Joubert, he seems to have no concep-
ton OF the commonest precepts of
strategy. While the British have mass
ed the forces at Ladysmith and neigh
boring points, he has advanced his
troops in detached bodies from points
forming the arc of a circle, around the
British position, giving his enemies the
advantage of operating in the center,
and enabling them to attack and break
his several columns. one at a time. The
victory at Glencoe is the beginning of
this process. The Boer general has
thrown away every advantage that
might come to him from Il swift move
ment with a concentrated force,
against an enemy greatly inferior III
numbers to his own.
Again, the shooting OF the Beers ap-
pears to have been vastly oyer-2ated.
They have been called Il nation of
sharp-shooters, and in the old DAYS this
was true. With the settling mp Of the
country and the disappearance of game,
Workmanship among tho Beers has de-
|clined to no inconsidcraole degree, and
it is probabl that in this point they
have no very great advantage over the
ordinary regular in her majesty's ser
vice. 1t is probable that whatever adj
vantage may come to them from this
cause will be more :han Out weighed
by the superior discipline OF the Brit
ish troops. The military discipline Of
the South African soldiers is not as
good as that of the ordinary American
militia troops.
With all these disadvantages, howey-
er. the Beers will hardly yet give up
the fight. and we shall probably Wit
ness a desultory warfare of skirmishine
and acknowledgements sufficient Brit
ish troops have arrived to invest Pre-
toria and johannesburg. With the fall
of these two strongly fortified points
the war will end.
1r the Beers had greater wisdom
they would yield now, without a furth-
er useless sacrifice OF life.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
GEN. WHITES GREAT MESSAGE.

nE-a@f EHtH ET
If General White has not yet had n
chance to show himself great in victory
he has at least proved himself great in
defeat. In his dispatch to the war Of
flee, detailing his losses near Ladysmith
he says:
II formed a plan in the carrying out
of which the disaster. occurred, and I
alone am responsible for the plan.
There is no blame whatever to the
troops as the position was untenable."
1t took more real manhood to send
that dispatch than it ever did to send
one of the boastful, laconic messages
of victory that history is so fond of
attributing to conquerors.
Winning battles doesn't require the
highest order of courage. 1t is the ac-
acknowledgement of error, the assump-
ton of responsibility for disaster, so
that the blame won't fall on the wrong
man, that calls for the highest order
of manhood, and of which only man
hood of the highest order is capable.
We venture to think that General
Whites splendid message of failure
will not evoke the comment in England
that would greet the unusual or the I'M
expected. Americans, however, have
had enough experience lately with men
eager to claim responsibility for vic
tory; they can fully appreciate the
spirit that is ready to claim response
bility for defeat.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
THE CHURCH AND THE ARMY,

So closely does the church follow
the army that even now, before we
have the Philippines completely sub
dued plans are making among the
evangelical churches for a movement
towards introducing the Protestant
faith among the natives Of our new
possessions.
The committee appointed by the
western section Of the Pan-Presbyter-
ian alliance TO lay before President Nc
Kinley the matter of Protestant pro-
poets in the Philippines and Porto Rico
has gathered what it considers some
telling material. It's conclusions can
not be anticipated, but facts known to
be in its hands are that the Roman
Catholic archbishop of Manila has
things in the Philippines fairly well
under control, tho United States mill
tary authorities included. The testi-
mony of men recently returned from
Manila is to the point hat the arch
bishop, quite apart from ecclesiastical
power, Yields a personal influence that
is most formidable. Two clergymen,
one a Congregationalist and the other
an Episcopalian, have recently shown
this in what they have written after
enjoying a personal interview with the
prelate in question.
These Presbyterians are not inclin-
ed to follow Archbishop Chappelle's adj
vice to suspend judgment until they
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
The Omaha World.Herald. Mr.. Rry

The Omaha World-Herald, Mr.. Bry-
ans personal organ, states that the ad-
vocates Of expansion say we need ter
ritory to relieve the compact popula-
tion of the United States and provide
for future growth, and inquiries, "why
choose a tropical climate in which the
Anglo-Saxon race has never been able
TO live?" The expansion proposition
so-called, looks to an increase of mar
ket for our products and closer relation
with territory which produces the
things which we must continually buy.
The tropical territory of which it talks,
OF itself offers a market for $1Oo, OOo,-
600 of our products annually, and will
prove the door through which hundreds
OF millions more will pass ito other adj
Jacent markets, while the islands will,
at the sane time, furnish tropical pro-
ducts for which we are now sending
over s2oo,oOo,OO annually Of our good
money to other countries for articles
which we must consume and which we
do moi produce at home.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
SHOULD ABANDON TRADITION.

