Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1885 — Page 3

THE CATARACT PARK.

Dedication of the Niagara Reservation to the Use of the Public. An Immense Gathering of Citizens and State Troops in Honor of the Event [Niagara Falls special.] Niagara never before saw such a throng as to- day attended the opening of the State Park. Seemingly all Western New York poured itself into the village. A score of special trains brought delegations from many States and from Canada. The word “Welcome” greeted the visitor at every turn. Bunting is displayed in every part of the village. The Union Jack, the Irish Green, and the Tricolor are mingled with the Stars and Stripes. The hotels are lavish in display. The fronts of the International, Cataract. Spencer, and others are almost hidden from sight by rich-hued decorations. In front of the Cataract is a fine arch. Many handsome decorations on the Canada shore show sympathetic rejoicing. The Reservation Commissioners met at the Cataract House at 10:30 a. m. There were present Commissioners Dorsheimer, Robb, Rogers, Anderson, and Green, and Secretary and Treasurer Leighton Williams. The following cable dispatch was read: “London, Eng., July 14. “To the Representatives of the State of New York at Niagara Falls: “The Commons Reservation Society congratulates the State of New York on securing the Falls to the public.” About 11:30 a delegation representing the Canadian Government drove over from the Canadian side to take part in the ceremonies. It included Lieut. Gov. Robinson, of Ontario; the Hon. Oliver Mowatt, Premier of Ontario; Provincial Secretary Hardy; Lieut. Col. Gzowski, Chairman of the Canadian Niagara Falls Commission; Commissioner Langmuir; and the Governor General’s secretary. An informal reception was held during the morning in the hotel parlors occupied by Gov. Hill. The Canadian visitors were presented to him and remained until the time arrived for the ceremonies of the day. THE OPENING CEREMONIES. The formal opening ceremonies were held in Prospect Park, whose well-kept domain was early given over to the lawless tread of a public which needed police restriction, and had it not. At 12:15 o’clock Gov. Hill, Hon. Erastus Brooks, James C. Carter, of New York, the orator of the day, and Bishop Cose, made their appearance in the pavilion, escorted by President Neilson of the Prospect Park Company. They were followed by the staff of the Governor, State officials, Niagara Reservation Commissioners, and others of prominence. The ceremonies, carried out according to program, included fine vocal and martial music, the latter by military bands from Buffalo and the Mexican National Band, present by special invitation. Bishop Coxe read a prayer written for the occasion, and the Hon. Erastus Brooks, President of the day, made a long address. The formal presentation pf the Park to the State was made by * the Hon. William Dorsheimer. Gov. Hill’s reply went into details. He gave the crowd a history of Niagara, said the State would undertake to care for the reservation, and wound up with merited praises for the Commissioners, and none the less merited eu'ogies for the cataract. The orator of the day was the Hon. James C. Carter, of New York City, a prominent lawyer, who has been active in “The Niagara Falls Association of New York.” His oration dwelt upon the sublimity of the falls, free access to which the park is intended to secure, the evils of private proprietorship in Nature’s wonders, and reviewed the proceedings and negotiations which resulted in the purchase of the park by the State. Letters of regret and congratulation were read from President Cleveland, the Gover-nor-General of Canada, and from Samuel J. Tilden. Lieutenant Governor Robinson of the Province of Ontario and Premier Mowatt of the Dominion Government made bright speeches. The military parade in the afternoon was brilliant. It was reviewed by Gov. Hill, who left early for the East. A MOTLEY CROWD —SWEPT OYER THE

FALLS. The crowds lingered to enjoy “freedom” .and fireworks. A sergeant of the guard during the parade having orders to keep horses from the line of march attempted to enforce them. A mounted orderly attempting to ride past him, the sergeant thijist his bayonet into the horse, killing it. The sergeant was arrested. The friendly Canadian from the near towns, pipe in mouth and girl on arm, was everywhere. The farming •community of all Western New York seemed to have hitched up and driven to the village. Prospect Park looked like a monstrous picnic-ground. Even the Tonawanda reservation sent in its Indian delegation, gay in cambric and red feathers. All day long these throngs walked the ■streets. The hackman, as a feature of Niagara, was wiped out of existence. The -crowd was the great thing. People trooped over the bridges in endless battalions and marched shoulder to shoulder through the moist and shady pathways of Goat Island. Farmers hitched their teams among the shrubbery which private management had hitherto so sedulously guarded. The deep woods of the island looked as though given up to a vast camp-meeting. The Biddle stairway was free, as it always is; and the number of people who went toiling up and down its tedious spiral was so great 1 that further admission was repeatedlv denied. The trip to the Cave of the Winds i cost a dollar apiece, but the lessees reaped a harvest. The inclined railway in ProsEect Park was run at twenty-five cents a ead as usual. There was* total lack of police supervision, and it was a constant remark during the day that accidents were being invited. About six o’clock two Buffalo women were about to cross the first bridge to Goat Island when one of them, a Mrs. Mclntyre, ventured upon the unguarded planks at the edge of the pier. Turning, Bhe cabled to her companion, “You’re a coward! Come on!” As she spoke she lost her balance, fell into the rapids, and was swept over the American Fall. , The Mayor of Helena, M. T., is a barber, and after enjoying a “shave” at his worshipful hands a visitor went out “to look for an Alderman to black his boots."

