Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1880 — Page 1

Hjyftq semocratit[ Sentinel 4 DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED EYERY FRIDAY BT JAMES W. McEWEN Due copy six months I.M Ons copy throe month*... ■ UN tV~ Advertising rates on application.

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

POBBIQM NSWS. South American advices report that the allied armies of Peru and Bolivia hare again been defeated by the Chilians with heavy loss. The allies are said to be in a state of disintegration, and tho war is regarded as practically at an end. An awful disaster is reported from Scotland. A portion of the bridge across ffio Frith of Tay was blown down while the train from Edinburgh to Dundee was crossing, and all the passengers, 200 in number, were drowned. A dispatch from the Viceroy of India says that Gen. Itoberts defeated and dispersed the Afghans around Cabul on the 23d inst., and reocoupied the city. The death is announced of William Hepworth Dixon, the historian and traveler, and for many years editor of the London Atherurum, ii tho 59th year of his age.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. East. West, Bradley & Cory’s corset and suspender factory, in New York, burned the other night Ttio loss amounted to about $300,030. At Mount Holly, N. J., the clwellirg of Matthow Gloason, a laboring man, has been totally destroyed by fire, his three little children perishing in tho flames. At Bangor, Me., on Christmas day, considerable excitement was caused by reports of the intended removal of arms from the State Arsenal to Augusta. Two trucks wore loaded and had proceeded a ways toward tho dopot, when an excited crowd overtook them and demanded an explanation of tho drivers. An unsatisfactory reply being given, the mob undertook to unhitch the horses, when a young man Bprung on one of the wagons and stated that ho tv»o a clerk in the office of the Adjutant General, and that ths munitions of war were intended for use in dofouse of the State House. At this the crowd became furious, and tho Mayor advised the clerk to beat a retreat, notifying him that he was powerless to resist the crowd. The arms wore then returned to the arsenal, under an escort of polico. Alexander Stuart, the well-known sugar merchant, and ono of Naw York’s solid men, is dead. The city of Boston has jnst suffered from another destructive conflagration In the business quarter. The fire started in the rear of Houghton, Osgood & Co.’s publishing house’ destroying that establishment, tho paper warehouse of Rico, Kendall & Co., and numerous other large and valuable buildings. Tho loss is roughly estimated at from $3,000,000, to $4,000,000.

SouthTwo negro murderers were lynohed in Ruseell county, Ala., recently, by a mob composed of whites and blacks. A freight train on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad broke through a burning bridge near Durant station, in Texas. The locomotive passed over safely, but the tender and twenty-two cars were wrecked and burned. Mike Kolly, flreman, fell into the fire and was burned to death. Brakcman Abernethy was in jived. Wade Hampton, Jr., son of the exGovernor of South Carolina, died a few days ago of malarial fever, at his plantation near Greenville, Miss. Robert and Dennis Patrick (colored) quarreled in Madison county, Ala., while killing hogs, and in the scuffle the brothers closed and rolled into a oalilron of hot water, and were literally cooked alive.

West. The destruction by fire of some of Boat’s brewery buildings in Milwaukee entailed a loss estimated at #315,090, with an insurance of #208,000. William McKee, senior proprietor of ♦ho Bt. Louis Olobc-Dcmocrat, is dead. Ouray informs Gen. Hatch that the guilty Utes have at last concluded to surrender, with the exception of Jack. Jack is implacablo, and thinks of joining Sitting Bull. A generous lowa lady—Mrs. Ocrdelia Miller, of Watorloo—has made a donation of #20,000 to the Qarrett Biblical Institute, at Evanston, HL The holiday trade of Chicago was veiy heavy indeed. They have been having some frightful winter weather in the Red river valley in Northern Minnesota, Dakota, and the British possessions, and extending away to the Pacific coast in spite of the warm Japan current. At St. Vincont and Pembina, the spirit thermometer showed 58 degrees below zero; at Crookstou, Minn., 56 degrees, and at Brainerd 52 degrees were tho figures. A serious accident occurred on the Jacksonville branch of the Chicago and Alton railroad, between Berdan and Whitehall, 111., on the night of Dec. 25. The night express from Bt. Louis for Kansas City was thrown from the track by a broken rail, and thrown down an embankment Two of the coaches caught fire from overturned stoves, and were consumed. The terror-stricken passengers were obliged to make the utmost exertions to save themselves. Two persons were killed and twenty-four injured. The killed were Col. T. P. Bond, of Auburn, 'IIL, and Charles Payne, the colored sleeping car porter. The wounded were taken to Jacksonville and kindly cared for.

The friendly Ute chief Ouray presented himself at Los Pinos on Christmas day, with the chiefs selected to acoompany him to Washington, but, as he had brought in only a part of the murderers of Thornburgh and Meeker, Qen. Hatch refused to start until the demands of the commission bad been complied with. Ouray demanded more time, and the General, giving him five days, promised to await his coming at Cline’s ranch, thirty miles away. A very distressing casualty, the result of a practical joke, is recorded in the Chicago papers. Mr. M. B. Gould, a business man of prominence, and Gen. Waite, by way of jest,, led a colored janitor to think there were burglars in the latter gentleman’s room. The janitor tried to get into the room but was not aide to, and threatened to shoot if the supposed burglars did not come out. Mr. Gould was holding the door and laughing over the excitement of the janitor, when the latter executed hie threat, firing through the door and instantly killing Mr. Gould. Mr. Woolf, author of the popular comedy, “ The Mighty Dollar,” has written another play of the same character, called “A Million,” and it is constructed for the actor who made such a success of the former production. “A Million” is put upon the stage for the first time at McVicker’s Chicago Theater, the present week, with Mr. and Mrs. Florence in the leading ioles. Mr. Florence preferred making his first appearance in the new part at this Jiouse to anywhere else in the country, know-

The Democratic sentinel.

