Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1879 — HEWS OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

FOREIGN NEWS. The Pope has written an encyclical letter, in which he calls upon Bishops to com- combat Socialism, Communism and Internationalism by preaching the principles of the church. News from the seat of war in Afghanistan is to the effect that Gen. Roberts, finding the hostile tribes collected in considerable numbers, attacked them with three small columns and was completely victorious. The failure of the Cornish Bank, which created so much alarm in England a few days ago, turns out to have been an affair of much less importance than was at first supposed. The liabilities are only about $3,250,000. News from Afghanistan reports the occupation of Candahar by the British invading forces, and the precipitate flight of the native officials. Some commotion has been caused in Berlin by the publication of Bismarck’s bill for the punishment of members of the German Parliament who use unbecoming expressions. The measure abolishes freedom of debate, and is aimed at the Socialists. DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. East, Philadelphia reports 739 fires for the yew 1878. Value of property destroyed, $l,534,518. Philadelphia papers chronicle the death of Morton McMichael, for many years proprietor of the North American, and lately Mayor of the city. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has just rendered a decision which has startled the people from one end of the State to the other. The decision, which is to the effect that a widow’s dower remains unapproachable by any power directed against her husband, will affect the title to millions of dollars' worth of real estate in Pennsylvania, and lead to incalculable litigation.

Benj. Hunter, for the instigation of the killing of John M. Armstrong, for the purpose of securing a life-insurance policy, was hanged at Camden, N. J., on the 10th inst The wretch had made two unsuccessful attempts at suicide—first by blood-letting and then by starvation—and was so weak and exhausted that he had to be carried to the gallows and held up while the rope was adjusted around his neck. He died by strangulation. Went. The extensive boot and shoe house of Appleton, Noyes Maude, in St. Louis, has made an assignment. The miscreants, seven in number, who burned the two cattle ranchers, Mitchell ! and Ketchum, at the stake, near Kearney, Neb., have all been arrested. A bold robbery was perpetratedin the city of Chicago the other day. Two men, in a cutter, drove up in front of a jewelry store in one of the most crowded thoroughfares, at 6 o'clock in the evening, alighted, broke the glass show-case, seized S4,(XX) worth of diamonds, leaped into the cutter, drove off, and have not since been heard of. Fort Robinson, in Nebraska, has , been the scene of a bloody entente, resulting in a wholesale slaughter of Indians and the I death and wounding of several soldiers. For some time a large number of Cheyenne Indians who were engaged in the raid in Western Nebraska last summer, and were subsequently captured, have lieen held under restraint at that post. It having been determined by the Government to send these savages south into the Indian Territory, preparations were being made to that end. They declared their determination not to go south, asserting that they would die in resisting such a movement. The military tried to starve them into submission, and even went so far as to deprive them of fuel, but their stubborn natures would not yield. Finally it was determined to place the two leading chiefs, Old Crow and Wild Hog, in irons, and separate ' them from the common Indians. In i carrying out this step there was a furious j struggle between Wild Hog and the guards, in | which one of the latter was dangerously I stabbed. This affair caused the wildest excitement among the savages. Some of them com- ' inenced chanting a war song, and, at a ' given signal, the entire body made a dash through their prison windows, and, tiring on the guard with revolvers which they had succeeded in concealing, all ran for the open prairie. The guard opened fire on the fleeing savages, shooting them down by dozens in the frozen snow, presenting a scene that discounts the custer massacre. The cavalry continued in pursuit of the retreat- I ing savages, killing thorn without mercy. Four soldiers of the Third cavalry were wounded and one killed, having been shot through the heart Dull Knife, the Cheyenne savage leader, was numbered among the dead, having been shot through the head. Altogether between thirty and forty of the Indians were killed and a great many wounded. A fire on Main street, Cincinnati, destroyed property valued at 9150,000. At a recent meeting in Toledo of prominent horsemen of various Western cities it was decided to arrange a great Western racing circuit. Two Umatilla Indian chiefs, White Owl and Quit-Ti-Tumps, have just been hanged at Walla Walla, Ore. They both preserved to the Lst the characteristic stoicism of their race, dying with the death-chant on their lips. Troy Dye, ex-Public Administrator of Sacramento, Cal., who killed A. M. Tullis for the purpose of securing the emoluments that would accrue from administering on his large estate, has been found guilty and sentenced to death. In a race at the Exposition building, Chicago, between a horse and professional pedestrian, the former scored 201 miles in 52 hours, the pedestrian making 149 miles in the earne time. The equine was on the track 27% hours, and averaged 8:21 per milo. Advices from the -Cheyenne River Indian Agency report that runners had arrived there from Sitting Bull’s camp, with a message hl Abe the hostile Cheythe rules of the agency if they were’ 1 ISUjJpit the protection of the Government

