Pike County Democrat, Volume 29, Number 38, Petersburg, Pike County, 27 January 1899 — Page 2

a. McC. STOOPS, Kditor and Proprietor. :1 ____ . ! . PETERSBURG. : : INDIANA. The war department has issued an Invitation for bids from responsible shipping concerns of all nations for t£e transportation of the Spanish prisoners in the Philippines from Manila to Spain. The charges and specifications in the court-martial of Commissary-General Eagan are, “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” and “conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.” A resolution Indorsing the expansion policy of the administration and inviting President McKinley to visit Augusta passed the Maine bouse of representatives, on the 19th, by a unanimous rising vote amid much enthusiGeorge W, Dent, brother-in-law of the^late Gen. U. S. Grant and uncle of U. S. Grant, Jr., candidate for United States senator from California, died at Oakland, Cal., on the 18th, of heart ' failure resulting from pneumonia, aged 79. —p--— The formal election of Albert J. Beveridge to be United States senator from Indiana was announced on the IStife The vote cast in the two houses in separate session showed that the republican candidate had received a majority of 30 votes. William Martindale, vice-president of the First n&tionall bank of Emporia, Kas., which failed last November owing depositors a half million dollars, has turned his holdings over to Maj. Calvin Hood, on a deed of trust. Hodd will settle with^depositors. ,

The quartermaster general of the army is communicating with , the colonels of each of the volunteer. regiments that saw service in Cuba for the purpose of perfecting plans for bringing to this country the bodies of soldiers who died or were killed in Cuba. ! ; The extension of the anti-contract labor laws to Hawaii is strongly urged in a report made by the house committee on labor. It says thousands of contract laborers, mainly Japanese, have been taken to the islands since the raising of the United States flqig over them. The United States dispatch boat Iroquois sailed from San Francisco for Honolulu on the 20th. The vessel carried a number Of special dispatches, some foi^the battleship Oregon, dne at the islands, and some that are supposed to relate to the sending of the Oregon to Samoa. The Minnesota house adopted concurrent resolutions, on the 18th. strongly urging the United States senate to hasten the ratification of the peace treaty with Spain, the resolutions being supported by representatives of all parties, and passed by a vote of 101 to 4. i-. ' . 1 - Eighty-two members of the Astor battery of New York city passed through Omaha, Neb., on the 20th, over the Burlington route, bound home frojm Manila. They traveled in tourist sleepers, with a baggage car carrying their freight and rations. Their mascot, a fox terrier, was with them. Job A. Cooper, ex-governor of Colorado, died suddenly at Denver, on the 20th, of heart failure. He had been ailing for several days, but felt no apprehension, and no physiqian was called until a few hours before his death. Mr. Cooper was governor from 18S9 to 1891, being elected as a republican.

Secretary Alger has authorized Brig.-Gen. Breckinridge, inspector general of the army, to delay proceeding to Cuba on an inspection trip until he has finished the. business he now lias in hand. The original order was generally interpreted to mean that the secretary desired Gen. Breckinridge out of the way. Fayne Strahan Moore, wife of Badger Moore, who is serving 19 years in Sing Sing for badgering Martin Mahon out of $5,000, will be released on bail and will leate New York at once in company with her mother, widow of Justice Strahan of the Oregon supreme court. This will, in all probability, end -the case. Four of the new 13-inch breechloading rifled coast defense mortars which the Niles tool works, of Hamilton, O., are making for the United States government, have been shipped to the government proving grounds at Sandy Hook, N. J. The guns are 14 feet in length, weigh 30,000 pounds, and throw a 500-pound dynamite shell g ten miles. " The United States military authorities in Havana have cabled the Santiago department an carder directing that not a cent of the customs receipts of the department is to be expended without the permission of Gov.-Gen. Brooke. The order also directs that , the greater part of the sanitary work performed shall be done without money pay and for rations merely. m'~"' • - Orders have been salt from the navy department to have the cruiser Newark start from the New York navy yard for the Pacific station, via the Straits of Magellan. The Newark Is a powerful protected cruiser of about the same type and power as the . whose * place she will the station* the Philadelphia to Samoa. * MS VzlL

