Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 January 1885 — Page 3

Sljc JlcniofraticSfiitincl RENSSELAER. INDIANA. f. W McEWEN, - Publisher

A n»KTOENT lawyer of this city, says the Boston Budget, was, during the Presidential election, a pronounced Independent. At the Republican caucus in ins ward a few evenings since objections were made io his taking part in proceedings on account of his departure from the regular ticket. Upon returning home he remarked to his family that he was discarded because he was a “mugwump.” His attentive little daughter heard the conversation, and the next day said to several callers assembled in the parlor, “Papa was turned out of meeting last night because he was a chipmunk I”

Elizabeth, N. J., has found a more expeditious way of circumventing the citizen who tries to evade the taxgatherers than the old and slow method of levying on and selling his property. When the owner of blocks and tenements neglects to pay his taxes promptly, the occupants of his buildings are required to pay rents to the city instead of to their landlord until the original debt, with added costs, is squared up. This law has lately gone into operation, and as a consequence the revenues of Elizabeth are largely augmented, although the complaints of men accustomed to be delinquent are loud and not choice in phraseology.

The London bridge, •which the Fenians tried to blow up with dynamite the other day, was begun in 1824 and was finished in 1827, from designs of John Rennie, architect of Southwark and Waterloo bridges. The cost is estimated at between £1,500,000 and £2,500,000. It is built of granite in five arches, the center arch being 152 feet, the two next 140 feet, and the two shore arches 130 feet each in span. The bridge is 900 feet long and 54 feet wide. The lamp-posts are made from cannon taken in the Peninsular war. Over 100,000 persons pass over it ever day. Police constables are stationed in the middle of the roadway to prevent blocks. It is the handsomest bridge over the Thames.

Krupp, the famous gun-maker, employs 20,000 men. His whole establishment comprises the factories at Essen; three coal mines at Essen and Bochum; 547 iron mines in Germany; several iron mines in the north of Spain, in the environs of Bilboa; the blast furnaces; a range at Meppen, seventeen kilometers in length, for gunnery experiments; other smaller ranges; and four steamers for marine transport. The number of blast furnaces in use is eleven, of other furnaces, 1,542. There are 439 steam boilers, 82 steam-hammers, and 450 steam-engines of 185,000-horse power altogether. He is now manufacturing for the Italian Government a monster gun which will weigh 130 tons.

Chicago Current: Gen. Hazen has made a certain number of guesses as to the weather, and has been correct as to a certain percentage of those guesses: but he has also made many efforts to get himself disliked, and in every hundred efforts of this kind the percentage . has been enormous. His disinclination to prosecute Maj. Howgate made the Chief Signal Officer unpopular with the people, and his supercilious conduct toward his superiors in civil positions has at last drawn t>n him a fery > pointed rebuke from the Secretary of ' 'War in his recent report to the President, Secretary Lincoln takes especial pains to prove that, had Gen. Hazen’s suggestions received active consideration in 1883, another ship’s crew would have been lost in foolishly attempting the rescue of Lieut. Greely.

Statistics show that Connecticut hag at tlw present time more than 6,000 inhabitants over 80 years old, and of these there are 651 more than 90, and 120 over 100 years of age. This extraordinary longevity does not appear to be due to any particular way of living. Mrs. Nancy Coley, for example, who is Bet down at 105, has taken snuff from her youth up, and now considers it “her Only solace,” while Mrs. Elsie Chittendean, ft centenarian, has never taken medicine, nor been troubled by any physical disease, Mrs, Bridget Foley (103) is subject to no physical debility except rheumatism, and has indulged in moderate rations of strong drink very frequently. On her 103 d birthday she celebrated by leading off in a dance, but found the lively movements of a jig rather too much for her, William Hamilton, who died in July last at the mature age of 102, was an inveterate Bnroker for eighty years, and retained All bis faculties to'the last, A smokeless locomotive is on trial OS pne pf the Western railroads. It burns the poorest quality es bituminous ppal, and emits only a thin white column of Sfflpke from the smokestack, The latter, u a round pipe, and is placed ftt the rear of the boiler, near the instead of being w front, as in the ordinary locomotive, There is a double set of flues to ths boiler, »

