Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 October 1897 — Page 4

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THE DAILY JOURNAL SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1897. Telephone Call*. Business Office 238 | Editorial Rooms...A 8$ TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. DAILY BY MAIL. Pally only, one month $ •* Daily only, three months Daily only, one year Dally, including Sunday, one year lO.w Sunday only, one year 2.W WHEN FURNISHED BY AGENTS. Daily, per week, by carrier !§ *** Sunday, single copy Jj s Daily and Sunday, per week, by carrier 20 cts WEEKLY. M Reduced Hates to t'lub*. Subscribe with any of our numerous agents or send subscriptions to THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, Indianapolis, lud. Persons sending the Journal through the malls In the United States should put on an eight-page paper a ONE-CENT postage "tamp; on a twelve <>r sixteen-page paper a TWO-CENI l>oßj- a S® stamp. Foreign postage is usually double these rates. All communlcatlcns Intended for publication in this |>aper must, in order to receive attention, be accompanied bv the name and address of too Writer. If it is desired that rejected manuscripts be returned, postage must in all cases be inclosed for that purpose. — ~~ ~ a ' ... * ■—* THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL Can be found at the following places: NEW' YORK—Windsor Hotel and Astor House. CHICAGO—PaImer House and P. O. News Cos., -17 Dearborn street. CINCINNATI*—J. R. Hawdey & Cos., 154 Vine street. LOUISVILLE—C. T. Deerin*, northwest corner of Third and Jefferson streets, and Louisville Book Cos., 256 Fourth avenue. #T. LOUlS—Union News Company, Union Depot. Washington, and. cv-Riggs House. Ebbitt House, Willard’s Hotel and the Washington News Exchange, Fourteenth street, between Penn, avenue and F street. It will be very hard for Mr. Taggart to run the mayor's office without Mr. Holt. The Luetgert trial has become a public nuisance and travesty on proper judicial methods. Boodle, beer, the News and stray Republicans constitute the reliance of Mr. Taggart for, re-election. The Taggart bogs appear to be in the proposed park system by the records of the Circuit Court. Every day that passes makes Mr. 'Harding a better man for mayor than is Mr. Taggart. Besides, he has no wicked partners. < o The News has not yet modified its declaration to the effect that the Board of Public Works was at one time influenced by contractors. After all, the Pogue’s run steal, which Mayor Taggart knew ail about, is as disreputable as any other of the numerous scandals of the present city administration. If the Republicans of Indianapolis vote the Republican ticket next Tuesday as they do on occasions of general interest, Mr. Taggart will be out of the city government with Mr. Holt. The escape from prison ,of Senorita Cisneros will probably cause General Weyler to make the greatest effort of his life to recapture her. It would be a fitting conclusion to his Inglorious career in Cuba, The unknown quantity of the John F. "White vote is worrying the Taggart managers. If it shall count cut half that the White leaders claim, Mr. Taggart will know from personal experience what an interoeptor is. The number of Democrats who are carrying concealed weapons to be used upon Mayor Taggart next Tuesday will not be offset by the number of Republicans who will so far forget themselves as to vote for the mayor.

Mayor Taggart is reported in his speech of Thursday evening as saying that while he has been in office “he has never used it ifor a publio benefit.” It is not possible that it is so bad as that. A few hundred votes may turn the result next Tuesday. If the Republicans take hold individually and see that every Republican in every precinct votes the party ticket they will secure these votes and elect their ticket, The decision of the Postofflce Department to greatly extend the money-order system Is distinctly in the lino of progress. There should be no discrimination fn the distribution of government benefits, and the people who live in small villages and at country cross roads are as much entitled to the conveniences of the money-order system as those who live in cities and larger towns. The rivalry between the George men and Tammany in New York for th© indorsement of the national Democratic committee is already bitter. The former seem to have the best of it, having the approval of the members from Indiana, lowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Montana and South Carolina, while Tammany has the sanction of but four members, those of New Hampshire, Vermont, Missouri and California. Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts and North Dakota are noncommital. Among other attempts to relieve the Taggart administration of the odium of the sewer scandal, it is charged that Holt was an appointee of Mayor Denny. In a limited sense he was, as Mayor Denny appointed him to fill an unexpired term. He served less than six months under Mayor Denny, and Mayor Taggart reappointed him for five years. Holt had three years yet to serve as park commissioner, and if sewer scandal had not come out till after the election, he would have defied public opinion and held on. and Mr. Taggart would not have removed him, either. The life sentence which Ferriter, the murderer of Patrolman Ware, received in Morgan county yestfcday was richly deserved. If there were no possibility of pardon or other interference with the sentence imposed it would be sufficient. He belonged to a lawless gang which is a scourge to the community which it infests, and which is ready at any time to assail policemen. The prompt trial and life sentence of the man who has killed an officer will tend to impress the ruffianly element that shooting policemen is a crime which is certain to reDakota are noncommittal. As the Union Trust Company has been mentioned in connection with the exposure of the White river sewer scandal it is but fair to say that there is nothing in the action or attitude of that company to be criticised. It is part of tho business of such companies to loan or advance money for carrying out large enterprises or contracts, taking a lien on plants or an assignment of the contract as security. That is what the trust company did in tills case, and the transaction was perfectly legitimate. If the company had known that the Fulmer-Sei-

