Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1900 — Page 7

POLITICS OF THE DAY

GAGE AND STANDARD OIL BANK. On July 2 last the government sold to .the Standard Oil National City Bank the old Custom-House property at Wall and William streets for $3,265,000. The sale was made under provisions of a special act of Congress providing that the purchaser of the old Custom-House should permit the government to continue to occupy it until the new Cus-tom-House was ready for occupancy, the government to pay as tenant of the old building 4 per cent upon the purchase price, or about $130,000 a year. The day after the sale James Stillman, President of the National City Bank, went to Washington, thklng with him a certified check, drawn on his own bank, for $3,225,350-all but $40,000 of the lull price agreed upon. This Check Mr. Stillman personally handed to Secretary Gage, who immediately handed it back to President Stillman to be deposited without Interest in the National City Bank. In other words, none of the three and a quarter millions of dollars which the National City Standard Oil Bank paid the government for the United States Custom-House six months ago has ever for one hour passed out of the bank’s control. The bank has had not only the use of the money every day since to loan out at interest for its own profit, but it has at the same time been receiving rent from the government for the Custom-House. The old proverb that one cannot eat a cake and keep it is thus set at defiance, for the National City Bank owns the Custom-House and yet retains the money it paid for the Custom-House. Secretary Gage has never turned the proceedings into the Treasury, as required by section 4 of chapter 337, under the terms of which the sale was made. The $40,000 “held back” was for another purpose. The deeds of the Cus-tom-House are still in the Treasury Department at Washington. The title to’ the property has not therefore passed to the National City Bank, and the city of New York can collect no taxes upon the land, as it is nominally government property, although the National City Bank owns and receives rent for it. 'rhe $40,000 held back was therefore merely a legal excuse for not proving the title, and for evading taxation. The law authorizing the sale of this property was as follows: Chapter No. 337, Section No. 4—That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to sell at public or private sale, to the highest bidder, after due advertisement, but for not less than $3,000,000, the present Custom-House property in the city of New York, bounded by Wall, William and Hanover streets and Exchange place, and to deposit the proceeds of Jhe sale, after the payment of the usual incidental expenses, in the United States Treasury as miscellaneous receipts derived from the sale of government property. Section 3,617, Revised Statutes—The gross amount of all moneys received from whatever source for the use of the United States, except as otherwise provided for in the next section, shall be paid by the officer or agent receiving the same into the Treasury at as early a date as possible. 3,618, Revised Statutes—All proceeds of . sales of old material, condemned stores, supplies or other property of any kind shall be deposited and covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts on account of “proceeds of government property,’’ and shall not be withdrawn or applied except in consequence of a subsequent appropriation made by law. These facts are admitted by Secretary Gage's subordinates as to the deposit of the check in the National City Bank. The only defense is (first by Supervising Architect Taylor of the Treasury) that the money was “covered into the Treasury,” in the language of the law, when it was placed In the government depository, the Standard Oil Bank. Chief Daskan, of the public money division, said vouchers showing the money had been received by the government were in bis possession. “The money,” said he, “very likely ws* never covered into the Treasury, but deposited in some one of the government depository banks.” He did not know why the property was still being recorded as in the government’s possession and thus kept off the city tax books. “That,” he said, “was not the government’s business. It was for the New York Tax Department” Four transactions of the government with the National City Bank have netted the favored institution these profits: PROFITS. Profit on Union Pacific—Payments of *33,000,000 In part distributed among the United States depos- ’ Itorles by National City Bank, but the greater part retained by the National City Bank on deposit** 350,000 Profit on "financing” the payment of the *20,000,000 indemnity to Spain-estimated *OO,OOO Profit on Custom House Deal—lnterest on *8,265,000 for 180 days, at 6 per cent., *98,8*7; rent from United States Treasury Department for 180 days at 4 per cent., *64,224; city taxes saved for 180 days, *36,000 196,581 Annual Interest on Internal Rev- ' enue receipts and other Government deposits in the City Bank, now *17,000,000, an Increase of *4,000,000 since Dec, 2, wh«ta the met report of the bank was published 1,020,000 Total estimated profit to the National City Bank from Government favors shown since Secre- -

