Indianapolis Journal, Volume 48, Number 357, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 December 1898 — Page 4

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THE DAILY JOURNAL FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1898. Washington Office—lso3 Pennsylvania Avenue Telephone Calls. Business Office 238 | Editorial Rooms 86 TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. DAILY BY MAIL. Daily only, one month ...$ .70 Daily only, three months... 2.00 Daily only, one year 8.00 Daily, including Sunday, one year ... 10.00 Sunday only, one year 2.00 WHEN FURNISHED BY AGENTS. Daily, per week, by carrier 15 cts Sunday, single copy 5 cts Daily and Sunday, per week, by carrier.... 20 cts WEEKLY. Per year SI.OO Redact'd Rutew to Clubs. Subscribe with any of our ntimerous agents or •end subscriptions to ihe JOURNAL NEWSPAPER COMPANY, IndianupolfN, Ind. Persons sending the Journal through the mails in the United States should put on an eight-page paper a ONE-CENT postage stamp; on a twelve cr sixteen-page paper a TWO-CENT postage stamp. Foreign postage is usually double these rates. All communications intended, for publication in this paper must, in order to receive attention, be accompanied by the name and address of the writer. THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL Can be found at the following places: NEW YORK-Astor House. CHICAGO—PaImer House, P. O. News Cos., 217 Dearborn street. Great Northern Hotel and Grand Pacific Hotel. CINCINNATI—J. R. Hawley & Cos.. 154 Vine street. LOUISVILLE—C. T. Deering, northwest comer of Third and Jefferson streets, and Louisville Boc-k Cos,, 256 Fourth avenue. ST. LOUlS—Union News Company, Union Depot. Washington, and. c.—Riggs House, Ebbitt House and Willard’s Hotel. The flag-furlers have made a sad failure In their efforts to enlist a large part of the American people. A lot of Democratic managers would be delighted to find a healthy campaign issue In their Christmas stockings to take the place of tho worn-out 16 to 1. The House disposed of three of the regular appropriation bills and two special appropriation bills before taking a recess, "Which beats all previous records. -- r— 1 ■ The old scheme to drain Kankakee Bwamps at the expense of the State for the benefit of the owners bobs up as serenely as if it were an original proposition. Air. Bailey, of Texas, may delight In getting rid of General Wheeler and other members of the House who served during the war, but few men will envy him that sort of glory. The convention of the Federation of Labor found a way to drop from the 16-to-l heresy without receiving a severe jolt. That the organization let go after holding on so long is another Indication that the thing is dead. The reports of the sanitary condition of the troops at Manila show that the health of the army has been constantly Improving. At no time has the death rate approached that of the British and French armies in the tropics.

A largo number of people have been learning that the ratification of the treaty with Spain, which gives the United States the control of the Philippines, does not necessarily mean annexation. It is this information which has allayed the opposition to the treaty. The President is said to be favorably considering the name of Hon. K. R. Hitt, <sf Illinois, for ambassador to Great Britain. Mr. Hitt is not exactly an Indianian, but he is a next-door neighbor, and as he married an Indiana woman this State would divide the honor with Illinois. There is more latent heroism than anybody Imagines. While a six-story apartment building in Chicago was burning the elevator boy stuck to his post, rescuing scores of persons, until he could no longer breathe for the smoke when, he says, “I skipped out.” Now, will women kiss him? Before appointing Hon. E. A. Hitchcock, of St. Louis, secretary of the interior, President McKinley offered the position to Senator Spooner, of Wisconsin. The latter is a native of Indiana, having been born at Lawrenceburg, and is one of the ablest lawyers in the Senate. He declined the secretaryship, preferring to remain in the Senate, wherehe has four years yet to serve. Os course, the Democracy will not carry lowa in 1900, but when fifty prominent Democrats who have followed the 16-to-l will-o’-the-wisp to defeat three years in succession, such as the Democracy of that State never knew before, openly declare that it is a dead Issue and that it will not rise again, the Bryans, the Altgelds and other leaders may suspect that that sentiment is spreading. Some persons are saying there is no need of currency reform at present because business is good and there is no money stringency. That is true, and it is an argument for currency reform. The time to swap horses is not while one is crossing a stream, but between streams. We have had several dangerous crossings, and will have more. Now is the time to get ready for the next one. The compulsory school law gets support from an unexpected quartet in the report of the state factory inspector, who says there Is a scarcity of boys for work ir the natural gas belt and thinks idle boys should be required to go to school or to work. He is undoubtedly right. Continued idleness among boys of school age is a prolific source of crime, and should not be permitted by the State. The compulsory school law is right in principle and time will prove its wisdom. The first intimation that the recent death of General Garcia involved results of public Importance is the statement by President McKinley that he had nearly completed arrangements with Garcia before his death for the payment of a round sum to each Cuban soldier, the amount to be secured by the revenues collected at the Havana customhouse. Such an arrangement would doubtless have contributed materially to the pacification of the island, and the delay in Us consummation is unfortunate. Among the Republicans of the House, and •vett in tho military committee, there is a difference of opinion respecting the merits of the Hull and the Miles bills. The Hull bill provides for an army of 105,000 men, consisting of thirty regimentr of infantry, with 112 enlisted men to a company, twelve regiments of cavalry, with eighty-three enlisted men to a company, and a corps of artillery. The Republican members of the committee, with the exception of Mr. Marsh, of Illinois, have agreed to this bill. Mr. Marsh favors the Mtles bill, which provides for a plan of ro-enlistment which would make the regular army consist of one man for every one thousand population, or