JAB. W. McEWEN Editor.

VOLUME 111.

ing that it would receive all the accessories in the way of scenery, etc., that go so far to make or mar a new drama.

WASHINGTON NOTES. In the Supreme Court of the United States Senator Edmnnds has made a motion to advance the case of Juilliard vs. Green, which was entered for the purpose of testing the validity of the act of Congress forbidding the further retirement of legal-tender notes and requiring them to be reissued and kept in circulation. It seems to be the purpose of the House Commit'ee on Elections to make rapid work with all contested cases, and to have the entire docket of the coramitteo cloarod at the present session. This has very seldom, if ever, been done. Two enterprising young men, who contemplated stealing Gen. Grant’s Arabiar horses and holding them for a reward, have been arrested in New York. Commissioner Raum is opposed to granting amnesty in the future to “ moonshiners. ” Gen. Grant arrived at Washington on tho 27th nli There was no public reception. Tho General attended church there on Sunday, the 28th, returned to Philadelphia on the 30th, and on the same day started for Havana by way of Richmond, Ch& rleston, Savannah and Cedar Keys, £fter spending a few weeks ia Cuba, he will revisit the scenes of his earliest military achievements in Mexico, and then travel through Texas, ascend the Mississippi and visit Colorado, returning to Galena in May, and reaching Long Branch by June. It is reported from Washington that Gov. Van Zandt, of Rhode Island, has been offered the post of Minister to Russia, and that Stanley Matthewa is booked for the English mission.

POLITICAL POINTS. T. B. Jeter, State Senator of South Carolina, is now Governor of the State, Lieut. Gov. Simpson having been made Chief Justice of tho Supremo Court. A caucus of the Republican members of the Tennessee Legislature resolved in favor of Gen. Grant for the Presidency. The meeting of the Maine Republican State Committee and prominent Republicans from various parts of the State, held in Senator Blaino’s residence, at Augusta, resulted in the appointment of a committee to advise and cooperate with the Republican members of the Legislature!. A meeting of the Maine Greenback State Committee was hold at Augusta last week, at which thero was a full attendance. Delegates wore appointed to the National Convention in Washington, those at large being Congressmen G. W. Ladd anil T. H. Murch and Solon Chase. Resolutions wore passed indorsing tho action of the Governor and Council. They declare full confidence in them, and believe they counted ihevote honestly; denounce the utterances of the Republican politicians in public meetings, and the denunciations against the Executive Department of the State as an insult to tho Governor and Council and a clisgraco to tho State as well as to the party.

There is no doubt, says a Washington correspondent, that there is a very considerable Grant movement in Virginia, and that if Grant should be nominated there would be a powerful combination in that State to support him. The Washington Post makes the following editorial announcement: “Gov. Seymour does not want the Democratic nomination, and, so far as he is personally concernoJ, will make no effort to obtain it. But, if the convention nominates him, as it will, he will not refuse his party’s call. This is the Seymour movement in a nut-shell.” A dispatch of Dec. 27, from Bangor, Mo., says that influential Democrats have unitea in an appeal to Gov. Garcelon to acoept the suggestion of ex-Gov. Morrill, and allow the courts to settle the pending troubles.. The same dispatch intimates that the Governor is likely to heed the request.

MISOELLANEOtrS GLEANINGS. The elements of revolution are at work in Spain. The recently-dismissed Ministry and leading Generals of the army are on the side of tho opposition. Riots are reported in Madrid. De Freycinet refusing to organize a Ministry in France, President Grevy has requested M. Waddington to do so. Prof. Nordenskjold recommends the establishment of a regular line of steamers to points in the Polar sea visited by him in his recent long and perilous voyage. The particulars are at hand of a terrible ocean catastrophe which occurred on the 2d of December to the steamship Borussia, which left Corunna for New Orleans on the 24th of November with 180 passengers and a c r'yr numbering fifty-four men. The continuation of a terrific storm, and the evident danger that the ship would founder and go to the bottom, produced a panio among the passengers and crew, and the latter proceeded to ' lower the boats preparatory to abandoning the vessel. In this they aoted without the orders of the Captain and other Officers, several of whom, together with the greater part of the passengers, remained on board and went down with the ship. A few of the passengers were allowed by the crew to go in the boats, but none of them were saved, as all but one boat were swamped and their occupants drowned, and only six of the crew and three officers, who were picked up three days after leaving the Borussia, have survived to tell the story of the fearful disaster. Exports from seaboard ports last week: Flour, 133,110 barrels; wheat, 1,170,204 bushels; com, 1,515,944 bushels; oats, 20,912 bushels; rye, 45,532 bushels; pork, 6,382 barrels; lard, 6,661,002 pounds; bacon, 15,719,809 pounds. lie Lesseps is to visit the United States, by way of California, soon after his arrival at Panama. There seems to be little room to doubt that Thomas A Edison has at last solved the problem of tbe electric light, as ths dispatches report that his test on Christmas eve was succossful in the illumination of his laboratory and several houses, and even Christmas trees, at Menlo Park. He himself says that his work is done, and now, after many sleepless days and nights, he shall rest. He has given to the world a Christmas gift of rare value, use and beauty, and one which will send his name down to posterity high up in the ranks of the world’s great inventors. It is only a little lamp, about the size of an orange, and a strip of paper of the shape of a horseshoe, but a lamp almost as magical as that of Aladdin, and certainly much more useful This little lamp, which can be made at a cost of 25 oents, is a plain glass globe, in the bottom of which there is a metallic stopper, through which pass copper wires connected by a strip of carbonized paper. The secret of the process is sending a current of electricity through the strip of paper, the carbon beooming luminous at once in the globe,

