Decatur Democrat, Volume 36, Number 47, Decatur, Adams County, 10 February 1893 — Page 7

An Irish-American Romance, Written for This Paper. F• ' ' 'A BY WILLIAM J. FLORENCE. .

CHAPTER ll,—Cnntlnned. •Do you know /fie, Micky Begg?" she hissed through her blackened teeth. •Do you know I eay?" "Indeed, I d 4. I’ve often heard of } you. You are the " •The Witch, they call me," she • ghrleked; “but I’m the mother of Elmwood Rocks, and friend of all who seek my aid.” “Ho, ho! ha, ha!" and the little faiiyman shook with laughter. “Let’s take • drink, Micky.* , Now, Micky was never known to refuse a drink, so he pulled his “caubeen" off his puzzled head and replied: “Drink, is it? Indade I will. Here’s long life to you," and he took a long pull from a oup tendered him by the old woman. His companion, the-fairy man, took a drink with him,-and danced a jig around the glasses on the table. “I never remember seeing the shebeen before," said Micky, “and I have traveled this road before. * “You never traveled it at night before, did you, my lad?” inquired the old woman, as she put on a little pointed hat, and, taking a broomstick from a corner, came over to the astounded Micky. “Don’t you wait a ride, my man?" said she. "You’re a quarelot,” said Micky; “can I light me pipe?" "Os course you can. Let me help you," said the fairy man as he tilled the pipe, jumping in and out of Micky's pocket, each time bringing a handful of loose tobacco dust that had collected in Micky’s coat. The pipe being filled the old lady plucked out one of her gray Pairs and striking it against the handle of the broom, it spluttered into a blue flame, from which Micky lighted his pipe. “Smoke away, me boy, we have along ride.. I’ll show you many a strange sight this night Now, mount at ouce. Come quick, it's just midnight." Micky straddled the broomstick. A clap like thunder succeeded this movement, the eabin disappeared in a twinkling and Micky found himself sailing among the clouds, riding on the broom, with the witch for his companion. It was a lovely moonlight night, clear as azure, and still they went sailing along. The moon, like a silver canoe, seemed sailing with them in the clear sea of blue. Micky could hardly hold on to his frail carriage and commenced to tremble. “Never fear, my boy," said the witch, • You’ll nevetfall.unlessyou mention the name of one of your so-called Blessed Trinity that the priest teaches you to believe in. Remember that if you, by any chance, should so far forget yourself or me, your guide, as to speak the name of either of your ‘Three in One,’ that moment you’ll fall to the ground." “No fear, ould lady; I'll hould on till my fingers crack." They were now fast approaching a large park, or woodland, and Micky looked down on the distance below him, while his hair streamed out in the night air, for they were traveling like lightning.

•Do you see that park bqjow there in the distance?” said the old crone. *1 do, ma'am,” said Micky, in his politest tone. •Well, I'll show you a sight that will interest you." They were now over Ireland, and near alarge castle-fashioned building. Lights streamed from its many windows; long rows of carriages, with liveried servants, stood at the great hall entrance, ■waiting the breaking up of the ball; the porch was crowded with fair ladles and line gentlemen, the latter assisting the former to put on their wraps and shawls. “Look down," said the witch to Micky. “They are going home now; the revelry is over; they are laughing and chattering over the grand success of the affair. . The handsome young fellow in the hussar uniform Is the lord of the manor; but" see, his eyes are red with drinking, and as he bids his guests good-night can hardly stand straight on his legs. He is a wild spendthrift, cruel and heartless. You see the lady with the pretty pale face at his side. Her sad and careworn features tell the story—she Is his , wife. See, they are putting out the lights; the guests have all departed." Hovering over the castle Micky and the witch sailed again downward. “I'll show you the inside of the castle * now.” The roof rose from the building, revealing a superbly furnished suite of apartments. The pretty pale hostess was seated In a large chair, her face burled in her hands. She was weeping. The young lord, with hair disheveled and eyes aflame with anger, was standing near. “I’m tired of your whining," said he. “Your conduct to-night gave evidence of your low origin. You disgrace me, you pauper." “Oh, spare me, Algeron,” cried the poor lady. “I’ve always done my best to please you, but you are so cruel when you drink.” “Drink!” cried he in a rage. “Drink! 