Plymouth Tribune, Volume 6, Number 12, Plymouth, Marshall County, 27 December 1906 — Page 2

iuE PLYMOUTBTRIBUNE PLYMOUTH, IND. HENDRICKS O CO.. - - Publishers.

1906 DECEMBER 1906

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(TU Q. 7 N." M. "t F. Q.F. M. th VV15th V 22ndAs;3Cth PAST AND PEESENT AS IT COMES TO US FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE EARTH. Telegraphic Information Gathered by the Few for the Enlightenment of the Many. TEX KILLED IX 'WRECK. Tfclrty Others Are Injured la Paiiencer CollUIon at Enderlln, X. D. Ten people are known to be dead, six others are fatally injured and at least twenty-five others were badly hurt in the wreck of an east-bound train on the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Harle railroad at Enderlin, N. D. The train wrecked was the accommodation train which runs from Moose Jaw, Bask, to St Paul, and at the time of the collision was about two hours late. The engineer was running at high speed in an endeavor to make up lost time. As he swung around a curve just before entering the yards at Enderlln a switch engine was shifting a string of box cars onto a siding. The cars did not clear the main track and the passenger engine collided head-on with the switch engine. Both engines were totally wrecked and the passenger cars were thrown in confusion down a small embankment at the side of the track. Several of the coaches were turned bottom side up and the passengers pinned beneath the wreckage, which took fire from the stoves used to heat the cars. The passenger train was heavily loaded with people going to their homes in the east to spend the holidays. Most of the casualties occurred in the smoking car and day coach, both of which were badly splintered. MISSOURI MURDERER HANGED. J4a Hamilton, Slayer of Parson Family, Dtea on Gallovrs at Houston. Joda Hamilton was hanged at Houston, Mo., for the murder of the Parsons family. Joda Hamilton was a 20-year-old farmer boy. On Oct. 12 last he killed Barney Parsons, a neighboring farmer, Mrs. Parsons and their three small children. Parsons rented a farm near that owned by Hamilton. He sold his crops to Hamilton aud started with his family overlord for Iowa. Hamilton had become dissatisfied with his bargain and lay in wait In the roadway for Parsons. asked Parsons to repay the money and on Parsons refusal, Hamilton shot him twice with a shotgun. Then ha club'cd Mrs. Parsons and the children to death. Hamilton hauled tho bodies to the creek and dumped them out, then drove home. In Parsons' wagon. He was arrested promptly and confessed. Bar aed to Death In Gaa Pit. An explosion and fire at the plant of the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke Company at Evanston, twelve miles north of Chicago, resulted In the death of Isaac Terry and serious injury ot three other men, all workmen employed by the gas company. The fire occurred in a pit where tar, coke and oil were stored. Terry was thrown Into the pit by the explosion and burned to death. XXra. Myera Geta Another Reaplte. Jndge John W. Phillips, in the United States District Court at Kansas City, Mo., granted a writ of habeas corpus in the case of Mrs. Agnes Myers in jail at Liberty, Mo., under sentence to be executed in January for the murder of her husband. The chertff was ordered to produce Mrs. Ziyers In court at Kansas City Dec. 31. Frfaoaera Break Jail at Cincinnati. Nine prisoners escaped from Hamilton county jail at Cincinnati, Ohio. Among those who escaped were some desperate criminals, including Clarace N. Henri (arrested In New York recently) who stole the famous pictare "Girl Knitting," from the Cincinnati are museum. Four of the prisoners were re-captured. Traction CollUIon at Pern, Ind. A serious collision occurred at Peru, Ind., on the Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley Traction line, when a westbound through car and an east-bound city car came together head-on, and Injured six persons. The accident was due to a dense fog. The city car was demolished. Harria Goea I'p for Li-. Frank Harris, 45 year; old, was found guilty in the Circuit Court at Jefferson villc, Ind., of criminal assault on his twin step-daughter . and sentenced to iifs imprisonment Seventeen Workmen Hart In Accident. Seventeen men were seriously injured, two fatally, when a scaffold broke at the Standard Mills at EIwood City, Pa., dropping the men a distance of twenty feet. Texas Siftings' Fourier Dead. John Annoy Knox, on . lely known as the editor and propri ..or of Texas Siftings, died suddenly in his New York home of heart disease. He was born in Ireland In 1&50, son of a bank president of Belfast. Kansas Bobber Gets Long Term. .. Joseph S. Kerns, tbe former CMeago dry goods clerk and newspaper ra n, captured at Great Bend, Kan., recently after holding np a local bank in day! if at, was arraigned, pleaded guilty and vas sentenced to the State penitentiary for a term of from ten to twenty-one years. Diplomat Dies at Mukden. Tke American vice consul general. Nelson Fairchild, shot and killed himself at Mukden. It is believed the scooting was accidental. Mr. Fairchild was a nephew of former Govenor Fairchild of Wisconsin and a son of Charles Fairchild of New York. Shaw for Mutuul President. It is reported in New York that Secretary of the Treasury Shaw may be the next president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. A warm fight is promised in the courts by both sidos in the insurance election through contests.

