Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1895 — Page 2

HljcllcmocratirSfntincl J. W. McKWE> r , Publisher. RENSSELAER, - *♦ ' INDIANA.

HALF-MILLION BURNS

INDIANAPOLIS HAS A SEVERE FIRE. Revenue Necessary for Next Year— Stranee Method of Escape from Destruction of a Steamer—Monthly Treasury Statement. Wiped Out by Flames. Seven of the largest wholesale establishments in Indianapolis, lud., were destroyed by the fire Tuesday. The loss is $.•>00,000. Two firemen, Frank Sloan and Patrick Murphy, were caught by falling walls, and the last-named will probably die from his injuries. The linns burned out are Schnull & Co., wholesale grocers: Ward Bros., wholesale druggists: Fairbanks, Morse & Co., scales; Eckhouse Bros., wholesale liquors; Woodford & Pohlman, wholesale liquors; Hildebrand Hardware Company, wholesale hardware; Indiana Coffee Company. The seven buildings destroyed were mostly four stories high, and were filled with goods. The estimated value of the buildings destroyed is $113,000. The estimated total value of stocks destroyed is $372,000. The insurance companies will have to bear about $350,000 of the loss. The losses are distributed among more than JOO companies. NEEDS FOR NEXT YEAR. What It Costs to Hun This Glorious Government. The Secretary of the Treasury transmitted to Congress the estimates of appropriations required for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, as furnished by the several executive departments, which aggregate $418,091,073. The appropriations for the present fiscal year amounted to $412,733,204. The estimates for the fiscal year 1897 are recapitulated by titles as follows, cents omitted: Legislative establishment... $3,880,581 Executive establishment... . 20,103,242 Judicial establishment 923,920 Foreign intercourse 1,049,058 Military establishment 24,520,908 Naval establishment 27,583,073 Indian affairs 8,750,458 Pensions 141,384,570 public wor.ks 28,574,028 postal service 5,024,779 Miscellaneous 30,035,031 Permanent annual appropriations 119,054,100

Grand total $418,091,073 SAVED BY A CRACK. Fire in a Burning Steamer Extin guished in a Curious Manner. Two lumdreij barrels of oil, part of the cargo stowed between decks of the steel -steamer W. 11. Gilbert, shifted during :i gale while the vessel was rounding Kenawee Point, on Lake Superior. Ten of the barrels were broken and the oil rolled (iown into the fire hold and was ignited by the furnace tires. The crew turned to and fought the fire with but little impression and it was tlmught the vessel was doomed. The heat of the blazing oil, however, cracked one of the steel plates below the water line, through which the water poured in volumes and, converted Into steam, smothered the fire. The pumps were staTted and, finding them adequate to keep the steamer afloat, sho continued on her way and reached Duluth. The vessel was bound from Buffalo with a cargo of general merchandise. Chasing Crow Brought to Book. At Pierre, S. D., Chasing Crow, the first Indian to sign the treaty at Cheyenne agency which opened the Sioux reservation to settlement, and who signed with a threat of death hanging over him If he did so. was bound over to the United States Court on the charge of stealing a bunch of horses and running them off for the use of the hostiles just before the battle of Wounded Knee. Uncle Sam's Liabilities. The monthly treasury statement of the public debt shows that on Nov. 30, 1895, the debt, less cash in the treasury, amounted to $948,477,011, an increase for the month of $2,040,503, which is accounted for by the decrease of $2,541,011 in the cash in the treasury. This amount, however, does not include $582,987,073 in certificates and treasury notes which are offset by an equal amount of cash in the treasury. • Clark Dying of Old Age. Monday Lewis George Clark, the 84-year-old mulatto, who was the original of Mrs. Stowe’s George Harris in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was sent to the Lexington, Ky.. infirmary. He has been failing rapidly, and is not likely to live long. t- Bull Run at Auction. The meadows upon which the famous battle of Bull Run was fought went under the hammer Monday, by order of the Probate Court, for the settlement of an egtate. The property is to be divided into small farms and town lots. More Money than Brains. ‘ The newspapers of London say that after the well-known American. William L. Winans, had watched the ballet at the Alhambra for an hour every night in the week he distributed $5,500 among the members of the ballet. Prof. Smith Fatally Hurt. Prof. T. M. Smith, of Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio, while conducting one of his chemistry classes through, the River Blast Furnace, was -caught in the furnace elevator and fatally crushed. Would-Be Postoffice Robbers Caught. Three men, who were heavily armed and planned to rob the postofiu-e at Anna, Mo., were arrested by the police.