FAILURE OF JOHN ROACH.

The Famous Builder of Ships Compelled to Make an Assignment. Preferences Given for an Aggregate Amount of Over One Hundred Thousand Dollars. [New York telegram.] Saturday afternoon a notice of assignment was filed in the County Clerk’s office by John Roich, the well-known ship-build-er. About the same time notice was posted at the iron-works on East 9th street to ttie effect that employes would be paid on Monday by Mr Mooney, Roach’s bookkeeper, and that the works would be closed till further notice. George M. Quintard and George E. Weed are named assignees, and preferences are given to the amount of $122,217.78. The preferred creditors are William Rowland, of New Brunswick, N. J., $62,217.18; the Mechanics and Traders’ Bank of Brooklyn, $20,C09, and P. W. Gallaudet & Co., $40,000. Shortly after the notice was posted at the works Mr. Roach, accompanied by his two sons, Garrett and Stephen, left for the shipbuilder’s place on the Sound. Mr. Garrett Roach said in answer to que tions that the complications arising from the recent decisions of Attorney General Garland had induced his father to place all his property in the hands of trustees, so that the interests of all creditors might be guarded. Mr. Quintard, one of the assignees, said the assignment had been a surprise to him. There was no doubt as to its being due to Secretary Whitney’s action in the case of the Dolphin, and he (Quintard) thought Mr. Roach feared similar action on the part of the Secretary in regard to other contracts. There was $69,1)00 owing to Mr. Roach for repairs on the double-turret monitor Puritan, besides money on the three cruisers, the Atlanta, the Boston, and the Chicago. He believed there was $223,000 due on the Chicago, and $6,000 each on the Atlanta and Boston, and uncertainty as to payment of these amounts was the cause of the assignment. Mr. Quintard thought Mr. Roach’s property was sufficient to pay all claims. He added that Mr. Roach was completely broken down physically. Mr. Aaron J. Vnnderpoel, one of the great shipbuilder’s lawyers, said his client, was a very sick man,. but he was sure every creditor would be paid in full, as Mr. Roach could pay $2 for every $1 he owed. [Chester (Pa.) dispatch.] The news of the failure of John Roach caused considerable excitement here, where his solvency had never been questioned. Up to within a year ago his weekly pay-roll was never le>s than $15,000. Now it is about $7,000, but this will be reduced tomorrow, when 400 men will be laid off. Only enough workmen will be kept to finish the Mallory ship Comal. Representatives of the Winchester Company say the shipyard was a separate corporation and was not included in the assignment. The yard will be affected, however, and as Mr. Roach is a large stockholder in the Chester rolling mills, blast furnace, and Combination Iron and Steel Company, located here, it is difficult to foretell the result on these places. Work on the cruisers Boston and Chicago and the monitor Puritan will virtually be suspended.

Secretary Whitney on the Failure. [Newport (R I.) special.] Secretaiy of the Navy Whitney, speaking of the assignment of John Roach & Sons, said to-night: “I must admit that I was j very much surprised to learn of the assignment of Mr. Roach, and lam sorry for it, yet I do not see how the Navv Department of the Government is iu any way responsible. As a matter of fact there is only $15,000 or $20,000 difference between the Government and Mr. Roach. All he could connect the Government with in the matj ter is this: He would say: ‘The Dolphin is ready, and the Government refuses to receive her, and I cannot get my $15,000 or $20,000.’ Now whether that would cause the suspension of a man like that, I cannot tell you. In the matter of the assignment, and the individuals preferred, it is clear | that the Government i# protected, for the reason that we hold the bondsmen whom j Mr, Roich has given the preference.” The | Secretary said there was no reason why the | other contracts should not be proceeded with.