CAI1AL CRITICS HIT.

President In Special Message Calls Them Slanderers. TELLS OP HIS TRIP. Made Thorough Inspection of the Work Now in Progress. Taalc that la nn Epic and of World-Wide Importance Health Condition Excellent, Malaria and Yellow Fever Delnff Driven Out Workmen Are Seen at Work and In Their Quarter and Are Interviewed by the President. President roosevelt snt a special message on the Panama canal to Congress Monday. Ho tells at great length of his personal experiences on his recent trip to the canal zone, and scores the critics and slanderers of the canal Tommission. On this point the President says: "Where the slanderers are of foreign origin I have no concern with them. Where they are Americana I feel for them the heartiest contempt and Indignation; because la a spirit of wanton dishonesty and malice they are trying to interfere with and hamper the execution of the greatest work of the kind ever attempted and are seeking to bring to naught the efforts of their countrymen to put to the credit of America one of the giant feats of the ages. The outrageous accusations of these slanderers constitute a gross libel upon a body of public servants who for trained intelligence, expert ability, high character and devotion to duty have never been excelled anywhere.' Following is the President's message In part: In the month of November I visited the Isthmus of ranama, going over the Canal 5'ione with considerable care ; and also visited the cities of Panama and Colon, which are not in the Zone or under the United States flag, but as to which the United States government, through its agents, exercises control for certain sanitary purposes. I was three days ashore not a sulScient length of time to allow an exhaustive investigation of the minutiae of the work of any single department, still less to pass judgment on the ergineering problems, but enough to enable me to get a clear idea of the salient features of the great work and of the progress that has been made as regards the sanitation of the Zone, Colon and Panama, the caring for and housing of the employes, aad the actual digging of the canal. The Zone is a narrow strip of land, and it can 'be inspected much as one can inspect fifty or sixty miles of a great railroad, at the point where it runs through mountains or overcomes other natural obstacles. I chose the month of November for my visit partly because it is the rainiest month of the year, the month in which the work goes forward at the greatest disadvantage, and one of the two months which the medical department of the French Canal Company found mo3t unhealthy. I. inspected the Ancon Hospital, going through various wards both for whito patients and for colored patients. I inspected portions of the constabulary (Zone police), examining the men individually. I also examined certain of the schools and saw the school children, both white and colored, speaking with certain of the teachers. At the Culebra cut the spot In which most work will hau to be done in any event, we watched the different steam shovels working; we saw the drilling and blasting; we saw many of the dirt trains (of the two different types used), both carrying the earth away from the fcteam shovels and depositing it on the dumps some of the dumps being run out in the jungle merely to get rid of the earth, while in other cases they are being used for double tracking the railway and in preparing to build the great dams. I visitei many of tb different villages, inspecting thoroughly many different buildings the local receiving hospitals, the houses in which workmen live, as well as the commissary stores, and the machine shops. Talks with Scores of Workmen. I talked with scores of different men superintendents and head of departments, divisions and bureaus ; steam shovel men, machinists, conductors, engineers, clerks, wives of the American employes, health officers, colored labcrars, colored attendants, and managers of th commissary stores where food is sold to the colored laborers; wives of th colored employes who are married. Each day from twelve to eighteen hours were spent in