about seventy-five thousand men, with a provisional army for the W’est Indies, to be enlisted upon the basis of two men to every one thousand population. The Republicans should get together on some good measure to resist the Democrats in the House, the most of whom are opposed to any increase of the army over the establishment existing when the war broke out. LOC AL GOVERNMENT REFORM. The citizens’ committee on reform in county government is on the right track in proposing a separation of legislative and executive functions. This is universally recognized as a fundamental principle of good government by American publicists and writers. Including the further separation of judicial functions from legislative and executive it appears in the Constitution of the United States and of every State in the Union. It is pre-eminently the American idea of government, and to the extent that it is ignored or violated in local government, such government is defective. It is conspicuously violated in a system under which township trustees and County Commissioners levy taxes and disburse revenues. The fixing of the tax rate and levying of taxes is a legislative function, while the expenditure of money is an executive function. The two should not rest in the same hands or the same body. Congress may impose taxes, raise revenue and make appropriations, but it cannot actually expend a cent nor approve or audit the smallest bill. The same is true of state legislatures, and the principle should obtain in local government. In order to meet these ideas a bill has been drafted by Hon. J. E. McCullough, of the citizens’ committee, providing for the organization of a county council, to be known by the name of the county in which organized. One member is to be elected from each township, and the number elected at large is determined by population, or three in counties of twenty thousand or less, six in counties of from twenty thousand to fifty thousand and nine in counties of more than fifty thousand. The salaries are, where there are three, $lO per annum each; where six, sls per annum each; where nine, s2oper annum each. The council is to meet in September of each year and receive itemized estimates of the expenditures for the ensuing year, fix the tax rate and make appropriations. The county auditor shall act as clerk of the council and submit a tax levy and estimates of expenditur#s, subject to the approval of the council, A bill on similar lines has been prepared by Hon. A. C. Harris for township government, its distinctive feature being a separation of legislative anu executive functions, of the mon-ey-raising and money-spending powers. Whatever form these bills may finally take they will, doubtless, embody this idea, and to that extent will be an improvement on the present system. The fact that some of the best lawyers in the State of both political parties are engaged in this work, giving their time and labors without compensation, should convince the public that the movement is a public-spirited one. The objection has been made that the people would not approve of the creation of new salaried officers. The compensation proposed to be attached to the office of county council is not more than a moderate per diem for two or three days’ work each year.

THE STATE LABOR COMMISSION. A proposed change in the method of paying the state labor commissioners seems so clearly based on good reason that there should be no doubt about its adoption This commission has accomplished so mach good during its brief existence nn l promises to accomplish so much more that the people should be informed regarding its organization and scope of action. The commission has been in existence less than two years, the law creating it having been approved March 4. 1897. It is a model law, not only in purpose, but in form and phraseology. If all laws were as well conceived and clearly expressed there would be less litigation and fewer questions to be decided by the Supreme Court. Unlike most boards, the labor commission consists of only two members. The law says: One of said commissioners shall have been for not less than ten years of his life an employe for wages in some department of Industry in which it is usual to employ a number of persons under single direction and control, and shall be at the time of his appointment affiliated With the labor interest as distinguished from the capitalist or employing interest. The other of said commissioners shall have been for not less than ten years an employer of labor for wages in some department of industry in which it is usual to employ a number of persons under single direction and control, and shall be at the time of his appointment affiliated with the employing interest as distinguished from the labor interest. Neither of said commissioners shall be less than forty years cf age, and they shad not be members of the same political party. This insures men of suitable age and experience, of different politics and genuine representatives, respectively, of the wageearning and the employing class. Another section of the law provides as follows; It shall be the duty of said commissioners, upon receiving creditable information, in any manner, of the existence of any strike, lockout, boycott or other labor complication in this State, affecting the labor or employment of fifty persons or more, to go to the place where such complication exists, put themselves into communication with the parties to the controversy and offer their services as mediators between them. If they shall not succeed in affecting an amicable adjustment of the controversy in that way thev shall endeavor to induce the parties to submit their differences to arbitration, either under the provisions of this act or otherwise, as they may elect. Other sections of the law prescribe the mode of procedure in cases of arbitration and - for giving effect to .the finding of the commission. The first annual report of tne commission, recently filed with the Governor, shows that during the eighteen months of its existence ’’the commission has investigated and reported on thirty-nine strikes and lockouts. Os this number failure to adjust differences occurred in seven instances, and in two of these the contestants on one side were nonresidents of the State, over whom, consequently, the commission could have no jurisdiction. In four instances the commission simply investigated and reported the conditions of settlement made between the parties of their own volition. In twentyeight contests satisfactory agreements were reached through the mediations of the commission, and in nineteen of these settlements the workmen secured either advance in wages or other improved conditions.” We doubt if any other law in any Slate ever accomplished more valuable results in the same length of time. Aside from the money saved to wage earners by the prevention of strikes and the increase of wages, the moral results in promoting good feeling between employers and employes and in emphasizing the superiority of peaceable over violent methods have been of great value. \ nis is a lesson of lasting value, and its influence will be felt in the legislation of other States. The proposition for a change In the method of paying the commissioners comes from themselves. The law provides that “said commissioners shall receive a compensation of $lO each per diem for the time actually expended, and actual and necessary traveling expenses while absent from

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1898.

