Pike County Democrat, Volume 28, Number 46, Petersburg, Pike County, 25 March 1898 — Page 3

Hilt § ifee©fltttttBfl*wrrot j •L JfcC. STOOPS, Editor and Proprietor. PETERSBURG. • - INDIANA. RUTH AND NAOMI. M Entreat me not to leave the*; Entreat me not," she aald. And on Naomi's bosom Weeping she bowed ber I.eadS -••For wheresoe'er thou goest There will I follow thee. ^Ar.d wheresoe’er thou dwelleat. There shall my lodging be; ** Henceforth, beloved mother. Thy people shall be mine; All other gods forsaking. Ill serve no God but thine; 1*11 die where’er thou diest, ; And there will buried be; Bear witness. God! no power But death parts thee and me.** Not half so dear a token Of love, of faith sublime, $fas history ever hoarded in treasure-crypts of time; Fame on her scrolls has graven \ Great deeds, and words that prova Tte majesty, the beauty, • Vhe might of woman's love; But where a deed so splendid? Where words that nobler are? ’Mid fame's great orbs of glory JShe shines the morning star! When spake this Moab woman. Her mouth's ambrosial breath - Stirred chords that slumbered voicelesa Till waked by love and faith; Her touch divine endowed them With deathless life and youth; Breathe but the word “Naoinf.” And they will murmur "Ruth.” —Charles W. Hubner. in Atlanta Constitutor- ■

?*■ i Apropos of Weddings. ** rpHEKE’S a bridal couple .forward,” I said the Stranger from Michigan returning fro<m au investigation of the front cud of„the train. ‘"ilow do you know them fora newlymarried pair?** queried the Man of Xower 7. “Lice?" v “ .Nonsense!" “Are they tender and cooing, then?” “I5y tio means.” “Is she asleep with her head on—” “Look here, did you ever see a wed--ding couple on their tour?*’ '• “No.” the Man of Lower 7 confessed, “but there’s a distinct rule about such things. Why, it’s as traditional and firm-rooted as the multiplication table. They should be—” “Yes, they should be,” the Michigander interrupted. “They should be to conform to the articles of faith as prepared by people who do not know. Now, as a matter of fact, people who have gumption enough to want to go on a 2.000-mile bridal tour also have a sufficient knowledge of affairs to keep from making Indians of themselves when they go a-marrying.” “Well, then, tell us how you judge your two of whom you spoke.” “They were behaving with immense propriety, but I noticed the young woman, had a fleck of black upon her nose. A month from now her husband will have become sufficiently acquainted with her to tell her of any ^uch little thing. Now, however, he looks at the -spot nervously; for he is afraid of hurting her feelings by telling her of it. He wishes he could wish it off. For himself, he tells himself that he loves her fondly* splotch or no splotch. A month from now he will say: ‘Darling, that beastly old locomotive lias thrown a bit of grime upon your cheek—-the right one— there, that's it—just a little higher. Now it’s off.’ Bat as yet he feels that even such criticism of her appearance as this would be unkind and unpardonable.” “Once,” said the fourth member of the party, “1 was traveling westward, and at a little mountain town a bridal pair-got aboard. Maybe it was because they were going imt 20,miles to the j nest town that they openly demon-j «trated their affection. It was very j amusing to everybody else in the day j coach, and at last one tourist, who hap- j pened to be riding forward with his camera, decided that it would be a first-rate thing to take some snaprhots at the two. So he focused the tiling, and while pretending to be taking a general interior view of the coach

no took care 10 gci me oriuai pair ►Taare in the middle, lie was very stealthy about it, but the bridegroom -observed his motions and came forward. lie came forward in three jumps, and, reaching over toward the tourist, he seized him and lifted him up Tery hurriedly among the Pintseh gas fixtures. Then he let him fall rather abruptly to the floor. Then he • doubled him up in a sort of coil, like a Jiey-ring, and lengthened him out to his ordinary stature. Be did a few things which I do not now remember, and when he had thoroughly satisfied himself he saide “ 'Mister, in general I am accommodatin’ an’ hospitable to the stranger, but, dog you, I want you to understand that me an’ this lady ain’t scenery.’ * “The tourist said he thought he would be able to remember that fact, and so the bridegroom took his fingers off the • offender’s throat. ** ‘Kiss roe, good an’ hard. Mfrandy,’ be said. Mirandy did so, and there was eaot a passenger who smiled or looked •'Otherwise than intensely respectful.” “Did you ever belong to a weddingtour club?” inquired the Man of Lower ~T, addressing anybody whp might care • to answer. Nobody had. ’’Well, I did once,” the Man said; “It was verj* nice.*' “Oh, tell us about It,” the Lady intsisted. “It must have been a sort of mixture of an insurance policy and a Sothem romantic comedy.” “Not at all. You mistake my meaning. It wasn’t a club of people who awore to take wedding tours to a specified number in a specified time. It • wasn’t a marriage bureau enterprise at