AT a meeting of the, association OF
the alumnae of the University of Chi
cago, DR.. A. r. Nightingale, superin-
tendent of the high schools of the city
of Chicago, declared that if the world
had been as backward in its move
ments as the universities have been,
the people would still be riding in
stage coaches, still using tallow dips,
and still receiving news from Asiatic
countries once every six months. Con-
tinuing, DR.. Nightingale said:
"The colleges of this country are en-
tirely too medieval. Their advance
ment has not been in line with the
rest of the civilized world. Today they
declare that unless a student shall
have studied Latin, Greek and the
higher mathematics, he cannot obtain
the advantages Of a higher education;
and this is irrespective of their de-
sires and capacities for these branches.
So persistent has President Eliot, of
Harvard, also ben on this point, that to-
day Harvard is the only college that
places the study of man before the
study Of dead languages.
"We should have indiyidualism in
education. We must go from the
thralldom of tradition to the freedom
of truth. The high schools, the col
lege of the common people, are the
centers from which the necessary
changes will emanate. The public high
school is one of the most potent factors
in the development of the community.
"The four year course is the best
eQuiDment! n yOr1np man nr woman cau
have for The practical side of life. The
high schools make good citizenship,
true manhood and noble womanhood.
l say that it is criminal to press Latin
and Greek on the minds OF those who
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
S,Ara
500 Reward, o

The readers of this papeF will be pleased to
learn that there is at least one dreaded disease
that science has been able to cure in ali Its
stages and that Is Catarrh. Halls Catarrh
Cure Is the only positive cure now known to the
medical fraternity. catarrh being a constitu-
tioua1 disease, requires a constitutional treat
acting directly upon the blood and mucous sur.
faces of the system, thereby destroying the
foundation of the disease. and giving the patient
assisting nature In doing It's work. The pro.
prietors have so muck faith In Its curative
powers that they offer one Hundred Dollars for
any case that 1t falls to cure, Send for list of
Address. F. J. CHENEY 4 Co.. Toledo, O.
Sold b~y,drnggists, 75c.
Halrs Family Pills are the best.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
A FRESH LEAF OF HISTORY.

Good luck attended the American OBJ
erations at Santiago. II anything went
wrong it came out right in the end
spontaneously and even better than was
anticipated. OF course the country re-
members that when Gen. Skaters
army seemed to have been halted in
the advance upon the city, and a rein
forcement OF several thousand men had
reached the Spanish commander, ru-
mors came that it would be necessary
for our troops TO fall back a few miles.
But, suddenly, Skater sent his adyer-
sary, Gen. Toral, a vigorous and conf
dent demand for surrender. The
try was surprised, for it. had been led
to expect from the tenor Of news on
preceding days that there would be
fresh delays and difficulties in the
army operations. Recently 1t has been
disclosed that Skaters ringing letter
to Toral was conceived and written by
Captain Chadwick, commanding the ar
mored cruiser New York under Rear
Admiral Sampson. Shafter accepted,
signed and sent it, and in a short time
Ioral kept up u luck by surrender
ing not only Santiago but nearly
all the Spanish troops in eastern Cuba.
General Shafter must at least be
credited with knowing a good thing
when laid before him and for not feel
ing piqued when a navy captain drop
ped in and asked leave to say what
the commander of the army ought to
do. 1t is unusual, but it worked to a
charm. Skaters receptiyity was adj
mirable. Some time before he had
laid out a plan for Sampson, but the
sailor was less appreciatiye than the
soldier. It Shafter had warned Samp-
son that it would be well for him to
be present when the enemy's fleet came
out, the idea might not have been well
received, but 1t would have been much
to the admiral's advantage. Sampson
declined to force the harbor, as Skater
advised, but Shafter scared Toral into
a surrender, as Chadwick advised. The
army scared out Ceryera; the navy
scared out Toral. All this may not
prove that a sailor should command
the army and a soldier the fleets, but
the new development in the Santiago
campaign points in that direction, at
least for an occasion when matters are
in a deadlock. But as long as Uncle
Sam is as lucky as he was in July, 1898,
these points need not be urged for the
reorganization Of the two branches of
the service.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07

