Ligonier Banner., Volume 29, Number 22, Ligonier, Noble County, 6 September 1894 — Page 6

HEMMED IN BY FIRE.

Awful Destruction of Life in

Northern Forests.

HNineteen Towns in Minnesota and Wissonsin Totally or Partially Destroyed —Qver 400 Lives Lost—Terrible ) Scenes at Hinckley, Minn,

PDETAILS OF THE CATASTROPHE.

CricAago, Sept. B.—Reports from the portions of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin in which the forest fires are mow raging show that the condition of affuirs there is more than terrible. The loss of property, at a low estimate,” has . already reached $12,§OO,OOO, not including the standirg timber - that has been destroyed. But even worse is the loss of life which, it is feared, will reach as high as 1,000. Nearly 400 cases of persons having perished have already been received, while the reports as they continue to come in are increasing the list. The best information is thdt.about twenty towns have already Been destroyed, driving thousands of families from their homes in the face of the flames. ) The Loss of Life. Up to last reports the estimates of the lives lost in the fires at different points in the two states are as given in the following list, and it is feared the list is far below the actual destruction ®f human life: . Ty A IV 11 T ee e R e oo e T e Sandstone, MINND. ... cccesecsstcsios ssesasasceess 40 Bandstone Junction........covevveeeenaseesns. 23 Pokegama, MiIM. ... cocccoecoeececresoecasnaass 2D Skunk Lake, Minn.....coovieeeiencrennsannes.. 20 Shell Lake, Minn.......cc.icee cooscesoosnces s 1 Miscellaneous pointS......ceeeieiiennncnen... 40 TOtal, .ot i s i i eeree e ea.. .. 466 The publication of a list of the dead is deferred until fuller reports are received. Besides those who perished there are scores who were severely burned or otherwise badly injured while trying to escape. _ List of Towns Destroyed. The following towns are reported 2ither wholly or partially destroyed: Buashaw, Burnett county, Wis.; Barronett, Barron county, Wis.; Benoit, Wis.; Ewen, Mich: Fifield. Pime county, Wis.; Granite Lake, Barron county, Wis.; Grantsburg, Burpett county, Wis.; Glidden, Ashland county, Wis.; Hinckley, Pine county, Minn.; Mission Creek. Pine county, Minn.; Marengo, Ashland ecunty, Wis.; Milaca, Pine county, Minn.; Muscado, Grant county, Wis.; Shell Lake. Washburn county, Wis.: South Range, Douglas ‘sounty, Wis.: Sidnaw, Houghton county, Mich; Sandstone, Minn.; Trout Creek, Mich. ’ The Losses. The losses at Hinckley and Barronett were each over $1,000,000, while the losses at the other towns reported destroyed range from $lOO,OOO to $500,00, accordiny to latest advices. The loss in Washburn was estimated at $300,000.

THE DESTRUCTION OF HINCKLEY.

Terror-Stricken Residents Perish While Fleeing From the Flames.

Pixe Crty, Minn., Sept. 3.—The town of Hinckley has been wiped out by fire and not less than 200 people perished in the flames. The walls of the schoolhouse, the iron fence about the town hall property: the bank . vault and one absolutely uninjured outhouse are all that is left to mark the site where on Saturday stood a score of store buildings and a dozen times as many dwellinghouses. The story of the catastrophe is a short one. . The town was built of wood. The schoolhouse erected last year at a cost of 810,000 and one-half the Duluth roundhouse were the only brick structures in the city. ‘ The fire first struck Hinckley on the east side of the Duluth track and the brave fire-fighters for the first time gave up the unmequal battle and, already too late in many instances, tmrmed their attention to their personal safety. The Eastern Minnesota train from the south had just come in and the people of the panicstricken city flocked to it for safety. A number of Dbox cars weve coupled on and filled and covered with men, women and children. Some were bareheaded, some were coatless, some few clutched a pitiful bundle of the more precious of their portable possessions. Families were separated. Children joined the throng arid left parents. In all there was a motley crowd of about 450 or more peog‘,fl:, The train pulled out just ahead of the fire and succeeded in ultimately reaching Duluth. :

The people who were left in the eity were in what seemed to be an almost hopeless condition. Egress by the only means of transportation that could Gope to distance the swiftly advancg flames was out of the question. Horses were harnessed to buggies and wagons. ‘Women and children were hurriedly loaded; in some cases attempts were made to carry out some household goods, but in most instances the people had mo thought for aught but their lives. Probably 200 of them left town on foot or in vehicles, plunging into the woods to the north, across the Grindstone river, which skirts the town on the north. They were literally flying before the pursuing demon of fire. Over the hill that rises beyond the Grindstone is a swamp, and to this most of the people with teains headed, but it proved no protection. The fire gave them no opportunity to go farther. Some abandoned their teams.and ran into the lower portions of the morass, but the fire sought them out. Not one was left to tell the tale, and there, in a space of little more than four or five acres,were sounted over 130 'corpses. There were many families of five, six and seven, and there they lay, the men generally a little in advance, the mother surrounded by her little ones, cut off by the most borrible of deaths.