r all. It was the outgrowth of a little I private poker party—a party that was | almost a club itself,-for it was in almost I continuous session for two years, j There were five, bachelors of us, and j Granby, who was married and lived in ; a house, like a Christian. The five of us who had no wives had all known Granby—and one another—for years; yes, and we had known Mrs. Granby as a girl, too. So when Granby was married and came to live in Chicago we made his house our Mecca and his wife our patron goddess—is there a goddess in Mecca?” , “Go on with the story!” fiercely, from ali. - / “Mrs. Granby was the salt of the earth—not like Lot’s wifi, but in a different and better way. Gave the house up to us. Let us play poker mildly and in a gentle way without a word of protest. Granby also had a servant girl. Excuse me from turning so abruptly from the lady of the house to the girl, but 1 cannot help it. Mrs. Granby was the finest wife and hostess in the world; Ida was the supremest servant girl ever generated. She was silent in her ministrations to our poker-playing thirst. She tvcame softly and left the most excellent cocktails at our elbows, and flitted away without disturbance. She j cooked up delicious lunches, and she j had better judgment in the matter of I selecting cigars than Granby himself. ! She was a gem. We %ll loved Mrs. j Granby. We revered Ida. “One evening Mrs. Granby came in j and froze our souls. ‘Did you know Ida is going to be married next week?* she asked. “We talked it over solemnly, gloomily. It was awful. No more nectarine cocktails. No more sublime lunches. No more good cigars. No more deft, j soothing silende'of service. At last Hardin spoke. ‘Look here,’ he said, j ‘we’re dreadfully selfish about this. 01 i course Ida has the right to marry the coachman, though it does seem rough, j But.let’s think of her. From what Mrs. j Granby says they’re going right into a ; three-room flat. Right, from the min- ; ister to their rooms. That won’t do. j They must have a wedding tour. Thera are five of us. Now, this is what we’ll do—’ “When he explained his plan we all chimed in favorably. We formed the Ida Hertwig Wedding Tour club right there with $100 in the treasury. Hardin, | who was In the passenger department j of a railroad, got passes for two to Salt. > Lake. Copley fixed out the hotels along j the way.!. Pilcher, being an insurance

v m3 ir THE SUPREME IDA. man, wrote all liis correspondents and local managers along the Burlington to be on deck at the depot to take charge of ; Ida and her husband and show them i the best yet. It was my business to get | the theater tickets and put them in Mrs. Granby’s trust to give to Ida on 1 their wedding # night. We provided everything ahead of time—even to bag- j gage checking. Stewart even fixed them with tickets for the Warm spriRg9 and the bathing places at Salt Lake, j And neither Ida nor the utterly nn- I known husband knew anything of these j things until the night of the wedding, j They were married at Mrs. Granby’s house arid were hurried away to the i sleeping car. where a stateroom had been engaged. I wasn’t there, but Mrs. j Granby reported the scene as a won- j der. “At the next sitting of the poker party ; the Ida Hertwig Wedding Tour club re- ! ported to the committee of the whole I and was adjourned sine die.’T-Chicagt Record.