going over and inspecting all there was to be seen, and in examining various employes. Throughout my trip I was accompanied by the surgeon general of the army, Dr. Itixey; by the chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, Mr. Shonts ; by Chief Engineer Stevens;, by Dr. Gorgas the chief sanitary officer of the commission ; by Mr. Bishop, the secretary of the comnission; by Mr. Ripley, the principal assistant engineer: by Jackson Smith, who has had practical charge of collecting and handling the laboring force ; by Mr. Bieid, general manager of the railway, and by . Hogers, the general counsel of the commission ; and many other officials joined us from time to time. Par Tribute to Work of French. I wish to pay a tribute to the amount of work done by the French Canal Company under very difficult circumstances. Many of the buildings they put up were excellent and are still in use, though, naturally, the houses are now getting out of repair and are being used as dwellings only until other houses can ie built, and mach of the work they did in the Culebra cut, and some of the work they did in digging has . been of direct and real benefit. Tfcis country has nver made a better investment than the $ 40.000.000 which it paid to the French company for wok and betterments, including especialy the Panama railroad. An inspection of the ground at the height of the rainy season served to convince me of the wisdom of Congress in refusing to adopt either a high-lere! or a sea-level canal. There seems to be a universal agreement among all people competent to judge that the Panama route, the one actualy chosen, is much superior to both the Nicaragua and Darien routes. The wisdom of the canal management has been shown in nothing more clearly than in the way in which the foundations of the work have been laid. To have S elded to the natural impatience of illformed outsiders and begun all kinds of experiments in work prior to a thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and to a fairly satisfactory working out of the problem of getting and keeping a sufficient labor supply, would have been disastrous. The various preliminary measures had to be taken first; aud these could not be taken so as to allow us to begin the real work of construction prior to Jan. 1 of the present year. It then became necessary to have the type of the canal decided, and the only delay has been the necessary delay nntil the 20th day of June, the date when the Congress definitely and widely settled that we should have an 85-foot level canal. Immediately after that the work began in hard earnest and has been continued with increasing vigor ever since; and it will continue so to progress In the future. When the contracts are let the conditions w:il be such as to insure a constantly increasing amount of performance. Sanitation Is Successful. The first great problem to be solved, upon the solution of which the success of tne rest of the work depended, was the problem of sanitation. It must be remembered that Dr. Gorgas work was not mere sanitation as the term is understood in

out ordinary municipal work. Throughout the Zone and in the two cities of Vanama and Colon, iu addition to the sanitation work proper, he has had to do all the work that the marine hospital service does as regards the nation, that the health department officers do in the various States and cities. Just at present the health showing on the isthmus is remarkably good so much hotter than in most sections of the United States that I do not believe that it can possibly continue at quite its present average. There has been for the past six months a well-nigh steady decline in the doath rate for the population of the Zone, this being largely due to the decrease in deaths from pneumonia, which has been the most fatal disease on the isthmus. In October there were ninety-nine deaths of every kind among the employes of the isthmus. There were then on the rolls 0.000 whites, seven-eighths of them being Americans. Of these whites but two died of disease, and as it happened neither man was an American. Of the C.000 white Americans, including some 1,200 women and children, not a single death has occurred in the past three months, whereas in an average city in the United States the number of deaths for a similar number of people in that time would have been about thirty from disease. This very remarkable showing cannot of course permanently obtain, but it certainly goes to prove that if good care is taken the isthmus is not a particularly unhealthy place. In Panama and Colon the death rate has also been greatly reduced, this being directly due to the vigorous work of the special brigade of employes who have been inspecting houses where the stegomyia mosquito is to be found and destroying its larva? and