Indiana State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 September 1889 — Page 4

THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL.. WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 4, .188a

INDIANA STATE SENTINEL

fEntored at the Fostoffice at Indianapolis ai econd class matter. TERMS PER YEARi 's Fro?le copy (Invariably in Adranec.)- SI 00 VTe ask democrats to bear in mind and select their (wi etat paper when they come to take aubscript iocs and make op club. A grata making up clubs fiend for any information Crsired. AddessTHE INDIANAPOLIS SEXTIXEL Indianapolis, ind. "WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4. The "World's Fair. The drift of sentiment throughout the country on the world's fairquestion seems to be favorable to Chicago. That city's "claims" to the proposed fair grow stronger the more they are considered, and are certainly too weighty to be ignored by congress. Chicago, to begin with, is the most thoroughly American of our large cities. It is the type, recognized the world over, of American enterprise, energy and intelligence. It has all the advantages of location. It is almost equally accessible from all parts of the country. It ha3 the best transportation facilities of any American city. It has the fine.-;, system of parks ancl boulevards. It is best equipped with hotels, newspapers, theaters and other metropolitan features. And, above all, it has the prestige of success in every important enterprise that it has undertaken. The bare announcement that the fair is to be held in Chicago will inspire the people of this country, and of Europe as well, with a confidence in its success that will of itself go very far to insure euch euccess. The people of Indiana and of all the states west of Pennsylvania are naturally interested in having the great fair held in Chicago. If it is held in New York or "Washington the great majority of those who come from other countries to attend it will return to their homes without visiting the central and western states, or learning anything of their resources or advantages. If anything is to be gained from the great influx of foreigners that will be attracted by the world's fair, this section of the country will have little or no share in it if the exhibition is held at or near the Atlantic seaboard. At Chicago the people of Indiana can make a far more complete and comprehensive showing of her resources and products than at NewYork or AVashington. Almost our entire population, too, would have an opportunity to visit the fair at Chicago, while a comparatively small portion would be able to attend if it were held at New York. "We have no doubt, thererore, that the influence of Indiana will be entirely in favor of Chicago in her efforts to capture this great prize. The occasion should be improved by showing to the world what America has accomplished in the four centuries that have elapsed since Mr. Colvmih s so kindly discovered it. We want to show the rest of the world what kind of a country this is not only in its materia! aspects, but in the higher phases of its moral ard intellectual character. We want not only to exhibit our mines and our factories, our forests and our farms ; not only our mountains and rivers and lake?, but our men and our women. "We want to show what we have done for humanity; what we have achieved ru letters, and art and science; what if anything we have contributed toward the solution of the great problems of life ; in what respects our institutions have tended to make our people letter and happier than the people of other lands. The four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America should have a celebration that will forever stand a- a landmark in the annals of the race. It should be in all respects worthy of the great event it is to commemorate an event which, measured by its consequences to mankind, Las scarcely been njrpapsed in bistor3. It is doubtful if a celebration adequate to the occasion can I e held in any other city than Chicago. New York's lack of enlightened enterprise and liberality have been too often demonstrated to justify eontidence that she wculdriseto this occasion. "Washington has neither the population nor the wealth to sustain the burden of the undertaking. Chicago is self-reliant, enterprising, ambitinis and progressive. The city is full of public ppirit and the pride of local patriotism. The manner in which the Chicago people have taken hold of the world's fair movement is of itself the best evidence in support of their claims to the fair. They have already pledged $2,-VH,000 toward a proposed fund rf ö,00O.lJ, and the present indications are that the fund will reach ? 10,000,000. This has been done while New York has been resolving, and Washington pleading, and St. Louis . pettifogging. Chicago means business. She always does. That is one reason why she ought to have the fair, and why ehe will get it. An Klirrtet ie Official. So iar as discovered, Corporal Tanner is the only member of the administration who has shown any disposition to redeem pledges made during the campaign. His patriotic sentiment : "The surplus God help it," has been his moving thought eince he went into office, and what he could do to dispose of that white elephant has been done. The re-rating scheme has been the most successful one. Eleven of the re-rated pensioners have drawn prizes as follows: George W. Clarke, $5,623.99; Henry A. Kircher, S0,.141.72; Charles Lovely, $G,042.12; Henry Yunkling, S5.231.05; Thilo Bierce, $0,341.72; Corjujfio Brcce, $3,341.72; Frank Rose, 3,035.72; Hiram Smith, $0,035.72; Lewis Malin, $6,035.72; Jon S. Fay, $0,341.8.3; Lewis "Whiting, $12,251.59.' The aggregate of these is $72,022.92. The total paid out on re-ratings is estimated to be in the neighborhood of a million dollars. This includes Senator Manderson's $4,000, which may be returned in case Atty .-Gen. Miller's nonpartisan board of examiners should fail to find him sufficiently disabled. Of the amounts allowed thus far, $27,000 has been p3id to employes of the pension office, whose positions enabled them to re-rato each other. At the rate he is going, the corporal will not be enabled to dispose of the entire surplus in forty-eight months, but with his indorsement at Milwaukee v ma accelerate his lovcaacats. and