small set underneath and larger ones on top. The gases pass through the lower flues to the front and then return by the upper flues to the stack. At the front there is a cylinder chamber, with smoke arch, into which the large particles of coal-dust fall, and another chamber at the end of the larger flues captures the lighter particles that have been carried that far. The device saves annoyance to passengers, avoids the danger of fire to adjacent buildings, and economizes in fuel.

Simultai.eously with a new political ora in America, says the Chicago Current, the new administration in Mexico comes into power. It is hardly proper to speak of Gen. Diaz as “coming into power,” for he has long been recognized as the one man upon whom Gonsales has relied for support. In fact, Diaz has seemed to use Gonzales as a convenient stop-gap while the four years were going by during which (the politicians of Mexico have agreed) an ex-President is to keep away from office in the City of Mexico. Gen. Diaz is a man of the people. He has had a wonderful career, and may be placed among the great men of the world. Through all the mists of prejudice, conservatism, patriotism, and misinformation which surround Mexican statesmen, Diaz has remained clear-sighted and hopeful for his country. He has seen in American aid a vision of progress instead of an omen of annexation. For this he has suffered much in popularity. The corruption of Gonzales has been charged to Diaz, and the church has turned bitterly against the administration. Therefore, Americans will in future be protected by Government, but will continue hateful to the people. Lerdo, late Chief Justice, another member of the governing syndicate, has forsaken his country and gone to New York City, which fact has not aided Diaz in placating the Bourbon element. But, with all the shortcomings of the commoners who rule our sister-republic, we may well be glad .that so great and withal so good a man as Diaz is now in the executive chair at Mexico City, and we might well wish his term were to last more than four years. No revolution is coming there, as sensational papers and correspondents claim. The biggest man is already at the head of affairs.

Before any statesman refuses to accept the portfolio of the State Department in the next administration, says the New York Sun, he should take care to study the histories of the Secretaries of State of the past. Washington’s Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, became President, and a great President he was. Jefferson’s Secretary of State, James Madison, became President; so did Madison’s Secretary of State, J ames Monroe. Monroe’s Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, became President. Mr. Adams’ Secretary of State, Henry Clay, never lived to be President, but he became the leader and candidate of a great party, and only just failed of election. But Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s Secretary of State, became President. Then James Buchanan, Secretary of State under James K. Polk, became President. Then, however, there comes a considerable break. In Mr. Lincoln’s Cabinet Mr. Seward presided over the State Department, as he did in the Cabinet of President Johnson. Mr. Seward had pretty strong Presidental aspirations, but was never nominated. Under Gen. Grant, the Hon. Hamilton Fish was Secretary of State for eight years, but he never got near the Presidential nomination. Then we come to the Hon. William Maxwell Evarts. He acted as Secretary of State in the Cabinet of R. B. Hayes. Of course he never became President and never will. But the gentleman who succeeded Mr. Evarts, who retired with the inauguration of President Garfield, was the Hon. James G. Blaine. He hasn’t been elected President yet, but he came frightfully near it—within 1,200 votes. And he still lives. All of which goes to throw supreme interest about the statesman who, it is to be hoped, will administer the State Department under President Cleveland. Who will he be, and will he ever be President ?

To Copy from Common Ink.

Any common black ink or writing fluid can be made into good copying ink by adding some sugar or other saccharine matter to it. To prepare, dissolve one ounce of lump sugar in one and one-half pints of writing fluid. Within five or six hours after writing letters or other documents with this ink they can be copied by pressure on damp unsized paper. If old writing be wet with a weak solution of sulphate of iron, to which a small portion of sugar sirup has been added, a faint reproduction can be taken with firm pressure on unsized paper, with the result of rendering the original much paler than before, as this process aim-' ply dissolves the original ink used and transfers it. To copy printin gjflMk dampen the surface with a weakM tion of acetate of iron and press offiHy paper of absorbent nature,—Wet’ Ocean. The late Baroness Lionel de Kothachild left by her will about W.OOO to vartoM cbarithi.

