Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1898 — WASHINGTON. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON.

President McKinley has received Ambassador Hay’s acceptance of the office of Secretary of State, soon to be vacated by Judge William R. Day. Whitelaw Reid, ex-minister to France, hus been offered and has accepted the pluee as ambassador to the court of St. James to succeed Col. Ilay, The legal representative of the Colombian Government called on the Secretary of State at Washington for the purpose of making arrangements in connection with the final settlement of the claim of Italy against Colombia. It is represented by the Colombian Government that when the award was mads by President Cleveland as arbiter there was no provision as to the method of settlement, and the proposition of the Colombian Government is that this question be referred to the United States as arbiter. It is the desire of Colombia that this mutter be settled in a manner to preserve the dignity of the republic. The West Indian weather service was practically inaugurated the other day, when the Washington office, received reports from six of the ton observation stations recently established there. Prof. Willis J. Moore said that the system was now in complete working order and the department would bo enabled to forecast tho terrible West Indian hurricanes that for years have swept the Atlantic coast without warning. The whole group of islands has been plotted and meteorological cohditions are charted daily at the recently established stations. It was feared that the West Indian service might be hampered by delays in the cablegrams, but Prof. Moore stated that the reports daily reached the Washington office within an fiour and a half after the observations were made. Every effort was put forth to get the West Indinu service in working order, as the hurricane season is approaching. 1 The officials are much gratified at the success of their efforts. It is believed that for the first time in history warning can be given of the. ap'proach of the pext of- these disastrous storms that are born-in the vicinity (ft the Windward Islands. The vacancy in the Washington bureau caused by the death of Prof. Morrill hjas been filled by the promotion of Pyof.'H. C. Frankitafield, now on duty at St. Louis, to be national forecasted on duty at Washington.