Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 December 1894 — Page 3

Silence

By Miss Mulock

CHAPTER VIII. "Well, mother, and when are we to have that little talk you promised me now nearly two weeks ago?" “About what, my dear?" “Surely you remember?” A vexed look, passing like a shadow across the round, good-tempered face, Showed that Mrs. Jardine did remember, though she would have been glad enough to pretend she did not, and to shirk the question. “Wnat, that entanglement of yours with the little Swiss girl? Oh, she bas forgotten you by this time, depend upon it; and I was in hopes you had forgotten her." “That was not likely, and I must beg of you not to call it an ‘entanglement. ’ What I have to speak to you about is the very serious < uestion of my marriage. You promise Ito consider it. I have waited, not merely a few days, but a whole fortnight, and you have never said a single word to me on the matter, which, you must know, is so very near my heart. It is rather hard, mother.” It was hard, and to do the young man justice, he had behaved exceedingly well. Never sulky, never distrait, as is the manner of young men in love, he had set his mind steadily to do his best, had been at his mother’s beck and call from morning till night, had gone with her wherever she had wished, and done whatever she told him to do. “Mother.” he said sitting down by her and taking her hand —it was a wet afternoon, and she had just sent the carriage away—“you promised me to think it over —this matter so very near ,my heart. Mother, have you done so? Will you give me your approval, and let me take your love and blessing with me—to Neuchatel.-” “And why J What may be your business at Neuchatel?” He turned bitterly away. “Mother, do you think lam a stone, that you try me so? You understand quite we 1, though you pretend to misunderstand. You know lam going to Neuchatel to ask Madembiselle Jardine to marrv me.” “And then?” “Then, I suppose, we shall be married.” “Might I inquire what you intend to marry upon?” “I have not considered the question of my income; i ut it keeps me, and it is doubtless enough to keep a wife. You pay it so regularly that it is you who can best inform me its precise amount, and whence I draw it for I should like naturally, from this time, to be as independent as possible.” “So you shall be, never fear, and much good may your independence do you. Roderick Jardine, since you will be such a fool, hear first what you have to look to. When I married your father, except that tumble-down place, Blackball, he had not a half-penny. 1 was daft to marry him, I know that; but I was young and I was fond of him. ” Her voice trembled a little. “However, that's all past: and he was a good man and a kind husband to me—always let me do as I liked with my own. fi or everything was my own. and is still, aid 1 will do as I like with it; mind that. ” “Of course; who wishes to hinder you, mother?” said Roderick, gently; for the loud tongue was growing louder and the red face redder. Self-re-straint, he knew, was not one of his mother's characteristics—perhaps that was why he had been obliged to learn it himself. “My money is my own” (“myain,” she pronounced it, dropping, as she always did in excitement, into the speech of her youth). “If ye vex me, and marry against my will, lad, ye may do the best ye can with that wretched hole, Blackball; go and starve in the musty old rooms among the mice and rats, as I dare say your father would have liked to do; but ye’ll get naething out o’ me. I haa thousands—hundreds o' thousands—to spend and to leave; but though you’re my ain, only son, marry that woman, and I’ll neither gie ye, nor leave ye, ae bawbee.” She thought she had overwhelmed him, crushed him; but he stood there, without, any visible change in him, except a certain loftiness of carriage and b ightness of eye. “Don’t let us quarrel over money matters, mother. As you say, do as you like with your own. It I have Blackball I shall be quite satisfied, and so will she. ” “Then you mean to brave me, insult me, and marry hes/” “Not to insult you. But I certainly mean to marry her—if I can.” “With or without my consent?” Roderick waited a minute and then answered, in a very low tone, “Yes. ” “Lad, lad! have ye gone clean daft? Do ye really mean what ye say?” For a iparently, until now, ever accustomed to entire and unquestioned authority, she had re.used to believe him in earnest. “1 shall go back to Switzerland, marry my cousin if I can, and present her here as soon as possible as my wife. If she will not marry, me I—l shall never come home at all.” “ae fear o’ that. She’ll tak’ ye, lad; she’ll jump at ye if she thinks you’ve got the siller. ” “Mother” —Roderick spoke beneath his breath in a white heat of suppressed passion—“mother, how dare you say such things to me? If there is a creature in the world that ought to be sacred to a woman, it is that other woman whom her son loves.” “That other woman, as you call her, is nothing to me. You chose her without my knowledge, and you say you will marry her with or without my consent. Doit. But from that day I will never set eyes upon either her or you." “Be it so.” Roderick sprang up in irrepressible passion, and paced the room once, twice, and then stopped opposite her. “You didn’t really mean what you said? Mother—oh, mother.” The appeal was almost like a cry, but in vain. “1 did mean it, and I do.” “Then, mother, it is no use our talking together any more. Good by.” “Good-by.” Roderick held out his hand, but she did not take it His voice was tender, sad—nay, almost heart-broken; but hers was cold as a stone. ******** Roderick stayed a day in London, at a hotel, the address of which he Bad carefully written out and left upon Mrs. Jardine’s dressing table, waiting vaguely in the hope of some bias ed

