Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-02-05
to. One quail will destroy a thousand
insects in single day, many other
birds will do as much"

to. One quail will destroy thousand
insects in single day, many other
birds will do as much.'
-
General Supt. Sanborn of the Bos.
ton Il Maine railroad system has is
sued an order addressed to passer-
gers, conductors, baggagemaster and
brakenen. saying: "The playing of
games with cards for money or chips
in cars on the Boston & Maine rail
road is strictly forbidden. This CIDER
is Imperative" Recent unpleasant
experiences of rnwary passengers are
said to have prompted the order.
-:--
The public hardly appreciates the
extent to which crude petroleum has
displaced coal in steam production.
especially in California and Texas.
California factories and railroads use
nearly the whole of CALIFORNIA; pro
duction of 100000 barrels. The
Southern Pacific is said to save $780,
600 a month by the use of oil. 1t
lines, and its two tanks at Oakland
Locomotive tenders Carrying oil and
NeStSi SASiu1iNSIy uH DUJ lUllSS DIT
high speed without stop. Oil burn
ing furnaces save about SIG per 100
miles. Coal burning has been practi-
cally abolished on the San Joaquin
division of the companys roads The
Santa Fe railroad company is operat-
ing all Of it's western roads with oil
burning locomotives.
The past season." said a Philadel-
y htr RI 1n,, 10,
usual demand for rabbits feet. The
manufacturers of novelties took all we
could give them. For several years
they have been made into charms,
showing that the old superstition, in
stead of dying out, is becoming more
popular than ever. A saloonkeeper
downtown invested in 500 to give to
his patrons on New Years day He
had them mounted on cards, with a
suitable inscription setting forth the
merits as a harbinger of good luck
of the left hind foot of rabbit killed
at midnight in churchyard, and so
on. OF cuorse, they weren't all left
hind feet-half of them weren't hind
feet at all-but the sentiment was
there, just the same
small boy was abroad with an air
rifle at Joplin the other day. and the
result was that Mrs. w. o. Royce had
the glass of one of her spectacles shat
tered, and the particles shot into her
face and eye. Probably the small boy
was soundly whipped when his papa
learned what he had done, but did any
body whip his fool of papa for giving
him the gun? A small boy has about
as much business with an air gun as
a hayseed Missouri legislator has with
gas jet.
Last winter Miss Alice Roosevelt
was compelled by her delicate health
to decline ss-s.> social invitations, but
this season she is making up for lost
time. The other morning about 2
o'clock solitary policeman was pa
rading near the west gate of the White
House. The rain was coming down in
torrents and to cheer himself the off
Ger was humming, alice, Where Art
Thou?" A passerby hailed him. ooh.
Miss Alice is out again" said the po-
liceplan, and l have to wait until she
comes home, for this gate can never
be closed till all the family are in
the house. More's the pityshe is out
nearly every night now"
-
The fact that some rich men, who
are amply able to retire from bust
ness, remain in the harness simply be-
cause they can't get out was illustrat-
ed in the continuous business career
of Abram S. Hewitt. why don't you
retire from active business?" he was
asked one day. This referred more
particularly to his iron interests. Il
can't get out" he answered. cat least
can't get out on terms which / feel
it would be honorable to accept.
had chance some time ago to sell
out our Trenton works, but the con-
dition was that they should be closed
down permanently. This would have
thrown about 500 of our men out of
work; people who had been with us
for years, and many of whom bought
their little homes in Trenton. /
could not accept such terms, SO here |
am, with the burden yet on my Shout
ders, and l suppose death alone will
relieve me of it,"
The Baldwin locomotive works have
petroleum burners. They will be de-
livered to the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe in a few days. In place of
a tender a tank is connected with.
each engine for the fuel supply. The
tank is as large as an ordinary box
car and is said to hold a supply that
would run train 800 miles. The
drive wheels are six feet four inches
in diameter. The engines are for pas
senger service.
LAFE YouNG's IDEA.
Des Moines Canital. The free trad