Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1894 — Page 3

IT WAR WITH HERSELF.

The Story of a Woman's Atonement, by Charlotte M. Braeme. * r CHAPTER XXXlX—Continued. Leonie wanted to be alone. She felt as though someone had struck her across the face with a whh>, and had left a stinging, scarlet brand there. “A thief!" She, Leonie Rayner, who had been proud of her beauty—who had been fair and pure as the blossoms around her—who had been loyal and true—wno had carried herself proudly .by right of her innocence and fair fame—who had never known fear or shame, was now neither more nor less 'than a thief. They called her Countess of Charnleigh—she was in reality a thief. They praised her; they said that the world was at her feet—that she was graceful, charming, and clever. Before heaven she was a thief. She said the word to herself oyer and over ggain, and each time it grew more hatefuL . * i Yet it was perfectly true. She had stolen Paul’s title—it was his, not hers. BEe had stolen his money, his lands, his jewels, his possessions; they were all his, hot hers—she had stolen them. Then came to her mind the solemn words of that brief commandment, "Thou shalt not steal:” Had any one broken that commandment more terribly than she had done? As she stood, her white fingers playing with the rich scarlet blossoms of an Indian plant, a sudden thought came to her. “Why not own the truth? Why not free herself from this miserable load of sin and treachery that darkened her life and made her wretched? Why not free her soul irom its bondage, her heart from its weight of unutterable sorrow? Why not repent of her sin before Heaven, and give back to Paul Flemyng that which was most justly his?” The very thought of this was a relief to her. Confess it all—give bick that which was another’s and not hers free herself from this intolerable shame and anguish—win for herself again the sweet hope of heaven—ah, if she would but do all this! Could she give up this luxury and magnificence to which she had no title? No, she could not; and with the stain ■of her sin still deeper on her soul, she went out from among the flowers.

CHAPTER XL. Monsieur Dudevant had made for himself a great reputation as an artist; his portraits were like life, every one said; and so Monsieur Dudevant had always more work on hand than it was at all likely he could accomplish. It was owing to this pressure of business that the commission given to him long ago by Captain Paul Flemyng was still unexecuted—the commission of copying the portrait of Paul’s mother which for so many years had hung in the late Earl of Charnleigh’s room. Leonie would insist upon Paul’s accepting the original, but he said “No,” he seemed to have some superstitious feeling about the gift. He was grateful to be allowed to have a copy of it, but he never seemed to like the idea of taking it from the place which the late earl’s meditations had made sacred. He wrote to Monsieur Dudevant, who placed his name upon the list requiring early attention, and promised to write when his turn came. It was now that the artist wrote saying that if the picture was sent at once he would attend to it. Captain Flemyng had been summoned on.military business to Weldon, where he was expected to remain for some days. He went over himself to Crown Leighton, and most carefully packed the picture. It was sent to Lady Charnleigh, in London, as she had promised to select a new frame for it. _ The case containing the picture arrived one morning when the countess was preparing to attend a royal garden party. She looked superbly beautiful in her cloud-like dress of lace and tulle, white, with the faintest soupcon of blue. Her brilliant face was flushed with animation. She was at the pinnacle of glory. She had received a royal invitation, and she knew that there would be few present at that party more admired than herself. “To think that I should receive an invitation from a queen?” she said to herself. “I, who three years since was insulted by servants and despised by schoolgirls—l am invited by tne queen of the greatest country in the world. I wonder if her Majesty will have leisure to speak to me, and, if so, I wonder what she will say ” _ She had been more than usually solicitous about this party. “Ethel, ” she said to Miss Dacre, “you have such superb taste in dress, design something for me more elegant than has yet been seen. ” And Miss Dacre did as she was requested, the result being something exquisite. “Are you satisfied with me?” asked Leonie, simply as a child, when the carriage was announced. Ethel Dacre, with a sudden warm impulse, kissed the lovelv face. “You look,” she said, “just as though you had come out of a white cloud, you are so fairy-like. I hope you will enjoy yourself very much, Lady Charn“There is not much fear of that," returned Leonie, with a light laugh. They remembered that day afterward as the last of her bright, brilliant life. She had never looked so lovely, she had never been so greatly admired. The light, ethereal style of dress suited her to perfection, the light, fairylike hat was like a crown on the golden head, the clouds of rich white lace fell gracefully round the perfect figure, and the exquisite lace seemed to rise from them like a blossom from pale leaves. She had never been so much admired. People said to each other afterward how kindly the royal lady had spoken to the beautiful Countess; princes, dukes, and embassadors paid homage to her. She was queen by right of her beauty and grace. Wherever a little group of the most eminent men of the day were gathered together, there in the midst was Lady Charnleight to be seen. On that day, too —the last of her brilliant reign—she excelled herself in wit and repartee. Her bon mots were repeated on all sides. Great men went away from her smiling, and saying to themselves that Lady Charnleigh was peerless in wit as in beauty. She had never been so successful in society as on this day, which was, in some respects, to be her last. Royal princesses were most gracious to her; and one, attracted by her fair face and winsome manner, seemed to have Conceived a sudden friendship for her. Amidst all the homage and adulation, while she was the object of general observation, the quaen of the tete, the most admired, while her heart beat high in triumph, while princes bent before her, Leonie was-outwardly calm and self-possessed. The sun shone bright, flowers bloomed, fair faces smiled around her; the whole scene was one of splendor and beauty; but the still, small voice she could never stifle made' itself, heard. She, welcomed by royal lips, flattered by princes, crowned with her own beauty, and grace—she was, after all, “a thill.”