breeding places, and doiug similar work in exterminating the malarial mosquitoes in short, in performing all kinds of hygienic labor. The sanitation work in the cities of Panama and Colon has been just as important as in the Zone itself, and in many respects much more difficult. Criticism Is Unjnat. Care and forethought have been exercised by the commission, and nothing has reflected more credit upon tlem than their refusal either to go ahead too fast or to be deterred by the fear of criticism from not going ahead fast enough. It is curious to note the fact that many of the most severe critics of the commission criticise them for precisely opposite reasons, some complaining bitterly that the work Is not In a more advanced condition, while the others complain that it has been rushed with such haste that there has been Insufficient preparation for the hygiene and mfort of the employes. As a natter of fact neither criticism Is Just. It would have been impossible to go more quickly than the commission fcas Kone, for such quickness would have meant Insufficient preparation. On the other band, to refuse to do anything until every possible future contingency had been met would have caused wholly unwarranted delay. The right course to follow was exactly the course which has been followed. Krery reasonable preparation was made In advance, the hygienic conditions in especial being made as nearly perfect as possible; while on the other hand there has been no timid refusal to push forward the work because of inability to anticipate every possible emergency, for, of course, many defects can only be shown by the working of the system In actual practice. In addition to attending to the health of the employes. It Is of course necessary to provide for policing the Zone. This Is done by a police force which at present numbers over 1100 men. About one-fifth of the men are white and the others black. Inasmuch as so many both of the white and colore! employes have brought their families with them, schools have been established. For the white pupils white American teachers are employed; for the colored paplls there are aiso some white American teachers, one Spanish teacher, and one colored American teacher, most of them being colored teachers from Jamaica, Barbados and SL Lucia. There seemed to me to be too many saloons in the Zone: but the new high-license law which goes Into effect 6n January 1 next will probably close four-fifths of them. Resolute and successful efforts are being made to minimize and control of sale of liquor. Next in Importance to tbe problem of sanitation, and indeed now of equal Importance. Is the problem of securing and caring for the mechanics, laborers, and other employes who actually do the work on the canal and the railroad. This great task has been under the control of Jackson Smith, and on the whole has been well done. At present there are some 0,000 white employes and some 11. 000 colored employes on tbe Isthmus. I went orer the different places where tbe different kinds of employes were working; I think I saw representatives of every type both at tbe'r work and in their homes; and I conversed with probably a couple of handred of them all told, choosing them at random from every class and Including those who came especially to present certain grievances. Proud of the Americans. Nearly 5,000 of tbe white employes had come from tbe United Staes No man can see these young, vigorous men energetically doing their duty without a thrill of pride In them as Americans. They represent on the average a high clats. Doubtless to Congress the wages paid them will seem high, but as a matter of fact the only general complaint which I found had any real basis among the complaints made to me upon the Isthmus waa that, owing to the peculiar surroundings, the cost of living, and tbe distance from home, the wages were really not as high as they should be. In fact, almost every man I spoke to felt that he tught to be receiving more money a view, however, which the average man who stays at home In the Wilted States probably likewise holds as regards himself. The white Americans are employed, some of them in office work, but the majority In handling the great steam shovels, as engineers and conductors on tbe dirt trains, as machinists In tbe great repair shops, as carpenters and timekeepers, superintendent, and foremen of divisions and of gangs, and so on and so on. Many of them have brought down their wires and families; and the children when not in school are running about and behaving precisely as the American email boy and small girl behave at home. Tbe bachelors among the employes live, sometimes in small separate houses, sometimes In large bouses ; quarters being furnished free to all tbe men, married and unmarried. The housewives purchase their