Lincoln County leader., May 16, 1913, Image 2

MADE YOUTH A SAILOR
GREAT MAN REMEMBERED HIS
PROMISE TO BOY.
Had "Fought for Jackson," and the
President Redeemed Partial Prom
ise That He Had Made Some .
Years Before.
The subject of Mr. Stephen Bonsai's
stirring biopraphy, "Edward Fltzger
aid Beale," was the son of Paymaster
George Beale, who served with distinc
tion under Macdonough at Lake Cham
plain, and of Emily, the daughter of
Commodore Truztun of the famous
Constellation. Young Beale, as a
member of two naval families, there
fore, had what was regarded in the
old navy as a prescriptive right to en
ter the service.
With the advent of President Jack
son, all such rights were brushed
aside, and the claims of young Beale
might have been overlooked except
for a fortunate and characteristic in
cident The boys of Washington, where the
Beales spent their winters, were ar
dent politicians, like their fathers, and
they were divided by allegiance to
antagonistic statesmen. The disputes
between the Adams partisans and the
Jacksonians grew so bitter than the
boys decided to settle all their politi
cal differences once for all by the an
cient test of battle.
Ned Beale was the Jacksonian
champion, and the Adamsites were
represented by a boy named "Evans,
who afterward became a distinguished
citizen of Indiana. The fistic battle
was appointed to take place under a
long arch, which at that time marked
the southern entrance to the White
House grounds.
While the battle raged and the en
thusiastic spectators applauded, a tall
figure suddenly appeared, scattered
the boys, and seizing Beale by the col
lar, asked him why he was fighting.
He replied that he was fighting for
General Jackson, and that his oppo
nent had expressed a poor opinion of
the president's politics and person
ality. "I am General Jackson," said the
man. "I never forget the men or boys
who are willing to fight for me, but I
do not wish them to do it all the time.
Now put on your coats."
A few years later, when Beale
reached his fourteenth year, his desire
to enter the navy became overwhelm
ing. One afternoon he called at the
White House with his mother to see
General Jackson and ask for a mid
shipman's warrant.
Mrs. Beale told her story, and spoke
of the fact that her boy was the son
and grandson of men who had served.
their country and been wounded in
battle. Jackson listened with cour
tesy, but seemed uncertain how he
should act. Suddenly the boy inter
rupted his mother.
"Mother, he Bald, "let me speak to
General Jackson."
He then reminded the president of
the fight and the promise he had
made, at least by implication, to serve
him whenever the opportunity pre
sented. Without a word, General Jackson
tore off the back of a letter lying near
him, and wrote to the secretary of the
navy, "Give this boy an immediate
warrant," and handed it to Mrs. Beale.
Youth's Companion.
Unalterable.
"I love you, my daughter, although"
the light from his eyes was as tender
as that of a June dawn, and his tones
caused her heart to dance In a billowy
ecstasy of Joy "you are a woman
with a past"
And with a smile the theosophical
bridegroom pressed another kiss up
on the brow of the bride he had wooed
and won long ago when the world was
yet damp from the creation In the
evenings and on the holidays after
carrying the hod on King Solomon's
temple.
Peculiar Natural Fact
One of the puzzles of nature Is the
fact that many springs show an in
creased flow of water several hours
before a coming rain begins to fall
Various explanations have been at
tempted, the most plausible being
that the weather before a storm is
often of the kind which checks loss
Of moisture from the erminri hv
evaporation and hence leaves more
to ieea me springs.
i Not for That Reaion.
"Why is it that bo few people heed
the warning about kissing being an
unsanitary practice?" "I, suppose it
is because so few people do It for
tneir neaun. uaitimore American.
Wanted a New Sensation.
"Dropped a little at roulette while I
was abroad," remarked the ice man.
"Can't beat that game," said the coal
man. "Wasn't try 1 nit to. I lust want.
ed to see how it feels to lose money."
Dally Thought.
I am more and more Impressed with
the duty of finding happiness. George
Eliot
RIGHT TO PLACE IN HISTORY
Young German Discovered Error In
Constitution That Had Hitherto
Evaded All.
An error, so patent as to be termed
glai t, has existed in the very flrst
sentence of the Constitution of the
United States since its adoption, un
detected, as far as can be ascertained,
by lawyers or rhetoricians. Strange
to say, the error was only exposed by
a foreigner applying for citizenship,
whose ability to understand this foun.
datlon stone of our glvernment was
oeing called into Judicial question.