successfully dispose of the financial problem for which Secy. Wisdom has been unable to find any solution. Suffering New England. The Journal finds a very valuable contribution to tariff literature in the following' editorial remark of its particular friend, the Atlanta Constitution, which it appears to consider authority on Mr. Byntm and the tariff, but not on postoffice matters: The discovery of natnra!-gas in the middle and middle western states has had a great deal more to do with bringing about the destruction of New England's iron industry than tho turifil Moreover, for every iron-mill that has been compelled to suspend business in thst section, two or more mills have been established in the South, and New England's capital has had no little to do with this new movement and development. It is rather startling to find the Journal advocating the destruction of New Kr.gland industries for the benefit of tho lawless South, and conceding that the protective system, which it usually claims to be for the benefit of the whole country, is really operating in favor of localities, as Gen. Hancock stated in 1SS0. But, overlooking these little inconsistencies, will the Journal or the Constitution, or any other protective or free-trade journal be good enough to explain just how the discovery of natural gas in Ohio and Indiana has occasioned a transfer of iron manufacturing from New England to Georgia? And if in fact such a marvelous result is being accomplished, will pome equally intelligent molder of public opinion explain how the discovery of natural gas in the "West and valuable iron ore in the South could have brought about the ruin of the New Fngland iron manufacturing if there had been no tariff on fuel and raw material? To aid in the work of. enlightenment we will suggest a few points for consideration. The New England manufacturer obtains his coal and pig iron chielly from Pennsylvania and by importation, and originally throve greatly because he had no competition. As population increased in the Wc6t manufactories sprang up there and took the greater part of the western market, because the eastern manufacturer had to pay freight on his fuel and raw material from Pennsylvania, and likewise freight on his manufactures when conveyed to the western market. Still he held the eastern market, because the western manufacturer was handicapped by a freight tarifTin that direction. Bat now come new factors in the competition. The discovery of natural gas gives the western manufacturer fuel almost free. The discovery of the best of iron ore in the South results in tho production of the cheapest pig-iron in that locality, which is further from New England than the original source of supply, and therefore costs him proportionately still more for freight than his competitors in the West. Through these advantages -the western manufacturer invades the East and is taking the market there. Now the protection organs of New England are insisting that there is no help for this, and their following throughout the country say the same. There are natural advantages of the West and Sjiith, and New England can not contend again?t them. Kismet! It is fated. New England must go. But the New England manufacturer, who is usually a shrewd sort of business man, says, "I know better. I am paying 75 cents a ton extra on coal, for no purpose except to fatten the coal barons of Pennsylvania and the West, and they are of no service to anyone but republican boodlers. They starve their employes, import pauper labor, conduct 'pluck-me' stores and combine with railroads to raise the price of coal and rob consumers. I am also paying $0.72 per ton extra on pig iron to fatten another similar combination of capitalists who are operating in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and who could make legitimate profits with the larger part, if not all, of that duty removed. If these oppressive and unnecessary taxes were removed I could compete with western manufacturers and hold my share of the market, notwithstanding natural gas and the cheap iron ore of Georgia." The clauior of these manufacturers and the woolen manufac turers of New England is making itself felt. They understand their business, and their argument Is unanswerable. Every republican iron manufacturer in New England, including Gov. A mks of Massachusetts, has signed a petition asking that the duty on pig iron be reduced to $3 per ton and that coal be put on the free list. There is little doubt that the extraordinary session of the association of woo! manufacturers, called to meet at Boston on Sept. 17, will demand free wool. These people know that their salvation lies just where Mr. Cleveland told them, in free raw material. Probably most oi them denied it at the time und denounced the Mills bill (which reduced the duty on pig iron' from 0.72 to $0 per ton) as a ":ree trade" measure. "Whether they lied then or have since been enlightened is not material. The fact is patent that Mr. Cleveland and the democratic party were and are right. The republican party will have to fall in line to our music or take the consequences. See L's Swim! It is said that Major J. O. Cravens, the new I". IS. revenue collector, has, up to the present time, appointed twenty-nine men to position tinder him, and of the entire number but one. Major M' 'LVRE of Madison, Ind., waa an old soldier. We may find that we re slightly mistaken in the number, but that is the report at the present time. We shall know more later on, and if it proves to be true, what is now reported, we shall give the gentleman onr comfdiments. The American Tribune is not a poitical paper, but we propose to look a little after the men who are elected or appointed to ofiice on the strength of their soldier record and who immediately forget that they are expected to recognize the interest that made their official advancement possible to them. Any man who will thus torn his back on his comrades is a political charlatan that will peddle any sort of principles for the profit there is in it. We are very much nrprired at this report, and did not think it possible that the maior could make such a break, and hope we will yet find that we have been misinformed. The appointments made by the administration so far, in Indiana, are not such as the soldier enthusiast is in any danger of breaking bis neck through his joyful demonstrations. And while we are on this last thought we wfil remark that the railroad element appears to be "in the soup" also. American Tribune. (Indianapolis G. A. K. paper.) Et tu, Brut I If you will lift your eves above the level of the "swim" you will find other company. The protected workingman is in the soup. Likewise the civil service reformer. Also the greenbacker who wanted the U. S. funds withdrawn from the national banks. Ditto the financiers who wanted the surplus us.ed to buy bonds. Same place the colored man La tho .North. Like condition