supplies directly, or through their husbands, from tne commissary stores of the commission. All to whom I spoke agreed that the supplies were excellent, and all but two stated that there was no complaint to be made ; these two complained that the prices were excessive as compared to the prices in tha States. I came to the conclusion that, speaking generally, there was no warrant for complaint about tbe food. The Labor Qneation. Of the nineteen or twenty thousand day laborers employed on the canal, a few hundred are . Spaniards. These do excellent work. Their foremen told me that they did twice as well as the West India laborers. They keep healthy and no difficulty Is experienced with them in any way. Some Italian laborers are also employed In connection with the drilling. As might be expected, with labor as high priced as at present in the United States. !t has cot-so far proved practicable to get any ordinary laborers from the United tates. The American wage-workers on the Isthmas are the highly paid skilled mechanics of the types mentioned previously. A steady effort Is being made to secure Italians, and especially to procure more Spaniards, because of the very satisfactory results that have come from their employment ; und their numliers will be Increased as far as possible. It has not proved possible, however, to get them in anything like the numbers needed for the work, aud from present appearances we shall in the main have to rely, for the ordinary unskilled work, partly upon colored latorers from tbe West Indies, partly upon Chinese labor. It certainly ought to be unnecessary to point out that the American worklngman In the I'nited States has no concern whatever In the question as to whether the rough work on the Isthmus, which Is performed by aliens in any event. Is done by aliens from one country with a black skin or by aliens from another country with a yellow akin. Our business is to dig the canal as efficiently and as quickly as possible ; provided always that nothing is done that is inhumane to any laborers, and nothing that Interferes with the wages of or lowers tbe standard of living of our own workmen. Having In view this principle, I have arranged to try several thousand Chinese laborers. This is desirable both because we must try to find out what laborers are most efficient, and, furthermore. tecaue we Bhould not leave ourselves at the mercy of any one type of foreign labor. At present the srreat bulk of the unskilled labor on the Isthmus Is done by West India negroes, chiefly from Jamaica, Darbados, and tbe other English possessions. One of th governors of the lands in question has shown an unfriendly disposition to our work, and has thrown obstacles in tbe way of our getting the labor needed; and it la highly undesirable to give any outsiders the Impression, however ill founded, that they are Indispensable and can dictate terms to us. The West India laborers are fairly, but only fairly, satisfactory. Some of tbe men do very well Indeed; the bettf? class, who are to be found as foremen, as skilled mechanics, as policemen, are good men, and many of the ordinary day laborers are also good. But thousands of those who are brought over under contract (at our expense) go off Into the jungle to live, or loaf around Colon, or work so badly after the first three or four days as to cause a serious diminution of the amount of labor performed on Friday and Saturday of each week. I questioned many of these Jamaica laborers as to the conditions of their work and what. If any changes, they wished. I received many complaints from them, but as regards most of these complaints, they themselves conflicted one another. Ia all cases wbert the conrlaint was as to

their treatment by any lndIvWwa.1 It provefl on examination that this lndlrldual waa himself a West India man of color, either a policeman, a storekeeper, or an assistant storekeeper. Doubtless there mujt be many corcplalnts against Americans; but those to tvLoin I spoke did not happen to make any such complaint to me. There was no complaint of the housing. I wan strut!: by the superior comfort and respectability ol the lives of the married men. 1c would. In my opinion, be a most admirable thing if a much larcer number of the men had their wives, for with their advent all complaints about the food and cooking are almost sure to cease. One of the greatest needs at present Is to provide amusements loth for the white men and the black. The Young Men's Christian Association is trying to do good work and should be In every way encouraged. But the government should do the main work. I have specifically called the attention of the commission to this matter, and something has been accomplished already. Anything done for the welfare of the men adds to their efficiency and money