Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1894 — Page 2

SljeJcmocratirSfutincl » ■ ■ ■■■ ■■ ■ --- ■: ~r±"=z J. w. McEWEX, Publisher. RENSSELAER, - - - INDIANA

A NATION OF HIS OWN

REV. TURNER’S PLAN FOR THE COLORED MAN. Successful an Land and Sea—Ll Hang Chang Degraded—Morton for New York's Governor Train Bobbers Get Ballets. Liberia for the Negro. Rev. H. M. Turner, of Atlanta, Ga., bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for Africa, the West Indies and Canada, and one of the best-known negro ministers In Che United States, is in Kansas City. He lectured at the African Methodist Episcopal Church on the emigration to Africa of American negroes. He told his people that In America a negro may be a citizen of a State, but he is not a citizen of the United States. As long as he stays with the white man and bears oppression, be must bo at the best a menial, bat if the negro possesses the ability which he believes he does, he should found a nation of his own, and have his own institutions. Liberia is s small country, and by no means a strong one, he said; but It has a government of Its own that is recognized, and a Liberian negro has rights which are respected in this country, where the rights of an American-horn negro are trampled upon. JAPS IN HOT PURSUIT. Defeat of the Chinese at Ping-Yang Was Overwhelming. A dispatch received from Ping-Yang, Corea, says that every hour adds to the crushing character of the Chinese defeat. The first estimates were slightly under the actual facts, and the total of the Chinese losses during tho two days’ battle is now said to be over 17.000 men killed, wounded and prisoners. T.ie Japanese cavalry Is continuing the pursuit of the Chinese who succeeded in escaping, and detachments of troopers continue bringing in squads of captured Chinese, The Chineso prisoners who were not woandod were paraded In a circle of Japanose troops and It was seen that they numbered 14,500. It Is probable, however, that this number will be Increased during tho next few days by the prisoners who are being constantly brought In by the Japanese cavalry. Many of tho Chinese captured were found hiding in the quiet portions of the city.

FIVE WARSHIPS SUNK. Chinese Vessels Attacked OfT Yalu While Landing Troops. A naval engagement has taken place off Yalu. where a Chinese squadron was covering the landing of a large force. The landing was effected with success, but in the meantime a Japanese fleet attacked the Chinese. The Chinese war ship Chin Yuen was sunk by the fire from the attacking fleet. The Yang Wol. also belonging to the Chinese squadron, in attempting to get out of tho range of firo, or In maneuvering for a position, was run aground, where she remained. Oie other Chinese ship is reported to have been sunk. Tho Japanese are also reported to have sustained a heavy loss, three of tholr vessels having been sunk by the fire from the Chinese. Admiral Ting and Major Hannikin are reported as having been killed durthe attack. No estimates can be made of the losses on either side. / “ Shaking Up the Soldiers. General orders just issued by the War Department make more extensive transfers of troops than have been made since the war. Fort Sheridan retains the Fifteenth Infantry until next spring. Four troops of the Third Cavalry go to the new post Fort Ethan Allen In Vermont; four troops of the Third Cavalry go to Washington on garrison duty, and the post on Mackinac Island is to he abandoned. The general shaking up will occur Ocu L Nelson’s Bad Faith. Murry Nelson, j.resident of the National Grain Elevator Company, one of the oldest members of the Chicago Board of Trade, and more than once an official of the Institution. was Indefinitely suspended Tuesday afternoon by the directors on the charge of “bad faith aud dishonorable conduct” This action was the result of his violating, as president of the National Elevator Company, a written agreement to reduce storage rates and to do certain other things.

tl Hunjf Chans Quits. Shanghai advices say an imperial edict has been issued depriving Viceroy Li Hung Chang of his threo-eyed peacock feather because of his mismanagement of the Oorean campaign. Taotal Sheng. it is reported, is intriguing against Li Hung Chang through the Emperor’s favorite teacher. Ee-enforcements for the Chinoso troops to the number of 50,000 are said to be between Ping Yang and Yalu. Stolen Money Is Replaced. Some days ago, at Newark, Ohio, a stranger entered the home of Isaac Rank’s three daughters, and finding Florence, aged 18, alone, pointed a revolver at her bead and compelled hor to hand over S9O. Tuesday Florence found an envelope under the door containing the sum stolen, and it is thought that some one knowing of the family’s destitution thus replaced the loss. Mexican Congress Convenes. The eighty- fourth anniversary of the Declaration of Mexican Independence was celebrated in Mexico City with a great military demonstration and by the reassembling in the evening of the semi-annual session of Congress At the latter the message of President Diaz was read.

