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Show BEAR RIVER VALLEY LEADER NATIONAL TENNIS CHAMPIOfl Romance Weaved In Cattle Brands WOULD EXTEND WAR CONTROL OF ALL FOOD different from that of other ranchmen Cause of Many Battles Between else the brand would fall of its purpose. So in the latter days the letters Rival Ranchers and neceswere finally all taken up and the sity for individual and unique brands has led to many a strange device. With Outlaws. WE Many Novel Designs. THAN 8,000 IN TEXAS "Cow" Thieves Use Ingenious Methods to Change Marks on Stolep AnimalsMany Strange Devices Are Used. Austin, Tex. Romance, not unmixed with tragedy, might be Written about the cattle brands of Texas and the Southwest. Around them have centered many thrilling deeds. They have been the means of bringing swift retribution to a host of outlaws; they have served as the basis for transactions Involving the sale of many millions of head of cattle. The records of the Texas Cattle Raisers' association show that there are more than 8,000 registered brands In this state. No two brands are alike. Usually each brand represents a separate ranch. It Is often the case that a ranch is much better known by the brand of its cattle than by the name of the owner. Owners may change, but the brand never. When Hernando Cortez conquered Mexico In the early part of the sixteenth century he established a ranch upon the isthmus of Tehauntepec. The cattle bore his brand. Although that was nearly 400 years ago the cattle upon that ranch today bear the original Cortez brand. Origin Lost in History. The origin of the cattle brand dates back to the dim dawn of history. In the days of free grass and open range the brand was an absolute necessity tn order that the owners might identify their cattle in the annual round-upWith the coining of wire fences this necessity was largely obviated, but the brand served still to place guilt upon cattle thieves. This purpose is 'still served and this fact accounts largely for the retention of the brands by all of the ranchmen. Ingenious methods are sometimes used by cattle thieves to change existing brands upon stolen stocks. Most of the members of the Texas Ranger force are experts in the matter of defying the disguising or changing of s. ""hWbds. ' ' That, and Provision of Penalties for Profiteering, Advocated by the President. ;- V. f The cattle brands of some ranches re an Intangible asset of great value. These brands have come to stand for honesty in breeding, honesty in weight and honesty in dealing, just as the heraldry of knighthood stood for honor, for bravery and for noble deeds Announcement and accomplishment that cattle of a certain brand are offered for sale is often sufficient guarantee that no precautions against fraud of any kind are taken. Every Letter Is Used. In the record of brands, every letter of the alphabet Is represented, and most letters are found in three or four positions. An exception is "O," which has but one shape, in any position, and therefore can be used only once. True, there Is the "O" flattened at the sides, but it is then called a mashed "O," a link or goose egg. ,'N" is another letter that is not susceptible of many positions, for horizontally it is "Z." "I" is another letter with a limited use. It is seldom seen except in combination with other characters, and is usually called a bar. "C and "K" are examples of letters that are used in four positions. For example, an ordinary "K" makes one position. Turn it to an angle of 45 degrees and yon have the "tumbling K" ; on Its back, horizontally, the "lazy K," and reversed, a fourth position. There are lazy and tumbling brands In all letters except "O" and "V But when the cattle business becomes general and Instead of 100 ranches there are thousands, new brands must be devised. The seeker for a brand naturally gets an insignia For example, there Is the "Spur" ranch, the "Turk Track" ranch, the "Tumbling K" of the "Lazy X." Every ranch has its principal brand, and some have many others. Hauch owners, who trade extensively, and are constantly acquiring cattle with different brands, have a number of insignins on record. Often the ranchmen's sons and daughters have their special brands and the dedication of a new brand is not an unusual form of celebrating a birth on the range. Among the peculiar brands is a pigpen, which means a square with its sides extending to form the exterior angles. Crescents are common. Only one ranchman has a hatchet for brand. A bow and arrow gives a name to one big Texas ranch. L. J. Kimfoer-lln'- s ranch had a crutch on the hip and a coffee pot on the side. The coffee pot design is not so intricate is one might imagine, consisting of only eight lines. Wine glasses are not uncommon as a brand and the J. W. Friend Cattle company in Crotchett county had a gourd. A rocking chair is the brand of the H. B, Opp ranch