Sholto on Hia Muscle. liord Sholto Douglas, son of the Marquis of Queensberry, knocked out a highwayman in one round at San Francisco. While returning from the theater Lord Sholto was attacked by a young man who demanded money. Douglas replied' with a blow and the footpad ran away. Albert Hale Was Weary of Life. Albert Hale, of Wilmington, Ohio, shot himself in the head with a ritie. He was to have been married this month to Fannie Tucker. Declining health is supnosed to be the cause. Diamond in a Turkey’s Craw. While Mrs. James Williams, of Jeffersonville, Ind., was dressing a turkey for dinner she found in the bird’s craw a diamond solitaire the size of a pea. The fowl came from a farm close to a picnic ground, and it is thought that it picked up the jewel near there. Distress in Mozambique. United States Consul Hollis reports from Mozambique that the sugar crop is almost a total failure. The peanut crop there, he says, is exceedingly short Locusts are to blame. Owing to these causes the natives are emigrating in great num-

STATE PAPERS MUTILATED. Autograph Fiends Found to Have Been at Work on Government Files. The wholesale investigation throughout the executive departments in Washington as to the stamp thefts has resulted in the discovery that the autograph fiends have been at work among the files. This vandalism, so far as is yet known, seems to have been practiced principally in the .Interior Department. In the investigation by the secret service men it has been discovered that the signatures of many great men, long since dead, especially Prsidents of the United States, had been cut from papers in the land office. Abraham Lincoln’s autograph has been especially sought after. These papers are stowed away in the files, and it is hardly once a year that any of them are needed, so that the discovery of the mutilation in the ordinary course of office routine was improbable. The papers, in many instances, have been rendered practically valuless by this mutilation, which is a very serious matter. TEMPER AND WELI? COPPER. Detroit Man Claims to Have Discovered the Lost Art. E. G. Salter, of Detroit, has discovered the lost art of tempering copper so that the metal may be utilized in place of steel for many purposes where corrosion puts steel at a disadvantage. He has made both coiled and flat springs of great elasticity, has made good knifeblades, and, best of all, is able to weld the metal itself and weld it to iron or steel. Mr. Salter says his process gives pure copper all the qualities which it possesses when the secret process of tempering is employed. Trolley wheels made from tempered copper have outworn several sets of wheels made in the old way. SEVERAL MINERS DEAD. Crushed Under Tons of Falling Earth and Rock, An accident, resulting in the loss of thirteen or fourteen lives, occurred at the mines at Tilly Foster, near Carmel, N. Y., Friday afternoon. Foreman Murtha was descending into the pit to take the time of two gangs of laborers, numbering thirty-five men, who were working at the bottom, when a vast Weight of earth and rock slid with the force of an avalanche from the mouth of the pit to the bottom, a distance of 300 feet. The earth crashed over the men with tremendous force. Out of one gang of eleven men only five came out alive, and three of the men employed in another gang were taken out dend. BALANCE ON RIGHT SIDE. Surplus Remuins A»cr the Christian Endeavor Convention. The completion of all business relating to the great Christian Endeavor convention held in Boston was celebrated by a banquet at Hotel Brunswick, at which the now famous committee of thirteen sat down, with President Frauds E. Clark, D. D., and Secretary John Willis Baer. The committee sub-chairman and treasurer read their reports. The latter’s was of great interest. The total receipts were $22,782, with contributions in labor and material of nearly SI,OOO more. The total expenditures were $22,280, leaving a balance of $490.