CURRENT TOPICS. THE HEWS IN BRIEF. FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. (SMoad IlMiloa.) In the senate, on the 17th, almost the entire session was devoted to consideration of the pending Nicaragua canal bill. At three o'clock the consideration of the bill under the 15-minute rule was begun and continued to the dose of the session. The first vote reached was on an amendment which, in brief, provided that the United States should have absolute control of; the canal for military or naval purposes, with power to dictate the use of the waterway during the existence of war. It was defeated. 88 to 9.In the house several unimportant bills were passed by unanimous consent, after which the naval personnel bill was taken up and passed without division. In the senate, on the 18th, Mr. Bacon idem., Ga.) made a set speech in support of his resolution that the United States should not assume sovereignty over the Philippine islands, at the close of which the Nicaragua canal bill was taken up and Its consideration occupied the remainder of the session.In the house a number of bills of minor importance, reported from' the interstate and foreign commerce committee, were passed, after which the bill to subsidise the Pacific Cable Oo. occupied the remaining hours of the session. 1? In the senate, on the 19th, the further discussion of the policy of expansion occupied much of the day's, session; after1 which the Nicaragua canal bill was taken up and considered for three hours. After much debate a substitute, presented by Mr. Morgan (Ala.), for the bond amendment offered by Mr. Allison was adopted. All other proposed amendments failed.... In the house bills were passed authorizing the Arkansas & Choctaw Railroad Co. to construct a railroad through the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in Indian territory. and granting a site on Fort Supply military reservation to Oklahoma for an Insane asylum, after which the house went into committee of the whole on the post office appropriation bilL In the senate, on the 20th, a session of five hours and a half was practically barren of results. Consideration of the Nicaraguan canal bill was resumed, but Its completion was blocked by filibustering.In tlie house the post office bill •was finally passed. Speaker Reed announced the appointment of1 Mr. Payne (rep., N. Y.) as chairman of the committee on ways and means, in place of the late Mr. Dingley, which carried with it the leadership of the majority on the floor of the house. PERSONAL AND GENERAL.

Portp Rican women are reported to be brighter and more enterprising than the men. They attend not only to domestic affairs, but take an active share in trading and transportation. Many carry on farms and keep store. American visitors admire their energy and sagacitj', and think the women of the island will cut some figure in its future history. A Chicago news agency says that commission houses there are unanimously opposed to the continuance of the practice of trading in “puts” and “calls” and are very generally sending notices to their clients that they will accept no more such orders. Orders were telegraphed, on the 19th, to Commodire Kautz, commander of the Pacific station, directing him to proceed with the cruisero Philadelphia from San Diego to Apia, Samoa, and co-operate with the American consul general in protecting** American interests. >• ' “Lucky” Baldwin has decided to erect an eight-story fire-proof building on the property occupied by the old Baldwin hotel in San Francisco, which was burned a few months ago. The building will cost $3,000,000. Atty.-Gen. A. A^ Godard of Kansas has prepared a decision, holding th^t the special session of the legislature cabled by Gov. Leedy was illegal, and all laws passed by it void. Albert J. Beveridge was elected United'States senator by the general assembly of Indiana on the 17th. Francis M. Cockrell was re-elected United States senator from Missouri on the 17th. Col. Wm. A. Stone was inaugurated governor of Pennsylvania on the 17th. The New York senate and assembly in joint session, on the 18th, formally declared Chauncey M. Depew the successor to Hon. Edw. Murphy, Jri. as United States senator for a term of six years. \ The senate committee on foreign relations agreed, on the 18th, to a favorable report upon the nomination of Hon. Joseph H. Choate to be ambassador to Great Britain.