Roach on the Disaster, “As to the causes which have led up to my assignment, strict v speaking, it is not a failure,” said John Roach to a New York reporter; “that is to say, my assignees will be able to pay $2 for every $1 of liabilities if they realize anything like the real value of my property. I cannot say what the exact amount of my liabilities is, nor what the sum of the assets will be to meet them. If the people understood this matter, if the mendacious free-trader had not so extensively deceived them, the failure of John Roach would be looked upon from ocean to ocean as a national calamity. This is not a party question. I have been a Republican, but above that I have first, last, and ever been an American. It was my great ambition that our nation should recover its glory and prosperity on the seas. I incorporated companies to Rail vessels, and, despite the fact that the Government lent me scant encouragement, while foreign Governments practically supported their ship-builders, I I have proved that it is possible for us to secure an immense foreign trade and to become. if the Government would but lift its consenting finger, the greatest sea-trading nation of the earth. Business became stagnant about a year ago when the Presidential nominations were being made. The ‘ free ship ’ movement was strong, for it has a catchy •ound. The Democratic party is supposed to favor free ships, and when the election excitement began and people saw the possibility of Democratic success and of the passage of a law that would mean the annihilation of American shipbuilding there was no business. All the work, therefore, that I have on hand has been th« construction of the new dispatch-boat and the three new cruisers. In the meantime the Democracy had come into power, and prepared to prove their prophecy that th» appropriation was not honestly spent Ths Dolphin, a strong, substantial, excellent vessel, was condemned on the most puerile technicalities, and to add to this injustice, Mr. Garland has repudiated the contracts and practically said that there exists no binding agreement between me and the Government. That capped the climax. ’’

WESTERN GOVERNORS.

Russell A. Alger, Governor of Michigan. Was bom in Ohio, February 27, 1836. His parents died when he was 11 years old, and for the next seven years he worked on a farm, getting some schooling at Richfield Academy in the winters. Then he entered a law office, and in 1859 was admitted to the bar. Bad health caused him to relinquish his profession, and in 1861 he moved to Grand Rapids to go into the lumber business there. In the same year he entered the Second Michigan Cavalry. Next year he was wounded at the battle of Boonville, Miss., and soon after promoted to be Major of the regiment. October 16, 1862, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, and June 2,

1863, Colonel of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, his regiment being a part of Custer’s famous cavalry brigade. July 6, 1863, he was wounded at the battle of Boonesborough, Md. Altogether be took part in sixty-six battles and skirmishes. He was brevetted Brigadier General and Major General “for gallant and meritorious services in the field.” In 1865 the General removed to Detroit and engaged extensively in the lumber business. He is now one of the largest lumber operators in the State of Michigan, nnd is interested in many enterprises. General Alger was elected Governor of Michigan on the Republican ticket November 4, 1884. J. M. Rusk, Governor of Wisconsin. Governor Jeremiah M. Rusk was born in Morgan County, Ohio, June 17, 1830, and is therefore 55 years old. He removed to Wisconsin in 1833; held several county offices; was a member of the Assembly in 1862; was commissioned Major of the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in July, 1862; was soon after promoted to the Colonelcy. Served with General Sherman from the siege of Vicksburg until mustered out at the close of the war, and was brevetted Brigadier General for bravery at the battle ot' Salkehatchie; was elected Bank Comptroller of Wisconsin for 1866 and 1867, and re-elected for 18 8-9; represented the Sixth Congre sionil District in

the Forty-second Congress, and the Seventh District in the Forty-third and Fortyfourth Congresses; was Chaipnan of the Committee on Invalid Pensions in the Forty-third Congress; was a member of the Congressional Republican Committee for several years; was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1880; was appointed by President Garfield and confirmed by the Senate as Minister toParaguay and Uruguay, which appointment he declined; was also tendered by President Garfield she mission to Denmark, and the position of Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, both of which he declined. He was elected Governor of Wisconsin as a Republican in 1881, and reelected in 1884.

Isaac P. Gray, Governor of Indiana. Isaac P. Gray is a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, and is about 55 years old. His parents emigrated to Ohio in 1836, and in 1855 Governor Gray moved to Union County, Indiana, where he still resides. He is by profession a lawyer; served in the war of the rebellion, with the

rank of Colonel; was defeated for Congress ,in I 860; elected State Senator in 1868; delegate to the Liberal Republican Convention at Cincinnati in 1872; elected Lieutenant Governor of Indiana on the Democratic ticket in 1876; defeated for the same office in 1880; was the Democratic nominee for United States Senator in 1881; and was nominated and elected Governor on the Democratic ticket in 1884.