If they had known it, those great and noble ones who smiled upon her—if they had known that she had robbed a loyal man of his estate and his money, there would have been small mercy for her, their flattering lips would have told another tale. Once or twice during those sunny, brilliant hours, when she was more and hud {pwer people around her, it seemed to” her that, above the sound of the music, the silvery laughter, the murmur of conversation, she heard the hiss of th%word “thief." Thief! What would they think of her if they knew? How they would shrink from her! All her beanty, her wit, her grace, would fail to charm them. She would be scorned, depised —an outcast. Why, her proper place was a felon’s deck, and not the grounds of a good and mighty queen. Then the dark thoughts were all dispelled; a prince was talking to her, and she read admiration in his eyes. He laughed at her wit, he enjoyed himself, and again the spirit of vanity reigned conqueror within. There had never been a greater social success than this of Lady Charnleigh's. As she looked round, feeling herself queen bf that brilliant throng, she said to herself: “It is worth it aIL My gifts were given to me that I might reign. They would all have been lost had I remained a poor, obscure governess. Why should I give up that which I know how to hold so well?” She drove home with the sound of homage and adulation in her ears, triumphant and successful. Ethel Dacre had never seen her in higher spirits. “There is no need to ask if you have enjoyed yourself, Lady Charnleigh." “No, indeed, Ethel; I have laughed and talked without ceasing.” “You must be Aired,” said Ethel. “No, lam not tired. Of what use is It to be tired? I am going to Lady Bagshawe’s concert, and after that to the Countess of Arlington’s ball.” Ethel raised her eyes in wonder. “How you live through it puzzles me.”

“How I should live without it would puzzle me still more. Are you going with me to the concert?” “Yes, I will go. Lady Charnleigh, that picture of Captain Flemyng’s has arrived, and he has sent me a note, asking me, if you are «too busy, to attend to it. He wants the picture very carefully removed from the frame and sent to Monsieur Dudevant. Will you do it, or shall I?” “Do it yourself, by all means,. Ethel, if you will. I have neither skill nor patience to be careful over anything.” Miss Dacre was only too delighted. What would please her more than to do anything for Paul? To attend to this request of his was a great happiness to her. “I will begin at once,” she said. “You had better get one of the servants to help you jto take the picture from the frame, Ethel,” observed Leonie; “those white hands of yours will never manage it.” “I should not like a servant’s hands to touch it,” said Ethel, eagerly: “neither, I am sflre, would Captain Flemyng. ” Leonie laughed, and the laugh sounded harsh and unnatural. “I am amused in manv respects, Ethel,” she remarked, “'i'ou are so much like Paul. I should never have thought of such a thing. Keep all profane hands from it, my dear, by all means. ” Miss Dacre went away to attend to her commission, leaving the countess alone. The laugh died from her lips as Ethel closed the dcor. “I wish I were like her!” she cried, passionately. “I wish to heaven that I were only one-half so good!” A man-servant carried the packingcase into the morning-room, and removed the heavy outer covering. “Do not touch the picture,” said Miss Dacre. ->,“l will attend to it myself.” She waited until the man had left the room. Some delicate, womanly, graceful feeling led her to take her firbt look at this picture alone. It was Paul’s mother, and perhaps Ethel guessed how dearly Paul had been loved and cared for. She withdrew the paper that hid the portrait, and gazed long at the sad, beautiful face, so like Paul’s own. “Dees she know how much I love him?" said the girl to herself. “Does she know that all my life is dark and dreary to me, because he does not care for me?” She looked long and sadly at the beautiful face, wondering to herself what was the secret of that life, why the picture'had hung in the Earl’s room, and why he had loved it better than he had loved any living woman. Then she carefully took the back from the frame, and as she did so it struck her how very loosely it had been placed there —it seemed as though the back had been removed before. Then she took out the picture, and as she did so a folded paper that had been placed between the back of the frame and the portrait fell out. At first she took no notice of it, thinking it had been placed there to protect the canvas, but, her eyes falling carelessly on it, she saw that it was covered with waiting which was yellow with age. She laid the picture down very carefully and took up the paper. She opened it and read it, then paused and read it again; her face grew very white as she did so, her eyes filled with surprise and dread, her lips trembled. “What does it mean?” said Ethel Dacre. “It frightens me—what does it mean?”