A BATTLE PICTURE.

The Gallant Charge at Balaklara —An Eye Witness Describes the Scene and Effect of a Great Military Error. On Oct. 25, 1854, our eyes turned to the heights of Balaklava, on the possession of which depended the very existence of the allied forces. On that day the Russians made a desperate attack on our lines, to be as desperately repulsed. Word was sent to headquarters that the enemy, under cover of a heavy fire from the forts, had left Sebastopol in force and was massing himself so as to threaten the safety of the heights. I was at once sent with an order for the cavalry and horse artillery to move and be ready to assume the offensive. They had not to wait long. The Turkish lines were swept as by a whilwind, and with our Mohammedan allies the word was sauve qui pent. The heavy cavalry on the right and the light brigade on the left were advanced, with the artillery in the center playing a game at long bowls. Meanwhile a Russian battery was ostentatiously moved forward, whose wellserved guns promised to be embarrassing-

Lord Raglan, who uid not know the full strength of the foe, saw that this obstacle must be removed; but whether or not he also foresaw the necessity of first looking before the leap was taken must be forever a mystery. The commanders of the cavalry brigades, Lords Lucan and Cardigan, brothers-in-law, between whom no love was lost, were waiting the word to engage, Lord Lucan being the senior officer. To them sped Capt. Nolan, a dashing hussar. Saluting the General' he said he bore an order—unwritten—from Lord Raglan that the battery must be silenced and the guns captured. Lord Lucan, a man so cautious as to have earned the nickname “Lord Look-on,” fearing to expose his small force to any ambushed dangers, asked for more definite orders. With a slightly contemptuous turn of his handsome lip, the aid-de-camp pointed in the direction of the battery and said: “You see your enemy, my lord.” Even the Earl of Cardigan, impetuous as he was, generally speaking, looked at his commander in doubt as to the words. But, owing to the unhappy enmity existing between them, neither would speak his thoughts, and once more Nolan, impatiently waving his sword, which he had fiercely drawn from its scabbard, and, pointing it to the artillery, cried: “Take the guns; these are your orders.” The crisis has arrived. No recourse is left but to do as he bids. A cold nod of assent from Lord Lucan. A profound bow follows from Lord Cardigan. “Lightdivision, forward, charge!” breaks from his lips. An echoing cheer is the reply from 607 throats, as with clang of scabbard and rattle of bridle and bit,'and the braying of the trumpet, and the ringing cheer of the “Heavies,” the fourth and Thirteenth Lights, the Eighth and Eleventh Hussars, the latter Lord Cardigan’s own corps, conspicuous in their cherry-colored trousers. and the Seventeenth Lancers, with ranks closed up and squadrons dressed as evenly as if at a march past, trot forward down the slight declivity. At their head rides the gallant Nolan and the dauntless Cardigan—even in this supreme moment with a reckless laugh upon his face, as he argues some point of war with his brother hussar.

The unmasked batteries are already belching forth shot and shell. The trot breaks into a gallop, the gallop into a furious, headlong charge. Already Nolan has fallen, cut down by grapeshot, the secret of the fatal day dying with him. • The serried ranks show frequent gaps as saddle after saddle is emptied. “Close up! Close up! Charge I” is the unceasing cry, and in a shorter time than it takes to tell the opening ranks of the foe disclosed to the doomed but indomitable few, cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them—and now cannon behind them. On through the Russian line pressed the noble army of martyrs, their oriflamme, their brave leader’s flashing saber, their support.