Nearly all the bodies were nude, the fire having burned every vestige of their clothing and blackened and e¢harred many of the corpses beyond recognition, and whole families were wiped out .as they were and some of the bodies completely incinerated. Identification. is absolutely out of the question., Those who fled to the north on foot followed the Duluth track, and so rapid was the progress of the flames that many of them were actually burned as they fled, falling on the right of way for a distance of 3 miles or more. Nearly shirty bodies were recovered along here. T Some Were Drowned. Just east of the city limits of Hinckley is an immense gravel pit, covering at least ten acres. In its center tvas a pool of stagnant water 3 feet in depth. Hito this rusbed many citizens. There were probably a hundred of them, and in addition to the human beings quite a number of domestic animals, horses, cows, oxen, pigs, ehickens, ete., rought safety here. It was really the safest place about Hinckley. The people went in here

as the eastern train pulled out a few minutes after 4 o’clock and here they remained uutil after tB, while the smoke and flames from the burning city rolled over their heads. They dashed water over each other and covered their heads with cloths to prevent suffocation. One unknown man succumbed to the smoke or the terrible strain and fell in the water and was drowned. S

Others of the citizens sought refuge in the Grindstone river, under the abuttments of the two railway bridges and the foot bridge. The exact number cannot be known, as they were scattered along a considerable stretch of the little stream. That many escaped: and some were drowned is well known. Mrs. Martin Martinson and her four flaxenhaired little babes were taken from the water's edge Saturday morning, as pitiful a sight as man’s eye ever witnessed. They were not touched by flames, but suffered the more merciful death by water.’

Hinckley Destroyed.

In the meantime Hinckley was burning. The flames leaped from building to building with almost the rapidity of an electric spark. Everything was tinder dry. There was not even one brick wall to stay for a moment the work of destruction, and all went up in smoke. About two hundred and fifty dwellings with all their household treasures, twenty stores and all their stocks of goods, including the immense general establishment of the, Brennan Lumber company, two hotels, the Central and Morrison; the railway depots, and the new Dbrick school, the town hall, the Duluth roundhouse, the three bridges and at last the plant of the Brennan Lumber company, saw'mill, planing mill stables, lumber yard and all. This institution was the pride of Hinckley, and the backbone of its prosperity. . ‘ Collecting the Dead. As night closed in the people began to come out from their hiding places and maske their way over the hot em‘bers of their city. They were absolutely dazed by the catastrophe and the night was spent in an endeavor to find relatives or ascertain their whereabouts. When the morning broke a few energetic spirits began to organize the work for the recovery of the bodies. The searchers were divided into parties. Between the riverand Skunk lake forty-one were found. Citizen volunteers harnessed up the available vehicles saved in the gravel pit and went out to the swamp across the Grindstone. They brought in ninety - six bodies, which were carried out to the desolate © burying ground 1 mile east of town. There was neither time nor opportunity to observe the sacred formalities usually surrounding death. The excitement: of the occasion, the horrible experience through which the living had passed, and the more horrible form in which death had come to the lost had temporarily blunted the finer sensibilities and the dead were heaped high on the wagons and laid in piles in the cemetery. The ninety-six bodies brought into this point were examined by many of the surviving residents of Hinckley, and but four could be identified. Those who brought in the bodies from the swamp reported that there were at learst thirty-five other bodies out there. _

Whole Families Perished.

Out on the government road .to the east was found the Best family of six persons—father, mother and four children. Best was a prosperous farmer living just out of town. Here, also, were recovered the bodies of the three unfortunate creatures who lived at the stockade.

Near Skunk lake was found a family consisting of father, mother and seven children. Of another family of which there were five children only the father escaped. There was a settlement of about thirty people near this lake and but two are known to be alive. In the woods north of town was found a team f magnificent gray horses harnesed tb the remains of a burned wagon. Under the wagon were the bodies of a woman and three children, but the horses were not harmed in the least- and were brought back into town. ’

The total loss of life will never be definitely known. There were scattered through the woods settlers, clearings and lumber camps, with their watchmen, and many people were undoubtedly burned whose bodies were completely destroyed and will never be found. -

Loss of Life at Sandstone.

From Sandstone comes appalling reports. The town has been almost completely destroyed, and fifty or sixty persons have been burned to death. Forty-seven charred bodies have been found. The survivors are suffering greatly for food and shelter. The town of Partridge, across the river, was also burned. )

Losses Elsewhere.

In addition to forty-seven bodies at Sandstone there are twenty at Kettle River Junction. One family is living in a root house and the father is missing. All the settlers in the vicinity are probably burned to death. O’Neill Bros. had twelve camps in the woods near Sandstone and all these . are burned. Most of the inmates, however, are believed to have escaped with their lives. There are about eleven heomeless families at Mission Creek, but they have provisions for about twenty-four hours. Brook Park, 2 miles west of Hinckley, is burned, and there .are about 125 people there, many of whom are in need of immediate relief. . In Wisconsin and Michigan.

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 3.—Forest fires are raging in northern Wisconsin. Whole towns have been wiped out and all telegraphic communication with Ashland, Bayfield and that region is cut off. Terrible forest fires are raging in the vicinity of Rice Lake and the town of Bashaw, 15 milex north.of here, is entirely destroyed. No loss of life is reported. : : 50

Barronett, 8 miles north of Cumberland, and Granite Lake, a small town 4 miles north of Cumberland. were both completely wiped out of existence. The people barely escaped with their lives and have been brought to Cumberland. Four families are still missing and it is thought they may have perished in the flames. ' Fire completely destroyed the town of Marengo, Ashland county, 200 families being left homeless. A loss of about 50,000 was sustained by fire at Muscoda. ° : ;

IsuPEMING, Mich., Sept. 3.—Forest fires are raging at various places in the upper penninsula, At Ewen six buildings burned - Sunday. - The town i 3 threatened and high winds prevail. Two hundred 'men are

fighting the flames. A large amount of timber and farm crops have béen consumed. Nestoria is also threatened. Bridges on the South Shore line near Marengo are all burned and trains abandoned. v

THROUGH A SEA OF FLAME.