home in the performance of duty.” Under this provision one of the commissioners last year received $2,700 and the other $1,500, an aggregate of $4,200. They suggest that instead of a per diem they he paid fixed salaries of SI,BOO a year each, making $3,600, or S6OO less than they drew under the per diem law. They think that, aside from money considerations, this change would close the door against a temptation for the commission to multiply, prolong and pad out its investigations in order to increase the per diem, thereby perhaps promoting instead of preventing strikes and creating instead of allaying bad feeling between employers and employes. The suggestion seems to be a wise one and in harmony with the faithful and efficient labors of the commission thus far. Under the per diem law the earnings of me commissioners are likely to increase from year to year, but even at last year’s figure they would exceed the proposed salaries, while there would be distinct gain in other directions. The investigation of the conduct of the war has become tirespme—as tedious as a twice-told tale. It has brought out nothing that was not foreseen by intelligent observers dt the beginning, namely, that while every department of the government and every government official was actuated by patriotic motives and did the best possible under tho circumstances, the emergency was so sudden and our military organization so defective that friction and partial failure in some respects were inevitable. The country would stand better before the world if tho investigation had never taken place, and it would not but for the clamor of yellow journals. It is stated that General Wheeler, since he has been serving as a major general of volunteers, has turned into the treasury of the United States all the salary he would have drawn as representative. His offense in the eyes of Mr. Bailey, of Texas, is that during a period of vacation he rendered his country a very great service as a soldier and an inspirer of patriotism, instead of traveling about and making 16-to-l speeches or doing nothing until tho reassembling of Congress. The American people are against Mr. Bailey in this matter. A number of new war heroes are bobbing up serenely, and are apparently the real thing, hut the public insists on taking them on probation. Before they become lions of society they must tie themseives up in an ironclad contract to confine their kissing to its proper sphere, which is strictly private life and within the family circle, real or intended. Hall Caine thinks the Americans do not appear to feel keenly on any subject, according to his interview with himself, published after his return to England. He should have heard the heartfelt swearing that was done by well disposed but impatient people when “Tho Christian” was first published. With an English marchioness in the London workhouse, Americans are satisfied with their humdrum lot without wishing it w r ere less remote from royalty.

BUBBLES IN THE AIR. The Cornfect Philosopher. “It is called high society,” said the Cornfed Philosopher, “because the man who is short cannot reach it.” Natural Question. “This man,” said the officer, “was crazy drunk and grabbing and kissing all the women he could.” “Who did you think you were?” asked his honor, “Hobson?” Reprieved. “I would like to tell you a funny story about my little boy.” “Oh, well, go ahead.” “But I have forgotten it.” “Say! Don't you want a good cigar?” Roundabout Method. “You don’t think you will make anyone think you are younger by dyeing your beard, do you?” “No, but they will realize how" old I am, and treat me with a little more consideration,” ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS. On Monday next George Dewey w'ill go to the head ol the list of the admirals of the United States navy. Admiral Bunce, who ranks him. will be retired on that day. George W. McNear, the San Francisco millionaire, said the other day: “I have been asked if it is true that I had no capital to start with. 1 began with a capital ’!,’ and I have never lost it.” General Wheeler was asked the other day by a very young lady of Washington: “How is it yoti never wear any medals? You surely have some.” ‘'No,” answered the sol. dier. “I have not. I am no bicyclist, and I never made a century run in my life.” The grand old man of the Roman Church is not the Pope as most people suppose, but Cardinal Mertel, who is in his ninety-fifth year, and so active and energetic that he bids fair to see the nineteenth century out, and the twentieth in. He has Just returned to Rome from a holiday visit to his native town of Allumiere. In the just published “Life of Henry Morley” is recorded this story of a railway journey made by him: “He had for a companion an old gentleman who had been trying to make himself more comfortable w’ith the aid of a somewhat deflated air cushion. Professor Morley was going to blow r it up for him, but his action was arrested by the exclamation: Stop, sir, stop! That cushion contains my deceased wife’s breath!’ ” A Russian storekeeper recently posted the following announcement in front of his place of business: “The reason why I have hitherto been able to sell my goods so much cheaper than anybody else is that I am a bachelor, and do not need to make a profit far the maintenance of a wife and children. It is now my duty to inform the public that this advantage will shortly be withdrawn from them, as I am about to be married. They will, therefore, do well to make their purchases at once at the old rate.” As the result of a careful investigation of 24,000 cases Dr. Jarosie presented to the director of the Hungarian Bureau of Statistics the following conclusions: The offspring of parents between the ages of twenty and twenty-five are likely to be weak and delicate, but between twenty-five and fortyfive will probably be strong and thrive. The mother bears most robust children between her twenty-fifth and thirty-fifth year. When the mother is ten years younger than the father the proportion of healthy children is greatest, the chances being 10 per cent, more favorable than when the parents are of about the same age. The Greeks have decided to exclude all bachelors from their Parliament. They reason that an unmarried man has no stake in the commonwealth, and that if he is represented he really should expect nothing further. A representative himself, they say, ho cannot be because he has no one to represent. The truth of the matter is that what the government wants is to put a check upon the tendency toward celibacy which is seriously threatening, as of yore, the welfare of the entire state. Now. to tho modern Greek, a seat in the Parliament is almost equal to the former glory of an Olympic victory. One wees the subtlety of the scheme at once. Sh< uld the measure pass, the spectacle of a legislature of married men will bo worth watching. If all the world should love us, How full Were sorrow's cup! The cash we’d spend at Christmas Would simply break us tip. —Chicago Record. Home Rule In Police Affairs. Elkhart Review. The Indianapolis Journal hints that the opposition to the Metropolitan police law comes solely or almost solely from politicians who see patronage cut off. The insinuation is not true in some cases at least. The opposition to it in Elkhart comes from