A young German, who. five vears
ago, had taken out his "flrst papers"
tnat is. declared his Intention to be.
come an American citizen was re
cently taking out his "final papers"
In a court of the District. One of the
essential steps in this procedure is the
examination of the aDnllcant bv the
Judge as to his knowledge of the Con
stitution. The form of the question is,
by immemorial custom, as follows:
"Have you read the Constitution of
the United States, and, If so, do you
understand it?"
In this Instance the young German,
to the astonishment of the examining
Judge, replied:
"Yes, your honor; and I think the
men who wrote it did not know how
to write correct English. The very
first sentence Is defective."
"What do you mean?" queried the
Judge, bewildered by this foreign at
tack upon the bulwark of our liberties.
"Why," replied the German, "the
first sentence says: 'We. the neonle
of the United States, in order to form
a more perfect Union.' Now, accord
ing to the best, or Indeed, any author
ity, the word 'Derfect' means some
thing that is by its very nature su
perlative; it cannot be improved upon.
How, then, could the people of the
United States form a more nerfp.rt
Union? If it was perfect before, they
could add nothing to increase its per
fection. It might be made more effec
tive or more binding, but certainly not
more perfect!"
The young German got his papers
without more ado.
Altered His Idea.
Wrote Tomkins, the novelist: '
"Woman is Indeed a bright and beau
tiful creature. Where she is there Is
a paradise; where she is not there Is
a desert Her smile inspires love, and
raises human nature nearer to the im
mortal source of its being. She is the
ladder by which we climb from earth
to heaven. She is the practical teach
er of mankind, and the world would
be a void without her. Man is a
wreck."
He left off Just here, and went home
and found that dinner wouldn't be
ready for another hour yet; and the
neighbors say his wife and he went at
it so much that his left eye is in a
sling, Find he's been compelled to wear
a wig till his hair grows.
A poem in six cantos, commencing
Woman is a wretch," is now in the
press, and will shortly be published.
Rumor whispers that the author is
Tomkins.
I-
Roumanian Tobacco.
Roumania, the dark horse of the
Balkans, may be said to have been
wafted into good government on a
cloud of tobacco smoke. For it was
the tobacco monopoly established by
the degenerate ruler Couza that
brought about his compulsory abdica
tion. Every Roumanian smokes, and
Couza came up against a national
habit with the usual result. It was
in 1866 that the present ruler, Prince
Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmarlngen,
was invited, in the teeth of the con
cert of Europe and the sultan, to be
come Couza s Buccessor, and nothing
finer ever happened to Roumania ex
cept Its queen, "Carmen Sylva." But
the good fortune of Roumania is also
due to Bismarck, who counseled th
jfoung prince to accept the offered
throne, remarking: "If you fall you
will at any rate have a pleasant remi
niscence for the rest of your life."
Power of Smell.
If, when you went to school as a
child, you carried a tin lunch box
which often contained, let us say,
some gingerbread and sandwiches and
perhaps an apple, It is worth while to
take a sniff at such a box again, now
It is surprising how this simple ex
perlment may recall the patter of
long-forgotten feet and the memory
of childish voices that startle over the
long lapse of years.
These flashes of memory aided by
smell are wonderful. Through smell
we achieve a sense of the past; the
secret members of the mind are
aroused to life and memory. What
a pity that we waste this talentl
That Lost Balance.
A young lady while out boat riding
one day in a park, attempted to
change seats, and fell overboard.
When she was brought up gasping and
struggling, the usual crowd gathered
around and asked how it happened.
"Oh, I Just lost my balance," she be
gan, when a little Jewish boy, whp
had been listening open-mouthed,
said: "Youse loose your balance, lad.
I Till find It for youse."
CUT OUT THE HYPHEN
NEW BATTLECRY TAKEN UP BY
WRITING WORLD.
The Explanation Is That Enormoui
Amount of Energy Is Wasted and
That Mark Is Not Really of
Much Use.
There Is enough enerev wasted in
placing the little hyphen in the words
to-day," to-night" and "to-morrow"
every week day to haul a passenger
train around the world, according to
statistics that have been compiled by
those interested in the strictly mod
ern movement toward higher efflciett
cy.
It is claimed there are 200.000.0011
English-writing people and that they,
average to hynenate the words "to
day," "to-night" and "to-morrow-
three times a day. That is, while
some may not average to do
thla more than three times a week,
and a few, perhaps, not three times a
month, others write those words and
place the hyphens in them scores and
scores or times each day, especially
newspaper men. tvDewriters. authors.
business men, school children and the
like.
The acquiring of sufficient nowei
from making these hyphens each day
to propel a passenger train around
the world is figured on the basis thai
it takes half an ounce of energy to
make the stroke either with pen oi
pencil, and more for a typewriter
that represents the hyphen, and thia
would total 2,190,000 pounds of ener
gy, or sufficient for the train.
