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fiLFfiRErI?S(Z)N"NESLEY;} EpiTors AND PUBLISHERS
M. E. Tison,, Business Manager."
THE JAPANESE.
'All things considered, Japan is one of
-the most wonderful nations of to-day.
. Fifty-one years- ago, wheu the shot-gun
ruled the country and the ]apanesé were
“as exclusive, barbarous and unprogres
::___éiye as the Chinese of to-day. The mail
ed fist of civilization knocked at the gates
of the Land of the Rising Sun. The
mailed fist was that of Uncle Sam, and
-his agent was Commodore Perry, a brother
-of the hero of Lake Erie. He demanded
“that the ports of Japan be opened to the
trade of the world, and as his demand.
was backed by the thunder of many can
non it was granted. The Mississiypi,one
of Perry’s ships, was the first steamshlp
the Japanese had ever seen, but almost
lmmediately they began the formation of
a steam navy, and within seven year
after Perry’s visit they navigated asteamer
of their own construction across the Pa
cific, The value of steam navigation was
but one of many things the Japanese
speédily learned from the foreigners they
had so long excluded. The nation had
slept for thousands of years, but had
-awakened at the boom of Perry’s guns.
It overthrew the shot-gun and made its
mikado a ruler in fact instead of in name
iny, Its thinking men began with al
most feverish tenacity to absorb the learn
ing of modern times, and in half a cen
tury they have made their island empire
a first-class world power,—The American
Press.
We Americans are in the habit of as
luding to our English brethren as slow
"intensively‘conservative" and averse to
making ohanges of any kind. But in
many . respects they show much more
nerve than the ‘‘progressive Yankees’’ in
taking hold of hard problems. In the
matter of regulating common carriers, a
matter of vital interest to the farmers,
they are far ahead of us. Look over the
borner, for instance, at the Canadians.
The Canadian government have taken
sweeping control of the railroads. They
have a railway commission of three mem
bars, to whom is delegated very exten
sive powers fo make and revise rates,
remedy abuises as against individuals and
places and generally prevent extortion
and discrimination, Our Interstate Com
merce Commission is tame and inefficient
by comparison. And there is another
difference. When the English makes a
law it is enforced. Their courts allow 10
“monkey business.” Rich and poor,
powekrful and weak, the mighty railroad
magnate, the trust promoter and all the
other would-be oppressors of the people
- are made to ‘‘toe the mark.”
Every man ought to use his material to
better advantage than by making a fool
of himself. :
e s
Blobbs—‘‘Have you ever had any ex
perience with train robbers on your
trayels 2"’ : Lig
Slobbs—!‘Well, I've stacked up against
a good many Pullman car porters.”
THE LEE COUNTY JOURNAL
Leesburg, Georgia, Saturday, March 19, 1904.
- A REMINISCENCE.
On reading the war news of to-day we
stop and think of the past. In 1854 the
great czar of Russia, Nicholas I, declared
war against Turkey, if he had succeeded
in conquering Turkey the other nations
would have beenin danger. So England,
France, Italy and Sardinia became allied
to Turkey, and we remember well the
terrible suffering of the allied armies in
Crimea, where they died by hundreds in
the trenches. It was a severe struggle,
and took those countries a long time to
conquer Russia. The hard fought battles
of the Alma, Inkermann and Balacjava,
} where the brilliant charge of the Light
‘Brigade was made; the storming of the
Malakoff by the French, and the Redan
by the English, and other battles, till fin
ally they drove the Russians back into
Sebastopol. Today a nation of little fel
lows at that time almost unknown, are
putting the Russians to their trumps and
we have no doubt will whip them. These
Japs are truly a wonderfnl people.
—— e D —
The car of Russia and the mikado of
Japan were brought together and became
close friends under dramatic circum
stances years ago. At that time Nicholas,
then the czarowitz, was traveliug in Japan
and was wounded by the sword of a
would-be assassin. While he lay suffer
ing on board a Russian war vessel he was
visited by the mikado, who made per
sonal apology for the harm done such a
distinguished visitor by a Japanese sub
jeet.
— e ———
The road to prosperity now-a-days is
full of ruts and wash-outs.
The Sedan Chair,
The sedan chair is named after Se
dan, the town where it was first used.
The earliest mention of it in England
occurs in 1581. Early in the following
century the Duke of Buckingham
caused much indignation by its use in
London. Pecople were exasperated "at
that nobleman employing his fellow
men to take the place of horses to car
ry him. Prince Charles brought from
i Spain in 1623 three curiously wrought
- sedans, two of which he gave to the
} Duke of Buckingham. A few weeks
~after their introduction Massinger pro
duced his play, “The Bondman,” and
in it he thus adverts to the ladies:
For their pomp and care being borne
In triumph on men’s shoulders.