CELEBRATIONS IN PANAMA. Anniversary of Independence Is Observed ip a Lavish Manner. *- Festivities in celebration of the indeiiendencc of Panama were on a mors lavish scale than ever before. The newspapers deem the occasion opportune to publish articles warmly encouraging (mba. The Isthmian Press says: “Even while we celebrate our independence Cuba’s cries reach our ears. In struggling to free herself of the Spanish incubus she is simply doing what all South America did.” GAS FROM STOVE KILLS THEM. Rev. A. Henrich and Wife Found Dead at Platte Center, Neb. At Platte Center, Neb., the Rev. A. Henrich and his wife were asphyxiated by gas from their hard-coal stove. Mr. Henrich was found dead and his wife was dying when neighbors forced the door. They came from Louisville, Ky., Several yearß ago and ure well known in many States. Coats $3 Per Mile. The office of road inquiry of the Department of Agriculture lias completed an interesting investigation relating to the common roads of the United States. Returns have been received from about 1,200 comities, showing the average length of haul from farms to markets or shipping points to be twelve miles, the nverage weight of load for two horses 2,002 pounds, the average cost per ton per mile 25 cents and $3 for the entire haul. Estimating- the farm products at 219,824,227 tons in weight and making estimates on other articles carried over the public roads, it is calculated that the aggregate expense of this transportation in the United States is $940,414,605 per annum. Reports have been asked from the United States consuls abroad of the expense of hauling where the roads are good, so as to render possible a calculation which will show how much of this vast outlay is due to had roads. The estimate is ventured, however, upon information in the office concerning the loss of,, time in reaching markets, the enforced idleness and the wenr and tear to the live stock and hauling machinery caused by poor roads, that two-thirds of the cost might be saved by an improvement of the roads. Thirteen Are Dead. An accident, resulting in the loss of thirteen or fourteen lives, occurred at the mines at Tilly Foster, near Carmel, N. Y., Friday afternoon. Foreman Murtha was descending into the pit to take the time of two gangs of laborers, numbering thirty-five men, who were working at the bottom, when a vast weight of earth and rock slid with the force of an avalanche from the mouth of the pit to the bottom, a distance of 300 feet. The earth crashed over the men with tremendous force. Out of one gang of eleven men only five came out alive, and three of the men employed in another gang were taken out dead.

Victoriouß Football Teams. In the foot-ball games Thursday at Chicago Ann Arbor defeated the University of Chicago by a score of 12 to 0. The Boston and Chicago Athletic clubs played a tie game, 4 to 4. At Philadelphia Pennsylvania beat Cornell, 46 to 2. At Providence, R. 1., Brown University defeated Dartmouth, 10 to 4. At Washington, Columbia Athletic won from Columbia'University, 14 to 12. At Louisville, Louisville Athletic defeated DePauw University, 12 to 10. At Lafayette, Ind., Illinois University lost to Purdue, 6 to 2. Bad Freight Wreck. A serious freight wreck occurred in the Akron, Ohio, yards, a south-bound freight running into a switching train. Engineer Ahrens jumped and was probably fatally injured. Dr. Thomas on Endeavorers. But, thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.—Matthew vi„ 6. Dr. H. W. Thomas wants the Christian Endeavorers who prayed publicly in thousands for the conversion of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll to reconcile their action with this text. He read it to his congregation

in McVicker's Theater, Chicago, Sunday morning. He selected it from the Sermon on the Mount, in his charity for the yoting people picking this verse and not the one before it, which brands those who use the corners of the streets and delight in the conspicuous worship as "hypocrites.” The one following brands those who delight in repetitions as “heathen.” The pastor did not think the method employed at Cleveland was orthodox or iu accordance with the divine instructions as to prayer. The chapter from which the passage was taken was a divine homily on supplication. It contained the laird's prayer and was delivered to the multitudes colleoted from all over Syria that the value and efficacy of phasized in opposition to the Pharisaical ostentation of the idolaters. Dr. Thomas said he hoped for the change of heart of ■the agnostic, l>ut the noisy, advertised methods recently adopted would certainly not have found favor twenty centuries ago among the people from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan, who heard Christ from the hillside. FEARS FOR A STEAMER. Fifty-five Days Out from Tacoma and Still No Tidings of Her. There are still no tidings from the missing steamer Strathnevis, which cleared fog Yokohama Oct. 12, and left Victoria the next day. She is now fifty-five days out from Tacoma. The Strathnevis made two trips on the Northern I’acifie Line. She carried a cargo of 2,000 tons of general freight and had n passenger list of 125 Chinese, most of them being merchants from Chicago, New York, Buffalo, Boston and Philadelphia. Five deported Chinese from Washington and Montana were also on board. The Strathnevis was commanded by Capt. James Pattie, whose officers are as follows: Chief officer, James Duncan; second officer, W. Robertsoun; third officer, W, McFarland; chief engineer, J. Rose; second enginper, A. Bell; third engineer, J. CoulteV; fourth officer, J. Love; purser, J. McDonald. With passengers and crew the number of persons on board was about 150.

