Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1897 — Page 2

Wgctnocratirgttitinel J. W. McEWEN, Publisher. RENSStLAER, - . . INDIANA

ELLIS ISLAND EIRE.

IMMIGRANT LANDING STATION TOTALLY DESTROYED. Police Officers Fight Hard to Restrain Immigrants Trying to Save Their Baggage —Loss Will Rcaeh $780,003 —Blow to Illinois Butterine Makers, Uncle Sam Is the Loser. Ellis Island is a mass of black ruins. AH the huge buildings which. since 1892, have housed hundreds of thousands of immigrants were demolished in a conflagration during Monday night which constituted one of the most brilliant spectacles ever seen in New York harbor and which threatened the lives of 200 immigrants Who were on the island. As far as can be learned there was no loss of life. It is said that the loss on buildings will amount to something like SBOO,OOO, while hundreds of volumes of valuable records have been destroyed. Night Watchman Christian tells the story of the fire graphically. “I did .not know anything about it,” he says, “until I found myself in a cloud of smoke. I rushed to the northwest end. Where the flames seemed' to come from, and shouted ‘tire!' Six men slept there, and they barely got out. Then somebody rang the alarms which communicate with all the departments. The immigrants seemed dazed, and we had to almost force t hem out. Some of t hem ran back for some bit of trinket or bundle of clothing. We thought we had lost fifteen Italians for certain until we found them huddled together at the far end of the island. It was a few minutes before 1 o’clock when the fire started in one of the towers in one of the main- buildings. Everybody but the watchman was asleep. How they all got out nobody knows. The tireboats and police poured’ water on the blaze for ail they were worth, but for all the good it did it might have been oil. It was a wonder that the immigrants in the main building got out at all; it was still more of a wonder that the sixty odd patients in the hospital were saved. The nurses and doctors worked as coolly and calmly as any trained firemen. Some of the sick shrieked and shouted. But the nurses did nor mind. They hauled them out on stretchers and laid them down where they would not get scorched. It was good work.” BLOW TO BUTTERINE.

New Illinois Law Prohibits Use of Coloring Matter. The manufacture of butterine ns an industry will virtually cease in Illinois July 1, now that Gov. Tanner has signed the bill preventing the coloring of that article. Uncle Sam will lose $600,000 a year in internal revenue taxes, restaurant and boarding house keepers will have to buy genuine butter for their patrons, and the farmers all over the Prairie State will shout for joy as soon as the bill becomes operative. Thirty million pounds of butterine is made in Chicago a year, on every pound of which the manufacturer pays a 2-cent tax to the Government, lie can afford to do it. too, for the modern product so closely resembles dairy butter in color and taste .that it easily brings as good a price as the best butter that ever came out of a churn. But now that the farmers have secured the passage of a law prohibiting the coloring of butterine, thereby leaving it the shade of mutton tallow, the palmy days of the stock yards product are past. Butterine no longer can compete with dairy butter, and' in consequence the manufacturers will shutdown their works or more them to a more congenial clime, where the farmers are more meek and long-suffering. There are four firms engaged in the manufacture of butterine in Chicago—Armour A Co.. Swift & Co., Braun & Fitts and G. 11. Hammond & Co. The last named firm has an extensive plant at Hammond, Ind., and will suffer only the loss of the Illinois trade. The other three houses will be. obliged to move to other States. Armour and Swift have plants at Kansas City and will probably transfer the machinery used in Chicago to that city.

Athletes of the Diamond, Following is the standing of the clubs of the National Baseball League: W. L. W. L. Baltimore ..31 9 Philadelphia .23 22 Boston 30 12 Pittsburg ...20 21 Cincinnati ..25 16 Louisville ...17 25 New Y0rk...22 16 Chicago 17 26 Brooklyn ...22 20 Washington .14 26 Cleveland ..21 20 St. Louis.... 8 37 The showing of the members of the Western League is summarized below: W. L. W. L. Columbus ... 30 15 Detroit 22 24 St. Paul 32 17 Minneapolis .19 30 Indianapolis .28 15 Gr’d Rapids.lß 29 Milwaukee ..26 23 Kansas City. 14 36 Northwest on the Broiler. Great sizzling balls of hot weather rieochctted the burning pavements and streets of Chicago Tuesday and' frightened a perspiring populace into all the shady retreats in town. One man was driven to suicide and over forty were prostrated. The temperature reached 98 degrees in the shade. It was a red'-hot day throughout the Northwest.

