Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 May 1883 — Page 1

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL.

ESTABLISHED 1823.

WHEN INDICATIONS. THURSDAY.—Fair weather, followed fcy local rains, stationary or lower temperature. A few days since, our firm at the factory closed the unsold product of the Star and Empire Woolen Mills. We are just commencing to receive Suitings from them in our various departments, at prices that -are almost unheard of for these qualities of goods. WHEN CLOTHING STORE. THE KENTUCKY TRAGEDY. The Unexpected Happens, and Thompson Is Indicted for Murder. JL Growing Feeling that the Crime Was Little Less than Assassination—Other Criminal Notes. THE HARRODBBURG KILLING. An Indictment for Murder Returned Against Congressman Thompson. Cincinnati, May 2.—The Commercial Galette’s Harrodsburg, Ky., special says: “The grand jury to-day returned an indictment for murder against Hon. Phil. B. Thompson, jr., for killing Walter H. Davis on April 27. The return was made late this afternoon. The witnesses named for the Commonwealth are J. P.Churn, K. C. Smith, J. M. Wilson, R. E. Coleman and John Maurter. Thompson will be re-arrested tomorrow. Under the mucli-prevaling custom he will probably be let out of prison, being nominally under arrest in charge of a guardian whose salary is paid by the prisoner. Then habeas covpus proceedings will lead to a preliminary trial to determine if he can be bailed, and what the amount shall be. The indictment creates surprise, though generally approved. The defendant and his friends expected it to be for manslaughter. It is expected that the prisoner’s brother, one of the ablest lawyers in Kentucky, will be of the counsel for Thompson. The sentiment is growing that the killing of Davis is to be classed as assassination. There is a disposition to criticise the conduct of Miss Buckner, upon whose statements to her cousin, Phil. B. Thompson, it is supposed he made bis attack on Davis. It is said that when Miss Buckner, some years ago. was in trouble a somewhat similar charge was made against Mrs. Thompson. “Mrs. Davis protests that justice has not been done her husband, and that he was a good, loyal, kind husband as ever woman [pad. She asserts over and over again her Immovable trust in the honor and innocence of her husband. She says the testimony against her husband was all concerted; that Miss Buckner had sworn to have revenge on her, and her oath had been fulfilled. “Hon. J. C. S. Blackburn arrived to-night, to assist in the defense of Thompson.*’ There are witnesses who contradict Miss Buckner witli reference to Mrs. Thompson’s drunkenness. The implication that "Davis was fleeing to Chicago is wholly wrong. He and his partner had sold their stock of groceries in order to devote their whole time to the whisky trade, and Mr. Davis had agreed to go to Chicago to close out a branch house, and was on his way to Chicago on this business when he was killed. CRIME IN GENERAL Mrs. Belle Beauchamp Acquitted of the Charge of Murdering Her Husband. Baltimore, May 2.—The Sun’s Trenton Special says: “The jury in the trial of Mrs. Beauchamp, for the murder of her husband, returned a verdict of not guilty. James A. Hern, indicted as accessory, was acquitted by order of the court. Mrs. Beauchamp said to a reporter: ‘I can hardly tell you how happy 1 feel, because I hope people will believe me innocent. I feared I would break down sometime during the trial, but was upheld by the consciousness that I was not guilty, it was perfectly awful to listen to the frightful indictment. If a woman can stund such an ordeal as that her nerve will not forsake her in anything she has to undergo. It was almost as trying when the lury came back for further explanations, ut’ then, as I have already told you, I did not fear the result.’ ” A Baltimore Crime. Baltimore, May 2.—Monday night, about 10 o’clock, while Miss Anna Traverse was going from the house of her 6ister to her own home, three blocks away, in the northwestern section of the city, she was assaulted by two colored men, who felled her with a stone, and then cut her throat and robbed her of a few dollars. She was found, early on Tuesday, in the vacant lot where she was assaulted, and removed to her home. She is the daughter of the late William K. Traverse, who several times represented Dorchester county in the General Assembly. She is not expected to survive her injuries. Murder and Lynching. New Orleans, May 2.—The Ficavline’s Summit, Miss., special says: “During a difficulty between Isaiah Cain, a prominent farmer, residing near Little Spring, Franklin county, and Amos Bailey, colored, last Saturday, the latter struck the tormer over the head, and Cain died on Monday. Yesterday evening thirty armed men took Bailey from i sheriff’s posse and hanged him. Mu. J. B. Cibkro, of Indianapolis, was cured 6t ItllioiiuijeHH of two years’ stuudiug, by tho use tl Kt own's Iron Bitters.