RETARDED BY BAD WEATHER. No Improvement in Trade Noted Over Last Week. It. G. Dun & Co.’s Weekly Review of Trade says: “Business has not improved, though there is little change except in the shlihkage of prices, which a period of inaction naturally causes. After the extraordinary buying of the summer and early fall a marked decrease was inevitable, and it is yet too early in most branches of business to judge how fur the future was anticipated in purchases. Retail stocks are still reported full in nearly all branches, with delayed distribution in many on account of unfavorable weather. The movement of crops is only fair, both cotton and wheat being largely kept back in the hope of higher prices, and there is a prevalent feeling that foreign imports will fall off.” Made Whisky Out of Beets. The vast yield of sugar beets in Nebraska and the inability of farmers to dispose of the great quantity ns rapidly as convenient has provoked some peculiar violations of the revenue laws. A still has been captured in Sherman County in which whisky was being made from the beets. It was owned by Charles Reidil. a farmer. The quality was good, and fears are entertained by revenue officials thatother farmers will engage in the business. Reidil claimed to have had the property for fifteen years, but had only been making spirits for a year, and then only for his own use. There was sufficient evidence, however, to disprove both of these statements. The outfit was all made of copper, of an approved pattern and was in good condition. The still had a capacity of fifty gallons a day. Ends Their Own Lives. Albert Foreman, formerly a bookkeeper for Henry Dittenmaier, a tallow dealer at Chicago, killed, himself Wednesday night. There is nothing to indicate the cause of the act. According to Mr. Dittenmaier, Foreman, while in his empoly, appropriated $1,500 of his employer's money. Then he disappeared. The body of John Spengler, a well-to-do horse denier, was found by his hostler. Escaping gas at an open jet told the cause of death. There was no good reason known why Spengler should commit suicide. Covers All Shades of Butter. The State scored a victory in one of the most important of the oleomargarine cases before the municipal court at Milwaukee. The case was that of A. J. Palmer, a grocer, who was charged with selling butterine colored to imitate butter, in violation of the law passed by the Legislature last winter. The defense maintained that the law was not specific, as it did not prescribe the shade of yellow that should be a standard. The Court held that the law covers any and all shades of yellow. Another Victim of Hiccoughs, Judge J. D. Rose, president of the Gurryville, Mo., bank, has been hiccoughing constantly for the last week. Although several doctors have attended him, they can do nothing for his relief. His death is hourly expected.

New Portuguese Minister. Seuor Cyrillo Machado has been apponted Portuguese Minster to the United States.

MARKET QUOTATIONS.

Chicago—Cattle, common to prime, $.‘1.50 to $5.25; hogs, shipping grades, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, fair to choice, $2.50 to $3.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 50c to 57c; corn, No. 2,27 cto 28c: oats, No. 2,17 c to 18c; rye, No. 2,30 cto 38c; butter, choice creamery, 22c to 24c; eggs, fresh, 19c to 21c; potatoes, per bushel, 20c to 30c; broom corn, common growth to choice green hurl, 2y>c to 4c per pound. Indianapolis—Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $5.00; hogs, choice light, $3.00 to $4.00 sheep, common to prime, $2.00 to $3.50; wheat, No. 2. 63e_ to 65c; corn, No. 1 white, 26c to 28c; oats, No. 2 white, 21c to 22c.

St. Lonis—Cattle, $3.00 to $3.00; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 60c to 02e: corn. No. 2 yellow, 24c to 25c; oats, No. 2 white, 17c to 18c; rye, No. 2,33 c to 34c. • Cincinnati—Cattle, $3.50 to $5.00; hogs, $3.00 to $4.00; sheep, $2.50 to $3.75; wheat, No. 2,66 cto 67c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 31c to 33e; oats, No. 2 mixed, 21c to 22c; rye, No. 2,39 cto 41c. Detroit—Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $4.00; sheep, $2.00 te $3.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 65c to 66c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 29c to 31c; oats, No. 2 white, 21c to 22c;»rye, 38c to 40c. Toledo—Wheat, No. 2 red. 65c to 66c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 28c to 29c; oats, No. 2 white, 20c to 22e; rye, No. 2,38 cto 40c; clover seed, $4,50 to $4.55. Buffalo —Cattle, $2.50 to $5.00; hogs, $3.00 to $4.00; sheep, $2.50 to $3.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 68c to 70c; corn. No. 2 yellow, 35c to 36c; oats, No. 2 white, 22c to 24c. Milwaukee—Wheat." No. 2 spring, 57c to 58c; corn, No. 3. 27c to 28c; oats, No 2 white, 18c to 20c; barley, No. 2,35 cto 36c; rye, No. 1,37 cto 38c; pork, mess, $7.75 to $8.25. New York—Cattle, $3.00 to $5.00; hogs, $3.00 to $4:25; sheep, $2.00 to $3.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 6Sc to 69c; corn, No. 2, 35c to 37c; oats, No. 2 white, 22c to 24c; butter, creamery, 16c to 24c; eggs, Western, 21c to 24c.