'Tis my only refuge from the remembrance of my alliance with you—a fraud, a cheat, a nobody. Why don’t you die?” "Micky,” said the Witch,“keep quiet,” for Micky’s anger was getting the best of him and he. wanted to get down and kick his lordship for his cruelty to the pretty lady. “Do you see her face, Micky?" said the crone. “Did you ever see it before?” “Oh, murder! ” cried Micky, as he got a good view of the lady’s sweet face, "it's our Nora!" “Yes, your child Nora. That will be her fate if she marries above her station. Come away." Whiz! Whlzl Away they flew now, over a great expanse of water, dotted here ana there with vessels of all shapes and sizes, steamers crossing east and . west, while long black threads appeared here and there at the lowest depths of the great body of water. “We are over the Atlantic Ocean, Micky. Those black strings you see are the cables that carry thoughts between ; A the continents. Do you see that land beyond? That is America. A great country, my bov." “Yes,” said Micky; “andwid " He was going to say Gott’s blessing, but remembering the admonition given him by the witch not to mention the Deity, he added: “With good luck I’ll never lave It nor let Nora. ' . They had now reached the coapt, j fringed with great cities. The electric lights, steaming lines of railroad cars, screeching of locomotives running from polnftopoint, and the crowded thoroughfares of many towns, filled poor Micky with wonder. “Phew! but we are speeding along," said Micky. “Yes, darlln’,"said the Witch. “We're going to the West, the farm lands and prairies. See that pretty white house below, • set. Mthe midst of a garden of I

flowers? i'll lift the roof for ye, that you may see the inside of it " On they swept, till they hovered over the landscape in the moonlight. .“Lopk, Micky. Tell me what you see?" and tho roof was suddenly lifted. A pretty little housewife sat by the fireside with a curly-headed boy on her knee The surroundings of the home gave token of peace and plenty. “Listen, Micky." said the Witch. “Do you know what day this is?” inquired the wife, as her pretty face shone with the joy that filled her soul, as her husband entered. That husband was Donnell O’Rourke. “Yes, my darling," replied the man. “To-night is the third anniversary of cur marriage. To-night, three years ago. you gave me your heart and hand, dear Nora. ’’ “Nora?" said Micky. “Yes, it is my Nora. Oh, how she has grown; and so pretty, too. I’d like to kiss the baby." “Ha, ha: he, he!" piped the witch. “Ye like the picture, do you? She’s happy in this condition, isn't she? Here's where the true happiness awaits her. Keep her, Micky. Don’t let the drunken lordllng have her. Don’t give her away to Lady Maud. , Don’t give her ” “Look,” said Micky, “the couple are kneeling in prayer.” As the words, “Our Father, who art in hhaven,” fell from the father’s lips, the roof was lowered upon the scene, and Micky and his weird companion were again on the wing. The prairies were crossed again, and before a second had elapsed Micky and his weird conductor were flying over his cabin on the rock of Elmwood. “Let’s look inside," she said. Up went the roof, showing Oonah in her bed. She held Nora tight in her arms. Poor Oonah had been crying, for her eyes were red from weeping, while on Nora's long lashes tears sparkled radiantly on each point like diamonds in a coronet They were sleeping the sleep of innocence and peace. Nora stirred for a moment, and sneezed as if the roofless cabin chilled her. “God bless us," said Micky, as was his hi. bit when he heard any one sneeze. Bang! whir! whiz! the roof went down and Micky felt himself whirling in space. With a thump he fell to the ground. He had dreamed as he lay asleep on a rock, and at the climax of his vision had rolled off. The stars were out and he was sobered enough to see, by the position of the moon, that it was about midnight. CHAPTER 111. THZ TRAdKDY ON THE ROCK. Twelve strokes on the bell in Mrs. Skelly's dock announced that the min-ute-hand had again overtaken the hourhand. The Skellys lived in a hut at the base of the rock on Elmwood Hill, and in their eyes the Beggs and the O’Bourkes, on their social and their physical altitude, were always objects of prying interest “Midnight, an’ Lord rest me tired eyes." said Mrs. Skelly, as she stopped peeping out through her keyhole with her right eye and began with her left “It’s me belafe that 01'11 be a squinter the rest av me loife, atther this night’s watchin’."