Story of Daniel Webster. During one of their college vacation* Daniel Webster and his brother re^ turned to his father’s in Salisbpr^. Thinking he had a right to somg fceiuro for the money he ha^d expended on their education, the father gave them scythes and requested them to mow. Daniel made a few sweeps and then stopped to wipe his brow and rest. “What’s the matter, Dan?” asked his father, “ily scythe don’t hang right, sir.” His father fixed it and Dan went to work again, but with no better success. Something was wrong with the implement, and it was not long before it needed fixing again, and his father said, impatiently: “Well, hang it to suit yourself." Daniel, with great composure, hung it on a near tree and retired from the field.—Detroit Free Press. __ Klad Friend*. It was not a success, Domixio’s ball. The men were right enough, and there were plenty of them; but the dear girlal Such painful types of beauty, and all so very mature- And there they sat, waiting in vain for partners. Helens of Troy, and Joans of Arc, and Rosamonds that were not a bit fair. All antique subjects, you will perceive; back numbers pf fiction out of date. So the men kept neat the buffet; and one said to another: “I did not know that our host was so devoted to horticulture.” “Do you refer,” said the other, “to the cabbages he presents us for cigars ?” “No," smiled back the first; "I was thinking rather of the ardent passion for collecting wall flowers." And their glanees wandered vaguely to the ballnpPMb » Pick-Me-Up. 0

in ran ids. ■ Would Know the Reason of Uncle Sam’s Elaborate and Hasty Preparations for War. IIAKIN6 CAPITAL WITH EUROPEANS.

Movement of American War Ships—The Moat Formidable Aggregation of Fight* log Craft Ever Assembled, Except for Review, In American Waters—Requisitions on the Big Appropriation, Washington, March 17.—The main development in the Spanish situation yesterday was in connection with the definite representations submitted by the Spanish government to the state department concerning the assembling of a large fleet of American war ships at Key West, the war preparations and the influence which these might have on the approaching elections in Cuba. While these representations eannot properly be regarded as a protest against the attitude and acts of the United States government, they may unquestionably be set down as a remonstrance calculated to have an effect in European court circles. Not, however, being a technical protest, the statement has not called forth any official rejoinder on the part of the state department, for it is lacking in tangible accusations, being rather an argumentative presentation of alleged Spanish grievances. The Fern sailed for Havana from Kev West yesterday afternoon. She goes to relieve the Montgomery as a home for the officers engaged in supervising the wrecking operations in Havana harbor. It is stated unequivocally that the Montgomery is not withdrawn owing to any suggestion from Spanish sources that her presence is not desired. It was the announced intention of Secretary Long when the cruiser was sent to Havana to keep her there only so long as the Fern should be engaged in the work of distributing relief among the sufferers in eastern Cuba. This task having been performed and, owing to the return of the court of inquiry from Havana, there being fewer persons to accommodate, the Fern, which is better equipped than the Montgomery to assist in the wrecking work, is returned to her position. Up to the close of office hours the navy department though it knew officially that the court of inquiry had come over to Key West from Havana, was not informed as to the findings or plans of the court. ' It is said that the object of the navy department, in purchasing such a craft as the late Mr. Ogden Goelet’s yacht Mayflower is to provide as quickly as possible a number of picket boats of good speed and seagoing ability to act as scouts and also to aid our ironclads And more expensive vessels in operations against torpedo boats, A large number of private yachts have been offered to the department, and other acquisitions of the same type as the Mayflower may be expected. The fleet at Key West will be augmented within the next day or two by the arrival of the gunboat Annapolis, the torpedo boat Foote and the naval tugs Leyden and Samoset/wliile the gunboat Helena is now onv^the way from the European station ufider orders to report at Key West. The Helena reported her arrival yesterday at Funchal, on her way to join the fleet. These and the other vessels previously ordered to that point constitute the largest assemblage of war vessels made since the demonstration following the Virginius affair, and considering effectiveness and armament it is the strongest assemblage of ships, for other than review purposes since the war. The fleet now at Key West and Tortugas is as follows: Cruiser New York, battleship Massachusetts, battleship Indiana, ^battleship Iowa, • battleship Texas, cruiser Detroit, gunboat Nashville, cruiser Marblehead, dispatch boat Fern, torpedo boats Dupont, Cushing, Porter, Winslow and Ericsson. To these will soon be added the five vessels now en route there. In addition to these the Montgomery is at Havana and is practically a part of the fleet: the gunboats Wilmington and Casjdne and cruiser Cincinnati are at JJtfrbadoes; the Newport at Colon, with the Puritan, Newark. Amphitrjte and other ships of thf North Atlantic squadron at places along the coast further northward. In point of ships, the fleet under Rear Admiral Case, on January 3, 187-1, following the Virginius affair, was considerably larger, as follows: FrankIfn, 39 guns; Wabash, 45 guns, Colorado, 46 guns; Lancaster, 22 guns; Brooklyn. 20 guns; Congress, 16 guns; Worcester, 15 guns; Alaska, 12 guns; Ticondcroga. 13 guns; Canandaigua, 12 guns; Shenandoah. 11 (runs; Juanita, eight guns; Os