With a wild cheer and a wilder leap, the cherry-clad heroes fly over the guns as lightly as they would over a fivebarred gate on the hunting field, sabering the gunners as they leap. A beardless boy, not yet 17, holds fast to the colors he has sworn to carry to death or victory, and falls with the cry, “My mother will hear of this!” on his dying lips, still grasping that banner in his hand.

Far away, clear in front, with his aide-de-camp and a few choice spirits on his right hand and on his 16ft —none ahead of him, raging like a lion, fights, with a forlorn hope, the leader and commander of the Light Brigade. He bears a charmed life, and his brawny arm is endowed with the power of slaughter that grows mightier every moment from the meat it feeds on. Further and further he dashes on, cleaving his way with his blood-staified sword till he reaches the last of the guns. ♦

Here, when he sees the end is not yet, but that rank upon rank of cavalry and infantry, with heavy artillery in their rear, stretches out back of the city’s utmost bastion, he recognizes how useless it will be further to tempt the fates and fight one against a thousand. Coolly and calmly, as if in Hyde Park, he takes in the situation at a glance, and gives the word to the trumpeter to sound first the “assembly,” then the “retreat.” A bullet crashes through the boy’s hand as he raises his trumpet to his mouth, but, stoic like, he makes no sign. Clear rings out the summons. A dozen only answer the call. Notone save Lord Cardigan but is wounded more or less severely, and his clothing shows where lance or saber or ball had plowed their way over his unscathed flesh. Bight about the little band terns, leaving the boy trumpeter dead Htehe ground behind them. r j<he enemy, paralyzed by the shock of the charge, and fancying that the whole British army supports the hatadnil of braves, pauses in his murderous work to cheer the 108 survivors who returned slowly and sadly to the place from which they came, having, from a military standpoint, achieved nothing, y?t covered with a deathless, fadeless Wfeath of glory. “It was magnificent, ” said Gen. Bosquet, “but it was not war."— Pittsburgh Dispatch.

A STORY OF THE HAYES REGIME.

How Garland, of Arkansas, Narrowly Escaped a Seat on the Supreme Bench. [Washington telegram to Chicago News.] Senator Garland, of Arkansas, whose name has been mentioned so prominently for the Attorney-Generalship under Cleveland, is now serving his second term in the United States senate. He is about 52 years old. His frame is tall and well built, surmounted with a large, well-rounded head, covered with bushy black hair His face is clean shaven, his mouth firm but pleasant, solemn one moment and twitching the next with some nascent drollery. His eyes are brown, small, frank, and piercing, kindly withal, but changing rapidly from earnest to quizzical. The Senate does not contain a more universal student or a more restless wag. After hours spent in profound and abstracted study he will refresh himself with a series of practical pranks, sparing no one in the range of his sallies, hitting home with the most grotesque solemnity, but never in malice. His. especial delight is to get hold of some dismal personage with no more juice in him than there is in a boarding-house steak and test him with some ludicrous yam, and then enjoy telling to others the effect. A guilty conscience keeps him always on the lookout for some terrible retaliation, and it is a red-letter day in the Senate when this biter is bitten. On one occasion, when an important measure was before the Senate, Garland delivered a careful and exhaustive speech, to which close attention was given. About ten minutes after he had finished Don Cameron went over to the Arkansas Senator’s side of the chamber and said: “Garland, when are you going to speak on this question? I want to hear you?” “Good Lord,” remarked the surprised Senator; “why, I just got through. Where were you?"