“Then come to bed, ye ould boshuk." cried Mr. Skelly, “an’ rest both yer eyes an* tongue." “Whist, now, ye buckanu,” she said in a whisper; “Dolf Begg is goin’ up the stairs, an’ that’s what Oi’ve been waitin’ for." He opened tho door of the Begg residence with a defiant wrench at the knob, and entered. Mrs. Skelly’s door came simultaneously ajar, and her head was thrust out. Her eyes were both wide open, and her ears would have been dilated, too, if she could have had her way. By going up to the top of the stairway and listening cautiously she could hear the mingled voices of Dolf and Mrs. Begg, but could not understand their words, except when Dolf said: “I’ll have it now or I’ll have your life." This was followed by gasps and moans from Mrs. Begg, and those by a minute or two of sllenoe. Then Mrs. Skelly heard Dolf's hand on the knob; but he did not turn it quickly as ou entering, aud she had time to retreat down the stairs, to retire into her hut, to reduce the opening of her own door to a mere crask, through which she saw him come down. The color of his face had changed from red to white, bravado had given place to terror, and the heavy soles of his boots had become velvet. He thrust a bunch of bank notes into his breast pocket, and glanced this way and that in trepldatioq. He instinctively turned from the gaslight of a street lamp, as he passed close by Mrs. Skelly’s door, and in doing so looked into a window pane, which, having darkness on its other side, reflected him like a mirror. Perhaps the uneven glass distorted his features; perhaps a true image .was so different from his usual self that in his dismay he did not recognize it; certainly he recoiled from It, and glided out of Mrs. Skelly’s sight like a frightened apparition, properly disappearing downward. Mrs. Skelly did not stir until her husband called to her again to come to bed. Then she tremblingly shut the door and sat down speechless in a chair. It was a full minute before she found voice to eay: “I do belleVe there’s bloody murther In'Beggs’. Lastewlse, Dolf’s gone wid the money. Get up and go for the police.” Skelly would not move. He commanded her with much distinctness and repetition to lock the door and mind her own business of going to sleep. She resolutely put on her bonnet and shawl and started for the nearest police station, where she did her'errand po wildly that five minutes of questioning was done before any sort of understanding could be obtained of what she had seen and heard. Having at length ascertained that a robbery had probably been committed, the nolioe captain obtained from Mrs. Skelly the name of Dolf Begg. No description of him was necessary, for several of the pfficers in reserve knew him as one of the precinct’s foremost rowdies, and they were sent out to catch him.' The Captain and a detective went to the house with Mrs. Skdlly and rapped at the Beggs’ «door. There was no response, and the officials opened it. Mrs. Begg was dead. Her body lay on the bod, contorted as by a dying struggle, and on her neck were the marls that Doll’s hand had made in choking her. “It’s murder,” said the Captain to the detective. "Hurry to the station and send out an alarm. Be quick!" News of the murder spread through the neighborhood like a cry of fire, and the half-dressed occupants crowded to the room: but the Captain would not let them in for fear that evidences of the crime might be obliterated in the confusion. He carefully examined

•very part of the apartment, found nothing in disorder save the bed, and had satisfied himself that the woman had been strangled. Micky Begg returned at this juncture. He encountered the announcement of his wife’s death before he reached the rock. He was dumfounded when they said she had been murdered, and when they added that Dolf was the murderer he cried: “No, no; Dolf couldn’t have done it!" But a moment later, while ho was kissing her lifeless face, two officers led Dolf in. He had been caught within ten blocks. A more abject wretch never heard himself accused of a crime. “Did you find the money?" the Captain asked of the officers. “Ho had it in his pocket," was the reP The prisoner was taken away, and the police remained in possession of the premises. It was not until morning that Nora, returning home from an overnight visit to a girl friend, knew what had happened in the humble household. Donnell had no success in bls efforts to comfort her, but she clung to him in her grief, and thelf declarations of mutual love were quite naturally a part of his tenders of sympathy and her,outbreaks of emotion. CHAPTER IV. THE DECZPTION or CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. The prosecution of Dolf took the regular course unhindered. He was committed by a coroner’s jury, Indicted by a grand jury, and tried by an oyer and terminer jury. Not one of all the jurors had a shadow of a doubt of the prisoner's guilt His first attempt to steal his mother’s money; his return, as witnessed by Mrs. Skelly, and the sounds of his struggle with the helpless woman, followed by his flight with the money; his quick arrest with the roll of notes still in his pocket—all make the proof positive. The SIOO and more was spent in his defense. His father was assisted by the O’Rourkes, father and son. The two families now lived in adjoining tenements, for the rock on Elmwood Hill was being blasted away. “But ’tisn’t any use, Nora,” the fellow said to his sister, in one of his few soft moments; “I’ve got to swing for it, and you might as well save the money. I killed her, though I didn’t mean to take her life—only the cash, but the lawyers say the lack of intention doesn't make any difference, so long as I was committing a robbery. Yes. I’m sure for the gollows. ’’ Nora hugged him nevertheless, and declared excitedly that they shouldn’t convict him. Phelim O’Rourke was still more demonstrative. He devoted himself to wild and wholly ineffective efforts in the young man’s behalf. Poor Nora was broken-hearted, and Donnell, the one reasonable person in the afflicted party, was unable to afford any hope. He listened sadly to his sweetheart’s faint expectation that Dolt’s jurors would not condemn