profit from Government favors on the capitallß6 per cent. -New York World. McKinley ism as a Luxury. That the election of William McKinley has proved an expensive-experi-ment, amounting to a luxury nor of any benefit to a free people, is demonstrated every day. If the country ha* not been plunged into the worst financial distress it ever experienced is due to the good luck of* famine, increase of demand for American productions, quality of workmanship and various other causes not connected with anything Mr. McKinley has ever advocated or brought to us any more than a comet is the cause of the measles. In fact every act of bis administration has been in direct violation of the public welfare and for the advantage of special Interests and private concerns. Our burden of taxation is now so heavy that the public treasury is overladen with the people’s money, and there is no way devised to get rid of !t other than to turn it over to the same speculators that put McKinley in office. Here is the official record, and It Is a very bad showing for any administration to give the people in justification of its retention in power. The treasury deficit In three years of McKinley is: 1897 ;*18,054,000 1898 38.048,00 c 1899 88,897,000 The Government revenues by years during McKinley's administration, have been: 1897 *847,721,000 1898 402,321,000 1899 517,216,000 Total .*1,269,258,000 The administration has spent during its term these vast sums: 1897 *365,775,000 1898 443,368,000 1899 605,093,000 Total *1,414,536/000 Deficit for three years. - 144,978,000 In the revenue received are included $383,000,000 from bonds, Pacific railroads and war revenue, which are extraordinary revenues. Lacking these, the deficit would have reached $532,978,000, a sum greater than for any three years during the life of the nation except the civil war. The total debt in 1896 was $1,769,940,323. Now it is $1,991,927,323. Our annual interest has increased by $4,409,438. In 1896 our public debt was $25 per capita. Now it is $29 per capita. There is not much comfort in this showing, and had it been a Democratic administration that brought such a financial climax upon the country the Republicans would have riven the country asunder in their denunciations. If three years of Republican misgovernment can effect such stupendous results, Its capacity for further mischief In five more years will be perceived by a generation to come in the burdens placed upon their necks.

Bryan’s Chance*. That William J. Bryan’s chances for election to the Presidency in 1900 are excellent cannot be doubted, although the Republicans are boasting that McKinley has a “sure thing.” It is a significant fact that 34,000 votes cast in the right States in 1896 for Bryan would have made him President A slight change of ballots in four Southern States would have defeated McKinley. This being the case, the present incumbent of tike White House is far from having a “sure thing.” Bryan secured one of the Kentucky electors and McKinley got the other twelve by a plurality not exceeding 281 votes. The other three States of the South were carried by McKinley by a plurality vote of 3,837 in Delaware, 11,487 in West Virginia and 32,232 in Maryland. California gave McKinley eight out of the seventeen electoral votes by a plurality of only 1,922, while Indiana gave the Republican candidate a plurality of 18,181. This makes a total of about 34,000, which changed for Bryan would have made him President. Circumstances have changed greatly in Bryan’s favor since 1896. The Republicans have made blunders, have broken faith and are on the defensive. Imperialism has become an issue; the trusts have aroused vast hostility among the people, financial panics are threatened through Republican mismanagement McKinley represent* the millionaire* and the aristocrats, Bryan represents the people; therefore his Chances for election in 1900 are bright and the McKinley “sure thing” is becoming an empty boast—Chicago Democrat

Profit on Other People’s Money. The President of the Pint National Bank of Indianapolis, on retiring after fourteen years’ service, thus congratulates his fellow magnates: “I congratulate the officer* and stockholder* of our enterprise. The bank has been in operation fourteen years under my control, with a capital stock of $500,000. In the meantime it has voluntarily returned $500,000 of capital stock back to the stockholders, besides paying them In dividends $1,496,250, part of which is tn gold, and I now turn It over to you with it* capital unimpaired and $327,000 of undivided earnings on band. To this may be added the premium of United States bonds at present.price*, amounting to $36,000, beside* quite a large amount for lost or destroyed bill*.” It does not appear that any of them shook hands with the depositors, and when this particular bank is multiplied by five thousand other banks, all con. gratulating one another, It does seem as if the depositor* deserve a word Of praise.

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.

