Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1885 — Page 3

THE OLD-TIME PREACHERS.

More of the Wit, Wisdom, and Work of the Early Ministers of the Gospel—Bishop Mortis and Brother Ax tell—The Power of Mnsic—A Preacher Treed by a Kentucky Bog—Samuel Parker’s Eloquence. rw, H. Smith, in Indianapolis Jottrnal.J The fund of anecdote furnished by the lives of the early preachers is almost inexhaustible. They met dangers and hardships, but never were known to shrink from the one or falter at meeting the other. But few of the streams were bridged, and it was not an uncommon thing for them to he compelled to swim their horses in going to and from their various appointments. They did not escape from cold and almost inhuman repulses when tney sought shelter from the cold and darkness of night at the farmhouses, although such repulses were net common. I call to mind the story of one such repulse, as related by the pi eacher, that snows how great were the hardships they endured. In those early days, as a rule, every farm house was opened to entertain travelers. One of the pioneer preachers of the Methodist Church was sent, one year, to the Martinsville circuit. He started, with his family, to move to his new circuit. He arrived within the bounds of his circuit at nightfall of one of the coldest days of early winter. His wife and two little children were in the wagon with the household goods, and were almost perished with the cold. A large farm house was reached. The house was owned by one of the members of his church, and the tired preacher thought surely that shelter would be furnished him for the night. It was refused, and the tired and almost frozen family were compelled to drive five miles further before the next house was reached. Among the eccentric preachers in Southern Indiana was one by the name of Harden. Having frequent occasion to pass up and down the Ohio Eiver on the steamers, he became well known to all the steamboat officers. One day, in attempting to step on the wharf, at Louisville, he missed and fell into the river. One of the clerks of the boat, who happened to he standing by, reached and grasped him hv the hand, and helped him back upon the wharf. He attempted to thank his preserver, when the clerk laughingly interrupted him by saying. “Oh. Mr. Harden, you don’t owe me anything. If you think you do, you ctin pay it by praying for me. ” “Down on your knees, down on your knees,” was the quick response. “By the grace of God, I will be in debt to no man, Down on your knees, and I will pray for you, now,” and forcing the jocular clerk down upon his knees, the preacher poured out his soul in fervent prayer, in the presence of the boat crew, and passengers, and wharf loungers. In those “good old days” the fees received by the clergy for performing the marriage ceremony were not of the most munificent kind. James S. Mathes, one of the leading ministers of the Christian denomination, once rode ten miles in the depth of winter, over most execrable roads, to marry a couple. For this service he was given 37i cents. Rev. Hugh Cull is still well remembered in Wayne County, where he lived for more than half a century, and died at the advanced age of 104 years. During the last four years of his life he was afflicted with a sort of hypochondria, and every once in a while imagined that he was dying. On one such occasion he mounted his adopted daughter on a horse, and sent her to notify the members of his family, who lived at some distance, that his end was near, and if they desired to see him die, they must come at once. While shs was gone on this errand, he happened to think there was no wood cut, and that his children would be cold when they got to his bedside, as it was in the middle of winter. So, forgetting about his near approach to death, he got up and went out to the wood-pile, and his children, when they arrived in haste, in obedience to his summons, found him cutting wood to keep them warm while they watched him die. Chaplain Lozier did not belong to the pioneer preachers, but the following anecdote of him is too good to he lost, and is good enough to be put in this place. He was preaching on one occasion to a hard congregation. He tried every way to move them to come to the altar. He sang and prayed, exhorted and preached, but all in vain; they would not listen to him. At last he made arrangements to close the meeting, but, before closing, said to them; “I have done what I could. The responsibility, is now with you. You must take the risk. I cannot force salvation on you; neither can I save you. In this matter, as St. Paul said, ‘every tub must stand on its own bottom.' ” This was too much for his congregation, and a broad smile was seen on every face. Bishop Peck did not belong to Indiana, hut he was so well known in the State that this story of will not be out of place. Those who knew him will remember his ponderous frame and more than aldermanic proportions. "While at Evanston, 111., once, he was stopping at the house of a friend who was extremely long and thin. Among the habitual visitors to this house was a woman who had lost her mind. She was a kind of protege of the host and his good wife, and was irequent in her visits to solicit aid. The morning after the Bishop’s arrival she made one of these visits, and as she entered the doorway the' Bishop came into the hall. She gazed in consternation at his immense size, and then, with a look of terror, threw herself on her knees in front of him, and, with clasped hands, exclaimed: “Oh, sir! are you the Trinity?” That the ruling passion was strong in death was exemplified in a case wherein Rev. W. H. Raper was a party. He was called upon to attend a man by the name of Washburne, who was condemed to death in Cincinnati. While the preacher was upon his knees in the cell, praying, just before the execution, Washburne stole his watch from his pocket. When the body was turned over to the doctors the stolen watch was found and returned to its owner. Butler K. Smith was a man well known throughout the State as one of the apostles of the Christian or Campbellite Church. He was one of the half-dozen or more who organized the church in Indianapolis. The meeting was held, I be ieve, at a private house in the south part of the city. There was no preacher present, nor in fact any one who had been in the habit of leading in religious meetiugs. After waiting quite a while, Mr. Smith went forward to the table, gave out a hymn, and, as was the custom in those days, “lined” it. The little company engaged in singing it, but by the time they were through, Mr. Smith’s heart failed him. He couldn’t pray, so he sat down. Another weary wait followed, when another good brother tried it, and when it came to the praying time he also

