Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1881 — NEWS OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

FOREIGN NEWS. The funeral of the murdered Czar of Russia took place at St. Petersburg on the 21st of March. It is described by George Augustus Bala, the celebrated newspaper correspondent, as the mo3t magnificent, most impressive, most pathetic pageant, which, in the course of a lengthened career, accustomed to the pomps and vanities of royalty, he had ever been privileged to behold. The funeral car was a bier of ebony and silver, on wheels, with carved silver spokes. 'The most striking figure in the procession was Alexander lIL, a ho walked just behind the hearse. The Ambassadors at Constantinople have referred to their respective Governments a proposition by Turkey to cede Crete and make additional concessions in Thessaly. The Greek Premier declares that, unless restrained by the powers, prompt action will follow a rejected ofTer by the Porte. In the British House of Commons, £440,000 was voted for army expenditure in the Transvaal, and £210,000 for extraordinary transport service. The polico of St. Petersburg have discovered two dynamite stores, and captured a man upon whom was found arms, poison and 20,000 roubles.

The canes of tho Tralee Land-Leaguers have been adjourned to the summer assizes, as the present jurors aro said to be members of the organization. Cypress trees have been planted round the spot whore the Czar fell, and sacred pictures with lamps burning before them have been placed there. President Grevy will send representatives to the Yorktown centennial celebration, in accordance with tho invitation of our Government. Tee British House of Commons voted 1(3,280,000 to defray the expenses of the Boer war. A St. Petersburg dispatch of the 23d says that indictments have been found against Nicolai RoussakofT, Andrei Telejkoff, Timofei Micbasloff and the woman Hesse Helfmann. They wero allowed seven days for preparation for their defense by counsel. Peace has been concluded between the Boers and the British. The former are promised complete self-government, and will at once disperse their army. For articles applauding the slaughter at St. Petersburg, six influential journalists of Faria have been sentenced to fine or imprisonment. Rochefort will hand over 1,000 francs.

Twenty-two persons were killed or injured in a railroad accident near Bondv, France. The Agence liusse is of opinion that the assassination of the Czar was planned abroad, chiefly in Genova and Paris. A bomb with a lighted fuse attached was placed outside the Royal Theater, in Madrid, but it was discovered by the police before it could explode. Sir William Harcourt, of London, received a mysterious parcel from Manchester, and requested the police to open it, when a loaded pistol was found. The Russian press urge that all Swiss be expelled from the empire ; that diplomatic relations bo severed, and that a prohibitory tariff against Swiss merchandise be instituted. The Governor of Senegal, Africrff reports that an engagement recently took place between 1,500 natives and 150 French infantry detailed to establish a telegraph line to Futa Djallon. The natives were defeated after a ■harp fight.

Peasants from all parts of Russia are making a pilgrimage to tho spot where the Emperor felL Col. Dorjibkv, the officer who was wounded at the time the Czar lyas murdered, has been granted a pension of 6,000 roubles. Two men have been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment for placarding Paris with addresses congratulating the Nihilists on the Czar’s death, The*manager of Ni Dien ni Maitre has been fined $2,000 and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for being too outspoken on the same subject. The city of Nice, in the South of France, has been the scene of a soul-sickening horror. The opera-house, during a performance,, and while a large number of people were occupying the seats and stalls, took fire and was consumed in an incredibly-short space of time. It is believed that not less than 200 people were roasted alive. A cable dispatch gives the following particulars of the holocaust: The fire commenced soon after the curtain had risen for the performance of “ Lucia di Laminermoor.” A majority of the victims belonged to the working class. Shortly after the fire began the gas exploded, and tho house was plunged into complete darkness. A scene of terror and dismay ensued which beggars.dojcription. A detachment of sailors from tho squadron in the harbor arrived on the scene, and displayed great gallantry in rescuing the people and combating the fire, which was subdued toward 10 o’clock. Strakosch, the impresario, was slightly hurt. One whole family of five persons and another oi three persons are known to have perished. Relief subscriptions for the sufferers have been opened throughout Nice. Most of the artists were in the dressing-rooms and were aware of their danger, but it was too late to escape. The choristers rushed along the narrow passage in the darkness, presumably unable in the crush to escape. The ba'ss, tenor and baritone must have been suffocated. Some of the bodies found are so horribly charred that recognition is impossible. The body of one of the singers has been recognized. The cause of the fire was a leak in the gaspipes behind the scenes. The leak was caused suddenly, in some way unknown, and allowed great volumes of gas to escape. This ignited before the leak was discovered from the rear stage lights, and the explosion which followed at once set all the scenery and inflammable material on the stage on fire, and before the audience recovered from their first horror the entire building was in flames. To add to tho calamity, some one turned the gas off in the efforts to stop the fire, and then a terrible panic ensued. The audience became frafitic and, in their endeavors to escape, all sought personal safety, and the weaker and the women were remorselessly knocked aside and trampled upon. Many of the actors and chorus were burned to death. The latest attempt at assassination in Rns3ia was directed against the Governor of Baku.