in Sutton and Menard counties. Lee Brothers had for their brand the graceful fleur de lis. Anchors are common, but only the John W. Franks ranch In the Osage reservation boasts of the Swastika. A hash knife, a hat, the Masonic square, a key, a turkey track, a bell, crossed walking sticks, an hour glass, a tree, a boot, a slipper, a flag, an apple, a flower, ladders, rakes, spades, a fence, a doll baby, a cotton hook, a fishhook, a bottle, bridle bits, a frying pan, a pitchfork and even a comet may be seen among the long list of brands. A "scuple" indicates that the ranch owner was a druggist before becoming a cattleman. Hearts, diamonds and clubs are found among the records of TO FORCE SALE OF SURPLUS In Address to Congress the Chief Executive Makes Assertion That We "Are Dealing With Very Criti, cal and Difficult Matters." Washington. Addressing congress and proposing remedies to check the high cost of living, President Wilson declared .existing laws were inadequate and high prices were not justified by shortage of supplies, present or prospective, . but were created in many cases "artificially and deliberately" by "vicious practices." He spoke practically as follows: "Children first, tennis jtterward." Is the motto of Mrs. Geoige W. Wight-mauational tennis champion, "he devotes to tennis only the time she can spare after caring for her babies. She is here shown with her thre youngsters: George, aiied six Virginia, aged live, and Haztl, aged three. n, brands, but the spades re those oi agricultural designs. The tendency Is toward sim'ilet brands. Branding causes cnWe to lose in weight, and the larger the brand the greater the suffering of the cattle and the greater the loss of weight, so e custom of great brands, the covering the whole sW of a cow, 1 passing away. Hides are more valuable today, also, and the big brands injure the leather. The easiest brands to read are those made with the stamp Iron, that is, an iron forged into the figure or character desired. Sometimes the cowboys encounter a maverick far from headquarters, and in the exigency of the occasion an iron rod is heated and m, "running" brand is executed. old-tim- Gentlemen of the Congress: I have sought this opportunity to address you because It is clearly my duty to call your attention to the present cost of living and to urge upon you with all the persuasive force of which I am capable the legislative measures which would be most effective in. controlling it and bringing it down. The prices the people of this country are paying for everything that It is necessary for them to use in order to live are not justified by a shortage in supply, either present or prospective, and are in many cases artificially and deliberately created by vicious practices which ought immediately to be checked by law. Profiteers Lawbreakers. Some of the methods by which these prices are produced are already illegal, some of them criminal, and those who employ them will be energetically proceeded against. But others have not yet been brought under the law, and should be dealt with at once by legislation. With the increase in the prices of the necessaries of life come demands for Increases in ' wages demands which are justified if there be no other means of enabling men to live. Upon the increase of wages there follows close an increase In the price of the products whose producers have been accorded the increase not a proportionate increase, for the manufacturer does not content himself with that, but an increase considerably greater than the added wage cost and for which the added wage cost is oftentimes hardly more than an excuse. The laborers who do not get an increase In pay when they demand it are likely to strike, and the strike only makes matters worse. It checks production; if it affects the railways it prevents distribution and strips the markets; so that there is presently nothing to buy, and there is another excessive addition to prices resulting from - scarcity. Conditions Not "Natural." hestfarer act's and forces with which we have become only too familiar; but we are not Justified because of our familiarity with them or because of any hasty and shallow conclusion that they are "natural" and inevitable, in sitting inactively by and letting them work their fatal results If there is anything that we can do to check, correct or reverse them. We must, 1 think, frankly admit that there is no complete immediate remedy to be had from legislation and executive action. The free processes of supply and demand will not operate of themselves, and no legislative or executive action can force them into full and natural operation until there is peace. Must Know Terms of Peace. There can be no confidence in industry, no calculable basis for credits, no confident buying of systematic selling, no certain prospect of employment, no normal restoration of business, no hopeful attempt at