Both branches of the Maine legislature met, on the 18th, in joint convention, and the re-election of Eugene Hale as United States senator was formally announced. A dispatch to the Ix>ndon Daily Mail from Bucharest, Roumania, says that a pack of * wolves, emboldened by hunger, recently attacked a monastery at Lopevean, in the Moldavian mountains, and killed a friar. The act to prohibit aliens from owning placer mines in British Columbia has finally passed the provincial legislature, and received the formal assent of the lieutentant governor. Th% act goes into effect at once. Premier Sagasta says that the queen regent will sign a decree convoking the cortes on the day following the receipt of the news of the ratification of the treaiy of peace by the United States senate. Chief-of-Police Crow of Sommerville, N. J., was shot and fatally wounded while chasing a burglar on the 19th. The casualties of the recent war with Spain, as officially reported to the house committee on invalid pensions, were: Officers killed, 26; enlisted men killed, 257; officers wiiunded, 113; enlisted »men wounded, 1,467. Deaths from disease, May 1 to December 31; officers. Ill; enlisted men, 4,854. It has been definitely decided at the navy department to abandon the in-, stallation of torpedoes in any form on the new battleships and cruisers of the United States navy. It has been concluded that torpedoes in any form, on board vessels of war, are an element of weakness. Complaints have been made to the department of justice, at Washington, of the formation of a trust by certain leading photographic firms, by which they have secured control .of the stock of paper manufac and Prance which mintimr and. A

, All hope for the safety of the yoeM Paul Jones has been abandoned. Wreckage found in the gulf indicate only too plainly the fate of the little craft, and with it all of thoee on board. The gTand jury at Canton, 0., on the 19th, returned a true bill against Mrs. Annie F. George for murdering Geo. D. Saxton last October. The indict* ment is for murder in the first degree, the penalty fo? which is death by elec* trocution. ~ Fire which, on December 26, broke out in the Diamondville mine at Diamondviile, Wyo., continues to spread despite all efforts to control it, and it is feared that the mine will hare to be abandoned. The failures for the week ended on the 20th, as reported by R. G. Dun & Co., were 249 in the United States, against 374 last year, and 32 in Canada, against 53 last year. The statement of the condition of. the treasury on the 20th showed: Available cash balance, $292,383,003; gold reserve, $230,465,053. LATE NEWS ITEMS. rn the senate, on thd 21st, the Hies, ragua canal bill was further considered, and after many short speeches had been delivered and several amendments adopted, *the bill was passed, only six senators voting against it. It was voted (33 to 21) to make the antiscalping bill the unfinished business. The Indian appropriation bill was then taken up, but its consideration was not completed when the senate went into executive session, and soon after adjourned... .The house was not in session on the 21st. A Madrid paper published, on tie 22d, an interview with an Englishman, whose name is not given, but who is described as “prominent in British public/affairs,” wThieh he is represented^ as declaring that, although a Spanish victory in the Hispano-Ameri-can war would not have suited England’s aims, she is now desirous of an alliance with Spain to forward her interests in Africa. j >

Strong seismic disturbances were felt, on the 21st, throughout the Peloponnesus, and especially in the southwestern departments of the Grecian peninsula. All the houses in the towji of Philiatra, in the department of Messenia, on the Ionian coasty have been damaged, and several villages were destroyed. . A great panic prevails, though no loss of life has been reported. f The commissioner of internal revenue has decided that legacies paid c-ut of the proceeds of real estate directed to be sold for the purpose are not subjected to the. tax.upon legacies arising against personal property. In case 1 he debts and claims against the estate exceed the appraised or clear value of the personal property he says there can be no legacy tax. The steam ferryboat Oakland, plying between San Francisco and Oakland, Cal., ran down the launch William D., near Goat island, on the 22d. The launch sank immediately. Engineer Waddles of the William D. was drowned. F. D. Orr, a passenger, was struck by the Oakland, and died of his injuries after reaching the hospital. John F. Lebaron, a well-known civil engineer of Cleveland, 0., declares that while engaged as an engineer on -he old Nicaragua canal, he discovered a new and pr&cncal route for the inferoceanic connection. An earthquake lasting tep seconds and the most severe in years occurred at Port Antonio, Jamaica, on the 2:ist» CURRENT news notes. S. P. Lyon, of Louisville, Ky., committed suicide in a room in a Paducah hotel. The keel of the new cup defender was cast at the Herreshoffs’ works Friday. The next annual convention of the United Mine Workers will be held at IndianapoMs.

