davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
WHAT WOULD ADAM sAYF
Suppose Number One should Size Up
American Progress.

Josiah Strong in Success.
If Father Adam had lived TO our own
times and, like 30 many Of his descend
ants, had migrated to America, It is not
too much to say that he would tell us he
had seen more material progress during
the last 100 years than during all his pre-
ceding life. The story Of this amazing
progress is the romance Of invention; and
by far the greater part OF this romance
belongs to the latter half of the century.
Charles w. Eliot, president of Harvard
university, addressing the teachers Of Con-
n~eeticut a few months ago, said that within
the last fifty years the world has been
made over" And this recreation Of the
physical world has been wrought by In
Vention.
The miracles Of steam and electricity
have become so common that we have
ceased to marvel at them, and every day
we do things as a matter OF course which,
if they had been done in Old Salem Town,
would have caused the fathers to be hanged
for witchcraft.
II Washington could be brought back to
New York he would think that, in his
journey from heaven, he had lost his way
among the stars and had stumbled upon
the wrong planet.
Hardly less strange would the world Of
fifty years ago seem to the young people
Of today. II we could reverse the motion
OF the earth and send it spinning back a
little beyond the middle OF the nineteenth
century, We should find most homes lighted
with tallow candles. for not only would
electric lighting have gone. but also our
kerosene and coal oil lamps with IL. In
lieu OF steam heat. hot water and hot air
furnaces we should have to warm ourselves
- -
blazing backlog. Going TO bed where the
temperature would very likely be below
freezing. VIC should appreciate the warm
ing pans OF our grandmothers. Our win
ter table would know nothing OF summer
vegetables and the products Of distant mar
kets, for the art OF canning was unknown
and cold storage had not been thought Of.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
"A By TRUSTS.
One Dollar I'm Paper for Every Fifty
Cents in Actual Property.
petroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press.
Though the Littleield antitrust bill was
laid to rest in the senate. its author, as
part of his argument in the house. pre-
sented some very interesting facts bearing
upon the wisdom Of our present course ana
the chances Of continuing the present pros
perity. His facts and figures were supplied
by the congressional information bureau,
for the reliability and thoroughness OF
which he vouched.
The number of industrial combinations,
which means the unihcation Of a number
Of them engaged in the same lines OF pro-
duction, he, fixes at 453. The aggregate OF
their common stock is Is ,973, S58, $50; pre-
ferred stock, 1901, sos, 800; bonds, s1,l65'-
774,52S, making a grand total capitalization
of 81. 2s1 1856, e9s. This amount is enormous,
beyond human conception. yet 1t tells but
a part Of the story. Taking alone the larger
companies engaged in the quasi public bust
ness of street railways, electric and gas
lightning companies, telephone and tele-
graph service. they represent a total capl-
talization Of t4,519, 597 ,S19.
Two years ago, when this feature OF the
national census was made public. the en-
tire actual capital in land, buildings, ma
chinery, material and cash, for every form
OF manufacturing institution, trust and in
dependent, was less than SO, 900, 900 600.
That is. we now have a capitalization alone
Of the monopolistic combines that is prac-
tically equal to the real worth OF all the
industrial institutions OF the country,
though more than half of them are outside
Of the trusts.
This statement of facts ~jutsihes a con-
clusion that the trusts as q whole are
floating & dollar In stock and bonds for
every 30 cents Of actual property owned
by them. Some are worse than others, but
IoJ pszuslJdso eIB 6sql 6leIIlus IIsql III
twice what they are worth even under
the liberal values returned to the census
takers. tThis is an immense f~otation of
paper. Most OF it is traced to the capitali-
zing Of expectations, and most OF this in
tangible, unsecured and problematical
value is represented in the common stock
Of which the investing public buys most.
It Is a remarkable exhibition Of managerial
recklessress on the one hand and OF popu-
lar credulity on the other. II the ex-
peotations that have been marketed be
realized the outside investors will have a
chance TO save their money; yet, at that,
It is a strange phase Of mortal judgment
that will deliberately buy monopolized
hopes.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30