reconstruction or a proper reassembling of the dislocated elements of enterprise until peace has been established, and, so far as may be, guaranteed. Our national life has no doubt been less radically disturbed and dismembered than the national life of other peoples whom the war more directly affected, with all its terrible ravaging and destructive force, but it has been nevertheless profoundly affected and disarranged, and our industries, our credits, our productive capacity, our economic processes are inextricably Interwoven with those of other nations and peoples most intimately of all with the nations and peoples upon whom the chief burden and confusion of the war fell and who are now most dependent upon the cooperative action of the world. Exports Greatest in History. We are just now shipping more goods out of our ports to foreign markets than we ever shipped before not foodstuffs merely, but stuffs and materials of every Bort; but this is no Index of what our foreign sales will continue to be or of the effect the volume of our exports will have on supplies and prices. It is impossible yet to predict how far or how long foreign purchasers will be able to find the money or the credit to pay for or sustain such purchases on such a scale; how soon or to what extent foreign manufacturers can resume their former production, foreign farmers get their accustomed crops from their own fields; foreign mines resume their former output, foreign merchants set up again their old machinery of trade with the ends of the earth. All these things must remain uncertain until peace is established and the nations of the world have concerted the methods by which normal life and Industry are to be restored. All that we shall do In the meantime to restrain profiteering and put life, of our people upon a tolerable ting will be makeshift and provl- lial. There can be no settled condi- h here or elsewhere until the treaty peace Is out of the way and the rk of liquidating the war has be ne the chief concern of our govern- nt and of the other governments of TELEGRAPH HAS RAPID GROWKi.: - Report Shows 1, fiiiles of Wire Used 888,793 21 Companies. by Government BIG INCREASE IN MESSAGES Period Shows 45.7 Per Last Five-YeCent More Telegrams Par Value of the Capital Stock Is ar $106,360,237. Washington. According to a report by Director Sam L. Rogers of the bureau of the census, department of commerce, the 21 commercial just issued land telegraph systems in the United States In 1917 operated 241,012 miles of pole line, comprising 1,888,793 miles of wire ; sent 151,725,238 messages, and employed 47,227 persons, to whom were paid salaries and wages amounting to $36,392,140. This report, which Is issued under the title, "Telegraphs and Municipal Electric Fire Alarm and Police Patrol Signaling Systems," was prepared under the supervision of Eugene F. Hartley, chief statistician for manufacturers, and is the fourth of a series of quinquennial reports on the telegraph systems of the country. The pole-lin- e mileage in 1917 was less by 2.6 per cent than In 1912, but of 1 per was greater by cent than in 1907. The wire mileage, however, showed an Increase of 4.1 per cent as compared with 1912 and of 19.7 per cent over 1907. six-tent- MOTORTRUCKS START LONG TRIP The increase In the number of was much greater 45.7 per cent during the last five-yeperiod and 53.1 per cent during the ten years from 1907 to 1917. The number of employees increased by 39.2 per cent between 1912 and 1917, and by 84.9 per cent during the period 1907-1and the corresponding percentages of increase in their salaries and wages were 59.2 and 124.2. The number of telegraph oflices in 1917 was 28,865, a decrease of 6.2 per cent as compared with 1912 and of seven-tenth- s of 1 per cent as comThe total income pared with 1907. from telegraph traffic was $91,312,567, an Increase of 74.5 per cent over 1912 and of 140.8 per cent as compared with 1907; the income from all other sources was $1,641,803; the total expenses, including charges for depreciation and sinking funds, were $80,828,-97an increase of 52.9 per cent over 1912 and of 111.4 per cent over 1907, and the net Income was $12,125,400, an Increase of 253.4 per cent as compared with 1912 and of 113.7 per cent over 1907. The par value of the outstanding capital stock of the companies was $106,360,237, a decrease of 1.7 per cent as compared with 1912, hut an Increase of 4 per cent over 1907. mes-sag- ar 7 0, Printing Telegraph Comes In. The foregoing figures relate only to commercial telegraph companies, and thus exclude the wire and pole line wholly owned and operated by railroads, and also exclude the equipment and telegraph business of the various press associations which lease and op erate wires for dispensing news. During the five-yeperiod 191 the printing telegraph came into ej tended use by telegraph companies, press associations and railroads. The printing telegraph consists essentially of a sending Instrument equipped with a keyboard similar to that of a typewriter, electrically connected with e receiving Instrument in such a manuei thaTthehtterantomatlcnlly dud ing tel. or tel wa pmi-n- . wor'd lurone sol cet the Ho act ev bri era hnJ tnH Here Is the start of the long motortruck train which left Washington bn recently on a Journey which Is to extend across the continent The fleet of 60 trucks and 200 men, xaid to be the longest truck train ever assembled, U la thf da cfearge of the motor transport corps, U. S. A. 