those who never wanted patronage to distribute. but who believe that the operation of the law is subve”sive of the best interests of the city where it operates. The nonpartisan or bipartisan principle is not criticised, hut the removal of the appointing power from the knowledge of the needs of this locality is objectionable. It fosters the worst sort of political trickery on the part of local politicians, who quietly influence the Governor, but who never dare to attempt the advocacy of the same appointments from a local authority. Elkhart has had too much experience of this worst sort to favor such a law. BOOKS OF THE SEASON. Afterwards. This is the title of a collection of short stories by lan MacLaren, the title being the name of the first story. Mr. MacLaren has illustrated his versatility in stoiy telling in this group. The tales are told with a simplicity and directness that is a requisite of the finished story-teller, not one superfluous word being 'used. The first story, “Afterwards,” is of a young barrister who is popular and who hopes to become an M. 1\ He has a wife and a son, who is delicate. The wife is very much in love with the husband, hut her manners are simple and earnest and she finds no interest for herself or others in the social life which her husband finds it his pleasure as well as to his interest to keep up. The wife remains with the son and the husband gees off to visit. She is taken very ill and the physician telegraphs for the husband. He hastens, but reaches her too late, she is dead. It is only after her death when he reads her last letter which she has dictated to him, her diary and the letters of condolence, that he learns to know her great love for him and her genuine worth. There are other stories in variety and all are good. Among the titles, which give an insight into the collection, are: “The Minister of St. Bede’s;” “An Impossible Man;” “Righteous Overmuch;” “A Probationer;” “A Government Official:” “The Right Hand of Samuel Dodson” (would there were more such); “Saved by Faith;” “The Last Sacrifice;” “An Evangelist;” “The Collector's Inconsistency;” “Father Jinks;” “The Passing of Domsie,” and “Dr. Davidson’s Last Christmas.” Dodd, Mead & Cos., publishers. Do-Noiliing Days. Mr. Charles M. Skinner is one of those enviable persons who takes life with sufficient leisure to study even its minor features as ihe goes along and to enjoy its passing phases —without looking impatiently rorward to the next. He has made a reputation through his charming out-of-door papers, and this volume is in a similar vein, being vacation experiences in this country and abroad. In a brief introduction he says: “Do-nothing days may be the busiest ones. They are the days in which we absorb; while on the domuch days we try to make others absorb from us whatever we have in overplus: ribbons, wisdom or cheese. If we oftener eased the strain on our eyes and minds we should be enriched by impressions that, in our usual attent and mastering attitude, we refuse to heed. Americans ought to have a wholesome laziness preached to them, after three centuries of urging to gain and work, and several patriotic citizens make examples of themselves, for the public benefit, by refraining from toil. I should not wonder if I could learn to be one myself.” The headings of the chapters give some idea of the drift of the book. Among them are: “Some Cheap Delights.” "A Few Dollars’ Worth of Europe,” “Hours of Peace.” "On Salt. Water.” “In the Desert,” “Wild Life in Town,” “On the Roof” and “The Friendly Hills.” Something of the vacation atmosphere is conveyed by these papers, and they are at once restful and entertaining. It is a book for busy people, above all others, to read. Its handsome binding makes it es(>ecially appropriate for a holiday gift. Published by the J. B. Ldppincott Company, Philadelphia.

Myths and Legend*. Mr. Charles M. Skinner has followed up his interesting and valuable work in the “Myths and Legends of Our Own Land” by a volume entitled, “Myths and Legends Beyond Our Borders.” These last consist of Canadian and Mexican lore, and the author thus covers the North American continent. He has sought for the traditions that attach to places, “rather,” as he says in his preface, “than to set forth the almost exhaustless, always verbose and sometimes childish folklore of the aborigines.” lie adds, “Simple people, red people and habitants, not readers, not logicians, not examiners, accept these tales from their old men and treasure them. Others may find amusement in them, and perhaps profit: for ingenious though they are, they sometimes symbolize high truths.” Mr. Skinner has not only made a very entertaining book, but one that throws many side lights on the history and development of the country. Published by the J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. E**ay* on Dramatic Criticism. A book of “Essays in Dramatic Criticism” is not exactly one of the most popular Christmas volumes, but the little work by L. DuPont Syle, assistant professor of literature in the University of California, is one of the brightest and freshest in that line yet out. In it Mr. Syle rather takes the hide off Augustine Birrell, the London barrister whose recent essay on actors was supposed to be a convincing argument that all actors are excrescences on society. The first part of Mr. Syle’s book deals with the drama, past and future, while the second part is devoted to a dozen modern plays. The volume is dedicated to Mrs. Hearst, widow of the late millionaire Hearst, and is published by William R. Jenkins, of New York. One of the Pilgrim*. This is a story by Anna Fuller, whose “Pratt Portraits” and “Literary Courtship” have made her known to a large circle of readers. The tale has to do with a bank and one of its clerks, an honest and agreeable young man who got into trouble of a financial sort through no fault of his own. His behavior in an unpleasant crisis and the efforts made for him by his friends, one of whom is an attractive young woman, form the incidents of the story, which is pleasantly told and of well sustained interest. Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. KING OF COCOS ISLANDS. George C!onies-Ru*s*. a Picturesque Monarch, in New York. NEW YORK, Dec. 22.—George CluniesRuss, King of the Keeling Cocos island and governor of Christmas island, arrived in New York yesterday. He is on his way his possessions, which are situated in the Indian ocean, between Australia and Java, to England, where he is to consult with the colonial secretary. He rules under the protection of the British government. Mr. Clunies-Russ is one of the most picturesque rulers in the world. The Keeling Cocos islands--eighteen in all —belong to him absolutely and he is the hereditary chieftain. He is unhampered by a constitution, knows not opposition, and cares not for public opinion. He has been in supreme command since 1864 and boasts that there has not been a crime nor an arrest of any kind in his possessions for more than sixteen years. Christmas island is a crown colony of Great Britain. George Clunies-Russ is a Scotchman by descent, although he was born in th* Keeling Cocos group and is as merry a Scot as ever sipped a "highball.” He is fifty-eight years old, is married and has several children. and is the grandson of Capt. John Clunies-Russ, H. M. N.. who discovered the Keeling Cocos group. "1 found the islands and the people in a pretty bad way,” said the “King,” “and the first thing I did was to formulate a set of laws or rules for governing them. In all there are now on the islands seven hundred inhabitants. The chief product of the Keeling Cocos islands is the cocoanut. There are only eight square miles of arable soil in the entire group and on this are planted 1,000,000 cocoanut trees.” Mr. Clunies-Russ is stopping at the Holland House and will sail for England on Saturday. ____ SAVED BY A BIRD. How a Railway Train Narrowly Escaped a Serinti* Accident. AUSTIN, Tex., Dec. 22.—The north-bound passenger train on the International & Great Northern Railroad narrowly missed a serious wreck forty miles below here throOgh the intervention of a bird. Some miscreant had tied a rail Securely across the track. Just a few miles before reaching the spot a bird, blinded by the headlight, flew against the glass, breaking it and extinguishing the light. This necessitated running slowly to the next station. The train, proceeding at reduced speed, struck the obstruction, tearing up the track and damaging; the front of the engine, hut no one was injured.