tippee, eight guns; Wauchusette. six guns; Powhattan, 1? guns; Wyoming six guns; Kansas, three guns; Shaw mut,’"three guns; Saugus, two guns, Mahopae. two guns; Manhattan, two guns; Ajax, two guns. Canoiiicus. two guns; Dictator, two guns; Dispatch, four guns; Pinta. two guns; Fortune, two gnns; Mayflower, two guns; Iris, | two guns and Yuma, two. guns. Although formidable in its day, this aggregation was made up of old-style wooden ships, monitors which had gone through the ciTil war and every available craft that could bear guns. Compared with the modern battleships and cruisers of the new navy, it was insignificant in tonnage and general effectiveness. It is noteworthy,, however, that this formidable gathering of ships was at the same place as t he present gathering and during a critical time with Spain, and that it did not eventuate in war. Secretary Alger has made requisition on the president for two huge allotments from the appropriation of 050,000,000for the national defense. One is for 93,000,000for the use of the engineer

department of the army In the complex tionof certain fortification works along the Atlantic and gulf coasts now in progress, and the other is for $2,235,* 000 for the use of the ordnance depart* meet of the army in the acquirement of arms and ammunition. Pretty much all of this money is needed to cover contracts already made by the military establishment. OFFICERS DISAPPOINTED.

Wanted to be Sent North with the Beturning Court of Inquiry. Havana, March 17.—The officers of the Maine who remain here are disappointed at not being ordered north, and believe they will not be sent back to the United States until it is certain that the court of inquiry into the loss of the battleship will not return to Havana. With the arrival of the big derrick Chief and other machinery, the1 wrecking work already shows signs of progress. The naval divers are still working about the wreck under the direction of Capt. Sigsbee and Lieutenant-Com-mander Wainwright, with Ensign Powelson, to make any changes in the drawings \vhieh may be called for by new discoveries. Consul-General Lee, Capt. Sigsbee and the newspaper correspondent*, wili be photographed in a group to-day on board the United States cruiser Montgomery, by courtesy of Capt. Converse, the“ commander of that vessel, whc will also be in the picture. According to a Spanish report, a column of government troops undei Col. Palanca was engaged on Friday and Saturday* last with the insurgent forces under Gen. Maximo Gomez and Brig.-Gen. Jose Maria Gomez, at the Majagua farm, in the district of Saneti Spiritus. province of Santa Clara. The insurgents are reported to have lost considerably, while the Spanish force is alleged to have lost only three men killed and a captain, a lieutenant and 13 soldiers wounded. UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT. Can’t Explain the Bellicose Attitude of tht v . United States. Havana. March 17.—The Fern will arrive here to-day aud will replace the Montgomery as the headquarters of I Capt. Sigsbee and others w ho- are sup- ] ervising the wrecking work on the ! Maine. The Montgomery will go to j Key' West shortly after the1 arrival of the Fern. <<rLa Lncha in its leading editorial says it is unable to explain the bellicose attitude of the United States, and inclines to the belief that this is the fault of business syndicates, like the sugar trust, or due to some new desire to annex Cuba, which has “changed the physiognomy of the American people.” It claims that Spain has done noth1 ing to hurt the pride 'of the United States, and refers to the friendliness of Spain for the American colonies when they were fighting England, and also to the "strict neutrality maintained during the civil war.” La Lucha says it can only explain the help given the insurgents from American sources during the present insurrection in Cuba by “defective law, vary-ing in the different states of the American Union.” The editorial says, concluding: “The end of the journey will show which nation has the more to lose in a contest that may come now. No doubt Spain does not fear war. Public opinion, if not demanding, does not repel hostilities. It is believed1 by many that this way is the only means of reaching an end of the present knotty state of affairs.” NAVAL NEEDS CONSIDERED. Some of Them Promptly Provided for— Others Will be Acted Upon Later. Washington, March 17.—The house committee on naval affairs discussed “the recommendations of the secretary of the navy' yesterday as to increases in some branches of the service, but took' no important action. The secretary wants authority for the appointment of acting assistant surgeons by the president and the sentiment, it is stated, is favorable to granting that recommendation. The request for a large number of | skilled machinists in the navy as well as the further augmentation of the engineer corps, caused a vigorous discusion. which, however, had no significant result. A motion was made for the authorization of the construction of six torpedo boats and six torpedo boat destroyers. It was immediately challenged as involving a large expenditure, and after- some discussion action was deferred. It was agreed that the addition of 15 assistant paymasters should be allowed. Some dock details were also discussed.