About five minutes later Mr. Whyte (Maryland), who had not been in the Senate during the speech, had the job put up on him, and asked the same question in good faith, “Why, I just finished, Whyte. Consult the Record in the morning. ” Another five minutes passed, and then Butler of South Carolina, another sleepless wag, went meekly up to Garland and asked when he was going to speak on the bilk Considering the source or this last inquiry, the remark was in the nature of an eyeopener, and Mr. Garland tartly replied: “If you have any more of ’em, Butler, bring them on in a body; it saves time.” Politically Mr. Garland’s career has been a wise and eminently conservative one. By training and instinct he sympathized deeply with the old Whig party in politics and entered the war like other thousands more through fidelity to his region than because he believed in its wisdonfor necessity, or had gny special faith in its outcome. He was less than 30 years of age when his State passed the ordinance of secession, and he was sent to the Provisional Congress at Montgomery. He served in both branches of the Confederate Congress, and was a member of the Senate when the war closed. At the age of 35 he was elected to the United States Senate, but the smoke of the late conflict had not sufficiently cleared away, and he was refused his seat. He next.served a term as Governor of Arkansas. Upon the retirement of Powell Clayton from the Senate in 1877 Mr. Garland again appeared at Washington. This time he took his seat in the Senate without objection. Six years later, without a dissenting voice, he was re-elected for a second term. The legal reputation which had preceded him secured film, on his first entrance to the Senate, a place on the Judiciary Committee, and for four years he has been first on that committee from the Democratic side. He not only enjoys the profound confidence and esteem of his Democratic colleagues, but is equally admired for his personal and professional qualities by such critical adversaries as Edmunds and Conkling. On points of legal doctrine they seldom dash.

The esteem in which Senator Garland is held by the Republican side of the cnamber brings to light a bit of curious and unwritten nietory. When Hayes was eking out the last days of his administration there occurred a vacancy on the Supreme bench. As the court was overwhelmingly Republican, a happy and magnanimous idea suggested itself to Senator Edmunds. Taking with him several other Republican Senators, including Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, all of whom cordially indorsed the plan, he went to the White House and presented the name of Mr. Garland for the vacancy. They took the broad ground that a competent and vigorous lawyer was the chief need of the court at that time. The docket was far behind. No Republican principle canid be in jeopardy, ana the appointment of Mr. Garland would be an extremely graceful and well-merited compliment. Of course all this was done entirely without the knowledge of ■ the Southern Senator. The idea struck; Mr. Hayes apparently with some force. He promised to consider the matter carefully, and asked the distinguished gentlemen to call again. On their second visit he expressed himself better pleased with the idea, and promised to comply with their unselfish wishes, and give Mr. Garland the place. It was impossible to keep this important news a secret in Senatorial circles. Somebody leaked and Mri Garland, to his amazement, found himself in advance of his appointment the victim of hearty congratulations. He was. Of course, deeply gratified to learn how this unexpected thing had been accomplished, and would have relished the honor, as law is more in the line, of his ambition than politics. < It is hard io paint the profound disgust of Mr. Edmunds when the Presidential < gift, only a few days litter, was placed on the plate of Stanley Matthews. It largely accounts for the fact that Mr. Matthews was confirmed by one vote—not, by the way, under Hayes, but when the nomination had been renewed by Garfield. Should Mr. Garland become a member of Cleveland’s Cabinet the Legislature will probably re-elect him to the Senate in 1889, thus enabling him to resume his seat in that body on the very day the coming administration steps down and out.

A peculiab-looking fish, measuring over nine feet in length, came ashore at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It weighed over 600 pounds, and was of a dark color. It has been sent to Prof. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution. Lieut. Gen. D. H. Hill, of Confederate army fame, who is writing war reminiscences for the Century magazine, has resigned the Presidency of fixe Arkansas Industrial University, and has taken up his residence at Macon, Ga. Thb private desk of the late Chief Justice Chase is still in the law office in Cincinnati where it has been for fifty years. In Ohio on Jan. 1 the standard weight of a bushel of ear com will be sixty-eight instead of seventy pounds, Thomas Nast is getting ready to lectern. He ought to draw.

THE NEGROES.