RENSSELAER. JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1880.

which is hermetically sealed. The only condition of success is the exclusion of the air. The carbon filaments are not consumed. On the other hand, though they glow with a very brilliant light, they grow harder, and more serviceable, and give better light; with use. Mr. Edison’s previous experiments had been made with platinum, but a fortunate accident in one of his processes revealed to him that paper, which oosts com aratively nothing, would answer alt the purposes of the precious metal.

Retribution.

A quietly-dressed lady passed down the aisle of a crowded car, looking for a seat. Presently she came to one occupied by a finely-dressed young woman who sat directly in the middle of it, talking to a friend in the seat before her. The young lady looking for a seat said very politely, “Is this seat engaged?” The young woman, without offering to move along, or rise to let her pass, said, in a careless and exasperating tone, looking impudently in her face, “ No. Do you want to come in?” Offended by hey tone and manner, the lady blushed with displeasure and passed on. By this time a gentleman acquaintance had found her a seat, which she accepted. “ Did you hear how that woman answered me?” she said, indignantly. “ I could not have believed that one of my own sex would be so rude. And the best of it is I know her by name, and, if she had known who I am, she would- have been very polite to me. She is enamored of my cousin, and is doing her best to secure him as a husband. lam afraid she has made a mistake in not being civil.” Mark the sequel : The young lady during the day joined her cousin, and in the evening they were returning home on the train, when in came the other young woman, and, at once catching sight of the young gentleman as she entered the door, smiles wreathed lier countenance. He, not knowing what had happened, rose and saluted her cordially, and at once introduced her to bis companion. Why did Bhe turn pale, then red ? She simply saw what a fool she had been, and, if she failed to see the immeasurable depth of her folly, it was revealed to her when, afterward, tho favorite cousin of the man she wanted for a sweetheart said coolly to her, “I noticed you on the train this morning.” There was no longer any doubt that she had been recognized, and that her rudeness would be reported to the ears to which of all others she desired it njt to come. So, you see, if you are not polite from principle, it is well to be so from policy. Tho man or woman who is invariably civil and obliging need fear no awkward adventures like this one.

Wise Words.

Whoever conquers indolence can conquer most things. Love is lowliness; on the weddingring sparkles no jewel.— Richter. Be graceful if you can ; but if you can’t be graceful, bo true.— Dr. Armitage. Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.— Goethe. It is extraordinary how long a man may look among the crowd without discovering the face of a friend.— Dickens. Truth is the most powerful thing in the world, since fiction can only please us by its resemblances to it.—Shaftesbury. “ The music at a marriage procession,” says Heine, “always reminds me of soldiers entering upon a battle.” If, of all those whom you help, the majority abuse your generosity, is not the gratitude of the few really benefited sufficient reward and stimulus to continue the good work?— Golden Rule. Teaching men morals is as though I had a clock that would not go, and I turned round one of the cog-whecls. But faith takes the key and winds up the mainspring, and the whole thing runs on readily.— Spurgeon. Nature lias placed mankind under the government of two sovereign masters—pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as determine what we shall do. On •the one hand the standard of right and wrong; on the other the chain of causes and effects are fastened to their throne. — Ben'ham.

A Rare Dog.

There are so many wonderful stories showing the sagacity of animals going the rounds of the papers just now, says a California paper, that we are compelled to contribute our quota by inserting the following marvelous instance of intelligence of a dog, occurring in a restaurant. A lady who had stepped in to at k a direction was about to leave the door again, when a large Newfoundland belonging to the proprietor placed his paws against her and began eagerly snuffing about her clothes, at the same time wagging hiß tail in a significant manner. The strange manner of the dog excited the suspicions of the proprietor. 5 The lady was seized, heavily manacled, and, despite her struggles, dragged into an Eastern-oysters-for-two compartment and searched. On her person was found secreted a valuable mince pie. The wretched woman was condemned to swallow four wretched doughnuts of the period, while the dog was rewarded with a solid-gold collar set with diamonds and things. The above story seems wildly incredible, we know, but can be testified to by many eminent witnesses.

A King Challenged by a Poet.

It is not often that a subject ventures to challenge his sovereign, but this, it appears, was recently done by the Swedish poet Bjornson. King Oscar, who has a considerable reputation as an author, takes a strong interest in contemporary Swedish literature, and is sometimes rather free in his criticisms of well-known writers. He lately passed an unfavorable judgment on a new work by Bjornson, expressing at the same time some contempt for the general character of his work. The indignant poet at once wrote to his Majesty, demanding that he should apologize for the insult or grant the only satisfaction that would be accepted by a man of honor. The King was prosaic enough to hand the letter to the police authorities of Stockholm, who instituted proceedings against the writer. Bjornson suddenly discovered that a change of air would suit him, and has now, ample leisure to consider whether, after all, a King should have the right to express a literary opinion only at the risk of his life. 4

“A Firm Adherence to Correct Principles

EDISON.