CHAPTER XLI. It was a small, square paper, written closely over, yellow with age and worn at the edges, which had fallen from the portrait of Paul Flemyngs mother. Not one detail escaped the keen, wondering (yes bent upon it. Ethel Dacre had read and re-read the letter, her wonder growing greater each time. It was addressed to Captain Fleming, and these were the words that filled her with such unutterable astonishment. “My Dear Paul—You will perhaps wonder that, from all those who have equal claims upon me, I have chosen you as my heir. It is not because you are my nearest of kin—there is one nearer than yourself. It is because I loved your mother, Paul. All words are weak to tell you how dearly I loved her. Fraud ana treachery parted us when we were young, and since then I have loved no other woman—no other face has ever charmed me, no other voice has made music in my ears. I have been true to her in life, and I shall be true to her in death; so, I have left you all that I have in this world, because I loved your mother—loved and lost her. You will be a'rich man, a great and powerful man; but always remember that your wealth, your rank, and your position come from your mother, not from me. You must be grateful to her, not to me. I have no particular wishes to leave with you; nothing has interested me much since your mother died. Her picture hangs in my room, and no day passes without my looking at it. As age creeps on me, I like to sit and gaze at it, to imagine to myself how the face I have loved soi well looks among the angels in heaven, and to wonder ifJ when I am dying, that same sweet face will be by my side. “The whim seizos me to-day to write this and place it in your mother’s pic-

ture. If you never find the letter It will not matter; but I have a belief that, when you—my heir—come ‘home,’ there will be a new and handsome frame wanted for the picture, and that it will be taken from the quiet room where I have spent so many hours, and put in a place of honor, as befits the portrait of the mother of the heir. Then you will meet with this, and you will know that the ‘morose old earl,' as they called me, spent his time in faithfully loving one woman, and also that you owe all yon have to your mother, and not to me. Good-by, and Heaven bless you, Paul Flemyng. You will be Earl of Charnleigh when you read this. May heaven grant that you may have a happier love and a happier life th’an mine! Ulbic Charnleigh. " Ethel Dacre stood perfectly still with the letter in her hand. What did it mean? The la'e earl wrote as though he had left a will, which was in favor of Captain Flemyng. If so, where was it? Why had it not been found? She was almost stupefied with the disclosure—Paul the true heir, and not Leonie? Where was the will?' Her thoughts were all in a whirl of confusion. She seemed almost incapable of forming lucid ideas. Then she remembered what Captain Flemyng had told her—that they had sought “high and low" for a will, but could not find one. It was in consequence of this failure that the case came before the law courts, and Leonie Rayner was declared next of kin. Had any will been found, of course its instructions would have been carried out. Could it be that Ulric, Lord Charnleigh, had intended to make a will and had died without doing so! Even in that case Paul was the rightful heir. Leonie would admit this, and of course, when she had read the letter give up all to him. She turned to leave the room, taking the letter with her, but she found that her limbs trembled so violently that she would have fallen if she proceeded just then. She was obliged to rest herself and still the beating of her heart. Presently she would go to Leonie, and show her what she had found. Paul would be master of Crown Leighton after all! To Ethel—so purely, so strictly honorable —there came no doubt of what Leonie would do. Stye knew that, if she herself were placed in a similar position, she would at onoe give up all she had —she would absolutely refuse ti ke:p possession of what it wfs never intended should be hers. That Leonie would offer the least opposition never occurred to Ethel. She did not know how love of money and cf power, how pride of tank and position could corrode even the noblest of natures. Then, as she went up the broad staircase of that superb mansion, it suddenly occurred to her that it would be very hard for Leonie to renounce all this state and splqndor. Hard, indeed; but then at the call of honor people should be willing to lay down their lives even. She inquired were Lady Charnleigh was, and Florette told her that she was in her own room. Ethel went thither. ITO BE CONTINUED. |

EARNING A “JOB."

