Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1895 — Page 5

TOOLS OF THE TRUST.

GROCERS’ ASSOCIATIONS CONTROLLED BY HAVEMEYERS. Some of the Secret History of How the Prices of Both Raw and Refined Sugars Are Dictated—How Republicans Squirm. A Timely Exposure. There Is one phase of the sugar trust with which the public is but little familiar. Most people know something of the trust's ability to dictate prices of both raw and refined sugars; to close refineries and throw men out of work; to manipulate its stocks in Wall street by means of false rumors as to prospective dividends or profits to defy laws and courts by refusing to give statistics to the Census Department, or to allow Senate committees to examine its books; and to bribe enough Senators to procure favorable legislation. But few people, however, know that during the last four years the trust has built up the nearly forty wholesale grocers’ associations which now cover all parts of this country, and has so planned them that their most important function is to serve the base interests of the trust. Yet such is the case.

By an ingeniously devised system of rebates to the grocers, who are members of wholesale associations, and who sell only the trust's sugars (or sugars of refiners allied with the trust, as practically all now are), at prices fixed daily by the trust, the grocers’ associations become the Instruments of the trust in sustaining prices so that no person in this country can obtain sugar except at trust prices. More than that; the profits from the rebates have been large enough to make allies and defenders of these natural enemies of the trust. Several times, when called upon, these grocers have sent in hundreds of telegrams to Congressmen from all parts of the country begging or threatening them not to favor legislation which would destroy some or all of the unholy profits of the sugar trust. Congressman John De Witt Warner, who secured the passage of the freesugar bill through the House, and who is, perhaps, the best posted on sugar trust matters of any man not connected with sugar business, has written a very interesting pamphlet, printed by the Reform Club of New York, entitled “The Distributing Combine.” He has made a great collection of original documents, correspondence, etc., upon the subject, and gives the most accurate details of the heretofore secret history of this gigantic trust and its powerful allies in every State. At the end of his twenty-four-page pamphlet Mr. Warner thus summarizes the startling details of this wonderful trust: “With the Spreckels in control of Hawaii, and the Havemeyers extending their plantations in Cuba, the trust dictates to every branch of sugar production and distribution in the United States, taking under its wing every one concerned—except those who consume sugar. From its office, at 117 Wall street, cable messages fly daily to its agents in Cuba, fixing the price of raw sugars there; to San Francisco announcing ‘Cuban parity,’ at which arriving Hawaiian sugars are to be valued; to Louisiana, telling her planters what—in view of Cuban and Hawaiian prices—the trust condescends to offer for American sugar; and to its representatives all over the world, giving the limit—based on Cuban parity—at which they can pick up Austrian, Javan, Philippine, Brazilian and other sugars, when these are temporarily depressed in price. In an adjoining room the quotations at or above which the subservient dealers throughout the country are permitted to sell sugars, are daily settled, and through the four great sugar brokers who stand nearest the throne these are passed to the forty others who awaits the sugar trust’s nod at New York and telegraphed to the waiting hundreds in other cities of the land. These in turn so promptly notify their patrons, the thousands of wholesale grocers of the country, that before their doors are opened all danger of any purchaser getting his sugar below trust prices is over for the day. By discount from his bill or periodical remittance, as the case may be, each faithful wholesaler is promptly and liberally paid for his loyalty; and whenever, in the crisis of legislation, he hears the bugle call of the trust, he instantly steps into line, ready to bombard his Congressman with telegrams or fight him with ballots at short range until the sugar trust cause is triumphant. / “Such is the grandest trade organization the world has ever seen. “The sugar trust dictates the tribute that shall be rendered it by the American people. “The wholesale grocers are rewarded by whatever of largess the trust thinks necessary to insure their loyalty. “And the public?—‘The public be damned’—and it is.” Iron and Steel Need No Protection. In a letter to the Herald on the tariff Mr. Seneca D. Kimbark, of Chicago, a veteran in the iron and steel business, writes: “The iron and steel trade of this country does not need protection now. The time was when it did need it, but that time is passed. Neither does the tinplate industry need protection. All it needs is for vigorous, young, patriotic Americans to go into it. They will build up and remove it from any danger of Welsh or other foreign competition. “Any industry that demands forty or fifty per cent, protection ought to die.” Mr. Kimbark very forcibly adds: “I have been in the iron and steel business for forty years, and I say that this branch of business does not need protection. Tariff duties are but the extraction of selfish greed at the best” No testimony could be more pertinent or show more clearly the blindness and stupidity of the present do-nothing policy of the Democratic Senators who refuse to consider the bills for placing iron ore and bituminous coal on the fi’ee list The passage of these bills would help American iron and steel industries generally—by enabling them to cheapen production and thus to en-