A GREAT CRIME EXPOSED. Two of the Phoenix Park Assassins Enter Pleas of Guilty. Delaney Says Cavendish and Burke Were Murdered by Brady and Kelly, and He Witnessed the Deed. He Claims to Have Saved Judge Hawson’s Life by Risking His Own. Consul Piatt’s Report on the Condition of Ireland—The Berlin Gazette Reluctantly Apologizes to Mr. Sargent. TWO MORE. Delaney and Caffrey Plead Guilty and Are Sentenced to Be Hanged. Dublin, May 2.—Patrick Delaney and Thomas Caffrey, two more of the men charged with participation in the murder of Cavendish and Burke, were arraigned for trial this morning. They created a sensation in the court-room by both pleading guilty to the charge against them, and both were sentenced to be hanged on the 2d of June. Before Caffrey had pleaded guilty he was informed by his solicitor that the crown gave no hopes of mitigation of the sentence of death which would be passed upon him. When Delaney was called upon to plead, he said: “I am guilty of being in the park at the time Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke were killed, but I did not commit murder; I plead guilty.” The Judge explained to him that this really amounted to a plea of innocence, Delaney then formally pleaded guilty. He said: “I was brought into this thing foolishly, at first, not knowing what it was. 1 was forced from my work to go to the park. We had to obey the orders of the society or take the consequences. When I got in the park I could not get away. I saw the murders committed, but took no part in them. I went to the park on Kavanagh’s car, He speaks the truth and so does Corly —the murders were committed by Joe Brady and Timothy Kelley and by nobody else. I saved Judge Lawson’s life at the risk of my own. I was put on to shoot him by Mullett and Brady, and the only way to escape the task was by calling the guard’s attention.” Judge O’Brien, in passing sentence on Delaney, said he had a duty to perform. He had, at the previous trial of the prisoner for attempting to shoot Judge Lawson, pitied him because he showed some feeling for his wife and family. The prisoner would see to what misery they had been brought by the wicked system of conspiracy. When Coffrey was placed in the dock his face wore a smile. The consequence of pleading guilty was again fully explained to him in open court, but he persisted in his plea. On being asked whether he had anything to say why sentence should not be passed upon him, Coffrey replied in a loud, clear voice: “All I have got to say, standing on the brink of the grave, is that I did not know what was going to happen until twenty minutes before the murders were committed. I was bound to go to the park under pain of death.” The judge, in passing sentence, said there were no means of judging as to the truth of the prisoner’s statement. He did not decide that it was necessarily wholly untrue. The sentence of Delaney will probably be commuted to life servitude. Joseph Harton, awaiting trial, was finally accepted as an approver. He will confirm the evidence of the two Careys against thirteen prisoners in Kilinainhan jail, charged with conspiracy to murder. CONDITION OF IRELAND. Consul Piatt's Report—How the Euglish Government Enforces Emigration. Washington Special to Courier-Journal. The most interesting of consular reports on the condition of the Irish, which the State Department is about to publish, *is that of John J. Piatt, the poet, our consul at Cork. He says, among other things: “It may be set down as a fact that there is always distressing poverty in the western and southern parts of Ireland—a rocky and mountainous seacoast region, where, remote from larger towns, a great number of people live on very small agricultural holdings in dwellings of the poorest kind, fit only, but hardly fit, for the brute beasts which in many cases make a part of their household. It is a life of distress year in and year out that these people live. This may be given as the normal state of things. Os course, under the political and social conditions of the last few years, with discouragement of all kinds of enterprise throughout the country, with many evictions and hardships, including loss of employment, which have resulted, the normal state must have become much worse. Add to this a partial butvery serious falling off in last year’s notato crop, which is the staff of life, in good years, of the Irish. It is, perhaps, not an ignoble trait in the Irish poor that many of them would starve, and they do starve, rather than accept the humiliating hospitality of public charity establishments. Besides this resort with the doled out pittance of the relieving officers, for which the prop-erty-holders in the town and country are taxed largely—if I may judge by the socalled pooi rates which I myself pay on the house I occupy as my residence, amounting to nearly a quarter of its ‘valuation’—besides this, 1 say, the only present help for many of the suffering poor is from voluntary contributions. As for the prospect of the amelioration of the present aggregated condition of chronic distress, it may be presumed that the spring season, which is here already manifestly ith weather favorable for plowing and planting since the latter part of February, will tend to mitigate the evil. Many out of employment will find something to do in renewed farming operations, and lib-eral-minded men here and there, seem to be showing a disposition to make employment for such as are willing to accept it. Still a long period must elapse before the earth itself will offer any direct help and supply the defect of last year, and at best, the situation in the more afflicted localities must remain very bad. Meanwhile it may be felt that there is some prospect of amelioration of the chronic distress of Ireland. Mr. Gladstone’s land act is conferring large

INDIANAPOLIS, THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 3, 1883.

