Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1898 — A HUGE BUNKO GAME [ARTICLE]

A HUGE BUNKO GAME

CANADIAN ACTION IS CHARACTERIZED AS ONE. ProfeMor Dennis, of Princeton, Re- . tarns nnl Declares Stikeen Ronte Impracticable—Rich Syndicate May Become Owner of New Guinea. Fails to Reach Klondike. Prof. Dennis, who edited the Princeton Univarsity newspaper and is to return to Princeton University in the fall as professor of philosophy, has returned from the North, after a vain attempt to get through the Klondike by the Stikeen route. He said: “I have been three months in that wretched country. I speak for the good of humanity and hope the press will denounce the Stikeen route as impracticable and brand the action of those in power in Canada, who urge thousands of people to risk their all in an attempt to reach the Klondike via the Stikeen as a huge international bunko game. Thousands along the trail are eating their outfits up. They have no money. With packing to Teslin lake SBOO a ton it will take $1,500 in cash to get through. Only fifty people have reached Teslin. They got through last winter, but no one has passed in since. Sixty miles after leaving Telegraph creek is an awful bog. Two men who contracted to get the correspondent of the Illustrated Daily News through to Teslin lake have killed nineteen horses in the attempt. Horses and dogs are being killed by thousands, one Michigan outfit losing 119 dogs in a week by starvation. The Dees lake find enables some fifty men to make wages. The report that 500 men are taking out S3OO a day is a falsehood.”

SYNDICATE HAS AN OPTION. New Guinea to Be Owned by a Rich Corporation. An agreement has been entered into between the administrator of New Guinea by which all the best land of the British possession is at the option of purchase by the British New Guinea Company. The particulars of the transaction are of such an astounding nature that the widest and most unfavorable attention has been drawn to it throughout Australia. Australia contributes largely to the cost of the administration of New Guinea, and now that it is practically to be sold to British land-grabbers the feeling against the mother country is intense. All the colonies are appealing to the imperial parliament, and the Australian press is full of bitter denunciation of the scheme. Australian prospectors have located all the best agricultural lands and some sections are known to have rich deposits of mineral. These are all chartered and will in due time be handed over to the syndicate, 'jWhich has unlimited millions behind it. THIEVES UNDER A CHURCH. Alleged Robbers’ Roost Found in a Pittsburg House of Worship. John Black, Charles Fay, Julius Croquet, Charles Allen and Frank Wagner are locked up in the Allegheny police station, at Pittsburg, Pa., charged with being burglars. Black is the janitor of the New Jerusalem Church at Sandusky and Isabella streets. Three of the alleged gang were arrested while entering the basement of the church. They had just returned from Mount Washington, where they are said to have robbed a store. In a room under the church detectives found a mass of plunder. Among the stuff were some revolutionary war relics stolen from the residence of the pastor, Rev. H. Crowfield, Black is 25 years old. The others are boys. -They have been giving the police trouble for some time, but no one thought of looking for thieves under the church. Standing of the Clubs. Following is the standing of the clubs in the National Baseball League: W. L. W. L. Cincinnati ..34 18 New Y0rk...26 25 Boston 33 19 Philadelphia .21 27 Cleveland ...31 20 Brooklyn ....21 28 Baltimore ...29 20 Washingt’n ..19 33 Chicago ....30 23 St. Louis.... 19 33 Pittsburg ...28 24 Louisville ...17 38 Following is the standing of the clubs in the Western League: W. L. W. L. Indian’p’lis .32 15 Milwaukee ..27 23 Columbus ...28 18 Minneap’lis ..19 81 Kan. City.. .29 21 Detroit 18 33 St. Paul 30 22 Omaha 13 31 Banker Is Acquitted. The trial ,of the case of J. B. Streeter, president of the recently closed First National Bank of Larimore, on the charge of receiving deposits, knowing the bank was insolvent, came to an end in the District Court at Grand Forks, N. D. The jury was advised by Judge Fisk to bring in a verdict for the defendant on the ground that the insolvency of the bank had not been proved, and consequently returned a. verdict of acquittal. Missouri County Deluged. A cloudburst in St. Charles County, Mo., caused thousands of dollars’ damage. Near the city of St. Charles the big bridge of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad was swept away. In the country many new iron bridges just completed were destroyed, while everywhere farms and lowlands were flooded, small streams becoming raging rivers. To Settle Border Disputes. It has been decided to hold the international conference between the United States and Canada at Quebec July 15. The Canadian representatives will be Sir Wilfred Laurier, Sir Richard Cartwright and Sir Louis Davis. Excelsior Plant Destroyed. The extensive excelsior plant owned and operated by J. W. Creager and Samuel Biredy, at Thurmont, Md., was destroyed by fire. While firemen were fighting the flames a smokestack crashed to the ground, striking Harry Root and killing him. The loss is estimated at $30,000. Cheated a Slot Machine. Judge E. P. Hammond of the United States Court sentenced William Nethercutt of Wellston, Ohio, to serve three years for passing bogus nickels on a slot machine. Railway Engine Blows Up. The Iron railway engine, the John Campbell, blew up on the incline above Ironton, Ohio. Engineer Robert Royer was killed, Conductor Charles Myers had his head cut- and was seriously injured, Fireman Andy Foit was terribly scalded and Brakeman Nobble was fatally injured. *- Three Trainmen Hurt. At Grand Forks, N. D., the engine and tender of the north-bound freight on the Langdon Line of the Great Northern jumped the track, fatally injuring Conductor Cohen and severely injuring Engineer Peterson and a brakeman. 'Ae engine tore up the track for some'distance. . Mayor of Brunswick a Murderer. John H. Helsel, Mayor of Brunswick, Mo., shot and instantly killed CUy Marshal Richard Ashby in a saloon fight. Mayor Heisel was shot twice by the marshal, one shot penetrating the abdomen and the other passing through his lungs. He will probably die. Drowned in a Shaft. An accident in the .mine of the Mount Vernon Company at Stotts City, Mo., resulted in the death of five men. They were on a raft pumping ojjt flood water g? LMj o! w* Wi WOB w»vw* W BMB

