Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1898 — Page 2

BljeJttnoaaticSfntinei ■a- . J. W. McEwen, Publisher. W ■■ - --- - RENSSELAER, - - - INDIANA

REBEL CAMP TAKEN.

EPANISH VICTORY REPORTED IN CUBA. t?access Said to Have Att nded General Aguirre's Operations Dynamite a Kailroad Bridge —Big Day’s Business in tbc Patent Office. Military Movements in Cuba. According to Havana announcements from Spanish sources the combined operations undertaken by Gen. Aguirre in the I rovince of Santa Clara have resulted in the capture of an insurgent camp, twenty of the enemy being killed and three captured. The Spanish loss was two men killed and seven wounded. It is further reported that the Spanish troops have been engaged with the insurgents Commanded by Napoles. In this case the insurgents are said to have lost several men killed, and the Spaniards say that after the engagement an insurgent captain and seven armed privates surrend ?red. Advices from Manzanillo say that Spanish troops have left there to relieve the garrison of Santa Cruz, which is threatened by the insurgents. A report is current here that the son of Calixto Garcia died recently from wounds received during the insurgent attack upon Guamo. The insurgents have dynamited a railroad bridge at San Rafael, between Minas and Campo Florida. Congressman William H. King has gone to Matan«as, Sagna La Grande and other towns in the interior, bearing letters from Jose Congosto, secretary general of the government, to the local authorities. OMAHA BANK SUED. Buit Due to the Defalcation of the ExState Treasurer. As a sequel to the half million shortage ©f ex-State Treasurer Bartley, of Nebraska, the Attorney General has brought suit to recover $200,000 from the Omaha National Bank. The suit grows out of the fact that the Omaha bank acted as agent in disposing of a State warrant for the amount to the Chemical National Bank of New York City and when the a arrant was paid by Bartley he drew a check on funds deposited in the local bank. The suit will amount to a test to determine the responsibility of banks transacting such business with officials Who afterward become defaulters. The theory of the Attorney General is that the withdrawing of the- funds was in the furtherance of the steal Bartley perpetrated on the State, and that the bank is, therefore, liable to the State for the sum. Indirectly the Chemical National is affected. The Omaha National is one of the strongest banks in the West.

PATENT OFFICE RUSH. Highest Number of Applications Ever Known. Three hundred and seventy-five applications for patents were received at the patent office at Washington, I). C., in •ne day recently—the highest on record for any one day in the history of the office. The fact that the new law requiring persons who have made applications • broad for patents to file their applications in this country within seven months of the filing of the application for foreign patent becomes operative Jan. 1 is accountable for the rush. Heretofore applications could be filed at auy time within the life of a patent issued in foreign countries. Canada’s Trade for the Year. The trades and navigation returns shortly to be issued at Ottawa, Ont., will •how the total imports entered for consumption to be $111,294,021, as against imports of $110,587,480 the preceding year. The duty collected amounted to $19,891,997, as against $20,219,037, a decrease of $327,040. Exports amounted Io $123,950,838, an increase of $17,581,('BO. There were exported to the United States Canadian products to the value of $43,991,485, as against $34,460,428 in 1895-0, while from the United States Canada imported to the value of $Ol,649,041, an increase of $3,075,023 over imports of American products of the year before.

Lies to Save His Friend. John Healey died in a New York hospital from the effects of stab wounds inflicted by George 11. Lincoln, a designer. The two men were the best of friends. Lincoln entered his home intoxicated •nd threatened to strike his wife. Healey pleaded for her. The wife ran into another room. When she returned, after bearing sounds of a struggle, she found Healey covered with blood. Her husband had gone to a hospital. Lincoln, who Was only slightly wounded, was arrested •nd taken to Healey’s bedside. Healey positively denied that he had ever seen Lincoln before, and died refusing to implicate his old-time friend in any way. Ship Loses Seven Seamen. A special dispatch from Bermuda reports accidents at sea on the ship Van 1.00 in which seven lives were lost. The an Loo, which is on a voyage from Cardiff to St. John, N. 8., has put in there tvith loss of sails. She reports that the foreyard suddenly parted and fell to the deck. Of nine men who were carried down by the falling yard or were struck tvhen it fell three were killed instantly •nd three others who took the chances ©f escaping by jumping into the sea were drowned. Recovered His Speech. Patrick Kelley, who for over a year has been dumb, suddenly recovered the use of (speech in Louisville, Ky„ during a fit of anger. He was greatly surprised to find himself talking and changed his curses to a fervent “Thank -God.” No Troth in It. A recently printed article alleging that the Lnited States Postofflce Department >as been robbed of millions of dollars by paeans of swindling schemes worked by •lie railways is now pronounced a groundless fake by the papers that fathered its publication. Big Cycle Firm Fails. The Overman Wheel Company of Chitopee Falls, Mass., made an assignment to President H. H. Bowman of the Springfield National Bank. Liabilities, £539,000; assets, $1,318,000. Philulc'Bank Closed. The Chestnut Street National Bank of fbiladelphia did not open its doors for business the other morning. The reason therefor was stated in a notice posted •n the door, which read that the bank was jn the hands of the national bank examiner. Dr. Drake Going to China. Dr. Noah Fields Drake, a graduate student in geology at Stanford Lniversity, i'al., since 1893, has been tendered and lias accepted a position in the Tien-Tsin L’nlversity, China, and will leavp for the