How a Man Who Minded HU Own Bailness Secured Employment. * “It’s an old story, boys,” said the speaker, “but it may suggest an idea in these hard times, when so many men are out of work, and rich men who would like to holp them do not know how to go about it. Stephen Girard, the philanthropist, was a man who admired industry as strongly a-i he detested laziness. Early one morning, while the millionaire was walking around the square, near his residence, a man named John Smith, who had worked on Girard’s fine buildings as a laborer, applied to him for assistance. “ ‘Assistance—work—ha? You want to work?’ “ ‘Yes,, sir; it’s a long time since I’ve had anything to do.’ “ ‘Very well, I shall give you some. You see dem stone yondar:’ “ ‘Yes, sir.’ “ ‘Very well; you shall fetch and put them in this place. You see?’ “ ‘Yes, sir.’ “ ‘And when you done, come to mo at my bank.’ “Smith diligently performed his task, which he accomplished about 1 o’clock, when he repaired to Mr. Girard and informed him that it was finished, at the same time asking him if he would not give him something more to do. “ ‘Ah, ha! oui. You want more work? Very well; you shall go place dem stone where you got him. Understandez? You lake him back.’ “Away went Smith to his work. He finished putting the stones back by sunset, and then called on Mr. Girard for his pay. “ ‘Ah, ha! you all finish?’ “ ‘Yes, sir.’ “Very well. "How much money shall I give you?’ “ ‘One dollar, sir.’ “ ‘Dat is honest. You take no advantage. Dare is your dollar.’ “ ‘Can I do anything else for you, sir?’ “ ‘Oui. Come here when you get up to-morrow. You shall have some work.’ “Next morning, on calling, Smith was not a little astonished when told that he must ‘take dem stone back again,’ nor wai his astonishment diminished when the order was repeated for the fourth and last time. However, he was one of that philosophic kind of persons who mind their own business, and he went on with his job with all the apparent indifference imaginable. When he called on Mr. Girard in the evening and informed him that the stones ‘were as they were,’ he was saluted in the most cordial manner by the eccentric Frenchman. “ ‘Ah, Monsieur Smith, you shall be my man. You mind your own business; you do what is told you; you ask no questions; you no interfere. You shall work for me.’ ’’Thereafter the man was attached to Girard’s service for years, and later became a very wealthy man—his first start in the world arising from the fact that he obeyed orders and minded his own business.

Lepers at Large.

Lepers are very plentiful on the island of Jamaica in the West Indies. They mix with the people without let or hindrance, plying all manners of trades and vocations, even to selling fruits and cakes on the public streets and keeping j butcher shops and bakeries. The government has provided a leper hospital at Spanish Town, which ordinarily shelters a hundred or more lepers. But there is no restriction on their coming and going as they please. Good care and treatment is. provided forjthem, and as is the nature of the average Jamaican negro, they are well pleased to have some one provide for them, and thus enable them to live without work and care. But when they take a notion to go to see their friends, or to visit Kingston to see the sights, they simply go, and none hinders them. The physicians and thoughtful people of the island periodically try to secure some psoper treatment of the very serious leper question, but humanity’s prevailing type in the tropics is easy going, and nothing is done;

THE WORST IN YEARS.

HOWLING BLIZZARD SWEEPS THE COUNTRY. storm One of the Worst In History —Railroad. Blockaded and Many Trains Abandoned In the Snowdrifts—Man/ Persons Perish in Oklahoma. Reports from Many Points. Boreas emulated the belated camel of history Monday morning. He got a hump on himself. And the hump? It broke all records for many a year. The whole country has been rwept by a blizzard. Across the enti; e continent the whopping, howling monster made an impartial and indiscriminate tour, but the storm was most severe after the Pacific air column was re-enforced by another column in Illinois. Starting away out beyond the Missouri River it laid embargo on the railway travel in Kansas, lowa, Nebraska. Minnesota and the Northwest generally. It sent the visitors in the big Hot Springs .hotels huddling about the steam radiators, and made the teeth of the Texas cowboys chatter. Its course eastward was marked by snowed-up trains and tangled telegraph wires far into tne Middle States. Its canter passed along the Ohio Valley, and its terrible force was felt in all the areas within a few hundred miles of that line. The earliest reports came from the large cities. These were smuggling in snowdrifts, while the smaller towns were almost completely snowbound. Luckily, save for the inevitable inconvenience tothe public and the suffering which every storm entails upon the poor, it does not seem that any very painful harm has been inflicted. The wind did the only mischief. Both the snowfall in the northern half of the belt and the rainfall further south will be beneficial rather than injurious, unless the following cold winds from the north destroy vegetation in the more southern section. It will bo some time before the full story of delayed trains, snowed-in villages and general discomfiture is known, but the Associated Press dispatches tell enough to enablo the reader's imagination to do the rest. Wild Day In Illinois. Chicago. —Snow—whirled through the air by a gale of wind which blew eighty-four miles an hour—buried Chicago; buried it so deeply that business of every kind was paralyzed. The storm broke upon the city before daylight, and until the coming of night raged with a fury not equaled since the memorable blizzard which swept down upon Chicago just nine yours ago. Street car trans t during the morning and early part of the afternoon wai almost a matter of luck, and the railroads practically threw up their hands and waited for the storm to quit. Trains which should have left in the afternoin commenced pulling out at midnight. The Illinois Central made a brave fight to keep its suburban service going, but one by one the tracks at 21d street wore frozen up by the water and ice swept inland by the gale and at night it had only three sets of rails left, and they wore studded with snowbanks. Business houses were deterted the day long, the big down-town stores sending their clerks home long before the usual closing hour. The monetary loss to storekeepers is placed at $250,000. Life was imperiled on land and water. Many accidents occurred to pedestrians who were not able to contend against the wind and uncertain footing caused by the snow and ice-covered walks. Out at the 08th street crib the lives of seventy men were hanging in the balance while the tempest was howling. Quincy. —The public schools were closed on account of the snow. Belvidere. —Not in ten years has this section of the country experienced such a terrible blizzard. Joliet. —The roads through the county are blockaded by the worst storm ever seen hereabouts. Carthage.—A Wabash passenger train, from Clayton to Keolcuk, was stuck in the snow at this point. Aurora. —Business has been practically suspended, the street cars stopped, trains late, and the schools closed. Decatur. —The worst blizzard known here in five years. The snow Is einht to ten inches on a level and drifted hip deep in places. Champaign.— I This section of central Illinois has been in the toils of a bli/.zard, the eaual of which has not been experienced for a decade. Chester. —Small buildings were damaged, lumber piles overturned and a fleet of thirteen steamboats in this harlnr were in a precarious condition. Bloomington.— The wind was blowing almost a tor nado and the cold was severe, the mercury being down to zero. Great snowdrifts lie everywhere. Peoria.—The storm was one of the worst in the history of the city. The snow was fine and dry and was accompanied by a heavy wind, causing it to drift badly. Springfield.— The snowstorm prevailed nearly all day. The ground is covered to a depth of eight or ten inches. Street car traffic was suspended and the schools closed. Michigan Storm Swept.