Levi Morton Gets It. New York Republicans, In State convention at Saratoga Tuesday, named the fol. lowing ticket: Governor.. Levi P. Morton Lieutenant Governor Charleß L. Saxton Judge Court of Appeals Albert Haight Bandits Were Foiled. Passenger train No. 5 on the Santa Fe was held up by four masked men, about 600 yards east of the depot at Gorin, Mo. Through the peaching of one of the wouldbe robbers, the road officials became aware of the designs on the train some ten days before, and the robbers were greeted with a shower of bullets. Is Carlson’s Slayer. Nearly five years ago Nels Carlson, an old miser living In a dilapidated shanty at West Superior. Wis., was murdered by John Nelson. Tuesday afternoon Nelson was arrested at Chicago by Detectives McCarthy and Elliott Negro Murderer Hanged. Beverly Adams, a negro. 22 years old. was banged at Hopkinsville, Ky., for the murder of Ott Campbell, another negro, last May. The execution in the Jail yard was witnessediby fifty people. The doomed man reiterated bis statement that the killing of Campbell was an accident Breckinridge Hay Contest The Breckinridge men are busy figuring on the returns of the Ashland, Ky., district primary nod trying to reduce Owens* plurality. Bo far they have succeeded in -whittling it down to XM plurality, and It Is more than likely Breckinridge wUI contest

COTTON FOR JAPAN. Is Interesting Report from United States Consul Mclvor. The State Depariment is In receipt of a report from United States Consul Mclvor. of Kanaeawa. Japan, upon the manufacture of cotton fabrics from American cotton. He says: “Japanese manufacturers are each year improving the grade of their cotton fabrics and thus demanding a larger proportion of our cotton, which Is the only long staple cotton which can be used in their machines economically; yet by far the greater proportion of this large supply of American cotton Is purchased In Liverpool and London. because the ocean rates from England to Japan are much less than the combined railway and ocean rates from an inland point to Japan. Our people are losing the selling commission, or profit, and the marine Insurance and freightage on a product which Is distinctively an American staple. It might be possible for our great cotton Interests and transcontinental railway lines to establish direct trade which would, even on a much lower freight rate, swell tho profits of the railways and greatly Increase the general profits arising from American foreign trado. We might thus gain direct control of the trade, thus materially weakening and ultimately destroying the right which to-day Liverpool Is supposed to exercise In fixing the price of our cotton In our own markets on tbo theory that she controls the only market for our product.” BIG STEAMER IN PERIL. Pnritan Breaks Her Shaft, and Is Towed , Hack to l’ort—Enterprise a Rain. The sight of signals of dlstross flying froiu the steamer l'urltan caused considerable excitement along tho lake front at Cnicago Friday. The steamer was bound for St, Joseph and had on board u load of passengers. She lay about four miles out, with her flags flying signals for aid. The tug Alpha put out and found that tho steamer had broken her shaft The tug towed the boat back into port It will take a week or more to make the repairs. It was furlunate for the passengers and crow that the shaft broke just when it did. elso the steamer might have drifted around tho lako many hours before being sighted. The Canadian steamer Enterprise, stranded on North Point reef. Is a pretty complete wreck. Her rudder post Is pushed up through the dock, and a large rock has crushed up through the bottom, partly upsetting her engines. After the examination by a diver It was seen that to rescue the steamer was almost an Impossibility.

lIIS HEAD IN DANGER. LI Hang Chang Losing Prestige Because of the War's Delay. A dispatch from Shanghai states that the power of Viceroy LI Hung Chang has steadily decreased. Ills few Influential friends are do.ng their best for him at Pekin, but it Is not likely that they will be able to avert his downfall. Every day’s delay In providing the promised victory over the Japanese now adds to LI Hung Chang’s danger. The dispatch adds that the block in moving the Chinese troops Into Corea continues. Everything has been thrown Into confusion. The re-enforce-ments from the more remote provinces en route to Tien Tsln are at a standstill, and are terrorizing the cities in which they are halted. The re-enforcements are mostly undisciplined hordes, who are not under the control of their nominal leaders. Almost a reign of terror prevails even In Tien Tsln. Fireboat on the Bottom. Chlcug i’s fireboat Vosemite lies at the bottom of Lake Michigan while the ten men of her crew who thought never to see the light of anotlior day lie snug In safe harbor at the flrehouso which overhangs the river at La Smile street. The boat foundered while going to tho big South Chicago Are. and the crew faced death for hours. With a leaking boat slowly settling under them, driven before the wind, fires out rendering pumps useless, the men balling with buckets to keep afloat as long us possible the doomed timbers which alone Btood between them and eternity, and all the while tho lurid gleam cf torches signaling for help darted across tho stormstirred waters, the gallant crew performed deeds of Imroism and awaited death so stolidiy and bravely that their captaiu fails la words to doscribj his admiration for their pluck and thankfulness for their rescuo at a moment when 'all hope had fled. The recording angel may place ten more lives to the credit of Captain St Peter and his men at the Jackson Park Life-saving Station. Wife Murderer Is Shot. Enoch Davis, wife murderer, was executed by being shot on Friday at Lehl, Utah. Ho chose this mode of execution In preference to hanging. Six deputies, each armed with a Winchester, were stationed In a tent fifteen feet from the pen. In the tent were six loopholes to shoot through. About thirty offiers were present, but no ministers. At 10:40 he was placed on a chair with a plank at the back. The doctors pinned a black mark over the heart At 10:43 the marshal cried: “Make roady, taka aim, fire.” Six shots rang out. Davis moved slightly, and at 10:45 gasped faintly. Death was practically Instantaneous Four balls pierced tho paper. Davis killed his wife June 6, 1802, by beatiog her ovor the head with a revolver.