Gev. Hendricks Says the Constitutional Amendments Cannot and Will Not Be Disturbed. Some time since Edwin F. Horn, editor of the Colored World, at Indianapolis, addressed a letter to Vice President-elect Hendricks, asking him what .would be the probable policy of the incoming administration toward the colored people. Mr. Hendricks sent a reply, which has been made public. He says: Yon ask me what will be the probable policy of the incoming administration toward the colored people. The inquiry seems to be made that the answer may allay the fears of many who think the colored man will be shorn of many rights guaranteed to him in common with all citizens, and that he will gradually be subjected to a species «sf slavery. The convention that, nominated the National Democratic ticketadopted a platform for the candidates to stand upon that so clearly and fully stated the principles and purposes of the party that no voter ponld be mistaken or misled in casting his ballot. It has never occurred to me to questlofi that the success of the party would be followed by the adoption and maintenance of the principles and purposes so declared. The following is a paragraph of the platform: "Asserting the equality of all men before the law, we hold that it is the duty of the Government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all citizens, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion—religious or political." Can I use language that will give stronger assurance to the colored people that their rights, legal and constitutional, will be 'respected ana upheld by the incoming administration? This pledge was made by the greatest political convention ever held in the country—perhaps in the world. That convention represented more than half the people. But stronger and firmer than the pledge of any party are the constitutional provisions that prohibit slavery, confer citizenship, and guarantee equality of civil and political rights. These provisions have become a part of the machinery of organized society, and being in support of natural rights are practically irrevocable. Whatever any of us may have thought of the propriety of the adoption of the later constitutional amendments at the time and under the circumstances of their adoption, they are now to be reGirded as a part of the fundamental w of the land, never to be questioned or disturbed. The liberty and citizenship of the colored man are held by the same right, and guarantee as those of the white man. and can no more be taken from him nor impaired than they can be taken from the white man. I would not concede that a part or the whole of the people could by any action or in any form of law deprive me of my liberty, except for crime committed, or strip me of citizenship; sol regard the liberty and citizenship of the colored man as inviolable. It was a cruel thing at the lato election to play upon the credulity of the colored people and subject them to a groundless fear of a return to slavery, and thus control their action as voters. I had occasion, some years since, to express my views upon the subject of “negro suffrage, and in that discussion I said: “I am not able to see why the subject of negro suffrage should be discussed. It must be known to all that the late amendments will not be, cannot be, repealed. There is but the duty upon all to make the political power now held by the enfranchised race the cause of the least evil and of the greatest possible good to the country. The negro is now free, ana is the equal of the white man in respect to his civil and political rights. He must now make his own contest for position and power. By his own conduct and success he will be fudged. It will be unfortunate for him if he shall rely upon political sympathy for position rather than upon duties well and intelligently discharged. Everywhere the white race should help him, but his reliance • must mainly be upon himself." I-am very respectfully yours.

NEARLY 1,000 LIVES LOST.

Frightful Results of the Recent Earthquake in Spain. [Cable dispatch from Madrid.] The official reports show that 266 persons were killed in Malaga and Granada by the recent earthquake. The population of Granada is still encamped in the square, the richer classes lodging in carriages along the promenade. The facade of the cathedral is seriously damaged. Many houses were destroyed in Jimena, and a whole family killed in the village of Oajar by a falling chimney. Over half the inhabitants of Albunuchas were killed. Alhama is mostly in ruins. Commerce is paralyzed. Two hundred houses at Alfarnetejo were damaged. The panic is subsiding. The shock was not felt in the northern and northwestern provinces. The Government has granted $5,000 from the national calamity fund for the relief of the sufferers in the province of Granada. Later advices state that 300 lives were lost at Alhama; 750 houses and the church were destroyed and thifty persons killed at Periana; the Town Hall and many houses were damaged at Torrox, the inhabitants of which fled panic-stricken. It is now estimated that 600 persons were killed in the province of Malaga, including those killed at Alhama. Fresh shocks more violent than the first have occurred at Torrox and Alhama. The panic in those places has revived. Official returns from the province of Granada say that 526 were killed by the earthquake there, and in Malaga 100. In Albania over 350 bodies have already been recovered. In Periana sixty bodies have been recovered. Many persons died from fright. The convicts in Seville prison attempted to escape. *

A Mad Mother’s Act.