JOHN BECKER LYNCHED. Murderer of a Girl Meets Death at Hands of a Mob. At Great Bend, Kan., in the public; square a murderer was lynched the other evening by a mob of probably 500 persons. The victim was John Becker, a white man, 50 years of age, who, on April 8, killed Myrtle Huffmeister, the 16-year-old daughter of William Huffmeister, a farmer, living near there. Becker was taken from the jail at Hutchinson to Great Bend for preliminary examination. In the early part of the evening the mob was swarming around the jail. Evidently believing that he could outwit the lynchers by flight, the sheriff rushed Becker from the jail to his buggy, but he had no sooner done so than be and his men and the prisoner were surrouhded. Seizing the murderer, they bore him to the public square. There a rope was drawn around Becker’s neck, and after he had been beaten almost to insensibility the rope was thrown over a limb of a big tree and he was drawn up. , KILLED IN A CLOUDBURST. Artificial Lake’s Dam Swept Away and Houses Carried Off in Kansas. A cloudburst in the vicinity of Chelsea Park, a suburban pleasure resort about three miles southwest of Kansas City, Kan., is believed to have caused the death of at least five persons, and possibly more. An artificial lake had been made In the park by the building of a dam across Jersey Creek. The flood of water carried away this dam and a torrent poured out over the lowlands along the creek. Half a dozen houses standing near Jersey Creek were carried away. Mrs. Greenlee, living in 13th street, near the creek, was drowned, being swept away with her house. Robert Koknote, his wife and their two children are missing, and are believed to have perished. Their house was near that of Mrs. Greenlee. Three other persons are reported to have been drowned, but their names are unknown.