failed- This scene was repeated until four or five hymns were sung, when the meeting adiourned without a prayer. The first Presbyterian sermon ever preached in Vincennes was by the Rev. William Winans, who afterward became a distinguished member of th l Methodist Church r outh. The congregation consisted of Gen William Henry Harrison, who was then Governor in the Territory, and a Lieutenant of the army. There was no table in the room, and but one candle to shed light on the scene. Gen. Harrison stood up and held the candle whil i the preacher read his hymn, and then sat and held it while he prayed audpreiched. N< twithstanding the audience was small, the preacher did not shorten the orthodox length of the sermon a minute, but held forth a full hour and a half. Rev. James Axley was a noted divine in his day, full of ecentricities. He is still well remembered at Vincennes’ and other places in that part of the State. On the first Westi m trip of Bishop Morris, after he had been raised to the Episcopacy, Mr. Axley was pointed out to him. The Bishop, who had heard of his eccentricities, went to him, holding out his hand, and saying: “How do you do, Brother Axley? My name is Thomas A. Morris.” Brother Axley looked him all over and then said: “Upon my word, I think they were hard pushed for Bishop t mber when they got hold of you. ” He was a gifted singer, possessing a voice of peculiar sweetness, melody, and pathos. Once, after riding hard all day in the midst of a driving snow-storm, he found a house about nightfall, and asked to stay all night. This was refused. He knew not what to do. If he left, there was nothing for him to do but to remain in the roads all night, without shelter, and it was very cold. He asked permission to warm himself by the fire, which was surlily granted. While sitting before the fire, meditating where he should pass the night, he began to sing one of those plaintive hymns so common then. As he sang the family were melted to tears by the pathos of his voice. Without appearing to notice the effect produced by his music, he sang on and on, one hyinu following another in quick succession, when finally the master of the house called a servant and ordered him to take the stranger's horse to the barn and feed it weil. Th 9 best room in the house was given to Mr. Axley, and everything possible done for his cofiifort. Truly, “ Music hath charms, ” etc. There were few preachers, in the early days of Indiana, better known than fciamuel Hamilton. He was the first presiding elder of the Indianapolis District. He was the contemporary of Strange, Bigelow, Wiley, and other great names among the pioneers of his church. At one time his circuit embraced a good part of Southern Indiana and Central Kentucky. At one of his appointments in Kentucky he had among his regular hearers an aristocratic member of the chivalry of the State, w r ho carried the title of “Colonel.” One Sunday the Colonel took his seat in the sanctuary, having by his side one of his neighbors who was given to indulging pretty freely in Kentucky’s favorite beverage. On this particular Sunday he had taken just enough to make himself troublesome. The preacher was holding forth on the sins of the day, and finally mentioned horse-racing as one of them. The Colonel was a lover of the turf, and as the divine struck at the sin, the neighbor nudged the Colonel, and remarked in a voice audible all over the little church, “Colonel, he means you.” Profane swearing was touched upon, and again the Colonel was nudged, with the remark, “Colonel, he means you.” So it went on, as sin after sin was mentioned, until the audience was almost convulsed with laughter. Finally, a small dog entered at the open door and trotted down the aisle until it reached the front of the pulpit, when it set up a furious barking at the minister. The Colonel’s tipsy neighbor, with the utmost gravity, arose and walked steadily down the aisle to where the dog was barking. Seizing the animal by the neck, he held him up before the congregation a moment, and then shaking him furiously, he broke out with, “Tree a preacher, will you, you ill-bred pup.” This was too much for Mr. Hamilton. He could restrain his laughter no longer, and he took bis seat, not being able to dismiss his congregation. Rev. Samuel Parker was another of those early preachers noted for eloquence and zeal. His eloquence was that of the persuasive order, melting his hearers one moment and then lifting them up on the mountain top the next. His fame ais an orator extended over Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Illiuois, and wherever he went he was greeted with throngs of admiring listeners. He was afflicted with a sort of stoppage in his speech, which made him slow of utterance in beginning his sermons. This left him as he got warmed up, and then his words flowed as a torrent. A pious old German who had heard much of the eloquence of Mr. Parker, once rode many miles to hear him. The preacher began in his usual stammering manner and the good old German’s head sunk down on his breast, and he muttered out: “Dis is not Barker. Dere is some mistake here. ” Directly the preacher began to warm up, and the German raised his head, saying: “Maybe I am mistaken, and dis is Barker.” As the preacher grew loftier in his eloquence the German became more and more excited, until he arose from his seat and unconsciously walked down the aisle to a point directly in front of the preacher, where he stood, the tears streaming from his eyes during the remainder of the sermon. When the preacher closed his sermon with one of his highest flights the German turned toward the congregation and shouted: “Glory to God! What a come out dere is in dot Barker.”