Awful Flight of a Train Loaded With Passengers—A Brave Engineer. -

PiNE City, Minn., Sept. B.—The St. Paul & Duluth train No. 4, south bound- with eighty passengers, ran into Hinckley at 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon' and proceeded thence to Mission Creek, 2 miles further south, only to find that village in ashes. Conductor Sullivan issued immediate orders to his crew to back into Hinckley, but before the train, running at 20 miles. an hour, could reach Hinckley the place was in flames. The train stopped at the depot one fatal minute, during® which the woodwork of the engine and the baggage car caught fire. The train quickly resumed its backward journey toward Duluth, ggd the very motion of the cars fanned the flames to a fury and they soon enveloped the sleepers, passenger coaches and the smoker.

A Train on Fire.

While ‘the train was stopping at Hinckley nearly 200 panic-stricken people of the place rushed upon the platforms and into the cars. When they discovered the train on fire they began to moan, shout and pray, which, with the awful roar of the flames, made a horrible picture. = A mile out of Hinckley people on the platfbrms, rendered frantic lunatics by the heat and their terror, began to jump from the cars and plunge into streams, into sand heaps or into the smoke-encompassed forest. A little farther on those in the cars, stifled with smoke,began to smash the windows of the coaches in a frantic attempt toget a breath of fresh air. Driven back by the flames eating their way up the sides of the freshly varnished coaches, they . stood in baffled amazement for a moment, when dozens of them in sheer desperation tumbled themselves out through the open spaces to the ground below, some being instantly killed by the fall and others lingering in the horrible heat and smoke until suffocated. o Took Refuge in the Lake. !

In spite of the fact that the train was on fire from engine to rear end the crew bravely stood at their posts and ran the train back 6 miles to Skunk lake, where the passengers rushed out and into ‘the water. Some of them were in such a state of exhaustion that they were unable to walk, and half a dozen were entirely unconscious. All of these latter were rolled in the mud and laid on their backs just far enough out mmto the lake to keep the water from running into their mouths. : All around the lake the forests were roaring like the furnace of an imaginary 1,000,000 horse-power engine. Many of the people in the water stood: and offered prayers in a loud voice for deliverence. The scene was one of the most remarkable ever witnessed.

Hero of the Throttle.

Emngineer James Root, who had so bravely piloted the train through that awful 6 miles of fire, was found to be fatally burned.” He stood faithfully at his post with his clothes afire, and manfully battled to save the lives of those on his train. Conductor Sullivan, cool and collected all through the awful journey, after it was all over, became a raving maniac. A little later he was put aboard a special‘ and taken to a Duluth hospital. : :

SIX NEGROES SHOT.

Arrested for Barn-Burning, They Are Put to Death by a Mob.

NAsSHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 3. —A mob of armed and masked farmers intercepted an officer on his way to Millington with six negro prisoners at 11 o'clock Fiiday night and shot the handcuffed prisoners dead in the wagon in which they were being hauled to jail for trial. . Recently there have been' a number of fires in the vicinity of Millington under such circumstances as to indicafe that they were the work of an organized gang of incendiaries. Cotton gins, numerous barns and other outhouses, and one or two dwellings have been burned and the diabolical work culminated in the destruction of the buildings on the fair grounds at Millington. Several negroes were charged with complicitycin these deeds of arson, and yesterday evening Deputy Sheriff Kichardson arrested Dan Hawkins, Glenn White, Warner Williams, John Hughes, Ed Hall and Robert Haines, all colored, on warrants charging them with the crime. ;

The arrests were made at Keeville, which is a station on the Chesapeake & Ohio, below Millington. The prisoners were to have had a preliminary hearing before a justice of the peace at Millington. The deputy and one guard, a white man named Atkins,

tarted for that point with the prisoners, who were chained together in a wagon. As the party neared big creek bridge. a very lonely spot in a dense forest and cane brake, almost a jungle, a voice from out th& thicket was heard to say: ‘“‘Turn to the right —the bridge is down.” The deputy, who was on horseback, ordered Atkins, who drove the wagon containing the prisoners, to turn into a narrow road leading to the forks. As they did so a band of about fifty armed men appeared and demanded the prisoners. The deputy remonstrated with those who seemed to be the leaders of the mob and protested against any violence, but to no purpose. While the officer was being held under cover of revolvers the rest of the mobdrew their weapons and opened a murderous fusilade on the defenseless prisoners. : : One of the prisoners, Hawkins, threw his arms about the white driver, imploring protection, when one of the mob, placing a revolver close to his head, blew the top of nis skull off. The men were not masked, but neither the deputy nor the driver, Atkins, recognized any of them. None of them lives 1n that community, and it was quite dark where the murderous work was done. :

Deputy Richardson immediately apprised the justice of the peace of what had been done. A jury was summoned, consisting of four negroesand eight white men, and an inquest held. The verdict was in accordance with the facts as detailed by the only two witnesses. : ;

Pablic Dept Decreases.

WASHINGTON. Sept. B.—According to the treasury statement the public debt decreased $1,718,654 during August.

THE LABOR COMMISSION.