him. But they did, of course, aqd no verdict of murder in the first degree was ever more unhesitatingly given. The sentence of death came next, and all this was accomplished within three months after the homicide. Mr. Nannery, the senior counsel for the prisoner, received a call at his office next day from Phelim O'Rourke. The man’s face had new wrinkles, his form was bowed, his eyes were restless, and his language disconnected. “Sit down,” said the lawyer, kindly. O’Rourke took off hie hat, and let himself drop into a chair in away that Indicated no care for bodily ease. “Can anything more be done for Dolf?” he asked. Mr. Nannery shook his head. “Will you read to me once more the legal definition of murder in the first degree?” The lawyer read the statute, which declared the premeditated and intentional taking of human life, except when done justifiably in self-defense, to be murder In the first degree; also, the provision which rendered the intention and premeditation unnecessary elements in case the assailant was at the time committing a robbery. “Then I understand,” O’Rourke continued, "that there is no possible hope of saving Dolf?" “Not the slightest. The case was utterly hopeless from the fleet." “Suppose there had been no robbery. Are there no conceivable circumstances under which the deliberate killing of Mrs. Begg, powerless as she was, would have been justifiable under the law?" “No." “You are certain of that?" “Certain." On the day before the one set for the hanging of Dolf Mr. Nannery entered the Supreme Court chambers with more bustle than was usual with him, and elbowed his way impolitely to the front row of lawyers, all of whom were anxious to be heard first by the Judge. “If your Honor pleases," he began, “I have —— • "I think Mr. Fitch is before you, Mr. Nannery,” said the Judge. “I am sure your Honor and Brother Fitch will excuse me,” the .perturbed lawyer rejoined, “if lam persistent. I wish to move for a stay of proceedings in the case of Dolf Beggs, who is under sentence to be hanged to-morrow." Everybody was instantly interested and willing to give him precedence. "The circumstances are peculiar," he continued, with a strong effort to assume his accustomed dignity of demeanor. “I need have no hesitation now in saying .that I believed the prisoner guilty, and did not anticipate any interference with the infliction of the penalty. Half an hour ago I received a letter from one Phelim O’Rpurke, and, with your Honor’s permission, I will read it." Mr. Nannery had some difficulty in keeping his hands from trembling while he unfolded some sheets of paper. He read as follows from a document on which, manifestly, the learned Irishman had spent much care, in spite of the mental excitement which must have attended its composition: Dear Mr. Nannery: In this letter I give you the means of saving Dolf from the gallows In order to do so I must first tell you that on the evening of Mrs. Begg’s death I attended a meeting of the Kosiulc Club, which was an association of persons for the discussion of social science. It was the last gathering we were likely to have, for all except myself were to quit the city in a few days. Some of them, however, can be brought back to testify as to the paper which I read on that occasion. I send you the manuscript with this letter. You will find It embodies my belief that, in tho Interests of humanity, the law should provide for tho killing of such persons as are hopelessly ill, and for whom, by reason of phyical suffering, the refnainder of life would otherwise be simply a protraction of agony. I outlined a plan by which, on the application of the invalid, an examination should be made by three physicians with a view to ascertain beyond a doubt whether or not recovery was possible. If they reported that the case was hopeless, a properly constituted authority should, at discretion, order that death be caused in some painless manner. You will find that my arguments are very full and carefully considered; but the gist of them was that the endurance of much useless suffering would bo prevented; that a powerful incentive to suicide would be removed, and that it was tho Inalienable right of every hopeless Invalid to die at will, I went further, and hold that an extreme degree of mental distress resulting from great sorrows that could never be assuaged, ought to legally entitle a person to tho relief of death. My paper, as I remember, excited tho surprise of my companions. They thought, perhaps, that it was only a vagary; but In fact. It was an expression of a con-

clusion forced upon ny mind hy the lonfl and awful experiences of my neighbor, Mr* Begg, and an elaboration of an Idea which I had previously broached in the club’s meetings. On getting home. I learned that Dolf Begg had attempted to rob his mother. The witnessing of so much misery made me pity her keenly. Then she told me of the physician’s assurance that bo could not by any possibility recover, which I had long known, and of his opinion that she might live in constant torture,six months longer. Knowing how sincerely she longed for the ease of the grave, I thought it was cruel that she was Compelled to keep on if ring. I did not believe that she would commit suicide. Next evening, as her busband was away, and her daughter, too, I went at her request to get a medical vial filled. On my way through the streets I meditated on the poor creature's case In the light of my paper on the legal extinction of life for Incurables and could not help regarding such a measure ms truly humane. But I had no thought of a practical demonstration until I came to the drug store. Alongside the building stood carboys of acids, as usual, for they were deemed too Inflammable for storage Inside. Each was marked In large letter*, and the words “Hydrocyanic Acid" caught my eye. I knew this was a poison so deadly that it killed Instantly, and left no trace behind to reveal the cause of death. Here was born the Idea of mercifully murdering Mrs Begg. I hastened away In downright horror. but within a quarter of an hour I was there again, wistfully looking at the carboy. My repugnance was giving way to reason. The store had been closed for the night Should I pull the bell and arouse the clerk to fill my vial with medicine My hand was on the knob. Why not obtain some of the poison Instead and use it? 