Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1875 — THE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

THE NEWS.

Several mercantile firms suspended in London on the 16th, with aggregate liabilities of over a million pounds. Telegrams from Santander of the 16th say that the political situation in Madrid caused increasing uneasiness. A rumor prevailed that the Carlists were about to bombard Bilbao. The suspension of the firm of Bennett, Benson & Co., of Quebec, was announced on the 16th, with liabilities estimated at over $1,000,000. The commission to examine the Cus-tom-House building in Chicago reported on the 16th. It is said they recommend the demolition of the entire structure. Dispatches of the 16th say that the difficulties between the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania Railroad Companies had been settled. An explosion occurred in a building used for the manufacture of fireworks in Boston on the 16th, and several lives were lost. The cause of the explosion was unknown. The schedule of Abraham Jackson, the Boston lawyer charged with being a defaulter, shows liabilities $417,720 and assets $171,618. The New Hampshire House of Representatives on the 15th, after a lengthy debate, passed the resolution reported by the Committee on Elections that Raymond and Harding (Democrats) were not entitled to seats—l 73 to 136. A tornado passed over Quincy, 111., on the morning of the 15th, which destroyed property to the value of about SIOO,OOO. Fortunately only one life was lost. Three three-card monte swindlers have recently been tried and convicted by a Chicago jury and sentenced to the Penitentiary—one for three years and the others for one year each. The Minnesota Reform State Convention met at Mfnneapolis on the 16th and nominated Prof. R. F. Humiston for Governor, .T. B. Tuttle for Lieutenant-Gov-ernor, John H. Stevens for Secretary of State and H. D. Brown for Treasurer. A platform was adopted, declaring, among other things, that competency, honesty and sobriety should be considered indispensable qualifications for holding public office, and that removal for mere difference of political opinion is a practice opposed to sound policy. Additional failures were reported in London on the 17th, the following among others: Malcolm, Hudson & Co.; A. Genzales & Co.; Young, Borthwick & Co.; John Anderson & Co.; J. C. Fonlier; Westhead & Co., of Manchester; John Strachan & Co., and Henry Adamson & Sons, ship and insurance brokers. The liabilities of the suspended firms range from $1,000,000 to $12,000,000. Portugal has prohibited the importation of American potatoes. The Boston centennial celebration on the 17th of the battle of Bunker Hill was a complete success in all respets. There were over 300,000 strangers in the city on the occasion. The procession was ten miles long and was over four hours passing a given point. George Washington Warren presided, and the oration was delivered by Gen. Charles Devens, Jr. Gen. Sherman, Govs. Hartranft of Pennsylvania, Beadle of New Jersey, Ingersoll of Connecticut, and Vice-President Wilson made short addresses. The Pennsylvania State Temperance Convention assembled at Harrisburg on the 16th and nominated Hon. Robert Audley Brown for Governor and Elijah F. Henry Packer for State Treasurer. The platform adopted pronounces in favor of woman suffrage and against sectarian schools.

The National Board of Trade, at its session in Philadelphia on the 17th, adopted a resolution expressing its gratification that Congress had fixed a day for the resumption of specie payment, but begged Congress to place at the earliest period all possible means in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury for the execution of the law providing for resumption at the time named. The Ohio Democratic State Convention met at Columbus on the 17th and renominated Hon. Wm. Allen for Governor. The remainder of the ticket is as follows: For LieutenantrGovemor, Samuel F. Cary, of Hamilton; Supreme Judge, Thomas Q. Ashburn, of Clermont ; Auditor, E. M. Greene, of Shelby; Treasurer, John Schreiner, of Meigs; Attorney-Gen-eral, Thomas E. Powell, of Delaware; member of the Board of Public Works, H. E. O’Hogan, of Erie. The platform favors limiting the President’s service to one term at a salary of $25,000 a year and demands that the present financial policy of the General Government be abandoned, and that “the volume of currency be made and kept equal to the wants of the trade, leaving the restoration of legal tenders to par with gold to be brought about by promoting the industries of the people and not by destroying them.” Several extensive additional failures in London and Manchester were reported on the 18th. A special to the London Times of the 19th says the King of Burmah, being convinced of his inability to successfully oppose the English, had yielded all the points in dispute, and indicated a desire for peace. The National Board ofTrade adjourned on the 18th, after passing several resolutions relative to transportation, reciprocity with Canada, etc. These declare that experience has shown that the attempt to regulate the details of railroad management is inexpedient, but that certain laws of a general character can be passed and enforced which are both practicable and necc*»ary for the protection of the publio