large the sale of their products both at home and in the world’s markets. If the question could be considered without political bias and apart from all political partisanship, American manufacturers would probably be almost unanimous in demanding freedom from taxation for these and other raw materials.—New York Herald. Babcock's Heretical Ideas. Mr. Babcock, the chairman of the Republican Congressional committee, has been openly repudiating the McKinley bill and saying “it was not deffired by one Republican out of five, and was au unreasonable imposition of the manufacturers, and that the country will not in any case go back to IL” For this he was sternly chastised by the party organ, the Tribune, this morning, In an interesting though amusing, article Babcock was wrong In attacking the McKinley tariff, because “that was the latest form of tariff framed and formally approved by the Republican party as a w hole.” But then this might have been said of the twenty-four Republican tariffs which have preceded it since 18G1.. Each was in its day “the latest form of tariff,” etc., but every one of them must have been attacked by some sacrilegious Republican dog like Babcock, or else it would never have had to give place to another. The Tribune next admits that the tariff of 1890 “is not a fetich to be stupidly worshipped,” which is in substance what Babcock says. “The defects of the measure may be profitably explained and corrected when the opportunity comes.” w’hich is also Babcock’s view. “Whenever power comes from the people to frame a new revenue law’, the Republicans will Improve on the act of 1890 as far as they can.” We do not know Babcock, but if he would deny this, he would be far worse than his friends represent him to be. The mission of the Republican party is to “improve our tariffs” by making new ones. The explanation the Tribune gives the wretched man of the meaning of the election in 1894 will not, we fear, help him to clearer views of the situation: “It is just as well to quit the notion that the American people meant in 1894 exactly what they meant in 1892. The change operated mightily, and he is a dolt who does not see it Whatever the verdict of 1892 meant, we may be entirely sure that the verdict of 1894 means not only something different but on the whole something directly opposite.” Now this is not a case of excluded middle. It does not under the present laws of thought follow that because the verdict of 1892 meant something uncertain or unknown, the verdict of 1894 means something directly opposite. If one declines to go South, It does not show itat be wants to go north. He may want to go northwest or southwest or eist by north-northeast. This, we are sure, is Babcock’s view, and we advise him to siand his ground. We are pained to observe, however, that Mr. Babcock, before the Tribune got at him, had already begun to recant. He now says he did not mean to crltise the bill “as a whole,” but on y some details, and declares that “the Intelligence of an American people was the foundation of our strength as a nation,” a remark which evidently puts somebody “In a hole,” but whom does not appear. Mr. Reed also recants a little, as does Mr. Apsley, of Massachusetts.—New York Post. * Squirming Republicans. That the education on the tariff question that has been going on for six years has extended to the Republican party is evident from the discussion among their leaders as to whether or not their party is still for high protective or of moderately low duties. The following sent out from Washington a few days ago to the New York Times is indicative of the growing tendency of Republicans to fight among themselves about protection: Nothing could be more distressing to zealous Bourbon Republicans than the agitation which is progressing all over the country in favor of a Republicanism that discredits McKinleyism. Reed, Allison, Sherman, Butterworth and other Republicans have helped the low-tariff tendency on, and they appear to have helped.it too much. Chairman Babcock has been endeavoring to eat up a statement attributed to him and supporting the moderate tariff idea, and remonstrances against the heresy are heard all over the Capitol. Capt. Boutelle, who is always oratorical and superlative in language, has set his face against the tendency to-day, and in words that can have but one meaning he says, in tones that can be heard for blocks: “Instead of retreating, the great army of protection has advanced its standards and lifted them higher than ever before. The demand for the preservation of the American market for the products of our industry, and for such protection as will guarantee to American workmen the greatest practicable diversification of employments and the highest possible wages consistent with the general welfare of the whole people, has been uttered at the polls this year in stentorian tones, and nny man or set of men in any party who disregards or seeks to misinterpret that mandate will fail to muster a corporal’s guard of supporters among the intelligent and patriotic citizens who form the future hope and safeguard of the republic.”

