davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

have the majority of votes.
The liberals propose that the upper
House of Parliament should remain about
the same but that any measure passed
by two successive Houses of Commons
and signed by the king shall become a law
without the consent or the lords. BY this
method the old obstruction tactics of
the British House of Lords, which have
SO often prevented liberal legislation.
would disappear altogether
The lords could turn down a bill once.
but if the ministry won the next election
and sent up once more the same bill.
the Lords could do nothing but accept
it. AS for the king. 1t has been nearly
200 years since an English king has ven
tured to veto a bill passed by his House
of Commons.
1t would be well for Americans to re-
member that politically speaking the king
of England has no real official power.
The fundamental principle of the govern
ment is first: That the king can do no
wrong To Offset this there is a second
principle: 1.-The king can do nothing
without the approval of his cabinet He
cannot declare war or peace; he cannot
create lord or make a postmaster or an
ambassador. The king is a dgure-head.
who practically does just what his minis
tiers tell him to do and signs just what
the cabinet orders him to.
So England is ruled by a clique of men
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25
S07Me NW 70 ne EaAzAg or00noy

ing reverberations sounded not unlike the
beginning of an artillery duel between
armies. These cracks in the ice are not
very wide at arst-sometimes two or
three inches across and sometimes a foot.
If the weather should turn cold and calm
they will sometimes remain in their orig
inal form without widening for days at
a time. The effect of these cracks Is. of
course, to break the ice up into irregular
long as the cakes remain at this size
they are as safe to travel across as the
solid ice AS the season progresses how
ever, more and more cracks appear, the
cakes become smaller and smaller, and
sometimes in order to reach the shore It
is necessary for the fishermen to skip
from cake to cake, much as we used to
cross the pond on the broken ice down
on the farm in the days when we were
out warning, owing to sudden wfndstorm,
and the fishermen are tossed about on
the angry lake, much like the survivors
of a polar expedition on an iceberg.
Sometimes, with an east wind, cakes bear
ing parties of freezing fishermen are
blown 40 and so miles up Lake Erie. At
other times. when the wind is in the
west, these cakes are carried into the
mad Niagara River. When the ice is
breaking up riyermen and tugmen all
alongsth the river keep a constant eye out
for parties of belated fishermen being
carried to death over Niagara Falls
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

ups'' and then drives the upr1ghts OF MS
wind shield into the ice in such position
that the cloth will in a measure break
the biting blasts which sweep across the
frozen surface, carrying singing bits OF
broken ice with them He usually builds
a small fire under the protection OF his
shield and devotes his time to watching
mis- ''tip-ups." These latter are home made
implements. fashioned much like an old
styled well sweep. The upright is any
where from one and half to two feet
high and the crossbar between two and
three feet long. The fishline. with baited
hook, is fastened to one end of the cross
bar and dropped into the water through
the hole in the ice. The upright is then
driven into the ice and snail piece of
stone or ice laid the end of the cross
bar. The end over the hole in the ice,
to which is attached the hook and line.
is then up III the air and the other down.
The minute q fish is caught the pull
causes the bar to Tip up and the fisher
man knows that he has a bite. The aver
age fisherman keeps from two to four of
these "tip-ups'' baited in each hole. The
fish weigh from about three-quarters of a
pound to two pounds, and a good days
catch is from 10 fish up. The ice fisher
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

around and made for the shore at top
speed ] hollered and yelled and got
EN- stopped and turned 'em around and
give rap with stick on the side of
my box sledge. which is a sign all fish
erman's dogs understand to mean to go
ahead. They didn't bulge l raped
some more on the sledge. but they just
looked back at me in that peculiar way
that dogs have when they know they are
disobeying. I licked 'em and I kicked
'em-yes. did, and I'm ashamed to own
it-but they wouldn't move. They just
lay down in the ice and snow and whined
and took their medicine. / finally gave it
up for a bad job and went home And
you may believe me or not, but before
evening the worst storm of the year came
up, and six of the fellows who went out
that morning never came BACK"
The ice fisherman's outfit is simple con-
sisting of a good-sized box sledge, the dog
team, an ak. the usual bait hooks and
lines, several tip-ups and a wind shield.
The last-named may consist of anything
from an old boat sail to a length or two
of grandma's discarded parlor carpet,
fastened to two uprights After the fish
erman has located his ground ana chopped
his holes in the ice he arranges his Tip
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