'v will not, cannot recoup her capital or put her restless. distracted peoples to work until she knows exactly where she stands in respect to peace; and what we will do is for her the chief question upon which ber quietude of mind and confidence of purpose depends. While there is any that the peace terms may be changed or may be beld long in abeyance, or may not be enforced because of divisions of opinion among the powers associated against Germany, it is idle to look for permanent relief. Immediate Relief Measures. pos-abili- ty By way of immediate relief, surplus stocks of both food and clothing in the hands of the government will be sold and of course sold at prices at which there is no profit. And by way of a more permanent correction of prices surplus stocks in private hands will be drawn out of storage and put upon the market Fortunately under the terms of the act the hoarding of foodstuffs can be checked and prevented, and they will be, with the greatest energy. Foodstuffs can be drawn out of storage and sold by legal action which the department of justice will institute wherever necessary; but as soon as the situation is systematically dealt with it is not likely that the courts will often have to be resorted to. Much of the accumulating of stocks has no doubt been due to the sort of speculation which always results from uncertainty. Would Have Prices Plainly Marked. I would also recommend that It be required that all goods destined for interstate commerce should in every case where their form or package makes it possible be plainly marked with the price at which they left the hands of Such a requirement the producer. would bear a close analogy to certain of the pure food act. by which provisions it is required that certain detailed information be given on the labels of packages of foods and drugs. And it does not seem to me that we could confine ourselves to detailed measures of this kind, if it is indeed our purpose to assume national control of the processes I of distribution. take it for granted that that is our purpose and our duty. Nothing less will suffice. We need not hesitate to handle a national question in a national way. We should go beyond the measures I have suggested. We should formulate a law requiring a federal license of all corporations engaged in interstate commerce and embodying in the license, or in the conditions under which it is to be issued, specific regulations designed to secure competitive selling and prevent unconscionable profits in the method of marketing. Law Would Do Much. Such a law would afford a welcome opd reportunity to effect other forms in the business of interstate shipment and in the methods of corporations which are engaged in it; but for the moment I confine my recommendations to the object immediately in hand, which is to lower the cost of living. We are dealing, gentlemen of the congress, I need hardly say, with very critical and very difficult matters. We should go forward with confidence along the road we see, but we should also seek to comprehend the whole of the scene' amidst which we act. There is no for some of the fearful forecasts ground I hear uttered about me, but the condition of the world is unquestionably very grave and we should face it comprehendingly. The situation of our own country is We" of all fortunate. can afford to keep our heads and peoplu to determine upon moderate and sensible courses of action which will Insure us against the passions and distempers which are working such deep unhappiness for some of the distressed nations on the other side of the sea. But we may be involved in their distresses unless we help, and help with energy and intelligence. Disregarding the surplus stock in the hands of the government, there was a greater supply of foodstuffs in this country on June 1 of this year than at the same date last year. In the combined total of a number of the most important foods in dry and cold storage the excess is quite 19 per cent And yet prices have risen. Law Department Active. The attorney general has been making a careful study of the situation as a whole and of the laws that can be applied to better it and is convinced that, under the stimulation and temptation of exceptional circumstances, combinations of producers and combinations of traders