'I he project rapidly fascinated me I was aware that hydrocyanic acid could nit ordinarily be bought owing to Its dangerous qualities. and was sold only for ceria n purposes of manufacture Here was the opportunity to obtain some, and without Inculpating myself I waited until midnight, when the street was deserted. Then with a heavy stone I broke off the .protruding glass top of the carboy, being careful to keep away from the fume which arose from the opening. Nobody beard the crash, and. after watching awhile from a safe distance. I tied a string to my vial, cautiously lowered it Into the perilous liquid, drew it out half full, set it on the sidewalk, stuck in the cork, wiped the acid from the outside with a paper, and put It Into my pocket The druggist will, of course, recollect finding the broken carboy In tbe morning. I went home without having fully resolved, after all. to use the poison. When I entered the room In which the poor woman lay she was moaning piteously, but was unconscious Dolf had Just fled, after choking her and getting the money from under tho pillow, and Mr* Skelly bad gone for the police. I did not know this, and supposed she was having one of her common attack* Her writhlngs decided me. I would release her spirit from the body which held it In such awful durance. I dropped some of the acid from the vial Into her mouth. The effect was Instan•taneous. She died with scarcely another motion. Unable to endure the sight of what I had dono. I stole out of the house. Nobody saw me enter or depart. But I soon realized that It would not do to stay away. I compelled myself to return. Then I learned how my deed bad been done at a time and in away to convince even Dolf himself that he was a murderer. The marks of his brutal assault were on her throat, and the physicians found other evidence of strangulation; but the poison which killed her left nothing to show that It had been used. You are aware, my dear Mr. Nannery. of my efforts to save Dolf from conviction, and how they failed. No suspicion rests on me. and I could safely let him be hanged, but I must not do it The revelation which this letter makes will save him from the gallows, and he may emerge from State prison, where I suppose his crime of robbery will send him, a reformed man. As for me, I am convinced that my act*was murder in the first degree, according to the law of the State, but I as firmly believe that at the tribunal where I shall go to be judged. It will bring me reward Instead of punishment. Yours respectfully. Phelim O’Rourke. "Under such circumstances, your Honor,” said Mr. Nannery, “I ask for a stay of proceedings in the case of my client. ” “Your motion is granted,” the Judge replied; “but there is another matter equally pressing. Phelim O’Rourke must be arrested. “If he is alive,” the lawyer interposed. But he was dead. Suicide had immediately followed the dispatch of the confession. The dream of Micky Begg was so nearly realized in the better times after these tragic occurrences that he could not quite rid himself of the belief that he had really soared with a witch. Dolf Begg went to prison for a term of years instead of being hanged. Bonnell and his mother were not less bereaved by the loss of their father and husband than were Nora and her father. The shadow of crime was over them all, and, although they were themselves blameless, they wished to live elsewhere than in the city of the dreadful scenes through which they had passed. So Donnell and Nora, rendered fonder by their joint Borrows, were soon married. AV ith their parents they removed to a Western tqwn, where the name of Donnell CTRourke is already that of a promising lawyer, and where, in a happy home, the sight of Nora as the contented wife of a good husband can be had without any witch’s help. JTBE END. I Copyright. Insanity In a Horse. A Mr. Hannan, of Peoria, 111., suddenly found his horse, usually a gen tie one, acting in a very strange manner. He would lay hold- with his teeth of everything that came within his reach and shake it as a terrier would a rat. While the gentleman was watching, the horse reached into a pigpen and seizing hold of one of the inmates threw it up in the air. This strange feat he repeated two or three times; then setting his teeth in the body of the pig he crushed it to the earth, gnawing and mangling the body in the most frightful manner. The horse then took a second pig, served it in a similar manner, and then tossed a calf into the air as easily as a cat would a mouse. The owner immediately sent for a popular farrier, but when he arrived the horse was more quiet, whereupon the farrier ventured into the inclosure and called the horse to him. The animal came up, apparently very docile, but the moment he was within reach he seized the man violently by the shoulder, threw him forcibly with his face on the ground, then setting his teeth in his back endeavored to crush and gnaw him, the ani-' mal’s eye meantime becoming glassy with rage. The owner rescued the farrier, but the.horse had to be shot. It was clearly a vase of insanitySingleness of Pursuit. An absolute singleness of pursuit almost means a mind in one pursuit, an eye that regards every object, however many-sided, from one point of view, an intellectual deity begin- ; ning and ending with one article. Exclusiveness of this kind is apt to produce serious evils. It disposes each man to exaggerate the force and value of his particular attainment, 1 ahd perhaps therewith his own im-' portaace. It deprives the mind of the refreshment which is healthfully afforded by alternation of labor, andl of the strength, as well as the activity, to be gained by allowing varied subjects to evoke and putin exercise its wonderfully varied powers. , “ ““

HAWAIIAN COMMISSION AND AMERICAN MINISTER. S wi, \ Aral BpCommlasioner Carter. United States Minister Steven* Commissioner Castle. Commissioner Wilder. Commissioner Thurston. Commissioner Marsden. ALL SIDES OF THE HAWAIIAN ANNEXATION QUESTION.