State Items. —The burning of the stave and heading works of the Vincennes Manufacturing Company at Vincennes caused a loss of $30,000, and deprived 150 men of employment. --A woman’s clothing, blood-stained, including hat, sacque, and underwear, of excellent quality, was found in a dry pond near Fountain City. The mystery causes some excitement. —Mrs. Anna Davis, at one time a brilliant writer, is lying dangerously ill in the Home for the Friendless at Richmond, caused by the use of morphine. Her father, Colonel J. W. Wcodson, is a Texas millionaire, but refuses to acknowledge his daughter because of an obnoxious marriage, which has turned out un appily fox all concerned.

GRAVE AND GAY.

An Interesting Batch of Accidents and Incidents, Tragedies and Comedies; And Exhibiting the Light, the Dark, the Frivolous, and the Sober Sides of Life. I.yncl,«‘<l by a Mob. [Girard (Kan.) dispatch.] At Baxter Springs, Cherokee County, a girl fourteen years old, was waylaid, ravished, and terribly maltreated. John Lawrence, colored, seventeen years old, was arrested for the crime and brought here and lodged in jail. When the train from Baxter Springs reached here about twenty men got off near the station and scattered through the town. Half an hour later a number of armed men made a dash for the jail, broke down the iron door, took the prisoner out, marched him up one of the main streets, armed men surrounding and keeping citizens from interfering. They took him two blocks from the jail, and hanged him to the rafters of an unfinished house. Then one of them, said to be the father of the girl, emptied his revolver into the body. Members of the mob then walked out of town and returned to their homes. A Mysterious Disappearance Cleared Up. v [Cincinnati telegram.] Fifteen months ago Mr. John Van, aged forty-eight, half-brother of Marie Van, the vocalist, drew eight thousand dollars from the bank, carried it about his person several days, and then was suddenly missing. Detectives were employed, but finding no trace the family mourned him as foully murdered. He was a prominent Mason. Last Saturday an excursion of Mason visited High bridge, over the Kentucky River, and going to the Shaker village saw Mr. John there, a member of the community, which he had joined alter leaving Cincinnati, turning his eight tliousmd dollars into the village funds. There was cordial handshaking all around. Air. Van has always been peculiar. He ran away from home when ten years old and went (o sea. where he remained ten years, and then suddenly, at the age of twenty, returned to his home. He is a confirmed Shaker now. Thu Utah Insult. [Salt Lake telegram.] The indignation over the Mormon act of placing the flag at half-mast continues unabated. Excited groups of Gentiles discusse i the affair all day. An old veteran stood in front of the City Hall looking aj; the trailing flag, while tears streamed from his eyes. Shaking his fist at the Mormon policeman guarding to see the flag was not raised, he exc aimed: “How long, 0 Lord, how long!” and declared he would leave the nest of treason within forty-eight hours. Horace El dredge. President of the Deseret National Bank, the United. States depository here, says half-mast was the proper place for the flag, as “we have not more than half our rights. ” The Deseret News, the church fully justifies the halfmasting of the flag in a five-coumn editorial, conclusively showing it was under church authority, and claiming it was right to do it because liberty was dead in Utah.