telegram that might change his miserable journey into a happy one. Then he started; and when he found himself drifting away from Dover pier under the cold clear winter stars, he felt as if he had cut the cable of his life forever. Reaching the hotel after his long journey, the familiar faces and the bright Swiss welcome warmed his heart. It was Sunday morning—during that miserable week he had almost lost count of days—and all the good people of Neuchatel were gone to church; doubtless also the Reynier family. Still, he could not rest He thought he would just go and see the outside of the house, perhaps hear she was well, and then hover about for a glimpse of her, till he could speak to the professor, her nominal protector, and ask permission, after the fashion of the country, formally to offer his hand. For he was determined no respect, no decorum, should be wanting in anything he did, down to the commonest outside convenances, toward the woman be adored. His hand almost shook as he rang the bell of Professor Reynier s door — for after all he could not pass it—and his voice failed, and his disused French seemed to fly away from him when he faced the little bonne, who at once recognizing him, and breaking into the most courteous of smiles, showed him in quiet like “un amide la famille.” They were all well—they would return irom church immediately—monsieur must allow himself to wait—her master would be charmed to see him. Would monsieur repose himseli in the salon? No one was there, she believed. And for the first moment he believed so, too, and sat down, looking tenderly round on the familiar room—the Paradise where his Eve had appeared to him that first night—making ever afterward the whole world naw. The dear, silent, empty room! .Empty? No! something stirred in a recess; some person, sitting there reading, rose with a i low, listless air, came forward, suddenly stopped. The slender figure, the black dress, the fair, clustering curls! Roderick star ed up. The whole thing was so sudden, so unexpected, that there was no time for any disguises on either side. 1 esides, both were so young; and it is in later lie that love learns concealment. As they stood, these two young creatures, face to face, and quite alone, no human power could have concealed the joy of both. Roderick advanced a step. “Me voici! je suis revehu,” was all he said, speaking in French, as seemed most natural.

“Oui, oui, oui!” and with a glad cry Silence clasped her hands, the first impulsive gesture he had ever seen her use: “oui, il est re\enu!” The minute afterward—he knew not how; in truth, neither ever did know —he felt her in his arms, gathered close to his breast, sheltering and sheltered there as if it were her natural refuge. He did not kiss her—he dared not—but he touched her soft hair as it lay on his shoulder —he pressed her, all shaking with sobs, to his breast he called her byname —first “macousine,” and then “Silence!” An instant more, and putting her a little a; art from him, so that he could look down into her eyes, he breathed, rather than spoke, another word—an English word —“My wife.” Silence shrunk back for one moment, trembling violently, dropped her face, all scarlet, and then lifted it up with a strange pathos of entreaty, almost appeal, as if she had but him in the whole world. “Your mother,” he whispered; “your mother knew it all. ” Roderick drew her back again, close into hi j very heart, and pres ed his lips upon hers. In that long, silent, solemn troth-plight the two became one —forever. Immediately on the family's return from church, Roderick asked for an interview with M. Revnier, and explained everything, while Silence did the same to Mme. Reynier and the girls. There were due congratulations, both formal and tearful, from the simple affectionate Swiss househo d, and then the thing was an accepted fact and the young people were fiances and treated as such, according to the fashion of the country, which holds the bond almost as sacred as that between husband and wife. A week went by, and still he heard nothing, had told her nothing of his own people, except briefly answering her innocent questions, that his mother was quite well and his sister married. This might have gone on still longer, he shrunk so from the cruel task of giving pain to his innocent darling, had it not been for a letter which came one morning, the very morn’ng when he took her to look at the new white cross, and she had asked him to “tell her everything. ” He had told hey a good deal; how the repairs were progressing at Blackball —not restorations, only needful repairs, which he had left in charge of Mr. Black, the factor—desiring that nothing might be altered which was not absolutely necessary. But in reading the letter to Silence, he had omitted the P. S., which ran thus; “I saw Mrs. Jardine this morning. She was quite well; looked exceedingly well. She had let her house for the winter, and was just starting on a round of visits in England. She bade me tell you she had received your last letter, and there w.is ‘no answer.’” Then she was inexorable, this woman who called herself a mother. As Roderick stood beside the grave of the dead mother here and thought of his own, he could almost have forgotten his manhood and burst into an agony of childish tears. “What are you thinking about? Is there anything in the letter that vexes you? or anything that you have not read to me?” She spoke in her pretty broken English; she always talked English witn him now; and she looked him straight in the face with her innocent eyes. “I shall not mind ycur not telling me everything, if you say distinctly, ‘I have reasons. I would rather not’ But still I think it would be better —better for us both, if you did tell me.” “You are right,” he answered, with an almost convulsive clasp of the hand which lay on his arm, which she returned. It was one of the touching peculiarities of hers that, now she was betrothed, she never seemed the least shy or ashamed of loving him. of identifying herself with him, and of belonging to him and him alone, without an atom of coquetry, or exactness,’ or doubt. That delight in teasing, in showing their power, which so many girls—really generous and good girls—have with their lovers, was in Silence Jardine altogether absent. She simply loved him, nothing more. “Now tell me, what is it?” she said. “It will not hurt me. Nothing can hurt me now, except so far as it hurts you. Tell me." So he told her, as briefly and tenderly as he could without compromising the truth. He attributed Mrs.