“Unman Ostrich” Dead. Harry Whallen, the ‘•human ostrich,'’ who was operated upon at the German hospital at Kansas City, and from whose stomach the surgeons took two pocket knives, three knife blades, three ounces of fine glass and tacks, nails, screws and staples to the number of seventy, died as a result of the operation. Found Death in the Chair. Howard A. Scott was electrocuted at Sing Sing, N. Y. Scott murdered' his wife Oct. 28,1896, because she had applied for a divorce. Never Saw Such Fightins:. At the Carmen plantation, near Lajas, Cuba, insurgents under Costello had an engagement with a part of the Gero-na battalion. The Spaniards were defeated, and had to retreat with a heavy loss. Three captains and five lieutenants were killed, and many officers wounded. Hadn’t Time to Marry. James Piper, a quaint character of Bloomington, UH., was found dead. He was worth SIOO,OOO, but lived like a hermit. Hia age was 89. He had never murPanic in Polish Schoolhouse. A panic occurred in a Polish schoolhouse in Buffalo, N. Y.. Sunday night at a Church entertainment. A lamp fell, and a cry of fire was raised. People crowded and stumbled and tramped over each other. No one was fatally injured, but a large numjier were bruised. Fhe Twlca Kocaprd Hanging. Mrs. Nancy E- Clem of Indianapolis is dead. She was the central figure in the city*! most famous criminal case, was tried firetimea for murder. sentenced to iane twice, and giMMf- escaped on a techfMemwas finally convicted of perjury Abd served four years

tragedy of the sea. Two Vessels Sunk in • Collision Off the Lizard. A French schooner, which arrived at Swansea, Wales, reports that through the haze she saw two vessels collide off the Lizard with tremendous impact. Both vessels sank with all on board, and, according to the crew of the schooner, all were drowned. The schooner’s crew further reports that the vessels sank so quickly that they had no time to go to their assistance. Other foreign advices include a dispatch from Constantinople, in which it is said that strong pressure will be needed to overcome the resistance of the Turkish Government to the retrocession of Thessaly. Reports that Great Britain is opposing, on religious grounds, Turkey’s retention of Thessaly are being circulated with the view of exciting Mussulman fanaticism. Budapest reports socialist peasant riots in the communes of Naduvara and Alpar. The gendarmes at both places were obliged to fire upon the rioters. Two peasants were killed and forty were severely wounded. Twentyone agitators were arrested. FAINTS ON THE GALLOWS.

Rockford Wife Murderer’s Nerve Weakens at the Last Moment. Jam'is French, the Rockford, 111., wife murderer, paid the death penalty on the scaffold Friday morning, the drop falling at 11:22 o’clock, and thirteen minutes later he was pronounced dead, his neck having been broken. As the white cap was placed over his head he fainted and fell back into the arms of the deputies, who straightened him up and the trap was sprung. Two hundred people witnessed the execution from within the high stockade. Thousands stood around outside, Including many women, who could not see or hear anything. French killed his wife July 19, 1896. The couple had never lived happily together because of his jealousy. Ou the same day at Georgetown, Del., James M. Gordy was hanged for the murder of his wife. He died game and protested his innocence to the last. FEEL THE HARD TIMES. Postal Party Travels on the Good Nature of Cities They Visit. Judging from private information received in Washington, the managers of the international postal congress trip are having a hard time of it. The total cost of the junket will be about $150,000. Congress appropriated $50,000 only, but that will be used solely for the entertainment of the postal congress in Washington during its sessions. Therefore the expenses of the junket will have to be paid by another congressional appropriation, or, that failing, the railroads and hotels and private citizens in the different towns visited, who have “put up” in hopes of reimbursement, will be just so much out. No theatrical manager far from home with a big company and r. poor play ever had a harder time than the managers of the postal congress trip are having.

REPRIEVE FOR DURRANT. Governor Budd Fixes the New Date of Execution as July O. Theodore Durrant, San Francisco, the murderer of Blanche Lamont, has been reprieved. Gov. Budd decided upon this course in order to settle the question of tiie rights of the Federal courts to interfere in the execution of a sentence imposed hy the State court. He has named July 9 as the day upon which the sentence shall le carried out. The object of the reprieve, as the Attorney General explained, is to avoid the necessity of the resentencing the convicted man. If th? position taken by the Governor be supported by the State Supreme Court the sentence will be carried out on July 9, just as it would have been June 11 but for the habeas corpus proceedings. Fiend’s Foul Act. A diabolical attempt was made upon the life of Governor Andrew J. Smith of the National Soldiers’ Home at Leavenworth, Kan., and his wife and daughter, between 4 and 5 o’clock Friday morning. Dynamite was employed and the explosion aroused the residents of the city, while houses trembled as if undergoing an earthquake shock. Mrs. Smith had a miraculous escape from death, the explosion being directly beneath her bedchamber. Besides being cut and bruised ny broken glass and pieces of flying bric-a-brac and furniture, she was completely prostrated by the frightful shock. Governor Smith and his daughter, Miss Daisy, occupied rooms on the second floor, and were far enough removed from the explosion to escape the serious consequences suffered by Mrs. Smith. The residence is a scene of wreckage. The brick walls are torn and cracked, one side being t Imoet completely blown out. The windows are shattered and the debris is scattered over the grounds for a distance of several rods. The report of the explosion was distinctly heard in the city, three miles away, and many residents were aroused by the shock, which was not unlike the trembling produced by an earthquake. Veterans in the barracks were thrown from their cots and a panic was with difficulty prevented.. Governor Smith attributes the attempt on his life and that' of his family as a direct result of the persecution that has been waged against him during the last five or six years. The veterans at the home are standing by him manfully and swear they will lynch the wretch if he be caught. Joseph W. Oliver, a dishonorably discharged veteran, has been arrested by the police. Evidence against him is strong.