For Annexation. Hawaii must be our*—Boston Globe. Let ns have them.—Philadelphia Inquirer. Cannot afford to let tbe opportunity slip.—Elgin New* There is every reason why tbe islands should be accepted. —Detroit News. Annex them or establish a native government and protectorate.—lndianapolis Journal Annexation is the proper solution of the problem from onr own standpoint.—Detroit Tribune. Aeoept tbe overtures of the commissioners and at once possess the Islands.—Springfield State Journal. It Is scarcely more a privilege than a duty to annex the islands sans ceremonl*—New York Advertiser. It is no party question—lt is a matter of bnsines* We want naval and coaling station*—Atlanta Constitution.

WILL LET HER COME IN. The Feeling in Favor of Annexing Hawaii Growing in Congress. Concerning the Han-silan annexation, a Washington correspondent says that at both ends of the Capitol the sentiment is growing that annexation is the only step to take. The commissioners have said unofficially over and over again that they do not want a protectorate, and Senators and Representatives who at first thought that was an easy way out of the embarrassment of an unprecedented situation are drifting to the idea that tirs presents about as many difficulties as direct annexation. But no steps are going to be taken immediately. The provisional government is in a position to take care of the country for the present, with the help of United States marines. England seems disposed, according to London dispatches, to keep her hands off if we want to take the islands, and Senators and Representatives want to maintain the status quo until they have acquired fuller information about the resources of the islands and the different kinds of population who would have to be taken care of. The strongest advocate and the strongest opponent of annexation are Southern Democratic Senators. Senator Morgan is for annexation, as he has been all along, and an advocate of a broad and foreign policy extending far beyond our own boundaries and our own property. In the discussions on Samoa and the Congo Free State, particularly in the case of the latter, he has taken a leading part in pushing claims of the I United States to a wider sphere of influence, if not of power, and hie advocacy of the Nicaragua canal as a part of the same policy is well known. The Southern men generally are in favor of Hawaiian annexation, but Louisiana opposes. The sugar interests of Louisiana and Hawaii conflict. The Louisiana planters are hoping for the repeal of the bounty and the imposition of a duty, and they don’t want tbe islands to stand on the same footing that they do. Reciprocity with Hawaii has not been in the interest of Louisiana, and the Pelican planters believe that annexation would do a great deal to encourage the investment of American capital in the islands, and that the sugar culture would be greatly extended there and the islands made more dangerous competitors than they have ever been in the sugar market. BAD WHISKY AND COWBOYS. They Unite with Indians to Raise a Row at Pine Ridge. Another scene in the shooting tragedy on the Sioux Reservation was enacted Friday evening near the spot where the four white men were killed by Indians. As soon as the news of the tragedy was brought to Pine Ridge Capt. Brown, the agent, dispatched twelve mounted police under command of Police Sergeant Joe Bush to the scene of the shooting, with instructions to arrest and bring in the perpetrators of the bloody work. When the squad arrived at their destination Two Sticks and his crowd opened fire on them and a skirmish took place, resulting in the death of two of Two Sticks’ party and the wounding of Two Sticks and one of his sons. Two Sticks himself was shot in the leg and in the abdomen. Two Sticks’ son was wounded slightly in the ankle. The dead Indians were left where they fell and the wounded ones were brought to the agency. The motive for the murder cannot be definitely learned. One account is that the Indians were playing cards with the white men in the dugout in which they were camped and got into a dispute, and that, after leaving them, the Indians returned and opened the door of the dugout and shot them while they were asleep. Another account is that these Indians had been in one of their sweat houses, going through some of their savage ceremonies, and became Imbued with the 1 idea that it was Incumbent upon them to kill these men and proceeded to carry it into effect. After making their reports the police i were highly complimented by Captains I Brown and Cisney. Capt. Brown has another squad of police out after those ' who got away, with instructions to bring tliem to the agency dead or alive. ' A courier reports that Two Sticks and i his two sons returned two or three hours after killing the cowboys and ; took all the bed clothing in the camp 1 and stole what food was in sight. It is I a difficult matter to obtain reliable par- < tieulars. Last night "it was rumored i that Two Sticks’ friends were moving ! toward the agency and were going to I fire the government building, but this i canhot be confirmed. -A blizzard is now j raging, which is usually mope cooling to 1 an Indian's ardor than anything else. 1 Captain Brown does not fear serious ’ trouble, but. others do not have the I same opinion. s A Rapid City, S. D., dispatch says < the reports of danger from discontent 1 aiuoug Pine Ridge Indians caused .by ! the murder of four cowboys are un- 1 founded, no general disquiet being re- 1 ported. The Humphrey A Stenger cat- i

Agalnat Annexation. Hawaii would be our ono weak point.—Boston Herald. The desirability ot annexation is by no means apparent. ■ —Kansas City Star. It would be little less than ’ a crime tor the United States . to annex them.—Buffalo Express. . The end of the whole matter, ■ for the present, will probably . be an American protectorate. • —Cleveland Leader. i An expansive system of : satrapy or territorial governorship the country had cer- > talnly better avoid.—Galves- > ton New* •■o We have no place in our system of government for the • Sandwich Islands as part of > our actual domain.—St. Paul r Pioneer-Press. It Is not at all certain that i the American people or their > government are of a mind In ■ favor of annexing that coun- . try.—Philadelphia Ledger.