The National G»me. The clubs of the National and Western Leagues stand as follows in the championship race: NATIONAL LEAGUE. _ . p «*i Per W. L. cent. W. L cent. Baltimore .82 67 .BaalPittsburg, .60 61 .49'! New Y0rk..79 11 .668 Chicago... .62 69 .180 Boston 77 11 .012 Clnoinnati.fi 69 .42’ PMl’delp'ia63 60 .676 St. Louis. )9 72 .406 Brooklyn..fit 66 .542 Waßhinct’n.‘2 60 .344 Cleveland. .01 67 .617 Louisville .34 85 .266 WESTEEN LEAGUE. _ T Per Per _. W. L. cent. W. L. cent. Sioux City .72 46 .010 Gr’d R’pldsOO 61 .496 Kansas C’y.oß 61 .667 Indt’n’pTis 65 64 .462 Minne’p’lis 62 65 .630 Detroit ... .19 68 .419 Toledo 60 64 .626 llllwaukee.4l 71 .388 Old Chase Home Is Sold. Kate Chase Sprague, of Washington, has sold Metropolis View, the homestead of her father, the late Salmon P. Chase, for $115,000. For fifteen years it has been a dilapidated-looking estate, overgrown with pine trees and shrubbery, which stood sadly in need of trimming, with its once picturesque fences and arched gateways very much in decay and overgrown with moss and laurel. The Chaso estate was once a suburban residence. It now stands in a thickly populated part cf Washington. IVants a Slice of New York. Rumors were rife Thursday at New York of the sale of a large plot of land on Broadway, running through to Mercer street, to a Chicago syndicate for $1,200,000. The fact was developed that negotiations were under way which would mean a trade of several parcels of Chicago property with a cash consideration. Says All Are Dishonest. W. K. Ackerman. City Comptroller of Chicago, made an argument before the Illinois Board of Equalization, asking that $50,000,000 bo added to Cook County’s assessment so as to give Chicago $1,000,000 more tax money. He said tbesaloons kept Chicago alive and that no honest Assessor could be elected. Were Killed by a Passing: Train. A Panhandle train struck a wagon in which Mr. and Mrs. McDonald, of Frazeysburg, Ohio, were riding. Mrs McDonald was Instantly killed, and Mr. McDonald was so badly injured that be died a short while afterward. Fire la a Chinese Town. A disastrous fire, attended with considerable loss of life, is reported to huve occurred at Chung-King, China, the evenh|«f Aug. 21 The conflagration Is said

to hare raged all night, and before midnight the whole of the southeastern portion of the city was In 'flames. About thirty persons are known to have perished during the fire, and It la probable that this number Is far less than that which will eventually be shown to represent the actual loss of life. It Is roughly estimated that the loss by the fire will amonnt to fully 15,000,000 taels. About 2.0 0 buildings were destroyed. Including part of the Taotals Yamen (city hall) and three Chicago temples. No f reign houses were burned. The Motal’s wife, who was In feeble health, succumbed to the shock IT BEATS LAST YEAR. Business for the Week Meets with Ni Drawbacks. R. G. Dun A Ca’s Weekly Review ol Trade says: Business has met no setback, and continues larger than earlier In August and larger than a year ago, directly after the panic. The country has now passed several weeks under the new tariff, and all admit that changes have been of less Importance as yet than was expected. If In some branches business has materially Increased. It has gained a little or has fallen off in others. Loss In some directions is explained by crop reports, for the most favorable estimates of experts put the loss of corn at about 400,000,000 bushels, whereas the government report is by some Interpreted as meaning a loss of 1.000.0C0,000 bushels. The opinion of the trade does not favor the official estimate; though receipts have been very small, exports have practically ceased, and all realize that the shrinkage of 490.000,000 bushels is serious. If it proves to be uo greater, since It must affect prices of meats for a year or mra