interest, and favor the appointment of a commission to confer with a like commission on the part of the Dominion of Canada on the subject of reciprocity. Severe earthquake shocks were experienced in some portions of Ohio and Indiana on the 18th. A colored woman at Burlington, lowa, was burned to death on the night of the 18th by the explosion of a kerosene lamp. United States troops are concentrating on the Mexican border, and a man-of-war has been ordered to the mouth of the Rio Grande. St. Louis was visited by a violent thunder and rain storm on the night of the 18th, and many portions of the city were deluged. The storm extended throughout Missouri and portions of Illinois, lowa and Nebraska. On the 17th five men were killed and six injured by a collision between a freight and stock train on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, near Chariton, lowa. E. D. Jewett & Co., of St. Johns, N. 8., lately failed with nearly $6,000,000 liabilities. A dispatch of the 19th from Liverpool makes announcement of the dangerous illness of Lady Franklin and requests the churches of America to pray for her recovery. M. Firman, an American Spiritualist who professed to photograph deceased persons, has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by a Parisian court as a common swindler. The United States Consul at Chen Kiang, China, was recently insulted by some Chinese soldiery. He was compelled to place himself under the protection oi the British Consulate.

On the evening of the 18th a fire broke out in the Government excise buildings in Dublin, Ireland, which, before it was extinguished, destroyed 5,000 casks of whisky and twenty-five houses, worth from $500,000 to $1,000,000. In order to stop the spread of the flames a large quantity of the spirits was turned into the streets, and many of the bystanders gathered it up and drank it. From this cause three had died on the 20th and seventeen were in hospital. A Washington dispatch of the 19th says that a naval force with steam launches had been ordered to the mouth of the Rio Grande to look after our interests there and unite w T ith the army in suppressing Mexican raids.

J. J. Hinds, of Alabama, United States Marshal, and late mail contractor, was recently tried in Washington on a charge of bribing employes of the Postofflce Departmen to alter a bid made by him, and found “not guilty.” There are three other indictments pending against him. A fire in Pittsburgh, Pa., on the morning of the 19th destroyed property in the business portion of the city valued at nearly $1,000,000. Sixty buildings in Grand Rapids, Mich., were burned on the 19th, and thirty or forty familes were rendered homeless. Loss between $200,000 and $300,000. A New Orleans special of the 20tli says a Deputy United States Marshal had arrived ip that city with eight citizens under arrest, charged with intimidation. Rev. 8. D. Hinman, A. Comingo, W. H. Ashley and J. D. Collins (Secretary), members Of the commission to negotiate with the Sioux Indians relative to the Black Hills, have been designated to proceed to the Indian country in advance of the remainder of the commission to ascertain all matters of interest pertaining'to the proposed adjustment of difficulties. On the 21st the French Assembly voted a grant of $120,000 to properly represent France at the United States Centennial. The London committee announced on the 21st that the Carlists had entered Castile, and that they had been well received.

In the course of his address to the jury in the Beecher case on the 21st Mr. Beach said that jurors had been approached in the Beecher interest, to which a member of the jury took exception and stated that envelopes containing extracts from the New York Sun against Mr. Beecher had been sent to the jurymen. Mr. Beach then stated that he could produce evidence of attempts at bribery of the jury by partisans of the defense, and asked the Court when the proofs should be produced. Judge Neilson replied that after the close of the case would be the proper time to submit such evidence. The telescope in the Dearborn Observatory of the University of Chicago has been placed in position. It is said to be one of the largest and best instruments of the kind in the world. The new Chicago City Directory contains 146,133 names, indicating a population of about 438,000.