Annabel! Jones, who was kidnapped at Havana, 111., was found with her mother in Springfield. Workmen on Goat island, San Francisco bay, unearthed eight skeletons of men of more than ordinary stature. It is reported that the new' German meat bill will not be so restrictive on American meats as is the one now in force. J. J. Lowery, who owns an orchard of 3,000 peach trees in Pettis county, Mo., reports that the buds are all killed. The sale of the Edison Electric IIlumiiiating Co. of New York to the Whitney syndicate has been completed. Mi'S. Milton Barlow,4 wife of the old time minstrel, secured a divorce in New Jersey, on the ground of habitual intemperance. Mont Commodore, colored, *• was Struck by a falling tree near Smithton, Mo., and his skull crushed. He can not recover. . A ear containing 19 bales of cotton was entirely destroyed by fire at Caddo, I. T. Jt was from Oklahoma, consigned to Gainesville, Tex. A Washington dispatch says that, as the result of recent happenings at the capital, Secretary of War Alger will be forced into retirement. From Berlin it is reported that the kaiser is determined to maintain the Samoan treaty between the three ] lowers—Germany, England and the United States. 4 Mme. Patti and Baron Cederstrom will be wed at the diva’s home in Wales, next Wednesday, the 25th. The firemen and policemen of the town, Brecon, will parade. An aged widow, Mary Feeley, was found by neighbors bound hand and foot to a chair in her lonely farmhouse near Essex, 111. She had lieen robbed of $500 in gold. G.. H. Neiswanger, an aged hamster, was struck by a Missouri Pacific switch engine at Independence, Mo., and fatally injured. One leg was cut skull fractured. i $ .. . m

HOOSIEIt HAPPENING* Told in. Brief by Dispatches i re* Various Localities. IItI** Over « Volraao. Kokomo, Ind.. Jan. 21.—The fatal, natural gas explosion here, wherein i residence at which a company of ft* , dies was being entertained was blqv i I up, has caused the alarming discovery to be made that the people, are Brr | over a volcano, unaware of the dan§ r they are in. During the summer jr A from leaky mains naturally works Zm way up through the soil and passes I j harmlessly into the atmosphere, but in winter escaped gas, by reason of the frooeh ground, is confined below t e frost, with no escape except into cellars, basements, water wells and cisterns, making them as dangerous as powder houses. Striking a match it carrying a lamp into the cellar invariably results in an explosion. Warai-d by the recent, explosion the people are ventilating cellars and basemenii, opening covered wells and cisterns, ai d taking every known precaution to present further disaster. The Value of n Bor. Anderson, Ind., Jan. 21.—After staying out 53 hours the jury in the $10,000 damage action brought by Solomon Addison against the city of Ehvood for the death of his young, son returned a verdict of $599. The verdict was reached under unusual procedure. Addison's eight-year-old boy was drowned in a ditch at El wood. The father sued for damages. The jury had to figure out what a boy was worth from eight, years to 21. It placed his earnings between 8 and 10 years at 45 centsa week, keeping 85 cents; from 10 to 12, earnings 75 cents, keeping $1.25; from 12 tto 15. earnings $4. keeping $2; from 15 : to 18. earnings $5. keeping $2.25; from j IS to 21, earnings $6, keeping $4.