INSTRUCTED TO RUSH THING& The Yacht Mayflower Fitting for Sente* as a Torpedo Bait Destroyer. New York. March 17.—Constructor Bowles is in receipt of instructions to push work upon the steam yacht May* flower, bought by the government from the estate of the late Ogden Ooelet, in fitting her out as a torpedo boat destroyer. The Mayflower was built at the Thompson ship yards on the Clyde. She has a length over all of 320 feet, and her draught is 17.6 feet. She has a speed capacity of more than 30 knots an hour. In addition to being armed with guns and other torpedo boat destroying appliances,the Mayflower will be provided with armor plate. AT MARE ISLAND NAVY YARD. Tamr Hundred Hen Working AI meet M(ht and Day. Vallejo. Cal., March 17.—At the Mare Island navy yards 400 men are now at work, most of them being engaged in preparing the cruiser Charleston for sea. Work begins at 3 a. m., and except for an intermission of an hoar at noon, is continued till 10 p. m. The Philadelphia will soon be ready for active service. The Maine court of inquiry returned to Ker West Tuesday.

THE SILVER QUESTION Characteristic Letter of Ex-Govern-or Altgeld of Blinois. Defends Hta Standing on tbe Money Question and Sonndly Berates •s; Gold Bov Money benders—The Dearest Money.

Ex-Gov. John P. Altgeld has written k letter to Judge Dunne, replying to the statement made by the president of the Iroquois club in his letter to the jurist, in which Mr. Eddy cited certain utterances of Mr. AJtgeld, published in his book in favor of the gold standard. The ex-governor’s letter is characteris" tic, and speaks for itself. Here it is: “My attention has been called to a letter addressed to you by Mir. Eddy claiming that I had favored paying the United States bonds In gold. He quotes from an article written many years ago relating not to the money question, but to the pension question, and in which I urged that the government should deal as liberally with the old soldiers as it did with the bondholders. In this connection it seems I used the following language: ‘The masses of the people are not averse to dealing justly and even liberally with the ex-uiilo& soldiers. They can always be relied upon to support any honorable policy. When, after the war, it was urged by many that some of the bonds of the government should not be paid in gold because they did not call for it on their face and had not ‘been paid for in golld, the masses sustained the government in. paying the gold not only because it was thought that in some way the honor of the government was Involved, but because a wise and farseeing public policy required that the government should deal liberally with its* creditors.’ "While I do not in this language express an opinion of my own, it is true that I attempted to state, incidentally and for the purpose of ihusttratlon only, what the masses have done, and Mr. Eddy and his cause are welcome to make all they can out of it. But when the date and purpose of the article, as well as the then existing conditions, are looked at it will be seen at once that it Was simply a case of careless, inaccurate, dnd, therefore, unwarranted use of the word ‘gold,' Instead of the word coin. The article was in the 80‘s, and did not discuss money, but pensions. Prior to that time many of our people had contended that the United States bonds should be paid in paper money —that the bondholders had bought the bonds in paper, that paper money was stiii legal tender, and, therefore, a lawful money, and that consequently it would be Just to give the bondlholder the same kind of money he had given the government when he bought the'bonds. On the other hand it wak contended that the government should deal liberally with Its creditors, and that it ought to pay its bonds in *co!n.‘ No declaration tp pay the bonds lr. golji had eve? been suggested. “Only a i’few years before congress had almost unanimously passed the famous Matthew resolution, which was voted for by Mr. McKinley and nearly all the prominent republicans and democrats in congress. This resolution declared that the United States bonds were payable at the option of the government in our four standard dollars. This was thB last formal declaration, so far as I know, which our government has made on the question, and, instead of its being a declaration to pay In gold. It was a declaration to pay in silver coin. But this declaration was accepted by the bondholders as a triumph over those people who felt that the bonds should be paid in the same money which the bondholders gave for them. There is not an instance on record where a bondholder at that time complained of the Matthew resolution. The bondholder had been treated liberally, and I insisted that the soldier should be treated with equal liberality. The careless use of language Is always to be condemned, but when It ts used, not In connection with the subject under consideration, but only In connection with an attempted Illustration, it is a very small prop for an opponent to bolster a bad case with. When the question came up for discussion whether the bondholder should be permitted to increase the burdens of the American people by demanding payment in gold of bonds,that were payable in silver, I promptly expressed my views in language which nobody has misunderstood. But we need no# be surprised at the tactics of the gold-standard people. Having both Justice and equality, as well as common honesty, against them, they have been obliged to proceed by stealth, by quibble and by misrepresentation. The gold standard movement In this country has never taken an honest step nor drawn an honest breath. It deceived President Grant as a beginning, and It has repeatedly deceived the American people. But suppose I had deliberately dec IB red for payment In gold, that could hot Justify a wrong. . , “What are the facts about these bonds? The law authorizing their issue, and even subsequent law that refers to them, expressly declares that they are payable at the option of the government in coin, that is, practically every bond has printed on its face the fact that it can be paid in standard silver dollars. The resolution of Senator Stanley Matthews, voted for by Mr. McKinley and nearly all the republicans in congress, simply declared what the law already stated. It was a construction of the contract between the governmen and the bondholder. This contract 13 the same" to-day as It was then. The law has not been changed nor has thej contract in any way been changed. If' they were payable in silver dollars then, they are now. Suppose the bondholders were indebted to the government under similar circumstances—would they give the government a dollar of gold? Would any