NOTES OF INTEREST ON AOR CULTURAL TOPICS. What Every Farmer Needs-. Weak Swarms of Bees—Keeping Onions Over Winter, etc. Whs; Every Farmer Needs. Every farmer should have something, that he can call a shop, which should contain forge, anvil, vise, two or three pairs of tongs, two or three wrenches, brace and set of bits, square, try square, three saws, hand axe, two planes, chisel, cold chisel, claw hammer, case of bolts from one inch in length to six inches, rivets, washers, some good timber for repairing, and should be a catchall for hoes, shovels, chains, picks, etc. Weak Swarms of Bees. When a swarm of bees is found at the close of the season light In weight it is generally better policy to destroy it than to try to keep it through the winter. The weak swarm is probably already infested with bee worms, and the sooner the propagation of these is arrested the better, as their increase makes greater danger for all the swarms next season. If the weak swarm is destitute of a queen its bees may be transferred to a larger and stronger swarm with advantage to both, though in : line cases more food must be provided for the strong swarm after this addition, to enable it to winter without loss. Keepieg Onions Over Winter. Either keep onions constantly but a few degrees above freezing, having a thermomenter and a kerosene stove In the celler ready for emergencies, or else lay them eighteen inches thick on the floor in some outbuilding, and as soon as cold weather sets in with freezing temperature, cover with swamp hay, not far from two feet in depth, with about the same thickness of hay between the onions and the side of the building. Do not uncover or disturb in any way until freezing weather is past, nor then until just about ready to sell. It will be best for the frost to come ouf before any of the hay is removed, but if it is desired to market before the frost would naturally leave, then take off a part, never all. of the hay to promote thawing. When cellar-kept, they would better be on platform and piled not over ten inches deep.—New England Homestead. Wby Asparagus Should Be Cultivated, The cultivation of asparagus was general in nearly every portion of Europe more than four hundred years ago. It was gathered in its wild state and also cultivated in the gardens. It was highly prized both for Its medicinal qualities and as a nutritious article of food. Our forefathers brought the seed with them to this country, where it has become, with proper <-are and attention, one of the vegetables most highly prized for our tables and most salable in the markets. Since this plant was first appreciated for its excellent qualities as a medicine, its popularity has been established, but, within the past few years the rabidity with which Its cultivation has extended In this country has been most noticeable. This vegetable should find a place and receive careful attention in every kitchen garden in our rural districts. A good bed, once established, is a sure source of pleasure, if not of profit, and can be made one of both. Its worth is enhanced by the fact that it is about the first vegetable we can have in the early spring, and is such an addition to our bill of fare, usually limited at that time, besides being nutritious and palatable. With proper cultivation, this article of diet can be available through spring and summer, and, since it is one of the vegetables most successfully canned, it is extensively in demand through the winter.—Atlanta Journal.

Istenxive Wheat drowieg. In Belgium they sow a small piece of a few square rods with wheat, sowing seed broadcast, and rather thickly, usually in September. They then prepare a field by plowing deeply in narrow furrows, putting on edge several times, and then harrowing with fine harrow to kill any weeds that may come. It is, however, left in the rough furrow after the last plowing, which gives a ehance for the frost to pulverize the soil, and kill Insect eggs or pupa. In the spring this field Is heavily manured, plowed, harrowed, and finally raked with an Iron-toothed rake. A marker then marks rows ten inches apart, and furrows two or three inches deep are made along the marks. Another takes up the plants from the bed where the wheat was sown in the fall, separating them to single plants and rejecting any poor ones. These plants are put in the furrows about four Inches apart, the roots well covered with soil and then patted down solid with the back of the shovel. At times the soil is stirred with a hoe and all weeds killed. Where four or five work together, each doing his or her own part of the work, for women and children assist at it, the transplanting is done very rapidly. The plants being strong stood out to thirty or forty stems each, the ground is well covered, and it Is said 100 bushels per acre is a common yield, and from that to 150 bushels. A three-acre field is a large one there, but it yields as much as many twenty-acre fields In this country. laibor is more abundant than land, but a little seed on a little land produces a large crop. The seed wheat