It takes an ounce of enerev to
make the hyphen on a typewriting
machine and three ounces of enerev
to make it on a typesetting machine,
and the same statistician has figured
tnat typewriting and typesetting ma
chines alone take un sufficient enerev
each day to propel a battleship from
ew york to the Panama Canal.
All these figures were not comDiled
for amusement, but as an argument
against using the hyphen in these
words. Many people do not use the
hyphen, but It appears that the ma
jority do. Those who are working to
ward greater efficiency in evervthine
claim that the hyphen In these words
is not at all necessary and should be
discontinued by everyone, saving a
great deal of valuable time and ener
gy- Exchange.
Bridge of Arta.
It was by the bridge at Arta thai
the Greeks on the west Bide entered
Turkey. "The Bridge of Arta," one
of the most pathetic of Greek folk
Bongs, tells of the sacrifice of a hu
man victim at the building of a bridge
to appease its demon. In the version
translated by Mr. J. C. Lawson sixty
apprentices and forty-five craftsmen
have tolled for three years at the
bridge, and every night their day's
Work falls in ruin. Then the demon'!
voice bids them sacrifice the master
craftsman's wife as she comes to sup
per. They induce her, with a false
story of a ring to be fished up, to let
herself be lowered, and her husband
himself hurls a stone down upon her.
She prays that the bridge may ever
tremble and all who cross it fall aa
now she trembles and her tresses fall;
but a reminder that her brother may
some day cross it changes her prayer
to one that bridge and passengers
may be as iron-like as she now feels.
Where Art la.
The guards at the International Ex
hibltlon of Modern Art understand
what the cubists and futurists are
trying to do. They know that the
"Nude Descending the Staircase"
seeks to represent the lady on every
step, besides, apparently, a collection
of other poses. A young woman ap
proached one guard.
"Where are the, er er?" .
"Movies on yer right, lady," he an
swered, and there she found them.
New York Evening Post
Supposed to Need Only One.
A newly married couple left the of
fice of Probate Judge D. A. McCanlese
In Wichita a few days ago. In the
bride's hand was a marriage certifi
cate. Presently the groom re-entered
the office and stood gazing at the
Judge. "What can I do for you this
time?" asked the Judge. "I I. well,
I'd like my marriage certificate," stam
mered the young man. He was told
that it had been given to his wifa
"Oh," he remarked, "is that all we
get? I thought we each got one."
Anxious to Be Firm.
"Now, Rufus, I hope I have con
vlnced you that there are no such
things as ghosts."
"Yassuh. You has convinced me."
"You are absolutely sure?"
"Yassuh, an' all I hopes Is dat no
ghos' am g'lnter come along an' force
me to change my mind."
No Fasting.
"No, sir-ee," said Uncle Sheepskin,
"yeou don't ketch me takln' a fast
train right threw tew Chlcargey; I
kin dew without most anything else
on the keers except eatln'."
civorite rthe
y lss -f-Sy .'.-.; -.."TS"v,
i , as
riOERO CASTLE. , SANTIAGO
AT the very southern gate of the
United States lies Cuba, the
Pearl of the Antilles. The
name was- given by the Span
iards, who knew what they
were talking about. For some reason
of Boil of climate Cuba Is the most fa
vored of all the West Indian islands.
Not only is the scenery of the Island
of wonderful beauty and variety, but
the products of her soil are finer in
quality than the products of any of
her neighbors though they He in prac
tically the same latitude and grow the
same things.
Wrapped up in Cuba is most of the
military romance of our generation.
The war with Spain was a very little
affair as wars go nowadays. All the
fighting that took place hardly
amounted to the size of a good skir
mish in the Russo-Japanese war. But
it was an intensely dramatic and pic
turesque campaign and it was the only
American war of our generation. It
marked the full development of the
United States as a world power. And
It was the most elaborately reported
war that ever took place. Naturally,
therefore, we think a good deal of it,
though it may seem a small affair to
other nations. And as a matter of fact
it was Intensely interesting and amus
ing. If you ask any war correspond
ent who has attended the campaigns
of the last fifteen years, which of
them all he remembers with the most
Interest, he will certainly choose the
Spanish-American war as the best ex
perience of his life.
The Broken Hawser.