NUic tuau uui mciuaci^cs ujBiiuurai u iucj did not? Further, about $270,000,000 of these bonds were issued Iby the Cleveland administration solely to maintain the sold standard, and Mr. Cleveland told congress in his message that he had to sell them in the market for many dollars less than they would otherwise have brought because of the fact that they could be paid in! sliver doillars. Think of it! Sold, very cheap because they could be paid in sliver, yet we are asked to turn around and pay the speculators in gold. The truth is, this policy, if carried out, would not simply be dishonest, but would be a crime against the toilers of America whose sweaty and biocd must earn the money to pay these debits. And it is also true that the false pretense of the selfconstituted guardians of puDilc honor would be an insult to common intelligence if they were not so extremely ridiculous. Who are the men who are ready to resort to5 every means, fair or foul, to betray their race and sell their money to the money power? As a rule they are corporation men, not one in a hundred earns his bread by the sweat of his brow or creates anything. As- a rule they are the men who cat the fruit of other men's toll. Every great corruptionist in this country is a gold standard man. Debt can only be paid by the product which toll creates. To cow make the bonds payable In gold would add that much more to the burden which that metal is already carrying, and would still further enhance its value, reduce prices and paralyze industry. It would require more sweat and more blood to earn a dollar than it does now. Practically it would add many hundreds of millions to our burdena Yet these men who are so swift to give the monied power something for nothing weuid scarcely pay a dollar of this burden. Ultimately it would nearly ali fall on the men who toll . with their hands. Their wages would be reduced and their lot made harder. ’ “Let us close lor referring again to the

