davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
Immunity Officially Proclaimed
by Department of Justice.
BOnaparte's Letter to Lands to
Be Made Public.
MUST KEEP ITS WORD.
Government Received the Goods
According to Contract.
Court Is Expected to Dismiss
the Grand Jury.

Washington, Sept. 2-That the Chi
cago & Alton railroad is entitled to i'm
munity will be officially proclaimed by
the department of justice tomorrow. 1t
is stated here that, after leaving Wash
ington some days ago, Attorney General
Bonaparte consulted with the president
at Oyster Bay, and now has directed
that his letter to Judge Lands be made
public.
The publication of Mr.. Bonapartes
letter is due to the fact that on tomor-
row Judge Lands will convene the
United States district court at Chicago
to determine the question of having the
special grand jury which he directed to
be organized proceed with the indict-
ments against the railroad.
Judge Lands was informed several
weeks ago of the agreement of the gov
ernment and the Chicago & Alton
whereby the latter gained immunity for
granting rebates to the Standard OIL
company. Nevertheless, he declined to
stop the indictment proceedings until
tunity to beside whether an oppor-
tunity to decided whether the iali.-, 4
bad dealt fairly by the government.
Pledge Can Not BE Broken.
Mr.. Bonaparte made a careful exam
ination of the record in the case AMI
conferred with ex-District Attorney
Morrison, who gave the promise of i'm
munity, District Attorney Sims and Mr..
Wilkerson, Mr.. Sims assistant Nj.
hOIIlSOn expressed the OplillOn IHaI the
promise was of a sweeping character
and that the Chicago & Alton had lived
up to it so far as he knew.
Mr.. Sims held that the promise had
not been fully carried out and cited
the case of traffic clerk who failed
to give all the Information desired.
Mr.. Bonaparte decided, however, that
it was advisable for the government to
live up to its agreement and informed
Judge Landis that it must decline to
prosecute the railroad.
The action of the government un-
doubtedly will result in getting testi-
money in further anti-rebate prosecu-
tions of the Standard which other
wise would be withheld.
Guide to Other Corporations.
1t is likely, also, that corporations
will be more willing to facilitate in
vestigations by the government now
that they see that pledges of immun-
ity Will be observed.
The department OF justice and bu-
reau of corporations are satisfied that
sound public olicy has been displayed
in Mr. Bonapartes decision. Whether
Judge Lands will like it or not no one
knows here. but 1t is presumed he has
written to the attorney general and
given his acquiescence in the decision.
1t may be expected, therefore, that
when the court meets Judge Lands
will dismiss the grand jury.
At the same time he probably will
make further explanation of the
reason for his action in directing Mr..
Sims to organize special body to re-
turn indictments against the Chicago
& Alton. From the point of view OF
auth critics here, Judge Lands should
have consulted them before institut-
ing proceedings against the railroad.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
NEW USE FOR SUGAR BEET.
Tops Will Be Utilized to Make a stock
Food.

Western Kansas has found new
use for the sugar beet. A factory Is
about to be constructed in western
Kansas for the manufacture of stock
food which will employ as its prin-
ciple constituents the tops of the su-
gar beets, alfalfa cane and kaffr corn
and wheat straw.
It's to form a new balanced ration
1t is concluded because the sugar
beet contains from IA to IS per cent
sugar it ought to form a very valu-
able conditioning food.
"I never heard of the sugar beets
being used for a purpose fthat KIND,
said r ID. Coburn, secretary of agri-
culture. "I don't know what to say
about its value"
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
PLUNGED OVER A GRADE
Big Touring Car Falls on Top of Its
Five Occupants.

Elmira Sept "A powerful touring car
plunged over a 15-foot embankment at
Pine city, near Elnira, today, killing H.
B. Smith of Tioga, Pa, and injuring four
Others One of the injured men, John
Henry of Canadaigua, is confined in the
hospital where fear is expressed that he
is injured internally and likely to die. The
others are not seriously hurt.
The party was bound from Corning. y
V to Tioga, Pa, the home Of Waldo
Whitehead who owned the car, and won
was seated in the rear seat with Messrs.
Henry and Smith. The chauffeur, A. +.
Vangorder of Corning, and James Barrett.
a guide were seated in front At the
point where the accident occurred the
road turns abruptly. Through misun-
guide the car continued straight ahead
and plunged off the embankment, turning
completely over, pinning the occupants
11ndernaath-
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
CLARK TO BE ARBITER.
General Manager Hurley Will Appear
for the Railroads.