the Long Island City and other clergymen who thought they would have influeuce with a prayerful administration. You don't see the New England woolen manufacturer because he has gone under for the third time and may not come up again. Soup! Soup! Soup! Is the man in the soup? That's what! One, two, three yes, a great many men. What sort of soup is it? It was consomme at first, but it is noodle soup now. Vide first reader, p. 2, Indiana educational series. Mxtenualing Circumstances. The following observations of the St. Louis HrjtuhUc are interesting: . Our republican contemporaries are putting themselves to unnecessary trouble in explaining why President Harrison's reception at Indianapolis was cold and unenthnsiastic. There is do enthusiasm felt for Mr. Haerisov anywhere in this country, and the country understands why. He has none of the qualities which excite it. Personally he is cold and repliant, narrow in his views and contracted in his sympathies. F.xcept for his hauteur, he is singularly commonplace. His abilities are below the abilities of the ordinary congressman. He does not excel in anything. He does not average anywhere near the public idea of what the average president should be. His life in Fublic and private is one of mannerisms. Everything he does is done mechanically. He is a man of no enthusiam; of no force of character. This is generally understood, and nowhere better than in Indianapolis. It is natural enough that he should be least admired where he is best known, but the coldness toward him was not confined to Indianapolis. He has been traveling up and down aud across the country, and the only recognition he received was as coldly formal as he is himself. Jt is impossible for a man in his condition to hide himself from the eyes of the millions watching him. The country has found him out. He has hardly been six months in office, but it knows him for a failure. There is no respect for him, even in his own party. We make jokes in this country about the unreliability of campaign pledges, but we are not yet so depraved as to feel any enthusiasm for a president who in the most cold-blooded way has methodically disregarded and violated the platform pledges of his party, reinforced by his own solemn assurances that if elected he would administer the laws in a liberal and high-minded way. In further justification of the feeling of the people of Indianapolis we would mention the fact that the decent people of this state have special cause to remember the late election. After a campaign, in which state pride was made a central feature, there is naturally an extensive revulsion of feeling when it is proven and confessed that the state was bought for Mr. Harrison- in "blocks of five." No selfrespecting citizen enjoys having his state "Wanamakered," and especially under cover of such pretensions of morality and high respectability as were made here before the election. The subsequent proceedings were calculated to have an equally depressing effect. This is the home of Judge Woods, and the locality in which Mr. Di dley and his allies were not brought to justice. This is also the abiding place of the president's inspired organ, which shed tears of ink over the pauper wages of England during the campaign, and has since maintained that $5 per week is not pauper wages for an Indiana coal miner. Here also reside sundry civil service reformers who, in their hot haste for political perfection, disparaged the honest efforts of Mr. Cleveland and held Mr. Harrison up to the country as a model for the presidential ollice. These and other causes wliich need not be mentioned, have produced their effects, and while, under the circumstances, wo feel that Indianapolis treated her guest well enough, we must admit that he might appropriately warble "The old Lome's not what it tisd to he. Ami the cliane makes me sad aud lorlorn." London proposes to out-tower Paris. A project for a tower 2,000 feet high has been originated by Sir Edward Watkin. Among those who are associated with him in the enterprise are II. D. Poriux, one of England's iron and coal kings; William Mewbckn, another great railway magnate; Thomas Andrew AValker, the mo6t extensive contractor in the world, and other men of that class. A company has been organized with a capital of $1,000,000. The tower will be erected at South Kensington, a very favorable site, and it is believed that tho undertaking will yield handsome returns. Meantime Edison, the great electrician, has projected a scheme for a great tower in New Yorkone that will eclipse both the London and Paris towers. As the tower will be a money maker. New York will probably manage to build it without passing the hat around the country for contributions. The tower fever has not attacked Chicago yet. When it does, look out or rather look up. The Chicago tower, when it does rouie, will be a sky-scraper, and tho?? of London, Paris and New York will be holes in the ground by comparison. According to the Journal, State Fupt. LaFollette has issued a circular, in which he says : In view of the lowness of the prices offered, the books heretofore used should not be exchanged, but kept by the pupils and utilized as works of reference. The price of the new books, without exchange, is practically equul to exchange prices. I therefore recommend that you use your influence to prevent any such unprofitable exchange and loss to