South. There were 140 fires in New Orleans la » year, with a loss of only $340,000. The people of Atlanta, Ga., have been enjoying skating for the first time in twenty years, and in New Orleans sleighing is reported tor the first time in more than half a century. - avigation in the Georgia rivers has on m errnpted by ice—an evidence of severe Clark Hubbard, wife and two chilfmi’ 7 r " Ut ®. weßt from Gherman, Texas, were frozen to death during the recent cold snap. ° n the Iron Mountain h 8 80,1(11 of 8t - Louis,caused by the ditching of a train, resulted hi the death

of the baggage-master and express messenger, and the wounding of several passengers. It is announced in a dispatch from Frankfort, Ky., that fourteen men have been indicted in Breathitt county, for the murder of Judge Burnett, and four for the murder of Freeman. These killings occurred during the recent civil war in Breathitt county. POLITICAL POINTS. A union of the heretofore discordant elements of the Republican party in Louisiana is said to have been effected. The Republicans of the Pennsylvania Legislature met in caucus on the Bth inst, and nominated J. Donald Cameron as his own successor in the United States Senate. The Colorado Legislature has elected Hon. Nathaniel P. Hill United States Senator from that State. He succeeds Mr. Chaffee. At a meeting of the Potter Committee, last week, it was decided to enter upon an investigation of the cipher dispatches. The Republican members abstained from voting, on the ground that they originally opposed the appointment of the Potter Committee, and had no desire now to enlarge the powers of the committee. A telegram from Washington to the Chicago Tribune states that “ the Nationals in the next Congress propose to maks the most that is possible out of their position. A call has been issued from the headquarters of the National party for a meeting of Greenback Congressmen-elect for Feb. 22. Most of the gentlemen have responded. The subjects agreed upon to be discussed are the Eight-Hour law, the Speakership, and specific greenback measures. The Nationals declare that they do not propose to go into the caucus of either party and will hold their own caucus, but will have Democratic proclivities if sufficient inducements are made them by Democratic leaders”

WASHINGTON NOTES. The 4 per cent, loan is going off at a rapid rate. The subscriptions reached over SII,OOO,(XX> in one day, last week. A Washington dispatch announces that Justice Hunt, of the United States Supreme Court, was stricken with paralysis, a few days ago, and that his life is despaired of. The President has nominated John C. Bridge Appraiser of Merchandise at Baltimore, and Nelson C. Sherman Postmaster at Cleveland, Ohio. The eleventh annual convention of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association was held in Washington last week. Mrs. Cady Stanton presided, and the familiar faces of the ladies who lead the movement were all to be seen. The speakers were rather severe on President Hayes for not advocating female suffrage in his message. It is reported from Washington that there is not the slightest probability of the new Army bill passing either branch of Congress. Two members of Congress—Hon. Julian Hartridge, of Georgia, and Hon. Gustavus Schleicher, of Texas, have died within a few days at the capital, of pneumonia, a malady that seems to be unusually prevalent thereabout this winter, and which physicians attribute largely to the bad ventilation of the Hall of tho House of Representatives.

THE BLAINE INVESTIGATION. The Teller committee began work at New Oreana on the 7th inst., and on that day several witnesses were examined regarding the charges of bulldozing, intimidation, etc. J. E. Breda, of Natchitoches parish, an ex-Confederate soldier, but since 1871 a Republican, testified that “ there is no lawlessness among the negroes—miserable individuals. They hardly daie strike back. They are murdered there like sheep. Political speeches calling upon the negroes to cut loose from the Democratic parly are styled incendiary speeches, and I never made a speech that was n/t strictly a speech on simply political subjects. The negroes are ground down and cannot even sell their crops under their own names. There are 1,700 white and 4,000 colored voters in the par- | ish, and there are more white men who vote the i Republican ticket than blacks who vote the Democratic ticket The Democratic majority in the recent election, given in the official journal, was 2,900.” Senator Cameron—Are any 1 ' prosecutions against fraudulent voters, etc., • being carried on in any of the State courts? Witness—No, sir. For, if so, the whole judiciary of the State would have to be brought trial. I state this on hearsay only. I know nothing from personal observation. I and my brother were driven out simply because we were political leaders. Several other witnesses were examined, all of them Republicans, who testified similarly to Breda in regard to the goings on in Natchitoches parish. Messrs. J. D. McGill, Lucien Bland, and J. M. Me- : Gill residents of Tensas parish, testified that before the election there were two tickets in the field—a regular Democratic and an Independent Democratic. The negroes agreed to support the latter. Witnesses believed the negroes were intimidated to such an extent as to prevent the election of the Independent ticket. They also believed that frauds were committed by stuffing the ballot-boxes. The whole machinery of the election was in the hands of the regular Democratic nominees. Witnesses were candidates on the Independent ticket.