GETS A SMALL FINE. Slayer of Judge Jennings Escapes with Light Punishment. Judge Jennings of Woodward, O. T., was shot and killed nearly a year ago by Senator Temple Houston, the son of Gen. Sam Houston, first president of the republic of Texas, at Wichita, Kan. Houston entered a plea of guilty to an offense less than murder, and was sentenced to pay a fine of S3OO and the costs of the prosecution. Houston first killed Ed Jennings in a saloon fight in Woodward nearly two years ago. Ed was a son of Judge Jennings, the first of the family to fall in front of Houston’s gun. and the father's death was the result of the feud then declared. John, another brother, was wounded in the fight, and he and Al Jennings—the West Point graduate and latest train robber who distinguished himself by the recent daylight nold-up—are left as avengers upon the trail of Houston. Houston is a lawyer of reputation and headed Oklahoma's silver forces in the Chicago convention. FIRE LOSS OF $500,000. The Power acd Wilshire Blocks in Cleveland, 0., Are Damaged. Fire broke out in the business eeater of Cleveland, 0., and, fanned by a high northwest wind, destroyed property worth more than $500,000. The Power block, on Frankfort street, owned by J. Bv Perkins, six stories high and made of brick, was consumed above the second story, and the rear of the brick Wilshire block, six stories high, owned by Mr. Peg - kins, and fronting on Superior street, was turned. The fire started by the explosion of a large can of benzine in the lithographing establishment of Johns & Co., in the Power block. Windows were blown out and several employes escaped with difficulty by the fire escape and a bridge leading to the Wilshire block.

NEWS WAS SUFI’S ESSED. Double Lynching Reported to Have Occurred at Colfax, Wash. Several persons who have gone to Spokane, Wash., from Colfax declare that notwithstanding all denials a lynching occurred there a few nights ago. It is asserted that Chadwick Marshall and John McDonald, the alleged murderers of Orville Hayden, a prominent citizen of Farmington, were taken from the county jail by a mob tyid hanged to a tree near the town. According to this story a press censorship prevails, and consequently the facts have been suppressed. APPEALS TO THE POPE. William Wants Help to Push Hie Navjil Bill Through. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat’s Rome special says: "Extraordinary pressure is at present being exercised upon Pope Leo by the kaiser to induce the Catholic party to support the emperor’s naval bill. The kaiser can't win without those votes. On the other hand, France and Russia are both urging the holy father not to yield to the kaiser's request. The pope hugely enjoys the situation. It is doubtful if he will help William.” West India Islands Wanted. Immediately upon the reassembling of Congress Senator Lodge of Massachusetts will make a vigorous effort to secure early action upon his scheme to obtain legislative authority for the purchase of the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix, which are in the West Indies group and belong to Denmark. A year ago the Senate passed a resolution requesting the State Department to ascertain whether the islands are in the market, nt what figure they were held, and whether any other country was after them. The reply has not been made public in its entirety, but it is known that the Danish Government intimated that the islands were for sale and that there had been preliminary negotiations to that end with two European Governments. These are supposed to be Great Britain and Germany. The figure asked for the two islands by Denmark has not been made public. The text of the reply has been transmitted by the State Department to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, but for diplomatic reasons it has been held for the present ns confidential. Senator Lodge is sanguine of securing an appropriation that will enable the islands to be*transferred to the jurisdiction of the Stars and Stripes.