He Considers Bis Work on tlie Electric Light Finished. [From an Interview iu s New York P*P r.] Edison said: “I consider my work on the electric light practically done, though I am still experimenting with a view to reducing its cost.” “ How many lights each equal to a gas-jet do you get to one-horse power?” “On ratio of ten jas-jets per horse power per Hour.” “What is the power of your engine ?” “ Eighty-horse power.” “ What does it cost to run your eightyhorse power engine one Hour ?” “ Seventy-five cents.” “ How long do your lights maintain their power without injury?” “ Twenty-three were burning continuously from Friday last to Wednesday, and thirty-three from Wednesday to 10 o’clock on Thursday night. During this time the engine was stopped for an hour to take water. Not a light was injured, and all were regulated at the central station.” “ What was the distance of the furthest light that was burning five days?” “Three lights have been burning 4bat time one-fifth of a mile away.” “ Were the twenty-three all connected with one main wire ?” “Yes.” “And more could have been put on the same main wire without increasing the power of the engine or diminishing the light of these twenty-three?” “Yes, 500.” “Have the Presidents or Directors of any gaslight companies visited your laboratory and seen your light in practical operation?” “Yes; Mr. Benson, of one of the Brooklyn companies, and Judge Fisher, of the same city, Have been here. There may have been more. A great number of persons have called. We have refused admission to no one.” “Are any gas men interested in your company ?” “I neither know nor caie.”

The Derivation of the Word Money.

The derivations of the words relating to money and commerce are interesting and instructive. “Pecuniary ” takes us back to the times when values were reckoned by so many heai of cattle. The word “money” is from moueta, because in Rome coins were first regularly struck in the temple of Juno Moneta, which again was derived from monere, to warn, because it was built on the spot where Manlius heard the Hauls approaching to the attack on the city. “Coin” is probably from the Latin cuneus. a die or stamp. Mny coins are merely so called from their weight, as, for instance, our pound, the French livre, and the Italian lira; others from the metal, as the “ aurens the “rupee” from the Sanslyrit “rupyra,” silver; others from the design, as the angel, the testoon, from teste or tete, a head J others from the head of the state, as the sovereign, crown; others from the proper name of the monach, such as the daric, from Darius, the Philip, Louis d’or, or the Napoleon. The dollar, or thaler, is short for the Joachimßtaler, or money of the Joachims valley, in Bohemia, where these coins were first struck in the-sixteenth oentury. Guineas were called after the country from which the gold was obtained, and the “ franc ”is an abbreviation of the inscription Francorum Rex. The “ sou ” is from the Latin solidus. The word shilling seems to be derived from a root signifying to divide; and in several cases the name indicates the fraction of some larger coin, as the denarius, half-penny, farthing, cent and mill. The pound was originally not a coin, but a weight, and comes from the Latin pondus. Our pound originally was a pound of silver, which was divided into 240 pennies. The oricrin of the word penny is unknown. Some have derived it from pendo, to weigh; but tljis does not seem very satisfactory. Our word “ sterling ” is said to go back to the lime of the conquest, but the derivation has been much disputed. Some have supposed that it was first attributed to coins struck at Stirling, but for this there is not the slightest evidence; others, that the name was derived from coins having a star on the obverse, but no coins which could have given rise to such a name are known. The most probable suggestion is that it lias reference to the Easterling or North German merchants. —English magazine.

Some Facts About Australia.

Australia, with Tasmania, is only a little less in area than Europe. The hottest climate in the world probably occurs in the desert interior of Australia. Capt. Stuart hung a thermometer on a tree shaded both from sun and wind. It was graduated to 127 deg. F., yet so great was the heat of the air that the mercury rose till it burst the tube, and the temperature must have been at least 128 deg. F., apparently the highest ever recorded in any part of world. For three months Capt. Stuart found the mean temperature to be over 101 deg. F. in the shade. Nevertheless on the southern mountains and tablelands three feet of snow sometimes falls in a day. Snow-storms have been known to last three weeks, the snow lying from four to fifteen feet in depth and burying the cattle. Australia is a land of drought and flood. The annual rainfall at Sydney has varied from twenty-two to eighty-two inches. Lake George, near Goulburn, was, in 1824, twenty miles long and eight miles broad. It gradually shrank till, in 1837, it became quite dry, and its bottom was converted into a grassy plain. In 1865 it was a lake again, seventeen feet deep; two years later it was only two feet deep, and in 1876 it was twenty feet in depth.

How Boys May Make Money.

Pawpaws occasionally come to- this market, and are invariably disposed of at high prices. Many persons who were accustomed to eat them when they lived further South are glad to get them, and are willing to pay very lib-" erally for them. They should be gathered when slightly green, and sent to market in neat boxes or baskets. The pawpaw resembles the banana, but is superior to it in richness and flavor. Persimmons also sell well, and the market is rarely supplied with them. They should be sent as strawberries are, in quart boxes, packed in crates. As they are not liable to injury at the season when they are in a condition to be gathered, it is not necessary to send them by express. It is quite as well to forward them in ordinary freight cars. Pecans, walnuts and hickory nuts are always salable, and may be sept ip floqy

or apple barrels. Chestnuts always command a high price here, and the market is indifferently supplied with them. A commission merchant who would give his attention to handling native wild fruits and nuts* could make money by the operation, and would prove a benefactor to boys in the city and country. Many families in the city would purchase native nuts by the barrel if they knew where to obtain theip, and could get them at twice the price country boys would expect for gathering them. Beech-nuts are regarded as great dainties here, and command good prices.— Chicago- Times.