proprietary rights upon farmers, much larger than that class enjoyed three years ago. The operations of the act in the matter of fixing judicial rents are, however, being but slowly carried out, and it is estimated that it will take some years before the rents of all farmers are fixed for the statutory term of fifteen years. In connection with the benefits thus conferred on farmers, the laborers’ position is being somewhat improved, and further legislation on behalf of laborers is promised in the near future. This will tend still further to lessen the causes of Irish distress, and prospects of its amelioration may be regarded as hopeful. These results it will, even under the most favorable circumstances, take some time to bring out, and meanwhile distress in Ireland will more or less fluctuate with good and bad harvests. With regard to the effect of the existing state of things upon emigration from Ireland, I have been led to the conclusion from careful inquiries on the subject that the tide of emigration this year from the south of Ireland will be quite up to the average of late years. What proportion of emigrants will seek the United States as the land of their adoption, it would be impossible to say with certainty, but undoubtedly the United States is preferred by the Irish themselves, and thither those who emigrate with their own means and at their own discretion will go. For sometime, however, the English government has been endeavoring to direct the flow of emigrants from the United States to Canada. In furtherance of this movement the government has this year made a firm stand against opening up public works for the relief of distress in Ireland, and it has confined the discretionary powers of the poor law boards to assisting paupers to emigrate, or relieving them by admitting them to the work-house. Out-door relief is in all cases denied where applicants enjoy health, and where their only complaint is hunger through want of employment. This course is adopted by the government with the full knowledge of the fact noted above, that the IrisL poor have the strongest objections to entering work-houses, and that many of them will almost suffer starvation rather than break up their homes, miserable as they are, to seek the shelter of a work-house.” THE BERLIN GAZETTE'S APOLOGY. It Convicts the Paper of Gross Misrepresentation of Minister Sargent’s Report. London, May 2.—The Times publishes a special from Berlin which undertakes to explain the misunderstanding, or misrepresentation, on the part of the North German Gazette in respect to the republication in a New York paper of Minister Sargent’s report to Secretary Frelinghuysen upon the pork question. The point of the special correspondent’s explanation is that what was published day before yesterday by the North German Gazette was in reality the report of Mr. Sargent to the State Department. It was printed in order to show that the North German Gazette’s late personal attack, which Mr. Sargent would have been justly entittled to consider a gross infringement of the newspaper upon his privileges as a foreign embassador, was based upon an incorrect translation by the New York Handels Zeitung of Mr. Sargent’s report. The North German Gazette, in reproducing the report, prefaces by a paragraph which the Times’s correspondent characterizes as a weak and transparent attempt upon the part of the management to excuse their unwarrantable attack. This is the only excuse vouchsafed by the Berlin paper, and it is the general opinion here that while the apology is humble enough, it must be regarded, nevertheless, as entirely inadequate, since it convicts the North German Gazette of gross misrepresentation of the truth. A Card from the Handela Zeitung. New Y’ork, May 2.— The editor of the Handels Zeitung called at the office of the Associated Press, to-day, and left the following card: Mr. Sargent's letter was translated from the consular reports to the State Departmant, by Mr. Meyer. Mr. Meyer, later, stated that the translation was made with the utmost cave, and as absolutely accurate as could be. Meyer says he lia6 information that the hosiery manufacturers of Germany are moving to secure the abolition of the prohibitory legislation against pork. They are alarmed lest action be taken by the next United States Congress imposing a duty on hosiery which will exclude it from the United States. This would be a disaster to the industrv in Germany, where, if the measure is passed by Congress, thousands of operatives in Germany, without other means of gaining a livelihood, would be throw’n out of work, and millions of dollars of capital be wasted. Os the $7,500,000 worth of hosiery annually imported into the Uulied States, $4,500,000 comes from Germany. GENERAL FOREIGN NEWS. France Thinks No Idea of Aggression is Entertained. Paris, May 2.