For Sake of the Gold Diggers. The army pack train of the department of the Platte stationed at Cheyenne, Wyo., has departed for Alaska. The train is in charge of Chief Packer Tom Mooney. It consists of ten expert packers and eighty trained and drilled pack mules. The destination of the pack train is Dyea. At New York, the Red D steamship Curaeoa has been sold to go into the Alaska trade. The purchasers are said to be Pacific coast residents and the price paid SIBO,000. The Curaeoa was built by the Cramps of Philadelphia. The first essential required was a minimum draught with a maximum cargo capacity, owing to the fact that the vessel was intended to navigate the shallow waters of Lake Maracaibo. On account' of her light draught and large cargo capacity she is a valuable addition to the fleet of vessels now plying between San Francisco, Seattle, St. Michaels and other points along the coast of Alaska. She has gone to Baltimore, Md., to outfit for the long voyage around Cape Horn. James C. Ollard of Tacoma, Wash., has closed a contract for three [twin-screw steamers for use on Lake Teslin and the'Stickeen river trade. The boats are expected to make sixteen knots an hour. Banker Wightman Pardoned. Gov. Leedy has pardoned C. E. Wightman, the Tribune, Kan., banker sent to the penitentiary for having received deposits when the bank was in an insolvent condition and also for misappropriating the funds on deposit for personal use. Watchman Captured Burglars. At Canaan, Conn., four burglars of a gang of five were captured by Martin Rood in Jackson & Eggleston’s store. Rood fired on the men and wounded Percy St. Clair, J. C. Davis, Tommy McGraw and John White. Tube Mill to Start Bp, Preparations are being made to start the tube mill of the Oil Well Supply Company at Pittsburg. This has been idle for the last four years, and its starting means that 1,500 men will be given employment. Flour Mill at Fostoria, 0., Burned. The M. D. Harter Company’s flouring mill at Fostoria, one of the largest winter Wheat mills in the country, was destroyed by fire. The fire started in a bolting chest. The loss is $150,000, covered by insurance. Santa Fe Road Most Settle. At Wichita, Kan., Judge Dale, in a decision against the Santa Fe for refusing a return pass to I. P. Campbell, who shipped cattle, has given plaintiff judgment for fare, costs and an attorney’s fees. Minnesota’s Oldest Dead. Bazeille Snprent, the oldest man in Minnesota, died at Little Falls, aged 110.' New Move for Durrant. In San Francisco, the attorneys' for Theodore Durrant have filed notice that

they will ask for a change of venue from the recent order of sentence by Judge Bahrs on the ground that the court is prejudiced. Another appeal to the Governor for commutation of sentence will be made on the ground that a view of the corelation of the Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams cases should be made. Another effort to get the case before the Federal courts will also be made. St. Louis Schoolgirl Weds. Miss Gertrude W. Lewis, 17 years old, whose home is at Crescent, is attending high school in St. Louis, Mo., as a paid scholar. Recently she eloped with and married Sam Frazieij a young medical student. She returned to school and when Principal Bryan found she was married he ordered her to leave ihe school, telling her that married people could not attend the public schools. Swell Fociety 1 turglar. Charles W. Felkens, v dio made his escape from a Los Angele* deputy sheriff on a north-bound train m *r Fresno, Cal., is a son of a well-known banker of New Haven, Conn. He was a i •eal estate agent in Los Angeles and very popular in society. A number of burg iaries in aristocratic quarters were final! y traced to him and he was sentenced to five years in prison. Fatal Fire in Go them. Mrs. Freda Schlintz, aged and crippled, was overcome by smoke and died within a few feet of safety duriiqg a fire which broke out in the house in which she lived in New York. Every effort was made to save her life by her two daughters, but their strength gave out and they were forged to abandon, their mother, barely escaping death thentselves. John Anderton Must Hang. At Norfolk, Va., John Anderson was convicted of the muitder of William Saunders, mate of the schooner Olive Pecker, on the high seas, on the 6th of August last, and under the sentence of the court must be hanged on the 18th day of March next, unless the Sujlreme Court of the United States in the meantime interposes. Hunters Perish in Arkansas. A party of four hunters were found frozen to death by the roadside near Dawes creek, Ark., the other morning. It is believed from descriptions of the dead hunters that they were W. H. Hughes, A. H. Dolphin, John W. Bright and Samuel Sevier, who outfitted nt IJttle Rock two weeks ago. Empty School Houses. A public auction of school houses is a novelty that will be witnessed in western Kansas. State officials decided that school houses in depopulated districts, which are not in use, may be fold to the highest bidder. There are more than 100 of these buildings scattered over the prairies.