Jardine's objections to his marriage chiefly to her vexation that his bride was of another country and had no dot. Of the family riches, or his own, he said as little as possible: and, in truth. Silence did not seem to take in that phase of the subject, or be affected thereby. The one thing which struck her—and put it as carefully as he would, it could not fail to strike her like a heavy blow—was the fact that he was marrying her without his mother's consent and hopeless of ever winning it. “We never do that here,” she said, faintly. "It is, I think, impossible, illegal.” “It is not so in our free England," Roderick answered, passionately. “No injustice, even of parents, is allowed to blight our lives. After a man is 21, or a woman, either, both can walk out of their parents’ door and in at any church door, and be married in the face of all the world, which is a right and righteous thing ” “Hush!" she whispered; and he saw that her face was white and the touch of her poor little hand deadly cold. “We will not talk any more of this today. To-morrow. We will part now. Do not walk.” “Not walk home with you. Not see you till to-morrow morning!” “Roderick," she whimpered, putting her c. Id little hands in his. They stood together in the shelter of the cemetery wall: the early December dusk had already fallen, and there was not a creatu: e near. “My Roderick, kiss me—kiss and forgive:” .He kissed her—the sacrament of the lips which only faintly expresses the union, through life and after, of soul to soul, and both were comforted and at peace. Nevertheless in walking homo together, they scarcely spoke a single Word. (TO BE CONTINUED. t

NILE BOATMEN.

They Lead Hard Lives of Excessive Forerty. “The workingmen of this country are princes compared with those of some countries I have visited, ” said a trave.er. “Take, for instance, the boatmen on the River Nile. They Itve a miserable life of hard labor, without enough pay to be able to save a penny, and yet they always esem to he happy. Their songs make the night musical, and all day long, at their oars or the tow rope, they go chanting and tinging as cheerfully as if they received s3o instead of S 3 a month. Out of this miserable pittance they are obliged to feed and clothe themselves. Their food is but the poorest kind of bread, baked and broken into pieces and dried on deck in the sun. A heap of several bushels of it always lies on the cabin deck, and this is boiled in river water, making a sort of mush or soft mass, which the men surround three times a day, and sat with their hands dipping it out of the wooden bowl, which is their sole possession in the shape of a dish or plate. These men have a queer way of fishing. They have a rope about two hundred feet long, armed with large hooks at every few inches, which is sunk by weights, and dragged up and down the river. By chance they sometimes in this way hook a large fish, but it is a rare occurrence.”

Coff. e Drinking Theories. It ii hard, to determine whether the excessive coffee drinking of the Americans is the cause of their extreme nervousness, or wnether their highstrung temperaments induce the craving for it. Scientists have tried to prove both theories, but have not agreed upon either. However, we are a nervous people, and we are much addicted to the use of table stimulants. Coffee first became known contemporary with the discovery of America. It is an evergreen shrub native in the East, bea ing bright red berries, which inclose a teed known ai the coffee bean. The story goes that the Superior of a far-away monastery was once told by a shepherd of the singular activity displayed by his sheep after browsing upon a certain shrub. The Superior made an inlusion of the shrub and gave it to his monks, hoping that it would t ssist in keeping them awake during the night devotions. It worked like a charm, and the fame of the little brown coffee berry soon spread abroad. It was not introduced into England until the middle of tho seventeenth cantury. Sir Henry Blount went to Turkey in 1634, and found that the Turks had a drink called “kauphe.” made, he said, “from a berry which they dried and crushed and made into a black infusion, and which they drank at all hours of the day and night." In 1651 it was brought to England, and the first coffee-house was established in London. In the time of Queen Anne there were 3,000 coffee-houses in London. Pope, Byron, Cowper ad other celebrities were frequenters of coffee-houses, which they immortalized in verse. Coffee was introduced in France in 1068 by a Turkish ambassador. Since then it came to America, which is now the greatest coffee-con-suming country in the world. The Southerners use coffee most extensively and always very strong. Tea as used in China is really a hygienic necessity owing to the dense population and lack of sewerage. .The Chinese do not drink water until it has been boiled and pou’ ed over tea. Tea is a stimulant ani is extensively used as a drink.

Abyssinian Superstition.

The Abyssinian has a singular superstition about eating in the open. To him a fit of indigestion from overfeeding would mean theei il eye. He would feel assured that some one had seen him in the act of appeasing his appetite. In walking along a highway in Abyssinia a traveler came across what appeared to be a large bundle of washing near the road. He investigated the matter, and thus describes the result i< the Century: On approaching it, a movement going on within was plainly discernible. Covered up in their shemas, or cloths, were three men eating their midday me al. So much in fear of the evil eye are the people, that they carry amulets containing prayers, and rolls of parchment several yards long, and pictures illustrative of the triumphs of the good spirit over that ocular absurdity are kept in their houses for protection. If an Abyssinian sells you anything, and is well inclined, he will caution you.to heep it indoors or covered up, for if an evil eve should fall upon your purchase it may. spoil or disappear, which latter contingency is much the more probable in Abyssinia. I had some experience of the kind of evil eye that caused goods and chattels to disappear. 11 gleamed for an in* stant in the head of an Ethiopian whom I caught walking off with some dollars from a pile in our paymaster’s tent. The corner of the evil eye smiled when detected, but the smile faded away under the influence of the paymaster’s boot. There is a tax on grave-stones in England, and the man who wishes to inclose a grave by means of a fence or wall is compelled to pay dearly for the privilege. A reformer is often a man whose neighbors wish he would begin on himself. A long face h not a passport to heavea.

HAS TWO GOVERNORS.