—The Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking in the Senate on the triple alliance, said he believed in the sincerity of the declarations of the Italian Foreign Minister and Hungarian Premier, that no idea of aggression against France was entertained. He believed the alliance would not in any way change the relations of France with the powers. France must be prudent, for a vanquished country which is regaining its strength, and which is condemned to maintain u large defensive force must not be surprised to find itself exposed to jealousy aud distrust. Interference with the Army Not Wanted. Berlin, May 2.—ln the Reichstag, Richter introduced a motion declaring against the execution of private orders in military workshops. Bismarck protested in the name of the Emperor against the assumption that the army can be required to even receive direct condemnation from the Reichstag. Richter then altered the motion so its demands were addressed to Bismarck, instead of the military administration. The Minister of War decided the motion implied a direct invasion of the powers of the Emperor. Bismarck’s action in regard to Richter’s motion in the Reichstag is not so much regarded as a reprimand to the Reichstag as a reassertion of his prerogative as chancellor over other ministers, especially the Minister of War. The Prince of Wales on Dynamite. London, May 2.—The Prince of Wales, receiving an address at Oxford, yesterday, on the occasion of opening the Indian Institute, said the manifestations of loyalty were the more acceptable when the whole civilized world was shocked at the series of detestable and cowardly outrages, which, happily, are almost unprecedented in hiscory. The Prince to-day laid tho memorial stone at the institute witli Masonic rites. Among the tnen of prominence present were the Marquis of Salisbury, Earl of Kimberly, Earl Northbrook, Lord Canbrook and Stafford Northcote. Can't Compete with American Malt. Ottawa, May 2.—Several members of Parliament waited on the finance minister for the purpose of having a change made so the malt regulations. The nialsters oluirti that

the changes in the American regulations prevent Canadian malt being exported to the Ui>ited States. They, therefore, want a drawback. The minister did not think the government could give a drawback, but would endeavor to make some changes in the inspection rules to meet the wishes of the deputation. Notes by Cable. The appointment of Count Hoyos as ambassador to Paris from Vienna has been gazetted. The grand jury has been summoned to meet to-day at Dublin to find bills against the men who are charged with conspiracy to murder. A prominent member of the Nationalist party named Murphy has been remanded for trial at Cork for refusing to testify at a private inquiry. Ex-Empress Eugenie has renounced her claims to the chateau presented by the municipality of Marseilles to Napoleon. The municipality pays the costs of the suit. STRIKES OF LABORERS. All the Miners in West Pennsylvania Out Against Reduction. Pittsburg, May 2.—Complete reports from the railroad coal district, in which the strike was begun yesterday, state that all the miners have joined the strike against a reduction save those employed at W. P. Rend & Co.’s and the Cherry Hill Coal Company. A delegation of strikers, headed by martial bands, will surround these pits this afternoon and remain until the men at work join the strike. The operators are preparing to have the strikers kept off their property, but no violence is anticipated. Miners’ Secretary Flannery states that he has offered, on behalf of the miners, to arbitrate the dispute, under the provisions of the Wallace arbitration act, signed by the Governor a few days ago. The operators decline to say to-night whether they will accept the proposition. Nearly all the mills in the city are out of coal, and many will have to shut down for a day or two until arrangements are made to supply them by river. Milwaukee Shoemakers Idle. Milwaukee, May 2.—A large number of shoemakers are idle at present, claiming that thev cannot make living wages owing to the extensive introduction of machinery. In one establishment, where over twenty men were lately employed, there are but half a dozen working to-day. There is no organized movement on the part of the shoemakers, and not likely to be. The changes have come gradually, as three or four prominent establishments have, one after another, introduced new machinery. The men are looking for other work, and take the situation philosophically. One who lost his place to-night said he worked a whole week on a case of boots and shoes, and made only $4.90. Strike Probable at Chicago. Chtcago, May 2.