Denver, Sept. 2-Interstate Commerce
Commissioner E. E. Clark has agreed to
act as arbiter of the wage question in
dispute between the western railway
managers and the brotherhood of rail-
way trainmen. He will hear both sides
in Chicago between September 10 and
16 Grand Master p H Morrissey will
appear on behalf of the switchmen,
and j. E. Hurley, general manager of
the Santa Fe, will present the case for
the railroads. The railroads have grant
ed an increase of one cent an hour in
the wages of yardmen and Mr.. Clark
is called upon to decide whether an ad
ditional cent or any part thereof snail
be given.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
X. c. LEADS CHICAGO.
Cattle Receipts Were Greater nv
$4,000 in August

Kansas City. Sept. 1.-More cattle
were marketed in Kansas City last
month than in any preceding August
and the receipts were $4,000 larger
here than in Chicago. The total re-
ceipts of all live stock for the month
were 1S,O47 cars. including 2S5445
cattle, 207,10O hogs, 88.314 sheep and
45S4 horses and mules. Recei1te Of
hogs and sheep were slightly less man
in August last year, but there was An
increase of 10000 in the cattle re-
ceipts.
heavy movement of grass fa+ oot+1a
from below the quarantine line and
the western range country
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
TWO DIE BY POISON.
CarbOIic Acid Used by People Who
Were Tired of Life.

Mrs. Abbie Davis. who lived at 220
East Second street. committed sulclae
Saturday night about O'Clock by
swallowing carbOlfc acid. she died al
I o'clock Sunday morning.
Before she died Mrs. Davis signed
the following note. which was written
by her dictation:
Topeka. Kan. Aug 31.-I. Abbie
Davis of 22O East Second street, do
say believing that 1 am going to die
that 1 took carbohc acid after drinking
a lot of whisky and beer. 1 am tired
of living without my children and or
worrying about them. They were
1Sirned1 MRS. ABBIE DAVIS"
The note tells the whole story The
woman was only about 20 years old,
but was the mother of two children,
aged and 4. She was separated from
her husband, Fred Davis, who is now
in Alton. and the children taken from
her. Since then she has been drinking.
and while intoxicated mourned the loss
Of her children. and frequently express
ed desire to die. Saturday evening
she drank two ounces of carbolic acid.
and was drunk at the time Her
grandmother. Mrs. Mary Frost. knock
ed the bottle from her hand, but not
before she had swallowed the poison
DR.. Keith was called at once, and the
woman made her ante-mortem state
ment in his presence
As a result of this suicide Chief
Eaton raided a house at 315 East First
procured liquor.
At almost the same hour, another
suicide was committed in North To-
peka. where Jesse Mccain, II years
old. swallowed carbolic acid and died
within a few minutes. Mccain had
called on his father. who lives at 1915
Central avenue. 1t was evident that he
intended suicide before coming to his
home. as he had the acid in his pocket.
The elder Mccain says that his son
has been travelling over the country
with Winnie Huber and her 13-year-
old daughter in a covered wagon, much
against the will of his parents The
woman and her daughter were in the
wagon on the street in front of the Nc
Cain home when the boy called to talk
with his father.
''I came to say goodby.' said young
Mccain "I am going away
'I would rather you would leave
than to keep on in the way you are
Going" replied his father. Jesse than
walked back to the wagon and drank
The acid He was dead before Coroner
n II. Keith reached the scene in his
automobile
The Huber woman claims that Nc
Cain. with whom she was living. made
Indecent proposals to her daughter
and a Quarrel followed. They were
canned north of town and not far
from his fathers home when the quar-
rel took place Mccain took one of the
horses and rode into town. returning in
a short time with the poison.
The Huber woman. who is about IS
years old, and her young daughter,
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
MORE GET DRUNK IN ENGLAND.
Rev. Charles NJ. Sheldon Makes Com
parison With America.

Southampton. Eng. Sept. 2.-The
Rev. Charles NJ. Sheldon of Topeka,
Kan. sailed for New York Saturday on
the steamer st. Louis after a four
months tour of Great Britain. He
said Ire found more drunkenness in
Great Britain than in America, espe-
cially among the women. The Ameri-
cans he added. consume much intoxi-
cants, chiefly beer. while the British
drink spirits largely.
Before his departure Mr. Sheldon
was presented with an illuminated ad-
dress by the officers of the United
Kingdom alliance. assuring him OF
their grateful sense of the lasting SER
vices he had rendered to the cause of
temperance reform in Great Britain.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
Apology is Accepted.

Caracas. via Wilemsad, Island
of Curacao. September 2.-The
Venezuelan government considers that
the incident involving the invasion of
Venezuelan territory by district in
spector of police. w. J. Calder of Brit
ish Guiana, and the seizure of a
quantity of balata gum said to have
been collected on British soil. has
been satisfactorily closed. President
Castro has received an apologize note
from the governor of British Guiana
with announcement that inspector
Calder has been dismissed from his
post.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
Another strike at CrippIe Creek.