Dakota Bank Closed. The First National Bank of Pembine, N. D., is closed and is in the hands of Unitied States Bank Examiner Ajiheler. The bank had accumulated $20,000 in valueless securities. President L. E. Booker is now a fugitive from justice. To Africa with Wheat. The mammoth tramp steamer Algoa sailed from Tacoma with the largest cargo of grain ever loaded in a single vessel, carrying 377,509 bushels of wheat, valued at $312,000. The Algoa is bound for the northwest coast of Africa.. Pardoned by President. William E. Burr, Jr., ex-cashier of the St. Louis National Bank, now serving a sentence of five years at the Jefferson City State penitentiary for the embezzlement of $20,000, has been pardoned by President McKinley. A Chicago Fire. Twenty-nine persons were injured and $225,000 worth of property destroyed in a fire at 104 and 106 Madieon street, Chicago. The blaze was startled by an explosion of natural gas in Tosetti’s restaurant. Loss of Texas Cattle. The sleet storm that recently prevailed in Texas has proved to be very disastrous in its effects on the stock interests of the west aud northwest portions of that State. Quincy's Plurality 4,09'1. Complete and revised returns from 191 voting precincts of Boston show that Mayor Josiah Quincy, Democrat, was re-elect-ed by a pluralitj’ of 4,079 votes. Murderer Pardoned. William Pool, who was sent to the Arkansas penitentiary in 1892 for twentyone years for the murder of John Evans, has been pardoned. New York Soldiers’ Monument. The soldiers and sailors’ monument to be erected by the city of New York will lie placed 1,000 feet from the tomb of Gen. Grant. Legacy for a Farmer. Joseph Leonard, a farmer residing near Zanesville, 0., by the death of an uncle in Green boro, N. C., inherits $50,000. Fell Under a Train. Mrs. Leora Carpe of Antwerp, 0., slipped on the ice and fell under a train at Cecil, 0., and died from the shock.

MARKET QUOTATIONS.

Chicago—Cattle, common to prime, $3.00 to $5.75; hogs, shipping grades, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, faar to choice, $2.00 fb $4.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 98c to 99c; corn, No. 2,26 cto 27c; oats, No. 2,21 c to 23c; rye, No. 2,46 cto 47c; butter, choice creamery, 20c to 22c; eggs, fresh, 19c to 21c; new potatoes, 50c to 65c per bushel. 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. 2,92 cto 94c; corn, No. 2 white, 27c to 29c; oats, No. 2 white, 24c to 26c. St. Louis—Cattle, $3.00 to $5.50; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $3.00 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2,99 cto $1.01; corn, No. 2 yellow, 26c to 27c; oats, No. 2 white, 21c to 22c; rye, No. 2,45 cto 47c. Cincinnati—Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs. $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $2.50 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2,93 cto 95c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 28e to 29c; oats, No. 2 mixed, 24c to 25c; rye, No. 2,46 cto 47c. Detroit—Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $2.50 to $4.25; wheat, No. 2,92 cto 93c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 30c to 31c; oats, No. 2 white, 25c to 27c; rye, 46c to 48c. Toledo—Wheat, No. 2 red, 94c to 95c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 27c to 29c; oats, No. 2 white, 21c to 23c; rye, No. 2,46 cto 47c; clover seed, $3.20 to $3.25. Milwaukee—Wheat, No. 2 spring, 87c to 89c; corn, No. 3,26 cto 28c; oats, No. 2 white, 24c to 26c; rye, No. 2,47 cto 48c; barley, No. 2,38 cto 41e; pork, mess, $7.50 to SB.OO, Buffalo—Cattle, S3.OC Fo $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $3.00 to $5.00; wheat, No. 2 red, 94c to 96c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 31c to 32c; oats, No. 2 white, 27 c to 29c. New York—Cattle, $3.00 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $4.00; sheep, $3.00 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2 red, SI.OO to $1.02; corn. No. 2,34 cto 36c; oats, No. 2 white, 27c to 28c; butter, creamery, 15c to 23c; eggs, Western, 20c to JHc,

AMOUNTS TO LITTLE.

THE IMITATION OF PARTICIPATION IN AFFAIRS The Real Work in the Legislature Halle Is Done by Leaders, bnt That Does Not Put a Stop to Endless Cancueing. About the Cloak Rooms. Washington correspondence:

MOST members of Congress think that they know pretty well what would be the best X - policy to be fol- % lowed by their E t arty. In the Senate recognized leadershipdoes not go so far as it does in the House, and there each man feels that he is en’’’’Tr- titled to be, and FF-r he is, consulted R concerning the 11 , course to be followed by his party.