Sail from Florida. Col. Shepard Young, a well-known Boston military man, in an interview divulged the details of a secret Cuban expedition which left Boston May 23 and picked up several recruits in New York. He has received a cipher telegram, from Jacksonville, conveying the news that the expedition had sailed from that city on a fast, light draft steamer, 115 strong, armed with rifles of army pattern. All have seen service hi the militia. A movement has been started to organize a sanitary commission to supply stores. Col. Young says: “I conducted the drills in a hall in Boston, put them through in fancy tactics, cavalry tactics and artillery tactics. Every man could load and fire a cannon, no matter what the size, and swing a saber or use a bayonet. Not a soldier left Boston until he was drilled sufficiently to take charge of a regiment. The tactics were taught in this city mostly at night. We got word from New York that a spy had been sent to Boston. We didn’t see him. The troops practiced with the machete also. That is used mostly for a front cut. The machete is heavier than a saber, and the wielding of one is hard work, but the men soon learned to use it with skill.” Boys in Gray Unite. Adjutant General Morman, by direction of Gen. John B. Gordon, commanding the United Confederate Veterans, has issued an order announcing that 1,000 camps have been registered in the United Confederate Veteran Association, with applications for over one hundred more. United Workmen Meet. The twenty-fifth stated meeting of the supreme lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen of the United States and Canada, opened in Milwaukee at 10 o’clock Wednesday morning. Vestments Cause Tionble. The members of the general council of the Reformed Episcopal Church wrestled York with the question of clerical Bebea and wound up by forbidding the

white gfirpMce, gave in the parishes where it is now used. Immediately therea/ter Bishop Charles E. Cheney of Chicago, the leader of the whites, resigned all his posts in the gift of the council. R- W. Hare, Chicago; the Rev. Dr. William Fairley, Philadelphia; the Rev. T. J. Walton, Chicago, and J. S. Van Epps, Cleveland, did likewise. C. M. Morton of Philadelphia announced that Miss Harriet 8. Benson had delegated him and William Tracey to state that on account of the action of the council in regard to the vestments she would withdraw until further notice the income from her contribution to the special ch’.jrch extension trust and the special synod trust. These trusts provide an in come to the church of $15,000 a year Bishop Cheney, after adjournment, was asked if he would leave the church. “Certainly not,” he answered. “I merely resigned the position given me by the council. The council did not make me a bishop.” ROLLING MILL AND FURNACE. Extent Reached by the Iron and Steel Trade in 1890. James M. Swank, general manager of the American Iron and Steel Association, has issued his annual report for 1896. The report says that in 1896 the United States made 8,623,127 tons of pig iron, 3,919,096 tons of besseiner steel ingots, 1,298,700 tons of open-hearth steel and 5,281,689 tons of steel of all kinds, and rolled In all 5,515,841 tons of finished iron and steel, including rails. There were also shipped in the same year, 9,916,035 tons of Laki- Superior iron ore and 5,411,602 net tons of Connellsville coke. These figures all show material decreases as compared with the corresponding items of production in 1895. The foreign value of all the iron and steel manufactures imported into the United States in 1896 was $19,506,587, a decrease of $6,265,549. The exports of iron and steel from the United States for the same period amounted to $48,760,218, an increase of $13,598,655. BOMB FOR FAURE.