bort Company was about to pay a member of the Taggart administration 15,000 for his influence in securing a modification of their contract it could and probably would have put a stop to the deal. But, of course, It knew nothing about it, although Holt was a director in the company. If Holt had retained the $5,000 the company would have been out just that amount by the diminution of the Fulmer-Seibert Company’s assets, and the disgorgement by Holt is really for the benefit of the trust company. The action of the company was perfectly legitimate. WHAT MIGHT HE EXPECTED. The scandals that have come to light during the Taggart administration are, first, the Austin-Downing scandal which resulted in the resignation of Ed A. Austin from the Board of Public Works; second, the Park Board scandal in which an attempt was made to get a tract of land belonging to Mr. Taggart into the pai£ system at a very high valuation, which attempt failed; third, the Colbert scandal, resulting in his resignation as superintendent of police; fourth, the Holt sewer scandal, resulting in the resignation of Sterling R. Holt from the Parks Board. There have been a number of minor scandals resulting in the discharge or whitewashing of members of the police, but these may all be lumped under the Colbert scandal, which stands for the general demoralization of the force. The four scandals named include all the large ones that have come to light, though nobody knows what is still covered up. They are enough to indicate the general weakness if not rottenness of the administration. Each one of them indicates that Mr. Taggart is either a very poor judge of human nature or else that in making appointments he habitually places personal and political obligations above a sense of public duty. No man with even moderate knowledge of human nature and a proper sense of official duty would surround himself with men who would be guilty of such acts as these above mentioned. In either case Mr. Taggart is an unfit and unsafe man to be continued as mayor. * There is another aspect of the case which voters should take cognizance of. All these scandals have occurred in Mr. Taggart’s first administration. He is now a candidate for re-election, asking the people for a vote of confidence on the strength of this administration. During this administration he has been trying to lay the foundation for a re-election and presumably has done his best. If re-elected he will not aspire to a third term and will have no incentive to make his second administration better than his first. On the contrary, there is every reason to believe he would construe a re-election ,as a condonation of all the scandals of this administration and permission to do as he pleased in a second. If he has been under some restraint during this administration he would be under none whatever in a second one. If during this administration he. has placed personal and party obligations above the public welfare, he would go much further in that direction in a second administration. If he has surrounded himself during this administration with men who have proved unfit for office he would be likely to be much more reckless in his appointments in a second administration. If his first administration has developed more and greater scandals than any ten years in the previous history of the city, closing with the air full of sewer gas, what might be expected of a second one? These are matters to be considered by all who desire better city government. It is to be expected that Mr. Taggart's personal followers and his thick-and-thin party friends will vote for him. They would do so if the scandals of his first administration were far more numerous than they are, with a certainty that they would be still more numerous during a second administration. But honest and independent voters, men who think for themselves and endeavor to put some conscience into their ballots, should consider well if they can afford to condone the scandals of this administration and take the risk of another on the same lines and still worse.

ORGANIZ ATION AGAINST THE LAWLESS. There seems to be danger that the warning of the lynching in Ripley county will be lost upon us end that ruffians, white-cap-pers and criminals generally will continue to make property, and life even, uncertain in several counties in Indiana and other States. It is because the officials feel that they do not have the support of the people in prosecuting lawbreakers. The warning should not be lost. The law-abiding people who desire security are a very large majority in Indiana and in every county; they should see that the laws are enforced. There are counties in Indiana where the white-capper never appears and the marauder never molests isolated and defenseless households under the cover of night. There are other counties not far distant in which the harassed people scarcely resent the stealing of stock and personal property. There is really little difference in the character of the people. The large majority in both localities are law-abiding people. Why is it that lawless persons are not found in one locality and practically overawe the people of another? It is because the people in one locality look after the arresting and punishment of criminals. Montgomery county has had little trouble with thieves and marauders. It is not a congenial climate for them because the Horse-thief Detective Association has enrolled a large part of the good citizens in the rural townships. The association gives attention to other offenders than horse-thieves, since any offense against life and property is reported , and looked after. Marauders who stand wqmen on hot stoves to compel them to disclose the hiding place of money which they might be suspected of having would come to grief very soon in that county. The members of the association would pass the word around in a few hours and every member would be on the lookout for them, and if found they would be detained until officers with warrants were notified. When practically all the law-abiding people are organized to punish the commission of crime no one need be afraid to testify against lawbreakers lest he be assailed or his property destroyed. The professional marauder, horse-thief, general thief and lawbreaker is a shrewd coward. He will not make his home in counties where the people and officers show a purpose to punish such lawbreakers. These petty criminals soon learn where they can and cannot prosecute their vocation. They give counties like Montgomery a wide berth and flock to where robbing can be done with impunity. Dike all cowards, as soon as they find that it will answer, the country thieves and marauders become bullies and seek to terrorize their victims. People who are robbed or otherwise outraged are told that if they notify the officers they will be put out of the way or their buildings will be burned In the night. Each