tiemen were killed by a wandering band as a result of a quarrel early in the week. Colonel Carlton of Fort Meade, has countermanded his orders and no troops will be sent to Pine Ridge. Everything is reported quiet there. A later dispatch from Omaha says: The true account of the alleged Indian ' massacre is simply this: Thursday a number of cowboys belonging at the beef camp of Isaac Humphrey, a government contractor located on White River, at the mouth of White Clay Creek, al out twenty-five miles northwest of Pine Ridge Agency, returned I from town in a drunken condition, and brought a good supply ot whisky with then. During the evening they became quarrelsome and mistreated and injured an Indian by the name of Two Sticks, driving him from their camp, and firing their revolvers at him. Two Sticxs re- : turned later in the evening, re-enforced by his eons and a number of other relatives and friends, and commenced a deadly fire on the cowboy camp, killing three and mortally wouhding a fourth man, who has since died. TO EXORCISE THE DEVIL. Horrible Ceremonies of a Peculiar Religlous Sect in Michigan. The Carterites at Coloma, Mich., a new religious sect, are continuing their inhuman seances, and a supreme effort will be made to have the leader arrested and the new heaven disbanded. Recently Carter and some of his followers held what they called a “routing the devil's meeting,” and slammed things around the house, broke furniture, etc., and when the devil, as they put It, would get into one of their number that one was treated something in the manner that a sheaf of wheat is treated when run through a separator. But his satanic majesty has not bothered the Carterites for some time. The other day Cai ter was in the barn milking a cow, and during the operation the cow kicked him and he immediately concluded that the cow had that peculiar disease “the devil." He tied her up in a stall and twisted her tail until the “lowing of the kine" was beard in the land. The neighbors eame in to see what had happened to their leader, and then Carter, in a solemn speech, made it known that the devil had taken possession of his cow f but he had twisted her tall until she had given him up like the whale gave up Jcnah. But he at the same time insisted that their enemy had lodged in the hayloft. So the little assembly proceeded to drive him out after the manner they had followed in the hou ; e some time before. The hay was turned upside down and the barn doors slammed, and all maneuvers imaginable were gone through, and finally an old lady in some manner hurt herself and declared the aevil had paralyzed her left side. She was jolted on the floor and dragged around in a very ungentlemanly manner until she declared that she was once more free, and then over their success a "hallelujah” was held, to the gratification of all present. One of these “chosen ones,” upon hearing her old mother groan, went down-stairs to find her enveloped in flames; and coolly took her child and crossed over to a neighbor’s house, several rods away. and awoke and sent them to put out the fire. When they reached the house the poor old creature was outdoors clinging to the clothesline post. The post was all charred and her flesh was hang ng to it in bits. She lived a fev minutes only. Other things not exactly fit for publication have transpired. MRS. W. C. WHITNEY DEAD. Wife of the Ex-Secretary of the Treasury Passes Away. Mrs. W. C. Whitney, wife of the exSecretary of the Navy, died at 3 o’clo k Saturday morning. Mrs. Flo: a Bayne Whitney was the daughter of Henry B. Payne, of Cleveland, recently I nite 1 States Senator from Ohio. She was the youngest ot the family. Wh lea very young girl she showed a great fondness for books. She had tutors at home, and attended the best schools of New York, afterward devoting a year to study in Europe. Soon after the completion of her scientific course at Cambridge, while yet scarcely out of her teens, she married William C. Whitney, then a young lawyer of New York City. That was about twenty years ago. Her life since has been devoted to her husband and her children, but she has found time to make and to hold a leading place in society in New York and Washington, and to establish a sound reputation as a linguist, ? as an authority in aroha*ology and as a judge and critic of literature. When Mr, Whitney became Secretary of the Navy in Mr. Cleveland’s cabinet Mrs. Whitney made their home in Washington second only to the White House in social importance. occupied the old Frelinghuysen on 1 street. Mrs. Whitney had live children. ExSenator Payne, Mrs. Whitney’s father, is still living. When Mrs. Whitney’s first child was lorn,he gave tho young mother $1,000,000.