certain to be reformed, but it will be
reformed by its avowed enemies, who will
be heated with the triumph of recent
battle and flushed with the pride of their
victory at the polls. Wherefore very ex-
citing scenes will undoubtedly occur. in
Parliament House this coming spring
Election Changes Few.
But it is typical of the slow changes
that come about in the ditficuit-to-move
British temperament that the new Par
iiament, with its tremendously importa Mt
work on hand. has been elected with
practically no change from the election
that occurred about II months before
The settlement Of the House of Lords md
some sort of adjustment of the Irish
question viii, then, not be the result of
great, overwhelming popular movement
As matter of fact there is almost
no change in the respective strength of
the rival parties. The actual figures are:
Old Observation-Disclosures, 274; Labor
40; Nationalists. II; Independent Nation
aists. 10; Conservatives. 233; Irish Con-
servatives. II; total. go; new Parlia-
ment-Libera1s. 272; Labor, A: National
lists. 70; Independent Nationalists, Z; Con-
servatives. 254; Irish Conservatives, IS;
total. SO.
Even the man in the street will have
no difficulty in realizing that such a
trihing change after a general election
must be considered as absolutely insig-
nificant The only positive gain must be
accredited to the English Scotch and
Welsh labor sections of the Liberal ma
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

men usually cut their holes about one
foot square, though sometimes they get
them bit larger. There is a well-defined
understanding among ice fishermen that
holes must never be cut along the gen.
orally beaten path and no real fisherman
ever cuts a hole big enough for a man to
fall into. Several cases Of mysterious dis
appearance have been reported from the
ice. and it is generally supposed that the
missing men, returning home in the fall
ing dusk, stepped into a hole cut by some
amateur and were drowned. A man fall
ing into these holes has practically no
possibility of getting out. When the vic
tim comes up after the fall he generally
finds himself under the ice, some distance
from the hole. The cold water soon chills
the system and the end comes quickly.
The history of ice fishing on the Great
Lakes is story of tragedy. Every year
summer the finding of a body or TWO
clears up some mystery of the ice. The
greatest danger, of course, occurs in the
spring, when the ice, softened and weak
ened by the sun and rain, begins to
break. First big cracks appear. These
giant assures do not come gradually. They
appear suddenly, and each new crack is
accompanied with bang not unlike the
boom from a cannon. The writer had
the good-or perhaps bad-fortune TO be
out on Lake Erie with a party of fisher
men when the ice began to break up,
and to him the rapid succession of boom
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25
IT zheFAahznS Gnouoog II Mze