is carefully selected of plump, sound grains, uniform in size, though ft does not cost SIOO a pound, like the new variety they are offering out west Who will try this method here.—Farm, Field and Fireside. Skeltering Fan* Aaimals, The relative value of stall-fed or out-door-fed farm animals in winter is undoubtedly well understood by those who have experimented with both methods. Shelter in inclement weather 1* good for cattle, sheep, poultry and all farm creatures. They should not be exposed to storms or severe weather either in summer or winter. Otherwise it is essential to their good health that they have plenty of outdoor exercise and fresh air. There are two extremes in this as in other cases. A stall-fed animal kept closely confined all winter is not nearly as strong and healthy as the animal fed outdoors in pleasant weather, aud in sheds or barns in cold and inclement weather. When eating, cows in particular should be sheltered from very cold or bad weather. They can digest their food much better when their systtem is not called upon to exercise special functions to keep up a high supply of heat. Dairy cows fed out in the cold will differ as much in their milk flow as possible from those fed In warm, pleasant barns or sheds. Probably the dairy cows need more pampering than any of our other farm animals. and they can be kept housed all winter to the material profit of the owner. But beef cattle do not require this, nor should they have it. They should have shelter from the cold at nights and in inclement weather, aud a quiet shed to stand in when eating their food in similar rough weather; but otherwise they should be kept out of doors. The beef cow is laying on fat ail the time, and this fat keeps out the cold and enables her to stand weather that the dairy cow could not. The-drain upon the dairy cow in winter is such as to keep her from laying on fat. and any sudden chill or cold will quickly check the flow of milk. The two animals need very different treatment. Sheep are like the beef cattle, and are even hardier with their thick layers of wool. They can stand weather that would make the fat steer flinch. Nevertheless, the sheep require far more shelter than is frequently accorded them. Especially do they need sheds in which they can stay while feeding in inclement weather. It is a general fact, however; that many sheep growers do not even provide feeding sheds for their sheep in wjntter. This is uot only a shame and a crime against the animals which feed and clothe us. but it i.s a direct source of waste to the short sighted owner. It is a small expense to provide feeding sheds for the sheep, where on very cold and stormy days the animals will collect and stay. On pleasant days give them their feed outside.—E. P. Smith, in American Cultivatpr. Skim Milk The value of skimmilk for feeding to swine has been estimated and figured upon many times by the exper* ment stations, and they very nearly agree upon a rate of 20 to 25 cents a hundred pounds, or 2 to cents a gallon, when it is used at the rate of two to three pounnds to one pound of corn meal. We should rate it even more valuable for young pigs and calves, and for these it is imjiortant that it should be sweet. For thjs reason many are insisting that it should lie pasteurised, or raised to a temperattire of about 160 degrees, at the creameries before being returned to the farmer. The Wisconsin experiment station reports of some tests made there in heating the whole milk to 160 degrees before putting it in the separator. The skimmilk from that so heated kept sweet in hot summer weather at least 24 hours longer than that which had not been heated to above 80 degrees or 85 degrees before separating. Not only Is such milk better for the animals to which it is fed, but it can be carried home in the cans in which the whole milk has been taken to the creamery, and as it does not sour on the road. It does not taint the cans, as did the milk which had npt been heated. In Germany an order was issued some years ago that all creameries should heat their skimmilk up to 185 degrees, not only to keep it sweet, but to destroy germs of tuberculosis, if there were any, also that all separator slime must be burned. Still longer will the skimmiik keep sweet If it is immediately cooled after the beating. What with area ting, pasteurizing and cooling mlllr it seems possible to so nearly destroy all the undesirable bacteria In it that there will be no necessity for using preservatives in it to keep it sweet, even if the law did not prohibit their use. We were glad when any state enacted a law. because when we believed such a material un--1 wholesome, at least for infants and all persons with weak digestion, and still more because we saw that where It passed from farmer to the shipper, and from him to the retailer, If each thought fit to add a preservative it would possibly become a poisonous dose for anybody. ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth” because each one added the salt to It from a fear that it would be like a previous dish that no one salted.—Tennessee Farmer.

And Still He Lives.

“The heels on these shoes wore away before the sole,” remarked the practical man. “That reminds me of shipwreck;” said the funny man. . “A shipwreck? In what way?” “Why, the ‘sole survivor* par* of it”