Soldier* Superstitious. Jefiersonville, Ind., Jan. 21.—Some of the more superstitious members of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana, now in Havana, are constantly in dread that some calamity will befall the regiment. The reason for this is because almost: every important order received by the regiment has been either on Friday or on the 13th day of the month. In the face of these facts* there has not been a more favored regiment in theservice and the health of the boys has been exceptionally good. Will Give a Ball. Wabash, Ind., Jan. 21.—The immense new building, with over 75.000 square feet of floor space, being erected by the Wabash Paper company, will be dedicated with a ball to be given by the local society people on February if). Fifteen of the prominent society women are the patronesses and a large sum of money has been subscribed to make the affair a brilliant success. Atot|-Roby Bill Bead. Indianapolis, Ind., Jan. 21.—A bill providing for the teaching of agricul- ; ture in the public schools and carrying ; a $10,000 appropriation was killed in the house by striking out the enacting clause, and the anti-Koby bill, allowing the state to sue to abate nuisstnees without giving bond, was killed finally and for all by voting down a motion to reconsider. * Asratnnt the lee Company. Laporte, Ind., Jan. 21.—In the $10,COO damage suit' of William Zahrt against the John Hilt- Lake Ice company the jury gave the plaintiff damages in the sum-of $450. The suit grew out of the refusal of the company to compensate Zahrt for the privilege of taking ice from Pine lakgy the water of whieh abuts the latter’s land. Death RemaTer a Family. Seymour, Ind., Jan. 21.—Mrs. E. W. Shepard, aged 58, died of heart trouble. With her death the entire family has died within the past two months. Her husband died of pneumonia, and her daughter committed- suicide a few months ago. Her husband was one of the most prominent marble men in southern Indiana. t •

A Sensational Sait. Bloomington. Ind., Jan. 21.—A sensational suit was filed in the circuit court against well-known farmers in the southeast part of the county by John. O. Rush, in which he asks $5,000 danages, alleging that he was the victim of a white cap outrage at their hands Christipas night. Free Gravel Roads. Columbus. Ind., Jan. 21.—Bartholomew county commissioners hare awarded contracts for building seven free gravel roads for this township. The contracts in ap will amount to about $18,000. These roads were voted for at a special road election last November. Gets OR Rasy. ShelbyviUe, Ind.. Jan. 21.—John Brown, the Indianapolis blacksmith, pleaded guilty to assaulting and robbing Mrs. Nugent with “Kid” Whitney last September, and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Whitney was sent up for two to fourteen yeprs. Passed Away. Aurora, Ind., Jan. 21.—John B. Tuck died here. Since 1886 Mr. Tuck had been A route agent in the railway mail service between Cincinnati and Chicago. He was a member of the Knights Templar and Knights of Pythias. Fatally lejsred ky m Hog. North Judson, Ind., Jan. 21,—James Plezrna, aged 72, will die is the result of being attacked by a vicious hog. After trampling him to insensibility the porker bit a portion of the flesh from his right thigh. Planlaa Mill Burned. Alexandria, Ind., Jan. 21.—The Hays and Crider planing mill was totally destroyed by fire.

imim. ' ' ' ■ f . \ • • - Interesting Report to Assistant Secretary of War Meikeljohn on Conditions in the Island. THE SCHOOL SYSTEM BUT A SKELETON. Illiteracy Shown by the Occasional a ad Imperfect Census Return* Competent and Reliable Teachers Needed — The Religions Question—A Priesthood K>»5 -dlk vested of Salarll Washington, Jan. 23.—“If Porto Rico is to become a Credit to the United States,” says Capt. August P. Gardner, assistant adjutant general1 of volunteers, in an interesting report to Assistant Secretary Meikeljohn upon the educational and other affairs of the island of Porto Rico, “and not a continual thorn in her side, it is as certain as the rising sun that the work of reconstruction must be done by men of disinterested motives,” , Education the First Need, “In considering,” says Capt. Gardner, “the various elements which go to make up the. social system of Porte Rico, the most worthy of a detailec examination is the method of edaca tion. It is on this branch that th< fruits which it is hoped may be gath - ered in the future must all ripen. Disclosures ot the Census. “What purports to be a census of th k island is taken every ten years. But the only one ever published, appai-en - ly, was that of 1SS7. In this the popi - lation was given at 806,708, of who) a 111,380, or 16 per cent, could neith* r* read nor write. A comparison of 1 he: ;e figures with those also called recti ication of the census for 1SS3 reveals a gross blunder somewhere, as, ac ^or 3- ; ing to the returns for-that year, 23 i,- 1 294, or over twice as mahy people as \ four years later, could neither read r or ; write. /

