The Cumby Rustler. (Cumby, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, June 30, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hopkins County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hopkins County Genealogical Society.
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sVNDOTHE
of five years actually 23,964 trespass-
ers were killed and 25,236 injured In
the United States while stealing rides.
Most of them were tramps, and at
least one-fifth of the accidents took
place In this state.
A large prqportion of these vagrants
are youths and young men whose ages
range from sixteen to twenty-one.
Reared in the cities their yearning for
adventure, uncontrolled by proper
home conditions, causes them to take
the road.
Though one-half of these finally quit
the nomadic life and return home or
settle down, the remaining half be-
come inveterate tramps and gradual-
ly turn from vagrancy into a career
of crime or semi-crime. A very large
percentage, however, are adults and
comprise every species, from men who
will not or cannot work through
those who are
f J occasion of an an-
nual carnival of
competitive contests
9g| in outdoor athletics.
This is an eminently
fitting use for the
joyous anniversary and it is perfect-
ly natural, if not inevitable, consider-
ing the great and growing interest of
the whole American people in feats
6f skill that call for mental and mus-
cular agility. Moreover its accept-
ance as a day of sport is not con-
fined to the small towns on the one
hand, nor to the large cities on the
TLIEW YORK.—How can the Empire
Xl state and New York city solve its
tramp problem? The vagrants now in
the state would form the entire popu-
lation of a city the size of Albany.
The Empire state, and especially its
metropolis, is the mecca for this vast
army of derelicts.
The jails, penitentiaries and alms-
houses are put to an expense of $2,-
000,000 annually in endeavoring to
cope with the problem which has
arisen through the existence of this
undesirable element. But far more
serious than this is the loss caused by
the destruction of property, robberies,
\ fires and kindred misdemeanors,
which costs the state, the railroads
and other private interests over $10,-
000,000 annually.
The immense number of tramps tres-
passing on railroads and the fatalities
which overtake many of them may be
judged from* the fact that in a period
ing more exciting than their tourna-
ments when they are hotly contested.
In some sections of the country
horse racing has taken the place of
the firemen’s tournaments as a
Fourth of July attraction, but of late
their drawing power has been sur-
passed by such novelties as automo-
bile races, motorcycle races and best
of all, aeroplane contests. There are
yet retained on many Fourth of July
programs those homely contests that
have been greeted with roars of
laughter ever since the days of our
grandfathers—such tests of skill ^as
the climbing of the greased pole, egg
races, sack races, three-legged races,
catching the greased pig, potato
races and a host of others in which
members of both sexes participate.
In the south'from time out of mind
they have had “tilting contests,** in
which local horsemen as. twentieth
century knights -without armor have
vied with one another in stunts with
lances or spears somewhat similar to
those performed by the knights of
old. Within the past year or* two
other sections of the country have
adopted these tilting tourneys as a
Fourth of July feature, and with ex-
cellent success.
In some communities Fourth of
July sports committees have, in their
quest for novelties, borrowed some, of
the features of the modern circus, no-
tably the'1 chariot races, which are
calculated to make
the hair of the
^— more timid spec-
51 tators stand on
end. Field and
track sports such
BSShBHHH III as putting the
■11 shot. hammer
>. , Bll throwing, jump-
ing, running, pole
Mil vaulting and hur-
■^gl| die racing are sat-
isfactory Fourth
Wm\\ of July sports be-
talent
chronic unfitness
innocent victims of downright adver-
sity.
One solution proposed is to form a
labor colony. A labor colony is, brief-
ly, a state-owned colony for the de-
tention, reformation and instruction in
agriculture and other industrial occu-
pations of persons committed by mag.
and vagrants.
Istrates as tramps
ueer Things
1JAIRBANKS, Alaska.—If you should
fi* happen to drop into a town where
a newsboy scorns your nickel and
asks you 25 cents for a' newspaper,
where ordinary meals at lunch count-
er restaurants are a dollar a throw,
where the only communication with
the balance of the world.is by wire-
less, where ice is plentiful but you’ve
got to pay to skate, and steam pipes
are laid alongside the water pipes to
keep them from freezing, you’d think
you had struck a queer place, wouldn’t
you?