Grand Rapids.—lt was the wildest storm of the season. Coldwater. -The worst storm that ever prevailed in this vicinity Kalamazoo.—The worst storm in thirty years. Drifts on the main streets are ten feet deep. Jackson.—The worst blizzard experienced here in twenty years. All passenger trains pulled with one and even two extra engines. Lansing. —At noon the schools of the city were closed on account of the severity of the storm. Nothing like it has been known since the famous storm of March, 1886. Business almost at a standstill. Ironwcod. Logging operations have been temporarily suspended, as the snow in the woods is so deep that it is impossible to make any progress. Saginaw. —One of the most severe blizzards ever experienced in the Saginaw Valley. It grew bitterly cold and huge drifts, in some places four feet high, blockaded sidewalks. Detroit. —Michigan is storm swept. Not since April,® 1886, has so much snow fallen nor has the wind howled with such unrelenting vigor. Before noon traffic on many of the streets in Detroit was practically stopped. Plows drawn by four team; Went over the routes, but by the time one end of the line was reached the drifts had piled up on the otfyer. The only way the electric lines wort? kept going was to send two motor cars along together. Business in the city has been stagnated. ■? Reports from, all over the State show the storm to have been unusually severe, although the damage is slight. ,' » ' i UnnqiiHled In Fury In Wlaeonaln. Beloit.—A fearful blizzard has prevailed all day. ’ Green Bay.—The several stages running into the city are delayed and t

the prospects are they will not be able to get through the drifts until to-mor-row. Milwaukee. —lt was the most disagreeable day of the winter, and werv few people ventured ou». Every snow plow, scraper ai d availtble man was put to work. Along the lake front the storm raged furicusly, throwing the ice and spray a rod i r more inland. The stotm eaught nine of the steamers doing business on the lake outside. Racine. —1 he most severe storm known in this vicinity for fifteen years The wind'from the northeast reached a velocity of sixty-five miles an hour and was accompanied by a wet and blinding snowstorm. Sti eet oar traffic cc mpletely paialyzed. John Janschauck fell at the street corner, and when found was covered with snow and died in en hour. Main, Sleet and Snow In Indiana. Portland. —A torriblo blizzard has been ragin; here, the worst lor years. Fourteen inches of snow has fallen and all outdoor work is stopped. Crown Point. —Country roads aro blockaded in all directions' and it will doubtless he two or three days before farmers can find their way in to town. El WOOD. —The worst blizzard known in this country since A drop of 20 degrees in temperature caused much suffering among the stock. The east wind blew a hurricane and tho air was a perfect mass of Hying snow-. Indianapolis. —-The hoaviost storm of sleet and snow which has visited Indiana in a number of years began early in the morning and continued without intermission during the day. Outside of the inconvenience which resulted from impeded traffic on the railroad lines and rhe difficulties under which business was transact id in this city the damage of the storm was not material. In many sections the snow drifted so as to make tho roads impassable, and throughout tho northern part of the State the drifts interfered with travel. South and southoast the storm consisted of rain until early next morning, when it began to snow, but the fall is not large. Southern lowa Peel* It the Moat. Brighton.— Snow has fallen to tho depth of aliout a foit, and has drifted badly. Railway traffic is much impeded. Dubuque. —The storm at and northwest of Dubuque was comparatively light, and trains from Chicago and St. Louis only were delayed. Washington.—A fearful blizzard has been raging hero for twonty hours. All trains on the Rock Island have been abandoned and general business is at a standstill. Grinnell. —A blizzard has been raging here for twenty-four hours, with the snow drifting badly. Trains on the north and ’south roads are ten hours behind time. Burlington.— Snowdrifts are piled high everywhere. Street car tramo is at a standstill and no effort,will bo made to clear the tracks until the storm is over. All trains are late. Cedar Rapids.— Snow lies on the ground to tho depth of six or seven inches, and as a high wind prevailed the railroads aro - badly blockaded, especially those from tho western part ol the Slate. Des Moines. The storm abate! during the duy and was practically ovo in the evening. The minimum temper ature reported was zero at Ottumwa and at other points tho thermomete stood a little higher. Tho storm wa most severe in the southern part o' the State, where a foot of snow fell The snowfall in Des Moines was sevei inches and at Fonda, in tho north o the State, one inch. Keokuk. —Railroad traffic is seriouily interrupted and business in the cit, is at a standstill. On several lines o railroad all freights are discontinue! and passenger trains gotten througl with great difficulty. The Wabash i fast in a drift at Carthago, 111. Sleet-fall for the Hurkape State. Massillon.—The storm tied up tb electric street railwuys in a short time It was followed by rain. Findlay.—A violent snow-storm be gan at six o'clock this morning and ha: continued all day without cessation. Columbus.—A severe sleet storm prevailed here. The wires are covered with ice. Business is delayed accordingly. Cincinnati. —A sleet storm reaohed this locality after midnight, with a high northeast wind, but by noon the ice was nearly melted and rain was falling. Cleveland.— The blizzard reached this city at 7 o'clock in tho morning. A fierce gale, accompanied by a heavy fall of fine, cutting snow, is in progress. Tho street car service is demoralized, only an occasional car managing to get through tho heavy snow drifts, Toledo. —The blizzard struck this city at 5:30 this morning, and at 7:30 every street car in tho citv was abandoned. Tho wind blew tne water up the river from Maumee bay, and the docks and Water street are Inundated. Business is at a standstill. A blinding snowstorm filled the streets with drifts, and all trains are behind time.

