Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 November 1877 — NEWS SUMMARY [ARTICLE]

NEWS SUMMARY

THE WAR IN THE EAST. Plevna is said to be provisioned with six weeks’ provisions. The Turkish losses are estimated at 200 to 300 daily from the concentrated fire of the Russian artillery. The prospectus has appeared of a new Russian 5 per cent, loan of 75,000,000 roubles, which is to be issued for subscription in Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris at 76%. Nearly 70,000 Russian soldiers are officially stated to have been put hors du combat since the beginning of the war; the Turkish loss during the same time is estimated at 200,000. The increased mortality among the Moslems is attributed to the wretched condition of the medical department; the insufficiency of the commissariat; the aversion of the soldiers to the amputating knife of the surgeon, and a meagerness of pay which prevents the purchase of little delicacies for the sick. Constantinople dispatches state that “ the Russians have been repulsed near Kars after prolonged fighting. There has been a heavy snow in Asia. A council of war under the Presidency of the Sultan decided to largely reinforce Mehemot Ali. Rumors of peace negotiations are denied.” A dispatch from Poredin says the Russians summoned Osman Pasha to surrender, and the latter refused. Cable dispatches express the opinion that the Russian forces operating against Erzeroum are inadequate to its capture by regular siege, and that the place must be taken by assault or the Russians retire to the Soghanli mountains. • The Russian losses in killed, wounded and missing since the beginning of hostilities to Nov. 7 are officially stated as 64.863. The Russians captured Kars on the 17th of November, after a twelve hours’ battle.

GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS. Henry W. Stanley, the African explorer, with 120 of his followers, has arrived at the Cape of Gjod Hope. A number of Spaniards, armed "-ith rifles, have crossed tire Pyrenees and entered Spain. A rising is expected. It is reported that Germany is urging Belgium to accept a German protectorate, and make her military system conform to Germany, in return for a guarantee of independence in all other respects, and for territorial compensation. A London dispatch says the master-builders unanimously declare against a conference with the masons on the strike, and decide to continue the importation of foreign labor. I’ongo, the gorilla, which has recently been exhibited in London, is dead. A Romo dispatch announces that the Marquis Antinori, leader of the Italian exploring expedition in Africa, is dead. Signor Chiarini, who wa s engaged with the deceased in the work of exploration, is a prisoner in Abyssinia. In polling for the Lord Rectorship of Glasgow University, W. E. Gladstone received 1,153 votes, and Sir Stafford Northcote, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 609. A Paris dispatch of the 17th announces the resignation of the MacMahon Ministry. Gen. Grant visited the tomb of M. Thiers, and placed upon it a wreath of immortelles. A special from Alexandria announces that the King of Abyssinia has written to Gen. Gordon accepting the terms of peace proposed by the latter.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. East. The fight over the estate of the late Commodore Vanderbilt has opened in earnest in the Surrogate’s Court of New York. A married daughter of the dead hundred-millionaire, Mrs. Le Ban, who was cut off with a pittance of $500,001), now comes forward to assert her claim to an equal division of the enormous estate, the bulk of which was bequeathed toWm. H. Vanderbilt. The lady has for her counsel Scott Lord and Jere Black. Newman & Capron’s hardware manufactory, on Twenty-ninth street, New York, has been destroyed by Are. Loss, SIOO,OOO. A terrible explosion of fire-damp occurred last week in a colliery near Scranton, Pa., by which four or five miners were killed and Bevern! badly injured. Three savings banks in Reading, Pa., closed their doors simultaneously the other day, creating the greatest excitement among the depositors. Their total liabilities amount to $2,000,000. Leprosy has I een added to the list of ills that flesh is heir to in New York. The heathen Chinee is suspected of importing the plague along with his josses, chopsticks, and other peculiar institutions of the Flowery Land. Jonathan Edwards, the eminent Presbyterian theologian and preacher, died last week at Hartford, Ct., aged 75. A Fall River (Mass.) dispatch announces the destruction by fire of the Borden City Mill No. I. Loss, $450,000. Conrad Poppenhusen, the owner of all the railroads on Long Island, N. Y., has filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy. The ascertained liabilities amounts to $3,500,000, while the assets are put at $7,300,000 in round numbers. West. Shaffenburg, ex-United States Marshal of Colorado, who was convicted of stealing $40,000 from the Government, and sentenced, a short time ago, to the Kansas penitentiary for the term of two years, has been pardoned by President Hayes. A fire in St Louis, last week, destroyed Steinberg’s hat-store and John Brunet’s restaurant, on Fourth street. Loss, over SIOO,000. A San Francisco dispatch announces the destruction by fire of the North Point warehouse. Loss, $310,000. Hon. William F. Coolbaugh, President of the Union National Bank, and an old and highly esteemed citizen of Chicago, committed suicide on the night of the 13th inst. His body was found at an early hour in the morning at the base of the Douglas monument, in the southern part of the city. A bullet hole through his head and a pistol beside the body gave certain proof of the manner of death. Domestic infelicity is reported as the cause of the rash act. The sad event created a profound sensation throughout the city of Chicago.