est products and effects their exchange
for manufactured goods on a basis
which affords a profit at every stage Of
the trading. No question is involved
OF progress on the part of the African.
He is capable of work and he is being
made to work-by the offer Of goods,
if that will tempt him; by force, If it
does not. In any event there is a
growth in the volume OF exports and
imports OF that continent, in the traffic
of ships and trains, and in the profits
of traders there.
The development made in the United
States was never due in any sense to
the natives whom the white man found
here, but has occurred in spite of them.
This whole country has had to be re-
peopled from the outside, both with di-
rectors of labor and of enterprises and
with the laborers. There are other
sections of the globe where large ma
tive populations already are industri-
GUS and productive, or are in a position
to become SO under adequate direction.
Besides, the native of parts of Africa
and Asia can be converted into con-
sumers Of manufactured goods to an
extent which would have been impossi-
BILE with our Indians. II the native
populations alone are to be considered,
of course, the development of the
countries now being opened to trade
would be too remote to be OF interest
to us. But, as already mentioned, it
is the European who is furnishing most
of the means for development-the cap
ital being in part what was invested
once in American railway and other
enterprises, but was withdrawn when
our people became able to own their
own roads. Besides, Europe is
disposd today to invest money in new
countries with a prospect OF control
ling their trade, than in a country like
our own, whose home people are likely
to control the best of the home trade
in whatever line.
There may be reasons why any given
concern should confine its energies at
home, instead of seeking an import
trade. The immense population here
and its large consuming capacity are
lgrowing all the while, and promise for
a lone time to come to offer o wider
market than can possibly exist for us
abroad. Still it is desirable that we
should both retain the export trade
which we possess already and to add
to it whenever possible. In order to do
that it will be necessary to pay close
attention to all competitors, taking
care not to underrate the progress in
developments of the eve markets of
the world, and thereby permit other
nations to capture these markets, to
our own exclusion. We must not de-
pend for knowledge of conditions in
lthese remote countries upon the au-
liberties OF former years. their prog
ress needs to be studied every day.
There are people looking for trade OPP
portunities who are as anxious to get
into every new market that may pc
opened anywhere on the globe as land
grabbers have been to locate claims in
our own western states whenever an
other Indian reservation was thrown
lopen to white settlers. We cannot
afford to be Indifferent to whoever may
be first in a new field, with the idea
that we are certain to get a foothold
there in due time anyway,
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07

The Brotherhood of st. Andrew has
undertaken to raise funds to send as
many chaplains as possible to the Phil
iippines on board the transports now
leaving with troops. The spiritual des.
titntion of American soldiers in the
field has been emphasized by Army
Secretary Peyton, who recently return
ed, and Episcopalians are to be appeal
to for funds to send clergy there. The
work proposed by the brotherhood is
among soldiers, not among natives.
The sum of $4,000 has been mentioned
as being required. The Young Mems
Christian Association will send twelve
secretaries with the transports to labor
as chaplains upon arrival.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
IOWA PRESS
A Reerettable Action.

Iowa Capital: It is to be regretted
that the well-meaning women of the
W. G. 7. U. should feel called to fur
nish the enemies of the national gov
eminent with its endorsement just at
the present time. to the extent Of pass
ing resolutions against a "war through
which the administration is trying to
enforce its policy" To accuse the pres
ent administration of anything Of the
kind shows q humiliating ignorance OF
the real facts in the case, and is bound
to hurt the influence of the organiza-
tion in its ~commendable efforts Of try
ing to broaden the sphere of its MEM
bers.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07

The attention of Mr.. Bryan is re-
specially called to the fact developed
from the recent report of the director
of the mint that one-half Of the worlds
gold product for the last four hundred
years has been produced within the last
forty years. The total gold production
of the world, from the discovery Of
America to the present time is, in
round terms, ten billion dollars, or to
be exact, 1888, o59,6OO, and of this
amount $5,341,s55,6o0 or over one-half
has been produced since 1860, and $2,-
5~40,260,400 or over ~one-fourth since
1885. The average production prior to
1860 was about $12,0 900 per annum;
from 1850 to 1890, about ten times that
average per annum, and in 1899 is at
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
A POSSIBLE MISTAKE TO BE
AVOIDED.