Clarence slocum. the new consul to war.
saw. who was appointed BY President
Roosevelt last week. is a son Of the late
Major General slocum.
An army ofhcer in Alaska. reporting on
the absence Of the c~anteen. graphically
describes the whisky Of that territory a.
running sixteen fights to the pint"
More get-rioh- quickers, who wanted 20
beneht their fellow men by giving them
farms for the mere cost Of drawing up the
papers, have been arrested in Chicago.
with j. Pierpont Morgan at the head OF
the syndicate owning the cup defender. one
horrifying thought suggests itself. Sup
pose he decided to merge the opposing
yacht interests and abolished competition!
Governor Bailey, the bachelor executive
Of Kansas. has decided to grant the wishes
Of the woman's Christian Temperance
union and use water instead Of wine In
christening the battleship named after his
state.
Boston has a street car conductor, John
+. Hoar, who is also a member Of the COM
mon council. He Is noted for his politeness
to the passengers who ride on his car and
they talk Of sending him to the legislature
In the fall.
Senator Depew's One old residence in
Washington Is to be torn down and sup
planted with an apartment house erected
by a New York syndicate. One may sin
cerely hope. however, that they win spare
the venerable chestnut tree.
Two sons Of Eugene Field have arrived
In New York with a comic opera from the
pen Of their father. II will be produced in
the fall under the title OF ''The Bucca-
neers." The music Is being written By q
we'll known composer OF light operas.
Champ Clark, the picturesque Mlssourian,
has signed a contract to lecture In a num-
Der of towns In the east and central west,
concluding the tour at Shenandoah, Ia,
in May. He agrees with Congressman Ben
ton. who said in a recent Interview that
II is difficult for a member OF congress 10
maintain himself on the $4,000 q year SAL
airy paid.
The remark Of Thomas J. Hughes. mayor
Of Seattle, when the grand jury indicted
him for malfeasance in ONCE was an inter-
esting political observation. "If the grand
jury has indicted me-" he is quoted as cay
ing, lit may as we'll indict every man that
voted for me. 1 told them how l would
run the town and l have done Just as l
promised"
Stern disciplinarian as he IL, General
Francis v. Greene. New York's commits
sloner Of police, has soft. spots In him. The
| other night ne happened in at a police sta
ton Just as q pushcart man was being led
away to a cell. He'll be locked up all
night, won't her" asked the general. Yes,
SIR And he won't get anything to eatH"
mo, SIR" That's a shame" Then the
general walked out. Five minutes later a
district messenger arrived with a hot beef
sandwich or two for the pushcart man.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

Edward Everett Hale in "Lend-a-Hand. -
The naval and army expenditures of Eu-
rope in the year 1903 would build the trans
continental railroads which should unite
the Baltic with the Pacific and the Medi-
%terranean with the Cape of Good Hope
They would build these great railways
twice IL the world required it. Yet it is
thus far impossible to persuade one gov
eminent in Europe to remit a penny's
weight from its expenditure for war. And
In our own administration at Washington
the Department of War will cost the United
States this year a thousand times as muct
as its newly formed Department of Peace
will do. .ts- ..t
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
TO RELIEVn TIE srsIyerNoy

Secretary Shaw appears disposed to do
whatever he properly and expediently
can to relieve the monetary stringency.
He does not intend TO do anything that
might promote or encourage speculation,
but he is undoubtedly anxious to protect,
as far as his authority will permit, the
legitimate business interests of the
country. This it appears he hopes to do,
at least in part, by an enlargement Of
the national bank currency: He offers to
refund into 2 per cent bonds more of the
securities OF the United States specified
in the act of March IA, 1900.
This act authorizes the secretary of
the treasury to refund into 2 per cents,
at a certain minimum valuation, the 8
per cent bonds maturing in 1908 to 1918
and the 4 per cent bonds Of 1907. There
is outstanding Of these, In round num-
bers, $3.50. O00.OO and the secretary pro-
poses to exchange 500, 100000 for the
lower interest bonds. These refunding
bonds are redeemable after April 1, 1880,
and are considered especially desirable
for investment of trust funds and for
the use of national banking associations.
There appears to be some doubt as to
whether this plan will be successful.
under the terms prescribed by the sec
rotary OF the treasury. 1t is also ques,
toned whether. IL the exchange is made.
it win result in making any material
addition to the currency. According to
a statement from New York. Secretary
Shaw does not expect that the refund
ing which he proposes viii of itself
throw upon the market more than
$S.OOO,OOO in actual cash, but he does
expect that there will be a considerable
surrender Of the 8 and 4 per cent bonds.
1t is doubtless good policy on the part
OF the government to make the TX
change. 1t may prove helpful to the
money market to a moderate extent. But
the relief from this source will evil
IDENTIFY not be what is now indicated will
be the requirements OF the market next
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
Limiting Height of buildings.