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1897.

victim, feeling that he is alone, will submit to outrage time and again. Thus it may be truthfully said that a few marauders and inferior outlaws are often free to commit outrages. If the law-abiding people in counties would but organize and show a positive purpose to stand by each other and to nursue lawbreakers they would leave at once and seek safer abodes. Such organizations in townships, with efficient officers, would prove a profitable investment. Farms cannot be sold at their full value in counties where lawbreakers overawe people and the officers, because people who have the power of choice will not purchase homes which have no real protection against the lawless. Moreover, people who can sell property and are able to go elsewhere will not live in localities where a feeling of insecurity comes with night. This seems a very important matter, even if it cannot be directly encouraged by legislative action. An organization of citizens could be made in every county through the efforts of a few leaders which would banish that lawlessness which makes some rural districts insecure. A STEAL IS A STEAL. The Journal desires to state a case: The cashier of a bank who is paid a good salary finds an opportunity to use for his own advantage SIO,OOO of the bank’s resources. He can do it without being detected, and he does it. Would the directors of the bank continue him in a position where he could divert ten, twenty or any number of thousands in the future? No one believes that they would do so. On the contrary, before the year for which he had been engaged should expire he would be removed. Another case: A council and mayor of a city feel that they will have a hard time to secure re-election unless they can expend considerable money to keep the heelers in good humor. They conceive the scheme of voting SIO,OOO for a job which has not a thing to commend it and which would not have been thought of but for the necessity of feeing w’ard heelers. The scheme is brought into the Council, where it and another has not sufficient Democratic votes to carry it. Thereupon a trade is made with a Republican member of the Council whereby a portion of anew bridge fund shall be expended upon his bridge in return for his vote, and the appropriation is made, thus morally compounding a felony. The law looks upon these cases differently, it is true, but in ethics they are the same, since both involve the taking of money which does not belong to them to be used for their own purposes. But for the pending election there would have been no Pogue's run appropriation. Moreover, it is the general opinion that the work which has been done is of no use, since when the floods come again the dirt embankments will be swept away. The money was voted and has been so expended as to promote the election of the Taggart ticket. Morally, the use of the people’s money in this manner is the same offense as the taking of a bank’s funds by the cashier. Moreover, the transaction involves the bribing of voters, which is no small offense of itself. A few weeks ago, when this outrage cf taking SIO,OOO of the people’s money for the bribing of men to vote the Taggart ticket was first made public, it did not seem to attract much attention. Just’now, when the public mind has been aroused by a series of irregularities committed by the mayor's political associates, it may be in a condition to give a little candid consideration to the taking of SIO,OOO for no other purpose than to elect the Taggart ticket Mr. Holt has resigned because he received $5,000 to obtain a concession in a contract. No one will ever know who shared this money with Mr. Holt, but the taking of it is regarded as a grave offense. Would it have been as grave an offense If the $5,000, like the Pogue’s run SIO,OOO, had been devoted to buying votes? Os all the scandalous transactions of the Taggart regime none is more scandalous than the Pogue’s run affair. If being involved in a grave offense is cause for resignation Mr. Taggart should have resigned weeks ago.

A FALSE PRETENSE EXPOSED. The Sentinel’s defense of the Taggart administration in the White river sewer scandal is based or an assumption that is without a shadow of foundation. In its local columns yesterday It said. Because his (Holt’s) influence could not secure what they demanded of him as a return for the $5,000, according to their story they (the contractors) threatened suit against Holt and succeeded, they allege, in forcing him to return the money. In an editorial which attempts to load all the sins of tho administration onto Holt and make a scapegoat of him the paper says: The fact stands out that he was unable to render the service for which he was paid or to influence any member of the administration in any way in favor of his clients. This fact does not stand out for the very good reason that there is no such fact. Holt •was able to render the service for which he was paid, and did render it. He agreed to have the contract modified in accordance with the wishes of the contractors, and it was modified. Robinson’s affidavit shows that Holt did have influence with the administration and did use it. He says: Affiant further says that he is informed by Mr. Seibert that Mr. Holt took Mr. Seibert to see Mr. Thomas Taggart, mayor of the city of Indianapolis, and had some conversation with them about it; that Mr. Seibert told this affiant that both Mr. Taggart and Mr. Holt said to him that they would see what they, could do about it. This was before Holt had received the $5,000. As to what happened after he had received the money Robinson says: Affiant further says that he is informed and believes that within a few days thereafter Mr. Holt, Mr. Seibert. City Engineer Jeup and City Attorney Curtis went to the Board of Public Works of said city, and that said Holt, Jeup and Curtis advised that the sewer be raised two feet from the bottom and to be finished in that manner, as had been requested of City Engineer Jeup long before the matter set forth in this affidavit took place. Affiant further says that within a few days after Sept. 30 the sewer was raised two feet from the bottom at a point close to where the Michigan road and the canal intersect and was continued in that manner to the end of the sewer, under the direction of the city engineer and by order of the Board of Public Works. This shows how Holt got in his work and carried out his agreement. Let us have no more of the false pretense that he was threatened with suit because he was unable to render the service for which he was paid. He was threatened with suit because the money which had been paid him belonged to the assets of a bankrupt corporation, the Fulmer-Seibert Company, and could be recovered in equity. The point has been raised that the contract for the construction of the White river sewer may be invalid because Mr. Holt, an official of the city, was also interested in the contract as a stockholder in the Union Trust Company. There is nothing in this. The city contracted with the Fulmer-Sei-bert Company, not with tho trust company. The contract between the Fulmer-Seibert