Concluding Testimonies Submitted Anent the Strike.

George M. Pullman Is Heard—Railroads Count the Cost—Gen. Miles’ Part in the Affair—Mayor Hopkins and His Story.

PULLMAN AS A WITNESS.

CHICAGO, Aug. 20..—George M. Pullman appepred before the 'national labor commission Moanday as a voluntary witness. As president of the Pullman company he told about the organization of the corporation, its flnancial standing, and answered questions regarding the manner in which its affairs are conducted. The object in establishing the town of Pullman, he said, was that convenient homes might be provided for the workmen and that they might enjoy better accommodations than were obtained elsewhere for the same outlay on their part. The advantages gained ‘by residence in the mcdel town were set forth at length by the cfipitalist; Asked about the rent paid by tenants, Mr. Pullman said it was just 6 per cent. on the investment. : .

The capital of the Pullman company, he stated, is $36,000.000.- Being asked about the report that the company had a surplus of §16,~ 000,000, he said that it was more than that. fThe dividends are based upon the capital of 36,000,000, and are 2 per cent. quarterly. He was then asked about the reductions of employes' wages. He replied: *I am not famlliar with the daily workings of the town of Puliman. I will have to refer the commission to the second vice president for these detalls. I will say, however, that for entire months we did - not have an order for a car. I realized that unless something was done there would be suffering at Pullman, and after a consultation with Vice President Wickes I determined to make bids under the actual cost of construction. We did this, and I remember the first order was for fifty-flve cars. I put in a bid for these cars at from 2300 to 8400 below the cost & caf, making up my mind to make this contribution rather than see my men idle. I believe many other car builders in the country felt the same way. As evidence of this the next lowest bid to mine was only 24 higher than mine. On another occasion I bid for a lot of 250 cars at a loss of $l5 on each car, preferring to do this rather than see the freight shops closed. I underbid the next competitor only 81 a car. It ©cost us about &50,000 to keep the men in work a 8 long as T ' dld. I explained all this to Mr. Heathcote, the leader of the strikers. who said to me: ‘We want the wages of '93.” linformed him that was impossible; 1 told him it would be a most unfortunate thing if the wages of 'OB were restored; that there was only six or eight weeks’ work here as it was, and there was none in sight at the rate on which the wages of '6B were based.”

He admitted that the company taking the whole year through had made money, and paid its regular dividends, which ' amounted to about §2.800.000. In explaining why the company chose to reduce wages while paying large dividends Mr. Pullman said: . “Th’i manufacturfng business is separate from the business of the sleeping car company. I see no reason why I should take the profits of the 4,200 stockholders in the Pullman SleepingCar company and pay men a higher rate of wages than was pald in other parts of the country for the same work, or than was paid by other companies for the same work. Because we have been careful and accumulated a surplus I do not see that it is a reason we should take the surplus now and pay'it out for exceptionally high wages.” ; . Concerning arbitration he said: ‘There are some matters that are proper subjects for arbitration, such as a disputed title. But there are others that are impossible of arbitration I cannot arbitrate on a question where I know the facts to be thus and so. The question as to whether our shops shculé continue to run 6t a loss is a thing that could not be arbitrated.”

Q “Why was it tmpossible?”’ A. ‘“Because it violates the principle that a man has a right to manage his own business.” “We make it a condition of return to work that the member of the American Rallway union shall surrender his card. That is the only union we have ever discriminated against, although I believe our men have belonged to other organizations. It is the fixed policy of the Pullman company to retain no one connected in any way with the American Railway union.” ; e

“Were rents reduced when wages went down?" asked Judge Worthington. “They were not. So little income was coming from rents that we could not afford to reduce them further.”

‘“Were your wages and those of the other officers of the company reduced?”’ / ‘They were not.” : “Wyy was this not done?”

" When Mr. Pullman fully recovered from the effect ¢f the audacity of the questions he said it was 20t good policy to reduce the salaries of high oficialg, because men of their caliber were nct easily replaced and would not stand a reductign of any considerable amount. - Losses Occasioned by the Strike.

CHICAGO. Aug 30.—When the labor commission assembled for Tuesday's session several railroad officlals who had been summoned tp furnish statemeuts of the losses caused to various roads by the sirlke were heard. Summarized their statements show that the aggregate loss of the Chicago & Alton oad was £286,360; the Lake Shore, damage to cars, $5,154; the Chicago & Eastern Illinois. $123,706; the Burlington, $115,000; the St. Paul, $190,026; ths Northwestern, $562,600.31; Chicago & Erie. $144,788.77. The same statement showed a total losk of wages to employes of $335,935.93