Di al h In thr Storm. Guthrie, Ok.—lt has been terribly cold during tne storm, and stories of awful suffering are coming in from various points. Twenty persons have been found frozen to death. A report comes from the northern part of the Territory that six persons of one family were murdered by the father to prevent their suffering while dying with cold. The seven bodies were found in one house with their throats cut. In the house was found a note signed by the father, who left word that he had killed his wife and children to save them from freezing. Nebraska Snowed Under. Omaha.—As a result of tho blizzard, most trains have been abandoned in the interior, and those running have been pulled by two and three engines. Stock in Nebraska is really in danger, and stockmen are apprehensive of great loss. Drifts in some places ard piled ten to twenty feet high, and in the valleys cattle are porishing for want of water and food. Loss in this direction will bq enormous, it is feared. Kama* linger » White Mantle. Atchison.—All trains are tied up. El Dorado./-Railroads are all aded--Emporia. —Wagon roads are impassable, and trains have been abandoned. Fort, Scott. —The heaviest snow in Southeast Kansas for many years lies upon the ground. Trains are late and many are laid out. Leavenworth.— The snow is sixteen inches deep on the level and in many places has drifted to a depth of from live to ten feet. Topeka. from all parts of Kansas are that it was tho heaviest snowstorm An record, and was especially severe in the western part of the State. A strong north wind carried the snow into drifts. The thermome ter dropped to 4 degrees. Blizzard Kenchen the Eut. New York.— The blizzard scheduled by weather prophets arrived on time. The streets are covered with a mantle of snow Several inches deep. All traffic is impeded. The railroad trains are behind time and mails from all parts of the country are delayed. The street railways are operat ’d with difficulty and traffic on the river hae been, greatly * Beautiful children*never grow in loveless homes. r

HUSTLING HOOSIERS.

ITEMS GATHERED "FROM OVER THE STATEAn Interesting Snmmarj of the More Important Doing* of Our Neighbor*—Wed. <Bng* and Death*—Crimes, Casualties, and General Indiana News Notes. Minor State Items. A Shelbyville youngster when asked what a screw was said: ‘lt’s a nail with ruffles on it.” Several prominent men of Arcadia have organized a stock company to build a canning factory. Miss. Edith Bayse ot rtookport, and Miss E. M. Vickery of Evansville, will soon goto Rome to teach school. The Klwood Bent-wood works have been purchased bv Clem Gaar of Richmond, and C. K. £>. Rosa of El wood. A Schoolhouse near Wabash was raided by vandals. They burned the scholars books and demolished the desks. Elwood will have free mail delivery in the business portion throe times nor day, and in the residence portion twice por day. While Mrs. CRnton Malott was standing before a tire place at her home, near I’eterslmrg. her dross caught fire and she was fatally burned. ”* Burglars entered E. A. Bruberock'a store at Rockville, and took S2OO worth of clothing.' They escaped from town on a handcar which was found at Coxville with seven old suits of clothos on it. James Grossman of Cincinnati, savs he will bring suit fov $20,000 against tho City of Muncio for cruel and inhuman treatment to which ho savs ho was subjected while being held as a small-pox suspect. The American Tin Plato Company’s directors of Elwood, have decided to double the capacity oi the factory, which now employs 350 men. They have found this necessary to enable them to fill all their orders. James North, prominent resident of Howard County, was killed by a Panhandlo freight six miles south of Kokomo, while walking along tho track. Ho was very doaf and did not hoar tho warning whistle. Ho was a wealthy farmer, aged 70. Louie Stevens, a l(l-yoar-old lad, living eight miles south of Connorsville, wont hunting and while resting with his right arm on the muzzle of his shotgun it was discharged, opening an artery. Before a physician could be summoned ho bled to death. The Montgomery County Orphuns’ Home Association lias elected- tho following officers for the ensuing year: President, S. H. Rtstlno: Vice President, Mrs. J. M. Lane: Secretary. O. M. Gregg: Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. L. A. Footo; Treasurer, Mrs. S. 8. McCain. The citizens of Lafayette are making elaborate preparations for tho entertainment of tho Stato G. A. R. encampment, to be hold in that city on April 4 and 5. Tho imports of tho order show that there aro 530 posts in tho State, with a slight increase in the membership.