On the Fence. The danger Is treat. — St. Paul Globe. We’re n»t eager to annex Hawaii.—Wheeling Intelligencer. Republican Independence la to be preferred at present to annexation. — MilnneapoMs Journal. Must either remain Independent or be annexed to the United States. — Milwaukee Wisconsin. We don’t want Hawaii, and yet we don’t want anybody else to get her.—Louisville Courier-Journal. Growls of tire Lion. America must not be permitted to interfere In Hawaii. —lxmdon Telegraph. There is tbe highest authority for tbe statement that England will not sit Idly by and see the American flag raised over Hawaii.—London cablegram.

Business Directory THE DECATUR NATIONAL BAIL OavMak Mo,oo* Surplus, MM 1 Origan I sed Angnet 14, MS* Offieora- T. T. Dorwln, President; T. W. Smith, Yloo-ProsMent. K 8. Peterson Cashier; T. T. Dorwln, P. W. Smith, Henry Dorks* J. H. Holbrook, B. J. Tsrvssr. J. I>. Hals saM H * Paterson, Director* Wo aro prepared to make Loans on food sesnrHy, rsoeivs Deposits, furnish Domestic sad Foreign Exchange, buy and sell Government and Municipal Bonds, and furnish Letton of Credit avaUoble tn any of tho prinolpal cities of Hurons. Also Passage Ticket to and from ths OH World, Including transportation to Deoat tur. Adams County Bank CapHak r? 5.000. Snrpla* T4J»* j Organised In WL Officers—B. Studebaker. President; Robt. H. Allison, Vtoe-Prseldsnt; W. H. Nlblloi, Cashier. Do a general banking bnsines* Collections made In all parts ot ths country. County. City and Township Orders bought. Foreign and Domestic Exchange bought and sold. Interest paid on time deposits. .Paul G. Hooper, Attorney at XsATO’ SI. XseZBZITTN'. Veterinary Surgeon, Monroe, In<L Bueceesfnlly treats all diseases ot Horses and Cattl* Will respond to calls at any tlm* Prices resonable. XBVBS, * K. KANN, I. r. EHWIIf MANN, ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW, And Notaries Public. Pension Claims Prosecuted, Office In Odd Fellows' Building, Decatur, Ind. TDRANCE * MEBBYMAN. * T. vramc*. A? J. T. MXRRYMXB Attorneye gat Law, DECATUR, INDIANA. Office Nos. 1, 2 and 8, over ths Adams County Bank. Collections a specialty. A. G. HOLLOWAY, 2F*lxy-«siol.«ax>. sfefitwircooiA Office over Burns’ harness shop, restdenee one door north of M. H. church. AU calls promptly attended to In sity Or country night or day. L- HOLLOWAY, M. ». Office and residence one door north of M. B church. Diseases of women and children speclaltie* •.V.May.a. ■tloloaxi.sHt Mesu-eo, ... Indiana AB calls promptly attended to day or night iMBoe at residence. A B. 8080, B. T. 8080. Master Commissioner. 8080 A SON, ATTORNEYS A.T LAW. Beal Batata and Collection, Decatuz, Ind. O.F. M. ANDREWS, X’lxy mioioaxx 8-txx*a;eon MONROE, INDIANA. Office and residence 2nd and 3rd doors west of M. E. church. M* Praf. L, H. Zeigler, Veterlairy Surgeon. Modus Operand!, Orcho *1 tomy. Overotomy, Castrating, Rldg ling. Horses and Spaying Cattle and Dehorn Ing, and treating their diseases. Office over J H. Stone’s hardware store. Decatur Indiana. a J. S. Coverdale, M..D. P. B. Thomas, M D. BOCTOBS Coverdale & Thomas Office ovr Pierod’s Drug store. Decatur. Ind H. F. COSTELLO, Fl&3rHßioia.xx & Sixx*seoxx. Office over Terveer’s hardware store. Residence on Third street, in the old Derkes property. All calls promptly attended to In city or country, day or night Levi Nelson, Veterinary Surgeon, Decatur, Ind. Residence southeast cor. Decatur and Short streets. Jq. NEPTCNE, • ~ DENIST. Now located over Holthouse’s shoe store, and Is prepared to do all work pertaining to the dental profession. Gold filling a specialty, By tho use of Mayo’s Vapor he Is enabled to extract teeth without pain. AU work warranted. MONEY TO LOAN Oa Farm Property on Long Tim* Wo CommlaaioxLi Low Bate ot latmees. Wdax-tlAl FokT-XKh.mHh'ta la any amouats oaa be made at aay time aad „ stop interest. Call on. or addroa* A. JX. GBUBB, or JT. F. MAN*, OBee; Odd Fellows’ Building, DeuaSw. ALL KINDS OF JOB PRINTING lEIIU EXECUTED AT THIS OFFICE.