Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 October 1897 — MISERABLES IS BAD. [ARTICLE]

MISERABLES IS BAD.

HUGO’S WORK DECLARED UNFIT FOR SCHOOL READING. The Philadelphia Board of Education Wants None of It-Lovers of the Book Very Indignant-Two Conferences Favor Lay Representation. Jean Valjean Must Go. Girls in the Philadelphia high schools must not read “Les Misernbles" in hours. At least they may not read it in French. Chairman Thomas G. Morton of a committee of the board of education declared he hud read the book, and considered it improper for the reading of young i lies. Principal William 1). llorcr of t te gn,s‘ high school presented a list of text and supplementary reading books, in which the masterpiece of Victor Hugo was included. The committee listeued to what Chairman Morton had to say, and from that struck the adventures of .lean Yaljean from the list. Mr. Morton pointed out places in the English translations •which were scarcely what lie regarded as family tending, and assured the committee the text in the original French was decidedly more objectionable. He pointed out that Victor Hugo had drawn with a rather free hand the relations of men and women in the book called "Fantine," one of the books which make up that masterpiece. of the great French author which all the world knows as "Les Miserable*.’’ He ran rapidly through tile romance whieli follows the fortunes of Valjean. and assured his confreres that it contained passages which could hardly be approved as an intellectual diversion for young women in school. "I.es Miserable*" has always been regarded as tut essential in any well regulated library collection.

EQUAL REPRESENTATION. Tlie Matter Acted Upon by Two Conferences. Victory for the laymen marked the opening hour of one business session of the Rock Itiver conference at Chicago. Soon after the ministers had been called to order in the Western Avenue Methodist Churcli Rev. P. H. Swift, secretary of the committee of five, made his report. It recommended the adoption of the proposition for a constitutional change granting equal representation in numbers of preachers and laymen at the Methodist general conference held every four years. This proposition was favored by a unanimous vote. In addition tbe conference passed the resolutions favoring the laity, which was abo presented Monday, after the laymen’s association committee had been heard by the clergy. As the action was expected, it did not arouse very much enthusiasm, but tin* church members present. when the report was made and the action was taken, joints! in hearty applause. At Dubuque, lowa, by a vote of 141 to 8 the Upper lowa Methodist Episcopal conference declared for the proposition to increase the lay representation at the quadrennial general conference. PAYS WITH A PISTOL. Kansas Farmer Resorts to Extreme Measures to Lift a Mortgage. Frederick Brown, who owns a 100-acre farm ten miles west of Eldorado, Kan., raised a big wheat crop this year, more than enough to.lift the $1,500 mortgage that he had been forced to put on his place. He stepped into the Fanners and Merchants’ National Bank and told the cashier that he wanted to pay off a $1,500 mortgage on his farm. The cashier finding that it was drawing 9 per cent, interest and was not due until next February told the farmer that it would have to nin to that date. The farmer laid the $1,500 in gold and bank notes on the counter, pulled out a bull-dog revolver, laid it beside the money and said: “I am going to pay that mortgage to-day.” The cashier canceled the mortgage, delivered up the document to Mr. Brown and took the money.

Fatal Battle in Idaho. News just received from Long Valley, Idaho, says that there has been a battle between the settlers and the shepherds, in which three men were, killed and one dangerously wounded. Details are meager, but it seems that fifteen of the settlers warned the sheepmen to leave the valley and when they refused, made an attack upon the sheep camp. Thirty shots were fired by tire settlers, and a man named Barber was wounded. The sheepmen then returned the fire, killing three of the settlers. The rest of the attacking party fled. It is thought that Barber was killed. Train Bobbers Convicted. Georg** Jackson and Charles Williams, who held up an Oregon Railway and Navigation Company passenger train near Portland, have been found guilty of highway robbery. Jackson pleaded guilty and Williams was found guilty by n jury. Miss Clara Barton Returns. Miss Clara Barton, president of the Red Cross, who recently went abroad to attend the sixth annual conference of the order, has arrived in New York from Havre. New Turkish Minister. The State Department at Washington has received word that Ali Feronck Bey has been appointed Turkish Minister to the United States, to succeed Mustapha Bey. Unveils Vanderbilt Statue. Dr. Chuuneey M. Depew delivered the oration at the unveiling of the statue of Commodore Vandeibilt at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenu. Confesses to Eight Murders, k shepherd named Vacher has been nrr. led at Belley, Department of Ain, forty-four miles from Lyons, France, charged with committing a series of socalled Jack-the-Ripper murders. He has confessed to killing three shepherds, three girls and two old women. Big Gold Strike in Colorado. A great strike is reported near the Revenue tunnel on Mount Sueffels, in Ouray County, Colorado. Tests run us high as |200,000 to the ton ami SI,OOO has been taken out of two cubic feet of rock. Minister to Bo Ivin. President McKinley lias appointed George H. Bridgemau of New York minister to Bolivia. Ambrose W. Naulin was appointed collector of internal revenue for the sixth district of Indiana. David W. Henry was appointed collector of internal revenue for the seventh district of Indiana. Artificial Respiration. A girl in the St. Paul Hospital is being kept alive by artificial respiration produced by attendants constantly working her arm*. The pat' cut is suffering from Landry's paralysis, and the physicians think there js a chance for her recovery.