‘Then Mr. Wickes took the stand. Questionsd by Chairman Wright, he said that the cost to the ccmpany of building the cars under contract at the time of the strike was about $1,400,000. The labor would cost about §240,000. The contracts were taken on a basis of a reduction of 20 per cent. and thus under the old prices the labor would eost about $340,000. On this basis Mr. Wright said that, according to the testimony of Mr. Wickes, the company had contributed $52,000 for the purpose of securing thase contracts and keeping the people employed and the wage earners $60.000. ‘ The wages of workmen had been raised, Mr. Wickes said, time and again where there had been no request from the men. The company’s officers were always ready to pay every man for his skill; but, too, they were entitled to just profits . occurring from the use of improved machinery. Witness had been in close touch with labor men for the past twenty-six years. He thought the present principle of operation had worked admirably until last May. In the works of the Pullman companyy at Wilmington and at St. Louis there had never been any trouble of any kind. He thought that if there had been no outside interference there the men would not have gone on strike. The company was preparing an investigation and a statement of its actual condition to set before the men when the strike was called. That statement would have been identical with the one given in evidence before the commission. The subject of-arbitration and the Pullman company's refusal to arbitrate with its former employes was taken up by Commissioner Kernan. The witness thought that the question of wages could not be submitted to arbitration. An employer knew what he could afford to pay for the work needed and that was a fixed amount. It could vary only as profits to the manufacturer change The Pullman company had never objected to unions except in ony instance. = The objection to the American Rallway union. was that the company would not treat with its men through any union. It would treat with them individualdyonly: o o : Gen. Nelson A. Miles took the stand when the commission met after luncheon. In answer to questions he said his occupation was ‘major general of the TUnited States army. He denied flatly the story that en his arrival here from Washington he had at once consulted with the general managers. On July 2, when this conference was ssid to have taken place, he was {n Washington, and he ‘arrived here on July 4 Asked fif it was true that he had declared’ he had broken the backbone of the strike, the general said this was not quite exact. What he said was that he had broken the backbone of the opposition to the federa: troops. The commissioners wanted to. know if the troops forced rallroad men to work at the point of the bayonet. Gen. Miles said that while this might have happened in some instances, he had not been aware of it and had {ssued no orders to that effect. He said he knew nothing about the strike. That the troops were ordered here by the president to see that the decrees of the Uuited States ‘courts were enforced, and beyond carrying out such instructions he had nothiug to do with the strike. g

More Testimony Taken.

" 'CHICAGO, Aug. 81.—Chairman Wright has ‘announced that all the witnesses on both sides ;who had been suggested to the commission had been examined, and there remained neo

more evidence to be heard, except what testimony may be added in rebuttal which either side may care to offer. The testimony given on Wednesday was brief and comparatively unimportant. The. first witness was Town Agent Hoornbeck, of Pullman, who was guestioned by Mr. Kernan. He said that he had charge of the houses and real estate in the model town. The witness said that he signed the leases of the }iouses for the company, and produced a form of the lease.

The agent said that in the matter of repairs the company paid all the bills. The repairs on the houses last year amounted to $42,000. The repairs were not charged to the tenants. He could not say why the lease provided for the charging of repairs to the tenants. He only knew that the company did not charge the tenant with repairs. v The Rock Island road furnished about thirty witnesses from Blue Island to show the character of the strike meeting at the village on that road. There were tailors, painters, carpenters, storekeepers’and railroad men. but mostof them knew nothing 2nd were dismissed. Their testimony showed thatof about 400 men who attended the meeting less than one-third were railroad men. Each testifled that Vice President Howard, of the American Railway union, had used most violent language in the speech he made at the Blue Island meeting, suggesting violence and calling Mr. Pullman and the railroad managers hard and vile names. These witnesses said that Howard caused the strike on the Rock Island—Debs helped only incidentally to bring it on. L ' H. R. Saunders was recalled after tae others had testifled. He said that in his speech Mr. Howard had said that Pullman ought to be hanged, and that he, Howard, would like to help hang him. Howard had also said the men who would take the places of those on strike should be killed with a coupling pin. © - Testimony of Mayor Hopkins.

CHICAGO, Aug. Bl.—After hearing the testimony of Mayor Hopkins Thursday afternoon Chairman Wright announced that the work of the labor commission ‘in Chicago was at an end. # "

Mayor Hopkins being called testified that Mr. Wright, counsel for the Rock Island road, claimed on July 5 that mobs were interfering with the operation of trains. At that time the main line was clear to Thirty-seventh street, but at that place about 3,500 persons, mostly women and children, had congregated. A car had been overturned north of Thirty-seventh street, and the wrecking crew was working on it. He continued: 12

*That same evening I learned that the First regiment was going into camp at Springfield. I wired the governor that they ought to be kept here, as they might be needed within twentyfour hours. At my suggestion he had them report at their armory for duty instead of going to Springfier. About 10:30 o'clock that night I learned that the Diamond special on the lilinois Central was stalled at Kensington and had the police clear the way for it. Friday morning, July 6, information came that crowds were gathering .on the Rock Island tracks, and after consultation 1 decided to call on the governor for five regiments of state militia, which he ordered to report to me immediately. : “I believe the police did. their full duty all through the strike. I have been assured by a number of railroad officials that the protection of the police was all they needed. General Superintendent Sullivan, of the Illinois Central, President Thomas, of the Western Indilana. and Superintendent Ashby, of the Union Stock Yards & Transit company, have all congratulated the city authorities on the conduct of the police and the management of the disturbances. i >

*ln all the evidence produced befcre the commission, so far as I could discover, I have seen no instance where a charge has been made against the city police that they have failed to do all that could have been expected of them. I suppose Mr. Egan might have made some complaint, but he was continually putting the police force to unnecessary trouble and effort by alarms of violence where there were none.’’ “Would you say, Mr. Mayor; that the police had shown no sympathy for the strikers or had not let their sympathy influence their conddet?” . 1

*I would not like to say the police had no sympathy with the strike. Doubt’ess some of them had. lam freeto say that so far as the strikers at Pullman were concerned I was in syvmpathy with them myself. What Ido mean to say is that no policeman let his sympathies keep him from doing his full duty during the strike so far as I have been able to discover. The police were on duty for ten days without going home. They livéed at their posts or at the stations, and I think they did all that could have been expected of them.”