Chicago has been the scene of another destructive conflagration. At 8 o’clock on the evening of Wednesday, the 14th inst., flames broke out in the palatial dry-goods store of Messrs. Field, Leiter & Co., the third largest house in the United States and the second largest in the retail business, and in a few hours the magnificent structure, with its vast stock of goods, was reduced to a mass of ruins. During the progress of the conflagration two firemen were killed and four badly injured by the falling of *ne of the floors of the burning structure. The total loss by the fire is estimated at about $1,000,000. The stock was valued at nearly $1,250,000, a considerable portion of, which was saved in a damaged condition. There was an insurance on the stock of $950,000. The buildingwus «the spring of 1872 by the Btog-

er Sewing Machine Company, at a cost of between $750,000 end SBOO,OOO. The first story was mostly of but the remainder was of limestone. ( It had a truss roof, the girders of iron, overlaid with wood, and this sheathed with tin. The center of the roof contained a skylight, and an open court or well, surrounded by a railing on each floor, extended down to the main floor. During the progress of its erection a scaffolding upon which a number of men were standing at work on the skylight gave way, and they were precipitated through the court, a distance of eighty feet, to the first floor. Three of them were killed outright, and a fourth escaped by clinging to a portion of the scaffolding that remained until he was rescued. Shortly before Messrs. Field & Leiter took possession of the building a fire broke out. It was extinguished after about $50,000 damage had been done. The origin of the last fire will perhaps forever remain a mystery. It commenced in the sixth story, near the roof, and is believed to have been the work of an incendiary.

The Coroner’s jury, in the case of the Hon. W. F. Coolbaugh, of Chicago, rendered a verdict of suicide while in a state of temporary insanity. That the dead banker was insane at the time of committing the deed is undoubtedly true. Insanity, it appears, was hereditary in the family, and a brother and sister of the deceased are now afflicted with the dread malady, the latter being an inmate of an asylum. The Union National Bank, of which Mr. Coolbaugh was President, is the leading national bank of the West, and is in a sound condition. The deceased leaves an estate estimated at $1,000,000. His life was insured for SIOO,OOO. Portions of lowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Dakota experienced quite an earthquake shock on the 15th inst. At Omaha and other points in Nebraska the shock was quite severe, producing quite a panic among the people. The duration of the shock at Fort Randall, Yankton Agency, and Springfield, Dak., was about one minute, and the direction west to east. At the Indian agencies the tepes were <>v»4iir>wA and ttoods on shelves in traders’ stores shaken off. There was great excitement among whites and Indians. At Yankton the glass in many of the windows was broken by the shock, and many people rushed from their houses in great fright. T. B. Keator, formerly of the Western Gun Works, of Cticago, has turned up in Yokohama, Japan. There is no extradition treaty between the United States and Japan.

Frank Rande, the desperado who plundered and murdered near Galesburg, and later at St. Elmo, 111., has at last been caught. In St. Louis, Mo., one day last week, a pawnbroker named Wright sent one of his clerks to notify a policeman that a man who was wanted was negotiating the redemption of a valise pawned some time before. Officers White and Heffernan, both heavy, strong men, responded, and as they entered the shop Wright pointed out the man. As they reached for their prisoner he pulled a pistol from a holster. Heffernan grabbed the pistol hand and White the other. With the agility of an athlete the desperado made a lunge forward, partially freeing himself, and fired. White was shot in the leg, the ball severing the femoral artery, and the blood gushing out in a stream. Wright and his clerk, a man named Hess, joined the fight, both using revolvers. The clerk, watching his chances, so as not to hit the policeman, fired several shots, one taking effect in the desperado’s leg. Wright had attempted to take care of a man who had come in with the desperado, but he took flight on the entrance of the officers, but not before firing on them once or twice at close range. The man who had made such a plucky fight finally fell, shot through the left lung. As he lay on the floor he looked up coolly at Heffernan and said : “ A half minute more w r ould have cooked your goose.” The prisoner gave his name as Frank Rande, said he was 25 years of age, and that he came from the East. When asked where he lived, he told the officers to go to h—l. He had gotten in his work, he said, before they could put the rope around his neck, and that was satisfaction enough for him. The policeman who was shot in St. Louis by the outlaw Rande, while resisting arrest, has since died of his wound. Field, Leiter & Co., of Chicago, have engaged the great Exposition building for their new store, and in a few days will be ready for business.