A PLEA FOR REMOVALS.

Al. Open Letter to the Postmaster General. 1 Hon. William F. Vi'as, l ostma.'ter General, | Washington, D. C.: Dear Sir —lt is now almost four ! months since we have had a Democratic administration, and still no Dem- ! ocratic Postmaster has yet been ap- | pointed in this county, except one in a little village to succeed one who had j been removed by death. Our people are getting impatient, I and begin to feel dissatisfied. Ido not ! blame them for it. If such are to be the results and fruits of victory, it is j foolish to exert ourselves and vain to I conquer. We did not fight for the postoffices, but, after defeating our adversaries, we do not want thorn to rule over us any longer. The patriotism of the Democrats and their adherence to principle have been sufficiently demonstrated. Through many long years they fought and suffered for opinion’s sake, even without the expectation of success, bore defeat serenely, and after it prepared for the next combat. It can not be said of them that they were mere spoils hunters trying to get at the tlesli-pots. Keeping an undaunted courage through many a weary struggle, their perseverance finally brought about success. Tho people, tired of the party so long in power, declared that they wanted a change—reform in all the branches of the Government, in the system and in the personnel. Under our political system tho officers aTe not only servants of the Government, they are a part of it. If there is a change in the head, there must be a change in the members also. There is no need of going very slow in making it. The business interests of the country will not be injured by proceeding with dispatch. All they require is that persons equally competent should be put in the places of the officers removed. That can be done now. We have the men at hand. There is no probation required for us to get used to our new clothes, the robes of the victors. We need not bind out our intelligent Democrats as apprentices to Republican officeholders to learn tho trade of carrying on the Government. The Republicans now occupying tho offices were not appointed by reason of their special fitness or qualifications, but for their work for the party. This is a notorious fact. It requires no proof. A court would take judicial notice of it. You, all your colleagues, I, and every one that lias observed what was going on around him, have seen it done, time and again. These partisan appointees have made themselves as useful to their party after being placed in office as before. This again is notorious. Every postoffice was the Republican council chamber for the place, every postmaster the head of the gang. Why should we be required to charge these mdtters against individual officers, when everybody knows that they apply to all, jointly and severally? The presumption is against all;, let them prove ! the exceptions, if any there are, instead of reqiring us to prove patent facts. It is hateful to make charges, anyhow. It creates personal enmity, while a removal without such would be taken with the calmness and good grace with which men otherwise submit to political defeat. I believe that we Democrats have a right to expect of a Democratic achninistration that it should remove such Republican officeholders as are liable to removal at pleasure, and such as are not so liable should be requested to resign. If they then refuse, show that all their pretentions to political principles are fraudulent; that the essence of their political faith is to stick to the offices like the leech to his victim, then we will file charges against them, agd prpye enough of tjjem to rid theservice oTthatkinclofemployes. Our people expect this much of the administration. A differept policy will be injurious to tho party. The Democrats want to know that we have a Democratic Gayenijagnt. Tl|o postmaster is its representative heardsi t<3 afiS inunediately with the people. A dozen cabinet officers and a hundred ministers abroad do not have the importance, as far as making votes is concerned, of one good postmaster in a good-sized town. The people see him and transact business with him every day. Our postmaster must teach the masses that we are competent to carry on the business of the Government as well as 5 the Republicans. To leave the postofiice in the hands of the Republicans conveys the impression to the joeoplh that a Democratic President can not trust the Democrats. A Democrat getting hia mail from a Democratic postmaster feels that his party, that is himself, is “in power.” A Republican postmaster reminds him of his former subjection, and that his efforts to “get on top” have thus far been unavailing. Our county gave 1,900 Democratic votes at the last election. As things are now I would not count on 1,000 were an election to take place. You must do something for us. There are proper applications on file for . Have them acted upon. If your First Assistant cannot do the work of his office by reason of ill-health, make him resign and let a man of vigor succeed him. I wrote you about Postmaster a long time ago. He is tho worst Republican bulldozer imaginable. Why has he not been put out yet ? If we must bear with that class of men, it would have been better for us to have folded our arms, and let Blaine t be elected. j The views I express are universal , here. I hope you will pay some attention to them. Very respectfully, J. Kopelke, Chairman Democratic Central Committee and late Elector Tenth District, Indiana.