SCHOONER AND CARGO BURN. Crew of the Shenandoah at Norfolk Forced to Desert the Vessel. The British schooner Shenandoah, Captain Gibson, bound from Norfolk, Va., to Berbice, British Guiana, with 126,000 staves and heading, was burned to the water’s edge while anchored in Hampton roads, the cargo being a total loss. The fire was first discovered by the anchor watch, who at once reported to the captain. All hands turned out, and did everything possible to save the vessel, but. were compelled to abandon her in haste. The only articles saved were the schooner’s papers. Soon after leaving the vessel her masts went by the board and the hull was wrapped in flames from stem to stern. The loss is partly covered by insurance. Captain Gibson says he has no idea how the fire started. FIVE SERIOUSLY HURT. Santa Fe Passenger Trains Collide in Colorado. Passenger trains No. 5, west bound, and No. 6, east bound, on the Atchison,. Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, collided on a siding at Conroy, Colo. The engine on the east-bound train and the combination baggage and express car on the westbound train were badly damaged, and the wreckage delayed traffic ten hours. Express Messenger Travis had a leg broken and a score of passengers were injured. Four passengers were seriously injured, all of whom were from Lamar, Colo. Shore Signals for the Navy. How to signal from the land to a ship at sea has always been a difficult question. All devices fall short of requirements when it is necessary to carry on'a conversation between the land and ships. One Ardois has now perfected a device by which this signaling can be accomplished. The invention is known as the Boughton telephotos. One of them is now being set up to add to the already nearly perfect system of defense at Sandy Hook. It consists of an arrangement of lights on a high tower. Ry means of it the signal officer.will be able to sit In his little ca.bin at the top of the tower and by the use of a keyboard, not differing materially from that of a typewriter, carry on a conversation with a vessel far out at sea. The tower is about sixty feet high and is open, except for two cabins built in it, one threequarters of the way up and the other on top. The upper cabin is-slit by a narrow window the whole breadth of the side exposed to the sea. From this the lookout may sweep with his glasses the whole expanse of ocean from Far Rockaway to Scotland Lightship. Red and white are the only colors used in signaling, and the code Is easily indicated on the cover by placing underneath the letters of the alphabet a number of red and white circles, corresponding to the number of red and white lights shown, to indicate the same letter outside. Thus, under the letter O there would be, say, three, red circles and one white. On the outside of the tower are a number of arms stretching out at right angles to it. On these arms the electric lights are arranged all with red or white globes and of sufficient size to be seen miles out nt sea. The mechanism by which the lights are operated from the keys is a secret

Decision Against Trust Companies. In the Missouri Supreme Court, sitting en banc, an opinion by Judge Burgess was rendered granting the petition of Attorney General Crow for a writ granting the petition of ouster against the St. Louis, trust companies, which are doing a general banking business, contrary to their charters and the State banking law. The decision does not prohibit the trust companies from receiving deposits, but compels them to pay interest thereon. England Obtains Mirs Bay. It is reported from Shanghai that the Chinese Government has signed an agreement ceding to England a strip of the mainland opposite Hong Kong, negotiations for which have been in progress for some time. As the new boundary includes Kowloon and Mirs Bay, it may be necessary for American dispatch boats to find a new base in Chinese waters, in order not to offend against the English neutrality laws. Train Robbers Captured. There was a desperate battle in Sutton' County, Texas, between a posse of officers and the band of train robbers who held up the Santa Fe express train near Coleman Junction and killed Fireman Lee Johnson. Three of the robbers an<j two of their pursuers were wounded. Four of the robbers were captured, among the number being the one who was wounded In the fight with the trainmen at Coleman. French Cabinet Resigns. When the French ministers reassembled the other day Meline handed President Faure the resignation of the whole cabinet, which the President accepted, while requesting the ministers to continue the direction of affairs until their successors are named. Worden Escapes the Gallows. Salter D. Worden, convicted and sentenced to be hanged for wrecking a train which resulted in several deaths near Sacramento, Cal., during the railroad strike of 1894, is to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Shot by a Stenographer. At New Orleans, La., Superintendent D. D. Curran of the Queen and Crescent Railroad was shot and seriously wounded by his stenographer, W. J. Reppert. Reppert is in custody. Lightning Causes Destruction. As harvesters were entering the 2,000acre field of wheat belonging to Geo. Adkins, in Monroe County, Tenn., lightning struck it, causing a total destruction. Lynching in Glasgow, Ky. Caleb Gaines, colored, was taken from jail at Glasgow, Ky., and hanged to a tree. Fifty men on horseback were the lynchers. Soldiers Fight Better When Well Fed. Jt is the intention of the War Depart-, went officials to furnish p competent cook for web comply, battery and troop in