A 2-YEAR-OLD son of David and Mrs. Shook, six miles north oi Kokomo,met a sad death. While tho family wuh out in tho yard tho child opened tho stove door and throw paper in tho fire. Its clothing ignited und soon it was enveloped in (lames. Death (resulted after four hours of agony. The other night some ono broke into tho homo of a Mrs Smith, a widow with two small childron, living in the northern suburbs of Kokomo, and criminally assaulted her. She is prostrated by the long struggle with tho ruffian, who fiod at tho approach of assistance. Officers aro in pursuit, and if captpred the bruto will bo roughly handled. The residents of East Wayne and Francis Streets, Fort Wayno. are excited over tho discovery of leprosy in a boarding house In that neighborhood. Tho patient is u Polish Jew named Goldstein, who for several woeks lias ueen engaged in u houso-to-house canvass for the sale of notions. Ho was taken in charge by tho health authorities and plueed in isolated quarters on tho Poor Farm, two miles south of tho city. Patrick and Edward Toole, two wellknown toughs ot Brazil, got mad at their mothor and older brother, Barney, because the latter rofused to support them. They procured big knives and sworo to kill their mother and brother. Tho old lady took refuge in a noighboi’s house, but tho boys broke down the door and wore in the act of assaulting her when Joseph Bodell ran to her assistance. The boys turned on Bodell. cutting several ugly wounds which will prove fatal: Both boys escaped, but Patrick was captured near Carbon. Patents have been granted to Indiana inventors as follows: Charles F. Bane, Lafayette, device for automatically opening valves in airbrake couplings; Rufus C. Beardsley, Lafayette, conduit electric railway; Nathaniel H. Bledsoo, assignor of one-half to G. A. Rabus, Fort Wayne, identifying check; Sidney M. Ferguson, assignor of onehalf to himself and J. M. Well, Elwood, mail bag fastener; Charles C. Gilmore, Indianapolis, gas making apparatus; John M. Kailor und M. T. Reeves, assignors to Reeves & Co., Columbus, clover hullor feeder; Elwood W. MeGuiWi, Richmond, adjustable journal bearing; Thomas E. Phillips, assignor of one-half to B. A. McGee, G. W. Bolenbaeher, P. K. Buskirk, and J. Karsell, Bloomington, and J. H. Dunn, Louisville, Ky., separating fibers of reed cane; Griffith W. Williams, Greensburg, fence wire rateftet; Edward T. Wires, assignor of one-half to A. Chaney, Terre Haute, cap and draw pin for foundry use; James J. Wood, alternating dynamo. A fully developed case of smallpox was discovered at South Bend,,recently, and that city is all excitepient. The victim is a stranger who lodged at the Police Station. The night station watchmen have been quarantined.

Albert Pinney, 12 years old, son of Frank Pinney, a prominent horseman, living four miles east of North Manchester, accidentally killed himself with a shotgun. The boy had gone to the woods to shoot an owl, and as he did not return search was made for him. His remains were found with tho top of his head blown off. A sensation was created at Brazil, recently, by tho finding of a will excuted by the late Elder Reuben A. Webster, in 18M, bequeathing all his wealth, amounting to nearly SIOO,OOO, to hie wife’s heirs. At the time of his death a note badly written was found on his person, which designated the manner in which he desired his property divided, giving his own heirs and his wife’s relatives equal amounts of his fortune. Rut since the will has been found, duly executed and signed by Attorney George A. Knight, this will leave the heirs of the deceased without a penny. Mr. Webster'B rela* tlvesaro greatly incensed and a big lawsuit is threatened.

FINE HORSES PERISH.