KOLB AND OATES BOTH TAKE THE OATH IN ALABAMA. The Populist Candidate Sworn in by a Justice of the Peace—Threatened with Arrest If He Attempts to Speak at the State House. More Tronb'e Feared. Although no outbreak of violence attended the attempt to inaugurate Capt. Kolb as Governor of Alabama, the situa-

tion in the Southern State is even more precarious than it was before the twin inaugural, services were performed. As it is, Alabama finds itself with two Governors, two sets of public officers and two factions of ■ popular sentiment,one supporting Capt. Kolb >in his claim that > he was defrauded of votes and the other

REUBEN F. KOLB.

sustaining Col. Oates, who was inaugurated in the usual way and has the State militia at his disposal. As Captain Kolb is a man of pretty well-known determination, there is a disquieting prospect that the ]>ost-election battle may not end here. The General Assembly has declared in favor of Col. Oates, but his opponent means to demand a reconsideration, and in the prospect that he will fail lies the source of alarm. Koib was sworn in at Montgomery by James E. Powell, a justice of the peace, the ceremony occurring in the law office of Warren Reese. Kolb and his Cabinet then proceeded to the State House for the purpose of making a speech. He was followed by several hundred of his adherents. They marched up the State House steps through the ranks of the assembled militia and took their places beside the identical portico upon which Jefferson Davis was declared President of the Confederate States. In a few minutes Gov. Jones sent for Capt. Kolb, who was escorted into his presence by Lieut. Irwin,

STATE HOUSE, MONTGOMERY, ALA.

of the regular army. “I understand, sir,” said Gov. Jones, “that you propose to make a speech in these grounds, claiming to be Governor of Alabama.” “That is my intention,” answered Kolb. “Then I must say to you that the moment you attempt it I will have you arrested and carried off the grounds. I say this in, all kindness to you. If you were Governor you would do the same thing in a similar case. I will not permit you or anyone else on these grounds to interrupt the inauguration proceedings of Gov. Oates.” Gov. Jones’ manner was courteous but firm. Capt. Kolb looked around at the assembled troops, and with a wave of his hand started down and out of the grounds, followed by his adherents. They congregated again in the street outside the Capitol grounds. A wagon stood near by, and upon this Capt. Kolb mounted. He said that the proceedings would be opened wi.th prayer. A Populist clergyman mounted the wagon, and at his motion the crowd uncovered their heads. Every man in the crowd was a plain countryman with rough clothes and big top boots. The clergyman invoked the blessing of God upon the assemblage, “a plain people, Oh, God,” he said, “who are here to secure an honest government.” At its conclusion Capt. Kolb made a short, temperate address. The only bitterness in it was directed at Gov. Oates, whom he termed a usurper. He declared he had been legally elected Governor, and that he would use every means to gain the position which, he declares, belongs to him. At 2 o’clock Governor-cleet Oates reached the State Capitol, escorted by the militia. Tho inaugural ceremonies were preceded by a prayer, after which Gov. Jones introduced his successor, who was greeted with prolonged cheers.

SPOILS FOR VICTORS.

Patronage Amounting to Over $300,000 Goes to the Ruling Party. The patronage which goes with the transfer of the House of Representatives to the Republicans amounts to over $300,000 a year in salaries. And there is no civil-service examination to be passed. The most prominent of these offices, the salaries which attach to them, and the names of those who surrender them are given: Speaker's Office—Private secretary to Speaker, John T. Waterman, Georgia, $2 102’ clerk to Sneaker’s table, Charles It. Crisp.’ Georgia, $2,102; clerk to Speaker, F. W. Barrett, Georgia, $1,600; messenger to Speaker Henry Neal. District of Columbia. s9i)o. Clerk’s Office—Clerk, James Kerr, Pennsylvania, $5,000; chief clerk, Thomas O Towles, Missouri, $3,600; journal clerk N T. Crutchfield, Kentucky, $3,600; reading clerks, W. J. Houghtallng, New York, $3,600’ Pembroke Petit, Virginia, $3,600; tally clerk F. H. Hosford, Michigan, $3,000: printing and bill clerk, John 11. Bogers, New York $2,500; disbursing clerk, J. Frank Pennsylvania, $2,500; file clerk, Walter H French, Massachusetts, $2,250; enrolling clerks, George B. Parsons, Illinois, $2,250; assistant disbursing clerk, Thomas B. Kalbfus, District of Columbia, $2,000; assistant enrolling clerk, John Kelly, Wisconsin, $2,000; resolution and petition clerk, G. G. Luke, North Carolina, $2,000; newspaper clerk, H. H. Moller, Illinois, $2,000; Index clerk, H. F. Tompkins, Louisiana, $2,000; superintendent document room, F. B. Smith Texas, $2,000; librarian, Asher Barnett, New York, $2,000; assistant journal clerk, G. Walker Pratt, South Carolina, $2,000; assistant Index clerk, J. H. Van Buren, West Virginia, per diem, s6s distributing clerk, George M. Campbell, lowa, $1,800; stationery clerk, Thaddeus Cahill, New York, $1,800; assistant librarians, James R. Fisher, Virginia, $1,800; W. W. Screws, Alabama, sl,800; bookkeeper, John B. McDonnell. Connecticut, $1,000; clerks In dark’s office, P. E. Walsh, Jr., Ohio, $1,600; W. It. Bell, Pennsylvania, $1,600; J. G. Fraser. Arkansas, $1,600;-George B. Fleming, Indiana, sl,600; Edward Millen, New Jersey, $1,600’ Morgan Rawles, Virginia, $1,600; Allen J. Hooker, Mississippi, $1,600; document clerk. Joel W. Hiatt, Indiana, $1,440; locksmith, Joseph Isaacs, Maryland, $1,440; messengers in library, J. R. Conklin, Ohio; 1,314; Aaron Russell, Maryland, $1,314; telegraph operator, E. J. McCrlstal, District of Columbia, $1,200; bookkeeper, W. W. Pennell, Ohio, $1,800; messenger, Felix McCloskey, New York. $1,200; page, Early D. Yoder. Ohio, $720; laborer, Charles A. Christian, Virginia, $660. Office of Postmaster—Postmaster, Lycurgus Dalton, Indiana, $2,500; assistant postmaster, John T. Ross, Maryland, $2,000; messengers, William A. Horbacht, Texas. $1,200; William C. Crawley, Ohio? $1,200; John Stack, New York, $1,200; Henry Yater. Indiana. $1,200; John C. Pratt, Connecticut, $1,200; John R. Grace, Illinois, $1,200; Ralph B. Carlton, Indiana, $1,200; M. W. Prescott, Louisiana, $1,200; Reuben Bourn, Kentucky, $1,200; R. H. Woolfolk, Wisconsin, $1,200; laborer, Daniel B. Webster, North Carolina, $720; mall contractor, W. F. Blundon, Maryland, $3,775. Office of Doorkeeper—Doorkeeper, Charles H. Turner, New York, $3,506; assistant doorkeeper, W. H. Nichols, Texas, $2,000; superintendent of document room, John A Hannay, Missouri. $2,000; assistant superintendent of document room. H. G. Williams North Caroling. $2,000; department messcnCharles W. Coombs, Missouri, $2,000 >