pupils and parents. Of course the people will use their judgment as to the advisability of selling the old books at the prices offered, which run from one-third to one-half the prices of the new books of equal grade. At the same time, in view of the source of this advice, it may be well to remember that Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. are interested in having their books held here as "works of reference." The books bought here would be sold at second hand elsewhere in competition with new books at trust prices. Come to think of it, what particular use would a man have for a first-reader or a copy-book as a "work of reference," anyway? The Terre Haute Ejrprcfis,one of the leading republican newspapers in Indiana, stands by the new school-book law. In a recent issue it says: The Er pre? is fully aware that the board was given a standard by the law on which bids were to be accepted. The question is raised that this is not a standard the members of the board would fix if they were to determine the quality in size, make the contents of the books, bnt as the members of the board cannot be expected, in their official capacity, to denounce or praise the law, being obligated to perform an executive duty odIt, it i safe to challenge them for their individual opinions. If expressed, they would merely subject them to a controversy with the hired advocates of the old trust, whose finger marks are plainly seen in such displays as that of the book-seller in the northern part of the state. The EvHtss might have added that tho standard fixed by the law is that of tho books published by the school book trust firms, and now in general use throughout tho state. If this standard is not high enough, the triLit and ita creatures should

be the last to take exceptions to it The state board of education, composed of the leading educators of the state, declared with only one dissenting voice (La Follette, of Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co.,) that the new books were equal . in every respect to those named in the law. If these latter are inferior, the new ones may be. But if bo it is to be remembered that they cost only about one-half of what the old ones have been sold for. And their quality cannot lo impeached without condemning the old books, or attacking the integrity or intelligence of the state board cf education, which pronounced them, after careful examination, equal, in every respect, to the trust books. The Sentinel agrees with several of its democratic contemporaries that ono of the most sensible actions of the democratic editorial association was its request that the democratic press refrain from discussing the election of a U. S. senator until after the next general election. Nothing is gained for any candidate by such discussion and jealousy and want oi harmony are always promoted. The party is enlisted in a fight for a principle and not for any man. We have an abundance of men who would fill the position creditably possibly an over-abundance. When we have won the election there will be ample time to wrangle over the candidates. I DO lift up a hearty prayer that we may never have a president who will not either pursue, and compel his cabinet advisers to pursue, the civil-service policy pure and simple and upon a just basis, allowing men accused to be heard, and deciding against them only upon competent proof and fairly either have that kind of civil service, or, for God's sake, let ps have that other frank and bold, if brutal, method of turning men and women out simply for political opinion. Let us have one or the other. JJevjam i Harrison in thr U. $. kennte, March 'Jri, 1SS; Cony. Jiccord, Vol. XVI J, pt. ?,, p. 2,79 3. Who says there is no answer to prayer? Of course the request is put in the alternative, but no one cau deny that the deacon has secured one end of his petition. Let us pray ! Russell Harrison has arrived at New York on the City of Paris and has been interviewed. He assured the reporter that he was not really a prince, but "simply a piain, every day American citizen." He also said, "I do object to being represented as a fool in the press of my country." With singular oversight the reporter neglected to ask him why. The three most important republican newspapers in Indiana, outside of Indianapolis, are the Evansville Journal, Terre Haute Express and Fort Wayne Gazette. All of them stand by the school book law and sustain the efforts to enforce it. The Cincinnati pirates did not buy the decent republican press of Indiana when it bought the Indianapolis Journal. MR. PORTER'S PLEA.

A Miner Dissects It ly Showing Its Con. sistenries. To the Editor Sir: Mr. Porter of Chicago seems to wish to draw tbe attention of the public to the fact that he Bt ill lives and still tries to deceive. It is not at all necessary to notice him, but the miners of Clay county will never forget his generosity. Look at his glorious magnanimity. He says that the carrying of a ton ot block coal is equal to the digging aid loading of a ton and a half of coal, while he only estimates that the same weicht of coal, if it should chance to be bituminous, would be carried for the price of digging one ton. Thus for the same results he a.sks the block coal miner to do more thau half as much more work. Mr. Porter also says that the Brazil Mock coal company has not declared any dividends for three years. Thanks for the information! Will he also state how much it has increased its stock in that time? He says that the stock is only worth 60 percent, in the market. Will he state how much it was watered? He, I suppose, is too bashful to state that it Las been watered to the extent of over 50 per cent, and that it is yet over 10 per cent, above cost. I suppose that he has forgotten that the Brazil block coal company admitted that it had 5 per cent, play on capital stock; that it made Ü 6-10 cents per ton profit on block coal after charging royalty and all other expenses, and that it charees for royalty "0 cents, whilst it only pays 7) to 12) cents per ton to those from whom it leases coal. He says nothing of the returns from the system of pluck-me stores, and in these accounts there is no allowance made for the fclack, for which the miner receives nothing, and which Mr. Zimmerman admits is 20 per cent, of what the minner digs and loads, and is not included in any calculations, as it is not worth noticing iu the amount, as the operator only gets from f 1 to $8 per flat. But this is on a par with th operators' whole tactics during the present struggle, as instance this point: Mr. Zimmerman said they asked no more for their coal in Minneapolis than at any other point. In fact the price has been less, for they wanted to hold that market; hence they put the price at St. Paul and Minneapolis lower than lit other points. Now the black diamond quotations in those cities were: Indiana bituminous coal, $3.2.3, while the Indiana block coal was ?