[Dahlgren (III) special.] The, good people of this town are considerably worked up over a horrible double tragedy and suicide committed in their midst. Mrs. James Williams was the daughter of Squire Atchison, a well-to-do resident of Dahlgren, and one of the leading men of Hamilton County. Several years ago she married, against her father’s wishes, a poor farmer named James Williams. They rented a small farm and tried to make a good living, but somehow the crops didn’t turn out well, and they had hard work keeping the wolf from the door. Then Squire Atchison died, and, as he was well off, Mrs Williams thought now they could pay for their farm and make some much-needed improvements; but unfortunately the old gentleman had cut her off with a pittance, leaving his property to her more fortunately situated brothers and sisters. This preyed on her mind, and she finally determined to end her sorrows and save her children from a miserable future. While her husband was off at work last Friday she threw her oldest child, a little girl, into the well, and, fastening her baby to her dress, jumped in herself, dragging the baby after her. She left no note behind to tell where she and the children had gone, and it was not until the next day 'that their bodies were found at the bottom of the well, with a sheet of ice above them, the water having frozen during the night. The coming American pianist is coming from California. He is James K. Mansfield, who has been a pupil of Liszt, and lately has astonished a critical audience in Berlin by his wonderful performance on the piano. It is reported in Louisville that a woman of that city in November sent Gov. Cleveland a large plum pudding which was found to contain poison. She has disappeared. Several great statesmen will keep their stockings banging until the last horn blows, if it takes until dog days. President Cleveland will have the appointing of at least two Major Generals.

Albany, Deo. 26,1884. Hon. George William Curtis, President, etc. Dear Sir: Your communication, dated Dee. 20, addressed to me on behalf at the National Civil Servioe Reform League, has been received. That practical reform in the civil service is demanded la abundantly established by the fact that the statute referred to in your communication to secure such result had been passed in Congress with the assent of both political parties, and by the further fact that a sentiment is generally prevalent among patriotic people calling for a fair and honest enforcement of the law which has been thus enacted. 1 regard myself pledged to this, because my conception of the true democratic faith and public duty requires that this and all other statutes should be in good faith, and without evasion, enforced, and because in the many utterances made prior to my election as President, approved by the party to which 1 belong and which I have no disposition to disclaim. I have, in effect, promised the people that this should be done. 1 am not unmindful of the fact to which you refer, that many of our citizens fear that th<* recent party change in the National Executive may demonstrate that the abuses which have grown up in the civil servioe are ineradicable. I know they are deeply rooted, and that the spoils system has been supposed to be intimately related to success in the maintenance of party organization, and I am not sure that those who profess to be friends of that reform will stand firmly among its advocates when they find it obstructing their way*to patronage and place; but, fully appreciating the trust committed to my charge, no such consideration shall cause a relaxation on my p rt of an earnest effort to enforce this law. There is a class of Government positions which are not within the letter of the civil-service statute, but which are so disconnected with the policy of an administration that removal therefrom or present incumbents, in my opinion, should not be made during the terms for which they were appointed, solely on partisan grounds, and for the purpose of putting in their places those who are in political accord with the appointing power; but many now holding positions have forfeited all just claim to retention, because they have used their places for party purposes in disregard of their duty to the people, and be-> cause, instead <>f being decent public servants, they have proved themselves offensive partisans and unscrupulous manipulators of local party management. The lessons of the past should be unlearned, and such officials, as well as their successors, should tie taught that efficiency, fitness, and devotion to public duty are conditions of their continuance in public places, and that a quiet and unobtrusive exercise of individual political rights is the reasonable measure of their party service. If I were addressing none but party friends I should deem it entirely proper to remind them that, though the coming administration is to be Democratic, a due regard for the people's interest does not permit faithful party work to be always rewarded by appointment to office: and to say to them that, while Democrats may expect all proper consideration, selections for office not embraced within civil service rules will be based upon sufficient inquiry aaio fitness, instituted by those charged with Mat duty, rather than upon the persistent importunity or self-solicited recommendation on behalf of candidates for appointment. Yours very truly, Gboveb Cleveland.