WASHING GOLD IN SALT WATER

How Alaska’s Black Band May Be Made to Yield Its Wealth. “There’s millions of gold in black sand,” said H. A. Frederick, a Seattle man of experience in the Klondike, “and I believe 1 have hit upon a plan to get it out. You know this black sand is about as heavy as the gold, and in panning, as ordinarily done with' cold water, the gold and the sand either go out of the pan together and are lost, or they stay in the bottom, and are of no more use than if they were lost. On a claim I had in the Yukon country we only got $32 out of the black sand for a whole season, and I knew that we were losing a whole lot, and that there ought to be some way of getting at it So I experimented with hot water, which was not unusual, but 1 added some salt to it, and found an improvement. 1 took an iron bucket holding two gallons, filled it about onethird full of sand, put in a double handful of salt, filled it with water, and set it on the fire to boil. As it boiled I stirred ft, like you would stir apple butter, or as we stir 'dog the Klondike, and then poured it off into the pans. I don’t know what effect the salt had, but when I put a little quicksilver into the pans I'll be blamed If I didn’t get every particle of gold there was. "Then I went nt H on a large scale, and with the sand that was before practically valueless, I got fifty-two ounces for one day's work by three men. This gold was worth about SBSO. or, say sl6 an ounce. I'm going to Cape Nome in the spring, where there are tons and tons of this black sand that cannot be or has not been worked, and, I'm going to utilize the salt seawater, and get rich. You see if I don’t.”

QUEER STORIES

When the President sits at a dinner table even, as the host, and there are ladies present, he is always served first, as are all other rulers. It is an old custom observed iu all countries. One of the strangest streams in the world is in East Africa. It flows in the direction of the sea. but never reaches it. Just north of the equator, and when only a few miles from the Indian ocean, It flows in a desert, when It suddenly and completely disappears. According to a writer in Science, the demand for eagles' plumes to adorn ladies’ hats has suddenly put the turkey buzzard in great jeopardy; because the supply of eagles not lieinfi equal to the demand, buzzards' feathers are substituted for those of the nobler bird. The parliament building in Wellington. New Zealand, is the largest woollen structure in the world. In Wellington and some other New Zealand towns almost every house is constructed of wood. Large churches and important business premises are built of the same material. Prof. Nussbeaum of Hanover has discovered that the plastering in the walls seriously affects the acoustic properties of a room. Any mixture of sand with the plaster spoils the reverberation of musical tones. The best results are obtained by using pure gypsum that has been heated to a white heat. Prof. Ewing, the English physicist, said in a recent lecture, according to The American Electrician, that a Chinese navigator named Hoang Ti so long ago as twenty-four centuries before Christ used a magnet for navigating a fleet of ships. "This presumably was the first use of the mariner's compass. The form in which he is said to have used it was that of a fragment of lodestone, which was floated so as to be free to revolve. Lodestone, it will be remembered, is a natural magnet, consisting of the natural magnetic oxide of iron; The mariner’s compass of Chinese origin was first brought to Em rope in the thirteenth century by a man named Marco Polo. Notwithstanding these early uses of the magnet, the science of magnetism is only 300 years old the present year, as Jt date* from the publication of Gilbert’s famous book in the year 1600.”

Adventure with a Lion.

In his work on the "Zoology of Persia,” Major St. John describes a «tlirllling adventure with a Hon. The Major was riding down the hill leading to the plain of Desht-i-arjeen, on the road to Shiraz, when suddenly lie saw a lioness some thirty yards in front. Having only a small revolver, he cracked his whip and shouted at her, thinking she would bolt. The lioness charged, sprang and eame down under his foot. With so small a pistol it would have been useless to fire, so he spurred his horse, which, however, would not move. The lioness stood on her hind legs and began clawing the horse's hindquarters. The Major leaped to the ground, but not before getting one scratch from the brute’s claw. The horse plunged and reared, knocking over the Donees on one side, and the man on the other, and then bolted. The lioness stood staring at the horse. St John then fired two shots over her head to frighten her, but without effect; she sprang again on the horse’s hindquartera, and both were lost to view. St. John made bls way to a small hamlet not far distant, where he spent the night The next morning the horse was -found quietly grazing. Hi* quarter* and flank* were scored in every, direction with claw-marks, and one wound was . so deep that it bad to be sewed up. In a week the horse was as well a* ever, but he bore the scars for the rest of his life. An unconfirmed rumor never live* more than forty-eight hour*.