French President Placed in Peril of His Life. An attempt was made Sunday to assassinate Felix Faure, President of the French republic, while he was en rou’e to lamgchamps to witness the Grand Prix. While Mr. Entire's carriage was passing a thicket near La Cascade restaurant, in the Bois de Boulogne, a bomb, ■which subsequently proved to be a piece of tubing ulhuil six inches long and two inches in diameter, with a thickness of half an inch, charged with powder and swan shot, exploded. No one was injured by the explosion. A man in the crowd, suspected as the prime mover, was arrested. He gave his name as. Gullet, and made only the briefest replies to questions put to him by the police. Victims Wer.; Catholics, Anti-Christian riots have taken place in Liu Ching, China. A mob of fanatics, loudly proclaiming that Roman Catholics had kidnaped their children, rushed simultaneously on the mission buildings. In the tierce fight that ensued three Christians were killed outright, eight wounded and four captured. Particulars are coming in meagerly. The Rev. Father Ma zelis is among those killed. The wildly yelling mob attacked the rear and front of the priest’s residence, but with the h<-lp of friendly*natives he barricaded the back and faced the mob in front with a rifle, but the barricades were broken down. The priest was shot and his body hacked to pieces. Placards are being posted throughout many districts stating that foreigners must be driven out of the country or China will be divided between them and their homes destroyed and their children stolen from them. It is feared that more murders will take place, as leagues are being formed —in some districts thousands strong—with the avowed determination of exterminating the missionaries. The m’Ssionaries refuse to leave, saying they w ; ll resist to the last, trusting to Providence. The priests sent out from the Paris hemiquarters are twenty-seven in number, the bishop being Mgr. Gullion. There are, besides, thirteen nuns. The mission is divided into twenty-five stations, which are attended by about 15,000 Chinese or Manchurian Catholics. The ecclesiastics state that the missionaries are inclined to attribute the atrocities which are reported from Mongolia to robbers who infest the country rather than to political or antireligious agitators.

Causes Death of Three. The most serious freight wreck on the Boston and Maine Railroad in many months took place on the Western division about a quarter of a mile east of Exeter, N. H. The Portland and Boston through night freight ran into a washout at Fernaid’s culvert. The locomotive and seven cars wore demolished and three men were killed. To Be Fifty-nine Stories. A New York architect is preparing plans for a fifty-nine story office and studio building to be erected in the control part of the city. The estimated cost of the building will be from $12,000,000 to $15,000,000, which will be furnished' by a syndicate of Englishmen Got Away with SIOO,OOO. The defalcation of Paying Teller Boggs of the First National Bank of Dover, Del., may reach SIOO,OOO, but the bank is not affected seriously.

MARKET QUOTATIONS.

Chicago—Cattle, common to prime, $3.50 to $5.50; hogs, shipping grades, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, fair to choice, $2.00 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2 red', 69c to 70c; corn, No. 2,24 cto 25c; oats, No. 2,16 c to 18c; rye, No. 2,34 cto 36c; butter, choice creamery, 14c.t0 15c; eggs, fresh, 8c to 10c; potatoes, per bushel, 25c to 35c; broom corn, common growth to choice green hurl, $25 to S7O per ton. Indianapolis—Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $5.25; hogs, choice light, $3.00, to $3.75; sheep, common to choice, $3.00 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2,75 cto 77c; corn, No. 2 white, 24c to 25c; oats, No. 2 white, 20c to 22c. St. Louis—Cattle, $3.00 to $5.25; hogs, s3.o® to $3.50; sheep, $3.00 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2,83 cto 84c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 22c to 24c; oats, No. 2 white, 17c to 18c; rye, No. 2,31 cto 33c. Cincinnati—Cattle, $2.50 to $5.00; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $2.50 to $4.25; wheat, No. 2,83 cto 84c; corn, No. 2 mixed', 25c to 26c; oats, No. 2 mixed, 19c to 21c; rye, No. 2,35 cto 37c. Detroit—Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $2.00 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2 red, 79c to 81c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 24c to 26c; oats, No. 2 white, 22c to 23c; rye, 34c to 36c. Toledo—Wheat, No. 2 red, 79c to 80c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 24c to 26c; oats, No. 2 white, 18c to 20c; rye, No. 2,34 cto 35c; chwer seed, $4.05 to $4.15. Milwaukee—Wheat, No. 2 spring, 72e to 73c; corn, No. 3,23 cto 25c; oats. No. 2 white, 21c to 23c; barley, No. 2,28 cto 33c; rye, No. 1,34 cto 36c; pork, mess, $7.25 to $7.75. Buffalo—Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $3.00 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2 red, 83c to 85c; com, No. 2 yellow, 27c to 29c; oats, No. 2 white, 24c to 25c. New York—Cattle, $3.00 to $5.25; hogs, $3.50 to $4.25; sheep, $3.00 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 75c to 76c; com, No. 2, 29c to 31c; oats, No. 2 white, 21c to 23c; butter, creamery, 11c to 16c; eggs, Western, 10c to 12c.