—A notice was posted in the round-house of the Lake Shore road at Hyde Park to-day that a reduction of twen-ty-five cents will be made in the wages of engineers who have been in service a certain length of time, and an advance of the same amount be made in t _<t wages of those in service a shorter time. Old hands have been getting $2.75 per day. They say they will strike to-morrow. There are about eighty engineers in this division. They claim that freight rates to Buffalo have beer, cut, and the company desires to do something toward balancing accounts, as those on whom the cut is made outnumber those whose pay is increasd. St. Louis Plasterers aud Stonecutters. St. Louis, May 2.—The union stonecutters and plasterers wenton a strike to-day. They presented a demand on the bosses yesterday for an increase fiom $3.50 to $4 a day aud the establishment of a uniform rate. The employers refused to accede, and this morning about 500 stonecutters and 600 plasterers quit work. The bricklayers will to-morrow demand an increase of fifty cents a day, which the bosses will not accede to,and they will probably strike. There are rumors of the usual spring strikes in various trades. Coal Miners' Strike at Belleville, 111. St. Louis, May 2.—The coal miners in the Belleville, 111., district struck yesterday for higher wages. They claim that they have only been getting one and a half to two cents a bushel for digging, and now demand two and a half cents. The operators refuse to comply, but it is said they will probably accede to the miners’ demands. It is understood that similar action will be taken in all the mining districts of the State. Iron Strike Expected. Pittsburg, May 2.—The conference committees of the iron manufacturers and amalgamated associations meet to morrow, to settle the rate of wages for the next year. The general opinion is that they will not agree, and that a strike will ensue. Car-Loaders’ Strike. Shenandoah, Pa., May 3.—Work at No. 4 colliery, of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, stopped, to-day, by a strike of loaders. They have been loading twenty-two cars a day, j?ut now refuse to load more* than sixteen, helice the strike. Strike Items. The Times compositors’ strike at Chattanooga is ended. Enough non-union men were secured. The cigarmakers of Reading, Pa., obtained an advance of wages and no further trouble is apprehended. The Buffalo cigarmakers were granted an advance of $1 and $1.50 per thousand except bv manufacturers George Honneman and J. Myers. Their hands, numbering 240, left. It now transpires that the cigarmarkers have made their demands in a very quiet way on the manufacturers for an increase of wages, and that their demands have been complied with by nine-tenths of the factories. Only a few small holding out. Southern Sunday-School Association. Augusta, Oa., May 2.—At the annual session of the State Sunday-school Association, President Shepard in the chair, it was announced that Mcnt Eagle, Tenn., had been selected for the SouthernChautauquu. Reports from delegates suowed an increase in Sundayschool work and number of scholars. The convention represents about 100,000 scholars. A Fratricide's Escape from Jail. Shreveport, May 2.—Last night, James Thomson, arrested for the murder of his brother in Grayson county, Tex., in 1876, was taken out of the Bossier parish jail, furnished with aims and a fleet horse, and escaped. The doors of the jail were unlocked by parties who aided Thomson.

THE NEW DISTRICT JUDGE The Matte** Finally Settled by the Appointment of Judge Woods. Sketch of the Career of the AppointeeStatement from Senator Harrison as to His Attitude in the Matter. Secretary Teller Will Make No Reply to Mr. Hill’s Charges. Revolutionary Defaulters Great Demaud for the Record of ihe Guiteau Trial —Notes and Gossip, TnE NEW JUDGE. The Frophets Vindicated by the Appointraent of Hon. William A. Woods. Special to the Indianapolis Journal. Washington, May 2.—The President today appointed William A. Woods district judge for the district of Indiana, vice Walter Q. Gresbam, appointed Postmaster-general. For a wonder, the wise men who knew all about appointments in advance were right in predicting the appointment of Judge Woods. It has developed that Judge Woods was Attorney-general Brewster’s favorite, and, as intimated in last night’s telegram, he also had a strong friend in Postmastergeneral Gresham, though the latter did not urge him upon the President in a spirit of antagonism to any of the other leading candidates. It has been apparent for several days past that the bar of the State, outside of Indianapolis, was centering upon Judge Wood. This was manifest