The mayor told about the failure of!his efforts to secure arbitration or other settlement of the trouble. July 12 the witness had accompanied Mayor Pingree to call on Mr. Wickes, Mr. Runnells and Mr. Brown, but they' persisted in their statement that there was nothing to arbitrate. On July 13 came the communication from ILebs and Howard tothe general managers which the mayor agreed to take to the general managers. I took it to their headquarters and found Mr. St. John, who said that the general managers did not wish to consider any communication coming from those men. He said, however, that since I had brought it he would consult the members of the association personally. He did, and the result was a letter returning the communication.” :

“It has been intimated that I protested against the presence in the jeity of federal tropps. That is notso. I was not consulted with nor advised that federal troops were to be sent here. I had not up to that time been advised that anybody or any corporation needed protection of any kind that was not already supplied. 1 did not protest against the sending of federal troops, -although I might have felt that the persons desiring protection .should have called first upon municipal and state authorities for protection before they called for United States troops.” The commission then adjourned

CRIPPLE’'S TERRIBLE DEED.

Kills 2 Woman Who Would Not Marry

Him and Cuts His Throat.

BoxuAM, Teéx., Aug. 80.—At sa. m. the dead bodies of Mrs. Rose Martin and Edward McNitt were found lying on the floor 6f Mrs. Martin’s room. Their - throats were cut and their bodies saturated with blood. A Dblood - stained razor lay on the floor and a bloody ax was lying on a chair. The eircumstances indicate that McNitt murdered the woman and then killed himself. Myrs. Martin had promised to marry McNitt, but had discarded him on aecount of his dissipated habits and he had threatened to kill her. MeNitt, who has lost both legs and one hand, has lived in Bonham for a year past, and has earned a living by peddling candy on the street. :

GERMANY DON'T LIKE IT.

She Takes Umbrage at Our Increased Tax J on Sugar. LoxpoN, Aug. 81.—The Standard’s correspondent at Berlin says: -

“The new American tariff law gives umbrage in Germany, especially the proviso which inoreases the duty on sugar from countries giving bounties. This change i 8 felt more keenly here, as the amount of increase is the same for 41l bounty-giving- countries regardless of the amount of the bounties. The effectof this, according to German opinion, will not be to induce such countries to abolish the bounties, as the American senate wishes, but on the contrary to ralse them.”

Sta:l:sn;)ffi(};:linv Burned.

BArABoo, Wis., Aug. 80.—A spark from a threshing machine engine set fire to the stacks on the farm of Joseph Picker, near here, and the crop and separator were consumed. The fire ran across the stubble to the home of John Asted, about fifty rods away, and his windmill and barns were burned with their contents. The residence was saved. In all twenty-six grain stacks Wwere burned, and the total loss reaches $B,OOO. : Found Dead in a Cornfleld.

" Sl. CHARLES, 111., Aug. 81.—A son of A. J. Nichols, while pulling weeds in a cornfield 1 mile from town, found the decomposed body of a man. A silver watch and some money was found on the bocy, and a revolver with one' chamber loaded, lay near by. It is undoubtedly a case of suicide.. The body is thought to be that of a Chicagoan who was visiting here and who has been missing for a month.

HIS WARFARE OVER. . Death at Waltham, Mass.,, of Gen. Nae thanial P, Banks. g WALTHAM, Muss., Sept. B.—Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, soldier and statesman, died at his home in this city atB o'clock a. m. Saturday He had been critically ill for some time and his demise was expected. s On the announcement of Gen. Banks’ death the flags of the public buildings in the city were displayed at half-mast and on every side evidence of the respect in which the general is held is conspicuous. The funeral will take place Tuesday afternoon under the direction of Mayor Warden and Col. Ephraim Stevens. o His Career. = | Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was bornat Wal=. tham in 1816. He received a common-school education, worked in a cotton factory, edited a newspaper, studied law, and {n 1849 was elected to the state legislature and was chosen speaker in 1851, and again in 1852. The next year he was chairman of the Massachusetts constitu= tional convention, and soon afterward was sent to congress. He was re-elected as a ‘‘know--nothing’” and made speaker of the house. As a republican he was sent to the Thirty-fifth congress, from which he resigned when elected governor of Massachusetts in which office he served . three terms. In 1860 he - was: made president of the Illinois Central railroad, but gave up the office to go into the army. He was commissioned major-general of volunteers and ' assigned -to the Fifth -corps of the Army of the Potomac. His first active service = was in the Dbattle of Winchester, March 23, 1862. In April and May he was left with one division to guard the Shenandoah valley, and upon this force Stonewall Jackson descended with his whole corps. Rapid, well-ordered marching, stubbori fighting and good generalship prevented the captur¢ of Banks entire force. In August, 1863, Banks corps took part in the battle of Cedar mountainin Virginia.and in September shared Sigel’s campaign. Later Gen. Banks was placed in command of Washington, and in December succeeded Gen. B. F. Butler in ‘command at New Orleans. He conducted the movéments which resulted in the opening of the Mississippi, and in the spring of 1864 began the work of regaining control of western Louisiana. The latter expedition failed and Banks was unjustly censured. for it was undertaken against his advice and despite his protest. In May, 1864, he was relieved of command at New Orleans, La., and resigned his commission; returned to Massachusetts and was elected to congress from his old district. He was reelected successively until 1877, failing only in 1872, when he worked for and with the Horace. Greeley movement. In congress he served a long time as chairman of the committee on foreign -relations,and after his retirement from congress filled for a time the office of Uniteéd States marshal for Massachusetts.] -

ANOTHER GOVERNOR GONE.

