Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-17

provnl Of the aldermen is necessary, but
that has been delayed under various
p~retexts. The president Of the company
has intimated to the reluctant solons that
the company will pay millions for i'm
provements, but not a cent for tribute"
The %solons. however, fondly believe they
can Philadelphia the company and decline
to proceed to business because they have
not had a chance to do business In a busi-
nesslike way. Some judicious friend should
read to the hesitating dads the story Of
what happened to their brethren In st.
Louis recently.
New York and its suburbs are in the
grasp Of whooping cough, that dread disease
Of children. Doctors at the health board
say It amounts almost 20 an epidemic-an
epidemic which might be prevented II
people would but take the proper precau-
ton. They say that many OF the children
now suffering from the disease and some
OF those who have died might not have
been sick were It not for the prevalent but
nevertheless unreasonable idea which pre-
walls that a child must have the disease
some time and. hence might as we'll be ex-
posed to the contagion first as last. Never
was there such a dangerous doctrine, say the
health board men; that the less a child is
DNpOSON W ohS AAhSAoV AZ CNNC All VIC
child.
A curious feature Of the present increase
In whooping cough, says the Times, is
that the proportion of adults AFFLICTED is
greater than usual. This is particularly
the case in the Oranges, N. j., where the
coughers are very numerous. In New York
City the average weekly death rate of
the disease for the last three months has
been over thirteen, In face Of the mis-
taken notion that whooping cough is not
a dangerous malady. The number of deaths
from the disease last year was 3S9 in
Greater New York. The number Of deaths
for the first six months of this year was
sos, and II the present prevalence continues
last years deaths may be doubled In num-
Der before January, 1903.
Manhattan has had, of course, the great
est number OF deaths. Brooklyn is Sec
ond. Then follow the Bronx and Queens.
Richmond is singularly free from the
disease. In all of last year only four deaths
occurred there from whooping cough.
In his talk on needless taxation Mayor
Low shows that the people Of New York
are suffering excessive taxation Of at least
6 .OOO.O 900 a year, owing to law which COM
pei the city to provide double back-action
sinking fund protection for bond issues
which go into investments yielding sufficient
revenues not only to pay interest on the
bonds, but to lay up a fund to cancel them
at maturity, and yet for which same purpose
the taxpayers annually must contribute
both interest and sinking fund deposits.
There seems to be no flaw In Mr.. Lows
argument that there should be legislation to
remedy this condition of affairs, which, II
continued until 1928, would give a fund that
would contain, after discharging the last
bond 1t is pledged to redeem, the vast sum
of $500, 900, 000." But at the same time the
mayor seems to suggest the change IN order
that the city may have more money to spend
in doing everything that good judgment re-
quires to be done in dealing adequately
with the city's current needs, whereas what
the taxpayers want is that the expenditures
should come down. so that the taxes may
come down.
The little fresh air girl" OF fiction, who
said "You put It in" when the country boy
MIXED the COW, has many prototypes IN real
life. Two little girls from the slums who
arrived at the country home late at night,
relates the Post, came out on the piazza the
next morning to view the vicinage. Great
was their hostess surprise wnen she saw
that the two children looked upon the land
scape and all its constituent parts with
manifest dlsapproval. Determined 10 find
out what was the matter, to fathom the
working of these juvenile minds, she sat
down with them on the grass and drew
them into a long, confidential talk.
whats the matter, children" she asked;
"why are you disappointed with the coun-
try?"
why. there's no grass here" said one,
pulling a blade and biting the end Of 1t.
The woman could only gasp.
whats your idea OF grass?" she asked at
last. Little by little she managed TO bring
1t out. Grass was about the height OF a
man, to begin with.
IF this were larger, would It be like
grass?" was the next question, and prompt
"oh. moi" showed that there was still more
to be explained.
"How is 1t d%ifferent?"
"why, it's black" said one.
BLACK and white" said the other. Sud-
denly the explanation flashed upon the
"fresh-air lady's" mind. The little girls
had obtained their idea Of vegetation solely
from pictures they had seen in school
books or papers, ordinary black ana white
prints. The idea that color Of any sort ex-
listed IN the country had never entered their
little East Side heads.
"It did not need the cycle parade, sue
cessful as IL was, says q New YORK letter,
ito prove that there has been a revival Of
cycling as a sport this season. Thousands OF
people who had temporarily abandoned the
amusement have returned to It with new
zest and interest. The reaction which fol-
lowed the great boom of several years ago
was entirely natural, but this reaction has
reached it's limit and the pendulum is be-
ginning to swing the other way. 1t was a
htting way OF celebrating the twenty-hfth
anniversary OF cycling In America by hold
ing q parade on Fifth avenue"