FOUND A LETTER BY LINCOLN. Document In Which the President Pralsec the Sailors. Major Davis, of ihe War Records Bureau, discovered the other day a hitherto unpublished letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the managers of the Sailors’ Fall held In Boston in 1804. It reads: Washington. D. C, Nov. 8, 1804. 4:45 p. m. The Managing Committee of the Sailors’ Fair, Boston, Mass. : Allow me to tflsh you a great success. With the old fame of tho navy made brighter in the present war. you cannot fall. 1 name none lest I wron; others by omission. To all, from the Rear Admiral to honest Jack, I tender the nation’s admiration and gratitude. A. Lincoln The letter was found Inclosed In a lot ot what appeared to bo copies of old cipher dlspatcbos. HOGS SOLD AT A SACRIFICE. Owners Compelled to Sell Owing to Fall ure of Crops. "'Two efi'r loads of hogs from a Western Kansas ranch, where the crops totally failed this season, were unloaded on the streets of Fort Scott, Kan., Thursday and sold for from 90 cents to $3 each. The average price was 91. Three months ago they would have sold for ?8 cash. The scene was a rare novelty. The herd was surrounded by eager butchers anxious to purchase The shippers sell them for only enough money to pay the transportation, rather than let them starve where there Is no food. Many loads have passed through the town going to other cities tu he sold In a similar way. Ohio Thieves Whipped by Farmers. Near Mount Orab. Ohio, sixty masker and mounted farmers dragged James Shoemaker from his farmhouse late at night, tied him to a post and floggod him unmercifully after he had confessed to several thefts. Samuel Loug, a neighboring farmer, also under suspicion, was aroused by Shoeitaker’s cries and fled. Mrs. Long held the fort and made a brave resistance against the whltecaps when they reached her home. They seized her, dragged her to a tree and floggel her severely. Tivo Trainmen Severely Injured. The Cincinnati, Jackson and Macklnav Railroad sustained a severe wrock near Greenville, Ohio. A passing train when turning a curve suddenly left tho track, burying Enginoer Nathaniel Harvey and O. Miller beneath the ponderous machine. When taken out llarvoy and Miller were found to bo badly scalded and bruised. Miller will likely die. Harvey may recover. Terrible Deed of an Aged Man. At Kentun, Ohio, Fred Miller, 70 years old, attempted to kill his wife. He stabbed her with a lightning rod point twice in the abdomen, and the Injuries may prove fatal. He also beat her badly on the head with a hatchet A neighbor who saw the assault drove Miller off with a club. He then ran and jumped into a well and was drowned before he could be rescued. Drink caused the tragedy. New G. A. 11. Officers. Following Is the official roster of the G. A R. for the ensuing year: Commander-in-chief Thomas G. Lawler Senior Vice Commander A. P. Burchfield Junior Vies Commander Charles H. Shupe Surgeon General O. W. Weeks. Driven from Homo by Wlilte Caps. At Martinsville, Ind., white caps called upon William Enochs twice In one week, and he has fled. The charge was cruelty to his wifo. A citizen says tho white caps will visit a dozen other people. Hattie with Moonshiners. News has been received In Little Rock of a battle between moonshiners and revenue officers of Pine County. Deputy T. B. Crisson was killed by a moonshiner named James Cook On Fire at Sea. The Grace Line steamer Capac. Captain Thomas, arrived at New York from Chilian ports. She had a narrow escape from destruction by fire at sea.

MARKET QUOTATIONS.

CHICAGO. Cattle—Common to Prime.. „ $3 75 @6 25 Hogs—Shipping Grades 4 00 © 6 75 Sheep—Fair to Choice 2 09 © 3 60 Wheat—No. 2 Red 63 @ 64 Corn—No. 2 54 @ 66 Oats—No. 2 30 a 31 Rye—No. 2 48 @ 60 Butter—Choice Creamery 2316® 20$ Eggs—Fresh 16 ’a 16 Potatoes—New, per bn so @ Bo>s INDIANAPOLIS, Cattle—Shipping 3 00 @650 Hogs—Choice Light 4 00 a 675 gPMEP—Copimon to Prime 200 @ 300 TOa&M-Nb. 2 Red 49 a 50 Corn—No. 2 White 6667 V Oats—No. 2 White. 32 33 _ ST. LOUIS. CATTLE .Ut w. .A IV 38 03 a 6 50 “, oos 3 00 a 6 60 wheat—No. 2 Red to @ 61 Corn—No. 2 54 @ 66 OAJB—No. 2..., ... .. . 30 a 31 Rye-No. 2 co & 62 „ CINCINNATI. Cattle s 60 a 6 00 d° gs 4 00 a 650 bHEEP 2 00 a 3 50 Wheat—No. 2 Red 62 a 63 Corn—No. 2 Mixed 60 a 60 Oats—No. 2 Mixed 32 a 33 Rxe No. 2 so a 62 „ DETROIT. Cattle 2 to a 4 60 Bogs 4 00 & c 25 Sheep. 2 00 a 3 25 Wheat-No. 1 White 65 @ 65V. Corn—No. 2 Yellow 67'ia 58V Oats—No. 2 White 33 a 34' TOLEDO. Wheat-No. 2 Red 63 & 64 Corn—No. 2 Yellow 57 a 58 Oats—No. 2 White 32V@ 33V Rye—No. 2 *7 a 48* BUFFALO. Wheat-No. 1 White 50 @ sow _ No. 2 Red 66 @ 57 ~ Corn—No. 2 Yellow oo,v@ civ Oats-No. 2 White 36 I 36 m MILWAUKEE. 3 Sprin * 86 ® 65 >4 plutTv °'n W „ Wte 33 a 33,4 St I St E Meoß NEW YORK. - 14 00 ® US ° sheep t r ttt 1 1 c^n-no^. 2 « § « Western 37 a 41 Butter— Creamery 24 a 26 Eggs—State 16 88 1$