SECRETARY OF STATE

HOY/ SHERMAN DISPOSES OF A DAY’S BUSINESS. He Ib Methodical at All Times—Saves Himself by Relying Upon Hie Assistants—Meeting Office Seekers and Dealing with Dip'omats. Mr. Sherman’s Day. Washington correspondence:

ECRETARY O F State John Sherman ' works at his desk from 9 o’clock in the morning until 4 o’clock in the afternoon; then he goes home and reads novels. He is an omnivorous consumer of novels of all degrees of merit, of all colors of binding—yellow preferred. He says

they rest his mind. He considers that at the age of seventy-four he has earned a rest from the heavy literature of finance, of economics, of statesmanship, and Mr. Babcock, his secretary, says that he follows the woes of thd latter-day heroine, the truly good stiltings of the modern hero, and the sulphurous ejaculations of the Jin de siecle villain with a really remarkable interest, even if he does smile a good deal through his spectacles over what he reads. But all this happens after 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when Mr. Sherman is Mr. Sherman, and not the Secretary of State, and it is with his manner of’putting in his time as Secretary of State that this article is concerned. When Mr. Sherman became the Secretary of the Treasury a matter of twenty odd years ago he was confronted by one of the most herculean tasks that ever

SECRETARY OF STATE SHERMAN.

loomed up before an American statesman —the resumption of specie payments —and Mr. Sherman worked away at that job, and accomplished it, from 9 o’clock in the morning until 4 o’clock in the afternoon no more, no less. “I first became connected with Mr. Sherman at that time,” said Mr. Babcock, his secretary, “and I never knew him to work longer than the office hours of his clerks. Mr. Folger permitted the secretaryship of the treasury to kill him; probably Mr. Manning did also. Neither of these gentlemen was generous to himself. A whole generation of political experience taught Mr. Sherman that lesson before he assumed the reins of the treasury, and, accomplishing more work in that capacity than did Hamilton, he emerged from the ordeal with his heMth and strength. The secret of it? He trusted his assistant secretaries; he allowed his subordinates to do the work they were appointed to do. He never permitted a paper to lie on his desk for ten minutes, and made’ disposition of his affairs as they came up. His desk was clean down to the blotting pad when he put on his hat and quit hisFoffice at 4 o’clock in the aL ternoon. The Secretaries of the Treasury who allowed the position to give them nervous prostration attempted to do the whole thing themselves; and no secretary of any government department can do that and live through his term. “As was his rule, when Secretary of the Treasury, so is Mr. Sherman’s rule as Secretary of State. When he came here he found, as he expected he would, th® the Staie Department is filled with men who have been here a long time, and who have every detail of the department's routine at their fingers’ ends. Mr. Sherman perfectly appreciates the fact that these men know more about the practical workings of their respective branches of the department than he himself could hope to acquire in a period of service here twice as long as that for which he was appointed, and he is a strong believer in the value of routine. So he lets them go ahead, keeping an eye on their work, but in no wise interfering with it without good occasion. And I guess this is the reason that he has all the hair he had when he was twenty years old, that he is as straight as a string’at seventy-four, and that his eyes are just as good to-day as they ever were.” For instance, to elaborate a little on Mr. Babcock’s talk, the country in general probably fancies that all the sounding diplomatic documents that are occasionally published in the newspapers are written by the hand of the Secretary of State himself; that he sits down under a gas lamp and gnaws his finger nail® and tousles up his hair in doing it, like any youthful member of a school of journalism preparing an essay thickly sown with “we’s.” For any Secretary of State to do this, or anything like it, no matter What the degree of his volubility, would be a sheer impossibility. Tens of thousands of words of this sort of correspondence are sent broadcast throughout the world from the American Department of State every day, always over the signature of the Secretary of State; but the Secretary of State himself no more revises it and shapes it up than does the editor of a newspaper write the police court news that appears in his paper. The momentous documents, those bearing upon great international questions, the Secretary of State docs write*hamself; but all the other diplomatic correspondence, even that relating to affairs of very considerable importance, is gotten up in the diplomatic bureau of the State Department, of which Mr. Cridier la now the

hard-working head. AB this formally and elaborately courteous correspondence, with its “renewed assurances of profound, distinguished consideration,” and so on, of course, pass over the Secretary of State’s desk, and is subject to hta revision before he signs it; tfut it is very rare that he finds it necessary to make any changes in it, so carefully and thoroughly is thia work done. Whenever any document reaches Mr. Sherman’s desk that does not absolutely require his personal attention, be sends immediately for the official to whose branch of the department the document properly belongs, and turn* It over to him with a few succinct instructions. He does not lay it aside for future consideration, and thereby accumulate a monumental pile of papers filled with possibilities of grief and labor to come. It is really quite entertaining to see Mr. Sherman cut open an official letter as it reaches him hot from the mail, glance it over and grasp it within the compass of sixty seconds, and then either send for the proper official pr else rfioot it out by messenger to the place it belongs. The only occasions upon which Mr. Sherman feels called upon to grow a little expansive are the diplomatic days—Thursday. This is the especial day that he sets aside for the reception of the diplomats, to talk over things with them confidentially, and on this day other visitors have a very slight chance of being received by him. The Secretary of State receives the diplomats in a room adjoining his office, and called the “diplomatic room”—by all odds the most gorgeously furnished governmental chamber in Washington. Running its entire length is a carved ebony table, and it is at the head of this table, seated In a tall revolving Chair, that Mr. Slier man receives the diplomats, one by one. They string int othe anteroom for their audience with the Secretary of State all the way from 10 to 1 o’clock, and In receiving them no matter of precedence Is observed. The first to arrive is the first