-3.25 at the same date in Chicago. Why in the name of common sense do not Mr. Porter and his friends say straight out that black is white and white is no color at all? The miners offered to arbitrate the whole question. They offered to accept the tame proportionate reduction as other miners in Indiana, Ohio or Pennsylvania, yet Mr. Porter wants to gull the public and hoodwink the miners. Mr. Porter has, through his agents, told the miner not to bother him; not to come near him. Now when he is willing to reason and make an honest settlement he mint send for them like gentlemen. John IIORSFIELD. Knightsville, Aug. 2 VERMONT'S BAD MAIL SERVICE. Wanamsko! New Postal Clerks Have Played Stnanh. With It. St. Johnsburr Special. The state of Vermont is sulfering just now from an epidemic form of too much Wan aroaker. Nobody can remember when the mail service was as bad as it is now. The trained postal clerks have been taken out of the mail cars and replaced by a lot of numbskulls, whose lack of intelligence? has produced a general demoralization. : Their faults are especially felt along the lines of railroad centering out of here, running to Canada, Lake Champlain, and through New Hampshire to Maine. An old subscriber to the Ann residing at West Concord, eight miles east of St. Johnshury, on the Portland A Ogdensburgh road, commonly gets his paper thirty-six to forty-eight hours late. Yet it is possible for him to leave his home at 8:30 a. m. and land in the Grand Central depot at 10 p. m., or to reverse the process. The mails are not heavy, bat the ignorance of the clerks is so intense that their minds make their fingers go slow. As a result newspapers and letters are allowed to lie in the cars and be carried by stations until the next day or the next, as may suit the couvienience of these persons. To make it more comfortable for the green hands, closed mails are carried on trains that formerly made up mails ns they went along. A letter mailed in St. Johnsbury in the wording for any point on the P. fc O. has to go 12j miles to Portland and come back the next day if the clerk feels like putting it in the local bag. These things are producing tears among the maple watr boilers and sheep ranchers. The clerks are appointed at ths instance of Vermont's republican congressmen. It is something of a cheering fact t note how wretchedly they compare in ca'iberwith the al.b democrats supplied to P. M. Gen. Vilas and Dickinson by the Hon. Bradley B. Smalley. Are you weak and weary, overworked and tired? Hood's Sarsaparilla is just the medicine to purify your blood and give yon strength. James B. Abel's residence at 1 aoli burned Saturday, and a hook anJ ladder coaipany was oiittiikta lue taiae uitt.

JORDAN AND THE BEAD SEA

SCENES AROUND AND ABOUT JERICHO. Mount Xebo and the Land of Nebo An Experience With Wandering- Bedonlna Bathing in Sacred Waters Sodom and Gomorrah Ancient Gil gal. Jericho, Palestine. Special. Being thoroughly tired after our lonj ride from Jerusalem we siept pleasantly and soundly on our first night at Jericho, notwithstanding the ghostly cries of the jackals aud hyenas that came down from Quarantania and the neighboring mountains and made hideous music around the hotel gardens. I couldn't express the wish that they were "in Jericho" seeing that they were already there, but I certainly wished them in some uncomfortable place. After a good breakfast and fortified with a glass of "raki," a native strong drink, we again mounted our horses and rode away over the sandy plain of Jericho toward the Dead sea. The day was boiling hot and we suffered terribly from the scorching pun, and I could not help feeling sympathy with my little horse "Aman" w hen in his efforts for relief he suddenly laid down in the sand and commenced to roll although as he didn't give me time to dismount the movement was a rather inconvenient one for me, besides enabling my companions to make disparaging remarks upon the horsemanship of a rider who permitted his horse to lay down and roll on him. As we rode along over the sterile lands we saw on an elevation some distance to our left a small mosque, called the "Neby Musa," which the Mohammedans say covers the tomb of Moses, although there is not the shadow of authoritv for the supposition. In front of us, however, rose "Jebel Seba," the Mount Nebo of the land of Moab, where the scriptures distinctly says the great father of Israel died and was buried. The simple, exact account given in Deut. xxxiv says: "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of "ebo to the top of Tisgah, that is over against Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land." And again further on, ".So Mofes, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over aeainst Beth Poer, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day; and Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated." This is one of the best authenticated of scriptural locations both by its geographical position and the accurate biblical description of it, and I confess that I looked over upon these rugged peaks with more reverent awe than upon most of the sacred sites pointed out to me in Palestine. Viewed from purely a profane standpoint, history lias produced no grander character than that of Moses, the great statesman and law-giver, and after all what better, simpler tribute could be paid him, dying full of years and honors . in active possession of all his great faculties than that "his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated" after all his years of service in the cause of Israel. Mrs. Alexander, in her well-known poem on the death of Moses, beautifully says: By Neho's lonely mountain On this fi le Jordan's wave, n a rale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely ;rave. Aud no man knows that sepulcber. And no man hw it e'er, For the .mcT of God upturned the sod And laid the dead man there. Some ten nules southward another wellknown scriptural site is pointed out to us where the "castle of Machoerus" formerly stood the place, according to Josephus, where John the baptist was beheaded by Herod's orders. Not far away we see the hot springs of Callirhoe on the opposite banks of the Dead sea, where Herod himpelf, suffering from a fatal illness, came to take the baths previous to his death at Jericho. Herod was a cheerful old part-, and, as death approached, it is said, commanded that his attendant nobles should be executed in order that his decease should be followed by general mourning. The Dead sea is called by the Arabs the "Bahr Lut" (sea of Lot) and has been known at different times as the "sea of the plain'" "salt sea," "sea of Sodom," etc. Its greatest length and breadth is forty-six miles long by ten miles wide, and the analytds of its waters shows the extraordinary proportion of 25 parts of mineral salts to the 100. It lies at the depression of 1,300 feet below the Mediterranean sea level, being the lowest body of water in existence. . One marked peculiarity is that it has no known outlet, evaporation giving it the only apparent relief in that regard. However as the heat is simply terrific along its shores, it is not hard to believe that to be amply sufficient. In this connection I could not but wonder at the stifling way in which our Arabs covered up their heads under the sweltering heat, and the manner in which the residents of these hot countries in general envelop their heads in huje bundles of cloth made into turbans and other head coverings is most remarkable. In fact the hotter the country the more their heads are swathed and bandaged. Whether it is the extreme heat or the exhalations arising from its bitter, malignant waters, there are certainly few signs of lifo anywhere alout the Dead sea other than the famous delusive fruit that turns to aßhes at the touch. There is a deadly depressing feeling that hovers over its borders, and it has long been believed that no living thing could exist within its waters or about its pestilential precincts, although the American expedition under Lieut. Lynch reported having seen various flying birds at certain points along the shore. It was on the banks of the Dead sea that the wicked cities of Sodoin and Gomorrah were located previous to their destruction with "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" Gen. xix, 24), and there is a theory that this repulsive body of water was made by the great convulsion of nature that destro)-ed these wicked cities, in which, the Lord could not find ten righteous people probably because they bad all moved to Indianapolis. Along the adjoining coast there are various peculiar salt formations, and it was here that the pillar stood into which Lot's over-curious better half was turned. Like all tourists we felt in duty bound to bathe in the Dead sea, and found it a most novel experience. The specific trravity of the salt water is so great that it is comparatively impossible to sink in it, and we sat upon the water and floated about without effort almoct, as if we had been sitting in chairs, and standing up straight where it was over our heads nearly all of the upper part of the body was entirely out of the water. It would bo almost impossible for one to drown here; merely by keeping in the right position and making no effort, although swimming in the ordinary fashion is exceedingly difficult, owing to the tendency to keel over head downward on account of the lightness of the feet and the corresponding top heaviness. We had our Pedouins lead one of lhe horses a little way in to see what the effect would be, and the poor animal could neither Bwim nor stand up, being so top heavy as to be forced over on his side. When we came out we were covered with

salt until we glistened in the sunshine and felt as sticky and uncomfortable as the face of the modern belle with her coating of enamel on, and we were glad to mount our horses and ride away toward tho Jordan an hour distant where a fresh water bath gave us relief from irritating sensations caused by the salt, which is especially unpleasant where it finds an abrasion of the ekin to work on. We pitched our camp near the place where the Israelites are said to have made their famous crossing into the land of Canaan, and where Christ was baptized by John coming "up straightway out of the water" as the great voice rang out from heaven sayine: "This is mv beloved son in whom lam well pleased." (Matthew iii, 17.) It was here also that Elijah and Elisha with the wonderful mantle "smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither" (II Kings ii, 8), and here Xaaraan, the great Syrian cantain, was cured of leprosy by dipping "seven times in Jordan" at the command of Elisha. Any one who has seen both streams will know how to sympathize with Xaaman's objection to the muddy waters of Jordan ascomf'ared with his own beautiful "Abana and 'harpar rivers of Damascus" (II Kings y, 12.) This famous ford is now, as it was in the days of the bible, the chief crossing of the highway between the land of Gilead and the plain of Jericho and the land of Judea beyond. While we were there we saw two large tribes of Tdouins cross the river on their way to their winter homes over in Moab. These nomads had come down into the valley for the summer grazing, and were now returning, accompanied by all their possessions, which now, ns in the days of Abraham, are made up of flocks and herds that are taken with them wherever they go. In one drove I counted over three hundred camels, and a polite Bedouin herder tentered me a cup of camel's milk, fresh from one of them, as a great delicacy, but after one swallow I was compelled to forego further attempts at showing ray appreciation of the courtesv, as