Count Pecci, a brother of the Pope, has passed from earth. Parnell stated at a meeting in London that money is flowing from America to Ireland at the rate of £4,000 weekly. A National Land League for Great Britain will be formed under the Presidency of Justin McCarthy. Oscar de Lafayette, a member of the French Senate, died in Paris lately, aged 65 . years. Being a grandson of the Marquij who

aided the American colonies in achieving their independence, it was the intention of President Grevy to send him to the Yorktown Centennial to represent the republic of France. The father of Roussakoff, tho assassin, has shot himself. A huge petard exploded at the door of a Carmelite church in Madrid, lately, doing considerable damage to the structure. The Sultan has asked of Egypt a contingent of troops in the event of a war with Greece.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Slant. Gen. Grant has resigned the Presidency of the World’s Fair Commission. The Edison Electric-Light Company has been granted permission to lay tubes, wires conductors and insulators, and erect lamp-posts in New York. Hugh J. Jewett has been chosen to succeed Gen. Grant as President of the World’s Fair Commission. The Connecticut Legislature has repealed the law providing for tho examination of railroad engineers and conductors so as to guard against tho employment of color-blind persons in those positions. Seven masked men robbed the house of John Connor, of Catfish, Pa., of (15,000 in money and bonds, after binding and gagging the old couple. William A. Hunter, son of an exMayor of Brooklyn, having been detected in embezzling money for speculation, shot himself in a grove near Fall River, Mass. Joseph W. Milne, who was paying teller in a national bank at Fall River, Mass., pleaded guilty to the embezzlement of SI,OOO, and was sentenced to five years in prison. Ex-Gov. William Beaoh Lawrence, of Rhode Island, is dead. Rev. Abiel Silver, a venerable Swedenborgian clergyman, of Roxbury, Mass., was dirowned in Charles river. A young lady, in New York, who refused to disclose to two robbers the hidingplace of some jewels was stabbed in the arms and face until insensible, and has become a partial paralytic. One of the villains has been e apt mod and identified. West. " Hon. John U. Pettit, ex-Minister to Brazil, and formerly United States Senator from Indiana, died at Wabash, Ind., last week. A boiler in White & Russell’s mill, at Middlefield, Ohio, exploded, killing Joseph Hamilton, Seldon Sprague and John Patchin. Rev. Father Edward Fagan, of Winona, Minn., committed suicide iu Chicago a few days ago. Tho deceased had frequently manifested symptoms of insanity. Charles Cram, of the boot and shoe firm of Doggfett, Bassett & Hills, of Chicago, was shot and killed by William Seymour, a Board of Trade clerk 19 years of age, who subsequently committed suicide. Seymour was a suitor for the hand of Mr. Cram's daughtor, but had been forbidden the house. He forced his way into Mr. Cram’s residence and the tragedy ensued. J. H. Haverly, the well-known Chicago theatrical manager, has insured his life for $120,000 in a Milwaukee company. A Lake Shore express train going west ran off the track at Nottingham, Ohio, at a high rate of speed. Engineer Lace and Fireman Henderson were killed, and Express Messenger Schneider was severely injured.. Illicit distilling is carried on to a considerable extent in Indian Territory, and Commissioner Raum is getting ready to suppress it. The annual report of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad shows that the gross earnings for the year 1880 were $20,492,046. Big-nosed George, a notorious Wyoming road-agent, was taken out by a party of masked men and hanged on the cross-arm of a telegraph pole, at Rawlins. An insane saloon keeper of Sioux City lowa, shot and killed a 14-year-old girl named Helen Eberhardt, and then committed suicide. Col. Fred Hecker, one of the leaders of tho German revolution of 1848, for many years woll known in politics in the West, died last week near Summerfield, 111. After deliberating for twenty-four hours the jury in tho Kalloch case, at San Francisco, acquitted the accused of the murder of Charles De Young. The horses were detached from Kalloch’s carriage, and he was drawn three miles by the crowd. A Dakota man who lately arrived at Dubuque tells a horrible story of his experience during the winter. Ho homesteaded 160 acres at Big Lake, Dakota, two years ago, and last year harvested sixty acres of wheat, yielding twenty-five bushels per acre, for which he realized $1,200 ; with this he laid iu a supply of fuel and fixed up his house for winter; otherwise tho family would have perished. Two neighboring families, not so well fixed, came to live with them, and the three families in one house had hard work to keep from freezing. The fuel ran out and they used all the railroad ties and telegraph poles they could dig out of the snow; then the houses of the other two families were, little by iittF, tom down and burned, and nearly all their furniture went the same way. A German neighbor named Becker, with a five-horse team, attempted to reach the station for a supply of coal. He was caught in a snow-drift, and two days afterward he was found frozen stiff in the sleigh, his faithful dog lying on his breast, also dead. The five horses were ail frozen stiff, standing upright in the drift. Becker’s body was taken home to his bereaved wife and children. It was nailed in a stout box and placed in a corn-crib until it could be buried in the spring. Another family had lived some time on soup made of an ox hide. Col. J. J. S. Wilson, who has been connected with telegraphy almost ever since it came into practical use, has forwarded his resignation as District Superintendent of the Western Union. • The famous Wisconsin war eagle, Old Abe, is dead. South. A flood at Rome, Ga., has caused the destruction of nearly half a million dollars’ worth of property. The San Antonio and Corpus Christi stage was stepped fifteen miles north of Oakville, Texas, by four armed men, who robbed the passengers of S4OO in money and several watches and other pieces of jewelry. Maj. Kirby, of the internal-revenue service, has made a- bloody battle wich the sou Middleton brothers, whose illicit still is on tho border of Virginia and Kentucky. Kirby had a posse of twenty citizens. Joe, BUI and Tom Middleton were killed, and five of their men fatally injured. The revenue officer wiU renew the fight when sufficiently reinforced. The Texas Legislature has rejected a proposition to submit a prohibitory amendmenl to the people.

Two stockmen named Leonard and Doyle met in Jack county, Texas, to settle a difficulty, bringing along a third party to see fair play. Leonard started to step off the distance, when Doyle tried to shoot him. His gun held fire, however, and Leonard turned and shot him dead, and then mortally wounded the wit ness and made his escape. Doming, the new town at the junction of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific roads, is said to have already 5,000 inhabitants.