OVER ONE HUNDRED BLOODED EQUINES CREMATED. Fire, Started Presumably by Tramps, bs the Klwood Stable*. Near DeKalb, Coasumee Valuable Stock—Awful Sight of Brutes Burning to Death. Loss About 0.000. A bout 4 o’clock in the morning th® large barn on what is called the Lyons Farm, belonging to W. L. Elwood, the millionaire horse importer of De Kalb, 111., were burned, with their entire contents. One hundred and forty-seven pure-bred and high-grade Pereheron horses and three standard-bred trotters perished in the flames. The barn was located just outside the city limits, and, therefore, beyond the reach of tho fire department. When discovered the upper part of the building was a mass of flames, and, although every effort was made to free the imprisoned horses, not one escaped. Tho scene was a frightful one. The frenzied brutes dashed madly about their fire-ridden prison, and their snorts of agony drowned all else. Heroic efforts wore made by the attaches of the place and those who had gathered around to rescue even a few of the noble animals, but to no avail. Theexcitemont was intense, and hundreds of men and boys came to witness the conflagration. Bucket brigades were organized, sovoral leads of hose dragged out and attached to a near-by pump, and in this way tho uneven battle was waged. The cries of the dying horses reaohod the ears of those being led to safety, and that added to the pandemonium. Sovoral horses- broke their halters and da-ihed wildly through the throngs of spectators, but fortunately they were recaptured before anyone was very soriousxy injured. The damage to the barn Is estimated at $15,000. The horses, which wore of tho finest stock in the country, are valued at about the same figure. One hundred t ins of hay which was storod in tho gutted barn'was also fuel for the (lames. The origin of the fire can not b.i ascertained positively just now, but there is bald to have been discovered good ovidence to show that the blaze was an incendiary one, started by trumps who had lieon but a few hours before routed from an adjacent haymow. Tho loss is partially covered by insurance.

TRAMPS USE THE TORCH.

Two Attempts to Heiluce the Iluire Agricultural llullillnit to Ashe*. Fire lias oaten another black hole into the wreck of tho World's Fair. There aro men who are trying to destroy what is left of the White City with tho torch. Twico Wednesday they attompteil to burn up the Agricultural Building, and it cost a hard fight to provont the second attempt from boing successful. For all the splendid work of tho tiro companies, a Chicago dispatch rays, the 'southwest corner of tho buliding is in ruins. Tho whole of tha great structure is flooded and sodden. The beauty of the building is spoiled. The vandal ohoso for a place to begin his work of destruction ono of the groat Corinthian columns at the southwestern corner of tho building. Careless toathstors had broken ana crushed the staff covering of the column with the wheels of their heavy trucks, and mado black holes at the base of the pillars. The Incendiary selected this as an advantageous place to make the attempt to destroy the building. A little straw or somo paper was thrown into tho hole and the match applied. Then the Incendiary disappeared to await tho result of his work. Supposably tho work was done by the pestilential tramps who find the desertod nalacos such a convenient camping place. These vagabonds have been thick in the park since the Fair closed; the great fire last month which destroyed the peristyle is known to have been started by them out of revenge, and everything indicates that this blaze was even more deliberately , kindled. This fire has not oaused a great money loss—probably #5,100 or less will cover it all. The damage to the big, useless building can scarcely lie accounted as loss, and there were few goods within exposed to damage.

REPEAL BILL PASSED.

Senator Stewart anil the Popullite Vote with the Democrat*. Washington dispatch: Tho bill repealing in toto all Federal laws regulating the* control of Congressional elections ha< passed both houses of Congress, and only awaits the signature of President Cleveland to become a law. After several weeks of discussion the Senate finally came to a vote on the House bill, anu it passed by a vote of 31) yeas to 28 nays. Numerous amendments were presented by the Republicans, but they were voted down, the Democrats not even taking the trouble to join in the debate on tho amendatory propositions. Senator Stewart, of Nevada, voted with the Democrats on evory proposition, giving as his reasons that he thought the power of the executive was already too great and that the centralizing tendency of the age should be checked at once if tho republic is to survive. The three Populists—Senators Allen, Kyle and Poffer—also voted with the Democrats on every amendment, as well as on the main bill. The measure as it pasted the Senate is identical with the bill as it passed the House, no committee amendments having been proposed.

ROBBED BY BIG FIRMS.

Minnesota Defrauded of *400,000 by Pina Lumber Dealer*. Tho great Minnesota pine land fight has come to a head, complaints having been drawn in the name of the State, charging six of the large lumber firms of Minneapolis and elsewhere with stealing over 100,000,000 feet of pine from forests belonging to the State. The names of the oompanies are withheld until tho formal filing of the complaints. The amount of moneyclaimed by the State is about $400,000. The suits are brought in obedience te the report of the Joint Legislative Pine Land Committee. This body began its work shortly after the adjournment of the Legislature last spring and has just completed its labors. Its findings are of a sensational nature. The theft of pine has been boldly carried on for the past twelve years. Almost whole townships have been despoiled, upon which only partial reports have been made. In other cases millions of feet of pine have been taken and no report wnatever made. The center of this wholesale robbery has been Itaska County, but all adjoining counties to the south and east have suffered severely.

Tragedy In Texas.

Sheriff Hamilton Dickson was killed near Wharton, Texas, by Braddock, the murderer of Constable Townsend. Braddock was at once shot dead by deputies