Many of the half-frozen wretches are
taken from their floating danger by dar-
ing crews in naphtha launches, who some
times fight the field of rushing, broken
ice for hours before they can get near
enough to the particular doe that cou-
tains the fishermen to render them any
help.
The midwinter season, before the
breakfngup period is not without its
dangers. Occasionally men become be-
numbed by the intense cold and sink ex-
hausted to the ice. They are frequently
found frozen stiff and stark, their shiv-
erfng dogs whining beside their dead
bodies. Occasionally fishermen become
lost in a blizzard and wander around
until they drop. The safest thing to do
when thus confused is to let the intel
ligent dog team have their heads. They
win find their way back If 1t is possible.
The story is told OF fisherman who
had been missing for two days. Search
ing parties had been out for hours with
out results and it was practically decided
that there was use of further EFFORTS
in his behalf. When all hope was given
up one of the dogs OF the missing man.
wearing part of the sledge harness.
turned up at his home, half frozen and
SO lame that 1t could hardly walk. The
dog refused to come into the house, re-
fused to eat, and acted queerly. 1t
would scratch at the door and when the
door was opened would run away, all
the time looking longingly behind. The
fisherman's wife told one of her neigh
bors, also fisherman, of the dogs queer
actions. 81 believe that dog wants some
body to follow it, he said. and did So
The dog nmped straight down to the
beach and out across the ice for three
miles, where in a sort of gully between
two ice hummocks the man was found,
apparently dead The other dog of the
team, still in harness, stood beside the
body. To properly round out the story
it is only necessary to add that the man
was carried home and his life saved,
though it was necessary to amputate
both frozen feet and one hand. The man
and his team had become lost in a biiz-
card, It was afterward learned. When
he fell and was unable to rise, one of
the dogs had chewed the harness things
that held him to the sledge and had
gone for help while the other had re-
manned on guard. It would be interest
ing to know how the dogs decided which
was to go ana which to stay.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25
S@szz5SsMzs5s 80 :
SsR7ssSSE

This high water mark was reached some
years ago. since which time the amount
has been considerably lessened. owing
to the diminishing number of fish. Just
what the figure will be this year is not
known, though old fishermen say that
it will be good year.
Very few experienced ice fishermen will
venture out unto the frozen lake without
their dogs. These dogs are both helpers
and companions. They pull the sledges i'll
which their masters often ride and they
seem to sense storm long before there
Is any evidence of danger.
Il would no more go out onto that lake
without my dog team than I would go
without bait said Happy Jack Harri-
one of Lake Erie's best known ice fish
ermen.
''Why?" asked one of the bystanders.
"'Cause dogs knows more than most
humans was Jacks answer. Being
pressed further, he said: My team amt
much to look at. Prince, there, he's a
Newfoundland dog. and his mate-what's
left of Eim-is q setter. Them dogs can
beat any dog team on the lake in a mile
dash or a 10-mile pull. You may believe
me or not. but many's the time that they
have beat a 60-mile gale back to port.
The gales the thing that you have to
look out for. In the spring, when the ice
is beginning to get bit honeycombed
and thin in spots, is the time when the
winds are most dangerous. The ice can
stand a whole lot of warmth before it
will break up. But after it has begun to
get thin and crack the first windstorm
will smash it to bits and then God help
the poor devil who gets caught out there
in the blow. I remember one winter
think it was about three years ago-when
the entire season had been mild. and the
ice was never just what it should have
been. Anyway, l started out that morn
ing against my wife's wishes She didn't
want me to go. but 1 figured 1 could get
in one more days fishing before she
broke. So / got ready. The dogs didn't
seem to act just right, but I got 'em down
to the beach, and away we started over
the ice. OF sudden they switched be-
fore 1 could open my zap. turned clean
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

SMALL army of some 10000 fish
ermen make a good living fishing
through the ice of the Great Lakes
y every winter The nucleus of this
little band is formed from the
regular fishermen who follow the occu-
patton all year. setting nets I'll the sum-
mer and dropping lines through holes
in the ice during the cold months. The
great body of winter fishermen. how
ever. is made up of carpenters, painters.
bricklayers and other artisans who find
themselves thrown out of work because
of the weather conditions.
Buffalo, n. Y, at the extreme eastern
end of Lake Erie is perhaps the leading
ice fishing port on the Great Lakes and
from here as many as 1000 men per
day go out when the winter fishing sea-
son is at its height. In the good old
days of our fathers when the fish were
running thicker than they run now and
when there were not nearly so many
men on the ice every day, catch of 800
pounds for a days work was not I'M
common. Indeed, there have been rec
ords where q lone fisher brought in 8
load Weighing 400 pounds. Those days
are past now, however. and ten pounds
is considered a fair catch. A total OF
10 pounds for the day is good, while
the man who bags 25 pounds of blue
pike is considered to have made a rich
haul. These fish are brought to Buffalo
and sold from 10 to IA cents per pound,
depending on the market price. A few
of the men hawk their catch about the
streets, from house to house. but ma
jority of them seal them direct TO the
wholesalers. While the price is compare
lively low in these days of high living
cost, the man who can make an average
catch of 15 pounds per day and sell it
at II cents a pound, win clear about
$1,000 per week, which is a great deal
better than nothing. Erie and Dunkirk
are both large fishing ports and prob
ably rank next to Buffalo in Importance
among the Great Lake cities in this re-
gard. As much as $4,000 for fish has
been paid out at the port of Buffalo
alone. in one season of winter fishing
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