Certain recent demonstrations of tile
capacity of American industrial estab-
lishments to meet foreign wants
promptly and on a large scale appear
to have occasioned surprise abroad.
Because we were occupied SO long in
laying out farms and railways and cit
les, apparently with no thought Of the
outside world, foreign observers failed
to detect that the industrial and me-
chanical development which went on
at the same time, to, supply our domes-
tic wants in manufactures and in ma
terials for railway and other construc-
tive work, combined with the enterprise
and confidence and capital which our
people were acquiring meanwhile,
might some day place the United States
in a position Of Importance in relation
to the export trade Of the world. Be-
cause we had not, up to a certain time,
or tin plate, it was assumed that we
never would do sol in fact, that we
could not. Because we had built no
great modern ships, the possibility of
our doing so appears not to have been
considered abroad. Even when u
navy had been reconstructed on mod
ern lines, with ships and ornaments all
Of American production, full recogni-
tion OF the progress that had been
made was delayed until the new navy
had been tested in actual warfare, and
was not found wanting.
Tt is possible for a mistake to be
made in America regarding current
progress in some other parts of the
world with which it might be desirable
for US to have trade relations. At
home we have seen such great indus
trial developments proceed rapidly
from small beginnings-hand in hand
with the growth in our agricultural
resources, the expansion of railways
and the general increase in wealth
here-that our people have naturally
come to feel that they have the ca
pacity for whatever they may wish
to do. Likewise it may have occurred
to some of them that il the youngest
of the great powers of the world has
accomplished so much, it must imply
superiority over the older countries
in industrial and commercial affairs.
Feeling thus towards the most advanced
of foreign nations, it could hardly be
expected that any comparison with
half civilized countries, or worse, would
be entertained.
Yet it is with respect to the unde-
yeloped parts of the world that u
people are in the greatest danger Of
making a mistake. Not that the native
population of Africa, for example, is
likely to figure in competition with
our own rae in any department of
progress. But Africa is no longer con
trolled by Africans. That part not
owned absolutely BY European powers
is embraced within their spheres of
influence" Hence it is European capt.
tai, under the direction Of European
enterprise that established. steamship
lines and submarine cables to what was
so lately an unknown clark continents"
that opens mines there for gold and
diamonds of unequaled richness; that
navigates the interior waters with
steam, and builds railways and erects
telegraph lines; that gathers the for
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
The condition Of the bricl

The condition Of the brick pavement
on Main street, in certain places, is dis
graceful and should have the immediate
attention of the city authorities. We
would suggest that they make their
first observation in the vicinity of the
corner Of Main and Court streets. IA
cursory glance at the heaving pillows
along this portion of Main street, will
demonstrate conclusively that some
body is very seriously violating the
city ordinance in regard to properly fill
Ing up excavations that are made in
the street. The tax payers of Ottum-
wa have paid too much for their brick
pavement to have it ruined by the care
lessness OF those who are required by
law to give it this proper attention.
Will not the city fathers take this up
and attend to it?
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07

change in existing conditions, by It's
legislation this winter. If it fixes gold
as the standard, and takes away from
the president his present power to force
the country to a silver basis, it will
differentiate itself so emphati-
cally from the democratic party that
the avoidance of the issue will be i'm
possible. We trust, therefore, that Mr..
Henderson spoke by the card when he
said: II predict, that a republican con-
gress will legislate al the approaching
session so as to increase the confidence
of the people. etablish firmly the gold
standard of the civilized world, and let
the people know that all their obliga-
tons will be discharged OF a safe and
firm basis.'