Terrific Explosion. [McConnellsburg (Pa.) dispatch.] A dynamite blast at the east end of Siding Hill Tunnel, on the South Pennsylvania Railway, caused the death of John O’Brien, heading boss; Christ McCormick, and John White, colored. Four others were seriously injured, two of whom, au Italian and a negro, will probably die. Jnme3 McManus escaped miraculously, receiving. apparently, the whole force of the blast. He was covered from head to foot with painful wounds, but, notwithstanding his condition, went into the tunnel and located the position of the men at the time of the accident. Wm. Hunter was also badly wounded. A gang of twenty-five men had just retired, otherwise the whole party would have probably been killed. O’Brien, it is said, caused the premature discharge by pounding down the explosive before the arrival of the man that usually did the firing. Tragic Death of Miss Bessie Hincks. [BostOH dispatch.] While Miss Bessie Hincks, daughter of Gen. E. W. Hincks, was walking with a friend on Brattle street, her dress caught fire, it is supposed, from a smoldering firecracker. Two gentlemen living near by rushed to Miss Hincks’'assistance and managed to extinguish the flames, but not until she was so burned that she died within a few hours. Miss Hincks was 20 years old and had just completed her first year’s studies at Harvard annex. She was the only daughter of Gen. E. W. Hincks, former commandant of the National Soldiers’ Home at Milwaukee, and was known and highly esteemed by a large circle of friends in that city. She graduated from the Milwaukee Female College with high honors in 1883.

Bodies Taken from the Water. [Parsons (Kan.) dispatch.] Reports from all points make the damage by flood very great. The Neosho River is five feet higher than was ever known before. Many farmers who had their wheat cut and in the shock report almost a total loss, while others have lost hogs, sheep, and cattle, and in many instances houses and homes have been swept away, the families barely escaping with their" lives. The loss of life has been greater than usual. Three bodies at Parsons, three at Chanute, and three at Neosho have already been found, and others are missing. No attempt has been made by the railroads to cross the Neosho since the Ist inst The Cotton Crop. [New Orleans special.] The monthly report of the National Cotton Exchange says, concerning the growing cotton crop: There have been no very wide variations from the normal rainfall and temperature over the cotton belt during the month of June, and the condition of the crop, which was 91 at tho close of May, is now advanced to 92, against 84 and 85 for the corresponding months of last year. The plant has progressed well, and has gained some in point of growth and healthfulness.

More Fraud and Maladministration. The frauds practiced in the New York Custom House under Republicanism,as revealed under recent official reports and sworn testimony, are infamous. A Treasury officer of many years’ service, a strong Republican, speaking from a full experience, said to a correspondent of the New York Herald: “This administration has done more in three months to reform abuses in the customs service than has been done in fifteen years before.” The largest frauds were secured through undervalued invoices or wrongful damage allowances. In regard to an undervaluation of merchandise it required the co-operation of some rascality on the other side of the water where the goods came from, but as there is an abundance of that commodity the world over, it was not lacking in these cases. One of the worst effects of this rascally undervaluation is upon our protected industries. The Herald, referring to this, says: “A manufacturer establishes his business with the belief that his foreign competitor has a 60 per cent, duty to pay. The custom-house lets the foreigner in 20 per cent, lowei’. The American manufacturer, who does not know this, may easily be ruined without guessing the cause. He would be better off if a 20 per cent, lower rate of duty were fully collected, for he would" then build on a surer basis.” The evidence goes to show that the New Y r ork Custom House, under Republican management, was honeycombed with corruption to an extraordinary extent. Perhaps millions of dojlars have been lost to the public treasury through actual stealage or criminal maladministration of the officials under Republican administrations. And yet the Bourbon organs of Republicanism squeak out every few days, “Why don't you open the books?” They are not squeaking so much in that direction as they were before the Democrats had an opportunity to open them. The New York Herald in referring to the rascalities and abuses recently discovered in the Custom House of that city, says: “Some of the examples of customhouse management certainly show an extraordinary degree of systematized maladministration; and the public will stand by the President in whatever he may find it necessary to do to reform these gross abuses. It will gratify good men everywhere to know that these custom-house abuses, which have been allowed to go unchecked for years, have been taken hold of with a very vigorous hand by the administration. Fraud or maladministration in the collection of the revenue not only robs the Treasury, but it cripples honest merchants, who are driven out of business by unfair competition. An importer who can pay on an undervalued invoice, or who can secure a wrongful damage allowance, or who is allowed to pay a lower scale of duties than another in the same business, can undersell his more scrupulous competitor and undermine him.” Gradually the public service is being purified and improved in every direction. The books are being opened, the rascals are being turned out, and the Republican party is going. —lndianapolis Sentinel.