Samuel J. Kirkwood, lowa’s War Execu- . tive, Is Dead.

lowa City, la., Sept. 3.—Samuel J. Kirkwood, lowa’s War Governor, died at 1:15 o’clock p. m. Saturday. He had been gradually failing for some fime - : o

Flags are floating at half-mast in the city. Expressions of sorrow and regret are universal among the people. The funeral service will be held at the family residence Tuesday at 2 o'clock p- m. Prominent officials and friends from all portions of.the state will be present. s

[Samuel Jordan Kirkwood was born in Maryland December 20, 1813; was raised on a farm, educated in a log schoolhouse, and afterward clerked in a drug store in Washington, @ € By @ his industry he acquired a legal . education, and moving to Ohio, he attained early prominence, but soon drifted: into politics, being finally elected. a. member of the Ohio constitutional convention.. After twelve years’' residence in&hio. he moved to lowa and settled down to niilling, having decided to. give up professional life. A year later, in 1856, he was chosen tothe state senate. In 1859 he was nominated by the whigs for governor against Gen. A. C. Dodge. Prior to this Kirkwood had been a democrat, but slavery extension drove him from the party. In that memorable campaign Kirkwood won the people by the earnestness and simplicity of his speeches. His election ‘was by a decisive majority, but when he took the governor's chair the rebellion stared him in the face. From the first he took an uncompromising stand for the union, and in the four years, or two terms he served, he won the fame that will always attach to his name. In the darkest days, when soldiers were needed, he pledged his own fortune and those of relatives to raise means to equip lowa forces. 3 From the governor's chair he went to the national senate. where his practical speeches had great weight. His addresses in that body and his gubernatorial messages form a rare collection of state papers. From the senate he returned to private life, but in 1875 the unprecedented honor of a. third memination for governor came to him, and he had a great majority. Again he was elected United States senator, only to be chosen, soon after he had taken his seat, as Garfield’s seeretary of the interior.] : :

BASEBALL..

Standing eof the Various Professional i €lubs—Recent Games. - : The following table shows the number of games won and lost this “season by eclubs of the National Baseball league: CLUBS. WWon. Lost ler (. Baltimore. ... ... . nciida 018 36 .€6O BOSton .. socil oo 69 39 - 639 INEW YOrK. . . ociciveivionv.s i2O 40 .836 Ehaladelphin ... ... oot 80 47 4 661 BEOORIVI . o eeaaea s LIDB 49 042 pleveland- oo si E i 50 --.254 PlStSbUrgh .. .ils D 8 885 40l ORIBREO 7t o icee e 58 - .463 Cmeinnath v s idt e o 8 435 MU Fouls o wiiaesn S 64 413 WAaßßlngton ... ...oouailes 88 o 345 Liouisville. (...0... colooon 320 076 el Western league: . - , CLUBS. Won. - Lost. FerC. Slobx City ... a 8 o g .600 Hansas Olby ... ... coiii .62 44 585 Minneapolis. . .......... ... .08 46 .558 FN T e SSR R e e e e 535 Jaaianapolls. ... ... oo i i B 0 BS L 1768 Grand Rap1d5:......c......0.0.00 58 . g DB el 60 .429 MlUwWaukea. . ..... oo B 68 .346 Western association: ; S - CLUBS. Won. Lost. ler (1. Reelclsiand ... . ain .60 46 .566 Jacksonville. . ... .o 00D 40 .52 GRIRRL a 0 49 - 829 BERCOIN 00l liiin iDS 49 - .54 Sy Joseph o 0 claaacai i S e i Tlg Fooßia - cclo linaeii il BY 51 - .bl 4 DPesiNoalnes. ... .. ccceiii i 4B by 457 QUIHOY . 088 66 .365

PRIZE WINNERS.

Hastings (Mich.) Knights of Pythias Take

First Place.

W ASHINGTON, Sept. 3 —The ten prizes for division drills, uniform rank K. of P. won by the following divisions:

First, Hastings, of Hastings, Mich.; second, Parkersburg, No. 3. of Parkersburg, W. Va.: third, John Barr Glenn division, of Eau Claire, Wis.; feurth, Mystic, No. 12, of Girard, Kan.; fifth, New Albany, No. §, of New Albany, Ind.; sixth. Yellow Cross, No. 85. of Alliance, O.; seveuth, Provost, No. 1, of Kansas City. Mo.; eighth, Terre Haute, No. 3, of Terre Haute, Ind.; ninth, Lily, No. 16, of Radcliffe, la.; tenth, Indianapolis, No. 58, of Indianapolis, Ind. : o i

The cavalry drill prize was won by the D. D. Barnes Hussars, of St. Joseph, Mo., and the battalion drill by the first battalion of the First regiment of Indiana, who were without competitors. A handsome stand of colors, offered by the Evening Star of Washington to the regiment making the best appearance in the parade, wasawarded to the First Regiment of West Virginia. v . - Mayflower Relics Burned. Sours ActoN, Mass., Sept. B.—The house of Mrs. Irene Taylor was burned Friday. The loss includes priceless heirlooms and articles of historical value which came over in the Mayflower, and which Mrs. Taylor had contemplated presenting to the Massachusetts Historical society, -