In the House leadership counts for everything, and. while every member may feel that he should be consulted, very few of them are. Most of the business of the House is done by a few men, and little or nothing is accomplished without the Speaker's consent. To a greater or less extent this has been the case under all administrations during many years, much depending on the character of the man in the chair, but the power of leadership has developed very remarkably during the past few years. Perhaps none before have had the power that is exerted by Speaker Reed. It may be that his power is to have a test before the close of this Congress such as it has never had before, but there is very little in past experience to encourage the hope of successful antagonism of him by members of his own party,

THE COLISEUM AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED.

and the antagonism of the minority, of course, counts for but little. In spite of the fact of all members of the House feeling that they know a thing or two, astonishingly few ever go to the Speaker to advise with him about party policy or any question of more importance than the fate of some little local bill in which the member himself is alone interested. There are scarcely more than half a dozen with whom the Speaker consults, nnd very few beyond that number who would venture to advise him about a matter of policy. There is very little consultation with the great mass of the members who form the Congress. Among the Members. To make up for this there is much consultation and discussion among members themselves. The House is in a constant caucus or group of caucuses. All phases of politics and policy are constantly being discussed. Legislation is suggested and the suggestions are analyzed and criticised with earnestness and wisdom. Members busy about with the energy of insects whose nature it is to toil and keep in motion. Heads are put together aud fists are brought down upon palms in earnestness to give emphasis to weighty arguments and matters are mooted and concurred in that might change the whole course of government. Yet of all this nothing is ever heard beyond the little cir-

A CLOAK ROOM CAUCUS.

cle within which the discussion occurs and where the plans are laid. The policy adopted by the leaders is not changed or sought to be changed, if, indeed, it is known or inquired into; nor does any legislation or motion towards legislation follow. Sometimes a group of memDers of the majority side of the House, having agreed among themselves that they have struck a pretty good idea, will scatter themselves among the members on the minority side to see how the idea will be received there. If it meets with favor there will be mutual congratulations and felicitation, and the caucusing will become more active and comprehensive. It will spread over both sides of the House and into the cloak rooms. Perhaps the same subject will occupy them for a day or two. Majority members will go over to the minority cloak room, and minority members will visit the cloak room of the majority. There will be much mysterious whispering. An air of importance will come over the assembly. Groups will become larger and more commingling. Leaders and subleaders will spring to the front and emissaries will worm in and out from aisle to aisle and from one side to the other. After "all has been said and done that could be without actually doing something the matter will quietly subside. The majority and minority negotiations will come to a close. The conferences will scatter and the caucuses divide up into smaller groups discussing other subjects or trying to originate other plans for some other project. Meanwhile no one has suggested the lately agitated project to the Speaker. The sound of the discussion has not reached his ear. The agitation has not made a motion on the surface of the legislative mill pond. They have been simply blowing thistledown across the water and calling it commerce. The cloak room caucus has ended in cloak room legislation. Decided by the Leaders. Day after day goes on this “endless imitation’’ of participation in affairs, while what is to be done is decided on- by the leaders and by them executed. • About the only time when these cloakroom caucuses have serious import is when they do not relate to things of the

immediate present, or directly to legislation. For instance, it is not known whether Speaker Reed will, in the succeeding Congress, be a candidate for Speaker, or that he will be in the Honse at all. It has been intimated that he might retire from the House at the end of this term. Out of this possibility grows another sort of cloak-room caucus. Men not now exactly leaders are engaged in making friends. The possible candidates for the speakership of the Fifty-sixth Congress are “mixing” and making display of their talents. Who’s to come back, and “how I can be of service” are subjects of discussion. The embryo speakership candidate passes from group to group, and is interested in all that interests his colleagues. This sort of speculative and anticipatory consultation is particularly active on the Democratic side. There, they being in the minority and having little to do with present legislation, mapping out a program for the future and a present policy relating entirely to the future is the only profitable thing to be done. They have to deal with an abstract proposition. They have nothing to manage but themselves. It is a struggle to retain or to gain a leadership for the prospect it may hold out in the future. Consultations are constant and active, confidential, mysterious. Each aspiring statesman is constantly moving among his followers, to hold them in line, to inspire them with confidence and to keep them alert against the devices of the followers of a rival. Half a dozen little caucuses are being held every hour in the cloak room, around the fireplaces in the hall and in the body of the House.

COLISEUM IN RUINS.