Massachusetts, has established in the Su-
prer1e court of the United States it's right
to limit the height of skyscrapers, even re-
troactively, and to take down several feet
OF a building in Boston which was carried
up before the law was passed. New York
is seriously agitating a radical Limitation
upon high buildings to be erected hereafter,
and has been urged thereto. not only by
the New York City fire department, but
by one Of the most eminent architects,
and one who has put up many tall buildings,
Philadelphia was invaded rather late by
the skyscraper and is in a particularly ad-
vantageous position for establishing a linn
itation upon height. After many sk.scrayers
have been erected 1t will be a more dificult
problem to deal with.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

Lee Spratlen, who was appointed as a
democrat on the 'nonpartisan" Omaha
fire and police commission by Governor
Savage, has been reappointed for an.
other term by Governor Mickey. Mr.
spratlen, who is the r~ight-of-way mar
and genial lobbyist Of the Burlington
railroad, may always be depended upon
to remain strictly ~nonpartisan. Like
the late Jay Gould, he is a democrat
with democrats and a republican witt
republicans, and always for the b. & NJ
without an 'if'' or a "but."
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

fall. There is very good reason to be-
lleve that there viii be a greater strain
then than was experienced last fall un-
less in the meanwhile there should be a
considerable s~hrinkage in values. There
is a disposition I'm certain financial cir
cles to exaggerate the danger, but there
is no doubt that the situation is not
wholly satisfactory. So far as the ma
tional treasury is concerned, it is ex-
pected to do whatever law authorizes
for relieving monetary stringency, but
with a view solely to the protection of
the legitimate business interests Of the
country and not to encourage specula-
ton.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
NOT BUSY ENOUGH FOR "PIpGIN."
GrOtesque Innovations in the vernac-
ular Proposed.

New York Tribune.
Americans are a busy people. But they
are not, we trust, so busy as to be driven
to the general use of "Pidgin" English.
This expression OF a pious hope is provoked
by SOM current discussion about the name
for wireless telegraphy. and particularly
by the suggestion of a correspondent that
wireless" should be adopted, as both noun
and verb. Thus, our correspondent thinks
we should speak OF sending or receiving a
wireless" instead of a wireless dispatch"
or simply a dispatch, and should also speak
of "wirelessing'' and being "wirelessed."
He would have us conjugate the new verb
Ito wireless thus: I wireless, thou wire
~lessest, he wirelesses. Also: I was wire
lessed. thou vast wirelessed, he was wire
lessed. We should like to suggest, as an
alternative form, this: I wireless, thou
throwest a ht, he drops dead.
Self-respeeting people will never, we be-
lieve, countenance such grotesque degrade
tion of their language, even though It be
for the sake Of saving a little breath or a
few drops of ink. 1t may be, as our cor
respondent says, that some people use
wire" instead OF telegraph" and 'teIe-
gram" and tipping" instead OF ''~typewrit-
ing" They probably also write mug" for
news" and thru for through" and
"nox" for knocks" There always have
been and always will be freaks and cranks.
But that such photographed and etymol-
ogical "Pidgin" will ever receive the sane
tion Of rational and educated people is sim
ply unthinkable. The excuse that we are
a busy people and therefore drift rapidly
to the shortest words hat clearly express
our meaning would not serve to Justify
such atrocities even II It we're true. But
IT is not true.
For these specimens OF what Frenchmen
sometimes call style negre" are not the
shortest words that clearly express the
meaning. tipping" is shorter tina type
writing" but It does not make clear
whether the operation referred to is type
writing or typesetting or printing. So a
"typist" might be a typesetter as well as
n typewriter. The wretched abortion Of a
word. "electrocute.' which son use, is ac-
tually a syllable longer than the execute
which they ought to stick to instead. Such
examples might be multiplied. The jargon
Of the careless and illiterate is not always
clear In meaning nor brief in compass The
most effective speech is that which con-
forms with the established rules and prin-
ciples OF the Language. II is well TO be
busy. But IL is not we'll TO be too busy "a
write n speak correctly.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
THE PRICE OF A GOWN.
Brooklyn Eagle.