RUINS OF HINCKLEY.

WHAT A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT SAW THERE. Scene of Unutterable Horror, Desolation and Death Frightful Experiences of the People—How the Proiperoo* Minnesota Town Was Wiped Oat. Eirth and Air Aflame! Duluth (Minn.) correspondence: Despite the hundreds of columns which have been printed descriptive of the great forest tires in Northern Minnesota, the most careful reader cannot but have failed to reach anything like a full realization of the horrors of that terrible holocaust which had the thriving village of Hinckley for its center. No one who has not gone over the burned territory, seen for himself the devastation wrought and talked with the survivors of tho awful tragedy, can begin to appreeiat: what that ever-to-be-remembered afterno ;n and evening were to the people of the stricken territory. “It was as though the lid of hell had been lifte 1 off for awhile, allowing the flames and smoke of the infernal regions to feast on poor help-

LOADING THE BODIES OF FIRE VICTIMS FOR REMOVAL TO BURIAL GROUND.

less humanity, ” was the way one man in Hinckley briefly described the scene to me. I 9pent ten days in Johnstown, Pa., immediately after the awful flood in the Conemaugh valley; I saw Louisville, Ky., only a day or two it was visited by one of the most destructive and fatal cyclones in our history; I was in Sioux City, lowa, bv the first train which could take me there after the memorable flood in that city; I saw the ruin wrought in Titusville and Oil City by that remarkable conflagration when even the river, covered as it was with oil, became a blazing serpent, miles in length, shooting its fiery tongues 200 feet in air. Hut—always excepting Johnstown—l have never witnessed a scene of such completo devastation, such uttor destruction, as is presented for miles and miles north of St. Paul along the St. Paul & Duluth and Eastern Minnesota Railroads. There is a territory, varying in width from fen to thirty miles and in length from thirty to one hundred miles, in which the flamss loft no live thing. The whole territory is blackened ruin —tens of thousands of acres of charred

HOW A PAIR OF HORSES WERE FOUND.

stumps, smoking ground, gnawing flames, even yet reluctant todleave while there yet remains fuel on which to feed. Where were once great forests, partially cleared farms, prosperous saw-mill villages, the homes of industrious settlers, now all is ruin. Even at St. Paul I found the air dark with smoke, and as I traveled north the smoke became more dense until, once in the heart of the burned district, it could be seen rising in columns and dense masses in all directions, completely obscuring the sun. Even the lleav.Mi* Ablaze. How came the great fire of September 1 which swept over so many miles cf territory, burning several villages and wipping oat over 500 human lives'? Not through any unsual prevalence of smaller fires or through any lack of vigilance or care on the part of the people, but through a combination of conditions very difficult to explain clearly, and against which no man or number of men could have struggled successfully. Let us glance at the conditions existing before the terrible conflagi’ation swept over the country. The extended drouth, the quietude of the atmosphere, the fires burning among the pine stumps and roots in the forest—these had resulted in filling the air with dense masses of smoke, laden with turpentine and resinous gases, inflammable in themselves. Then came a veritable cyclone—the wind flowing sixty miles an hour—sufficient in itself to have wrought untold damage. The wind instead of disk ating the gas-laden clouds of smoke only served to condense them. Added to this, the air seemed charged with electricity. Beginning several miles south of Hinckley and sweeping northward came the cyclone, bsarin.; with it the dense masses o. gas and smoke, which speedily took fire either from thp • ground fires over which they

THE ONLY HOUSE LEFT BETWEEN PINE CITY AND MISSION CREEK.