Chicago’s Vast Structure Quickly Wiped Out by Fire. At Chicago I riday night, fire destroyed the Coliseum building, in which the Democratic national convention was held last y ear. The fire was one of the quickest ever seen in Chicago. Within twenty minutes after its origin, which was caused by the crossing of two electric light wires, the Coliseum was a pile of hot bricks and twisted iron. The building had been rented for a manufacturers’ exposition and was filled from end to end with booths, all of which

were destroyed, with their contents. The fire originated in a booth which was used for an exhibition of X rays, the booth being managed by M. J. Morley and Wm. Robertson. The two men were examining their Roentgen machine when they were startled by a sizzling noise behind them and upon turning saw a part of their exhibit ablaze. Crossed electric light wires which were over the exhibit are thought to have caused the flames. They at first tried to smother the fire, but before they secured water and cloth the fire had spread throughout the entire booth. About 300 people were in the building at the time of the fire, and at the first alarm there was a rush for safety. Fortunately the aisles were wide and owing to the comparatively small number of people in the building there was little difficulty in reaching the doors. Within ten minutes after the fire began the roof was ablaze and in a very short time after the fire had appeared on the top of the building one of the large arches that spanned the building gave way with a tremendous report, and then another, and another, each one going down with a sound like the report of a cannon. The building fell very quickly, as after the first arch went down the weight was too great for the arch next to it and all collapsed. It took not over twenty minutes to make a complete ruin of the building. The total loss on building and contents is said to be $478,000. Of this amount $370,000 was the value of the building and $128,000 the estimated cost of the exhibits and material in the exposition in progress in the building. Insurance to the amount of $120,000 was carried on the Coliseum, but of this amount SIOO,000 will go to the holders of outstanding bonds to pay those obligations in full. The owners of the building will get but $20,000 out of their insurance.

SUSPICION RESTS ON HIM.

Titled Frenchman Said to Be Guilty of Treasonable Transactions. Col. Esterhazy, the man who, it is said, is the real culprit in the treasonable transaction for which Captain Dreyfus is now suffering life imprisonment in the Devil's Island, is a natural son of one of the Austrian Counts Esterhazy. His mother was a French woman. The count recognized his son, but did not legitimize him. Young Esterhazy was finely educated, and his social position in France was the best. He entered the army and was rapidly promoted. His stars and crosses made him a very desirable guest in any drawing room of Paris. The colonel recently resigned his commission, anticipating, so it is said, the explosion connecting his name with the Dreyfus affair. He is very tall and of a square build. His shoulders are high and his Mephistophelean face, sunken cheeks and high cheek bones give him all the air of a man who could do just what Captain Dreyfus was charged with. He was placed on the retired list a few months ago. The action was most unex-

COLONEL ESTERHAZY.

pected. The pretext was 111 health, but the colonel was known to complain. In fact, he is perfectly well. There is no doubt that he was retired because of the persistent leak in the war department. Col. Esterhazy a few years ago was a poor man. ll# has since grown rich—how, no one knows, unless it be that the secrets he bold—if he did tell secrets of state—were v.-ell paid for. The former colonel’s position is becoming more involved every dajr.

PHILADELPHIA BANK FAILS.

Chestnut Street National in the Hafdi of a Receiver. One of the greatest financial sensations of the year was sprung in Philadelphia Thursday morning when the Chestnut Street National Bank, of which William M. Singerly, proprietor of the Philadelphia Record, is president, closed its doors. Business was also suspended by the Chestnut Street Trust and Saving Fund Company, which was allied with the bank and occupied the same building. Rumors of the bank’s shaky condition, have been in circulation for a month. During that period the most herculean efforts have been made by President Singerly and his friends to save the institution from bankruptcy, but they were futile. National Bank Examiner William M. Hardt is in charge of the bank and State Commissioner of Banking Kilkeson is in <*narge of the trust company. The one explanation for the failure, which Mr. Singerly himself affirms, is made by no less nn authority than Comptroller Eckels. The closing of the bank is primarily due to shrinkage in value of bonds and notes of the Singerly Pulp and Paper Mills located at Elkton. Md. The liabilities will exceed $3,000,000, but until the bank examiner makes his report the actual value of the assets will not be made public. The last official statement of the bank placed the resources of the bank at $3,868,070.58 and of the trust company at $1,858,659.38. Both institutions occupy the same building and are under the same management.

TERROR AT A BIG FIRE.