Company and the trust company could not affect that between the city and the Fulmer-Seibert Company, though It may have incapacitated Holt, a stockholder in the trust company, from continuing to act as a city official. So far os he is concerned it is not likely that an official who would accept $5,000 for his influence would feel disqualified or Incapacitated by the fact that he had an interest, through the trust company, in a sewer contract. Mayor Taggart knew that Holt w r as a stockholder in the trust company and also that the trust company had become the assignee of the sewer contract and was furnishing the money for it. It was his duty to have called Holt to account for acting in a dual capacity, but he either did not know his duty, or he neglected it. If the city had contracted directly with the trust company the contract would have been absolutely void on account of Holt, but the subsequent contract between the contractors and the trust company did not invalidate it. The Sentinel regards Henry George as the Democratic candidate for mayor in New York because the odds and ends which put him in nomination indorse the Chicago platform. Mr. George takes occasion to say that he is not an out and out 16-to-l man, but he is an advocate of single tax and specially urges that the street railways, w’ater, gas and many general necessities of cities be owned and operated by the municipalities. These are the important features in the Henry George platform, since national issues cut a small figure. There is nothing in the Taggart platform about municipal ownership—nothing of the sort. On the other hand, the George platform generally coincides with that of the Citizens’ party, whose candidate for mayor is John F. White. If, therefore, the Sentinel is as much devoted to the George platform as it claims to be, it should drop mayor Taggart and advise all who believe in the George platform to vote for John F. White. Asa matter of fact, Mr. White’s friends adopted the theories in the George platform long before he was nominated. Mayor Taggart let his friend, Mr. Holt, down and out very easy. He would have been justified in removing him and making a public statement of the reasons therefor. The charter says: “The mayor may at any time suspend or remove from office any or all of such persons by notifying them to that effect and sending a message to the Council stating in writing his reasons for such removal.” Suppose the mayor had sent Mr. Holt the following: Mr. Sterling R. Holt. Sir—For reasons satisfactory to me you are hereby removed from the office of park commissioner for the city of Indianapolis, and I shall send a message to the Council stating my reasons for this action. Very respectfully, T. TAGGART, Mayor, etc. Instead of that Holt was allowed to resign under charges of the most serious character, which were virtually admitted. The national government never allows an official to resign who has violated a law. It dismisses him, and if a case can be made it prosecutes him. The revelations concerning Mr. Taggart’s bogs and the attempt to sell them to the city at an extravagant price grow more convincing in character. The Journal this morning presents statements from Mr. Bookwalter, Mr. Duncan Dewar, Colonel Perry and Mr. W. E. English, and Invites its readers to give them careful study. If the mayor’s organs, morning and afternoon, desire the real facts about this much-disputed point, and are not satisfied with what is said elsewhere in this paper by the gentlemen named, they can obtain verification by questioning them. Everything said on this topic by Mr. Bookwalter and by tire Journal has been on the authority of members of the Parks Board or of the Council finance committee.

The statement of Councilman Dewar regarding Mayor Taggart’s action in relation to the sale of his own bogs to the city is tho most significant that has yet been made. As Mr. Dewar is ready to swear to his statement it might be in order for the mayor to resign if other members of the finance committe of the Council are not able to make it clear that he was not present. Candidate Smith’s paper urges voters to stamp the ballot in front of Smith’s name. Truth evidently has not yet learned that henceforth there will be no stamping of ballots. The voter on Tuesday will edit his ballot with a blue pencil and will indidate his preference by an X. In an entertainment composed of a sham battle, a pigeon shoot, a bicycle race and a speech by Mr. Bryan, the latter received half of tho gate receipts, indicating that he constitutes half of the varied attraction. BUBBLES IN THE AIR. The Cheerful Idiot. “I have noticed,” said th© Cheerful Idiot, “that a man takes much more satisfaction in the knowledge that he has made an ass of himself than he does in knowing that others have made a monkey of him.’’ Any Old Thing; Acceptable. “Ah,” remarked Mr. Barnes Tormer from the wings, as his new leading lady successfully dodged a flying egg, “that is something like* I was beginning to fear she would attract no attention.” The Cornfed Philosopher. “It hardly seems meet,” said the Cornfed Philosopher, “yet it is undoubtedly true, that many a young woman is willing to trust with her heart a young man that no butcher will trust for a pound of liver.” As Was Right and Proper. “Owing,” says the latest issue of the Reubport Herald, “to the fact that we have turned over the Herald to the ladles of the missionary society to be issued as a woman’s edition, we trust that none of our readers will be mystified when they see the next number headed as the ‘Sherald.’ ” TORN FROM HIS BRIDE'S SIDE Arrest of nn Alleged “Terror” While He Was Being Married. POMEROY, 0., Oct. B.—Charles Hysall and Bert Wines, two members of a gang that has been terrorizing the inhabitants of Meigs and surrounding counties, have been arrested near here under sensational circumstances. Hysall was standing beside Miss Georgia Manley at the home of ’Squire Long awaiting the words that would have made them man and wife when the officers suddenly appeared on the scene and made prisoners of the trio before any resistance could be offered. Wines, who was a guest at the intended wedding, started to run, but wits captured after leading the officers a spirited chase. Rewards aggregating $2.000 have been offered for the capture and conviction of these two men, and feeling is running high against them. Accused of Embezzling SIO,OOO. NEW YORK, Oct. B,—Carl Faber, the defaulting cashier of Oelrichs & Cos., was taken into custody when the steamship Barbarossa, from Bremen, arrived at he,r dock in Hoboken to-day. Faber took his arrest very coolly and was locked up at once in the captain’s cabin. His wife, however, was completely unstrung and almost went into hysterics. Faber is accused of embezzling at least SIO,OOO. and it is said that it may reach three times that figure. He has been a trusted employe of Oelrichs & Cos., who gave him a vacation in April, which he spent in Europe. The defalcation was discovered during his absence.