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

—Tipton has but one school-house and is talking of buildiDg another. —High rents, it is comp’aiued in Martinsville, cause nrauy Uouso3 to stand empty. —By a boiler explosion iu a Brewery at Peru, Marcellns Burtch was killed and the engine-house demolished. —Terre Haute will employ no married women as teachers hereafter, and :f any teacher marries she will be dropped. —Nathaniel McLaughlin, a resident of Lafayette, was killed by a Wabash train at Clymer s Station. Boih legs were cut off. —Schwabacher & Selig, wholesale tobacco dealers of Indianapolis, havo been closed on attachments. They owe $75,000. —Edinburgh has a clergyman who rides tho bicycle, plays 1 ase-bail, and indulges in nearly every kind of manly sport, nnd is a musician of fine attainments. —Henry Laudiubarger, of Wabasha, mowed into a bumble-bees’ nest, and while fighting the insects with his scythe cut a dangerous gash in the calf of his leg. —John Brock, aged ninety years, a pioneer of Crawford County, aud a soldier of the war of 1812, died at his home, near English. He was the oldest resident of Crawford County. —Madiscta is getting to be the finest and best produce market in tho State, especially iu butter, eggs, and chickens. One dealer says that his shipments are threo times as heavy as last year. —Ed Smith (colored) formerly keeper of a gambling-house at Vincennes, has caused the arrest for gambling of ten young men who used to play there, and who refused to pay him hush money.

Some boys were snapping match-beads at Delphi, in tho lube of a shot-gun, thought to be empty. Janies Gordon aimed squarely at Walter Bachman, and an old load was discharged into his neck, killing him instantly. —lndiana is the leading State in tho Union in the production of starch from corn, having eight factories and producing more than one-third of the total amount made. There are sixteen factories in the other States manufacturing starch from com. —Charles L. Deen, of Louisville, Ky., killed himself in Oxford becauso separated from a Miss Mattie Hilman, with whom ho had eloped. Miss Hilman was detained in the house of a friend, and Deen shot himself under her window. He was but 18 years of age. —The party that went down to explore tho new cave, one mile from De Pauw station, on the Air Line Bailroad, have returned with tine specimens of stalagmites and stalactites. They were in the cave all night, and think they traveled about three miles. The cave is said to be a very tine one, and in many re|pects a rival of Wyandotte.

—The Columbus Republican, in a review of base-ball, calls to mind the Seymour club of twenty years ago. In searching for tho reason of the breaking up of the club it was found that one of tho members was in the Missouri penitentiary and four others had been hanged by a mob, for it was a club which enrolled five of the once celebrated Beno gang in its membership. —Gen. Black, the United States Pension Commissioner, has appointed James Britts, of Gosport, Owen County, who served in the Federal army and was severely wounded, to be a special Pension Examiner without passing a civil-service examination. This appointment has been made to test the question whether veterans of the civil war are subject to the regulations of the civil-service law of Congress. —The other day a boy found an old gun in a hollow tree eighteen miles south of Shelbyville, which was the first clew to the solution of a mystery of sixty years’ standing. The gun was identified by Bev. J. H. Edwards, pastor of tho First Christian Church, Shelbyville, as belonging to his grandfather, Jacob Edwards, who disappeared one Sunday in the fall of 1826, and was never seen or heard of since that time.

—Mrs. James Foster, of Otterbein, on going into her garden was amazed at finding a full-blown rose of a beautiful green color. It was blooming among a large collection of roses of the ordinary tints, red, pink, and white, but this one stood alone, the only representative of its kind. It was sent to Lafayette to a botanist of distinction, who avers that it is a marvel, as no works on floral culture speak of such a thing. If this new variety can be propagated it will cause a revolution in the floral kingdom. —Eev. John Fender and his aged companion, a daughter of the late Morgan McMahon, of Union County, celebrated their golden wedding at Abington, Wayne County. Itev. Mr. Fender is a son of Henry Fencer, one of the very earliest pioneers of the Whitewater Valley, and is himself one of tne oldest native-born pioneers of Wayne County, having been bom~iir Abington Township January 9, 1814. He joined the Methodist Church in 1830, and was licensed to exhort in 1842, but it was not until 1873 that he was licensed as a preacher. He and his wife have lived at their present home since the year of their marriage.