special employe*, John T. Chancey, District of Columbia, $1,500; Thomas A. Cockley, New York, $1,500; document file clerk, Thos. O. Connor, New Jersey, $1,400; assistant document file clerk, C. W. Crockett, Tennessee, $1,314: clerk to doorkeeper, W. A. Bryant, New York. $1,200; janitor, George K. Foster, Ohio, $1,200; messenger reporter’s gallery, C. H. Mann, District of Colombia, $1,200; messengers, R. H. Betts, Ohio, sl,200; George F. Bristol, New York, $1,200; William F, Drountney, Massachusetts, $1,200; J, 8. Dunham. Arkansas, $1,200; Myron H. Ellis; Michigan, $1,200; Michael P. Behen, Missouri, $1,200; Daniel J. Mahoney, New York. $1,200; Sumter Phillips, Mississippi, $1,200; W. 8. Copeland. Georgia, $1,000; John M. Waddill, South Carolina, $1,000; Martin Gardner, Maryland, $1,000; Elmer B. Horsey, West Virginia, $1,000; H. B. Lingenfelter. Indiana, $1,000; M. F. Sterett, Terse. $1,000; Charles Weber, Now York, $1,000; Chas. Aatheldor. Wisconsin. $1,000; O. C. Wilson, Kentucky. $1,000; laborers. C. F. Holbrook, District of Columbia. $720; Wm. Mattershed, Pennsylvania, $720: female attendant ladles' retiring room, Ada N. Boe, New York, $720; assistant to Ole clerk. Geo, A. Shower, Maryland, $000; laborers tnth* Clerk's document room, 8. B. Bull, Virginia, $D00; P. Y, Abernathy, Tennessee. S9OO. The clerkships and messengershlps of the following committees and their compensations are: Appropriations, $3,000; assistant clerk to appropriations, sl,fioo; messenger to appropriations, $1,000; clerk to agriculture, $2,000; claims, $2,000; commerce, $2,000; District of Columbia, $2,000; elections, $2,000; foreign affairs, $2,000; Indian affairs, $2,000: Invalid pensions. $2,000; Irrigation of arid lands, $2,000; judiciary, $2,000; merchant Di* r i ne 8,,<1 fisheries, $2,000; military affairs, $2,000; naval affair*. $2,000; public land*. $2,000; war claims, $2,000; postoffice* and post roads. $2,000; public buildings and grounds, $2,000; digest elillms, $2,000; assistant clerk war claims, $1,200; account*, $2,000.

ECKELS ON BANK ISSUE.