devoted to that purpose is therefore properly to be considered as spent In building the canal. It Is Imperatively necessary to provide ample recreation and amusement if the men are to be kept well and healthy. Work of Construction. The work is now going on with a vigor and efficiency pleasant to witness. The three big problems of the canal are the La Boca dams, the Gatun dam and the Culebra cut. The Culebra cut must bo made, anyhow; but of course changes as to the dams, or at least as to the locks adjacent to the dams, may still occur. The La Boca dams offer no particular problem, tbe bottom material being so good that there Is a practical certainty, rat merely as to what can .be achieved, but as to the time of achievement., The Gatun dam offers the most serious problem which we have to solve: and yet the ablest men on tbe Isthmus believe that this problem If certain of solution along the lines propose!; although, of course. It necessitates great toll, energy and Intelligence, and although equally, of course, there will be some little risk In connection with tbe work. The risk arises from the fact that some of the material near the bottom Is not so good as could be desired. If tbe huge earth dam now contemplated Is thrown across from one foothill to the other we will have what is practically a low, broad, mountain ridge behind which will rise the Inland lake. This artificial mountain will probabiy show less seepage, that is, will have greater restraining capacity than the average natural mountain range. Tbe exact locality of tbe locks at this dam as at the other dams la now being determined. In April next Secretary Taft, with three of the ablest engineers of the country Messrs. Noble, Stearns and Itlpley will visit the Istb jius, and tbe three engineers will make the tinal and conclusive examinations as to the exact site for each lock. Meanwhile the work Is going anad without a break. The Culebra cut does not offer such great risks; that is, tbe damage liable to occur from occasional land slips will not represent what may be called major disasters. The work will merely call for intelligence, perseverance and executive capacity. It is, however, the work upon which most labor will have to be spent. The dams will be composed of the earth taken out of the cut and very possibly tbe building of tbe locks and dams will taken even longer than the cutting In Culebra itself. Tbe main work ia now being done In the Culebra cut. It was striking and Impressive to see the hupe steam shovels In full play, the dumping trains carrying away the rock and earth they dislodged. The Implements of French excavating machinery, which often stand a little way from tbe line of work, though of excellent construction, look like the veriest toys when compared with these new steam shovels, just as the French dumping cars seem like toy cars when compared with the long trains of huge cars, dumped by steam plows, which are now in use. This represents tbe enormous advance that has been made in machinery during the past quarter of a century. No doubt a quarter of a century hence this new machinery, of which we are now so proud, will similarly seem out of date, but It la certainly serving its purpose well now. The old French cars had to be entirely discarded. We still have In use a few of the more modern, but not most modern, cars, which hold but twelve yards of earth. They can be employed oo certain lines with sharp curves. But the recent cars hold from twenty-live to thirty yards apiece, and instead of the old clumsy methods of unloading them, a steam plow Is drawn from end to end of the whole vestlbuled train, thus Immensely economizing labor. In the rainy season the steam shovels can do but little In dirt, but they work steadily In rock and In the harder ground. The most advanced methods, not only in construction, but in railroad management, have been applied in the Zone, with corresponding economies in time and cost. This has been shown in the handling of the tonnace . from ships Into cars, and from cars into ships on the i'anama railroad. Scores the Critics. It is not only natural, but inevitable, that a work as gigantic as this which has been undertaken on the isthmus should arouse every species of hostility and criticism. The conditions are ao new and so trying, and tbe work so vast, that it would be absolutely out of the question that mistakes should not be made. Checks will occur. Unforeseen difficulties will arise. From time to time seemingly well-settled plans will have to be changed. At present i3,0O0 men are engaged on the task. After a while the number will be doubled. In such a multitude It is Inevitable that there should be here and there a scoundrel, very many of the poorer class of laborers lack the mental development to protect themselves against