passed or from electricity. The result was that the (whole heavens seemed in a blaze. Immense masses of roaring flame were hurled along, many feet above the surface of the ground, igniting everything over which they swept. Great black clouds were seen rushing forward, whirling and roaring in the wind "only to burst into flame 3 with an explosion like the discharge of ordnance. Many of the buildings, as I was told hymen who had witnessed the remark/>le and terrorizing sight, did

not take fire from the outside, but from with in. suddenly burst ng into flames all through the interior and then exploding. Before the win! came up the people of Hinckley were generally about their usual vocations—working in the sawmill, about the streets, in the stores, along the railroads, etc. They were impres-ed with the unusual condition of the atmosphere, but were not frightened. The increased density of the smoke, so great that lamps were lighted in the houses shortly after noon, they attributed to the uncommon stillness of tne air. The tire department had been on constant watch for weeks gua ding against the near approach of the fo.est fires, and at this time were fighting a fire on the western verge of the village, but had it completely under control. The company was a volunteer one, aid there was no water system in the village. But the boys ha l a great quantity of hose and usually were able to get water either from the mill pond on one side of*the village or from the “gravel pit” on the other. In this instance, however, several teams were being employed drawing water for the fire company. To the fact that these teams and wagons were accesib e when the crisis came many people owe their successful flignt fr.im the flames. Suddenly came the wind—“the cyclone of fire, ” as the survivors call it. The insignificant fire which the men

were fighting paled before the immensity of the volume of flame and smoke which came rushing over the heads of the firemen, and they were immediately forced to turn and flee for their lives, some on foot and some in the water wagons. At the same moment began all over the village, with its population of 1,500 souls, the flight for In the Gravel Pit. No one attempted to seek a refuge in the small mill pond to the west of the village. It was difficult of access for the villagers at best, being beyond the railroad embankment, and moreover was filled completely full of logs, so that it would have been almost impossible to get into the water. From the mill pond along tho northern border of the village, at the foot of a considerate bluff, is the Grindstone River, never much of a stream, and its bed now nearly dry. At the eastern verge of the village was a hollow, known as the gravel pit, in which was a douplo of feet of water. This was the only natural place of refuge for the people, and it seemed a poor refuge indeed. About AlO peoplo did reach the gravel pit, however, and by lying down or crouching in the water, and pouring water over each other, succeeded in fighting off death. A few perished there from suffocation and heat, _ a few from fright and exb auction, and one man was fatally inured by being trample lonby a cow. Several horses, cows and pigs, and even a number of rabbits and a few wildcats and lynx, crowded themselves into the pit with the people and came out ali\e. As the flames rolled through the air above themtlie people in the pit suffered untold agonies, and many were so severely burned that they will be under the care of doctors for some time to come. To this gravel pit, however, and to the two trains guided hy the brave engineers, Best and Root, nearly all who escaped owe their lives. A few found refuge in water holes in the Grindstone River and a few succeeded in escaping by running for miles along the railroad tracks, having been unable to reach the trains. Of the 1,500 people of Hinckley nearly 500 perished. At Sandstone, a little village a few miles north on the Eas era Minnesota Railroad, sixty-nine peri' hed. At Fokegama several lest their lives, ana of the settlers scattered here and there through tho forest on small clearings very few escaped. Altogether, in and about Hinckley, fully 600 people persshed. Eccentricity of tlie Flame*. As I walked about the smoking ruins of Hinckley I could not but remark tho complete destruction wrought by the flame-;. Every house was destroyed. The sidewalks, and even the culverts running under the streets were burned. Two landmarks, however, remain to show that fires as well as floods can he eccentric. The little wooden outhouse belonging to the Eastern Minnesota

THE GRAVEL PIT EAST OF HINCKLEY, WHERE MANY TOOK REFUGE

depot is intact, without a sign of fire on it, though of the depot and hotel across the way not a vestige remains. Again, down beyond the ruins of the St. Paul and Duluth Bailroad roundhouse there stands a garden fence of thin pickets, dry as tmder. on which the fire ha 3 left no mark. Every house and tree and every foot of sidewalk has been converted into ashes, but the picket lence stands as clean and unmarked as though no lire had ever come within a mile of it. To explain such things is impossible. They are facts, nevertheless. Here and there are bits of clothing, remnants of shoes, buttons, etc., and the_ peculiar dark, greasy-looking spots which the initiated recognizes immediately as the places where victims of the fire perished. Near the site of the roundhouse on the street is a quantity of scorched feathers and bu ned remnants of clothing. The careless passerby would not notice the place, but it marks a scene of such heroic self-sac-rifice as is seldom met with. On this spot perished a sick man and his two would-be saviors. He was unable to rise from his bad, and two heroic men carried him from the house lying on his hlankets and pillow, and tried to conrsv him to a place of safety. After th* fire, when the searchers went a boot the streets gathering up the d««4, they found the three corpses. V » corpse of the sick man was easily

identified, but the two nob’e fellows who died in their heroie effort to save hitn were burned beyond recognition. No one will ever know who they were, this side of heaven. Awfal to t'on>mplate. The mind can hardly grasp the extent of the disaster that has withered with the torch of fire and of death a large area of Minnesota, Wisconsin,

