Omaha daily bee., 1909-08-24
Nebraska


commission regarding the showing they
expect 10 make In the cases involving the
2-cent fare law, the Aldrich freight rate
reduction and the Sibley express rate laws,
and the longer the hearing r. put off the
better shape the state will be In to make
good In its case. For over a year the COM
mission has been getting weekly station
reports, made out by the station agents
showing the freight shipped in and out,
the express sent in and out and the ticket
sales. These statistics are being compiled
in the office Of the State Railway COM
mission and the compilation shows a re-
markable increase in the amount Of reve-
nue paid to the corporations. whether
expenses have also increased in the same
proportion Of course the commission has
no way Of knowing except by the annual
reports OF the corporations. But the in
come Of the railroads and express COM
panies the commission has first hand and
the fact that the railroads are Offering
reduced rates to OTuaha, Lincoln and the
state fair the commission believes is an
other Indication that the 9-oent fare rate
has not injured the railroads financially.
Testimony in the cases Il to begin shortly
before a referee appointed by the federal
court.
Drinking on Train.
TIL State Railway commission and the
attorney general this morning discussed
informally the new law which aims to pre-
vent drinking and drunkenness on pas
senger trains. Several cases have been
reported to the legal department of per
sons drinking liquor on trains and the
attorney general believes It is time for the
State Railway commission to get busy and
enforce the law.
The attorney general realizes that the
teeth have been taken out Of the law, leav-
Ing II a hard matter for Il to be enforced,
inasmuch as q provides a penalty only for
the person who does the drinking and does
not affect the railway official who per-
mits II. Because OF the lameness Of the
law Mr.. Thompson believes a consulta.
tion between the railway commission and
the railroad officials will prove sufficient
to have the practice stopped.
The law provides that in case a person
is drinking on a passenger train he shall
desist when told to do so by the conduc-
tor or the conductor he's a right to put
him off the train at the next station.
after giving him q signed statement Of the
amount of unused ticket he has in his
possession. This statement entities the
traveller to a ticket when presented at any
office or the value called for.
As the bill was originally drawn it pro-
vided a penalty fol the conductor who
permitted drinking on a train, but this was
amended, absolving the train crew from
any responsibility.
The last case reported to the commits
sion was of a passenger between Grand
Island and Broken Bow who was caring
for a case Of beer.
Agitation for Commtasion plans.
Mayor Love-, who has just returned from
a vacation trip spent In Iowa, has an
nounced himself for an early agitation in
favor Of a commission form of govern
ment. In Des Moines, he said, he found
the plan working well and satisfactorily
He was told, he said, by the editors Of
the three newspapers, that 1t was the only
thing they could all agree upon-that the
commission form OF government was
good. : These. editors. he said, spoke in
favor OF the system regardless of the men
who composed the city administration.
Some Lincoln citizens proposed a com
mission form of government before the
last legislature, but II looked so bad to
the members and other Lincoln citizens
that the charter was killed, notwtthstand-
ing that the entire Lancaster delegation
favored it.
Enforcing Anti-treat Laws.
Now that the saloons have been abol-
ished in Lincoln the authorities are going
TO try to enforce the antttreat law. L.
Andrews was arrested for being drunk
and he said he bought the booze from
| George Winton. This led to the arrest
Of Winton on the charge of b~ootlegging.
When the case came to a showdown An
drews was not sure that he paid for the
liquor, so Winton was held on a charge
Of violating the anti-treat law. Both men
had been 70 Havelock and Winton brought
back some wet goods which he said he
shared with his friend. The case went
over until Wednesday.
Cash Grain Market.
With a view to establishing a cash grain
market in Lincoln, four grain merchants
this morning signed themselves as incor-
porators of the Lincoln Grain exchange
and filed articles OF Incorporation. with a
nomlnal capital OF $25, 900, with the sec
rotary Of state. The charter members Of
the exchange are Elliott Lowe, J. S. Ewart,
&c. d. Foster and F. E. Roth.
Opium Joint Raided.
The police raided an opium joint at
Twentieth and Y streets this morning and
overhauled two colored people and per-
mitted one to get away after shooting some
of the hair out Of his head. The police
had their eye on the house for several
days and this morning concluded to make
a raid. They surrounded II. One negro
jumped through the second story window
and made a run for it. officer Barrett
opened fire, but the negro kept agoing.
A bystander says hair flew and later a bull
let with some kinky hair attached to 1t
was found In the wake OF the flying
colored man. Theodore williams and
Katie Jones were captured. With them
the Officers confisoated three opium pipes,
lamps and some OF the drug
Another Hot Wave.
Eastern Nebraska became The victim of
another heat wave today, the mercury
here rising to IS In the government bureau
J at 4 p. m. Reports Indicate the South
Platte country OF Nebraska VIII suffer
further serious injury 70 its corn crop
unless rains come In a day or two. Scat
tered showers brought some relief Sunday
and Monday. but fears that the crop will
be reduced IS to 80 per cent are enter
tanned.