TWONEW COLLECTORS CHANGES IX CHIEFS OF INDIANA IN-TERNAL-REVENUE OFFICES. Henry in Plaee of Jump at Terre Hante and Nowlin to Sneceed Bracken at Lawrenceburg. NEW MINISTER TO BOLIVIA GEORGE H. BRIDGEMAX, OF NEW YORK, TENDERED THE HONOR. ♦ . Captain Dorsey to Be Steamboat Inspector for the Sixth District—Representative Paris's Work. ♦ Special t-y the Indianapolis Journal. WASHINGTON, Oct. B—The President today appointed Judge David W. Henry, of Terre Haute, collector of internal revenue for the Seventh district of Indiana, vice Joshua Jump, and Ambrose E. Nowlin, of Warrensburg, collector for the Sixth district, vice W. A. Bracken. They will take possession of their respective offices as soon as they qualify. Their bonds, in the sum of SIOO,OOO each, will be sent on from the Treasury Department at once to be filled out and returned for approval. With the completion of that formality the appointees will assume the discharge of their official duties. There was no surprise in either of the appointments. Both had been decided on long ago. It is understood that Oliver Tichener, of Princeton, will be Judge Henry’s chief deputy. Another appointment made by the President to-day was that of George H. Bridgeman, of New York, to be minister to Bolivia. * * * The decision to appoint Captain Dorsey, of Jeffersonville, steamboat inspector for the Sixth district, which was reached today, is a happy relief. Dorsey's appointment was a foregone conclusion, but as long as the matter was seemingly held open the other candidates made life a burden for everybody w ith a supposed “pull.” The matter was finally settled at the solicitation of Senator Fairbanks. * * * Representative George W. Paris, of the Terre Haute district, has been in the city for several days settling his children in school. In the meantime he has tried to serve his constituents by looking after their interests. While here he has been successtul in securing a consulship at Nogales, Mex., for J. F. Darnell, of Greencastle, whose appointment will be announced in a few days, as the concurrence of Senator Fairbanks has been obtained. He has also had the postmaster at Clinton, Ind., changed. This case has been somewhat conspicuous in the Fifth Indiana district. M. L. Casey, editor of the Republican paper at Clinton, was recommended for this place last spring by the congressman to succeed the present postmaster, who is the editor of the Democratic paper at that place. Recently Mr. Casey withdrew his application for the office, and William H. Bonner was appointed this week. It had been the purpose to make no change in the office until during November, when the term of the present incumbent would expire, but the congressman visited the town just before coming to Washington to consult with his Republican friends and obtain their view's as to who should be recommended since the withdrawal of Mr. Casey. In that week's issue of the Democratic paper the editor and postmaster gave a couple of columns to a general “roast" of the congressman and all his friends on the subject of the postofliee contest at that place. When a copy of this paper was presented to the department at Washington it did not take the administration long to conclude that a change of postmasters at Clinton was a very desirable thing to make, and it was promptly effected. * * * Fred T. Uvingston, of Indiana, was today reinstated as transcriber in the General Land Office, and John M. Brown, another Indianian, was promoted from S9OO to SI,OOO in the Postoffice Department. * * * Representative Landis has recommended the appointment of John Erie for postmaster at Rossville, Clinton county. The indorsement reached the department to-day.