WASHINGTON NOTES. As a preliminary step in the war against polygamy, a bUI wUI be introduced in the next Congress t>. change the form of government in Utah. It is proposed to plaoo the administration of affairs in the hands of seven Commissioners, to be appointed by the President, and continue in office during his pleasure. It is thought tho evU can be reached in this way more readily than under the existing form. Tne law disfranchising polygamists, male and female, wUI also be passed. R. D. Trowbridge, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, has tendered his resignation and requested its immediate acceptance. Juclge William H. Robertson, who led the independent bolt in New York prior to the Chicago Convention, who has long been the personal and political opponent of Senator Conkling, and who is a near friend of Reuben E. Fenton, who, at the Chicago Convention, headed the seventeen New York delegates who voted for Garfield, is appointed Collector of Customs for the port of New York. Mr. Fenton’s other friend, Gen. Merritt, was transferred to London as Consul General. The appointment of Robertson is said to be a severe disappointment to Mr. Conkling. William Walter Phelps, nominated to be Minister to Austria, is a wealthy young New Jersey ex-Congressman, now traveling in Europe for his health. He is an intimate personal friend and supporter of Mr. Blaine and a friend of Whitelaw Reid. It was Mr. Phelps who was reported to have furnished the loan which first enabled Mr. Reid to secure control of the New York Tribune. • Gen. Badeau, Gen. Grant’s biographer, receives a diplomatic promotion, being transferred from the London Consul Generalship to the higher grade of Charge d’Affaires to Denmark. The present Minister to Denmark, Mr. Cramer, the brother-in-law of Gen. Grant, also receives promotion, being transferred from Charge d’Affaires at Denmark to Minister to Switzerland, a somewhat higher rank. Thomas M. Nichol, of Wisconsin, who lias been appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, is well known in the West and throughout the country as Secretary of the Honest Mofkey League. He is a personal friend of Gen. Garfield. He has for some weeks been in charge of the Indian Office. . Gen. Lionel A. Sheldon, who is named as Governor of New Mexico, was an officer in the Union army, and at the close of the war he settled in New Orleans. He was elected to Congress three times successively from one of the districts of that city. He is a personal friend of the- President. Gen Lew Wallace, now Governor of New Mexico, goes to Paraguay and Uruguay as Minister. Judge Phillips, of North Carolina, has been nominated for Judge of the Court of Claims to succeed Secretary Hunt William E. Chandler has been appointed Solicitor General of the Treasury. A Washington telegram to the Chicago Tribune says “ there has been a great deal of speculation as to what course the Secratary of the Treasury will take to provide for the payment of the bonds which become redeemable in May and July, in case an extra session of Congress is not called for the purpose of passing a Funding bill. It is rumored that Secretary Windom has, among other projects, considered that of using money in the treasury to buy, before the Ist of next December, $150,000,000 of 6-per-cent. bonds. It has also been asserted tha t this plan embraces the idea that it will be practicable to avoid the necessity of issuing the $104,000,000 of 4-per-cenfc. bonds. There is some reason to believe that a project like that above outlined has been taken into consideration, but nothing is known regarding the probability that it will be adopted. Solicitor General Phillips declines the Judgeship of the Court of Claims, to which he was appointed by the President. The President has nominated Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois, to be Assistant Secretary of State. A Washington dispatch says that “permission is finally given to announce the fact that it has been decided by the Cabinet not to call an extra session. This decision is subject to the reservation that, if circumstances shall seem to make it necessary, Congress may be convened in tho early fall, but there will be no summer session.”

POLITICAL POINTS. It having been reported that Gov. Cornell, of New York, would not call an election this spring to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Fernando Wood, Gov. Plaisted, jf Maine, has assured the Democratic loaders that he will not call an election to fill Senator Frye’s place until one is ordered in New York. The Republicans of Chicago have nominated John M. Clark for Mayor, John Raber for Treasurer, William T. Underwood for Attorney and Thomas W. Sennott for Clerk. The President has nominated A. M. Jones to be Marshal for Northern Illinois, and Stewart L. Woodford to be Attorney for the Southern district of New York. The Democrats of Rhode Island have nominated Horace M. Kimball for Governor and W. L. Segar for Lieutenant Governor. Postmaster General James, in declining a banquet tendered him by New York merchants, thanks them for their appreciation of the manner in which he has performed his duties in the past, but he adds that the trial of his fitness has only just begun.