Idolatry Among the Jews.

Idolatry was considered the most heinous offense of which a Jew could be guilty. Among a people professing a monotheistic faith, hedged in by nations given to every form of paganism, prone to abominations of every kind, it was thought necessary that any public desecration of religion should be severely punished. Hence, in such cases ignorance could not be pleaded in extenuation of the crime; nor was any preliminary warning requisite in order that judgment of death might be legally pronounced. In ordinary affairs, as in the more serious matters capitally punishable, the Hebrew code did not permit of any sort of detective system. A man was not permitted to Becrete himself in order to watch his neighbor. A witness who had acted in such a manner would not have been permitted to give evidence. When, however, a Jew was believed to have publicly devoted himself to idolatry, and to have endeavored to seduce his neighbors to the same practices, any ruse was permitted for the purpose of demonstrating his guilt. If, for example, lie declared to one’persou only that in such and such a grove an image was erected, and attempted to persuade him to join iu worship there, the latter was permitted to hide a friend wherever convenient, and, calling the idolater, might say to him, “ Now. tell me more about that image you worship. If the backslider repeated his solicitations, the testimony of the two witnesses was procured, which was necessary foT condemnation. But previous to laying the matter before a Sanhedrim it was imperative upon both witnesses to reason with the idolator. They were, according to the Talmud, to speak kindly with him. They should address him and say, “How! Would you have us forsake our God who is in heaven to follow deities who are made of wood and stone?” If the erring brother gave oar to their exhortation and quitted his pagan practices, tbe witnesses who knew of his backsliding were not permitted to mention the fact to any neighbors or friends. “He who repents must never be reminded of his former iniquities.” But, if obstinately bent on worshiping the image he had found and set up for himself, the depositions as to the circumstances were laid before the tribunal. These facts were, however, only sufficient to found the accusation upon. To convict, it was necessary to prove that the offender was really given to the pagan practices to which he endeavored to persuade his brother. Similarly, in the case of a simple idolator it was requisite to prove more than mere adoration of an image or prostration before it, or dressing and tending it. It must be shown that he acknowledged it verbally as his divinity, and immolated sacrifices and offered incense in its honor. This was essential in order to constitute Idolatry punishable with death. —Pall Mall Gazette.

The Hostile.

Monday, July 14, was the ninetieth anniversary of the storming and destruction of the Bastile. the state prison and citadel of Paris. The building of the prison was begun in 1369 by Charles V., it was enlarged in succeeding reigns, and destroyed by the people in 1789. It was situated at the gate of St. Antoine. The inhuman treatment to which prisoners in the Bastile were subjected has few parallels in tne history of penal cruelty. Put there without accusation or trial, on a simple leitre de cachet, their final fate was entirely dependent on the caprice of the caprice of the monarch, and unknown even to their families or their most intimate friends, as no communication was allowed the prisoners with the outside world. Voltaire, Bichelieu, and the man in the iron mask, whose identity has never been fuUy established, were among the prisoners in this dungeon of despotism. When, in 1789, the people of France rose in their might to throw off the abominable yoke of despotism, the storming of this dungeon was one of the first actions taken by the enraged populace. It was captured, ransacked, and the prisoners, some of whom had been confined on frivolous charges for more than thirty years, liberated, and its towers razed. Ou its site now stands a magnificent column erected in memory of the patriots of 1789.

Adulterated Coffee.

The difference in quality between the coffee imported into this country and that sold is remarkable. The New York Sun says that of thirty-four samples of ground coffee lately analyzed in that city thirty-one were adulterated, more, or less, with chioory. Boast corn was in twelve, and beans and potato flour in one. Chicory itself is often adulterated as coffee. Horse chestnuts, acorns, wheat, red earth, carrots, parsnips, oak bark, tan, mahogany sawdust and Venetian red enter frequently into the composition. A company which desiccates cocoanuts in New York finds a market for its shells at the coffeemills, which grind and mix them with coffee. Peanuts and burnt sugar are also used for adulteration, and unground coffee is by no means exempt from foreign particles.

Something Odd.

The Middletown (N. Y.) Argue tells a strange story about William Startup, who lives near that village. For some time he has had severe pains in his right arm, which he has attributed to rheumatism. Lately he noticed a amii.ll protuberance on his side underneath his arm. His wife made an examination of the excrescence and saw what appeared like a thread in it, lying very near the surface. She got hold of one end of the substance and kept pulling until a piece of thread, about eight inches in* length, was drawn from the body. How this thread got there he does not know, but fancies that 'it was attached to a needle and got into the body in that way, and that the needle is there still. He still has pain in the arm and that portion of the body.

THE LAW OF THE CASE.