brooklyn Eagle
The doctor wal discouraged. for the neigh
borhood was well;
The collie spared the little one. and also Il
befell
The elders had no troubles that demanded
medic's skill;
No one in that vicinity was even slightly I'll.
The Doctors wife was worried, for she
longed 10 have a gown;
The doctor. when she mentioned II, could
only darkly frown.
There Is" he said, mo chance at all of
getting what you need
While every person hereabout is from all
Illness freed"
"Oh, woe is me! alas! alack!' then cried
the doctors wife.
TITS terrible indeed that l should have so
hard a life;
I must, It seems, have patience Just be-
cause you patients lack;
I must. TO go abroad In style, put some one
on his back"
This woe she pondered deeply, but ere
long was seen to smile.
ST have a plan" she said at last, that
really seems worth while;
I'll start at once a cooking school, He
straightway ceased TO frown
MY dear" he cried most toyfully, you'll
surely get that gown
And 30 the people suffered, while the doc
tors wife In pride
Paraded in the handsome gown that once
had been denied.
II cost-ah, well-she gained II by this
heartless, mean device,
And any one can see that Indigestion was
the price.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
WHEN JOHNNY CONES MARCHING HOME

WHEN JOHNNY CONES MARCHING HOME
Ten days hence when the Douglas del
egation returns from the state capital
It's members will be expected to answer
a great many pertinent questions. The
citizens of Omaha and South Omaha,
the merchants, mechanics, toilers in the
workshops, packing houses and mills
and the men who toll on the farm will
all want to know what the delegation
has accomplished during the session.
They will all want to know why the
delegation was so lukewarm in its efforts
to secure redress Of the grievances from
which Omaha has been suffering for
years by reason of the Ubiquitous method
Of railroad assessment that places a
crushing burden upon the mass of tax
payers while it virtually exempts the
railroad corporations from their just
proportion of the public burdens.
The taxpayers Of Omaha will want to
know what benefits they are to derive
from the patched quilt charter that was
logrolled through the legislature under
the plea of emergency and what reforms
and betterments may be expected from
the hodgepodge revision of the old char
ter. They will want to know why the
delegation has manifested such mex
cusable indifference to the popular de-
mand for a greater Omaha with home
rule and the right to make its own char
tiers without the interference Of legisla-
lures.
Some people in Omaha may want to
know why the delegation consented to
the insertion of the clause in the new
revenue bill by which the telephone
company is to be assessed on the one
year gross receipt basis instead Of the
stocks and bonds as laid down by the
supreme court. There are many other
questions which the delegation will have
to answer when the legislative session
is over and its members are face to face
with their constituents.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

A few more holes have made their APP
pearance in the Sixteenth street pave.
ment, but the suggestion that the own
ers of the abutting property take steps
to have the whole street re-surfaced
with the expense assessed back as in
the case Of the original pavement will
be Indignantly resented. That. how
ever. is what ought to be done rather
than saddle the cost Of constant repair.
ing upon the taxpayers in general.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
Democratic HOpeIessness.

Ut" "~I "HN LNPIV3"
The mysterious popularity Of Judge
Parker of this state as a prospective pres
idential candidate is the visible emblem
of democratic hopelessness and d%issension.
An empty honor is to be bestowed on a
barren record. II not an empty name. We
have called him the democratic o Doe,
and the phrase is good enough. How much
the party fears even to take up its old
shibboleth. free trade. is evidenced by the
Chicago speech Of the astute Edward NJ.
Shepard. He decries "a general revision
OF the tariff" admits 'the widespread pop
ular belief in protection" and would con-
fine the democratic attack to ''the few
schedules in which, through such practical
monopoly, vast fortunes have been made"
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
Rivalry for Big Fleets,
Phnadelnhia Press.

hiiauelpnAd IItSss
AS Kaiser Wilhelm reads the English
nav estimates for the year, $3.50, 900, 600
eleven battleships building and six more
ordered-and remembers that a fortnight
earlier the American congress ordered FIVE
battleships and raised its naval estimates
to $4,000, 900, he must feel that his labor
ious plan adopted three years ago to build
up a great feet that should match that
Of England and exceed that of the United
States has met with signal failure at the
very opening of the struggle.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
GOD Whnt He Parr For.
INDIANAPOLIS Journal.