THE LIVTH CONGRESS

AUGUST BODIES ARE AGAIN IN SESSION. 1 Chiefly Notable at Present for the Lack of Familiar Faces —Flood of Bills and Resolutions Is Ready for the House. Assembling of the Bolons. Washington correspondence: The Fifty-fourth Congress began its first session at noon Monday, and the most striking feature to the old observer of the lower house was the absence of familiar faces. The appearance of the Senate was not greatly changed. Of the famous men in the House these are about all that are left: Reed, Boutelle, Dingley, and Milliken, of Maine; Dockery, Cobb, Tarsney, Hall and De Armond, of Missouri; “Private John” Allen, Catchings and Money, of

SENATOR ELKINS.

ri; father of the cart wheel dollar; Holman, of Indiana, watchdog of the treasury for thirty years; Bourke Coekran, New York’s famous campaign orator; Bryan, of Nebraska, the “boy orator of the Platte;” Springer, of Illinois, and Kilgore, of Texas. Conn, of Indiana. 4s not in the Congressional parade; like that other ex-Congressman, Beriah Wilkins, of Ohio, he has prospered in the field of journalism at the capital. But the list is too long. It would fill a column to record all that have gone and all that still remain. To the stranger eye perhaps the gathering is much as it was two years ago. Here and there a face made familiar by the cartoonists appears, but for the most part the crowd on the famous avenue on the morning of the first Monday in December was made of curious visitors and the customary shopping mob of Washington men and women. There was more of life in the

UNCLE SAM’S WISE MEN CALLED BACK.

throng than there has been for many a day, for all roads do not lead to the capitol, and Pennsylvania avenue is the chief thoroughfare to that Mecca of the politician. The Meeting of the Senate. The number of new faces in the Senate chamber when the Vice President called that body to order was comparatively few. Mr. Ransom’s was missing. Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, another relic of the age of chivalry in the South, is also gone into retirement Georgia sends Augustus O. Bacon to take the seat held for a brief space by Patrick Walsh, the editor of the Augusta Chronicle. Mr. Gear, an old-time member of the House, best known as “Gov. Gear,” fills the seat of Wilson, of lown. Ex-Gov. Knute Nelson, known not so long ago as a member of thd House, takes the place of Washburn, of Minne-

sota. Mr. Dixon, of Rhode Island, gives way to George Peabody Wetmorc. W. J. Sewell, once a member of the Senate, takes the seat of Mr. McPherson. Ex-Secretary E 1 - kins succeeds Johnson Camden, of West Virginia. ExSenator Warren, of Wyoming, returns to take the place of Mr. Carey, and

KNUTE NELSON.

Thomas S. Martin, of Virginia, displaces Eppa Hunton. Not many changes. But the Senators serve for six years and are reasonably sure of re-election. Mr. Morrill has been in the Senate twenty-eight years, Mr. Sherman thirty years, Mr. Allison twen-ty-two years. Mr. Ransom had served for twenty-three years continuously when he retired. Because there are so few newcomers among them the gathering of the Sena-

VICE PRESIDENT STEVENSON, President of the Senale.

tors was like the reunion of a big family. No party distinctions were drawn as they grouped themselves on the floor of the Senate chamber. Personal friendships obliterate for a time that imaginary line which separates Democrat from Republican, and the representatives of the parties and of all sections of the country mingle freely, shaking hands, exchanging congratulations on Improved health, swapping a little gossip of the late election perhaps.

A long time before the noon hoar the floor of the chamber had been cleared of strangers. The page* harried to and fro with an air of battling importance. They are prime factors in legislation, they think. Bat at least from this day they are the recipients of a daily stipend of $2, a#d that is a matter of much seriousness to them. Capt. Isaac Bassett, the chief among them, now past the semi-centenary of service and conscious of his importance as a one time protege of the great Webster, was in charge of the floor. Everything is fresh and clean and bright-look-ing. The furniture has been reupholstered, a new carpet has been laid. The Senate wears out a carpet in every Congress.