before Senator Harrison left for borne, and he said in an interview just previous to his departure that he did not feel at all certain that Judge Hines would obtain the judgeship. The drift of sentiment grew daily that Judge Kibbey was a strong third. BKETCH OF THE APPOINTEE. [Judge Woods is a native of middle Tennessee. having been born in Marshall county, in that State, May 16, 1837. When he was still quite young his parents removed to Davis county, lowa. In 1859 he entered the freshman class of Wabash College, where he made an industrious and excellent student. In due time he graduated, and for some years served as a tutor in the institution. He subsequently removed to Grant county, where he was admitted to the bar. Later, he entered the practice of the law at Goshen, which is now his home. In 1866 he served as a member of the lower house of the Legislature, and in 1873 was elected judge of the Thirty-fourth judicial district, being reelected in 1876 without opposition. In 1880 he was nominated and elected a judge of the State Supreme Court, a position he now holds. Judge Woods is not yet forty-six yeHrs of age, is in the very prime of his mental and physical powers, and of unusually fine physique and personal appearance. His ability as a lawyer and jurist was evidenced by his re-election, without opposition, to the judgeship of liis home circuit, and it has been extended by the opinions rendered since he became a member of the Supreme bench, his decisions being regarded by the profession as accurate and well-expressed interpretations of law. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to add that Judge Woods is an earnest Republicau.] Interview with Senator Harriaon. A Journal reporter called at the residence of Senator Harrison last night and communicated to him the news of the appointment. “Who has been appointed?” was the greeting of the Senator. “Judge Woods,” replied the reporter. “Well, it is no surprise to me,” said the Senator, and he led the way into his library. In speaking of the candidates who had been mentioned in connection with the office, the Senator said: “I recommended the appointment of Judge Hines, because I believed that he possessed in a very high degree the qualities that would adorn the bench. While he was upon the bench of the Circuit Court he gave very great satisfaction to the bar, and was universally regarded as a prompt, intelligent and even-tempered judge, lie was, besides, a good soldier, and was badly wounded at Stone river. I do not think the fact that Judge Hines was a warm personal friend and a business partner should be any reason for ignoring his acknowledged fitness for the position. My preference for Judge Hines, however, did not lead me into any disparagement of any of the other gentlemen who were named. I laid all the papers sent me before the Attorney-general, and went over all the names with the President, giving him a fair statement of their experience on the bench and their standing at the bar. They were all my friends, and I could not disparage any of them.” Relative to the appointment of Judge Woods, the Senator said: “Tho only objection that can be raised to his appointment, from any quarter, is that it will vacate his position on the Supreme bench, and will put in jeopardy in 1884 what we won in 1880. 1 said to the President that as to his qualifications no objections could be raised.” TELLER VS. HILL. The Secretary Does Not Intend to Answer Mr. Hill on Personal Matters. Washington. May 2.—Secretary Teller informed a representative of the Associated Press, this evening, that he docs not intend to make any general reply to Senator Hill’s letter, and added that, although he found it was full of errors and misrepresentations, he does not propose taking any public notice of any portion of it that is local or personal in its character. He did not think the public had any interest in those matters. He said, however, as to the Yellowstone Park lease, he took the advice of his assistant, Joslyn, and of McCainnion, the law officer of the department, and that the lease was, in their opinion, in accordance with the law. Mr. Teller went on to say that it does not, as the Senator assumes, give control of the park to the lessees; any number of other leasts may be made in every respect as advantageous to the lessees as this one; no exclusive privilege is given, and no advantage is given in sites. The lease covers sites for hotel and stage stations, aggregating ten acres. Others may, if they desire, have tho same. As to the rulings of the department in favor of corporations in the matter of land grants, the Senator made only a general charge concerning a matter of which ho could know no more than tho gen-

PRICE FIVE CENTS.