Plain Statement by Gov. Garcelon, of Maine, of His Action, anil the Reasons lor It—A Constitutional Duty Performed. Gov. Garcelon, of Maine, telegraphed to the New York Sun a statement justifying the reversal by himself and Council of the election results claimed by the Republicans. His statement is addressed to the public, and is as follows: Telegrams and suggestions having reached the undersigned to tho effect that Gov. Garcelon and his Council owe to the Democracy of the United Spates in particular, and the public generally, a full, explicit explanation of exactly wbat they have done and why they did it, I herewith submit for general information a concise statement of the constitutional requirements in relation to elections of Senators and Representatives in this State, the action of the Governor and Council in tho discharge of the >duty imposed upon them by that instrument, and the statute laws in accord therewith. Here follows tHe constitutional and statutory requirements, which the Governor summarizes further on. He then proceeds: In the discharge of their duty of examining the returns and issuing certificates or summons to the parti s appearing to be elected, the Governor and Council have pot only endeavored to follow both the letter and spirit of the constitution and laws made in accordance therewith, indicated by their own judgment, but the advice of their duly-appointed legal officer, aided by the boat legal talent in tbe State. And here let it be remembered that the decision of tho Governor and Council ia not final. The constitution makes the Senate and House of Representativee respectively the final arbiters of the election of their own members. All the lists or returns which Have been confided to the Council aro to he laid before the Senate and House of Representatives on the first Wednesday of July, annually, and they shall finally determine who are elected. With those directions and requirements before them, what is the Governor and Council required to do? To examiue these returns, ascertain their validity, and compare them with the provisions of the constitution and the law. And, 1. They must have been sealed in open town meeting, and in presence of the selectmen, and, by nfti?es.a>y implication, must oomo into the hinds of the Governor and Council in that condition. 2. They must be genuine returns, coming from bona-fide towns or plantations legally oonsti’uted and organized. 3. They must bo signed by the legal officers of the towns—’hat is, as elected by the counts, by a majority of the municipal officers of a town or city,' and certified by the Clerk. 4. They must contain a statement of the whole number of ballots cist for the officer voted for, and tho office for which ho was voted to fill. 5. They must contain the name of each person voted for with the number of votes against his name that were thrown for him. 6. The names of the officers signing the returns must be written with their own hands (as per judicial decision, (58 Maine, page 587)Applying these rules to the varied returns, a tabulat on of the persons votod for tho different offices, with the votes each has received, determines the result.

In the inspection of returns and tabulation of the same, wl ieh has just been completed by mystlf *~d Council, it t;as been our puipoee to apply to every return the same ru'e, to-wit, compliance with the requirement* of the constitution and the law, without fear or favor. And if the result as to the political complexion of the Legislature is different from what was claimed by politicians interested in influencing the elections in other Bta‘cs, it is owing in part to the fact that the claim was unfounded, and in part to the carelessness of municipal officers in making their returns. The truth is, the popular vote was against the Republican party, aDd in the Representative and Senatorial districts the vote was extremely close. In addition to the fact that several persons fail to receive their certificates in consequence of “fatal defec's” in the returns from their towns or cities, there are others who would have been presumably ejected but for the carelessness of the voters themselves, or the ignorance of the voters themselves, or the ignorance of the candidates, or those who provided ballots at the election. The Judges of our Supreme Court have decided that ballots cast for William H. Smith and W. H. Smith are ballots to be counted separately. Several change b have resulted from this condition of things. In one county persons with as many as four different combma ions of initials received the Republican vote and two the Democratic. That county was ontitled to only one Senator, and there was no a’ternative but to give the certificate to the person having the highest numbi r of votes. In the Danforth district, already notorious, the name of the Republican candidate was Charles A. Rolfe. The town of Danforth voted for Charles Rolfe. The result was that his competitor received the certificate, and from like cause other changes have occurred. The great huo and cry about “ conspiracy,” “fraud,” etc , arises from the fact that wo have taken tho constitution for our guide, fortified by tho opinions of the Supreme Court of the State and the advice of several of the foremost legal gentlemen of the forum, and have not permitted substi ution, alteration, or unauthorized amendments of the returns transmitted to us for examination, and by ns to be transmitted to the Legislature for their final action. In other words, we have rot resolved ourselves into a Returning Board to investigate fraud and bribery, illegal proceedings at the polls, and the thousand and one charges of corruption that are afloat, but have left this whole matter to the action of the Legislature, where it properly belongs. The Governor and Council hare recognized the fact that the people of Maine have adopted a constitution and declared it to bo tho supreme law of the State. They have followed the requirements with fidelity and impartiality, and when an intelligent public have brushed away the mists and false colorings which enraged and discomfited politicians have thrown around our action, and the vituperation and slander that has been heaped upon us hae given place to reason and fair inve tigation, any condemnation of our course, either by the Democracy of the nation, or any fair-minded and honorable politician of any party will be acknowledged with due submission.

ALONZO GARCELON.

A New Mode of Choosing Electors.

Some leading Republicans of New York, who fear the result of the Presidential contest at the ballot-boxes next year, are contemplating an immediate change in the mode of appointing the electors of President and Vice President. The' constitution provides that each State shall appoint its electors in such manner as its Legislature may direct. Down to about 1820 the Legislatures in all the States chose the electors. Thenceforward State after State conferred the power directly upon the people through the ballot-boxes. South Carolina adhered to the old mode down to the close of the civil war. New York clung to the ancient system till after the Presidential contest of 1824. At the close of a bitter struggle, which temporarily prostrated the Democratic party in the State, the method was adopted of choosing the electors by Congrees districts, each district to choose one elector, and the whole body to then meet and choose the two Senatorial electors. The only Presidential contest under that system in this State was that of 1828, when Gen. Jackson secured twenty electors and John Quincy Adams 16. In 1829 the Legislature adopted the general ticket method, which has since prevailed. Those Republicans who now contemplate a change fear that the State cannot be carried by their party next fall; and they propose to secure a portion, and perhaps a majority, of the electors *by adopting the Oongiess district system of 1828, while some advocate the extreme measure of returning to the old method of appointment by the Legislature, whereby, for this once at lepst, they oonld give the Republican

$1.50 Der Annum.