Cripple Creek. Sept. 2.-Rather than
take out mine owners recognition
cards 125 men out of 450 employed by
the Portland Gold Mining company
quit work. This includes II of 80 tim
bermen and their helpers, who had de-
manded an increase of so cents a shift
The timbermen have been receiving
$3.50 per day and their helpers SO per
day. 1t is predicted that between 500
and 400 men will refuse to take out
cards and will quit work
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02

1. M. Yost, a big miller at Hays City.
Kan. revises his figures about the size
of the wheat crop OF Ellis county and
Concludes that the state will produce
from 75,OOO,0OO to S0,00O,000 bushels. FL
lis county according to his CONVERSE
ton with farmers will exceed former
figures by from one-hah million to one
million bushels. Corn crop never bet-
ter" are the concluding words
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
MATCH RACE AT HoLToN.
Much Money Changes Hands on the
Result of the. Robb-Darling Race.

Holton. Kan, Sept. "A race here
Saturday between c. Robbs chest
nut sorrel mare, Miss Bertha and
George Darling's mare, 'Gazelle." re-
suited in the Robb mare winning by
40, feet. "A purse of $50 was up. There
was heavy betting. several hundred
dollars changing hands on the result.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02

who mas been travelling with them,
were poth arrested and locked up
while the officers are inyestieatine the
case. If the woman is found bIameless
for the death of Mccain, she will be
released. - - 70
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
Missouri Pacific Earnings.

New York, Sept. 2.-Missouri Pa
cific June earnings were: Gross earn
ings, $4,031,319 increase, $426,417-
Net earnings, $1,299.71e; increase,
$226.446. From July l. 1906, to June
80, 1907-Gross earnings, $4S,703, 342;
increase, S4,136,521. Net earnings,
$16,1ss,272; increase, s1,903.S57.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02
Weather IndlcntIona.

Chicago, Sept. .2.-Forecast for Kan
sas: Fair tonight and Tuesday; cooler
in east portion tonight. warmer Tues
day.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-02

Cheap shingles at cheap prices.
J. THOMAS LUMBER CO.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-29

twenty-six feet wide at the top, rising 120 feet above tAe bed of the river being a mile and a quarter in length There Is now roadway guarded by walls on It's top, and there is a little car line, the wagons of which are pushed by men, which runs over 1t, from one side to the other The dam serves as a bridge as well, and donkeys, camels and men are allowed 10 pass over 1t from bank to bank. I crossed on the car at q cost of g cents, my motive power being two Arab boys who came behind on the trot.
 As l came over I stopped from time to time to examine the construction. The dam is made of great blocks of red gran ite as fine as that of any tombstone in the United States. They are beautifully cut and fitted as closely as the walls Of a palace On the upper side or north face the wall is perpendicular, forming l straight up and down barrier against the waters of the Nile l climbed down ladder on that side at one place almost to the river, and could see that the blocks are fitted so closely that the ce- ment does not show. The wall seems al- most one solid stone throughout, with the exception of where the great sluices al 9 cut to allow the river to flow through at the times of the flood, and as the floods subside to shut back the waters to form the great reservoir for the dry season.
 1,ooo,ooo,o0o Tons of Water
 There are 1S0 of these slUiee gates in the dam, each of which has steel doors that can be raised and lowered to allow the whole river to flow through or to hold back as much or as little as the engineers will. The dam is thus great stone wall pierced by these gates.
 The Nile never flows over the top of the dam, but always through the gates and the canal at one side. When the gates are closed during the dry seas son enough water is held back by this struc- ture of steel and garnite to form lake 140 miles long and this is let out as needed, to supplement the ordinary flow of the river and give the crops plenty of water all summer through.
 In order to appreciate the strength Of the structure it is necessary to know the enormous weight it supports When the reservoir is full the water in It amounts to almost a quarter of a trillion gallons It contains sSi 0,o00 gallons, and weighs over 10d0,000 tons. l. is so heavy that if it we're all loaded upon wagons it would take two billion horses to haul the load. We have In the United States something like eighteen million horses. One hundred times that many, all harnessed together and all pulling at
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-29
-zzzzum@uMNN
By Frank G. Carpenter