A Washington dispatch says: “Mr. Conkling’s friends say that he does not apprehend any difficulty in semiring the rejection of Judge Robertson as Collector of New York. The nomination is in Mr. Conkling’s hands, as Chairman of the committee, and he will not delay action upon it He believes that the Senate will not, against the wishes of both of the Senators from New York, confirm the nomination, and therefore he says he is not disturbed over it The politicians today credit Mr. Blaine with having brought about the nomination, as a reward to Robertson for having divided the New York delegation at Chicago and favored Blaine’s nomination. Mr. Conkling is very indignant He says the President has seen fit to recognize an element that does not number over 20,000 in the State, and to reward bolting with one of the best positions in the gift of the Executive.” The Republicans of Rhode Island have renominated Gov. Littlefield and all the other State officials.

The Attorney General of Pennsylvania declares unconstitutional the law allowing member* of the Legislature $lO a day after the expiration of the regular session. The Bolons have no recourse bat to shut up shop at the time fixed. Burned : The furniture factory of G. Mendel! & Co., Wheeling, W. V*., loss $50,000; the Saxony woolen mills, at Columbus, Ind., loss $80,000; the cotton compress of James L. Harway, of Norfolk, Va., damage $100,000; two buildings in Broad street, Elizabeth, N. J., loss $50,000 ; a shoe factory in Campello, Mass., wiping out $25,000.

DOINGS IN CONGRESS. On tho morning of Monday, March 21, the Vice President laid before the Senate a con-munica-tion from the Governor of Wisconsin transmitting a joint resolution of the Legislature of that State relative to the death of M. H. Carpenter. The Chinese treaties were reported favorably from the Foreign Relations Committee. The President nominated Thomas Wilson, of the District of Columbia, United Slates Consul to Ghent; Thomas E. Douglas, Postmaster at Mansfield, Ohio; Charles Esslinger, Postmaster at Manitowoc, Wig.; Ronello W. Berry, Collector of Internal Revenue, Idaho. In the Senate, Mr. Voorheea offered a resolution, on Tuesday, March 22, setting forth that th< hostile attitude assumed by the national bankß to’ ward refunding the national debt at low rates, and the recent attempt to dictate the legislation of Congress on the subject, were contrary to the best interests of the people, and well calculated to excite their alarm for the future. It was objected to on the ground that it was in the nature of legislative business, and not projicr to be considered at this session. At Mr. Conkling’s suggestion, it was deferred for one day. The President nominated Stewart L. Woodford to be United States Attorney for the Southern district of New York; Asa W. Tenney, to be United States Attorney for the Eastern district of New York; Lewis F. Paine, to be United States Marshal for the Southern district of New York; Clinton D. McDougall, to be United States Marshal for the Northern district of New York; John Tyler, to be Collector of Customs for the district of Buffalo Creek, New York; Albert Woodcock, to be Collector of Internal Revenue for the Third district of Illinois; Edward S. Me>er, to tie United States Marshal for the Northern district of Ohio; Henry Fink, to bo United States Marshal for the Eastern district of Wisconsin; A. M. Jones, to be United States Marshal for the Northern district of Illinois. The Republican Senators In caucus determined to complete the reorganization of the Senate by the election of the various officers. The following are the nominees for the principal offloes: Secretary, George C. Gorhnm, California; Sergeant-at-Arms, Henry Riddelbarger, Virginia; Principal Executive Clerk, James R. Young, Pennsylvania; Chief Legislative Clert, Charles W. Johnson, Minnesota; Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Byron Sunderland, of Washington, D. C. Riddelbarger is a particular friend of Mahope, and is now editor of a weekly Readjuster paper at Woodstock, Va.