to be received. The Secretary of State gives these audiences for a general resume of each diplomat’s business, and it is for this reason that he only receive® them one at a time. He leans back in his revolving chair, with, his spectacles pushed up on his forehead; taking in what each of them has to say, and occasionally jotting down a note on a scratch pad in front of him. Mr. Sherman is not a linguist. The only language he can speak is English. But as there is not now in Washington a single representative of another nation who cannot also speak English, the Secretary of State has no trouble" in carrying on. these conversations.

NEW UNITED STATES TREASURER

Ellia H. Roberts) a New York Banker, Recently' Appointed. Ellis H. Roberts of New York, who has just been appointed tifeasurer of the United States by President McKinley, is the president of the Franklin National Bank of New York. He has long been prominent in national affairs. He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions,of 1864, 1868 and 1876. In 1866 he was a member of the New York Legislature and in 1870 he was elected a member of Congress from the Oneida district and was re-elected in 1872. Mr. Blaine, then Speaker of the House, made Mr. Roberts, a new member, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, an unusual honor. In 1880 President Harrison appointed Mr. Roberts assistant United States 'Treasurer at New York City. In 1893 Mr. Roberts was offered the presidency of the Franklin National Bank, and accepted the place. Mr. Roberts is a widely known traveled man and has written

ELLIS H. ROBERTS.

several books, not only on finance but on other subjects; among them may be mention etl “Greece and Beyond,” “Planting and Growth of the Empire State” and "Government Revenue,” “Especially the American System.” He is 70 years old. John A. Colson, a brother of Congressman David S. Colson, was shot and instantly killed by John Dougan, who ran a saloon at Middlesboro, Ky. Dougan has been arrested. Isaac Hoffman, one of a firm of wholesale clothiers in Sam Francisco, was found in his office in a dying with two bullet holes in his head. The police believe it to be a murder. The Pennsylvania road reports net ear*, ings m $708,767 lees than last yaar.

NATIONAL SOLONS.

REVIEW OF THEIR WORK AT WASHINGTON. Detailed Proceedings of Senate and House—Bills Passed or Introduced in Either Branch—Questions of Moment to the Country nt Large. The Legislative Grind. The Senate had a period of tariff speeches Wednesday, and as a result little progress was made on the bill. Mr. Rawlins of Utah and Mr. Mills of Texas discussed the Democratic attitude on the tariff from their respective standpoints. Later in the day Mr. Cannon of Utah proposed an amendment placing an export bounty on agricultural products. He spoke for two hours on the need of giving the farmer a share of the benefits of the tariff. Mr. Butler of North Carolina also spoke in favor of giving the farmer equal benefits with other classes under the bill. Only half a page of the bill, covering four brief and comparatively unimportant par,grapns, were '.isposed of during the day. The long-deferred debate on the sugar schedule of the tariff bill came on Thursday, after the Senate had disposed of the cereals in the agricultural schedule. Nothing definite was accomplished. James T. Lloyd, who tvas recently elected to succeed the late Representative Giles, of the First Missouri District, took the oath at the opening of the House. Mr. Hitt asked unanimous consent for the consideration of a joint resolution for the payment of the salaries of certain consuls general and consuls, the names of whose posts were changed in the last consular and diplomatic bill. The resolution was passed. Mr. Payne then moved an adjournment, which was resisted by the minority. The rising vote resulted in a tie —87 to 87. Speaker Reed saved the motion by voting aye, and the House adjourned until Monday.