$40,000,000 Wall Street Profits. The analysis of sugar ring manipulation during the last year is startling in its suggest!veness, particularly to those who remember what happened in the case of Cordage. The figures show’ that the ring operators have been selling and buying the W'hole of their stock three times over every month, and as they have had the making of all the news concerning it, have been able to put prices up and down at will. The margins of possible profit on their purchases and Sales for a year have amounted to more than $150,000,000. Allowing three-fourths of this for “wash sales” and the like, there is still a gambling profit in sight'of forty-odd millions, and as a year’s dividends amount only to one-tenth that sum they can oe paid or passed as the gamblers see fit, without serious inconvenience either way. It is like gambling with marked cards or loaded dice, and the profits must in the end come cut of the earnings of honest men. How much of da,ngei’ all this involves to the prosperity of the country the history of the cordage collapse only partially suggests.—New York World. Cape Henry’s Light. The highest lighthouse on the American coast is that at Cape Henry, Va. It is 1 o feet in height, built wholly of iron.

GOWNS AND GOWNING.

WOMEN GIVE MUCH ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY WEAR. Brief Glances at Fancies Feminine, Frivolous, Mayhap, and Yet Offered in the Hope that the Reading May Prove Restful to Wearied Womankind. Gossip from Gay Gotham. Wew York Correspondence:

AINTY’ dresses are I quite as possible J ■ and desirable for Bthe morning hours as they are for afternoon wear,but the trouble is that Fft ' they are 80 easlly fy A soiled that women \\ are muc h Incdned LIV \\ t 0 wear WOm-OUt "■’pagsT*'— dresses and other

untidy rigs. Aprons are very serviceable in saving the gown’s looks, and they may at the same time add to its dressiness. The apron may be just a little square of delicate muslin, as transparent as is desired, and with perhaps a be-ribboning that makes it quite a butterfly affair. Despite such elaboration, it is not an affectation. The nap of the dress will be saved from she rubbing that will take the first freshness off in a very few wearings, for even fancy work, the book that is being read or the hands themselves will rub a delicate dress dingy in front before it shows wear elsewhere.

A rather more conventional model, but still a very pretty one, is seen beside the initial, and is in brown suiting, tlie skirt showing a panel of brown velvet on the left side. It is lined with silk and is heavily stiffened around the bottom, the hair cloth extending to the waist in back. Either taffeta or crepon may be used for the bodice, which has a fitted lining of white muslin. Front and back consist of one piece each, the former being a little full and hooking at the side. The full sleeves reach a trifle below the elbow and end In short cuffs. For garniture there is a simple ribbon belt with a full bow of the same on each shoulder. The Mother Hubbard long ago fell into disfavor, but at the same time a

THE FASHIONABLE GAUGE OF WIDTH.

great many of the prettiest loose morning gowns are to-day planned on this model. One of the simplest and most effective methods of giving an “air” to such a garment is to add to it deep caj>es that set out over the shoulders, epaulette fashion, and that are attached to a band of ribbon which passes about the neck over the shoulders and hangs down straight in front to the hem of the dress. The capes extend across the back and over the shoulders. In front, between the stole-like ends of ribbon, the yoke of the Mother Hubbard shows. The whole effect is charming. An elaborate gown on this plan was made of cream satin, the yoke of bluet velvet with insertions of guipure. The stole ends were of bluet velvet, and the capes of pale cream lace with inserted bands of bluet velvet. The device can be carried out with excellent effect in all fabrics of modest cost. It is better, at least for ordinary folk, to reserve rich stuffs for more ceremonious occasions. In receiving, whether on a grand scale or in a less formal way, a woman naturally desires to be seen at her best, and that means that her dress should be tastefully in style. Her latitude of choice, both as .to stuffs and the making of them, is very wide and in selecting samples for the next two illustrations, two have been chosen that are much unlike each other, while being each handsome and right in fashion. In the first of these dahlia colored silk is trimmed with silk applique, cream silk mousselihe and yellow cloth, covered with soutache braiding. Following the present rule, the skirt is very wide and is garnished with applique on either side of the front breadth. The bodice has a corselet covered with the braiding which is open in front and tiny silk

ORIGINAL ABOVE THE WAIST.