Indianapolis journal.
The demoralizing effects OF the private
detective" business was never more clearly
shown than in the stratton will case in
Colorado, where a detective confesses to
have entered the employ Of both parties
to the controversy in order to secure in
side information that he could dispose OF.
However, anyone foolish enough to en-
gage the services Of an individual in this
line Of business deserves his fate.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

Our Dave has had another revelation.
He would not accept a commission as
mayor Of Omaha IL it was offered him
on a silver platter. Silver platters are
not as valuable as they used to was.
Silver is only 40 emit an ounce now.
1t used to be S1.29 an ounce.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

Omaha's fight for municipal taxation
Of railroad property on the same basis
as other property has only Just begun.
II must be carried on through the off,
GERS to be elected at the coming city
election. Is II any wonder the railroads
are anxious to dictate the candidates
again this spring just as they named the
legislative candidates last fanf
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

Representative Ten Eyck has scored
another victory In getting his bill
through the house that win make it a
penal ofhense to trim a horses tail short
so long as it Is attached to a living
horse. But why should Representative
Ten Eyck be so tender about the horse
and leave the mich COW without protec-
tiOn?
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

AID now Admiral Dewey may have
gotten into trouble by talking too much.
These military and naval officers should
protect themselves by removing the reg
listers from their monographs.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
A waste Of Energy.

Philadelphia Record (dem).
The overzealous people who want to make
Mr.. Cleveland president for a third term
are sadly wasting energies that might be
devoted to a better cause. They foolishly
choose to overlook the unwritten two-term
law Of the republic, which cannot be broken
even for so good a man as Cleveland.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
fixed the limit that can never be exceeded
80 long as the nation shall exist.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

Colonel Bryan has been recording his
experiences as a juror, which he says
convinces him more than ever Of the
soundness and value OF the jury system.
What we intlmated at the time seems
to have been quite eorrect-in each jury
on which he served Mr.. Bryan. to all
intents and purposes, was the whole
Jury.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
MENACE TO COTTON INDUSTRY.

~
Widespread strikes are being threat
ened In the New England cotton in
dustry. The organized labor employed
in the mills has demanded higher wages,
on a basis of practical uniformity re-
CARELESS of differences Of circumstances
and conditions. The manufacturers are
reported to be preparing to resist the de-
mands, even at the cost of shutting
down their mills for an indefinite time.
If the strike should take place, which
now appears very probable. it is appre-
hended that it would prove a very seri-
ous matter for all concerned and might
permanently inJure the cotton industry
in that section.
The New England cotton manufactur-
ers are encountering a very strong com
petition. As the New York Journal of
Commerce points out, factories are null
tiplying in the south, close to the supply
of material, nearer to the supply of fuel
and where there is an u~norganized and
cheaper labor force. The New England
manufacturers cannot control the prices
at which cotton goods are sold. with a
growing competition in other sections,
and throughout the trade in their prod
ucts there is complaint of little profit.
Under such conditions 1t is obvious that
the manufacturers of New England are
not in a position to make any consider
able advance in wages. There is still a
chance that the matter may be arranged
by some sort of compromise and a strike
averted, but the spirit shown on both
sides does not give much promise of
such a result. If the issue is not ami
cably settled the contest will undoubt-
edly be ~protracted, with heavy loss to
both the manufacturers and to labor.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

All the privileged corporations want is
to see TO It that safe men are nominated
for all the offices on both city tickets.
II they can restrict the voters choice
between corporation candidates, the
railroads and public service companies
viii feel safe either way.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30
The clash of Ink hotties.

Detroit Free Press (dem.).
1t is a sorry struggle, and the only per-
son who manag to keep cool in the midst
OF the clash Of yocabularies is Mr.. Cleveland
himself. Through the smoke of the battle
he can be seen peering an~xiously at the
ground to determine whether the spring
angleworm has begun to bud, and over
against his woodshed door, the fshline can
be heard above the roar of the conflict
champing impatiently at its reel.
Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-30

If John w. Gates really got the best
Of ]. Pierpont Morgan in his Louis
Vile & Nashville deal to the extent that
he boasts. he is much smoother goods
than he has usually been given credit