soldiers. The article Quoted from related! to pensions. We are now discussing con-4 tracts. Pensions are given on account of some disability Incurred in the service* and have nothing to do with contracts. During the war the government contracted with the soldiers and agreed to pay then* from $13 to $16 per month. Nothing was said about the kind of money they shouldt be paid in. and the government paid themf {:» tne t-i?h'l «*o«raUyi it took $2 to $2.60 of this money tp get $1 of the dearest money—that J» •coin.' At the same time the government issued its promissory notes or* bonds, and the cautious monied mes dealt with the government as a pawnbroker deals with a starving woman. They bought ,the bonds at that time fo*\ 60 and 60 cents on ths dollar, Of course, after the war they brought higher prises. Now* notwithstanding the fact that the goVCTfl^ ment expressly reserved the right to pay the bonds at its option in silver dollars, and notwithstanding the fact that a large portion of them had been sold cheap by the government because they could be so paid, the gold standard people and the supporter* of the McKinley administration have recently declared in congress that the bond* shall be paid in the dearest kind of money known. None will deny that the men who left their families, risked their live* and-bore the hardships of war, Jn .order to save our institutions and make it possible for the government to pay anybody a cent, deserve infinitely more of their country than the men who stayed at home and made fortunes by shaving the government’s paper. This being so, then if the latter are to be paid in the dearest money known, certainly common justice requires that the government make good to the old soldier the difference between the value of the cheap money it paid them and the dear money when It is now proposed to give the money power. Yet* strange as it may seem, not a single man of the whole horde of lobbyists, corruptionists and corporation agents who are working for a gold standard, and assume to be the guardians of national honor, has even suggested that the men who fought v the country’s battles and were paid^ in cheap, money, should be given a cent toward making them whole. The solicitude of these mentis entirely for the money lender. The hypocrisy, pham patriotism, downright dishonesty and colossal impudence of this movement would be incredible if they were not daily flaunted in the face of decency. Everything and everybody that money can debauch and coax, frighten or coerce, is made up to do service for a cause that is ruining our country. One cannot gaze upon this spectacle without feeling that- if there is no hell of fire and brirpstone in which to punish the men who, in the name of the Lord, devour widow's houses and enslave the children of toll, then the time has come when it is the duty of the Almighty to create one. With assurance of high persona' regard, I am yours very truly, "JOHN P. ALTGELD.”

PROFESSOR MOMMSEN, Peculiarities of the Great German Many of the stories about the extreme absent-mindedness of some unnamed German professor had their origin in. tales actually told—perhaps with not much care in verification—of Prof. Theodor Mommsen, of Berlin, a great German historical scholar and liberal politician. Although the herr professor recently passed his eightieth birthday, he is said to be still in the height of his productiveness, active and energetic, a writer, a teacher and a causeur. He adopts the^ axiom of Goethe, which is not popular with most old men: “When a man is. old he must do more than when he is young^ Heia certainly no more absentminded in his old age than he was when he was younger. He has a family of ten living children and several grandchildren, and has always been fond of them all and not averse to-taking bare of them; but woe to any infant of whom he might have charge if his mind became seized by scholarly preoccupations! It is related that when his first child was a baby it was in his charge one day in his study. Wishing to make some inquiry from his library, he deposited the baby in the waste basket and forgot all about it; but presently the baby begat! to cry loudly. At last the sound disturbed eyen the absent-minded student,whose thoughts were, and remained, on his study. Conscious only of a loud noise, he seized a quantity of loose papers and carefully covered the child with them to muffle the sound! - ' . * On another occasion—so the story goes—Prof. Mommsen was going in a street car from Berlin to Charlottenburg, taking with him his little son. By and by the boy began to wriggle about and make a great deal of noise. By this time his fath< r .was meditating profoundly. The boy’s racket soon disturbed his meditations. It seemed to the professor that it must be an extremely ill-bred child that would make a disturbance in a public place; he would see if he coujdggjl^ qilfEt him; but first he would finnwf who he was. “Littl^ boy,” he said, sharply, “what is your name?” Naturally the small boy thought it strange to be asked his name by his own father, but he responded, politely: “The same as yours, sir." “The same as.mine! ” The professor’s attention was now aroused by this appeal to his ego, and the spell was broken. He took up his progeny, to the tremendous amusement of the people in the car, and gave him a good shaking. —Youth’s Companion. Scholar,

Dlucreet Silence. An excellent piece of advice was that once given to George Gray, a young Methodist preacher, who was a mere boy when he began his work. Within, a few days of the time he was 15% .rears old his name was on the records Qf an annual conference as a traveling preacher—the youngest candidate ever received in the Methodist Episcopal church. He was sent to the Barre circuit, in Vermont. As he mounted his horse to set out for his appointed field of labor—a jaunt of more than 200 miles —his uncle, a Methodist of much, shrewdness and humor, gave him a parting address which he never forgot* and to which he often referred in later years. “Never pretend that you know much, George,” said he, looking up at the youthful rider from under his 3haggy eyebrow's; “for if you do so pretend, the people will soon fi*d out that you are sadly mistaken, but neither,” he added, after a moment a pause, “need you tell them how little you know, for this they will find ou^ soon enough.”—Youth’s Companion. 1 &