50,000 TO BE RELEASED WAR DEPARTMENT PREPARING TO MUSTER OUT VOLUNTEERS. Those In tlie Philippine* to Be Rrnnsht Home—Reports from Maniln tinl Sun Junn—Another Army Bill. WASHINGTON. Dec. 22.—The War Department has not yet made definite plans for the muster out of the 50,000 volunteers which was decided on at the Cabinet meeting yesterday, but it is understood that this work will be pretty well mapped out by the first of the year. The time required to complete the muster out will depend on whether the department adopts the plan of a two months’ furlough or of an immediate discharge, with two months’ extra pay, as suggested by Congressman Hull. There are a number of regiments which have already returned from foreign service and are awaiting their discharge in this country. Among these are the First Engineers, at New’ York, and the Sixth Massachusetts, at Boston. These it is understood are slated for early discharge. It has been practically decided also to muster out all the volunteers in the Philippines as quick as they can be replaced with regulars, so as not to hamper the military administration of the island. The regiments on this station at present are Company A, United States engineer battalion; Troops E, C, G, I, K and L, Fourth United States Cavalry; Batteries G, H, K and L of the Third and D and G of the Sixth United States Artillery; the Astor Battery, which has already been ordered home; Batteries A and D, California; A and B, Utah, and First Wyoming Artillery, Fourteenth, Eighteenth and Twenty-third United States Infantry, First California, First Colorado, First Idaho, Fifty-first lowa, Twentieth Kansas, Thirteenth Minnesota, First Montana, First Nebraska, First North Dakota, Second Oregon, Tenth Pennsylvania, First South Dakota, First Tennessee, First Washington and First Wyoming Infantry. Following the discharge of the regiments on the Philippine it is understood that the volunteer troops in the West Indies will be mustered out. The volunteer regiments now on this station are the Eighth Illinois (colored) Infantry and Twenty-third Kansas (colored), Santiago de Cuba; Third United States Engineers, Companies B, I, L and N at Matanzas, Cuba; Second United States Volunteer Infantry, Ninth United States Volunteer (colored) Infantry and third company signal corps, Santiago de Cuba; fourth company signal corps, Porto Rico, and fifteenth company signal corps, Havana, Cuba. At Honolulu there are now stationed Companies I. K, D and M, Second United States Volunteer Engineers, while the first and fifteenth companies signal corps are on the Manila station. Encouraging reports of the condition of affairs in Manila and Porto Rico reached the War Department to-day from the officers commanding the troops in those departments. The dispatches from both General Otis at Manila and General Henry at San Juan were in response to telegraphic inquiries by the secretary of war based on reports of a disquieting nature which have reached the officials here. That from Gen. Otis, at Manila, was particularly gratifying to the President and Secretary Alger. It Is as follows: “Believe city never more quiet. Order prevails. Native population greatly augmented in three months. Volume of businass increasing. Conduct of troops good. Most favorably commented on by citizens. Discipline improving. Disorders promptly punished, as business of courts show. Newspaper articles published in United States, Hong-Kong and Singapore without element of truth. Military rule firm, as demanded by circumstances.” The dispatch from General Henry at San Juan is as follows: “Complaints of disorderly conduct unknown here. If specific charges can he sent, investigation and if necessary punishment will follow. Subordinate commanders have been apprised of your telegram.”