HeDiscnssea Currency and the Defects and Limitations of Present System* The report of the Hon. James H. Eckels, Comptroller of the Currency, submitted to Congress, gives full information in regard to the organization, supervision, and liquidation of the national banks for the year ended Oct. 31, 1804. It shows that during this period but fifty banks were with a capital stock of $5,285,000, the smallest number chartered, as well as the minimum amount of capital, in any one year since 1879. Of these banks twenty-seven nro in the Northern and Eastern States, ton in the Southern States,and thirteen in the Western or trans-Mississippi division. On Oct. 31, 1894, the total number of national bunks in operation was 3,756, with an authorized capital stock of $672,671,305, represented by 7,955,076 shares of stock owned by 287,892 shareholders. On Oct. 2,1894, the date of their last re- i port of condition, the total resources of the banks were $3,473,922,055, of which their loans and discounts amounted to $2,007,122,191, and money of all kinds in bank, $422,428,192. Of their liabilities $1,728,418,819 represented individual de- ' posits, $334,121,082 surplus and net undivided profits, and $172,331,978 circulating notes outstanding. The total circulation of national banka on Oct. 31, 1894, amounted to $207,472,603, n net decrease during the year of $1,741,503 and a gross decrease of $8,614,864 in circulation secured by bonds. During the year seventy-nine banks, with an aggregate capital stock of $lO,475,000, passed out of the system by voluntary liquidation; twenty-one—including two which failed in 1893—with a capital stock of $2,770,000, became insolvent and were placed In charge of receivers. The feature of the Comptroller's report is his discussion of the currency question and the defects which are said to exist in the note-issuing powers vested in national banks. On this subject he says: No section of the law should be disturbed which cannot be materially Improved upon and no amendment engrafted unless such amendment will work out better results than flow from the existing order of things. For the present law It must be conceded It has been successful In every material feature, excepting In the matter of bank-note Issues, and here the failure has been a partial one. The notes Issued by the banks under governmental supervision have been uniform In appearance and under any and nil circumstances of the full face value which they purport to carry. They have possessed the flrst requisite of a good bunk note Issue—lmmediate convertibility Into coin' upon presentation. It Is probable that there could be no bettor plan for simply Insuring the note holder against loss than the present requirement of a deposit of bonds to secure n bank's circulation, but It Is equally certain, however, that n method could be devised, not less safe In this respect, and In addition thereto possessing that which Is essential and Is now wholly wanting—elasticity of Issue. The complaint, therefore, made against the present system Is that, lacking in elastlcy of Issue, it fulls to meet as fully as it ought the varying wants of the country’s trade and commerce. This defect must attach to every scheme for n currency Isued by the banks against a deposit of bonds, the market value of which fluctuates while the percentage of Issue, less than the value of the bonds granted the banks, remains unchanged. But serious as Is thin fault and retnrdfnl ns It Is to the business Interests of the country, any attempt to remedy It which should lose sight of or In any wise make less certain the present unquestioned credit and convertibility of the bank Issues of the country could not be justified. It Is a duty of governments to see that the currency which circulates among the people,shall always bo of the very highest character, the soundness of which should never bo a subject of Inquiry. For thirty years the American people have had such a bank currency, and having seen the value of It both here and abroad they will not bo content to have any Innovation made unless such now departure Insures not only equal but better results. It Is respectfully suggested that not only ns good but better results would be attained if the present bunk act were amended by repealing the provision thereof requiring ouch bank as a prerequisite to entering the system and issuing bank-note currency to deposit government bonds. In lieu of such provision should be substituted one permitting the banks to issue circulating notes against their assets to an amount equal to at least 50 per cent, of their unimpaired capital. The Comptroller follows this suggestion with the further one for the maintenance’ of a safety fund to be provided by graduated taxation upon the outstanding circulation of the banks until the same shall be equal to not less than 5 per cent, of the total of such outstanding circulation, this fund to be held by the Government ns an agent only, and for the purpose of immediately redeeming the notes of insolvent banks. It is to be immediately replenished out of the assets of the banks, on which it shall be a first and paramount lien, nnd from assessment to the extent of the double liability on the shareholders.

Civil Service Report.

The eleventh annual report of the United States eivii service commission shows that from July 1, 1893, to June 30, 189-1, 4,372 appointments were made in the classified service, an increase of eightythree over the previous year. The number is divided as follows: Departmental service 385, railway mail service 718, Indian. service 106, customs service 280, and postal service 2,823. The whole number of applicants examined for the five branches of tho classified service, was 37,379, of whom 22,131 passed. The' commission claims that experience shows that all positions in the government service, with possibly a few exceptions, can be filled under the competitive system. About one-half. of all the employes of the classified service are in the 610 classified postofflees. The law, it is said, is now better observed in the larger offices than ever before The Indianapolis and Baltimore offices are cited as having been very badly managed from a civil service standpoint, but are now considered well conducted, as are those of Boston and Chicago. Politics is said to hove been practically eliminated in making appointments and removals in almost all pf the larger .postoffices, as well as in most branches of the departmental service at Washinton. The report declares that politics should have nothing to do with continuance in the service, but that to some extent religious and political reasons will influence dismissals until there is a requirement of law or rule that not only shall the reasons for dismissals be made a matter of record and be made known to the person dismissed but that an *Wfnrt«fdty be given for defense, .■ ’ I

TREASON IS CHARGED.

ILI HUNG CHANG ACCUSED Of BETRAYING CHINA. Said to Have Favored Japan and to Have Sold Her War Secrete and A mAttack on the Great Viceroy. Plotted Against the Empire. His majesty the Emperor of China ha* been memorialized by over one hundred ol the highest officials in his empire for the impeachment of General Li Hung ( hang. Advices from Shanghai say the important memorial has caused a profound sensation. The disgraced prime minister is charged with corruption, peculation and deception. Tho memorial also declares that Li Hung Chang has openly rejoiced at the successive important victories by land and sea of the country'* enemies, tho Japanese, and that by hie,deliberate action he virtually prevented the Chinese from achieving success. The prime minister is said by the memorial to have represented that China was fully equipped and well prepared for war when be was well aware of the fact that the country was illy able to contend against the forces of Japan. It is further charged that he ha* been implicated with Prince Kung, the uucle of the Chinese Emperor and President of the Taung Li Yamen and of the Admiralty, wly> was recently appointed to the po-