ALL THAT IS LEFT OF HINCELEY.

and Michigan, leaving only blackened waste where beauty once reposed and human ashes where once was the sweet vigor of life! A blackened region, burned houses, and charred bodies once animated with immortal souls—these are the relics of the fiery tornado that swept whole towns and villages out of existence and leveled the beauties of the forest to a blackened, smoking ruin. But yesterday a scene of prosperity, of human hope and courage and thrift, of human lives and loves, and now There is woe jiled on woe. horror upon horror, a charred and blackened chaos beneath, a heaven of smoke above, a city—a dozen cities—of the dead, with hope extinguished by despair and love turned from its objects on earth to objects beyond the dividing line of lite: And oh. the sublime patho3 of tho change—the heroism displayed in the vast burning regions; the sacrifices that can never be vvritten nor ever be known; the divine love that prompted self-ob-literation that some one, dearer than very self, might live. Mothers covering with their bodies the prostrate forms of their little ones that the cruel flames might not touch them, wetting the frail bodies while their own were on fire—who could view such scenes, who think of them, them, without feeling the sublimity of our common nature? And then the tragedy—the profound horror of it all—mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sisters, neighbors and friends, all standing in a raging ocean of tiro; hopeful until their very breaths became as furnace draughts, and then turned with anguished gaze from earth to heaven, falling at length into the sleep of forgetfulness and painlessness. How cruel it all was, how swift, and how terrible! A few hours aud the fiery holocaust was over; nearly one

LEAPED FROM THE TRAIN INTO THE FIRE.

thousand lives were wiped out and over $10,000,000 worth of property was destroyed. The survivors, dazed, suffering and despairing, stood amid their ruins and their dead, while above, veiling the brightness of the sun, hung clouds of smoke—the fringe of the fiery tempest past. Death and ruin

A. M. DICKINSON.

reigned.

SHOWING ON MORTGAGES.

Bulletin Issued by the Head of tho Government Bureau of Statistics. Carro ID. Wright, as head of the Goverment’s Bureau of Statistics, has issued a bulletin in relation to the mortgage indebtedness of the country. It is supplementary to those previously issued by the < tnsus Bureau, and brings the work down to the beginning of lovO. According to Mr. Wright’s figures the total am mnt of mortgage indebtedness ou all forms of real e-tato Jan. 1, 1890, was $6,0J9,67u,9!55. The total number of mortgages in force was 4,777,' 98, making the average amount of indebtedness covered by each mortgage a little over $1,2t0. 'The numbei

of mortgages cn houses and lots was 2,303,061 and on acres and farms 2,4:4,657. The amount of incumbrance on the former was $2,810,531,554 and on the latter $2, 209,14*, 431. It maybe a surprise to many that the ma or portion of this form o indebtedne s lia3 been incurred not by the farming community but by the people in the cities and towns. The average amount of the farm mortgage is but a little over S9OO. while that on the lot and home is nearly $1,300. Neither does the West, as has been supposed, carry the weight of this burden in either case. Bew Yoric has more mortgages than Kansas and Massachusetts more than lowa. New York is the most heavily incumbered State in the Union. Its aggregate mortgage indebtedne-s is $1,607,874,301. Of this amount $1,390,061,240 is secured by mortgages on other forms of realty than "farms. Kansas’ mortgage debt amounted to but $243,146,826, of which $174,720,071 -was on acres and $68,428,755 on homes. Massachusetts carried a load of $323,277,668, of which only $42,441,247 had been incurred by the farmers of the State. The only real ground for complaint that the West has is that the money it borrows costs more than that lent out in the East. All through the Eastern States the average rate of interest is a little over 5 per cent, per annum, while in many portions of the West it it More than double this rate.

LAWLER THE WINNER

CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE G. A. R. Closest Election In tbe History of the Organization —Pittsburs and New Orleans Capture tbe Vice Coxnmandershlpe—Encampment Business—Finances of Order, Majority of Eleven Votes. Col. Thomas G. Lawler, of Rockford, 111., was elected Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, by a majority of 11 votes o\or CoL I. N. Walker, of Indiarapolis. It was the closest contest for the office in the history of the «rganunticn. Maj. A. P. Burchfield, of Pittsburg, ar.d Charles H. Shute, of New Orleans, were chosen respectively Senior and Junior Vice Commanders. Colonel Thomas G. Law er was born in Liverpool about fifty years ago. He came to this country when he was 10 years old. and was 17 when the war began. His army service began in April, It6l, when he made a three months’ contract to fight for the Stars and Stripes in tho Nineteenth Illinois In antry. Sept. 17 of the same year he re-enlisted for three years as a private in Company E of the Nineteenth, with which brave regiment he participated in all the fire and fuss which the Army of the Cumberland was fated to j ass through. He was honorably discharged Sept. 17,

COLONEL THOMAS O. LAWLER.