who can control a majority in the House
of Commons. But while the King ia n
dummy, politically speaking, the House
of Lords has held real power. This real
power the new British majority In the
Commons proposes to do away with.
That would mean a single-chamber gov
eminent and many people hold that such
a government would be apt to do rash
things and pass wildcat laws from Lack
of sufficient forethought.
Perhaps the three members of the House
of Lords who will have the most to say
in the coming struggle will be the Earl
of Crewe and Lords Curzon and Lans-
downe- Lord Crewe was recently changed
from Colonial Secretary to the more i'm
portant post of Secretary for India. He
is an interesting figure, for he is liberal
lord and in favor of reforming the priv
iIeged chamber of which he is himself a
member On the other hand Lord Curzon
is one of the real rulers of the Lords
and with Lord Lansdowne formerly a
minister of foreign affairs In conserva-
tive government, he is said to be closest
in King Georges confidence from a per-
sonaI standpoint.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25
Earth'SF

2Y1HILE Adam will always go down
IA Unto human history as the first man,
W. science, without attempting to de-
eide on the names Of the earliest man
kind, has, nevertheless, made some recent
discoveries that give a number OF 1asci-
mating details concerning the appearance
and the life of the earliest men. There
are naturally not many traces of the first
men who lived on the earth, but still de-
tails are not entirely lacking.
Science has number of skulls, good
many rude flint axes and some other
scanty materials. which have been found
buried far Underground. With these ac-
tua1 facts in hand, Professor Arcelin.
noted European scientist, states that man.
kind first appeared on the earth at the
first Glacial period, or rather just when
it was ending.
Just before man is supposed to have de-
veloped on earth all of Europe was Gov
cred many feet deep with glaciers, and
the climate was just like what Peary re-
ports as existing nowadays at the North
Pole. Then something happened IT must
be admitted that science is not very def
mite as to what 1t was that did happen.
hut something happened and Europe and
Asia developed hot climate. 1t was far
hotter than the climate of the last 5000
years and mankind dwelt In tribes along
the rivers and had the first species of
hippopotamus, rh1noceros anu sort OF
primitive elephant for his companions.
This is said to have been in Europe.
The hippos and rhinos of this first period
of mankind are said to have been three or
four times as big as those of the present
era and the elephants were about so feet
high. So the first men on earth had
hard time of it, for they were shorter
than man il today and had nothing but
pointed sticks with which to fight the gi-
cantic animals of their period.
However, they had low. fat skulls that
were almost as hard stone and they
were wonderfully strong and hard to in
Jure. Science has given the name of
Pithecanthropus to the first man. This
is easier to understand -hen it is ex-
planned that the first half of the word
means monkey and the second balf-the
anthropos section-means man. Both
words are from the Greek and mean sim
ply the man-monkey.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

is very limited. He cannot make single
peer, that is lord with a seat in parlia-
ment. unless the name Is approved by
the ministry, and the ministry naturally
prevents the creation of any lords who
are bitterly opposed to liberal ideas.
But the matter goes much farther. The
king Is compelled by custom and by the
rules of law laid down by all British au-
thorities constitutional law to make
such peers as his ministers recommend.
So according to the law. King George
could be compelled to create so or so
peers who would vote with the liberal
government and so effect reform of
the upper house in the British Pariia-
ment.
This is so evidently a clumsy method
that all present day statesmen and the
king himself have decided that whatever
reform is agreed on by the House OF
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