Illiteracy In the City of Ponce. For the city of Ponce, there is an xeellent census for the year 1S97, v ell compiled, and to all appearances ac- ! curate. According to tha^ the city jurisdiction covers a population of 19,000. The percentage who could r *ad and write was 29.37-100. Capt. Gardner believes this perc -ntage is very much too high. L Th« Schools of th«* Island, Capt. Gardner says it is safe to s verage the number of schools in the island at 600 at the outside, of which less than forty are private or religious schools. The common schools art divided into superior, elementary, tuxiliary and rural, with one teacher to each school, whose salary ranges rom 1,200 pesos, or say $600 per year, in a superior school of the first class t > 30G pesos per year in a rural school. The superior schools exist only in the s even departmental cities, in each o»< of ! which there are supposed to be tw o su- j perior schools, one for each sex. In the larger townships then is about one school to every 1,000 in habitants. Education is laid on a jreat/ deal thinner in many parts of tb e isl- i and, large country districts being ivithout schools entirely, notwithSta iding a compulsory school attendance law. As each township pays for itf own schools, it is impossible to estima :e the amount spent- on education am ually in the island. But the state’s con ribu- j tion annually amounts to about 60,000 pesetas per year, out of which i > supported certain institutions. A Fairly Good Skeleton. Summarizing the situation as a whole, there exists on the isl tfid a fairly good skeleton on which t > construct a school system. The db ieulty arises from the scarcity of con >etent and reliable teachers. Ii| the lature of things, for. the present, bu little progress can be made by An ;rican teachers sent to the island. Their sphere of usefulness will not nclude Porto Rico until such time as a knowledge of the English language 11s begun 'to permeate all classes.

Religion Not « Serious Cooslde it Ion. ^ With regard to religious qi estions, Capt. Gardner says it does no appear that the inhabitants of the isl .nd hare ever taken their religion witf any degree of seriousness, probab y awing to the fact that the church is refardea as one of the means by wfc eh Spain undertook to maintain her at vereignty on the island and to provi> ,e for the maintenance of su:h of he; deigy as could not be supported at aomt;. Altogether the clerical es ablisiment maintains about 210 priee ;s and assistants, the sum total of whose salaries amounts to about 150,000 pesos annually. A PrlMthood Without Salaries. 'Since the invasion c f American troops the salaries of all hese priests, which have heretofore teen paid by the state, have been cut < iff, a, state of affairs which seems to bt viewed with perfect equanimity by 911 except the priesthood itself. Roman Catholicism h is a chance in the island ix view of the condition of the native t and than any other form of religion. No tiroood tor Con plot at 1 of ; Taxation. better That the1 population as a whole, has seriou >f Porto Rioo grounds for complains on account of excessive taxthat tliis taxand adminisation is not proved. Bu ation was so distribute! tered as to seriously inti irfere with the small, and especially w th the native merchants or planters, be doubted. The total am unt raiSed by | national taxation bus bee 1 of late years a little over 4% pesos j er in hi bit ant. To Americans, who a e accustomed j to a national taxation c l! capita, the Porto $7 per