On the meeting of the Senate on the morn, ing of Wednesday, March 23, Mr. Voorheea again submitted the resolution declaring that the hostile attitude assumed by the national banks to refunding the national debt at a lower rate of interest, and their recent attempt to dictate the legislation of Congress, are contrary to the best interests of the people, and calculated to excite their alarm for the future. Mr. Morrill raised his point of order that the resolution was not In order, Inasmuch as it was a legislative proposition. Mr. Voorhees spoke at length in opposition to the point of order. Mr. Morrill withdrew it, and the resolution was laid over. Mr. Dawes offered a resolution for tho election of Senate officers, naming the candidates selected by the Republican caucus. The following list of nominations was sent in by the Pre ident: William H. Robertson, Collector of Customs at the port of New York; William Walter Phelps, of New Jersey, Minister to Austria; Edwin A, Merritt, of New York, Consul General to London; Adam Badeau, of New York, Charge d’Affaires in Denmark; Lewis Wallace, of Indiana, Charge d’Affaires in Paraguay and Uruguay; Michael J. Cramer, of Kentucky, Charge d’Affaires in Switzerland; William E. Chandler, of New Hampshire, Solicitor General; Samuel J. Phillips, of North Carolina, Judge of the Court of Claims; L. A. Sheldon, of Ohio, Governor of New Mexico; Thomas M. Nichol, of Wisconsin, Commissioner of Indian Affairs; Edward S. Moyer, United State* Attorney of the Northern district of Ohio; George W. Atkinson, United States Marshal, West Virginia; Bryan H. Langston, Collector of Internal Revenue, Fifth district of Missouri; Ellis G. Evans, Receiver of Publio Mo. And the following PostmasteljPMichaei Piggott, Quincy, lU.; Daniel Sawyer, Wabash, Ind.; George K. Gilmer, Richmond. Va.; T. Morgan, Pulaski, Tenn.; Charles M. Wildir, Columbia, S. C.; Hamnton Jay, Jacksonville, Fla. Mr. Dawes called up the resolution for the election of officers of the Senate on Thursday, March 24. After several dilatory motions wero voted down, a motion to adjourn was carried. Daring the session there were some sharp passages between Senator Brown and Senator Logan, and also between Senators Brown and Hoar. Senator David Davis generally voted with the Republicans.

In a speech explaining his coarse, he said that the constitutional majority bad a right to appoint the officers. Senator Oar land opposed the present election of officers, on the ground that it would work great injustice to the present incumbents.' Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania, asserted the determination of the Republican side to ait the question out. Senator Brown accepted the issue, and stated his intention to sit here until December, before he wonld consent to change officers. The President nominated the following Postmasters : Joseph O. Jones, Terre Haute, Ind.; Henrj Davis, Bedford, Ind.; Hamilton E. Baker, Holla, Mo.; Henry N. Cook, Columbia, Mo.: Presley C.. lane, Palmyra, Mo.; Cornell Cryslsr, Independence, Mo.; William Lydwitb, Jacksonville, Fla Charles P. Chandler, Receiver of Public Moneys atOberlin, Kas. Thomas H. Cavanaugh, Register of Land Office at Oberlin, Kas. On the meeting of the Senate on Friday, March 25, Mr. Ingalls offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of War for a list of appointments, other than those in Ve army, made in his department since the Ist of December, 1879, to March 4,1881, and under what provisions of law said appointments had been made. Mr. Dawes called np his resolution for the election of Senate officers, the pending motion being that to postpone its considerstson until the first Monday in December. The debate was interrupted frequently by motions to adjourn and to go into executive session. Mr. Johnston, of Virginia, and Mr. Saulabury did most of the speech-making, their themes being Mshone, Riddleberger and repudiation. The President nominated: Assistant Secretary of State, Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois. Assistant United States Treasurer at San Francisco, Cal., Nathan W. Spalding. Assistant Appraiser at San Francisco, Charles M. Leavy. Postmasters, John McKenny, Jr., Aledo, Ill.; William Rule. Knoxville, and William 8. Tipton, Cleveland, Tenn.; Elliot H. L. Rogers, Red Oak, Iowa; George K. Foote, Jackson, Tenn. In the United States Senate, on Saturday, March 26, after some argument on the propriety of electing new officers, an adjournment was effected, Mr. Mahone having the floor for Monday. The President nominated Charles E. Van Pelt, to be Postmaster at Seward, Neb.; W. C. Brundage, to be Surveyor of Customs at Michigan City, Ind., and C. H. Smith, to be Receiver of Public Moneys at Washington, Minn.