it wasn't exactly nectar. They also had large flocks of goats and sheeD. besides many donkeys and few horses. The redouins of Moäb are very wild and fierce, and travel by tourists on that side of the river is impossible unless accompanied bv a company of wellarmed Turkish soldiers, and even then they are sometimes attacked. However, while much more dangerous and uncivilized, they are decidedly more manly and honorable than their brethren on the Judean side, who are of the sneaking, petty thieving kind, while those of Moab and Gilead are warlike and brave, with many rude ideas of honor. As we rode np to the ford we found the banks lined with excited Bedouins, rushing wildly about, while the women crouched upon the ground, rocking themselves to and fro, and uttering those peculiar piercing cries and wails by which they always evince grief " and mourning We soon discovered that the cause of all this commotion was that one member of the tribe had only a few moments before been carried away by the swift current and drowned while attempting to make the crossing. We gave them every assistance possible, but all efforts to recover the body were iutile, it having been quickly swept far down the treacherous river. The Jordan is a narrow, muddy, ugly stream, with a rapid current, whose windings, eddies and fast flowing undertows made it exceptionally dangerous for the rash and venturesome bather, and the Bedouins have a tradition that' a certain number of victims are sure to be claimed by it every year. The shores of the river are lined with trees and undergrowth, and the oleander, loranthus and jujube tree flourish in profusion. The famed "Rose of Jericho" grows further back in the plain according to the claims of the guides who Bay it sprune from the places here, where the Virgin's feet touched the ground as she walked along. The red jungles by the river bottoms contain wild boars, leopards, etc., and in the old days lions were found here also, but these have now been driven out into new pastures. After the drowning of the Bedouin we watched the fording of the stream by the rest of the tribe, and it was a novel and interesting sight to witness the manner in which they induced the animals to cross. The camels and donkeys were gotten over without trouble, but it was different with the timid sheep and goats, who had to be pitched into the water head first before they could be persuaded to make the attempt. It is to this celebrated ford that thousands upon thousands of Christian pilgrims come every year from all parts of the" world at Easter to bathe in the consecrated waters and they come in such great numbers that in theirzeal many have beendrowned in the past as they rushed iranticaliy into the sacred but dangerous river. As many as 10,000, it is said, have bathed here in a 6ingle Easter day. In view of the death of the poor Arab that had just occurred, Sasoor insisted that we should not enter the water, but we were determined to bathe in the exact place, if possible, where Christ had been baptized and the Father of Israel had crossed over, and so we plunged in, and with difliculty swam the narrow but rapidly flowing stream to the "opiosite shores. Here we stood for a time like the Mosaic wanderers of old, looking longingly over "to Canaan's fair and happy land," and ready to sing with them: On Jordan's Mormy banks we stand, And cast a wistful eye. However, after much anxiety on the part of the faithful dragoman, we got back in safety, and shortly after we had left the water, another tribe of Bedouins, bound for "oab, came up, led by a warlike looking sheik, mounted upon a gorgeous canarisoned Arab horse. They were a fierce looking lot, and as soon as they began to cross, Sasoor quietly called us away from the ford, and our twoguards, badly frightened, hastily left us and concealed themselves in the bushes. Sasoor explained that there was "bad blood" between this tribe and the one to which our escort belonged, and there was danger that the latter would be attacked, should their enemies get a glimpse of them. After they had all reached the other side and apparently passed out of sight, our men emerged from their hiding place and ventured into the river like good Mahoramedans, to take their customary bath before the hour of prayer. In a few moments they came ecampering out of the water like mad, and made helter-skelter for the bushes again, having seen several men of the other tribe stealthily peeping over the high bluffs of the opposite tjank. It is quite likely had they remained where they were a few moments longer the sharp crack of a rifle would have been heard and a dead Arab would have floated down the turbulent river. Sasoor was by this time thoroughly alarmed for fear that in attempting to kill the Bedouins an indiscriminate fire might be made upon our entire party, or that they might combine robbery with revenge and proceed to plunder our camp, after disposing of our guards. As the men on the other side increased in numbers and continued to hover about in a suspicious manner, believing discretion the better part of valor, much to the relief of our escort (and, perhaps, another fellow), we hastily mounted our horses and rode rapidly back to Jericho by way of the ruined " Kasr-el-yehudi" (castle of the Jews), where the alleged house of John the Baptist once Ktood, and the "Wady-el-kelt" (valley of Achor), where Achan and famiU2rerTCryfor

ly were etoned and burned at the stern command of Joshua (Joshua vii). Th exact location of ancient Gilgal is much disputed, but before we reached the hotel onr guides pointed out to us what they declared was the veritable spot where Joshua erected "those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan" in remembrance of the great day of the psssover when "the waters of" Jordan were cut ofT" (Joshua iv, 7). This place played a prominent part in the early history of God's chosen people, as did all the country round about the then rich and productive plains of Jericho and the Jordan valley, but all has long since been abandoned to infidel Bedouins and their wandering flocks, and now "On Jordan's hank the Arab's camel! stray. On Zion's hüls tu luise one's votaries pray." Will E. English.