fifteen feet. This will almost double the amount of water stored and double the benefit to Egypt.
 Wonder of Mechanics.
 The Assouan dam is more wonderful than the Pyramids in it's mechanical con- struction. Old Cheops is built on the edge of the desert on solid stone plat form, and it is little more than the pil- ing of one stone upon another. For the Assouan dam a trench a hundred feet wide and hundred feet deep had to ne eXcavated in the granite rock; it had to be bedded with concrete rubble, and 1t was upon such a substructure that the masonry was raised. The dam itself con- tains more than q million tons of granite and about 15,0O0 tons of steel, and the call culations of the engineers are such that they know just how much water every ounce of stone and steel will hold back. They know the exact weight of the river at every hour of the day and they have telegraphic reports which tell them what the Nile is doing In Abyssinia, in Central Africa and the Soudan. They have dis- patches as to every great rain, and they know to a ton just how much water low CT Egypt is using, so that they can tell how much or how little to let out for the farms. They even estimate the force of the sun on the water and know how much it drinks up every day. When the res- erVor is full Old Sol takes a million and a half tons from it every twenty-four hours. and the engineers estimate the evaporation not only at Assouan, but all along the great stream and throughout its swamps to it's source In Victoria lake. l have had some talks here with Mir. Mo- Donald the engineer-in-chief of the dam, and am surprised at the wonderful intel ligence bureau which Egypt posses.
 What a Child Can Do.
 am also amazed at the strength and delicacy of the machinery of this re- markable structure It Is so arranged that a child can operate it. The great sluice gates are each as high as a two story house, and so wide that you could drive a hay wagon through them with out touching the walls They are cut right through the granite dam and are closed or opened by steel doors, which move up and down inside the wall on rollers.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-29

once could not carry the weight which this masonry is required to hold back.
 If the water could be loaded freight cars at one hundred tons to the car, it would take ten million cars to carry It, and if each ear were forty feet long the train would reach eighty thousand miles, or one-third of the distance from here to the moon.
 There is water enough in the reservoir to give all the families of the United States all they could use for six or eight months, and enough to supply Great Britain and Ireland all the year round. If the water were loaded on two-horsc wagons, each team being given width of eight feet and a length of forty feet on a roadway, the line of teams required to carry it would be a half mile wide and would form a solid train of that width encircling the globe at the equator.
 The weight is indeed stupendous and the force inconceivable. Nevertheless, during the floods fully as much water runs through the dam every day IS the whole supply kept back in the dry season; and the structure had to be made so that 1t would retain this huge lake and Ut flood time let a lake equal to 1t pass through every day.
 Greater Than Pyramids.
 Talk about the Pyramids, The Assouan dam is far more wonderful than they The Pyramid at Cheops required 100001 men and thirty years in its building. The Assouan dam was constructed by about 11,0O0 men in four years. The Pyramil was made by forced labor and 1t impover- ished the people. The dam cost altogeth- CT about $120e0, ,000, md the men wno worked upon it were better paid than any others who have ever labored in tina valley of the Nile Moreover, the dam has made Egypt the most prosperous country of the world. It has added to t more than 1,5OO.0 GOO acres of tillable land more than paid for its cost every year. and has increased its crops a value of more than coo per annum It has Since it has been built the yearly taxes have increased S2OO0Ooo. and the lands owned by the government have become worth $5,000,000 more. By the raising of the dam, as now planned, there will be an enormous ~ additional increase. The scheme decided upon is to raise the dam
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-29

up closer to the river which are filled with saklyehs or shadoofs, rude irrga- tion pumps worked by the animals and men. When I tell you that the fall of this valley from here to Cairo is only seven inches to the mile you will see how carefully these basins must be graduated in order to take advantage of the flow of the river. They have to be so made that the water can be drained off as rapidly as it is let on. The Abysslnian mud con tains great deal of salt and it is just as bad to have too much of 1t as too lit tie. If the land Is overwatered the salts dissolve from the soil and the oversoaked land becomes wormy and the crops are often sown too late The red water, or that containing the salt. Is allowed to stand on the land just about forty days. During this time if drops a great deal of sediment and furnishes enough moisture for the crops.
 Egypt In Flood Time.
 Few people have any idea of the work the Egyptians do in irrigating and taking care of their farms. The task of keeping these basins in order is herculean. As the Nile rushes In the embankments are watched as the Dutch watch the dikes of Holland. They are patrolled by the vil- laFe headmen and the least break Is filled with stalks of millet and earth. The vil- lage officials have the right to call out the people 10 help. and no one refuses. If the Nile gets too high 1t sometimes over flows into the villages and the mud huts crumble. During the flood the people go about In boats from village to village. The donkeys, buffaloes and bulocks live on the dilles as do also the goats, sheep and camels.
 The people sow their crops as soon as the floods subside. Harvest comes on within n few months, and without they have somens of Irrigation, outside the Nile floods, they must wait until the fol- lowing year before they can plant again. If they can have a dam like this at As souan the Nile can be kept high through out the year and they can grow crops all the year round. This Is already the con- dition in a great part of the delta and it is aimed to extend it to the farms of upper Egypt.
 The Assouan dam is one of the won ders of modern Egypt, It is in full sight of me as l sit here on the left bank of the Nile, with the desert at my back. It looks like a great stone viaduct cross ing the rocky bed of the river joining tine stony hills which wall the Nile on both sides and holding back a portion of tae mighty waters. It Is a great granite Wall, eighty-six feet wide at the bottom and