Soulh. A report comes by way of Galveston that “Lieut. Bullis, with a small party of scouts, crossed the Rio Grande near the mouth of the Pccoh river, and was attacked by a body of 500 Indians and compelled to retreat. Loss not stated. Col. Young has left Fort Clark with 200 cavalry to reinforce Bullis.” Ex-Congressman Smalls and ex-Revenue Collector Carpenter, on trial at Columbia, S. C., the former for bribery and the latter for forgery, have been found guilty. By way of Galveston we get the following news from the Texas border: Several large parties, one of them composed of thirty-five bucks, have crossed into Texas to raid. It is rumored that Col. Villareal has invaded Mexico, fifty miles above Matamoras, in the interest of Gen. Escobedo and Lerdo, and to stir up a revolution in Tamaulipas. Lieut. Bullis destroyed an Indian camp at Saragossa. A party of Mexicans and Indians from Chihuahua and Northern Mexico have crossed into Texas on the war-path, jn revenge for the invasion by Lieut. Bullis. The latest from El Paso county is that the entire region is under the control of a Mexican mob backed by Mexicans south of the river, defying the United States authorities, and claiming allegiance to the Mexican flag. The trial of Gen. Escobedo, at Brownsville, for violation of the United States Neutrality law resulted in his acquittal.

WASHINGTON NOTES. An order has been issued by the War Department directing that, until further orders, the names of battle-fields shall not be printed in the army register at the head of the regiments which took part in them. The commission appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to inquire into the conduct of and the business transacted by the Bureau of Statistics have submitted their report to the Secretary. It is very severe on Dr. Young,who is accused of serious irregularities, while his tables of commerce and navigation are grossly incorrect'. The commission recommend a thorough reorganization of the bureau and radical change in the manner of gathering and publishing statistics. The President has appointed Effingham Lawrence Collector of Customs at New Orleans, vice John E. King removed; Chauncey I. Filley Postmaster at St. Louis; and Alenander Reed Postmaster at Toledo, Ohie. Secretary Sherman’s annual report will set forth a reduction in revenue receipts of about $3,500,000, and a considerable reduction in expenditures. The nr in falling-off is under the head of miscellaneous receipts, and the chief items reduced are the premium on sales of gold and falling-off in coinage receipts. In round numbers the receipts of internal revenue and customs will each show a decrease of about ©600,000. From a commiujiwtioo seat to Coagreas it

appears that the Spanish Government paid $77,000 as indemnity for the execution of Gen. Ryan and other Americans in Cuba. Of this sum about $40,000 has been paid to claimants, and balance invested in 5 per cent, bonds. A curious circumstance is that the heirs of Gen. Ryan have been unable to prove that he was an American citizen, and consequently no portion of this money has gone to them.

POLITICAL POINTS. The following is the official vote of Pennsylvania cast at the recent election : Supreme Judge—Sterrett (Republican), 244,480 ; JTrunkey (Democrat), 251,000; Bartley (Greenback), 51,582 ; Winton (Prohibition), 2,899 ; Trunkey’s plurality, 6,520. State Treasurer—Hart (Republican), 241,816 ; Noyes (Democrat), 251,717; Wright (Greenback), 52,854 ; Cornett (Prohibition), 2,827 (.Noyes’ plurality, 9,901. Auditor General—Passmore (Republican), 242,288 ; Schell (Democrat), 251,256 ; Emerson (Greenback), 52,988 ; Barker (Prohibition), 2,997; Schell’s plurality, 8,968. The Greenbackers hold the balance of power in the Wisconsin Legislature. The Republican United States Senators were again in caucus last week. The purpose of the caucus was to hear and consider the report to be made by the Caucus Committee, which visited the President, and to determine what future action if any should be taken. All the Senators at the interview expressed themselves to the caucus convinced that the President was thorougnly sincere in his belief. They also reported that the President said he was very desirous to be in harmony with the leaders of the party, and was gratified to have had the opportunity of ascertaining thus definitely and clearly the views expressed. Advice and candid criticism would always be welcome to him, and he hoped and believed there would be less cause for complaint in the future. In any event, if there should be differences of opinion, there need be no occasion for ill-feel-ing, and he trusted there would be none. Free discussion followed as to the propriety and presumable effects of the President’s policy in n.a.oA it atinnld be pursued by him and acquiesced in by the Senate. The interchange of views developed the almost unanimous opinion that tke policy of appointing Democrats to office in the South is not wise or sound, and Senators known as friends of the administration expressed doubts whether its pursuance would have the effect of which the President is sanguine.