At the meeting of the Teller Committee at New Orleans, on the Bth inst., a number of parties from Tensas parish were examined with a view of proving that bulldozing and intimidation had been carried on in that parish at the late election. Fleming Branch (colored) testified to the * attack on Fairfax, 7v’'" bU ." —.. —f nr Congress. of the shooting down of the adherents of Fairfax, and of the latter’s precipitate flight to save his life; witness himself was wounded m the melee, and he and a number of tother colored people took refuge in the bushes. On the- Tuesday following the attack on Fairfax the slaughter on negroes began, and some eighty the witness stated, were killed ahogether. Daniel Kennedy, Viola Wallace and Bebeoca Ross all colored testified substantially to the same occurrences related by Branch. E. C. Ruth, a colored 'Justice of the Peace, testified that 200 colored men in his ward were forced to join the Democratic club, and then received certificates entitling them to protection. Witness tes°ther acte of lawlessness. J. N. Mitchell, the only white man examined during the day, testified concerning armed

bands from other parishes and f/ora. Mississippt He beard a great many things, but knows the reports were exaggerated.' He said: “In fact, if you inquire rigidly info many Tories you will find pot a word of truth in them. Armed bands did some things which I could not approve. There is hostility between the negro and white man. I won’t try to disguise the fact Show me a negro who votes the Denv noratio ticket, and I will show you a hypocrite fir a fool” Before the Teller Committee, on the 9th inst, W. D. Rollins, of Tensas parish, testified that he was a candidate on the Independent ticket at the late election; saw no outrages committed, but thinks intimidation frightened the negroes so much that they stayed away from the polls, and that if the negroes had voted they would ha ve had a majority of 1,000. J. R. Losey testified in regard to the dispersing of the negroes massed for the purpose of attacking Waterproof; was one of the Sheriff’s posse ; said “the negroes were in their quarters, and, when we fired one volley, they dispersed. Two or three negroes were wounded; don't think any were killed.” Frank Watson (colored) was the next witness. He lived eight miles from Waterproof, and was told by a Democratic friend that the place was getting too hot for him; that he had better clear out. He ran away, leaving his partly-gathered crop to take care of itself. Other colored witnesses testified that on the day of election there was a riot in Caledonia, Caddo parish. The riot commenced after the voting was over, and three negroes were killed. Witnesses testified to the general intimidation of negroes in Caddo. Ben. Williams and William Harper, of Caddo parish, testified on the 10th, corroborating the testimony of other witnesses as to violence and intimidation in the parish, and placing the polls at out-of-the-way places without duo notice, thus preventing the colored men from voting. A H. Leonard, District Attorney, testified to general acts of intimidation Prior to the election was told by prominent Democrats that they meant to carry the election. Asked them how they would do it, in view of the fact that the negro voters were greatly in the majority. The reply was that the negroes would vote the Democratic ticket. Later, a fixed determination on the part of the Democrats to carry the election became evident. This determination finally was intensified into acts of intimidation. Witness then detailed various acts of violence, threats and fraud, such as placing ballot-boxes at inaccessible places, the organization of cavalry companies-throughout tho parish for the avowed purpose of carryingthe election, notpermitting the Republican Supervisor to disci: arge his duties, and refusal to allow negroes to vote who had registered, on the ground that their names were not on the books. .H. C. Rogers, L. Templeman, G. A. Simpleman, and J. Shepherd, of Caddo, were called by Democratic members of the committee, and in substance denied the statements of previous witnesses of intimidation by the Democracy. They asserted, that where were the greatest troubles the negroes were the aggressors. The Teller Committee, on the 11th inst., examined Judge L. V. Reeves, of Tensas parish, Chairman of the Democratic Committee, who testified that the troubles in that parish did not arise from political causes. He said that rumors spread abroad that the color line was to be drawn, that the whites became alarmed, that Capt. Peck, who went to Fairfax’s house to persuade him to withhold from his purpose of arraying the blacks against the whites, was shot down, and that in the fight that ensued several negroes were wounded. This was the starting point of the troubles, and the question became no longer political, but a contest between the whites and blacks. The negroes at once massed in large numbers, and it became necessary to restore peace. Everything was peaceable and quiet on election (lay. Geo. Norwood, of Caddo, the next witness, appeared with his head bandaged, and spoke with difficulty, having been shot in the face in the Caledonia affair. He testified that the first shot was firefl by negroes at him. He did not fire a shot that day. He is a Republican, and always worked for the negroes, and thought it hard they should be the first to shoot him. William A. Lacy, a lawyer and editor, and J. C. Moncure, Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, l>oth residentsxtf CttdUo parish, testified that the election in that parish was fair and peaceable; they stated tfiat District Attorney Leonard was responsible for the troubles in that region. The negroes voted freely until Leonard, seeing no chance of carrying the election for the Republicans, ordered the negroes to go home. Witness thought some of Leonard’s speeches incendiary, calculated to excite bad blood between blacks and whites. A couple of colored witnesses testified that the bulldozers in Point Conpee parish committed great outrages, whipping and killing negroes.