LI HUNG CHANG. (China’s disgraced Prime Minister.)

sition of dictator, and with tho Taotai Wu and tho commander of the force* at Port Arthur. Gen. LI Hung Chang, who 1* declared to bo the prime mover in tho alleged conspiracy against his own country, was born in the Anu-Huel province of Chinn on Feb. 16, 1823. In 1860 ho co-operated with General (then Colonel) Gordon in suppressing tho Tneplng rebellion, being then Governor of the Thiung-Sin province. The other Thiang province being added to his rule, ho was created Viceroy of the united countries in May, 1805. The following year ho was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, and in 1867 Viceroy of Hong-Kuang, and a grand chancellor in 1868. After tho Tien-Twin massacre in 1870, he was despoiled of his titles mid otherwise punished on the charge of not assisting the general in command, but in 1872 the then Emperor restored him to favor and offered him tho office of Grand Chancellor. He was tho mediator for fixing tho indemnity for tho murder of Mr. Margnry ( who was killed, in 1876, while endeavoring to explore southwestern China. Then he was appointed Viceroy of tho metropolitan provinces of Pe-Chih-Li, and n* such has been tho administrator of the Chinese empire. He has been regarded ns a man of liberal views, and has permitted coal-mining and coast steamer traffic to be carried on by English companies, and it has been thought that he would be favorable even to the building of railways.

MINT DIRECTOR’S REPORT.

Shows the Volume of Gold and Silver Purchased and Coined. R. E. Preston, the director of the Mint, has submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury his report of the Mint and Assay Offices for the fiscal year 1804. The value of the gold deposited is stated as $140,942,545; $38,008,051 was of domestic production, $28,000,525 foreign bullion and coin, $3,118,421 old material, $2,093,615 worn and uncurrent United State* gold coin deposited for recoinage. The deposits and purchases of silver during the year were 22,746,(161 fine ounces, the coining value of the same in silver dollars being $20,400,825. Nineteen million seven hundred and seventyseven thousand and seven hundred dollars was of domestic production, $1,832,890 foreign bullion and coin, $6,481,404 worn and uncurrent United States coin, and the remainder, $805,036, old material. The amount of silver bullion purchased under the act of July 14, 1890, was 11,017,659 fine ounces, at a cost of $8,715,521; the average cost per fine ounce being $0.7313. The total aipount of silver purchased under the act of July 14, 1890, from Aug. 13,1890, the date the law went into effect, to Nov. 1, 1893, the date of the repeal of the purchasing clause of that act, was 108,674,682 fine ounces, costing $155,931,002; the average pri<?e per fine ounce being $0.9244. The total coinage of silver dollars under the act of July 14, 1890, to July 1, 1894, was 36,087,943, consuming 27,911,768 fine ounces, which cost $29,110,647. The seignoirage of silver coined under act of July 14, 1890, to July 1, 1894, was $6,977,296. From July 1, 1894, to Nov. 1, 1894, 2,413,200 dollars were coined, the seigniorage of the same was $786,764.27, making the total amount of silver dollars coined under the act of July 14, 1890, 38,531,143, and the total seigniorage $7,764,060. The total coinage during the year was: Gold, $99,474,912.50; silver dollars, 758; subsidiary silver, $6,024,140.30; minor coins, $719,919.26; total, $106,216,730.06. The gold coinage for the year was the largest ever executed at the mints of the United States in any one year. The highest price of silver during the year was $0.7645, anil the lowest $0.5918, showing a fluctuation of $0.1725 per fine ounce. The net gold exports for the fiscal year were $4,172,665 as against $86,897,275 for the prior fiscal year. The net exports of silver for the fiscal year were $31,041,359 as against $7,653,813 for the fiscal year 1893. The director estimates the value of the gold used in the industrial arts in the United States during the calendar year 1893 at $12,523,523, and silver at $9,534,277; of the gold $8,354,482 and of the silver $6,570,737 was new bullion. Brieflot* Francis Kossuth has taken the oath of allegiance to the King (Emperor Francis Joseph). The Little Rock and Pacific Railroad has been organized to build a road 160 miles long. William N. Whitely, the reaper man, will rebuild his factory at Muncie, Ind., recently burned. Indiana farmers were fooled by a Chicago lunatic who tried to buy the whole . country around Hebron. J. Edward Addicks, the millionaire cani lldate for Senator from Delaware, haa I ooen sued for divorce by his wife.