Yet such a place is Fairbanks. You
might well expect a town that’s 2,500
miles north of Seattle, Wash., to be in
perpetual zero weather, but you
wouldn’t expect a city located this far
up in the ice belt to be so rich that
It could afford a water system, not to
mention the, luxury of steam heat,
which, while not only providing
warmth for private homes of the city,
Is made to swaddle the fire plugs and
kdep them thawed out and ready for
use during the long winter.
Seven months of the year are “dark”
in Fairbanks, and during one of these
months electric lights are burned on
the streets 24 hours a day. If you
want to read your morning newspaper
at breakfast it must be by the aid of
the electric bulb, and in what would
be your noonday glare you have got to
carry a lantern in order to distinguish
FAIRBANKS
Alaska
/THAT!} rr'l
) PLACE R>*
the neighbor you meet in the street
A common laborer gets $5 a day
and board in Fairbanks, and board la
a factor worth considering. It is esti-
mated that it costs about $2.25 to sup
ply three meals a day here, so th«
laborer is making the handsome sum
of $7.25 per day, or $43.50 per week
Even under these conditions laborers
are scarce.
Fairbanks is as cosmopolitan as any
mining camp in the west: A steam
Tallroad connects Fairbanks with all
of the mines within a radius of 50
miles, and trains are run several times
daily and from various points. Fair-
banks proper has a population of 6,-
000, which Includes two banks, two
hospitals, numerous hotels, four auto-
mobiles, an electric lighting plant and
other accessories of civilization. The
population of the district outside of
the city consists of about 5,000 people.
From October to April of each, year
Fairbanks' is wrapped in a heavy
sheet of ice and snow .and the ther-
mometer varies from 20'to 50 degrees
below zero.
other, but is in actual fact universal.
That Americans have come to rec-
ognize the Fourth as a day when
lovers of athletics of all kinds may
enjpy their favorite sports to their
fill is a matter of congratulation, for || %'s? ** *
a good many of us take few enough D
“days off” during the summer. We II % v
have not to any'"great extent adopted, II
and perhaps may never adopt, the II
English and European custom of II " ■
banishing work and business cares IILm—m—■—
every Friday evening during the sum- JI 2?.
mer and devoting the interval until
Monday morning to open-air /exercise. On the
contrary there are thousands of Americans who
are so busy that it is only on a full-fledged holi-
day when all business ceases absolutely that
they feel that they can take part in the loafing.
Of the three summer holidays the Fourth of
July is manifestly the ideal one for sporting
contests. Memorial Day is a little early in the
season in the face of the climatic conditions that
prevail in some sections of the country, and
then, too, many patriotic organizations and prom-
inent citizens are opposed to making use of
Decoration Day as an occasion for sports, claim-
ing that *it has a solemn, almost religious sig-
nificance that should be respected by all the peo-
ple of the community, even though they have no
relatives among the soldier dead. Labor Day in
September shares with the Fourth to some ex-
tent the prestige of a day of sport, but it is far
overshadowed by the July festival in point of
number of races, games and contests.
First and foremost among the manifestations
of the American love of sport on the glorious
Fourth must be placed, of course, the vast at-
tendance at games of baseball. The games on
that eventful day range all the way from a “dou-
ble-header” by major league teams, which In
New York or Chicago or Boston may call out an
attendance of twenty thousand “fans” to the
equally spirited contest on a vacant lot where a
number of youthful “rooters” watch a struggle
for supremacy between “Red’ Finnegan’s “In-
vincibles” and “Scrub” Schmidt’s “Red Sox Jun-
iors.’” It is safe to say that the amount spent
on baseball on this one day, allowing for the
expenditure for peanuts and score cards and all
the other incidentals, would form a stack of sil-
ver dollars mountain high.