flgaro fronts. Cream silk mousseline gives the vest and collar and the elbow sleeves are topped by narrow] pointed epaulettes of the silk used in the gown. The applique is a darker shade otf . dahlia silk. | The second reception dress is more . strongly marked in its design, and is ' the sort of gown that hints of the wearer’s being possessed of ideas of her own regarding her attire, which she will i have carried out even if current accept-

ances get a black eye thereby, in tna present instance there is no marked defiance of fashion’s laws, but the gown is very original, as well as handsome. Cut from green woolen suiting, its trained skirt is bordered at the hem with Russian green velvet and a band of white cloth bordered with vari-col-ored spangles and beads. The very ornate bodice is of the woolen stuff covered with a velvet cuirass, banded and crossed with embroidered white cloth. A yoke of the same shows in back and front, and a small velvet V is added in both places. The velvet sleeves are slashed to allow woolen puffs to escape, and are garnished over the shoulders with embroidered straps. It takes an exceptionally good figure to carry the dress off successfully, but as such figures and such dresses are quite rare, the combination should be all the more effective and desirable.

Brilliant stuffs were never in so great demand, and spangles of all sorts are used to attain the glitter that is now so fashionable for dress goods. In mll-

WITH WINGS ATTACHED.

linery the sparkle is effected by mock gems, and for general use there is a great demand for old paste, though new paste is by far the more brilliant So called French jewelry, too, is winning acceptance. Brooches come in absolutely correct design, and set in paste so artistically arranged as to color that the resulting bit of jewelry seems rather a priceless heirloom than a fake for a few dollars. Some people make it a matter of conscience not to wear makebelieve jewelry, but, after all, now that fashions change in ornaments as often as in bonnets, one should perhaps think twice before putting hard money into the genuine thing.' One's heirs may be disappointed at the value of the bequests, but the testator will have had much more fun. In the general rush toward glitter, galoons have taken on an added degree of brilliancy, and are employed to a greater extent. It is very freely used in the dress next pictured, and supplies the oddest part of the unusual epaulettes. These are somewhat in the shape of big butterflies, the galloon giving the wings. It also trims the skirt and belt. A cop-per-colored cloth brocaded with green is used for this dress, and the whole is very handsome. With such a gown it is necessary to wear a showy hat, and the choice here is for a black velvet trimmed with six rich black plumes, with a big paste ornament showing in the center of the front. The bodice of the Anal picture seems odd enough of cut to do without much trimming, but woman’s upper half gets much garniture these days, so the col-, lar and slashed fronts are embroidered. Beneath them a satin chemisette ap-

ANOTHER BODICE NOVELTY.

pears in front, the back of the bodice being plain, and the collar pointed behind. Around the hem of the skirt there is embroidery to match that above. The material is boucle cloth. The sleeves are just those whopping big ones that dressmakers try to convince women are as small as can be considered fashionable. The truth is that, lovely as the big puff sleeves are, they are waning. Women must have something new, and the new thing is the collapsed puff. Into this even more cloth goes than into the blown up balloon puff, only all of it hangs loose. The armholes come below the round of the shoulders, and the outline of the shoulder and the upper beginning of the arm is fitted without a wrinkle. From a band set about the arm a little above half way to the elbow on the outside of the arm, and, on the inside is a little shorter. It Is cut to droop in organ pipe folds, and is very Ugly, but doubtless, in a little while it will look splendid. Fortunately the sense of the beautiful changes with the fashions. It is a pity that women are not to be able to stick a pin into the balloon sleeves and have them forthwith wilt and crinkle into the collapsed sleeve. But what are new fashions invented for? That women may use old clothes? No, indeed! That they may be obliged to buy new ones. Copyrighted, 1S!)4.

A Woman Roadmaster.

Miss Eleanor Hewitt the oldest unmarried daughter of ex-Mayor Hewitt, has been n admaster at "itingw >od. where their country home is situated, for .-evera' years, and a very good one she has been. too. An article on r admaking has been! contribu ed to a New lock weekly recently by Miss Hewitt. George D. Armstrong, charged with embezzling from the Anderson (Ind.) branch of the L. A. Kinsey & Co., Indianapolis stock brokers, was arrested in Toronto.

MOVING A TOWN.