RECORD OF THE WEEK

INDIANA INCIDENTS TERSELY 1 TOLD. Beet Sugar Land in the State—Boy Shot and Killed by a Young Ac* qnaintance Determined Suicide in Indianapolis—Value of Broken Heart. Chemist Henry A. Houston, who has charge of the tests of Indiana as a place for the growing of sugar beets, has made a report in which he says that the possibilities of the State as a sugar producer have been sufficiently tested. He finds that the best sugar beet lands in Indiana lie in the northwest section, extending from Newton County up through the Kankakee swamp lands to Elkhart. This section did not make the best showing last year, but during the ten years that experiments have lieen in progress it has shown much the best average. The Kankakee section is declared by Prof. Houston to be as good sugar beet land as can be found in the world, with the possible exception of a portion of California. The beets grown in this region contain an average of 15 per cent of sugar, while the famous German fields seldom produce 18 tier cent in good seasons. Boy Coolly Murders Another. At Augusta Frank Purcell, aged 18, shot and killed Rufus Ross, aged 17. Ross arid several of his friends were giving a stag party. About midnight Puree” came along and, calling Ross to the front gate, asked why he had not been invited. Ross made no reply ami Purcell drew a pistol and shot him. killing him instantly. Purcell was drunk and tried to make his escape, but was overtaken a few miles north of Augusta by a mob. Sheriff Ridgeway and posse took the murderer from the mob and placed him in jail at Petersburg. Cut Off His Hand at the Wrist. John Schimible, 55 years old, was found dead at a house on the south side of Indianapolis. He had taken a common pocket knife and severed his hand from the arm at the wrist, bleeding to death. A deep gash in the forearm indicated that he had first attempted to open an artery at' that point. The wound had bled profusely, but Schmable thought death too slow and then lucked off bis hand. Want SIO,OOO for Breach of Promise. Miss Hattie Barco, a society woman of Covington, has brought suit for $lO,against Stephen Foster of the same place for -breach of promise. She says that Foster, after being her devoted lover for two yours and winning her promise of .marriage, "fepbdiated his contract and warned another.”.

W itbin Onr Borders* New coal field east of Terre Haute. Silk thieves made another raid on Laporte. Smallpox scare at Anderson has collapsed. Diphtheria is spreading in Laporte Comity. Red men of Muncie will put up a $25,tHHI home. Marion thinks of putting up a S3O,<XMt city building. Mid-winter revivals are stirring all corners of Indiana. Anderson electric light plant will be »n----larged $20,000 worth. William 11. Tinsley. Evansville, was instantly killed by a train. Tin plate workers, Hartford City, may build a co-operative factory. Windfall merchants have been ordered to close their stores on Sunday. Indiana Bridge Company, Muncie, is so rushed that it cannot shut down to invoice. Township schools in Porter County have been demoralized by sickness this winter. Edward Steinfelt, Laporte, took a fatal dose of morphine to escape despondency. Successful. Aria Carpenter. Seymour, stabbed Clarence Ray in the back, in a quarrel after a revival. South Bend people will bore into St. Joseph County to see if there is gas at the bottom. Anderson plasterers have established a scale of $3 for eight hours a day, for 1900, after March 1. * Frankfort manufacturers have received an order for 125,000 gunstocks to be shiplied to the Transvaal. Mrs. Erimn VanDnsen, formerly of Evansville, has been appointed United States marshal in Texas. The Lake Shore Railroad has promoted fifty firemen to be engineers, leaving vacancies for fifty new firemen. Frank F. Guenther. Evansville, who was caught in an explosion of fire damp in a coal mine, saved himself by rolling in a pile of slack. Alvah M. Clement, graduate of Worcester. Mass., polytechnic institute, has l>een appointed superintendent of the Rose polytechnic shops at Terre Haute. Mrs. Eliza Killicomiqua. 68. died in the Indian settlement near Peru. She is the daughter of one of the Godfreys and her mother was Frances Slocum’s daughter. ■ William Bushy, farmer near Kpkomo, who shot Orin Springer, a quail hunter, for trespassing, was indicted by the grand jury, charged with murder in the first degree. Albert Cobbs, 36, Rome City, skated into an air holt near Albion. The water was four feet deep, and he' got out. In ■the afternoon he tried it again. Thia time he went into twenty feet of water and drowned. . ; In Elwood fifty pupils of n kindergars ten were ex jawed to a severe ease of diphtheria this week through ignorance of the presence of the disease. As a result fifty homes are quarantined and it is feared that the disease will spread. George M. Laughlin, near Spencer* waa killed while loading hogs. Heavy timber fell on him. County pupils will write essays for the farmers’ institute at Laporte. The three best will be read. • y Marion claims that the big strike she had last summer kept her from leading other cities in building. Union Traction Company has purchased 160 acres along its Indianapolis line, near Fortville, for a park. Company has been formed at Kokomo to manufacture the “telescope buckle” that Earl Graves recently invented. . r?