The reason for this' lies largely in
the romantic scenery of the Santiago
province. The harbor of Santiago with
Its ancient Morro castle guarding the
entrance is one of the most pictur
esque sheets of water in the Carib
bean. It runs inland through a gap
in the high rocky coast like a long
Bleve. Just inside the entrance the
sieve turns, bo that from the outside
It is impossible to see the harbor at
all. When Schley, with his flying
squadron, was sent around the south
side of Cuba to search for Cervera's
fleet, he passed by Santiago and de
clared there was no Spanish fleet in
side. That evening a coaling vessel
which was being towed along by one
of the warships broke the hawser and
was left behind for a few hours. While
the cable was being mended one of
Cervera's vessels came and poked her
nose out of the mouth of the harbor
thinking that the American fleet had
gone. She was seen immediately by
the collier and Schley was brought
back to bottle up Cervera. If that col
lier had not broken her tow-line Cer
vera might have come out of Santiago
and proceeded to Havana; and the
whole course of the war would have
been different
That would have been a pity; for
Santiago provides the most wonderful
setting for a campaign. Back from the
rocky coast, a few miles inland, runs
a high range of mountains. Between
these mountains and the coast the
country is covered with the richest
vegetation. The American army in at
tacking Santiago had to advance along
one narrow path through an almost
Impenetrable forest When Grimes
planted his battery on the famous hill
of El Poso which lies about three
miles from the entrance to Santiago
bay along the light green of the
grassy slopes, the attack had begun.
The American army, after lying for
hours under the galling fire of the
Spaniards, had at length made up Its
mind to stay quiet no longer. It rose
and slowly walked up the ridge ' of
hills. That was a little bit of a battle
as battles go. But size even in war is
not everything. And in the history of
American arms there is no more ro
mantlo page than that which describes
the frontal attack on the San Juan
Mies.
J
hills without any proper artillery prep
aration and practically without orders.
Marvelous Changes.
That block house still stands on San
Juan hill to show where the American
troops came up the ridge. The lane
through the wools Is now a fine ma
cadamized road. But the wonderful
setting remains Just as It was 15 years
ago when Theodore Roosevelt rode up
the ridge at the head of the Rough
Riders. During these fifteen years
comparatively few Americans have
visited the scene of our only recent
war. It has been difficult of access.
When the war broke out there was no
railroad within three hundred miles of
Santiago. The line from Havana
stopped one-third of the way down the
island at Santa Clara. All the eastern
part of Cuba had been devastated by
long years of revolution. Just after
the war Sir William Van Horne came
out of Canada and proceeded to open
up the eastern part of Cuba. By 1902.
the Cuba railroad was ready for traffic.
And now it Is possible to go in 24
hours from Havana to Santiago in a
comfortable train with good sleeping
cars and observation cars, Just like
a limited train between New York and
Chicago. A- few years have worked
marvelous changes in traveling condi
tions. This year traffic to Panama Is heavy:
Instead of going direct from New Ycrk
to Jamaica and on to Panama, the
traveler should, if possible, go first to
Havana, from there through the heart
of Cuba to Santiago, thence to Ja
maica, and so on to Panama.
From Santiago to Kingston in Ja
maica the Journey Is Just a night's run.
So that those who are going to see
Panama have no possible excuse for
not seeing Cuba flrst. They can ship
to Havana and proceed by rail to San
tiago, and then across to Kingston and
pick up their Panama steamer there.
And If the truth must be told the visit
to Cuba will be the best part of the
trip. Every year Cuba Is being brought
a little nearer to us by Improvements
in the steamship and railroad services.
Very soon it will be the favorite win
ter resort of the United States. For
the scenery, especially In the east of
the island, is matchless and the cli
mate all the year round except in
July and August, when the rains come
is almost perfect. Town and Country.
Portrait of Cervantes Found.
One of the most Interesting "finds"
recently is that of a portrait of Cer
vantes, discovered by a Spanish col
lector of curios in Seville. The por- .
trait Is by Juan de Jaurigul, and Is al
luded to by Cervantes in the preface
to an edition of his novels. This pic
ture, according to the Century Maga
zine, which prints a reproduction oi
It, "has been sought for all over the
world for three centuries by admirers
of Cervantes."
New One to Him.
A wealthy fanner was In a lawsuit
the other day. ' In the trial the au
thorship of a certain newspaper an
tide came up. It had been signed by
his name. "I never wrote that" he
said. "Why, there's words In here I
never saw before." "Ah," said the
other man's lawyer. "And will you
point out one of them?" "Well," run
ning a thick finger down the page,
"here's one of 'em. 'V-i-z.' " San
Francisco Argonaut
To Be a Man.
A man shall and must be valiant)
he must march forward and quit him
self like a man. Carlyle "On H
roes."
The Result.
"How was the silence broken T"
"Somebody dropped a remark."