EVERY HOUSE TO BE CARTED AWAY ON WHEELS. The Prospective Half-Mlle Journey of a New York Village* - A Wholesale Eviction. The work of grading for the new village of Katonah will be begun in a few days about half a mile south of the present town of the same name in Westchester County. Whether the town of Katonah will be a new town six months from now or whether it will be the old town tn a ne w place is still an open question. Only one thing is certain, and that is that thirty days after May 1, 1895, Kate nali, if it exists, must not exist where it is. Commissioner Daly, of the Public Works Department, decided April 1 last that the proximity of the town to the water supply of New York was dangerous, and that it must go. A board of appraisers was appointed to award damages to the property-own-ers. The city of New York became owner of all the town with the exception of the Grand Army Hall and the houses of S. O. Arnold and S. B. Hoyt. Both Mr. Arnold and Mr. Hoyt had built houses on the outskirts of the village over 250 feet from the Cross River, which runs through the settlement. The Commissioner decided that they might stay, ns they were outside of the dead line. To nil the other property-owners, however, the order of eviction was law, and they were given until May 1, 18'15, to get out. Thirty days after that date the houses they occupy, and which now belong to the city, will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. When the city took the houses last April, the rent question was not broached. For six months the owners lived in the premises unmolested. Last October, however, they were made to pay rent. They are now paying rent to the city for the property the city has taken from them, and up to date have not received the money due them for condemnation. Still they will get it, anti this fact is not worrying them nearly so much as the question Vow to move the town a half mile further south. "It’s a good thing. Push it along,” said a Katonah native yesterday when asked how the town was going to be moved, and that is what will have to be done. • With this idea in view, a syndicate composed of the village property owners has been formed, and twentylive acres of ground one-half mile south of the present town sight have been purchased. The ground has been surveyed and the grading will be started this week. After this is completed the people will wait until their houses are sold by the city, buy them in as old lumber, and then the village will take wheels and go south. There is a large quantity of work in sight for any fair-sized, healthy house-moving association that will guarantee to move the residences, stores and barns of Katonah over the Cross river to the new town site. Many people think it cannot be done. But in all well regulated villages there are a few minds who understand that necessity is the mother of invention, and these people have come forward with a feasible scheme for the moving. Their plan is to lay a temporary track such as is used in railroad construction work from the Harjem River Railroad to the house to be moved, jack the houses on to flat cars and pull them down to the new site. A temporary track and switch could also be constructed there, and the old house moved onto the new lot. Owing to the fact that the road to the new village is up and down hill, the old style of moving cannot be used, as the rollers would be liable to insist on going down hill instead of up. The moving of the village on flat cars seems the only way out of it, and this system cannot be used in some cases, notably that of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches, which are situated one-half mile from the railroad. A scheme to move the churches, however, has also been thought out. Instead of the railroad, it is proposed to jack the churches up ten feet, sufficient to drive a dozen horses or so under them, and by placing them on heavy stone-wagons braced with steel rails to cart them the distance. This plan, while appearing impossible to some of the villagers, is said to be practicable, and has been employed in the Southwest, where a not uncommon sight is to see a fourroom cottage on wheels going up the main street to take up its residence on a new fifty-foot lot its owner has traded for a span of mules. W&The new village of Katonah is to be up to date, and needs only a kiteshaped track to make it an ideal. It is expected that thirty days after the order of evacuation is given the new town will be running in full blast and the storekeepers doing busiuess in the same old way at the new stand. The town claims a population of 700. The magnitude of the undertaking can be better understood when it is known that between eighty and one hnndred houses will have to be moved, besides barns, stores and a couple of blacksmith shops, the railroad depot, three churches and a school-house.—[New York World.

A Case of Telepathy.

A singular case of telepathy, or thought transference, or whatever , one might call it, is related by a doctor of Penobscot County, Maine, j Not long ago he was visiting a patient at a considerable distance from homo, I and while returning in the dark his horse stumbled and fell. Fortunately he was not thrown out of his carriage, though lie had a narrow escape, and the only damage done was the breaking of one thill. He was able to patch it up wel| enough to get on and went home. When he reached his house lie was surprised by his wife opening the door for him and saying: “You did meet with an acci- ; dent, didn’t you?” He asked how , she knew anything of it, and she said that she had gone to bed and was asleep, when she was suddenly j roused by finding herself in a sitting

position, and filled with a sense tnat he was in some dangerous predicament. It had impressed her so that she got up to await his return. On inquiry he found that she had awakened at the identical moment when the accident had happened to him.— [New Orleans Picayune.

A DIAMOND FINDER.