Explosion Follows a Blaze in a Chicago Basement-Many Hurt. Ten minutes after an alarm of fire had been given at the Tosetti restaurant, 104 and 106 Madison street, Chicago, Thursday afternoon, a terrific explosion occurred beneath the sidewalk in front of the burning building. Structures were shaken for a block around and windows were shattered ns by an explosion of dynamite. Scores of men and women were hurled to the ground, and a dozen or more were injured by flying glass. Firemen were scorched in a whirlwind of flame, and tossed in the air like so many leaves in a windstorm, and several policemen were stricken to the earth as if with a club. Wild excitement prevailed for several minutes, and when the ambulances nnd doctors had finished their work of mercy the list of injured was found to number nearly thirty. A drop of blazing oil from an overheated basement engine is said to have caused the fire which threatened with destruction the entire south side of Madison street between Clark and Dearborn streets.’ This started a blaze that could not be controlled nnd culminated in the explosion of a drum of ammonia under the sidewalk, the explosive ignition of a natural gas main and the destruction of the building. The loss exceeds $200,000.

SPAIN SEES A CHANCE.

May Ask America to Repress Active Cuban Societies. Following upon the almost universal expressions of disapprobation shown by the American press at large at the savage methods of warfare used by Gen. Gomez in the matter of the assassination of Lieut. Col. Ruiz, a Madrid correspondent says he has the best authority for stating that the Spanish Government thinks the moment propitious for approaching that, of Washington and asking the latter to use all means possible to repress revolu- ! tionary societies in the United States which are giving active assistance to Gomez’s force. All the Spanish Government asks is the application of the rule laid down by President Grant as the duty of one friendly nation toward another. If that is applied the Government considers the termination of the revolution will occur within a short time. The indignation was twice as great when the news reached Madrid that Ruiz was not even permitted a soldier's death, but was hanged.

BIG FIRE AT CLEVELAND.

Loss to Business Firms Placed at Nearly a Million Dollars. Fire broke out in the business center of Cleveland, €>., at 5 o’clock Thursday afternoon, and, fanned by a high northwest wind, destroyed property worth .nearly $1,000,000. The Power block on Frank-, fort street, owned by J. B. Perkins, six 1 stories high and made of brick, was consumed above the second story and tae rear of the brick Wilshire block, six stories high, owned also by Mr.'Perkins, and fronting on Superior street, was burned. The fire started by the explosion of a large can of benzine in the lithographing establishment of Johns & Co., in the Power block. Windows were blowm out and several employes escaped with difficulty by the fire escapes and a bridge leading to the Wilshire block.

CURRENT COMMENT

Aldcrmanic Salaries. Chicago aldermen should be willing to pay the public for the privilege of holding their jobs.—Buffalo Express. Prosperity has struck Chicago and wages are going up to beat the band. The Chicago aidermen last night raised their own salaries from $3 a week to $1,500 a year.—Toledo Bee. The modest advance from s3.a week,to $1,500 a year each voted themselves by the Chicago aidermen must not be understood as in the nature of a limit to the aldermanic income—Cincinnati Commer-cial-Tribune. The gang of genteel highwaymen in the Chicago City Council have beaten all records for immaculate gall. It is doubtful, however, if even Chicago public sentiment will countenance such unexampled robbery.—Minneapolis Tribune. The Chicago aidermen have fixed their .salaries at sl,soo—a figure scarcely high enough to insure honest work. It is possible, however, that the very highest pay would not serve to keep born boodlers from boodling.—St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Perhaps its worst feature is that it gives example and encouragement to councilmen in other cities, some of whom would not have thought of such a device for personal emolument, while others would not have been brave enough to adopt it had it not been for the action of their Chicago compeers.—Philadelphia Ledger. Chicago’s aidermen have shown that they possess a proper amount of self-es-teem by raising their salaries from $3 per evening to $1,500 per year, and this, too, without the excuse of domiciliary visits, lately so fashionable in, Cleveland’s councilmanic circles.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. The present Council of Chicago, which is probably as unfit and little trusted as any other body in the country of like nature, has just suspended its own rules to raise the pay of its members 900 per cent. Probably few of the taxpayers of Chicago would object if there were any reason to believe that the change would improve the character of the Council.— Cleveland Leader,