MORE MONEY ORDER OFFICES. Syatem to Be Greatly Extended by the Government. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—The Postoffice Department has adopted a policy of general extension of the money-order system. First Assistant Postmaster General Heath believes that any postoffice wanting money order facilities should be given them. Complaints have been constantly filed by business houses that their correspondents at villages are unable to send money orders because their postoffices have no such facilities. During the past fiscal year almost 27,000,000 money orders were issued, amounting to a little less than $200,000,000. The international money orders issued during the year purchased principally by workmen sending money to relatives or friends in foreign countries amounted to $15,000,000, while amounts drawn on the United States by foreign countries did not exceed $5,000,000. During the Harrison administration it is stated at the department there was a large extension of money order offices, about 10.000 having been established. During the last four years the number was increased only 1,000, on the theory, it is said, that there were too many postoffices. The total number of money order offices now in operation is about 22,000 and the number probably will be increased to 30,000 before the next fiscal year. General Superintendent Metcalf, of the Money Order Office, said to-day that the cost to the department of maintaining a money order service at a postoffice is less than 5 cents a year, even if the office transacts no money order business. If it issues orders amounting to $lO, it is a source of revenue, and helps pay the general postal expenses. The money order business now brings to the government a gross revenue of $1,000,000 in fees, mostly net, and accordingly the more money orders issued the more revenue. The Russian empire, which has recently established a money order service, has just submitted to this government a proposition asking for a convention or agreement for a money order exchange between Russia and the United States similar to the money order exchanges now in operation between this government and thirty-seven other countries. The details of the arrangement are now being perfected and it is probable that money orders can pass between the two countries early in the coming year. The only difficulty in the arrangement is the payment of the balance, as exchange Issued here is only in paper roubles, which differ in value from the gold roubles. This obstacle, however, will be satisfactorily adjusted. The Military Academy. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—Col. O. H. Ernst, of the engineer corps, superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point, has made his annual report to the secretary of war. The number of cadets on Sept. 1, 1897, was 338, the largest number that has ever belonged at any one time. There are now thirty-four vacancies, and there will be more at the end of the academic year. The superintendent recommends a moderate, increase over the present limit of 371. The health of the command has been decidedly better than the year before. Various improvements have been made about the academy during the year. The superintendent recommends that the sword master be given military rank on account of the discipline he is required to maintain over the cadets. Colonel Ernst concludes his report by saying: "I have to report that the Military Academy is doing the work as-

signed to it as thoroughly now as at any period of its history. Its equipment is better than it ever was before, and Its professors and officers are characterised by the same ability, industry, seal and patriotism for which they have always been distinguished.” Gen. Sunim Had Gnlteaa’a Pistol. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—The late Gen. David G. Swaim. a close friend of President Garfield, and formerly judge-advocate general of the arrnyi according to to-day’s developments, was the possessor of Guiteau’s pistol, recently recovered by the police, after having been missing since the trial of the assassin. General Swaim was in charge of the arrangements for President Garfield’s comfort during his last illness, and took a deep interest in the trial. It is believed that Colonel Corkhill, the district attorney, presented him with the pistol, which he preserved with great care. General Swaim died some weeks age, and his executors turned the pistol over to the police. Appointments by Secretary Bliss. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—The secretary of the interior has made the following appointments; Frank M. Conser, of Ohio, supervisor of Indian schools; Allison L. Aylesworth, of Minnesota, secretary of the Dawes Indian Commission.; Howell Jones, of Kansas, commissioner to investigate and report on the detail of individual members of the Chippewa and Christian reservation in Franklin county, Kansas, to the several tracts of lands therein which have been allotted to them; Chrles G. Keisley, of lowa, trustee for town site lands in Oklahoma; Prof. F. W. Clark, of the Geological Survey, a member of the board of control of the Transmissouri and International exposition at Omaha. Hadford May Get a New Trial. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—United States Consul Herran, at Medellin, Colombia, reports to the State Department that the American, Radford, is still in irons there, but otherwise his treatment is good. The consul expresses the opinion that the prisoner will be granted anew trial. Radford is a citizen of Alabama, who was convicted in Colombia of murdering a native and was sentenced to death. His friends here and in Colombia, believing that the killing was justifiable, have made strenuous efforts to secure anew trial for him before a competent tribunal, and the consul believes this effort will succeed. Meeting of the Cabinet. WASHINGTON, Oct. B—The Cabinet was in session for an hour and a half to-day, all members being present except Secretary Gage. Foreign affairs did not occupy much of the time and the discussion was devoted mostly to the forthcoming annual reports of the several heads of the departments. These reports, or an abstract of them, are desired by the President so they may be discussed in his annual message to Congress. Postmaster General Gary remained with the President for some time after the other members of the Cabinet went away, discussing postoffice appointments. Merry Now Persona Grata. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—The State Department has been in correspondence for some time with the authorities in Nicaragua respectftig the recognition there of Captain William Merry, who was appointed minister to that country as well as Salvador and Costa Rica. Asa result It can now be stated that the objections that were at first broached by the Nicaraguan government against the appointment have been entirely removed and that Captain Merry will be received as United States minister. General Warner Pleads for Negroes. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—-Previous to the meeting of the Cabinet to-day there were a number of callers at the White House, some of whom saw the President for a short time. Gen. William Warner of Missouri, talked to the President about recognition of the negro Republicans of that State. He said there were forty thousand negro Republican voters in the State and he thought they merited recognition by the administration. Senator. McLauren, Democrat, of South Carolina, was another caller. Quick Transfer of Books. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—The transfer of the congressional library from the Capitol to the new library building has beefi completed. The library has been closed since the Ist of August, and it is claimed that the removal, with the incidental displacement and packing of books, papers, etc., is the quickest ever made in so extensive a library. Many of the books have been put in place, and it is expected that the new r library will very soon be opened to the public.