SI BSTITTTB FOR HILL, BILL. Deinoerartn I'rnpoK*' a Standing Army of Men. WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.—The bill for the increase of the regular army which the minority of the House committee on military affairs will offer as a substitute for the Hull bill w'as drawn by Representative Hay. of Virginia, and is now in the .hands of the War Department, where an estimate is being made of the cost of such a military establishment as it provides. The bill as drawn provides for a standing army of 30,000 men, 12,(XX) artillery, 8,000 infantry, 6,(00 cavalry and engineer, ordnance and signal corps and general staff. To meet the existing exigency for troops in Porto Rico, Cuba, the Hawaii and the Ladrones the bill provides that the President may issue his proclamation for 50,000 additional volunteer troops to be enlisted for two years. These latter troops are to be commanded by officers appointed by the President. The organization is to be the same as in the regular army, the strength of the different arms of the service to be determined by the President. The present volunteers are to be mustered out within sixty days after the passage of the act, but volunteer organizations now in the service shall be given preference for enlistment in the new volunteer army if they so elect within iifteep days. The bill provides that no regular army officer who was in the army prior to the war with Spain shall be mustered out of the service. Mr. Hay will file the bill and the minority report on the Hull bill to-morrow with the cierk of the House. The main contention the report will make for the minority plan as against the Hull bill for a standing army of 100,000 men is that the future of the Philippines and Cuba are yet undetermined, but that if the standing army is increased to 100,000 it will be almost impossible, no matter what may happen in the future, to reduce it. The report will say that a standing army of 100.000 men will cost th*s people of the United States $165,000,000. This, addeu lo the $145.(XX),000 for pensions, will bring the cost of the milita.iy establishment up to $310,000,000. the largest charge in the world for a military establishment. The naval establishment would bring tne total up many millians more. Mr. Hay estimates that a standing army of 30,000, with 50,000 additional volunteers, would cost $100,000,000, but this charge might continue only for two years. The creation of a volunteer force for temporary purposes would always keep it within the power of Congress to adjust the strength of that force to the existing condition. TOLD BY TEDDY. (Concluded from First Fngre.l with relish. They consisted chiefly of rice and peas, with a big pot containing a stew of fresh meat, probably for the officers. We also distributed the captured Spanish blankets, as far as they would go, among our men, and gathered a good deal of Mauser ammunition for use in the r ’o.H r-ipi ’ gun. w'hich was being brought up. That night we dug intrenchmems across our front. "At 3 o’clock In the morning the Spaniards made another attack upon us, which was easily repelled, and at 4 they opened the day with a heavy ride and shrapnel fire. Ail day long we remained under this, replying Whenever we got the chance. In the evening. at about 8 o'clock, the Spaniards fired three guns and then opened a very heavy rifle fire, their skirmishers coming well forward. I got all my men down into the trenches, as did the other command near me. and we opened a heavy return Are. The Spanish advance was at once stopped, and after an hour their fire died away. This night we completed most of our trenches, ■and began to build bomb proofs. The protection afforded to our men was good, and next morning I had but one man wounded ■ from the rifle and Shell Are until 12 o’clock, when the truce came. "I do not mention the officers and men who particularly distinguished themselves, as I have nothing to add in this respect to what was contained in my two former letters. There were numerous Red Cross flags flying in the various parts of the city, two of them so arranged that tney directly covered batteries in our front, and for some time were the cause of our not tiring at them. The Spanish guerrillas were very active, especially in our rear, where they seemed by preference to attack the wounded men woo were being carried on litters, the doctors* and medical attendants with (’tost badges on their arms and the huriul parties. I organized a detail of sharpshooters and sent them out after these guerrillas, of whom they killed thirteen. Two of the men thun killed were shot several hours after the truce had been in operation, because, In spite of this fact, they kept firing upon our

men as they went to draw water. They were stationed in the trees, as the guerrillas wrere generally, and, owing to the density of the foliage and to the use of smokeless powder rifles, it was an exceedingly difficult matter to locate them. SUFFERING WAS GREAT. “For the next seven days, until the 10th, wo lay in our line while the truce continued. We had continually to work at additional bomb proofs and at the trenches, and as we had no proper supply of food and jutterly inadequate medical facilities, the men suffered a good deal. The officers chipped together, purchased beans, tomatoes and sugar for the men, so that they might have some relief from the bacon and hardtack. With a great deal of difficulty v. r e got them coffee. As for the sick and wounded, they suffered so in the hospitals when sent to the rear for lack of food and attention that we found it best to keep them at the front and give them such care as our own doctors could. As/I mentioned in my previous letter, thirteen of our wounded men continued to fight through the battle in spite of their wounds, and of those sent to the rear many both of the sick and wounded came up to rejoin us as soon as their condition allowed them to walk, most of the worst cases being ultimately sent to the States. "On the 10th the truce was at an end and the bombardment reopened. As far as our lines were concerned It was, on the Spanish part, very feeble. We suffered no losses and speedily got the fire from their trenches in our front completely under. On the 11th we were moved three-quarters of a mile to the right. The truce again being on, nothing happened here, except w’e continued to watch and do our best to get the men, especially the sick, properly fed, and having no transportation and being able to get hardly any through the regular channels, we used anything we could find, captured Spanish cavalry horses, abandoned mules, which had been shot, but which our men took and cured, diminutive, skinny ponies purchasesd from the Cubans, etc. By these means and by the exertions of the officers we were able from time to time to get supplies of beans, sugar, tomatoes and even oatmeal, while from the Red Cross people we got our invaluable load of rice, cornmeal, etc. All of this was of the utmost consequence, not only for the sick, but the nominally well, as the lack of proper food was telling terribly on the men. It was utterly impossible to get them clothes and shoes: those they had were in many cases literally dropping to pieces. “On the 17th the city surrendered. On the 18th we shifted camp to here, the best camp we have had, but the march hither under the noonday sun told very heavily on our men, weakened by underfeeding and overwork, and the next morning 123 cases were reported to the doctor, and I now have but half of the BCO men with which I landed four weeks ago fit for duty, and these are not fit to do anything like the work they could do then. “As we had but one wugon, the change necessitated leaving much of my stuff behind, with a night of discomfort, with scanty shelter and scanty food for the most of the officers and many of the men. Only the possession of the improvised pack train alluded to above saved us from being worse. Yesterday I sent in a detail of six officers and men to see if they could not purchase or make arrangements for a supply of proper food and proper clothing for the men, even if we had to pay for it out of our own pockets. Our suffering has been due primarily to lack of transportation, and of proper food or sufficient clothing and of medical supplies. We should now have wagon sheets for tentage. Very respectfully, "THEODORE ROOSEVFJLT.” , 4 ROOSEVELT TO ITALIANS. The Colonel Exhorts Children to Be Clean and Ready to Fight. NEW YORK, Dec. 22.—Colonel Roosevelt talked to nearly four hundred little Italians to-day in the Children’s Aid Society's School in Sullivan street, where he went by special invitation. The children sang for Colonel Roosevelt and went through the flag drill, and then the colonel told them about his regimqjit. The bugler, he said, was an Italian and was so brave that after he had had the fingers of his hand shot away so that he could not bugle any more, he had spent the rest of the day carrying the wounded from the field. The brave. Colonel Roosevelt said, were always good and tender. In conclusion theeolonel exhorted them to be good, clean and ready U fight, if need be; to be able to gtve a good account of themselves; to be tender and kind to their mothers and sisters and some day he might take them into his regiment. The children gave the colonel throe rousing cheers when he ceased talking and a crowd of boys followed him down to the elevated station cheering all the way.