He IS to Have a Pension for His Discovery. At n tinie when the future of this portion of the Dark Continent is more or less the subject of discussion in all circles, it may be of some interest to peruse a leaf from the past. The Cape Government is contemplating bestowing a pension upon the founder of the diamond industry in the country over which it holds jurisdiction. and the above is a photograph of the fortunate individual who will doubtless be the happy recipient. That he is actually the discoverer of the first diamond in South Africa is a fact beyond dispute, which has been sworn to by numerous witnesses, before H. Reynolds, Esq , J. P., for Windsortown, Vaal River, South Africa. In the year 1866, Lennard Jacobs, a Korannah, was led by a report that a German missionary named Kallenberg, had settled in Peniel (now known as Barkly), to "trek” thither in search of religious instruction. After remaining at Peniel for some months he became dissatisfied, and resolved to return to his kraal, but was dissuaded by Mr. Kallenberg, who pointed out to him the advantages of remaining within reach of a Christian mission. He also added to his persuasion that he had read that geologists in the old country had expressed the opinion that South Africa should prove diamondifferous. It was just possible that when tilling the ground he might discover one of those valuble stones. Jacobs, who had never before heard of a diamond, asked what it was and how to be distinguished; whereupon Mr. Kallenberg told him that, if he found a stone bright and shining like glass, which withstood the fire while his pulse beat five times or more, ho might conclude it was a diamond, while, on the other hand, if it popped in the ashes, it was a crystal and valueless, “Why,” said Lennard,"my children have many bright stones such as you speak of, and when I go home I will put them in the fire.” On his return to his little farm, remembering the missionary’s instructions, he placed several bright stones which his four children had collected, in the fire, but all popped with the exception of one which seemed Impervious to heat. This led him to examine it a little more carefully, put it to severer tests, and presently he found that he had not one, but a great many valuable diamonds on his farm. He sold them for a song, has remained poor, and merits his pension.

Over Weird Snow Wastes.

Frederick Funston, nephew of Congressman Funston of Kansas and Special Agent of the Agricultural Department, Washington, D. C., is in the city, after an absence of a year and a half on the Yukon and its tributaries in Alaska. He was collecting plants and skins while out, and now has an exhibit at the Occidental that is of unusual interest. His headquarters last winter were at Old Rampart House, on the Upper Porcupine, an abandoned post of the Hudson Buy Company. "The most unique experience I had,” said Mr. Funston, “was in crossing from this point to the mouth of the Mackenzie a distance of BIX) miles. An Indian and I did it on snowshoes. We made the round trip of 600 miles, besides staying a week to talk to some ice-bound whalers, !n twenty-two days. The thermometer was once as low as fifty-seven degrees below zero, and it was always forty, at least. I was the first white man to make this trip. “We used web shoes most of the tune, but when we struck a downhill place for a few miles we put on the Norwegian runners, and then we went like lightning. The desolation of those snowy wastes cannot be described. The cold was also so intense that we had to keep going. We got short of provisions and for two days subsisted on nothing but tea. As hot tea is the very best thing to keep out cold, and we drank plenty of it, we got along very well.” Mr. Funston floated down the Yukon in a canoe, entirely alone, for a distance of 1,800 miles, collecting plants and zoological specimens as he proceeded.—[San Francisco Examiner.

The Tungsten Bullet.

The gradual diminution of the caliber in modern rifles is of course accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the size of the projectiles. Lead bullets of such a small size are too light, and lack penetrating power, so a metal heavier becomes necessary. Such a metal is tungsten, which is almost as hard as steel, and has a density varying from seventeen to 19.8, say one and a half times that of lead. A tungsten ball penetrates a steel plate three inches in thickness at a distance of 650 yards, while a similar one of lead penetrates a 2 8-4 inch plate at 825 yards only. The present obstacle to the use of tungsten is its high price, but there are indications that this will soon be lowered.

Proof of Their Identity.

In tho meat shops of towns in New Mexico,and Arizona the visitor from me east is apt to notice that the dressed carcasses of sheep have a tuft of wool still attached to the head and tho tail. This is left by the butcher to assure the customer that it is mutton, and not goat flesh, that he is buying, for in these Territories' many flocks of goats are reared and pastured by the small Mexican ranchman to bo killed for food for the poorer natives. Roast or stewed kid, with Chile pepper sauce, is an esteemed dinner dish at the tables of many well-to-do American and Span-ish-American citizens. [Detroit Free Press.

WHERE LIFE IS CHEAP.