The first test vote on the sugar schedule was taken in the Senate iate Friday, resulting in the adoption of the Republican caucus amendment changing the House rate of 1 575-1000 to 1.95 per pound by the close vote of yeas 32, nays 30. The affirmative vote was made up of tw-enty-nine Republicans, one Democrat (McEnery of Louisiana), one silver Republican (Jones of Nevada) and one Populist (Stewart of Nevada). The negative vote •was made up of twenty-five Democrats, three Populists and two silver Republicans. It was the closest vote thus far taken on an issue of importance, and was tccepted as showing that amendments laving the sanction of the caucus were assured of adoption. The vote was taken after a day spent in speeches on the effect of the sugar schedule. The sugar schedule was again the subject of debate Saturday in the Senate. Practically no progress was made. Only one amendment was voted upon and that was defeated. When the Senate adjourned the amendment of Mr. Lindsay of Kentucky to strike out the differential on refined sugar was pending. The most sensational feature of the day was the speech of Senator McEnery of Louisiana. It was his maiden speech in the Senate. He openly avowed himself in favor of a tariff upon sugar. He moreover defended the sugar trust, Whose interests, he argued, went hand in hand with the sugar planters. Mr. Lindsay of Kentucky and Mr. Caffe.-y were the other Senators who addressed the Senate at length. The Senate debate on the sugar schedule of the tariff bill proceeded Monday with only one diverting incident to relieve the monotony into which the discussion has lapsed. This was the sharp exchange between Mr. Hoar of Massachusetts and Mr. Tillman of South Carolina, representing the two extreme® of Senatorial procedure. The House adjourned until Thursday after a session that lasted for-ty-five minutes. The only attempt to transact business was a request by Mr. Lacey of lowa for unanimous consent for a bill for the relief of residents of Greer County, Oklahoma. Mr. Henry of Texas promptly objected, and the House decided to adjourn. Before the session began the hub of a wheel wound round with a monster petition, said to contain 6,000,(XXI signatures, appealing to Congree® to recognize Cuban insurgents as belligerents, was wheeled into the space in fro®' of the Speaker's rostrum. It had been in circulation throughout the United States for about six months, and was presented to Congress by Representative Sulzer of New York. The Senate made a great stride forward Tuesday by completing the consideration of the sugar schedule of the tariff bill, except the provision relating to Hawaii, which went over. This schedule has been the storm center of the entire bill. Senator Tillman gave notice of an amendment he will offer to the tariff bill providing for a head tax of SIOO on all immigrants to the United States. The amendment also makes it a misdemeanor punishable by fine and imprisonment for any person to enter the United State* for. the purpose of engaging in trade or manual labor without intending to become a citizen. These provision® are modified by a proviso to the effect that they “shall only remain in effect until silver shall be admitted to our mints for coinage at the ratio of 16 to 1, on the same conditions with gold.”

Odds and Ends.

The army worm has cost America more than the Revolutionary war. Over 600,000 cattle are slaughtered yearly for the manufacture of beef extracts. The descendants of a single female wasp will often number 25,000 in one season. Fleas will never touch an epileptic, and will instantly leave a dead or dying person. A bumble bee has been known to distance a locomotive going twenty miles an hour. Female spiders are much larger and more ferocious than the males, and often devour their husbands. Two Bit is a novel name of the youngest town in the Black Hills. It is located in the gulch of that name in the northern hills near a mine which yields red paint. Nearly seventy round towers, from thirty to 135 feet high, are found in various parts of Ireland. They are believed to have been used in the ceremonies of fire worship. The State capitol of Texas is the largest State building in the United States, and the seventh in size among the buildings of the world. It was paid for with three million acres of public land, deeded to the Chicago capitalists who executed the work. The grand triumphal arch in Paris, begun by Napoleon, is 147 feet by sev-enty-five feet at its base, and 162 feet high. The central archway is ninetyfive feet high and forty-eight feet wide. The inner walls are inscribed with the names of 384 generals and ninety-six victories,

COST OF GOVERNMENT.