Keep Quiet, Boys. What did the people of the United States mean by turning out a Republican administration long in power and putting a Democratic administration in its place? What was the meaning of the popular verdict of 1884? Was it simply intended as a personal rebuke to Mr. Blaine or as a personal compliment to Mr. Cleveland? The same, and, indeed, stronger, reasons and considerations of public necessity that commanded Mr. Arthur and his Cabinet to step down and Mr. Cleveland and his Cabinet to step up, demand that every Republican office-holder in the land should be required to vacate at once; and, if they have not got the manliness to tender their resignations, they should be unceremoniously kicked out. That is what the people who elected Mr. Cleveland meant and expected should be done. Mr. Cleveland accepted very readily the change that put him at the head of a new administration. The people could go no further in the great work of reformation. They expect the President to do the rest. We do not believe, however, that he will disappoint the hopes of the Democratic party and of a majority of the American people who elected him. On the contrary, we believe that all of the “rascals” will go, and that but few of them will remain in office within a year from this time. President Cleveland is a Democrat, and proposes to give the country a clean, dignified, honest, and thoroughly Democratic administration, and, for one, we propose to give him ample time to find out who the rascals are before applying the toe of his boot to their exteriors. He will find them all out in a short time, and, swinging the door wide open, will say: “Depart hence, ” and will call in Democrats to fill their places. Keep quiet, boys; the world was not made in a d«jv. Stand back, and give the President a little time to look over the field before you complain that he is not moving fast enough. —Shelby ville ( Ind .) Democrat. This is an unfortunate season for Republican organs. Just as the Chicago concern had produced an editorial informing its readers that the Democrats, notwithstanding all their loud charges and boasts, had not yet discovered any Republican frauds, comes the news of the detection in the Laud Department of frauds in the surveying contracts that have been going on for ? r ears at the rate of half a million dolars a year.— Chicago Time*.

LOST IN A FIERCE STORM.

Ten Persons Drowned by the Capsizing of a P.easure Boat in Lake Minnetonka. Ex-Mayor Rand, of Minneapolis, His Wife and Two Children Among the Victims. [Minneapolis speaial.l When ex-Mayor Rand, his family, and a few frien s started out lor an excursion on Lake Minnetonka in the little steam yacht Minnie Cook on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12. the clouds uuiitf d«rk atul low. IrleuJs tried to dissuade them from emharKinc. Mrs. Rand, as »he stepped off the St. Louts dock onto the frail l ttie craft with Its flapping tarpaulin shades, lunched at the remot.sttance, and replied gavly that she had braved worse weather on Lake Minnetonka. Husband, son, daughter, and a n phew followed her ai o ird with merry jest and lauvh at . the fears expressed, and took seats by her side. As the yacht steamed off toward the narrows the happy party was last observed waving handkerchiefs and hats. ’1 he intention was to visit, the upper lake. The yacht was scarcely out of sight before a ferritic windstorm swept over the lake from the northwest. Thunder followed 1 1 rapid and reverberating peals. The usually calm water rolled In i uge billows that came beating up over the boat houses and quays, and to complete the disturbance the rain began to fall in torrents. It was llko a New Kngland lake squall, coming with no warning save tho leaden clouds, and raging with blinding force for only a brief spell. The huge passenger steamers sereame 1 horsely as the rain clouds settled down, and high above the din could be heard the seemingly traglo shrieks front the whistles of tlie steam yachts, many of which were crossing front the bt. Louis landing to ttie Lafayette pier when the hurricane struck them. From either shore It was impossible to distinguish bods. The first ovldenee of disaster was found in pieces of trimming from the Miunle Cook whleh floated in on the waves at the east shore of Wayiatta Bay. The news was not slow In passing along the lake shote clear to Lafayette. Large, sturdy boats wont in search of the illfated little ctalt, but no further tiaco of her could bo had. It was at last determined that she sunk and that the ten passenuers who ombarked on their poritoua journey in such happy spirits, hail perished. Laier a boatman named James Carroll, who had miraculously succeeded In weathering ,tho tornado in a yawl, appeared on the Wayzatta Bav beach, dragging his miniature craft after him. When he had recovered sufficiently from his fright and exhaustion to speak oohi rently he told of having passed the Minnie Cook just before tlie squall|struok the bay. He thought the party had observed tho .danger and was quite certain that Kngineer McDonald had turned the yacht from her course into the bay: tho next moment his boat raised heavenward, as if lifted out or the water By some superhuman agency, and then ho wits enveloped in spray. Boon afterward he hoard a shriek like that of a woman in acuto distress. And looking off through tho almost blinding mist to the spot wliero the yacht was a moment before floating, nothing was to lie seen but tho white-caps and tho waveß ro'llng mountain high. Helssuro the shriek he heard was that of Mrs. Rand, and that the Minnie Cook at that ln-itant capsized. For safety he tell Into the bottom of his yawl and there clung until the suuall had passed. The following Is a list of tho passengers on the yacht: Ex-Mayor Rand, aged fill; Mrs. Rand, uged 60; Mary Rand, aged 16, daughter of the abovo; Harvey Rand, aged l:l, son; Frank Rand, aged IH, a nephew; J. R. Coykendall, uged lift; Mrs. Coykendall, aged 27; Katie Coykendall, aged 4, daughter of the above; Engineer George McDonald. Robert Hussy, aged 10, employed on the yacht. Tho bodies of Mrs. Rand and Engineer MoDonald were recovered and brought to Minneapolis. Mr. Rand’s two terms as Chlet Magistrate of tho city were served previous to the incumbency of Mayor Ames. Tho ex-Mayor was quite wealthy. John Coykendall was a member of the firm of Coykendall Bro. ifc Co., whloh owns one of the largest and best-known drygoods stares In the city. The two families belonged to the highest business and social circles In the city.