As every person knows, the Fourth of July is
a favorite occasion for picnics—particularly fam-
ily picnics and neighborhood outings, and lodge
picnics, and like excursions. And usually as a
feature 6f any such holiday frolic there is a ball
game. Perhaps the women and girls are pitted
against the men or we have such nerve-racking
battles of the diamond as can be witnessed only
when the lawyers cross bats with the doctors,
or the married men play the single men, or the
bald-headed boys try conclusions with those that
wear beards, or the fat men essay a test of skill
with the lean members of the community. It is
in such an environment, too, that he spirit of
sport on the Fourth provokes croquet games and
the pitching of quoits and target practice on the
part of the picnickers who do not care for the
more strenuous exercise on a hot summer day.
Speaking of target practice with revolver and
rifle), which has gained rapidly in favor of recent
years, it may be well to mention that another
somewhat similar sport has come up markedly
and the Fourth of July is a favorite occasion for
tournaments in communities wjiere clubs exist.
This latter pastime Is the old, yet new diversion
of archery,. Just how much fun it is to shoot
with bow and arrow—not the familiar child’s toy
but the regulation Indian weapon—can only be
appreciated by those who have tried it and the
fact that thie sport can be enjoyed by both men
and women of all ages is proving a big factor
In winning converts for it.
The Fourth of July is a great occasion for for-
mal and informal golf tournaments, and some-
times these are arranged to extend over from
the 3d to the 5th of July if the community is a
suburban one, or a rural one, or a summer resort
to which there has been a sudden influx of men
from the city. And this very fact lets you into
dan c i n g,
and all oth- Bj i|f __
er pursuits L,
where male ■
partners are necessary to round out the full meas-
ure of the entertainment.
Very nearly as old as the Fourth of July itself
in a holiday sense is the custom in the average
smaller city, town or-village of making the aft-
ernoon of Independence- Day the occasion of a
race meet and athletic carnival. Perhaps this is
held on the main street of the town if there is
no track available, but if there is a fair ground
or regular race track in the vicinity that is the
mecca for the crowds. Some years ago the prime
feature of every such meet was found ■ in the
racing, hose-laying and ladder contests of the
various volunteer fire companies from all the
towns in the vicinity of the one where the
“tournament” was held. Latterly as horse-
drawn fire-fighting apparatus has come into more
general use and even the motor hose wagons
have been purchased by many of the smaller
cities, the number of volunteer fire-fighting or-
ganizations have dwindled somewhat, but there
are still a number in existence and there is noth-
r: cause local
1 . i1 can always be re-
«•.» 11 cruited for the
competitions and
eVeA ,f no world’8
/ records ( are bro-
ken there is no
end of fun for
.rnartlclDantB and.
VIf<? JL 3~Ol/J?lfJiriRNT participants an
spectators. Lava
tennis tournaments are held on hundreds of
courts all over the country on this midsummer
holiday and “sociability runs” by automobile
clubs have added yet another event to those on.
the calendar for this pre-eminent holiday.
The very warmth of the wreather encountered
by the greater part of the country on the average
Fourth of July has always rendered popular
aquatic festivals and carnivals. Yachting con-
tests, rowing and power boat competitions, swim-
ming and canoe races and other sports on the wa-
ter have compensations for the participants and
regale the spectators ranged in the shade along
shore. In this field there are many mirth-provok-
ing contests as productive of fun as are the ones
above mentioned. Log rolling contests, water polo,
water football, tilting contests in which the op-
ponents, armed with lances, stand up in canoes,
and walking the greased pole over the water, are
a few of the tests of skill in which the price of
failure is a ducking, to the delight of the spec-
tators.
Bank Uses Thumb Print Signatures
card for him, just as we would for
any other depositor. Then we write
his name and witness his mark. Then
we give him an ordinary rubber
stamp pad with red ink on it, and he
presses first one thumb and then the
other on the pad and makes a care-
ful' clear impression of each on the
corners of his card.
When the depositor comes back to
add to his account or to withdraw
money the bank attendant makes out
the slip for him and writes in his
name. Then the depositor makes his
thumb print on the slip and presents
it at the teller’s window. The teller
turns to the card index and finds the
card, just as he would for any other
depositor. In place of looking at the
signature he looks at the thumb prints
and compares them with the marks
on the deposit or withdrawal slip.
We have never had a complaint of
error from the use of this system.