A GOOD POSTMASTER REMOVED. He is Displaced Without Any Cause or AVupitliijr. X. Y. Evening Pot.1 Another instance of tlie insincerity of the . protestations that the present administration would abi'le by the principles of civil service reform is found in the summary removal, without alleged cause and without notice, of James A. Mc'enna, postmaster of ltic Island City. Mr. McKenna was appointed for a term of four years by President Cleveland, and has served just twenty-eifht months. Since his incumbency of the office the free delivery system hr.s been introduced with great success, r.nd the ofiice built up from a third-elas to a second-ciass one. It had bei n a third-cias ofiice for many years. Mr. McKenna's administration of the ofiice has been a sincularly successful one, and has triven complete satisfaction to the business mn of the community, that this is so h shown by the fact that th?y sent a petition to Washington for his retention in office by the present administration. That petition was feigned by 2-1 republicans, 50 de mocrats, 16 independents, 93 whose politics were not stated and 5 prohibitionists. In addition to this, another petition was ready to be sent, which was si;ned by 410 republicans, fi persons who did not describe themselves politically. 33 democrats and 6 pro. hibitionists. No eßort was made, of course, under the circumstances, to get the signature of active democrats. The petition was signed by all the clergy of the city. The board of aldermen passed resolutions askinsr for Mr. McKenna's retention, and the oiScers of the city banks and business men generally requested it. That Mr. McKenna's administration of the Ijonz Island City postoflice has been successful is aiso shown by the returns of the business done. For the vear ended March 31, lSS. the total receipts of the office were Sö,534.1f; for the year ended March 31, lVvf. they were ?1,the net increase bein therefore $10,(04.03. For the year ended March 31,-lS?i, the ofiice netted a profit to the covernment of $0,131.00. When Mr. McKenna took charge of the ofiice, there was no tree delivery, and only twelve mails received and dispatched altogether. Now, with the free delivery system in operation, there are thirty-nine mails received and dispatched each day. When the free-delivery system wa first introduced, five carriers were employed; now fourteen can scarcely do the work. Mr. McKenna has also introduced lany other improvements for the benefit of the service and the public. His summary removal now, without warning or cause, and the placing of the charge of the ofiice in the hands of a politician inexperienced in the mail service, is regarded on every hand as not only a roost unwii-e step, but a total disregard of the wishes of the people, to say nothing of the violations of republican pledges on behalf o: civil service reform. Rook Law Will Be Tonular. Bloom field Pemocrat. The school book law is evidently coir.g to be a very popular one or the republicans would not be so zealous in tryine to prevent its enforcement this winter. Next year is campaign year and if the law W3S as odious as they try to make it, the more rigidly it is enforced the better it will be for the republicans. It is a democratic law, passed and championed by democrats, and if it is so very objectionable, and is rigidly enforced it will be very obnoxious to the people and wilt result in great injury t the democratic party. Are the republican trustees so a! raid to enforce the law? Not much, we think. If they thoucht it would beunpopnlar the more ri?id!y it could be enforced the better they would be pleased. The fact is whea the people once understand it it will be one of the most popular laws ever passed in the state. They know this and hence their zeal in tryin? to keep it off until the elections are over next year. The Law Must De Obeyed. Anderson Democrat We print in this impression the question of the state superintendent and the answers of the attorney-general relating to the new school-book law. It is now in force. Tbe law is compulsory. It roust be obeyed by the people. It is entitled to a fair trial. The new books will be used the coming year. County Superintendent Ellis will soon have the matter in lirst-ciass shape in this county. - The new hooks will be on hand for the coiuinj term of school. This is an important matter for the people, fctudy the law carefully. The Law Compulsory. Delphi Times. The school book ring has received a blow ii the house of its friends. The attorney-genera' says that the new school booklawiscompulsorj on trustees. If they do not voluntarily be; the law they may be compelled to by mandate. There is no penalty, but trustees can enforce the law by suspension or other punishment where parents refuse to purchase books pro vi'ied by law. The Indiana book company tiat filed a bond of äl-VM. and the governor ha proclaimed the law in force. Not Running a Juuk Shop. Portland Sun. Several republican editors in these part seem to be terribly exercised because, in exchanging the new school books for the old ones, the Indian school book company says it it able to allow but from 1 to 3 cents each for old books. Suppose it is not, what of it! The company is not running a junk shop foi the pnrchae of waste pper. and even if ii were, there is no principle of barter or traffic that singles out this company as one thai should pay more for an article than it is worth. Th Isne Next Spring. fI!looniieM PemoTat. Democrat school teachers should go a little slow in seliinr oat to Van Antwerp, Bragg A; Co. We would think just as much of them if they sold to republicans in any other kind of a campaign. There will be no other issue in the election of trustees next spring and it will be the main issue in tha state election next year. II w ho is not for ui is airainst ns. How can yoti work for Van Antwerp, Brag Sc Co. now and against them next April? Go a little slow be fore you get your foot in it. At the End of Their Rope. Lofnport Pharos. The new school-book law is in force. Got. TJovey having issued his proclamation to that etl'ect. The attorney general says that the law is sound, and as it is the law must be enforced. Certain republican newspapers have done ell in their power to cast disfavor on the law, but they are about at the end of their rope. They roust now either stand bv the statute or et themselves up ai law defiers. Think of It. New Albany Ledger. If by the new law one-half or even onefourth of the cost of school books is saved to the people, the aggregate will in a few years amount to a very large sam. Its friends claim this result as certain, and it is certainly worthy of trial. At all events, the new law is in force until it it repealed, ani it is the daty of every law-abiding school officer to give it earnest and intelligent support Unfit and Trencheroa Officials. Columhns Herald. The people ere in favor of the new schoolbook law and it looks as if there was something wrong, when the people's public servants county superintendents, teachers and trustees use their positions to defeat the law. The officers or teachers who throw obstacle in tbe way of the law should not hold their places for a moment. They are unfit and treacherous tt their trusts. A perfect complexion, free from pimple r blemish is very rarely seen, because few people have perfectly pore blood. And yet, all disfiguring eruptions are easily removed hy the use of Ayer'i Sarsaparilla. Try It, and surprise yonr friends with the result. Pitcher's Cactoria.