‘ The reference is doubtless to Buck
ingham’s sedan, which was borne like
a palanquin.—“ Bygone England.”
! Favorably Struck.
! “Papa, have—have you seen Harold
~since you told him he was too poor to
~think of—of marrying me?”
- “Yes. I ran across him at the club
last evening. We got into conversa
tion, and He struck me—er”—
- “Struck you! Oh, papa!”
~ “Struck me as quite an agreeable
young man. I understand his uncle
~has left him s2oo,ooo.”—Kansas City
Journal. :
| What They Wanted.
~ To explain why his trip had proved
so poor, a commercial traveler once
"wrote a long account of how the
weather had affected business in the
territory in which he had traveled. In
~due time he received this reply from
his firm: “We get our weather reports
; from Washington. Don’t send us any
“more. What we want is orders.”
Miss Jennie Ford
- Desires to thank her triends and patrons in Lee County for
their very liberal patronage, and would inform them that she
~ has just received a fresh supply of
Groceries, Canned Goods,
Dry Goods, ete,
and invites a continuance of your patronage, feeling assured she can :
~ please, both in quality and price.
o ® =
Millinery Depariment,
YD
This department is now replete with
EMERYTHING NEW.,
Hats, Laces, Ribbons and
Fancy Goods in great variety.
CEHELL END INSPECT.
A full stcek of Toilet articles,
Perfumeries, eic.
MISS JENNIE FORD, M {Rebuna, G
Behind Her Back.
“She’s very studious,” said one wom
an.
“Yes,” answered the other.
“And doesn’'t seem to care for gos
siping in the least.”
“Oh, 1 don't know about that,” an
swered the other with a smile; “she
merely prefers to talk about Helen of
Troy and Romeo and Juliet to paying
attentlon to what is going on in her
own neighberhood.”—Washington Star.
A Sure Sign.
When a young man talks about the
business of “our firm” In a pitch of
voice that can be heard from one end
of a street car to the other it is a sure
sign that his wages have been raised
to $6 a week.
The Prize Winner,
Nagg:cby—How did the contest in op
timism result last fight?
Waggsby—Gaggster won the prize by
laughing most heartily at one of his
own jokes.—Baltimore American.
Versatile,
Hobson—How is your brother doing
at college?
Dobson—l'ine. He’s singing first
tenor and playing second base.—lndi
anapolis Journal.
His Mark In the World.
“1 reckon Josh ’ll make his mark in
the world one of these days,” said the
fond mother.
“Mebbe he will,” answered Farmer
Corntossel, “but I can’t help wishin’ I
could git him to take hold of a hoe an’
put a few dints into it by way of prac
tice.”—Washington Star.
He is richest who is content with the
least, for content is the wealth of na
ture.—Socrates, - :
ISSUED EVERY SATURDAY, - VOL. VIIIL
AT ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. No. 36.
Whenever a thief who is dressed eth
erwise than in rags falls into the po
lice net there are chronicled the adven
tures of a ‘“gentleman burglar.”
Such a being is, of course, impossi
ble. He is qlltemry creation, like the
“Invisible Man,” the Frankenstein
monster, Kipling’s Mcwgli and the rest
of the erew of prodigies that dweli
within boek covers.
As a character In fiction the “gentle
man burglar” could be made plausibl:
and picturesque, for when we get intc
the realm of fancy there is an implicd
contract that the reader shall accept
the author’s premises and not bother
about possibilities.
A burglar Is just a thief—about the
meanest of thieves.
To a man endowed with qualities o’
refinement and consideration of oth
ers and honoi—which are the attri
butes of a gentleman—burglary or other
theft 1s impossible. The pride of suci
a man, his regard for his own opinion
of himself, would prevent his sneak.
ing into another man’s house and tul
ing his plate or his wife's jewelry
Then it must be remembered that the
burglar is prepared to do murder ¢
accomplish hLis robberies, and the ide
of a gentleman committing murder for
gain Is too inconsistent even for fic
tion.
A ‘“gentleman burglar” is a contr:.
diction of terms, like a brave cow:ul
or a tall pygmy. He may be .better
dressed or his booty may be largsr tha:
that of wost burglars, but when it i
all summed up he Is a thief—just :
plain thief—with the moral code an¢
impulses of a pickpocket or a ca
swindler or any other predatory crex
ture whose natural home is a prize.
and whose deserved and fitting ro’
ment is a sult of stripes.—New York
American. :