BAD FOB JOHN ROACH.

Attorney General Garland Holds that the Dblphin Cannot Be Accepted. [Washington dispatch.] Attorney General Garland has rendered a decision on the throe points relative to the acceptance o( the Dolphin bv the Government, submitted to him by Secretary Whitney. He holds that the vessel cannot bo accepted: that no contract exists between Mr. John Roach and the Government: and that the large sum of money Said to him lor the vessel may be recovered. Ir. Garland says: This vessel, you Inform me. has been found to bo defective in three particulars, two of which are fundamental: First, she does not develop the power and speed which the contract calls for; second, Bhe Is not stanch and stiff enough for the service expected of her; and third, the general character of her workmanship does not come up to the requirements of the contract. As to the defects in the article of speed, the act of Congress under which the vessel was built makes an appropriation for the construction of "one dispatch naval boat as recommended by the Naval Board In the report of Deo. ‘lO, 1882.” The board recommended the construction of "one dispatch vessel or clipper, to have a speed of fifteen knots,” and I take It that the recommendation became, by force of this reference to It. as much a part of the statute as though It had been recited therein, word for word. The Dolphin not having been constructed in strict conformity to the act of Congress, the Attorney General assumes that nothing short of an act of Congress could authorize her acceptance. If the vessel Is wanting In the necessary strength and stiffness, as reported, the Attorney General says the defect Is fundamental, and sufficient to warrant her rejection. As to the third objection, because of the character of the workmanship, the Attorney General says It can be dealt with by Secretary Whitney, provided the contractor Is willing and ready to make the vessel satisfactory. The Attorney General concludes: As to whether the Government has been In any wav estopped or compromised by the acts of acquiescence, approval, or acceptance by the advisory board or others, I am off the opinion that the Government stands unaffected by any such acts. This must be the case, necessarily, if the law authorizing the building of a dispatch boat is to have effect. Its language Is that “no such vessel shall be accepted unless completed in strict conformity with the contract, with the advice and assistance of the naval advisory board” * * w and, consequently, no acceptance of the vessel not built "in strict conformity with the contract” could bind the Government. Neither the Secretary of the Navy nor any officer under him had any dispensing power over this statute, the words of which, appe ring as they do in a context displaying great solicitude for the protection of the public interests, cannot be taken in any other sense than mandatory without a plain disregard of the intention. It follows, then, that no contract exists between Mr. Roach and the United States, and the large sums of money which have been paid Mr. Roach have passed into his hands without authority of law. and are held by him as so much money held and received to the use of the United States, and may be recovered from him; and not only so, but the money thus paid him by officials holding a fiduciary relation to the Government having gone into the ship Dolphin, a court of equity will follow it there, and for that purpose entertain a proceeding against the ship itself.

ALL SORTS.

A Boston woman who invented a corset has made $50,000 in three years. Mb. Horace Howabd Furness claims to own a pair of gloves once worn by Shakspeare.