have been formed for the control of supplies and of prices which are clearly in restraint of trade, and against these prosecutions will be promptly instituted and actively pushed which will in all likelihood have a prompt corrective effect There is reason to believe that the prices of leather, of coal, of lumber and of textiles have been materially affected by forms of concert and among the producers and marketers of these and other universally necessary commodities which it will be possible to redress. No watchful or energetic effort will be spared to accomplish this necessary result I trust that there will not be many cases in which prosecution will be necessary. Public action will no doubt cause many who have perhaps unwittingly adopted illegal methods to abandon them promptly and of their own motion. The department of commerce, the department of agriculture, the department of labor and the federal trade commission can do a great deal toward food-contr- ol much-neede- excep-tionate- ly supplying the public systematically and at short Intervals, with information regarding the actual supply of particular commodities that is in existence and available with regard to supplies which are in existence but not with regard to the methods of price fixing which are being used by dealers in certain foodstuffs and other necessities Retailers in Part to Blame. There can be little doubt that retailers are in part sometimes In large part responsible for exorbitant prices; and it is quite practicable for the government through the agencies I have mentioned, to supply the public with full Information as to the prices at which retailers buy and as to the costs of transportation they pay in order that It may be known' Just what margin of profit they are demanding. Opinion and concerted action on the part of purchasers can probably do the rest. Let me urge, in the first place, that the present foodstuff control act should be extended both as to the period of time during which it shall remain In operation and as to the commodities to which It shall apply, Its provision against hoarding should be made to apply not only to food but also to feed stuffs, to fuel, to clothing, and to many other commodities which are Indisputably necessaries of life. As It stands now It is limited In operation to preferences show that domestic stories have first place. Others in order of ' mestio Films Take First Place With preference are cowboy adventure, war comics, Alms, crimes, love serials, Cowboy Adventures Second, educational. stories, 8hows. Inquiry The popularity of moving pictures London. London school children in London Is proved by the fact that a e the movies, more than 90 per new corporation will soon Invest In picture palaces. (it, it was developed by a recent In- litigation, being more or less regular Got Tub Full of Rats.' their attendance upon such exhibi Omaha, Neb. J. C Boyd, a Nebrasts. Analysis of replies from 6,600 young- - ka farmer, had a corn crib that was rs who were asked to write their alive with rats. The other day he jllLDREN ARE MOVIE FANS . Inthe period of the war and becomes formal proclamation the upon operative of peace But I should judge that it was power of clearly within the constitutional permanent the congress to make similar with regard to provisions and regulations comall goods destined for interstate merce and to exclude them from Interof the state shipment if the requirements law are not complied with.is imperatively Some- such regulation necessary. It would materially addtheto the serv-we purpose iceability of the law. for now have in view, if it were also pre from storreleased all goods scribed that should Save age for interstate shipment the plainly marked upon eachat package they selling or market price this which means the By went into storage. to learn purchaser would always be able what profits stood between him and the dealer producer or the wholesale The world must pay for the appalling the great waiv destruction wrought by and we are part of the world. We must inpay our share. For five years now the and dustry of all Europe has been slack disordered The normal crops have not been produced; the normal quantity of manufactured goods has not been turned out. Not until there are the usual crops and the usual production of manufactured goods on the other side of the Atlantic-caEurope return to the former conditions, and it was upon the former conditions, not the present, that our economic relations with Europe were built up. We must face the fact that unless we help Europe to get back to her normal life and production a chaos will ensue there which will inevitably be communicated to this country. For the present, it is manifest, we must quicken, not slacken, our own production. U. S. Must Hold World Steady. We, and we almost alone, now hold the world steady. Upon our steadfastness and depend the affairs of nations