Proxy Plan of Executing Criminate in China. Three Chinamen were recently arrested m New York and ordered to be deported. It seems that they deserted from the Chinese army and came to this country, where they have succeeded in accumulating a considerable sum of money. Now, the penalty for desertion in China is death, but these three prisoners are not at all alarmed. They claim that under the laws of China a man of means is allowed to hire somebody to be executed in his place. This proxy plan of executing a criminal is worked in this way: When a well-to-do man is condemned to death he hunts up a poor coolie and makes a bargain with him. The substitute is allowed his liberty.4intil the day of execution, and his employer has him watched so that he cannot escape, for if the coolie should not turn up at the appointed time the principal would have to suffer the penalty. Of course this system is very convenient for rich criminals, and the poverty-stricken wretches who sell their lives seem to be perfectly satisfied. These people have no sense of the value of human life, and a poor man thinks that he has made a good trade when he binds himself to die for another man, and receives enough cash in hand to enable him to enjoy a frolic for a few weeks. A coolie who has sold himself in this manner buys fine clothes and plunges into all the dissipations that he is able to pay for. Oft the day of his execution he presents himself with a smiling face and leaps into eternity, congratulating himself upon having tasted all the sweets of good fortune and happiness at the close of his career. If the Chinese with their utter disregard of death ever become a well disciplined and warlike nation they will make splendid soldiers. All that handicaps them now is their backward civilization.—[Atlanta Constitution.

A Pearl of Peorls.

The extraordinary pearl, or rather cluster of pearls known as "The Southern Cross,” is probably the most remarkable example of its kind that nature has ever produced. So' fur as is known, says the author of "Pearlsand PearllngLife,”lt occupies an absolutely unique position In the history of pearls. It consists of nine pearls, naturally grown together in so regular a manner as to form an almost perfect Latin cross. The pearl was discovered by n man named Chirk while pearl fishing at Roeburn, in Western Australia, in the schooner Ethel, the owner being a Roman Catholic called "Shiner Kelly.” When the shell was opened both Clark and Shiner Kelly were filled with amazement and awe. Kelly, regarding it as some heavenwrought miracle, burled the pearl—for how long it is not known. It was discovered in 1874, and five years later was on exhibition at Roeburn. At first sight it might be supposed that the component pearls of ths cross had been artificially grouped together. A minute examination under strong light and high magnifying power has dispelled any idea of its artificial character, but it is a. lusus natural of unique character. An this cruciform group of pearls waa found in the Southern Hemisphere,, it has appropriately received the. name of the Southern Cross. The pearl has changed hands many times, and each time it has done so the person parting with II has doubled his money. It is now owned by a syndicate of Australian gentlemen, who value It at ten thousand pounds.

Horses and Electricity.

The horse is easily killed by electricity. It is popularly supposed* that the current, on entering the body, meets with some physiological susceptibility that makes this animal more vulnerable than others to the action of such a current. The London Lancet holds that there la no good ground for this assumption. The explanation lies elsewhere. The hoof, and more particularly its crust and sole, is a good insulator, but the shoe presents to the ground a large metallic contact, and this contact is in connection with metallic conductors in the shape of nails, which pierce the strongest part of the insulation and afford an easy electrical path into the body. The contact with earth is further improved by the great superincumbent weight of the animal, and it may often happen that in passing over wet ground the external surface of the hoof and the wet fetlock, especially in the case of untrimmed horses, may become sufficiently wet to form a good surface condition, and so carry a current directly from the earth to the upper part of the body. In this way the safety of the natural “resistance’,* of the hoofs is neutralized. A horsei, too, covers more ground than a man, and runs greater risk from being in contact with points of ground further apart. Farriers ought to consider the above well, so as to induce them to bestow extra care upon the.driving of the nail, to see that it does nob penetrate to the “quick.”—[Boston Transcript.

The Left-Over Fly.

Probably there is nothing so exasperating in tiie world ns a fly. It has just energy enough to alight on your head and not enough to jump off briskly, and when he does get off he is right back again only half an inch away. People of an irritable disposition have been known to swear at a left-over fly.—[Boston Transcript.

The Idol on the Dial.

Apropos of watches, the latest fashion is the photographic watch, containing, on the dial, a presentment in miniature of any person whose likeness you can supply to the manufacturer. The retd fad is to select the portrait of your favorite politician, your author, or theatrical celebrity.—[New York Journal. Cape Fear River is a corruption. The name was originally Cape Fair River.