There are absolutely no two thumbs
alike, and the thumb print mark is
an absolute identification
whatu th’ ^
USE of LEAftniM*
TO WHITE
WHEN THIS I$
SO MUCH
l rASiEa
r* HICAGO.—Chicago has a bank
which identifies its depositors by
means of the thumb print mark.
When a customer who cannot write
his name opens an account or deposits
money or withdraws it he makes a
thumb mark on the slip, and is suffi-
ciently identified. -
According to the cashier of this pe-
culiar bank, there has never been an
error in the Bertillon system of iden-
tification. When we began business
six years ago, he says, not more than
one in three of our customers could
sign his name in English. We would
not accept signatures in Jewish writ-
ing. We were confronted by a serious
problem. The use of the thumb print
was suggested, and it has worked out
to perfect satisfaction.
When a man comes in to open an
account and we find he cannot sign
his name we fill in the identification
the fate of empires
We have
had complaints over signatures, bul
never over thumb prints. Men have
claimed that they did not sign with-
drawal slips, but no one has ever /de-
nied his thumb mark.
CIVILIZATION CLAIMED TO BE A “RECURRENT PHENOMENON
“The meaning of life has in all ages been the
goal of human thought and the great extension
of our knowledge of the past, tfy the researches
of recent years, enables us now to view the
course of human changes with more complete-
ness than has been the case before. In place of
looking on the fall of the Roman empire as a
monstrous and inexplicable fact, we now see that
civilization is not only intermittent, but is a reg-
ularly recurrent phenomenon.”
This was the theory propounded by Prof. Flin-
ders Petrie in a lecture delivered at the Royal
institution on “The Revolutions of Civilization.”
In Egypt, said the lecturer, w'e can trace eight
civilizations; the first prehistoric; the second
prehistoric, the early dynastic, the pyramid build-
ers, the middle kingdom (Xllth dynasty), the Em-
pire (XVIIIth dynasty), the Greek and the Arab.
The rise and fall ©f art in each of these periods
can be well illustrated. Similar periods are
found in Europe, the early, middle and late Cre-
tan, the classical and the mediaeval. These pe-
riods are contemporary with those of Egypt, so
far as we can ascertain. Hence the Mediterra-
nean civilization seems a distinct unit, rising
and falling together as one body. The Mesopo-
tamian civilization is in a different phase to that
of the Mediterranean, but Its period is about the
same.
A similar period of about 1,500 years has oc-
curred in India and Mexico. The Etruscan sages
Police Chief to Stop Boys Smoking
CITY, Kan.—The small
|f ANSAS
IV. boys of this city now have an of-
ficial father to watch them and pre-
vent their smoking cigarettes. Henry
T. Zimmer, chief of police, has un-
dertaken to vigorously enforce the
Kansas law which forbids minors to
amoke. The police are confiscating all
tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, cigarette
papers and pipes found in possession
of youths. It’s back to the corn silk
and the grapevine for the boys. They
cannot legally amoke until they reach
the proper age.
This law is of thq 1909 vintage, but
little attention was paid tp it and the
Kansas City boys who wanted to “roll
one*' went ahead and rolled it and
smoked without official interference.
There were some complaints to the
city officials, however, and finally Chief
Zimmer ordered the patrolmen to stop
juvenile smoking. The chief has seven
sons and he knew something about
how to stop smoking.
Patrolmen visited the confectionery
and dru* stores where boys congre-
ETERHAL / '
VICILANCE IS
th* price or
V llBCRTY
Boys who were smoking were taken
to the police station. Their tobaccc
and cigarette papers were taken away
from them. The chief lectured the
boys and permitted them to go home
A large number went through this ex-
perience.
The smokers’ suppliers the police
confiscate are burned at the police
headquarters. Every few days the
smoke from the city hall chimney
bears the tobaccorladen odor of a
levee barroom. It is simply a few
more sacks of tobacco and a few more
bunches of papers passing beyond the
reach of the boys.
mer resort. Under ordinary
are a scarce commodity at
treats but there Is always a
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Morton, George M. The Cumby Rustler. (Cumby, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, June 30, 1911, newspaper, June 30, 1911; Cumby, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth770192/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.