NUMBER 47.

candidates for President and Vice President the whole thirty-five votes of the State. It is in the power of the incoming Legislature to adopt either of these modes if it sees fit, and the Legislature is overwbelminglv Republican in both branches. Those who urge the taking of this bold step look at the subject from the two standpoints of present success and the next census. They say that the measure would certainly secure them the Presidency now, and that the apportionment under the census of 1880, by stripping the South of onethird of its power, would make everything sure in the future. Such is the scheme in contemplation. Perhaps the Legislature will carry it through, and perhaps not.

The Only Question.

It is. not necessary to waste worde upon the action of Gov. Garcelon, of Maine, respecting the returns of the recent election. The real question in the case is this: Has Gov. Garcelon acted in strict obedience to the constitution and laws of the State, or has he violated them? If he has merely followed and applied the rules laid down for him in these instruments, he has done right; if he has broken those rules, he has done wrong, and deserves punishment. Tho Governor says that he has done nothing more than obey the constitution and the laws and apply them as he is sworn to do; and we have not yet seen any attempt to prove that this is not the case. But until such proof is adduced, and its conclusiveDess made evident, we are bound to believe that the Governor has dono right, that there is no ground of complaint against his action, and that, as a conscientious public officer, he could not have taken any other course. Let his critics prove that he has violated the constitution and the laws of the State. Then they will have a right to denounce him, and we will join in the denunciation. —New York Sun.

American Cartridges.

Russia was among tho first to make use of the American metallic cartridges, and she attempted in vain to imitate them. After wasting 10,000,000 of cartridges made of inferior material, she wisely concluded to buy here, as other foreign nations have since done. Some of the American cartridges sent to Russia were subjected to the unparalleled test of a five-weeks’ soaking in the waters of New York harbor, the vessel carrying them having sunk off Staten island on her way out. They were fished up as good as new, and, triumphantly passing the ordeal of a new test of their firing quality, went on their way again, and have no doubt long since added their quota to tho list of casualties. For good cartridges American copper is needed, a fact which the Europeans are beginning to learn. Even so long ago as the days of the mound-builders it was discovered that our Lake Superior region produced a copper ore of uncommon purity. Ore of equal purify is not, it would seem, to be found elsewhere, and perhaps the process of annealing is not so well understood abroad. At all events, the brass made of the foreign copper, abounding in the sulphurets, lacks the necessary strength and ductility, and for some reason the metallic cartridges made abroad are liable to deteriorate in quality. During her war with Turkey, Russia purchased large quantities of brass here, one Connecticut firm alone supplying $2,000,000 worth of sheet brass. Other Governments have, no doubt, been purchasers. Ready-made cartridges have also been sent abroad in such quantities that a million has become the unit of calculation. Three forms of cartridge are made—the United States Government cartridge, the Pea-body-Martini cartridge, and the largest, the Sharps or Remington special longrange cartridge. The Government cartridge contains seventy grains of powder and a hardened bullet, composed of one part of tin and sixteen parts lead, weighing 405 grains. The Peabody-Martini has eighty-five grains of powder and a bullet of the same composition weighing 480 grains. The long-range bullet has one part of tin to fourteen parts lead, and weighs 550 grains, the charge of powder being 100 grains. The advantages of the heavier cartridge are well shown in the experiences of the Turkish war, already referred to. Whatever else they may lack, the Turks have certainly shown superior intelligence in the armament of their troops. The English, who use the same gun, had, on a smaller scale, an experience similar to that of the Turks. Tho rifles used by the rifle brigade in the campaign against the Afghans were sighted for 2,000 yards, and at 2,100 yards were found effective. The rifles with which our own army is provided are sighted to 1,200 yards. Some of the sights used by riflemen in long-range shooting, as the Vernier sight, combine a spirit-level and wind-gauge. The ordinary Vernier will register to the thousandth of an inch, and Verniers have been made so as to register the twenty thousandth of an inch, these finer sights being used to regulate the ordinary sights. These very fine sights are not adapted to military service, in which the rifle is subjected to a very different usage from that prevailing at Creedmoor, where the long range aifleman is able to give his weapon all the care that a musician would take of his precious Stradivarius violin or his Tourte bow.— Col. W. C. Church, in Scribner.

Alfonso’s Bride.

“Francis Joseph,” says Truth, has shown himself a generous cousin to Alfonso’s bride. He gave her out of his own private fortune a dowry of 1,000.000 thalers, and sent her away in greater state than was observed at the departure of his only daughter when she married. The trousseau filled five railway vans. Underclothing was on the scale of twelve dozen dozens. Outfit and wedding presents were exhibited at the palace of the bri ie’s uncleThe twelve robes which Alfonso pays for, I am informed by a fair correspondent, are stagey and overladen with metallic embroidery. The taste in which they were oonceived—Mme De Sosto’s— is Empire and the style ball costume, and unsuited to an extremely slight young girl.” London has been startled by the news that Prince Bismarok has written to Lord Beaconsfleld to say that he will visit him in the summer of 1880,

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INDIANA ITEMS.