was drafted at the War Department some days since providing for these cooks, and Representative Hull will endeavor to have it adopted. It is claimed by the department that more than half the illness of the troops is caused by ignorance of the culinary art, and it is for'the purpose of correcting this evil that they are anxious to have this measure adopted. The armies of European nations are supplied with first-class cooks, and as this new departure has passed the experimental stage this Government has decided to adopt the same plan. A practical illustration of the benefits derived from having well-cooked food was given at Camp Alger recently. One of the New York regiments, at its own expense, employed a first-class cook, and with his experience in handling the commissary stores in two weeks he saved the regiment $42, with which they purchased milk and other delicacies which were uot enjoyed by the other regiments stationed there. Besides this their meals were well cooked and palatable, and the men of this regiment were in much better health and spirits than those who were compelled to eat the food prepared by a novice who of that art. DEMANDS BLOOD FOR A LIFE. father of a Striker’s Victim Insists That Prisoner Be Execeted. Patrick Clarke of Central Falls, R. L, has engaged an attorney to enter objection to the commuting of the sentence of death on-Salter D. Warden to life imprisonment by Gov. Budd of California. Mr. Clarke’s son Patrick, a member of Battery L, Fifth artillery, of California, was killed in a wreck near Sacramento in 1894, the train which he and other soldiers were guarding being wrecked by the striking employes of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Certain strikers were tried for wrecking the train, among them being Salter D. ? Warden, who was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Many labor organizations tried to save Wardeni and President Cleveland wrote Gov. Budd in Warden’s behalf.

JAPANESE FOR PERU. Subject of the Mikado Wanted by the South American Country. H. Furnkama, secretary of the Japanese legation at the City of Mexico, is on his way to San Francisco, whence he will sail for Peru, where he goes on official business. The object of his visit to South America is to examine a colonization scheme recently laid before the Mikado by the Peruvian Government. The South American country is anxious to Import large numbers of Japanese to be employed as farm laborers in Peru, and the secretary of the Japanese legation at the Mexican capital has been instructed to carefully investigate the agricultural conditions of Peru and report to his Government. If he reports favorably the laborers will be sent. Shoots a German Diplomat. While the first secretary of the German embassy in London, Count von Arco-Val-ley, was emerging from the embassy one recent evening a stranger fired two shots from a revolver at him. One of the bullets entered the secretary’s back, but the wound is not dangerous. His assailant was arrested after firing at and missing a policeman. He is an Englishman, but refuses to furnish any explanation of his conduct. Predatory Tramps in Kansas. A plague of tramps is infesting the districts surrounding Wichita, Kan. Every freight train that comes in is loaded with these opponents of hard work. Masquerading as harvest hands, they are going through the country in gangs. Pretending to seek work, they are looting the farmers in a wholesale manner, and having obtained what plunder they can they leave the neighborhood. Behring Sea Award Paid. The claims of Canadian sealers arising out of seizures made by the United States in Behring sea were finally settled by the payment to Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British ambassador, of approximately $473,000, being the full amount of the claims as settled under an agreement between the United States and Great Britain. Robbers Kill and Burn Three. Near Wotumpka, Ala,, the other night the house of William Gurden was burned, and with him his wife and William Curley, all white. Gurden had the reputation of keeping a hoard of gold and there, is little doubt that the three persons were murdered by robbers who set the house on fire. Earthquake Shocks Are Felt. Earthquake shocks were felt along the east bank of the Mississippi and in towns still farther east. Some buildings were shaken and crockery and glassware proken. In some of the smaller places furniture was shifted and flues fell, giving report to stories of buildings having collapsed. Professor Is Missing. Prof. L. H. Harris, professor of Gree"k at Emory Ga., disappear* ed from his home in that city. His friends have failed to locate him. His family fear he is temporarily insane owing to the strain of the commencement work just over and has wandered awfiy.

Seeking More Chinese Land. France and Russia, according to a special dispatch from Shanghai, are pressing new territorial claims at Foo Chow, capital of the province of Fo Kien, on the Min river, and at Kin Chow, in Manchuria, near the north shore of the Gulf of Liao Tong. Senator Aldrich Re-elected. United States Senator Nelson W. Aidrich was re-elected by the Rhode Island Legislature on the first ballot. The vote on joint ballot is as follows: Aldrich, 96; Benjamin Andrews, 3; L. E. Garvin, 1. Canyon City Burned Up. Passengers on a returning steamer bring tidings that almost the entire town of Canyon City, Alaska (population, 400) has been destroyed'by fire.