WAITE ‘IS NOT GUILTY. Denver Police Officials, However, Held - for Withholding the Likens Letter. DENVER, Col., Sept. B.—United States Commissioner Hinsdale heard testimony for the defense in the case of Gov. Waite, Presidént Mullins, of the fire and police board; Chief of Police Armstrong and Police Matron Dwyer, charged with conspiring to withhold a letter from ex-Matron Likens. ‘The prosecution arraigned the accused severely, charging that Mrs. Kate Dwyer and President Mullins were the leading conspirators, but that Chief of Police. Armstrong and Gov. Waite, in allowing themselves to . be used in carrying out the plot, were equally guilty, whether they acted innocently or not. . Gov. Waite ‘declared that he Had never had anything to do in the matter ~whatever, and was greatly surprised when he learned that he had been charged with an unlawful act. “The letter was handed to me to read,” he said, ‘‘and I had to take it in my hands to do so.- I immediately réturned it to the person who handed it to me .and this is my entire and only connection with it. It might have been a forgery for all I know, and it did not attract my attention to any extent, asl considered it of Little importance.. I did not think it wise to remove Mrs. Likens and opposed it in every way.” After the arguments Commissioner. Hinsdale summed up the case, said he could not see that the probable guilt of the accused had been established, and discharged the governor. The other defendants, Mrs. Dwyer and Messrs. Mullins and Armstrong, were held to the grand jury in bonds of WooL e : . 5 SIGNS OF IMPROVING BUSINESS. Large. Orders, Coming in from the South - .~ and Southwest, - NEw YoRK,.Aug. 29.—Merchants here say the best indication of improving business comes from the south and southwest, where the orders for goodsare almost normal and the buyers say the merchants see an outlet for all they are buying and expect' to increase their orders. Two large houses have sent their drummers out again through the southwest, and particularly through Texas, where the orders have been particularly good. In the ‘west and northwest they say this condition lis reversed, and the buying is only about 25 per cent. of what it is in- nominal years, the merchants saying that the people will be too poor to buy heavily. A prominentdry goods merchant says he has given up his vacation, arranged for the latter part of this month and early in September, because he is compelled to remain and attend to buyers who arey coming here in large numbers. He further says the demand for drummers exceeds the supply, and those already on the road are sending in satisfactory orders. If retail trade is what is expected fall business will be large in dry goods. W /

A NEW YORK DISASTER.

Twoe Fires on the East Side Result im

Four Fatalities.

NEw YORK, ‘Aug. 31.—Three men dead, a fourth, a fireman, dying, and a dozen families -homeless is the awful record of two fires in the tenementhouse district of the East side. The flames broke out at 2 a. m. Wednesday in a six-story sweatshop at 226 Riverton street. At 31 Goereck street a six-story tenement was burned, a dozen families were driven out panie-stricken and $17,000 damage was done. The Riverton street house was occupied ‘almost solely by sweatshops. The second floor was used as a synagogue and a portion of the third floor as a Hebrew school . for boys. . Itis claimed that nobody ' lived -in the house, but there were at least eight men in the building when the fire broke out. . If they were watchmen, as it .is claimed, they did their work badly, for three of their number are dead and a fourth cannot be found. He ran awa when the alarm was sounded. i

TOWN WIPED OUT.

Forest Flames Driven in'on Vesper and the

Place Is Soon Licked Up.

MARsHFIELD, Wis.,, Aug. 31.—The Port Edwards train arrived here at 4 o’clock Wednesday morning bringing additional news of the burning of Vesper. The town is practically wiped out, entailing a loss of about $140,000;, as follows: About 9,000,000 feet of lumber and the large saw and planing mill belonging to the Sherry Cameron Lumber company, seventeen dwelling houses, two box carsand the depot of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad and_ three box cars of the Port Edwards, Centralia & Northern railroad. Seventeen families, employes in the mills, are homeless, and as the timber contiguous to the town is used up the place will never be rebuilt. A relief train was made up here, but could get no nearer than a mile from the doomed village, the flames overlapping the road further on. o

RATE WAR IS HOT. Rate Trip Tickets from Indianapolis to Chicago for Seventy-Five Cents. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Sept. B.—The rate war between this point and Chicago broke all records Friday by the price going to seventy-five cents for round trip, good for five days from Saturday. This rate was announced . by the Lake Erie & Western on account of the Pennsylvania coming to the one dollar rate announced Thursday. The rate war has'reached a highly interesting point. Threats are made that the fight will not end:ere. The Lake Erie & Western has faithful allies in the Nickel Plate and the Chicago & Alton, and it would not surprise railroad men to see a slashing of rates to eastern and western points, and a fight on rates to Florida is not ‘beyond the possihilities. . A New Record, ForT WAYNE, Ind., Sept. B.—Robert J., the handsome bay gelding owned by C. J. Hamlin, of Buffalo, N. Y, Friday afternoon traveled the fastest mile ever credited to a harness horse, going itin 2:083%. He was on the programme to beat 2:06, the track record ‘made by Joe Patchen Thursday. It was not even intimated to the 5,000 persons present that the great gelding would attempt to beat the records of 2:04 made by Mascot and Flying Jib at Terre Haute. 5 An Outlaw Caught. New ORLEANS, Aug. 81.--A posse ‘surprised and captured Jim Murray ‘alias ‘“‘Greasy Jim,” at Mississippi City. Murray is a desperado who gal killed several men. He wantonly mur‘dered Officer Crotterin this city July 28.