President May Vote Next Month. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—President McKinley will go to Canton to vote at the November election. His trip has not been fully arranged, but he has been asked to visit several places in the vicinity while in Ohio, and these invitations may be accepted if the President can spare the time. He probably will attend the opening of the Carnegie public library at Pittsburg, if his trip to Canton is not prevented at the last moment. New Indiana Postmaster*. WASHINGTON, Oct. 8.-Ind!ana postmasters were appointed to-day as follows: Hoagland, Allen county, Henry A. Miller, vice E. F. Koenemann, removed; Little York, Washington county, Seymour Collins, vice C. E. Scifres, removed. General Notes. WASHINGTON, Oct. B.—To-day’s statement of the condition of the treasury shows: Available cash balance, $213,245,143; gold reserve, $143,099,664. Maj. William R. Livermore, corps of engineers, has been selected for engineer officer of the Nicaragua canal commission. Major Livermore is in charge of the second lighthouse district, which includes the New England coast, and has been stationed at Boston. He stands very high professionally. Secretary Alger telegraphed to Major Livermore yesterday and he arrived in Washington to-day to discuss his new duties. Secretary Wilson, of the Agricultural Department, has decided to devote all of next week to speech making In Ohio. RAPID TRANSIT FOR MAILS. Preliminary Teat* of Pneumatic Tube* Between New York Station*. NEW YORK, Oct. B.—Several hundred persons crowded into one of the mallrooms on the ground floor of the general postofflce building yesterday to witness the first public trial of the recently completed pneumatic mail system between the main office and Station P, in the Produce Exchange. Chauncey M. Depew, former Postmaster General Tyner and Second Assistant Postmaster General Shalienberg were on hand to see that the installation should not lack oratorical exploitation. Mr. Depew began the ceremonies by putting into one of the big cylindrical carriers a copy of the Bibie wrapped in an American nag made of silk grown in this country. In a tribe less than a minute and a half a bell rang, announcing the arrival of the carrier at the other end of the line, a mile and third distant. A delay of a minute and a half followed, and then the big nickeled cyyiinder flashed out of the tube in the postoihce building filled with a great bouquet of violets for Postmaster Van Cott, by way of acknowledgment, from the Produce Exchange end of the line. The time occupied by the round trip was four and three-quarters minutes. In ail about thirty carriers were tested. One brought a peach from the Produce Exchange for Mr. Depew, another a complete suit of clothes for Mayor Strong by way of compensating him for the suit he ruined some time ago In inspecting the underground conduit for the pneumatic tube system. When the second carrier that had been sent from the general postofflce came back there was a suspiciously active bag in it addressed to George fcj. Daniels, of the New York Centra! Railroad. Mr. Depew took up the bag rather gingerly and surprised everybody by lifting out of it a big cat very much affive and apparently none the worse for its trip. Then came a stuffed elephant labeled “G. O. P.,” a very fierce looking Tammany tiger of similar construction and a gold brick and deed to the Klondike for W. J. Arkell. The carriers, which are twenty-four inches in length, a trifle over seven inches in diameter and weigh twelve pounds, were sent over the space between the postofflce and the Produce Exchange in fifty-six seconds. Doctor* Choose Officer* nntl Adjourn. LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. B.—To-day saw the final session of the Mississippi Medical Association. Papers were read in the medical section by Drs. Love of St. Louis, Punton of Kansas City, West of Chicago, Guldspohn of Chicago, and Lee of New York. In the surgical section the papers were by Dra. Jenninga of St. Louis, Florence W.

Hays ot Terre Haute, Bock of St. Louis, Humiston of Cleveland and Reamy of Cincinnati. The association elected the following officers for the ensuing year: President, Dr. John Young Brown, St. Louis; first vies president, Dr. A. P. Buchanan, Indiana; second vice president. Dr. A. J. Oehsner, Chicago; secretary, Dr. Henry E. Tuley, Louisville; treasurer. Dr. Charles A. Wheaton. St. Paul. Nashville waa chosen for next year's meeting. FIGURES ON DIVORCE i RECORDS SHOW A REMARKABLE NUMBER OF UNHAPPY UNIONS. | One Marriage Ont of Four Goes to tlio Divorce Court—\nturulizations Never Completed. ♦ The court statistics of Marion county have been compiled and sent to the state statistician. Two facts worthy of note are developed by the figures. One is that one out of a little less than four marriages in the county proves such a failure that divorce has followed. There were 1,860 marriage licenses and 470 divorces. There are no statistics of those who endure many things rather than have their children suffer from divorce. Another point is the fact that 306 foreigners have declared their intention of taking out naturalization papers while only about forty-five have done so. This is due to the fact that the law admits of voting after “intention has been declared,” and after acquiring the suffrage they do not think it worth while to become citizens. The figures are as follows: Crim- Super- Cirinal ior cuit Court. Court. Court. Civil cases begun during year ending June 30. 1897 ... 2,265 470 Civil cases pending at end of year, June 30, 1897 1,635 503 Criminal cases begun during year by filing information 205 Criminal cases begun during year by finding indictments 376 Criminal cases of all kinds pending at end of year 602 Criminal cases dismissed during year 117 , Criminal convictions in felony cases during year ~..237 Criminal convictions in misdemeanors ’ during year ..136 Cases tried by jury during year 36 126 39 Days occupied in trying jury cases during year.. 66 360 110 Days of court in session during year 312 741 247 Administrations pending at beginning of year 519 Letters of administration issued during year 296 Estates settled during the year 275 Guardianships pending at beginning of year 870 Guardianships issued during the year 140 Guardianships disposed of during the year 135 Executions issued daring the year 94 974 132 Decrees of foreclosure entered during the year 256 40 Marriage licenses issued during the year 1,860 Persons naturalized (about) 30 15 Persons who have declared intentions 306 Number of divorces granted during the year 455 15 4 NEW WELL BROUGHT IN ♦ OVER 300 BARRELS OF OIL A DAY EXPECTED FROM THIS STRIKE.

