Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1897 — ELLIS ISLAND EIRE. [ARTICLE]

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.