everywhere. It is in this supreme crisis for all mankind that crisis this American must prove her mettle. In the presence of a world confused, distracted, she must show herself capable of sober and effective action. She saved Europe must now save she in action her arms; by . it by her action in peace. In saving Europe she will save herself-a- s she did upon the battlefields of the war. The calmness and capacity with which she deals with and masters Jhe problems of peace will be the final Test and proof of her place among the peoples of the world. And, if only in our own interest, we must help the people overseas. Europe is. our biggest customer. We must keep her going or thousands of our shops and scores of our mines must close. There is no such thing as letting her go to ruin without ourselves sharing in the disaster. In such circumstances, face to face with such tests, passion must be discarded. Passion and a disregard for the rights of others have no place in the counsels of a free people. We need light, not heat, in these solemn times of and saving, action. Everyone who is in real touch with the silent masses of our great people knows that the old strong fiber and steady are still there, firm against violence or any distempered action that would throw their affairs into confusion. I am serenely confident that they wilt readily find themselves, no matter what the circumstances, and that they will address themselves to the tasks of peace with the same devotion and the sam stalwart preference for what is right they displayed to the admiration of the whole world in the midst of war. Sinister Influences at Work. And I enter another confident hope. I have spoken today chiefly of measures, of Imperative regulation and legal compulsion, of prosecutions and the sharp correction of selfish processes; and these no doubt are necessary. But there are other forces that we may count on besides those resident in the department of justice. We have just fully awakened to what has been going on and to the influences, many of them very selfish and sinister, that have been producing high prices and imposing an intolerable burden on the mass of our people. To have brought it all into the open will accomplish the greater part of the result we seek. r I appeal with entire confidence producers, our middlemen and our merchants to deal fairly with the people. It is their opportunity to show that they comprehend, that they intend to act justly, and that they have-thpublic interest sincerely at heart. Labor Must Consider. I believe, too, that the more extreme leaders of organized labor will presently yield to a sober second thought, and like the great mass of their associates, think and act like true Americans. They will see that strikes undertaken at this critical time are certain to make matters worse, not better worse for them and for everybody else. The worst thing, the most fatal thing that can be done now is to stop or interrupt production, or to interfere with the distribution of goods by the railways and the shipping of the countr.y. s There are many that ouht to be corrected in the relations between capital and labor, in respect of wages and conditions of labor and other things even more and I, for one, am ready to go about these matter, with any eroup of my tellow countrymen who know what fhey are talking about and are willing to remedy existing conditions by frank counsel rather tr.an by violent contest. General Interest First. No remedy is possible while men are in a temper, and there can be no settlement which does not have as its motive and standard the general In- self-cont- tht thi-g- terest. Must All Work Together. Threats and undue insistence upon the Interest of a single class, make setI believe, as I tlement impossible. have hitherto had occasion to say to the congress, that the Industry and life of our people and of the world will suffer Irreparable damage If employers and workmen are to go on in a perpetual contest, as antagonists. They must, on one plan or another, be efTecHave we not steadtively associated. and business iness and sense enough to work out that Result? In the meantime now and In the days of readjustment and recuperation that are ahead of us let mm resort more and more to frank ar.rt intimate counsel and make ourselves a great and triumphal nation, mnkfr.g ourselves a united force In the life of the world. It will not then ha Ioi!;.-tr us to leadership In vin -. backed his tractor up to it, turned on the exhaust and gave them a gas barrage equal to any put on In the war. Few rats got out of the crib alive, and those that did were so weak the dog had no trouble in gathering them up. The result was a tub full of dead ruts! $10,-000,0- Judges Played Safe. Cedar Falls, la. Baby-shoJudges here showed rare talent for the Job. They awarded every contestant prize. "No Irate mothers for us," they aid tn unison. : |