HE BURNED THE BOOKS. Testimony of >*n Employe of the Standard Oil Company. CLEVELAND, 0., Dec. The taking of depositions by Attorney General Monnett to attempt to prove that the Standard Oil Company had destroyed a lot of its books and papers a few days before the Supreme Court ordered the books to be produced as evidence in the investigation of the Standard Oil Company was resumed to-day. John McNierney, of No. 85 Oregon street, testified that lie had been in the employ of* the Standard Company for over two years. McNierney said that on Saturday morning, Nov. 19, he was ordered to burn a lot of the Standard Oil Company's books. He burned them at about 8 o'clock, in the furnaces of the car shops. Later In the day he said he was ordered to go to the Euclid-avenue offices and get some boxes. The boxes were taken down from the fifth floor in the elevator, but someone objected to them being taken out of the front door. Thereupon the boxes were taken back to the fifth floor. McNierney said that he remained around the Euclid-avenue office until 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and then the boxes were lowered by rope and tackle from one of the windows. He was Assisted by four other employes of the company. The boxes were taken to the company’s warehouse. They remained there until Monday. The witness said that about 10 o’clock Monday morning he and a man named Moran took the books out of the boxes and burned them in the furnaces. There were nine boxes of books and six sacks of paper. I Some of the books were about twenty inches high and others were much taller. McNierney said the books that were burned Saturday morning were taken from the Euclid-avenue offices Friday night. He received the orders to get the boxes from George Fields, the ear shop foreman. On cross-examination McNierney said that he and Moran burned the books that were destroyed Saturday morning. Moran helped open the boxes and took out the books and burned them. On Monday Fields gave him orders to go to the warehouse and get the boxes and take them to the furnaces. At 4 o’clock the taking of testimony before Notary Mast, n was resumed. Charles C. Hogan, a foreman in the employ of the Standard Oil Company, w'as the only witness examined. He had been in the employ of the company for twenty-one years. He says he gave orders, in accordance with instructions, to George Fields to burn the accounts and books in the boxes hauled from the offices of the company to the Independ-ence-street warehouse. The boxes, he declared, contained a miscellaneous collection of papers and a few books which might have been letter-oress books, stock books or order copybooks. He declared positively that no ledgers or journals were burned. The burning of this material, he said, was of no consequence, and was according to custom. In July, 1896, he said, a lot of similar material was burned, and in 1898 more accounts and books were destroyed. This last time a number of account books were burned. Hogan said he had been requested to look at the books before destroying them and not burn any that were less than ten years old. He said he saved a few less than ten years old that had been set aside by mistake. The hearing before Notary Mason will be resumed to-morrow morning. ALLEGED TRACE OF ANDREE Wrecked Balloon Said to Have Been Sighted in Lincoln Sen. NEW YORK. Dec. 22.—News has been received from Stockholm of what seems to be a genuine trace of Salomon August Andree, the Swedish arctic explorer who sailed in a balloon on July 11. 1897. for the north pole. It. comes in the form of a cable telegraph message from Colonel Johnson, of the Canadian militia, stationed at Fort Norman, in the Northwestern provinces, near the Mackenzie river. Colonel Johnson’s message Is addressed to the Daily News of Stockholm, and says: "1 have heard from a whaling vessel that arrived from the north that a bal,oon was seen in Lincoln sea. It was in ruins. On the wooden handle of a rifle which was found was carved this inscription: "Going north. Fracnkel. The date on the gun handle could not be made out." Fraenki 1 is one of the companions and friends wham Andree took along in the balloon, the other being Nils Strindberg. Lincoln sea touches the extreme northern point of the North Am rlcan continent. It is distant from Fort Norman about 1,800 miles, and not much more than one-third that distance from Its northern part from the pole itself. Fort Norman is about four hundred miles overland south and east from Dawson City.

TELLS HER OWN STORY * FAVKE STR AH AN MOORE) TESTIFIES IN THE “BADGER” IABK. Her Relation* with tlie Man Who Wkc Convicted of Robbing; the UroprU etor of a New York Hotel. NEW YORK, Dee. 22,-The taking of evidence in the case of Fayne Strahan Moore, accused of robbery in the first degree, waa resumed to-day before Recorder Goff. Threo witnesses gave testimony confirming that of Martin Mahon, the alleged victim of thy “badger” game. Then Mrs. Fannie E. Johnson, who lives on West Fifty-seventh street, where it is alleged Mahon took Fayne Strahan Moore, said she knew Mahon and also the defendants, but did not know William A. E. Moore. She testifi J that she had asked Fayne Moore in tha Tombs why she did not turn state’s evidence. Mrs. Johnson broke down at this point and shed many tears. In reply to a question she said Fayne Moore said she would not turn state’s evidence because Moore saiu he would kill her. The rest of her testimony was given up to answering quetions more or less relevant to the case, and then a waiter from the Metropole, w! o served dinner to Mr. Mahon and the alleged Mrs. Moore, was put upon tin: stand. This ended the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Levy, the attorney for the defendant, moved for a dismissal of the complaint on me ground that the prosecution had failed to establish Its case. The motion was denied. Annie Fitzgerald, matron of the city prison, was called as the first witness for the defense. She denied having heard Mrs. Johnson advise Mrs. Moore to turn state’s evidence, and also denied other parts of Mrs. Johnson’s evidence. Rev. Ogden Homas, rector of St. Matthew’s Protestant Episcopal Church, ’on West Eighty-fourth street, testified that on April 4. 1897, he performed a marriage ceremony between William A. E. Moore and Fayne Strahan. He said the defendant was the woman. Moore, was brought into court and Dr. Homas identified him as the man. Fayne Strahan Moore was then called to the stand and examined by Mr. Hill. She said she was born on Feb. 23, 1877. Her father was judge of the Supreme Court of Oregon when he died in July, 1887. She then removed to Atlanta, Ga., and came to New York In the spring of 1896. She came here, sho said, with the intention of completing her musical studies. She w’ent to Europe, returning In July, 1896. said that sho first met Mahon in August, 1896, on the occasion of a musieale at-the Amsterdam Hotel. She said that Mahon had, uninvited, called) upon her when she was living at Gramercy Park. Mahon, she said, told her he was married man. but was not living with hi* wife. He frequently took her carriage riding and to the theater. She then went to Atlanta, and on returning took a room at Mrs. Johnson's house at Mr. Mahon's suggestion. She said the last time she had seen Mahon previous to her marriage to Moore was in January, 1897. She told of hep trips with Moore in this country and abroad. She then said that on the morning of Nov. 4 she received a telephone' mossago from Mahon asking her to take supper at the Metropole. The rest of her testimony recounted the supper in the rooms of tho Grenoble, to which hotel they had later gone and the one In which Moore appeared and demanded the money from Mahon. She also spoke of the scene between Moore and Detectives Cuff and McNaught, but denied knowing that Mahon had given any money to Moore. When asked by Mr. Hill if she knew of any scheme of Moore’s to extort money from Mahon or whether she had entered into any conspiracy for the purpose she answered emphatically in the negative. Mr. Hill then announced that the defense rested. Recorder Goff announced that the case would be continued to-morrow, when Mr. Melntire will cross-examine Fayne Moore.