either the rascality of others or their own folly, and It la not possible for human wisdom to devise a plQ bT which they can invariably be protected. In a place which has been for ages a byword for unhealthfulnesa, and with so large v congregation of strangers suddenly put down and set to hard work 'there will now and then be outbreaks of disease. There will now and then be shortcomlrgs in administration : there win be unlooked-for accidents to delay the excavation of the cut or the building of the dams and locks. Each such incident will be entirely natural, and, even though serious, no one of them will mean more than a little extra delay or trouble. Yet each, when discovered by sensation mongers and retailed to timid folk of little faltb, will serve as an excuse for the belief that tbe whole work Is being badly managed. Experiments will continu

ally be tried In bousing. In hygiene, la street repairing. In dredging, and In digRing earth and rock. Now and then am experiment will be a failure; and among those who hear of it, a certain proportion of doubting Thomases will at once bellevo that the whole work is a failure. Doubtless here and there some minor rascality will be uncovered ; but as to this, I have to aay that after tbe most painstaking Inquiry I have been unable to find a single reputable person who had so much as htard of any serious accusations affecting the honesty of the commission or of any responsible officer under lt. I Investigated the most serious charge, that of the ownership of lots in Colon ; tb.i charge was not advanced by a reptuable man. and la utterly baseless. It Is not too much to say that tbe whole atmosphere of the commission breathes honesty as It breathes efficiency and energy. Above all, the work has been kept absolutely clear of politics. I have never heard even a suggestion of spoils polltics in connection with it So much for honest criticism. There remains an Immense amount of as reckless slander as has ever been published. Where tbe slanderers are of foreign origin I have no concern with them. Where they are Americans, I feel for them the heartiest contempt and indignation ; because, in a spirit of wanton dishonesty and malice, they are trying to Interfere with, and hamper the execution of, the greatest work of the kind ever attempted, and are seeking to bring to naught the efforts ot their countrymen to put to the credit of America one of the giant feats of tbe ages. Tbe outrageous accusations of these slanderers constitute a gross libel upon a bod of public servants who, for trained Intelligence, expert ability, high character and devotion to duty, haTe never been excelled anywhere. There is not a man among tl.ose directing tbe work on the Isthmus who has obtained his position on any other basis than merit alone, and not one who has used his position In any way for his own personal or pecuniary advantage. Plans to Dnlld by Contract. After most careful consideration we have decided to let out most of tbe wo-k by contract, if we can come to satisfactory terms with the contractors. The whole work Is of a kind suited to the peculiar genius of our people; and our people have developed the type of contractor best fitted to grapple with it. It Is of course much better to do the work In larce part by contract than to do It all by the government, provided it is possible on tbe one band to secure to the contractor a sufficient remuneration to make It worth while for responsible contractors of the best kind to undertake the work; and provided on the othr band it can be done on terms which will not give an excessive profit to the contractor at tbe expense of the government. After much consideration the plan already promulgated by the Secretary of War was adopted. The plan as promulgated Is tentative; doubtless it will have to be changed In 6ome respects before we can come to a satisfactory agreement with resjtonsible contractors perhaps even after the bids have been received; and of course it is possible that we cannot come to an agreement. In which case the government will do the work itself. Meanwhile the work on the Isthmus is progressing steadily and without any let-up. Confident of Success. Of the success of the enterprise I am as well convinced as one can be of any enterprise that is human. It Is a stupendous work upon which our fellow countrymen are engaged down there on the Isthmus, and while we should hold them to a strict accounting for the way In which they perform it, we should yet recognize, with frank generosity, the epic nature of the task on which they are engaged and Its world-wide importance. They are doing a omething which will redound immeasurably to the credit of America, which will benefit all the world, and which will last for ace to come. TIIEODOUE ROOSEVELT.

CONGRESSIONAL SALARIES.