The Senators dropped in one at a time. There are not many in their places usually when the gavel falls, but on the opening day thero was a larger number than is customyy at other times. The galleries were fairly well filled when at one minute before 12 o’clock the eastern door leading to the lobby opened

and the Vice President and the chaplain appeared. Mr. Stevenson, who has been spending his s summer in Alaska and at his home in Bloomington,' an d whose ruddy complexion tells of im- ( proved health, and Dr. Milburn, the famous “blind chaplain,” who has been in the service of

Mississippi; Crisp, of Georgia; Cannon, of Illinois; Cobb, of Alabama; Hifforn, of Calb fornia; and McCreary and Berry, of Kentucky. The face of Breckinridge i s missing, as is also many another familiar one Bland, of Missou-

Congress off and on since he was a youth and whose thousands of miles of travel have been increased during the Congressional recess by a trip to Europe. The gavel of the Vice President ij an ivory device, small qnd shaped something like an hour glass. It has been in the care of Capt. Bassett through the summer, concealed no one knows where, but hidden as completely as is the identity of Daniel Webster’s desk, which Bassett has stored in his mind. The Vice President took the little gavel and tapped lightly on the eloth-coverod desk. Conversation ceased and many of the Senators arose while the chaplain delivered a brief invocation. At its conclusion the chairs filled rapidly. There was no journal of the last day’s session to read, and the first business to transact was tho swearing in of newly elected Senators. Many had been sworn in at the last session in preparation for their inauguration. So this business was ac-

complished quickly. Announcement was shortly made that the President would send his message the following day, and adjournment was taken; but not until a flood of bills had poured in, for the Senators were well loaded with business. In the House. The House was a far more entertaining place than the Senate. The new Congressman is all excitement as he sits in a

group of admiring friends who have tome to see him installed. His wife and children are in the gallery perhaps, and he tries to look less conscious than he feels for their sakes.

The older member has much to say to old friends on the floor—reminiscences to exchange and regrets to express for the departed. But the beginning of the session is an old story to him. Perhaps he feels a momentary uneasiness about that committee chairmanship which was half promised to him, but he keeps lps own counsel about it. He does not get flurried, because he knows that it will do no good. He has put in all his hard work in advance of the meeting of the caucus, and he knows nothing will help him now.

It is more than likely that the rules adopted by the House in the Fifty-foarth Congress will be those prepared under the supervision of Mr. Reed when he was Speaker before. The Bnslness of Congress. There wiU be $o lack of bills and resolutions. For example, the new Congress will' have to consider the question of providing revenue adequate Government’s expenditures. Then there is the financial problem. Two important foreign matters are to be considered again duriag this Congress—the Beliriug Sea award and the Nicaragua Canal. Mr. Gresham agreed with England on a payment of $425,000 to the sealers in Behring Sea, but the last House refused to accept this adjustment of the question. Cuba will also come in for early attention, for there is no doubt a proposition to recognize the rebellious natives as belligerents will be made in both House and Senate, and the discussion of it will give the Rejmblieans more campaign material. In home affairs there is the bankruptcy bill, which has come so near adoption in two Congresses, but which still hangs fire. It passed both House and Senate three years ago, hut never git through conference. In the last Congress it n&gsod the House.

SENATOR GEAR OF IOWA,

THOS. B. REED, Speaker of the House.

CONGRESS OFFICERS.

DISTRIBUTION OF SENATE AND HOUSE PATRONAGE. Always a Lively Scramble for Places at the Beginning of Each New Session, When There Has Been a Change ®f Administration. Rewarding Party Fealty. Washington correspondence:

MORE than 200 anxious bread winners are interested in the outcome of the contest over the reorganization of the House at the begin- • ning of each new ;S|g\ session of Congress when there is a -AaBH change of administration, for that TO*®number of salaried positions are vacated bv the outgoing in■mwnm.yi' cumbents to be tilled Aby representatives of piFlf JJthe party coming in--ll** t 0 P° wer - The m inor *• patronage connected

with the offices of the sergeant-at-arms, clerk, doorkeepers, and postmaster ren- . der the contest for the elective positions Interesting, inasmuch as the representatives takiug part in the campaign expect to benefit by the result in providing for their customers. The majority of the positions included in the list of patronage at the disposal of the newly elected officials command lucrative salaries, and each Representative has a following of eager constituents anxious to fill the office and drew the emolument therefor. The clerk of the House does not have the largest amount of patronage at his disposal, but the respective offices in his department command the most attractive salaries. He himself draws $5,000 a year and Is required to give a bond of $20,000. His is a position of some honor and more responsibility. The clerk has forty-three employes under him, commanding aggregate salaries of $71,30S a year. His right-hand man, the chief clerk, draws $3,600 per annum. The e-.erk appoints the journal clerk and an assistant, who keep the official record of the proceedings of the House; two reading clerks, who, of late years, have been selected by competitive examinations, indicating their ability to read to the satisfaction of the House; a tally clerk, who keeps track of tho yea and nay votes, together with a number of minor officials. There is one salary of $3,000, four of $2,500 each, seven at $2,000 each, four at SI,BOO each, seven at $1,600, two at $1,400, two at $1,200, and ten at $720. He also appoints a carpenter, who earns about $2,500 at piece work.