HE WAS MERELY A SCAPEGOAT Cattle- Plnnger Glllett Offers- to Retarn and Expose n Gigantic Fraud. KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 22.-Frank Cooper, of the firm of Elmoro & Cooper, live stork merchants, to-day displayed for a> comparison of the signatures, a letter alleged to have been received yesterday from Grant G. Gillett, the Kansas cattle plunger, expressing willingness to return from Mexico and face his creditors. A comparison of the signature attached to the letter and tha known signature of Gillett showed them to be identical. While refusing to make publio the actual contents of the letter Mr. Cooper said that Gillett declared in it that he is only the scapegoat of others who participated in Hhe gigantic cattle frauds and that if Elmore & Cooper will only say the word) he will be in Kansas City in forty-eight hours and will furnish evidence that will uncover a great conspiracy. The letter covers both sides of more than a dozen large sheets of paper, gives a list of transactions aggregating nearly two million dollars, and, according to Mr. Cooper, makes direct accusations of fraud against several live stock dealers. The letter is postmarked San Antonio, Tex. Mr. Cooper says an effort to get Gillett to return will be made. Mr. Cooper declares that the letter is authentic and contains information that will be valuable in straightening out Gillett’s affairs. He showed a portion of the letter, which read: “I am reading the Kansas City papers every day, and see that these people are talking a great deal about fraud andi forgery. I want to say right here that I can show who has committed forgery, and if you say the word I will come back ir.siue of forty-eight hours. Just publish in the papers that you want me to come back and I will come. I had about 32,500 before I left, and I spent it qll for lawyers’ fees except about 3150. You say the word and i will come back.” “BURY ME ANYWHERE.” Note- Left by Disconsolate Widow Who Took Carbolic Acid. COLUMBUS, Dee. 22.—A well-dressed, re-fined-looking woman went to the Chittenden Hotel last night about 9 o’clock, where she rfgistered as “Mrs. Ashton, of Pittsburg.” She was assigned a room, in which she was found dead to-day, having committed suicide by taking carbolic acid. Two envelopes were found in the room, one with money to pay the hotel and the other addressed to the chief of police, containing the following note: “My husband having died and left me alone, I do not care to live. There is 377 in my purse in my corset waist. Bury me anywhere.” The note was printed, with the evident purpose of disguising the writing, and ail marks had been carefully removed from her clothing by the woman. The deceased appears to be from thirty to thirty-five years of age. The body was taken to the morgue. ( hit-nan to Have a New Coliseum. CHICAGO, Dec. 21.—A company, of which Alderman Charles F. Gunther la president, backed by 3300,(00 capital, will erect a mammoth new coliseum on Wabash avenue, between Fourteenth and Sixteenth streets. Work will be begun as soon as the land can be cleared of me buildings now on it. The hall will lx* completed before next fall, and an active campaign for the national conventions of 19(0 will be Inaugurated. The extreme inside height of the new building will be eighty-six feet. A seating capacity of 10.000 on the main floor and galleries will be provided capable of extension to 15,000 or 18,01)0 for extraordinary occasions. The outsldo dimensions are to be 300 by 175 feet. Ex-Banker Dreyer Gel* New Trial. SPRINGFELD, 111.. Dec. 21.-The Supremo Court to-day handed down a decision in the case of former banker E. 8. Dreyer, of Chicago. reversing the decision of the lower court and remanding the ease, Dreyer was sentmeed to the penitentiary for embezzlement. the specific charge being that while acting as treasurer of the West Chicago park commission he failed to turn over to his successor 3316.C00 of park funds The court holds that the indictment under which Dreyer was tried was technically faulty, also that no iegal demand was ever made on him for the funds by his successor In office. Counterfeiter* Sentenced. DETROIT, Mich., Dec, 21.—Edward and David Johnson were to-day sentenc*d by Judge Swan, in the United States District Court, to nine years at hard labor In tho Detroit House of Correction for counterfeiting. Poth had pteaded guilty. The sentence in both instance* was upon the counterfeiting of the "Wlndom” plates, sentence on tho indictment relating to the “Hancock" plates being suspended. These ure two of the three famous Johnson brothers, said to be among the most skillful counterfeiters in the country.