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

OCCURRENCES DURING THE PAST WEEK. An Interesting Summary of the More Important Doing* of Our Neighbor*^-Wed-ding* and Death*—Crime*. Caaualtie* and General New* Note* of the State. tfooaler Happening* One of the three schools ci Alexandria has been closed on account of diphtheria. The .’'-year-old son of Mrs. Cora Baker of Richmond, drank carbolic acid while at play in the yard, and will die. The i'-year old son of Mrs. Samuel Batdorf of Noblesville, fell from a horse and received injuries resulting in death. Hon. William H. Coombs, aged 87, old law partner of W. H. H. Miller, late Attorney-General of the United ■States, died nt Fort Wayne. Mils. W.m. Shipman and her sister, while crossing the Ohio River in a skiff, wore run down by a ferry I oat near Jeffersonville. Nirs. Shinman was drowned. While chopping a tree in the wooc s, near De atur, Frank Sullivan, a wealthy farmer, was instsjjtly killed by a dead limb falling and striking him on the head. r School Trustees, Attorney General Ketcham holds, must report annually to the County Commissioners as to fin&ikes, A city council can compel city school trustees to show their financial re. ords. AN explosion occurred at Prospect Tlill coal mines near \ incennes, which resulted in the serious injury of William Ben&in or and William Naugel. Neither will die. The explosion was due to pocket gas. Tho State Sanitary Commission,with the State veterinarian, found four, horsoa in a stable in Terre Haute sick with glanders an i ordered them killed. The oommlssio i is makinga’tour of the towns near Torre Haute. The 3-yoar-old son of William Gossett of Fairmont, while playing in the yard, caught lire from a pile of burning paper and was so badly burned that it will probably dio. The mother received severe burns about the hands while trying to save her child. Mrs. Jesse Richards, Miami Indian squaw, daughter of Wa-cu-i o-nah, one of tho most conspicuous members ol tho tribo, died in ti miserable hovel on the Indian Reservation, Wabash County, last wook. She was the last surviving member of the Wa-ca-co-nah family. Wallace Hall, sent to tho Northern Prison foe two years for tho crime of assault and buttery, has boon pardoned by Gov. Matthews. Hall was sent to tho penitentiary from Park Co nty four years ago. Ho was rejwrtod dying and tho Governor placed the pardon in the hands of tho prisoner’s aged father. Mrs CHARLES Leeds of Indianapolis, discovered the curtains in her parlor attaint , and. in trying to put out, the fire, the hair was burned off her head, and she was terribly in ured. Mrs. T. C. Purdy, who was very ill, was dangerously prostrated by the shock, but she was curried out by the firemen in time to save her life. At Anderson, Minnie Forber. aged 7, was playing with her doll, when its clothing caught tire from a ,et. The iiames also caught the child's clothes, and in a so:ond she w s enveloped in fire. She calloJ for help and her aunt ran for aid. While she was gone the little girl ran out into the yard, and when jo nd she was burned to a crisp. John Toban, a molder, employed at tho Whiteley Malleable Iron Works, Muncie, aged 24. was instantly killed by an east-bound Lake Erie arid Western passenger train. He was going to the Muring, Hart & Co. Window-glass Works to see the men blow glass, and was on tho Jong bridge that spans White River near the fa tory when the passenger train rounded a aurvo and stru. k him. The following patents have been granted to residents of Indiana: William Lush, assignor of one-half to D. Duehmig. A villa, combined awning and lire and burglar-proof shutter; John P. Liboy, Lima, scraper; Irvin G. Poston, Veedersburg, paving block; William 8. Ralya and H. Coyle, Indianapolis, metal straightening machine; Christian A. Hal/man, assignor of two-third» to E. P, Kennel, Hamilton, 0., and J. A. Robbins, Indianapolis, combination tool; William P. Stevens, Muncie, combined label and price card. Gov. Matthews has issued a pardon ♦d James E. Reed, aged 19 years, who was sent to the Penitentiary for tyvo years from Elkhart County on a plea of guilty to burglary. It was his first otfense. He has made an exemplary prisoner and would be free in a few months by expiration of sentence. The Governor was influenced, he says, by a desire to give the young man a chance to re-enter life with a feeling that he may yet regain his good name and bo an honorable citizen. The parents of the prisoner are quite old. The Globe Tin-Plate Company, with a capital stock of $150,096, rccent’y organized at New Castle, located the rite of a mammoth plant on the north side of that city. The mill will be equal in size to t’ie largest now in operation in America and will give omp oyment to more than 400. The most of the stock is taken by local business men, including E. E. Phillips, cashier of the First National Bank; L. A. Jennings, Treasurer of the Retail Furniture Dealers’ Association of Ame ica; 8. P. Jennings, J. S. Hedges, L. L. Burr, ex-Auditor Joshua I. Morris, R. M. Watkins and Hon. C. S. Hernly, County Clerk. Tho.remainder of the stock is taken ty practical tin-, plate manufacturers L orn Wales. The drilling of two immense gas wells within three miles of this city has added a decided impetus to the enterprise. Claude McDonald, aged 18, was run down by some freight cars which had been thrown on a side track on the P., C., C. & St. L. Railroad at Seymour. He was taken to the o.tlce of Dr. M. F. Gerrish, and his leg amputated. It is not believed that he can recover and should he die it will make the third boy of the McDonald family wco has met with accidental death. About ten years ago a son of Hon. W. N. McDonald was run down and killed by the cars at almost the same place. Two years ago a ton of Marsh McDonald fell from a load of hay on a pitchfork and was killed. Grand Army of the Republic general order No. 4, just issued by Com* mander-in-ohief Lawler of the national organization, gives a list of aids-de camp. Those for Indiana are: Mark I, DeMotte, Valparaiso; John Frith, Elwood; E. A. Jernegan, Mishawaka; W. S. Hunter, Jasper; J. E. Loughry, Monticello: Jasper E. Packard, New Albany. John W. Ross, Connersville; M. D. Tackett, Greensburg; H. A. Root, Michigan City; James M. Dillv, Brazil; J. D. Gallagher, Independence; J. D. Kidd. North vernon; M. M. Hurley, New Albany; G. V. Menzies, Mount Vernon: James M. Rogers. Huntington; George W. Scarce, Dariville, and J B. White, Fort Wayne.