The sergeant-at-arms gets a salary of $4,500, and is now compelled to furnish a bond of $50,000. His most important duty is to take charge of the disbursement of the salaries of the members, their mileage and other perquisites. He is supposed to be responsible for the good order in the House, to. preserve the peace among wquld-be belligerents, to prevent fights on the floor and to arrest absentees and bring them before the bar of the House when ordered to do so. The sor-geant-at-arms dispenses one salary of $3,000, two of $2,000, one of SI,BOO, one of $1,200, one of $720, and one of S6OO. lie also appoints one-third of the Capitol police, consisting of eight privates at $1,200, one lieutenant at SI,OOO, and two watchmen ut SI,OOO. The doorkeeper of the House is paid the smallest salary of all the elective officers, except the postmaster and chaplain, hut dispenses the largest amount of patronage. He draws $3,500 a year, and is not required to give a bond. His duties are defined by his title. He guards the doors to the floor and the galleries, appoints elevator men, pages and folders. Under him there are five positions at $2,000 each, one at SI,BOO, three at $1 - 500, one at $1,400, one at $1,314, sixteen at $1,200, nine at SI,OOO, fifteen at S9OO, five at SB4O, twenty-five at $720, ten at S6OO, and thirty-three pages ut SSO per month during the session. The postmaster attends to receiving and delivering the mail of the members slid to forwarding the public documents sent out from the Capitol. His salary is $2,500 and he is not required to give bond. Therefore no'sinecures in his office, for every man has to work hard. The postmaster appoints one clerk at $2,000, ten at $1,200, one at $720 and eight men during the session at SIOO a month each.

The chaplain of the House draws S9OO per year, in session and out, and has an easy berth. He is supposed to open the' House with prayer, and is not blamed if he makes it short. Sometimes the chaplain pays pastoral calls among the members of his flock during business hours, lingering after the House has assembled to chat with members. He never aims at his congregation in his prayer, although in times "of turbulence and great public excitement in the House he may try to invoke the spirit of peace and a blessing of wisdom upon the public councils. It is usual to elect a minister of the District of Columbia with a regular salary, for the emolument of the place is not large. The Speaker of the House has a bit of patronage at his own disposal. He is allowed one clerk at $2,350, one at $2,250, one at SI,OOO and a messenger at sl,000. The Speaker himself receives $3,000 in addition to his regular salary of $5,000 as a member for the added duties of the speakership. The Senate Officers.

The patronage of the Senate is much less than that of the House, but the positions are usually more secure. Some of the employes have been in their present positions for many years. “Old Man” Bassett, as he is called, has been in the service of the Senate a little over sixty years, and there is but one Senator, Mr. Morrill, who has been continuously in the Senate during the term of employment of Mr. Nixon, the financial clerk,, though he is still a young man. The Senate does not like repeated changes. There are but three elective officers—the secretary, the sergeant-at-armß, and the chaplain. The patronage, except committee clerkships, comes under the secretary and the sergeant-at-arms. The chapluin gets small pay and has no employes under him. The sergeant-at-arms has the appointment of the acting assistant doorkeeper of the Senate, the postmaster and his subordinates, the superintendent of the document room and his subordinates, the superintendent of the folding room and Jiis subordinates and the laborers, messengers and pages. This patronage is, in accordance with the custom of the State, apportioned according to a regular system among the Senators, the minority getting a certain proportion. This apportionment being fixed at the beginning of the Congress, is not changed in njiy respect. If a vacancy occurs the Senator who had the original appointment is called upon to name some one to fill it, and if his choice is not satisfactory he is called upon to make another. Efficiency is always exacted of the employe, and every Senator has enough friends to provide for to enable him ultimately to present the right sort of man. The clerks to the committees are appointed by the chairmen of the various committees and do not form a part of the Datronage under the elective officer*.

CHICAGO'S CANAL.

