Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-30

OF Individuals in Ossiring havo been trying
for some time to stop the blasting at Hook
mountain In order to preserve that land
mark as a part Of the Palisades park. A
suit has been brought by property owners
Of OssininE to stop the blasting because the
blasts shake down ceilings and cause the
foundations Of houses to settle. Witnesses
from practically every town of Importance
In Westchester county will testify that the
blasts are perceptlble much as thirty
miles away. and the physicians of Os-
shining will testify that the blasts are
prejudicial to the we'll being of patients in
the ossning hospital
Frequently during the season at either
one Of New Yorks opera houses there may
be seen behind the rail which marks the
| boundary line of standing room only"
particularly II the piece be his favorlte
Lucia" or "Rigoletto," or even Aida"
thickset, middle-aged man of medium
height, with close-cropped hair and short,
black mustache, who occupies, in a some
what more restricted sphere, a position as
full Of danger and dramatic possibility as
| that of Russia's celebrated chief of police.
| II is Detective Sergeant Petrosino, a man
| who has solved many a mystery deep
and thrilling as ever engaged the attention
| OF sherlock Holmes. Like the famous hero
of Baker street, he is fine musician and
! an excellent performer on the violin, but
| his methods contain so little of the spec
tacular that 1t has taken fame twenty-five
years to find him out. For thirteen years
OF that time Petrosino was a humble pa
trolman, for the last eleven he has been a
! plain clothes" man, known to the police
of the entire continent for his success in
! tracing italian criminals. Now he is about
to become chief of the new secret service
force Of the police department, organized
to hunt down the notorious BLACK Hand
crimes perpetrated and attempted by bands
OF ex-convicts and outlaws from the heel
and toe" OF the Italian peninsula, who have
sought refuge from the police of their
native country In the Italian settlements
in and around New York. 50 secretly has
the new force been organized that no one
but the commissioner and Petrosino will
know who compose It; but Petrosino, long
hated and feared as an individual by the
criminal class among his countrymen, has
now become a many handed, many-eyed
force against them, to be execrated and
| eXterminated IL possible
While the prevailing freight car short
age has not had anything like the same
serious effect upon New York's coal SUD-
ply that 1t has had farther west, neverthe-
less prices have advanced considerably
above their normal level. and in the re-
cent cold snaps which have visited the
city many poor people have suffered
keenly Inasmuch the problem seems
10 be purely one of transportation, many
OF the delegates who attended the recent
AMI Hon 90 ~
bors congress in Washington and others
VINO are taking an active interest in the
matter find in the present situation an
indtsputable argument for larger fixed
appropriations for river and harbor i'm
provement. 1t is pointed out that every
dollar of such appropriations, almost as
soon as expended, would become effective
IN increased transportation facilities which
would tend to prevent recurrence Of pres
ent conditions. That the argument is be-
Ing carefully weighed by the rivers and
harbors committee Of congress is apparent
from statement made by Representative
, Charles b. Law of Brooklyn a few days
ago. Mr.. Law said: At am reliably in
formed that the rivers and harbors COM
mittee will recommend an appropriation al
the present session of not less than 500
OO,OO for the Improvement of our water
ways such sum may well be invested
by the government in an enterprise that
means so much for the future development
OF the country. I shall vote for the ap-
preparation of every cent recommended by
the rivers and harbors committee"
Fate always has in store some particu-
larry hard knock for the man who tries
: to get more than his share, else why should
| john ID. Rockefeller have indigestion and
}, Andrew Carnegie find 1t so difficult to die
: poor. One humble but promising imitatol
has received the jolt early in his career
however, and It ought to serve as a warn.
ing. The story is this: There is a famous
t cafe in Gothams all-nght district whose
5 proprietor, inspired by the preachings OF
( a certain distinguished individual to ar
3 anti-race suicide campaign, year or two
= ago offered a prize OF $50 to everyone OF
= MS employees who should marry. Later
g on the scheme seemed Incomplete, and :
r supplementary prize of S25 each was Of
fered for babies. So far it has been ex
: pensive. but the proprietor has stuck t.
1t heroicolly, animated by a profound in
terest in the welfare of the race and sus
tanned by tho advertising value of tn,
1 scheme. The cafe has a chef who, by Join
ing hands with another employee, about 5
year ago succeeded in dragging dowr
double prize money, but this was held I,
:, be strictly legitimate, with a profit lef
over for extra advertising value. littl,
while ago. however, the chef. figuring tina
u he would need little extra money abou
y this time, thought he saw a chance I,
: make It on the side. So to the chef of ,
: rival lobster palace he offered TO bet
a substantial sum that it would be a boy
His friend. after looking up a few sta
tisics, was little more than willing L
: bet even money that 1t would be a girl
= 1t isn't; it's twins a boy and girl. nh
chef gets double prize money again, an
his employer promises to throw in al
extra $25 for good measure. But the be
is still undecided. LONGACRE.
ATHLETICS AND EDUCATION