Federal Expense Account for the Nine Month* Ending March 31, 1897. The following statement shows the co*t of sustaining the various branches of the Federal Government for the fiscal year ending March 31: Legislative: 1896. Senate $ 1.102,116.87 House of Representatives.... 2,843,823.08 Legislative, miscellaneous ... 90.177.76 Public printer 3,678,127.71 Library of Congress 831,974.40 Botanic gardens 22,744.30 Court of Claims 891,993.74 Executive proper: White House 96,667.34 Civil Service Commission. ... 97,261.70 Executive departments: State 965,317.91 Treasury 66,032,897.03 War 52,601,516.16 Navy 26.913,908.46 Interior 158,050,042.39 Postoffice 11,719,016.60 Agricultural 2,897,241.66 Department of Labor 163,935.13 Department of Justice 302,925.89 Judicial 7,658,618.50 Total actual expenses... .$336,839,221.54 The following statement shows the estimate of expense® for the present fiscal year, as submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury: Legislatives 7,958,817.40 Executive ptoper 196,680.00 State Department 1,888,278.76 Treasury Department 143,212,278.19 War Department 54,489,148.45 Navy Department 80,459,956.20 Interior Department 161,716,415.92 Postoffice Department 7,620,669.25 Agricultural Department ... 2,542,692.00 Department of Labor 192,370.00 Department of Justice 7,810,772.00 Total $418,091,078.17 The 1 oilowing statements show some of the most important and interesting items of expense in the management, of the Government during recent years: Fiscal Increase year. Salaries. of navy. Pensions. 1889 ...$44,862,606 $5,630,953 $ 87,624,779 1890 ... 44,707,866 6,831,803 106,936,855 1891 ... 46,721,001 10,609,197 124,416,961 1892 ... 46,192,597 13,756,499 134,583,062 1893 ... 47,114,805 15,030,226 159,357,557 1894 ... 45,626,198 16,199,258 141,177,284 1895 ... 47,653,321 13,182,134 141,395,228 1896 ... 48,949,083 9,453,002 139,434,000 « River Interest on and harbor Fiscal year. public dqbt. Improvements 1889 $41,001,484J9 $11,208,296.70 1890 36,090,284.05 11,737,437.83 1891 37,547,135.37 12,250,627.23 1892 23,378,116.23 18,017,208.48 1893 27,264,392.18 14,799,835.98 1894 27,841,405.64 19,887,362.12 1895 30,978,030.21 19,897,552.69 1896 35,385,028.93 18,104,376.44 The total revenue and expenditures of the Government for the last four fiscal years are given below: Total Total revenue. expenditures. 1893 $385,819,628.78 $383,477,954.49 1894 297,722,019.25 367,525,279.88 1895 313,390,075.11 356,195,298.29 1896 326,976,200.38 352,179,446.08 It will be noticed that, with tine exception of 1803, the expenditures of the Government have exceeded the revenues, the excess being $69,803,260.58 in 1894, $42,805,223.18 in 1895 and $25,203,245.70 in 1896. For the first nine months of the current fiscal year ended March 31 the revenues of the Government from all sources had reached a total of $242,785,051.25, while the expenditures during the same period amounted to $281,690,332.18, or a deficit of $38,905,280.93 in the revenues.

"SPITE" HOUSE OWNER DIES.

Wealthy Joseph Richardson Passes Away in His Singular Abode. Joseph Richardson, New York, an eccentric man of wealth, died Tuesday in his “spite” house, at the corner of Bightyseeond street and Lexington avenue. His bed had been placed in the parlor of his home. This room is five feet wide by twenty feet long. He had been carried there from his cramped bedroom. Mr. Richardson was 84 years old, but was active till a few months ago. He was estimated to be worth $20,000,000, though his notoriety was chiefly due to the “spite” house, in which he had lived for fifteen years. This house was built on a strip of laud five feet wide by 104 deep. The occupants of the house adjoining this land on the west wished to build houses. They offered the Richardsons SI,OOO for the strip, but they held out for $5,000. The parties refused to give this amount, thinking to force Richardson out. The owner had begun to build on his five-foot lot when the others offered him an advance. He then refused to entertain any proposition, and in spite of all opposition and entreaty erected the odd house in which he died. This remarkable man owned stock in nearly every railroad in America, and was the possessor of passbooks over the roads here and in Canada, and on all the steamship lines leaving this port. In appearance Mr. Richardson closely resembled Russell Sage. His clothes were illfitting, his gait shambling and his sole object seemed to be money making. For years he carried his lunch to his office.

FIVE HUNDRED MEN DROWNED.

Great Storm Disaster Overwhelms Chinese Fishermen. Meager particulars were brought by the Empress of Japan of a disaster which befell the fishermen of Chusan archipelago, off the coast of China. On May 6, when all the fishing boats were out on the fishing banks, a terrible gale sprung up. Of the several hundred boats out at the time very few returned, and it is estimated that some 500 men lost their lives. The storm was one of those sudden ones for Which the coast of China is noted, and the fishermen had no chance to seek shelter. The storm swept over the entire archipelago, which extends across the mouth of Hanchow bay on the eastern coast of China. Several large junks were lost, in Which scores perished.

Logan and McCook in Uniform.

Military trappings were worn at tha coronation of the Czar in Moscow. Mr. Ix>gan wore the uniform of a captain in the Ohio National Guard, of which he In an officer. John J. McCook wore the uniform of a colonel in the United Stated army. Mr. Logan claims the McCookn started the story that he appeared in an unauthorized uniform. He brands the story as false and demands an immediate retraction. If it is not given, Mr. Logan says in his letter to Gen. A. McD. McCook, he will hold the general “personally responsible.”

Told in a Few Lines.

An anti-saloon league was formed at Milwaukee. Mrs. Langtry is said to be the foinj es » bic/cte uwto of goMd