1864, his rank at that time being Sergeant. On receiving his discharge he returned to Rockford, where he has ever since made his home. Colonel Lawler, previous to election to the Commander hip, served as Commander of Nevius Post, No*. 1, and he now enjoys Q the unique record of not only being the commander of the oldest Grand Army of the Republic post in existence but of Having filled that position uninterruptedly for more than a quarter of a century. VETERANS DYING OFF. Reports Show that Death Is Decreasing? the Ranks of the Grand Army. After the business session of the encampment had been called to order Wednesday the delegates were welcomed on behalf of the c itizen s executive board by Chairman Daniel C. Ripley and also by W. C. quincy, Chairman of the Committee on Invitations and Reception. Got ernor Pattison welcomed them on beha f of the State of Pennsylvania, wni:e Mayor McKenna, of Pittsburg, and Mayor Kennedy, of Allegheny, performed the same pleasant duty on behalf of their respective cities. Major Burchfield then presonted the Commander-in-chief with a gavel of great historic interest, it is made of wood from Fort Sumter, Appomattox, Gettysburg, and Libby Prison, and is bound with metal from the historic cannon. It is thus symbolic of the opening and the closing of the war. Commander-in-chief Adams in his address spoke at length on tho subject of pensions, stating that, w,.ile it was a question of a great interest and he “disliked to consider money matters in connection with our services to the government, the disabled condition of a large number of our comrades forces it upon us. ” He continued: liy a vote of ihelast encampment, a test case was ordered to bo made In the United States courts, aud as that one already begun by Judge Long covered all the points, It was settled that no other should be Instituted. Iu reply to the message of tho President, which stated “that thousands of neighborhoods had their well-known pension frauds,” the pension department of the order has hunted down all reported cases. Very few frauds were discovered, and when found were not cases where soldiers had defrauded the government, but where somo dishonest agent had worked a poor, ignorant widow, and put the money thus obtained In his pocket The membership of tho order, he said", is as follows: Oue year ago there were in good standing 397,223. There have been gained during the year: By muster-in, 16.752: by transfer, 6,354; by reinstatement, 14,036; hy reinstatement from delinquent re; orts, 2.519. Total gain, 39,661. Aggregate, 436.884. There have been lost: By death. 7.283; by honorable discharge, 1,756; by transfer, 7.132; by suspension, 34.805; by dishonorable discharge. 154; by delinquent reports, 16,671. Total loss, 67,801. Number remaining In good standing June 33, 1894, 369.083. ■ 'lhese figures show that the G. A. R. has reached tbe beginning of the end. and each succeeding year will show a gradual decrease in our membership The long-con-tinued depression In business has caused many suspeus ons, and these we hope to regain when prosperity returns, but it will be Impossible for us to rocruit our ranks as fast as our members are mustered out by death. During the year the Grand Army has not forgotten the great work of charity, and has expended 5203.750 for relief. While It has lost in membership, the interest in the order has not abated, but has grown stronger. Tho Utile bronze button was never worn with more pride than it is to-day, and the enthusiasm of comrades In Grand Army work Is everywhere apparent. The following general financial statement is then made; Bala ces on liana »ept. 8,1893 General fund $ 6,660.07 Gr mt monument fund 8,673 62 Flag fend 7U 95 Received from sale of supplies 9.77. S 82 Per capita tax 9,44 G 79 Interest on United States bonds f'jo co Interest ondeposits 101 <:s Intere ton Grunt monument fond.... i r 4 so Con ributions to flag fund 1.012 02 Contributions to Sherman monument fund 264 ro

Total to be accounted for... fao 0:1 25Expenditures— Supplies $7,357 27 Traveling expenses ” i’e73 15 Salaries 3,8*8 70 Postage and Incidentals 6 685 92 gla? laud '. I>, d Grant monument fund 3.0' ii mi Totsl - £23,- 81 74 Ealance on hand, $13,339.51—t0 bo credited as follows: To general fund $7 401 Grant monument fund « I’.agfund 'ja, 77 Sh rman monument fund. ‘ 60 The organization has $16,000 invested in United States bonds, 4 per cents duo in 1907. ’ The next national encampment will 1m httid at Louisvii)ft.