T. A. HENDRICKS.

Chips from the Washington Monument. [Washington special.] A gang of sharpers have organized here for the purpose of imposing upon the public chips from the Washington monument with miniature representations of the monument, Mount Vernon, and the Capitol painted on one side. These operators have sent to the quarries in Maryland where the monument stone came from, and bought a car-load of slabs from the identical vein that the monument material was taken from. These are broken into fragments and painted, and will be sold as chips from the monument. Detectives are at work on a case which they suppose will reveal an extensive swindling operation. An advertisement has appeared in several Northern newspapers wmcn contains the names of three citizens of the District, and states that they have received an appropriation which will enable them to distribute 50,000 mementojs of the Washington monument, which they will do upon receipt of 57 cents for postage. The piece of marble to be furnished as a memento is * to have a painting upon it and to be set in a handsome plush frame.

Preparing for the Dedicatory Ceremonies. [Washington dispatch.] Arrangements for the dedication of the Washington monument are progressing rapidly. The commission appointed by Congress to arrange suitable ceremonies extended a general invitation to militaiy, Masonic, and civic organizations (the latter not to carry any emblems of a political character) to partic pate. General Sheridan reqnests all organizations intending to take part in the procession to notify him at the earliest possible moment, in order - that proper places in the column may be assigned them. Mb. Nichols, the man whom Charlotte Bronte married, is now living in Banagher, Ireland. He is married again and is a gentleman farmer, having relinquished the clergyman’s calling. Lord Mayob Nottage, es London, is moving in the matter of stricter observance of Sunday. A Philadelphia tramp envied the monopolists so that he died with five shirts on his back. Wild game in the Chicago market is cheaper than beef.

CIVIL SERVICE.

Correspondence Between Gov. Cleveland and G. W. Curtis on the Subject The President-Elect Regards Himself as Pledged to Civil Service Reform. The following correspondence, which has just been made public at New York, explains itself: National Civil Service Reform League, i Office No. 4 Pine street, > New Yobe, Dec. 20, umm. ) Hon. Grover Cleveland: Sib—We have the honor to address you on behalf of the National Civil Service Reform League, an association composed of citizens of aU parties, whose sole purpose is indicated by its name, and which takes no part whatever in party controversy. The vast increase in the number of persons engaged in the civil service and the great mischiefs and dangers arising from general proscription in the servioe which for halt a century has followed the change of party control of the national administration have produced so profound an impression upon the public mind that the first effective steps toward reform were taken with the co-operation of both parties in the passage of the reform act of Jan. 16, 1888. The abuses which that aot aeeks to correct, however, are eo strongly intrenched in the traditions and usages of both parties that there is naturally a widespread anxiety lest the party change in the National Executive effected by the late election should show them to be insuperable; but believing, as we do, that the reformed system can not be held to be securely established until it has safely passed the ordeal of such party changes, and recalling with satisfaction and confidence your public expressions favorable to reform and your official acts as chief executive of the State of New York, we confidently oommend the cause to your patriotic care In the exercise of the great power with which the American people have intrusted you. Respectfully yours, George William Curtis, President. William Potts, Secretary. John Jay, Moreneld Storey, J. Hall Pleasants, W. W. Montgomery, Everett P. Wheeler, Frederic Cromwell, Morrill Wyman, Jr., Carl Schurz, Silas W. Burt, A R. MaoDonough, William Carey Sanger, William W. Aiken, Executive Committee.

CLEVER SWINDLERS.

WASHINGTON MONUMENT.