SEISMIC DISTURBANCES. them ), and departbouses e deIon iao the inud DwtrMtir* EcrthnaatUMfy- rtS- *•*•» EsMBiMd la the Adda Athens, Jan. 22.—A iilihRjisniniiilr iisturbance was felt about half-past nine o't aut the Peloponnesus part of the kingdom of especially in the southwest ments of the peninsula. AH in the town of Philiatra, portment of Messenia, on coast, have been damaged, habitants are now camping' out in the suburbs. Two villages in the vicinity of Philiatra were completely destroyed, many people being si The villages of Kyparissia and Stase were practically, destroyed, though It is not known yet whether there were any victims there. Much damage to property was done at Navurino, a seaport six roijtes north of Modon, whose harbor witnessed the victory of the English, French and Russian fleets over those of the .Turks and Egyptians in 132t; and considerable loss is reported frtWK^pimata, capital of the department of Meesenia, near the head of tfc^Gnlf of Koron. The shock was severely district of Zante, capital of island of that name, but Joss of life or property slight shocks have occurred during the day, and to-night the people at numerous towns and villages are afraid to return to their houses. ' *- The authorities are doing sil in their power to furnish tents and supplies. MADRID Ni America Will Endeavor to or Spaniards In the F Ei*nd Wishes a a Release .., Madrid. Jan. 23.—The Washington government has notified Spctiu of its intention to endeavor to secure the release of the Spanish prisoners in the Philippines. - ..VifliS • 'r At the request of several members of the cortes Senor ^Sagastaiftfcs promised to submit at the next cabinet council a proposal to amnesty the anarchists stili imprisoned af&Jfont Juicb fortress. i ■ , 1 ■; '*■

Uii nemp puonsneu yestertiav an interview with an Englishman, whose name is not given, but who' i3 doscribed as “prominent in’SSpdsh public affairs,” in which he is represented as declaring that, although a Spanish victory in the Hispano-American war would not have suited England’s aims, she is now desirous-of an alliance with Spain to forward her -Interests in Africa* I : ||||| ; Yesterday being the king’s ^ete day. the queen regent issued a decree grant* ing amnesty to various offender* and to military deserters. :Tr> CHANGED HIS i A German Editor Who Know* How t<s Pro. fit by Experience* “ jj to tbe Popular Munich, Jan. 23.—The Nettie'Nachric^en, which raised a storm of indignation among the ultra-patriotic papers by hinting that German doings in the Philippines were largely resposible for the delicate, |^ktions between the United States and Germany and that as the German foreign office know nothing of them it would be advisable to institute an investigation with a view of averting the recurrence of such mistakes, makes the following announcement: “Americans here have decided to send to the Washington government a protest against the anti-German expressions used in the house of representatives and a declaration that no animosity against Americans Exists in Germany, where Americans always meet with the most freindly reception.” ! -—-—- FIGHTING IN THE CONGO STATE.

•The Whole Country in m Forte rot and the Rebellion Not Being Pw Down. • Brussels, Jan. 23.—There lias been fresh fighting in the Congo State between the Belgian troops and the rebels, the former having sustained heavy losses, including some white officers killed. • - « La Patriote says: “The real truth as to the situation, in the Congo State is being hidden. The real losses of the Congo State troops of late have been much under* stated here. The whole country is in. a ferment, and the rebellion is not being put down. The government troops appear to fear the rebels, and the prestige of the whites has been tsnfth impaired.” '1 Released from Hln Oath at Professional Secrecy. r Paris, Jan. 23.—Comte Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, the reputed author of the Dreyfus bordereau, arrived here from Rotterdam to testify before the court of cassation, has written’ to M. De Freycinet, the minister for war, asking to be released from the oath of professional secrecy. M. Be Freycinet acceded to his request, and it is believed that Comte Esterhaay will appear before the court to day. He continues to decline to receive visitors. Reported In Weicc—The Channel Service Suspended. London, Jan. 22.—There was & violent storm throughout England Friday night accompanied jligg serious floods in Wales. The River Towy, in South Wales, overflowed, a bridge was destroyed and many cattle were drowned. The channel service was suspended and the continental mails have not arrived yet, fM'' The Conway Valley, in North Wales. Is inundated and forms a great lake. The London & Northwestern rood at Llandudno Ji away.