eral public. The rulings have all been made to conform to decisions of the Supremo Court and opinions of the Attorney-general concerning the duty of the executive departments of the government in that respect. Secretary Teller furthermore remarked that be is not authorized to legislate, but simply administer the laws, whether such laws are in accordance with his views or not, and that Senator Hill might have ascertained what are his views on this subject from the last annual report of the Department of the Interior. Mr. Hill Reaffirms the Truth of His Statements. Washington, May 2.—Senator Hill left Washington this evening for Colorado. Before his departure he was asked whether he had anything further to say at present with reference to his controversy with the Secretary of the Interior. He replied: ‘‘Every statement contained in my letter is strictly true. Mr. Teller will naturallp seek to break Us force by a general denial, but upon some points he will have to face the evidence. The effort to make a diversion by an indirect charge (on the alleged authority of friends of Secretary Teller), that I bought my seat in the Senate, is unworthy of notice and has no foundation to rest upon. If it bad, he would have urged it against me long ago. The truth is, neither Senator Chalcott nor any responsible person has presumed to make such a charge: the nearest approach to it was contained in a card from ex-Senator Chaffee, in which he said that my election had, according to my own statements, cost me $20,000. This statement was so vague that I never deemed it worthy of notice, since Chaffee might have referred to legitimate contributions made by me to my party in the State. Whatever charges I have preferred against Mr. Teller have been made over ray signature. If lie will adopt a like course, and be responsible for the statement that I furnished, used or caused to be used money in any corrupt or illegitimate waj r connected witli my election to the Senate, I will afford him, at the earliest possible day, an opportunity to prove the charge.” CIVIL-SERVICE RULES. The Cabinet Devotes a Special Session tc Their Consideration. Washington, May 2.—A special meeting of the cabinet was held to-day, to consider the civil-service regulations, now awaiting the President’s actoin. All tho members were present except the Attorney-general. The session lasted about two and one-half hours, and the regulations as presented by the civilservice commission were agreed to without substantial change, although it w r as deemed advisable to change the mode of expression of certain rules. There was one question which the cabinet found difficult to decide—the custom which is now’ observed in makir.g appointments in several of the executive departments, and which, in the Treasury, has the force of law, and that is to distribute them among the States and Territories upon the basis of population. It is questioned whether strict adherence to this rule would not, in many cases, hamper the administration of the civil service, and a majority of the members of the cabinet incline to the view that appointments under the new civil-service rules should be made strictly upon merit, as determined by competitive examination, regardless of the residence of the successful candidate. A decision, however, has not yet been reached by the cabinet upon this point. Dorman B. Eaton, of the civil service commission, said this evening that one of the clauses of the civil-service law provides that appointments shall be distributed among the States and Territories in proportion to population as far as practicable. But as this clause comes with several others under the common head of provisions which are to be carried out only as far as a good administration of the law will permit, he did not think it would prove a source of much difficulty. He said, further, that it should be borne in mind that the law had nothing to say with regard to the proportion in which the several States and Terri toriea are represented in the appointments already made, and the present representation of States and Territories would not be taken into consideration in determining future appointments. As the law refers solely to appointments hereafter to be made, so that the provision of the law referred to relates to appointments, not to examinations, of course, examinations would be made, hesaid, with a view to supplying the appointing power with proper material. The President will approve the regulations as soon as they shall have been altered to meet the views of the cabinet. A REVOLUTIONARY GRANT. The Purchaser of an Old Soldier's Laud Wants Ills Patent Issued. Washington, May 2. Samuel 11. Ruggles, of Circleville, 0., has filed with the clerk oi tho District Supreme Court an application for a mandamus upon the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner-general of the Land Office to compel them to issue tp him a patent for 150 acres of land situated in Ohio between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, and on the northwest side of the Ohio river. The petitioner represents that lie lias an equitable interest in the land, which is within the territory reserved by the State of Virginia in her deed of cession to the United States of all that tract of country within the limits of Iter charter being to the northwest of the Ohio river. Aquilla Norville having been a soldier of the United States in the revolutionary war, Virginia line, the register of the land office of the State, on May 15, 1783, issued to him a military warrant for 200 acres of land in consideration of three years’ service as sergeant in the Continental line. After the passage of the act of Aug. 10, 1780, enabling officers and soldiers of the Virginia line to obtain titles to certain lands Tying northwest of the Ohio. Aquilla Norville, on Dec. 24, 1814, made and recorded in the office of the principal surveyor of the reserved district an entry of this tract of land, and had the same surveyed. On June 27, 1824, Aquilla Norville died entitled to tho land, but before obtaining a patent. The petitioner claims that he purchased the land from the heirs of Norville. A RAILWAY VICTORY. Comptroller Lawrence Decides a Claim la Favor of a Laud-Grant Railroad. Washington, May 2.—Judge Lawrence, First Comptroller of the Treasury, rendered a decision to-day in favor of tho St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company, upon itg claim for tho transportation of stationery, on occount of the United .States, from St. Louis to the collector of internal revenue nt Springfield, Mo. Tho question involved was whether or not “laiichgrnnt 1 ruilroud com-