jority. AS for the popular majority, the
yietors obtained. outside of Ireland, the
smallest possible advantage. 1t can be
well put by saying that out of every l 900
men in the Island of Great Britain sol
voted for the Liberal government and 4JJ
voted the Conservative ticket.
Further Conferences Unlikely.
The conference of eight to try and agree
on some methods of reforming the
Lords failed utterly in November. and
was the last thing that led to the Brit
any further conferences will be held al
though the Conservatives will undoubtedly
make proposition looking toward an
other conference.
The two great influences that will de-
termine just how much reform will be
applied to the Lords" and what shape it
will take viii be the King aud the ma
jority in the House of Commons. King
George. it goes without saying, natur-
ally is opposed to any change. He is
from personal interest opposed above all
to any change that will tend to do away
with ancient forms of government and
privileges that are attached to the acct
dent of birth. He is King of England
by accident of birth. and he wants to
uphold that idea just as far as he dares.
Kings Power Limited.
Yet while the kings inciinations are
undoubtedly with the conservatives and
lords, his actual power to help his friends
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

, HE month of March, 1911, will see
the struggle of the British de-
moeracy against the English House
= of Lords arrive at some definite
form of conclusion after conflict
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25
Commons and the king will have to b
accepted by the Lords"
Two Methods Considered.

Two methods are proposed. The method
of the conservatives aims to keep the
House of Lords in a position to stop
liberal legislation as it comes from the
Commons The conservative reform would
be to have certain lords elected and
certain great lords considered as lords
for life and to be appointed by the king
on the recommendation of the ministry.
Such a House of Lords would have the
same power approximately as the United
states Senate But the liberals absolute
ly refuse to accept such a reform Dill.
which, they claim, would put over the
Commons a body that would be only part
" elective and which would have little
sympathy with the popular classes who
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-25

IT SMALL army Of some 10000 fish
ermen make a good living fishing
through the ice of the Great Lakes
y every winter The nucleus of this
The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1911-05-31

worse than all. the water down below
on which he is depending for raising
his crops viii go out after it, In this
way small rain Of half an inch or
even an inch often does more dam
age TO the ccrnfield than good
Is this all the farmer can do? All
he can do now, but not by any iueans
all he can do For II he will keep his
land well filled with vegetable mat
ter by putting half of 1t in pasture
and meadow. and manure it each year,
his soil will hold more water than it
otherwise wonld. and it will not be
nearly so likely to form crust. Hence
the farmer who follows this plan will
not only have much more water in his
soil In dry time, but it will escape
far less readily, and the effects of 1t
are seen in the large crops he grows
as compared with the man who has
used up the vegetable matter of his
soil by constant cultivation of cereal
crops.
There Is something else the farmer
can do. In the drier sections of the
country he can plant windbreaks.
What have windbreaks to do with the
saving Of moisture? A great deal;
for the evaporation from the soil is
determined 10 a great extent by the
force Of the winds. particularly in
drier sections. Winbreaks defect the
wind currents upward and leave a
comparative calm on the lee side.
The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1911-05-31
IneIdsntN 81 Census Taking.

Many curious incidents cropped up
at the taking Of the British census a
few days ago. An old woman at North
wich had to visit the churchyard to
ascertain how many OF her children
had died; the number was four: Il
have to keep him-I am the head Of
the family" pleaded wife in Kings
ton-on-the-Thames. but the enumerat-
or entered the husband first A fam
lily of seventeen sons and daughters.
required a second form at Barnton.
Northwich. as the ordinary schedule
has only fifteen spaces. Resenting the
persistence OF census officer, who
had to knock three times before he
could get a reply, Hoxton man struck
the enumerator, badly bruIsing one OF
his eyes. while proud father in &c
clesall who had baby few hours
old calmly explained on the census
form that the baby was single and not
married.