Standard Company to Construct Two 2,500-Barrel Tanks and a Telegraph Line. The new oil well on. the Claypool fantk adjoining Crow’s Nest to north, waa shot yesterday at noon by the McKnight & Murphy syndicate and there was a cloud of oil seventy feet high a few minutes later. This well the contractors proclaim to by far the best well of the field, eclipsing that shot on the Wiggins farm a short time ago. It is expected that it will flow from 300 to 400 barrels a day. Before it waa shot the oil came out in a good stream. After the "go devil” had done its work the hole was plugged at once until the pumping machinery is completed. G. L. Rittemhouse, of the wholesale firm of J. C. Parry & Cos., is a member of the syndicate and he was on the ground yesterday afternoon beaming over the great strike. A hundred feet to the east is anew w r ell being drilled by the Standard Oil Company on. its lease of forty-two acres, and this well will be in within a few days. This is one of the fields where the Standard Oil Company failed to get In on the ground floor, and its only lease in the territory already defined is the one of fortytwo acres, which is obtained from Thonuis Heessing. It la said the company gave him a SI,OOO bonus for the lease, besides paying a quarter royalty on the product. This is an unusual price, the stipulation generally being an eighth or a sixth royalty. The company also agreed to bore six wells on the trapt. The Murphy & McKnight syndicate has thousands of acres leased, all In a solid block running the entire length of the field. However, they practically have to sell to the Standard Company at 43 cents a barrel, the company piping the oil to Broad Ripple. The Standard Company Is soon to construct two Immense tanks at Broad Ripple, with a capacity of 2,500 barrels each, and will also build a telegraph line Into the field from Broad Ripple, so as to keep accurate tab on the product and order supplies promptly. The high ground north of the river in the neighborhood of Illinois street resembles a Pennsylvania oil field. In every direction huge derricks loom up. In the shadow of the old bridge that crosses the river, on the old picnic grounds, a well is being drilled. By Tuesday the McKnight & Murphy people will have two more wells under wav and five more by Thursday. One is within the corporation limits of Broad Ripple. In the hollow known as Crow's Nest, on the Hanlon farm, the contractors believe they will bring in a gusher. The line of the syndicate's leases runs two milee and a half. The Hessong well is 700 feet to the north of the one shot yesterday and is flowing 100 to HO barrels daily, while that on the Wiggins farm has settled down to a comfortable 150 to 200 barrel gait. The syndicate has already sold 7,000 barrels. The Brooks Oil Company’s expert, upon testing samples of the oil, says it comes up to the best test of any Indiana or Ohio oil, the fire flash test being 175 and specific gravity 36, the r e being no sulphur. The crude product e r be used directly on machinery. For illun itlon purposes it is excellent, and the syndicate expects to prepare in the near future to pipe it to Indianapolis for use under boilers in the factories. The average distribution of wells In a territory is one in every five or ten acres. To ilh'*" te what "strikin’ ile on the old farm mean to the farmer, it is cited that wells equal to those now flowing are l© farm, the dally outflow would be a 1,500 barrels, producing an income of $645 a day, and of this the farmer would get one-sixth, or about $lO7 a day. a sum sufficient to permit him to buy a few new dresses “for mother” every day. Tho big wells in Lima, 0., flow from 3,000 to 5.000 barrels a day. The largest one in Indiana was drilled at Terre Haute some years ago. It flowed 1.200 barrels a day, but soon petered out. Commercial Men’s Congress. NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. B,—ln the Commercial Men’s Congress to-day the subject “Transportation” led to an active contest, finally resulting In the adoption of resolutions offered by Editor Prioe, of the American Commercial Traveler, favoring the adoption of universal mileage tiokets. The bankruptcy bill known as the Torrey measure was unanimously indorsed, and u resolution calling upon Congress to create a Department of Commerce and the head of It to be called the secretary of commerce was adopted. Routine business followed.