WAS-INCTON COSSIP

The Government of the United State« owns in the city of Washington 1,600,000 volumes of literature. Of these about onehalf, or 787,715, are in the congressional library. The remainder are scattered through the various executive departments. The daily number of readers in the congressional library averages 3,32Q> About 700 persons, including the mem* bers of both houses and high officials of the Government, are entitled to draw ‘ books and take them away from the build- J ing, and the average number loaned out in such a way is 1,446. It is a favorably ’ commentary upon the honesty and care of : our public men that during a period of , thirty years the number of books lost or not returned was only five in a thousand, j Large numbers of petitions, by many signatures and uniform in thcifß phraseology, are being presented to the* House of Representatives. They ask the passage of a series of laws to protect the morals of the public. For example, to prohibit gambling in stocks, produce, racing pools and other forms of speculation 1 by telegraph, to prohibit the transmission N of stock quotations for speculative purposes, and the transmission in the mails of newspapers containing pictures or descriptions of prize fights, to prohibit the exhibition of kinetoscope reproductions of prize fights and other brutalizing spectacles, and to prohibit the transportation from State to State of materials for such exhibitions. * • » The ladies of the cabinet are-decidedly put out by the edict that forbade their New 1 ear’s receptions and the dinners that were to precede and follow. They do not see any occasion for it. The President did not ask or even suggest a suspension of social affairs. He told the members of his cabinet he should close the White House for thirty days, although he « did not think it was necessary for them 1 to follow his example, but without con- j suiting their wives, they agreed to do so. j The husbands have since had an unhappy x time, and the Washington social world I has offered them no sympathy. * * ♦ The opposition to the ratification of the Hawaiian treaty has simmered down almost entirely to the sugar trust, the Louisiana planters and the beet-root sugar manufacturers. There are a few Senators ,who oppose the treaty on principle, as they believe it inexpedient for the United States to assume the responsibility of governing any detached territory, and several on the Democratic side have joined the opposition because they regard annexation as a Republican measure. * * * Chairman Loud of the House Committee on Postoffices has been working during the recess on the report of the committee on the Loud bill, and has practically completed it. He believes that the measure will effect a saving of at least $10,600,000 annually, and will wipe out the enormous deficit that confronts the Potsofflce Department every year. Mr. Loud believes the bill is much stronger this session than i last, and, while not absolutely confident, thinks it will finally carry. * • • The agents of the Cuban junta in Washington justify the assassination of Col. Ruiz as necessary to intimidate the cowardly and corrupt men in their ranks who are likely to be allured into making terms with the Spanish authorities cither through fear or bribery. They saythat hereafter no Spanish agent will dare approach an insurgent camp, and that it will be dangerous for any stranger to do so.

The distressing death of Miss Leila Herbert has caused a shock to her many friends and acquaintances in Washington. She was a young woman of beautiful character, gentle, amiable and generous, and was generally beloved and admired. Those who knew her best believe that her suicide was dne to fear that she might be a permanent cripple. * * * . The pension certificate of the Rev. L. J. Keith of Vincennes, Ind., will be canceled, because the holder has informed ’ the bureau that, he does not consider himself longer entitled to a pension, his disability having disappeared, and has asked that his name be dropped from the rolls. There is only one other such case on record. • * * Secretary Wilson is greatly interested in legislation for the establishment of postal savings banks because he believes they are necessary to the prosperity of tho farmers. It is sometimes an all day’s job, he says, for a farmer to go to the town where the nearest bank is situated, while there is a postoffice in every village. * » ♦ The copyright department is a most important branch of the-Government, and indicates an enormous increase in literary and musical compositions and in designs which are susceptible to copyright. In 1870 the number of copyrights granted was 5,621; in 1880, 20,686; in 1890, 42758; in 1896, 72,470.

The recent report of the Comptroller of the Currency sho-ws that the savings banks of the United States are mostly confined to the northeastern section of the country. Nearly 80 per cent of the num-' ber of banks and amount of deposits is represented by New York and New Egland. • « ♦ The committee appointed by the Society of the Army of the Tennessee to secure the erection of a monument to Gen. George B. McClellan at Mjashington has held its first meeting and elected Adjt. Gen. Ruggles chairman. * * * Ink erasers are not allowed in either the War or the Navy Department except under the direction of a chief of bureau, and no one is allowed to erase an entry in any official record book without explanations and express permission. * * * Dr. Sheldon Jackson, the Alaska expert, says that there is so much gold in Alaska that persons who go there ten years hence will have ns good a chance as those who go next spring. » » « Postmaster General Gary and Secretary Gage have promised to assist in laying the corner stone of the new postoffice building in Chicago on the 4th of next July. • * * There is a very favorable outlook for the passage of the bankruptcy bill, and even the opponents of the measure concede their conviction that it will pass both houses. * * « The sale of postage stamps for the last quarter of the year 1897 was the largest to th# history of the country,