The rabbit harvest is being gathered throughout the State. It is unusually bountiful. The Republicans of Winchester have purchased a brass cannon to bold in reserve for celebrating party victories. The public schools of Shoals, Martin county, have been suspended because of the prevalence of scarlet fever in that village. Rowena Mathenv, a girl 19 years of age, lately attempted suicide in Evansville, by eating fish-berries. Disappointment in love. Henry Glore, a colored youth of Rising Sun, raptured himself while practicing with a horn, and died from the effects of his injuries. Mrs. Sadie L. Carnes, of Terre Haute, fell over the back of a chair, sustaining injuries that resulted in her death a few hours afterward. Colfax, Clinton county, is ambitious to be the shire town of a proposed new county of Colfax, to bo carved out of Clinton, Tippecanoe, Boone and Montgomery. The roof of the main building of Earlham College, at Bichmond, was burned the other day. Loss by fire and water, about $2,000; covered by insurance.

The Council of Administration of the G. A.R., for the Department of Indiana, have decided to hold tho next annual encampment at Greencastle, on Jan. 29. A Madison man has forwarded to the Fish Commissioner at Washington a buffalo fish weighing sixty pounds, the largest fish of tho kind ever caught in the Ohio river. The Indianapolis Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad Company last week received 1,000 tons moie of steel rails, which they are distributing on tho Western division. The Supremo Court of Indiana lias reversed a case because the indictment against a man, charged with the unlawful sale of liquor, didn’t specify that a gill is less than a quart. A little 11-year-old daughter of Mrs. Miller, living near Urbaua, was accidentally shot by a little eon of John Barnes, the ball entering at the nose, passing through the left cheek into the shoulder. It will probably prove fatal. The annual report of the State Normal School at Terre Haute is submitted. Last year there were 783 students, and since the organization of the school, 2,385. Eighty-two per cent, of the pupils last year were from the working classes.

The luxury of eatiDg raw pork has proved the death of several members in a family at Plymouth, and it is probable the entire family will die with the exception of tho father, who ate none of the meat. Trichina was proved to be in the pork by post-mortem examination. While a little son and daughter 61 Charles Lacy, of Rrookville, were playing with a revolver of thirty-two caliber, it was accidentally discharged while in the hands of the little girl, the ball striking her brother and pussing through his body. Recovery is impossible. For many years each Grand Jury of Decatur county has reported that tho Greensburg jail was unsafe and unfit to keep prisoners, but the Commissioners take no steps toward repairing the old one or building a new one. The other night all the prisoners, nine in number, escaped, and only one of them voluntarily came back. Mr. Samuel Davenport, Postmaster as Bluffton, died last week, after a lingering illness of many months, aged 52 year. Mr. Davenport was a graduate of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., and held the position of Collector in the Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania district during the war, and was editor of the Bluffton Chronicle for many years.

Judge Ward has rendered an important decision at Crawfordsville, in the case of McComas vs. Krug, Sheriff of that county. The defendant was charged with drunkenness, and his re • moval asked for under a recent act of the Legislature. Tho Judge decided that the statute was unconstitutional, and dismissed the case. The plaintiff filed notice that he would appeal the case to the Supreme Court. A split in the Baptist church at Crawfordsville, and a case at law growing out of it as to the title to the church building, has resulted in a decision in favor of the majority party. The court held that a Baptist church is congregational, and a majority of the members have absolute authority under their articles of faith and rules of decorum to do as they like about allowing or disallowing certain doctrines to be preached in the church building.

An Astonished Sultan.

The Viennese conjuror, Hermann, has lately been in Constantinople, vainly endeavoring to amuse the Sultan, but he succeeded in astonishing him. The Paris correspondent of the London News tells the story: “ The scene was a boat moored in the Bosphorus. ‘ Will you oblige me,’ said Hermann to the Grand Vjzier, ‘by throwing your watch overboard ? ’ The Vizier looked doubtful, but the Sultan nodded, and the watch sank glittering through the sea. * Now,’ said Hermann, ‘ will some one kindly give me a fishingrod? ’ A rod was brought, a line, and a hook, which the conjuror baited before the eyes of the Sultan. He soon had a nibble, struck, and after an exciting interval had a fine fish in the land-net. Hermann opened the fish and took out the Vizier’s watch, still keeping capital time.” Repressing a stroDg inclination to refer to the ring of Polyertes, he goes on ‘to prove that Hermann can giggle as well for the wily Muscovite as tho gallant Turk. “ While amusing the Autocrat of all the Russias. he broke a large, magnificent mirror. The superstitious potentate winced, for to break a mirror is unlucky, and a curtain was thrown over the glass. Hermann went on with hi* tricks for a while, then suddenly exclaimed, ‘I forgot the glass; ookatit.’ The curtain was removed, and there was the mirror, whole and unharmed.” M. Soleillet proposes to leave soon for West Africa to recommence his ex- ' plorations, which are to be on the line of route of the Trans-Sahara railway. A considerable portion of his expenses will be paid from the $120,000 which the French Government contemplate setting aside to defray the cost of the preliminary surveys and investigations connected with that scheme,