It la Hard to Grasp the Vaatnese ®i the Undertaking. The drainage canal which Chicago la building between it and Lock port is nearly twenty-nine miles long and is a wonderful undertaking. Work on it ia divided into twenty-nine aections. Given under contract to twenty different and responsible firms, the work on all these subdivisions is in full progress, and on two or three of them—and that in the most difficult rocky part—is already finished. The width of the great trench at the bottom is nowhere less than 110 feet on the first nine sections from Chicago, while on other sections it will be 202 feet, to be reduced again to 160 feet A large part of the excavation has to be made through a solid ledge of limerock, underlying the track of the Desplainee River. The width of the upper edges of the huge ditch will vary from 162 to 305 feet, the former width prevailing only on the ten solid rock sections of the excavations, where the walls are vertical and not sloping down as on the remaining nineteen sub-divisions, which are excavated by digging, shoveling and dredging. The clear water depth will be twentytwo feet. This will be uniform throughout, even at the lowest possible condition of Lake Michigan, which will feed the canal at the rate of 300,000 cubic'feet a minute and later, when the bottom width of the first nine sections shall have been enlarged to 200 feet, at the rate of 600,000 cubic feet of water a minute. From the estimates recently made there will have been removed by 1897, when it is expected the canal will be completed, 40,070,439 cubic yards of earth, or in other words,- nearly two-thirds of the excavation of the newly opened Baltic canal, five-sixths of the Manchester canal, twofifths of the Suez canal and three-tenths of the abortive Panama ditch. Of tho 40,000,000 cubic yards of excavated soil, clay, gravel, broken stone and crushed primeval rock fully 12,000;000 cubic yards ‘alone will belong to the latter class, making the Chicago enterprise a really unique one.

A stroll along the works is highly novel. One sees big dredges, flanked by flying bridges and gigantic scoops, ladling up whole loads of dirt at one sweep. One sees leviathans of machinery expressly invented and built to dispose of the loose stone rubble and blasted pieces of rock along the second half <ft th® “Big Lfltcb.” Under the name of “cantilevers,” they tower like oblique gallows of antediluvian monstrosity over the landscape. loosening, lifting and removing tons of blasted rock with no more exertion than that with which children handle their toys. Along with these and kindred cyclopio devices, there is a whole army train of steam, gas, water and electric motors, together with from 6,000 to 8,000 men, 600 teams, numberless graders, carts and trucks, and finally an array of blasting machinery, needing five tons of dynamite as their daily bill of fare. During one month recently 1,160,616 cubic yards of earth and rock were excavated and the cost of this one month’s work amounted to $695,055. In the beginning the cost of the work was estimated at between $40,000,000 and $45,000,000, but it is now estimated that ®at least $30,000,000 will suffice to complete the work.

MEISSONIER'S STATUE.

Great Painter Is Represented as Seen in His Paris Stmlio. A statue was unveiled in the garden of the Loavre at Paris last week in memory of Jean Louis Ernest Meis3onier, on® of the most celebrated painters of France, and the statue was the work of one of France’s most celebrated sculptors, Marius Jean Antoine Mercie. The monument is iu white marbie. Meissonier is represented as lie was seen in his studio, clad in a voluminous dressing gown, as in the portrait of himself which he painted

MERCIE’S STATUE OF MEISSONIER.

in 1889 for A. T. Stewart to accompany his most ambitious picture “1807.” Marius Jean Antoine Mercie, who wrought the statue, is one of the most famous of modern French sculptors, now 50 years old; he does not excel in statue* of repose like this, but in statues or groups of. action, such as his “Gloria Victis,” a highly theatrical composition designed to console his country for the German defeat, which*’now stands in the Montholon Square in Paris. He is an officer of the Legion of Honor and ha* been medaled at the Salon and at international exhibitions repeatedly.

THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH.

His Counsels Were Unheeded During Recent Troubles. The Armenian Patriarch at Constantinople, w*hose portrait we publish, played an important part during the recent riot

with the Softas. After celebrating high mass at a great ecclesiastical festival, when the Armenian community gathered together at the cathedral of KoumKapou, be was requested by the leaders of a certain Armenian anarchist party to head a‘procession to the porte to petition for redress of their wrongs. The patri-

MGR. KRIMIAN.

arch refused, and begged his flock to avoid any demonstration, but they were beyond his control. They formed a procession and came into collision with the police. Then the Softas—Mussulman theological stbdents—began to hunt down the Armenians right and left, and the public soon joined them. Numerous Armenians were killed and for some time Stamboul was .in a state of seige. The patriarch is severely indisposed, and has been confined to his bed.

The large five-story building on Middle street, Lowell, Mass., known ns the Parker Block, was almost destroyed by fire. The fire was aided by repeated explosions of whisky in barrels, which blew out the windows and created havoc in adjoining building* The total loss exceeds $350.000. |