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itf vertut- t . onfcW Washington Washington Chicago Tribune. BISHOP M'CABE DIES. Methodtat Dtffnltary Succumbs to Stroke of Apoplexy. IUshop Charles C. McCabe of the Methodist Episcopal church died in the New York hospital Wednesday. Death was due to aiopIexy, with which the bishop was stricken several days before while passin; through New York City on bis way to Philadelphia. Mrs. McCabe and the bishop's niece were at the bedside when the noted clergyman succumbed. Bishop McCabe was born in Athens, Ohio, on Oct. 11, 1830. Having decided to enter the ministry, i.c enrolled as a student at Ohio Weslej'an university, but his health was not good and he was obliged to discontinue his studies. In 1SG0 he joined the Ohio conference, his first pastorate being at Putnam, Ohio. Two years later he was commissioned chaplain of the One Hundred and Twen- ' WW mm vs. vi jv.rr; ;jfvi BISHOP M'CABE. ty-second Ohio volunteers. While caring for the wounded on the field at Winchester he was captured and taken to Libby prison, where he remained four months. After recuperating in a Washington hospital, he rejoined his regiment. At tbe close of the war Chaplain McCabe returned to the North and entered th regular ministry again, being stationed at Portsmouth, Ohio, and for sixteen years he was agent for the Church Extension Society. In 1884 he was elected by the general conference to tbe office of secretary of the Missionary Society, and raised the cry of "One million dollars a year for missions." In 1887 the income of the society had reached $1,041,000. His election to the bishopric came in 1800, at the general conference held in Cleveland, O. Pishop McCabe is said to have used his voir. as much in singing for the service of the church as in preaching, and he was well known as a lecturer. His most popular lecture was The Bright Side of Life in Libby PriRon." With it alone he is said to have made $150,000 for the church. GREAT MEAT AND DAIRY TRADE. Exports for 110 Will De 31 ore than f 250,000,000. According to a statement issued by the bureau ot statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor more than $-."0,-000,000 worth of meat and dairy products will have passed out of the United States into the markets of other parts of the world in the year ending with the present month. This total is made up of a little over $200,000,000 worth of meats, $35.000,000 worth of cattle, and about $10,000,000 worth of butter, cheese and milk. No feature of the export trade in agricultural products has shown a more steady and rapid growth than that of meat and dairy products, of which there was an increase of about CO per cent during the last decade. Ship ftrouRht 000,000 Letters. One of the largest mails ever received in New York City reached port the other day on the steamer Celtic. There vere 2,050 sacks of mail matter, and it is estimated that the number of letters contained therein must have been at least 000,000. Brooklyn Tunnel Through. There was much rejoicing under the East river at New York when a 10-incb pipe was driven through the intervening 65 feet between the two headlines of one of the pair of subway tunnels being built to connect Brooklyn and Manhattan. There had been a wager made by the two superintendents that the two sections of the bore would and would not meet within a distance of one-tenth of a foot. When the measure was made the distance was found to be one-tenth of an inch. The tunneling was begun in September, 1H03. The south tube will be joined up in about six weeks. Famous Greek 11 ay Unearthed. The Egyptian department of antiquities has disinterred a large number of papyrus leaves containing 1,200 lines of two plays by the famous (Jreek dramatist, Menander. This will give the first opportunity for modern scholars to make a first-hand estimate of Menander's work. Non-magnetic Walch Cases. The Literary Digest translates from a Paris scientific paper the announcement that means have now Lven found for providing a non-magnetic shield for watches cr clocks. This is the work of a Taris watchmaker named Leroy.

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in 1872. in 1900. WORSE THAN BLACK PLAGUE. Yet American People Accept Results with Stolid Indifference. We look with horror on the black plague of tbe middle ages. The black waste was but -a passing croud compared with the white waste visitation. Of the people living tMlay over 8,000,000 will die of tuberculosis, and the federal government does not raise a hand to help them. This scathing arraignment is pennnl by J. Pease Norton, Ph. D., assistant professor in political economy at Yale university, who says further: "The Department of Agriculture spends $7,000,000 on plant health and animal health every year, but, with the exception of the splendid work done by Drs. Wiley, Atwater and Benedict, Congress does not directly appropriate one cent for promoting the physical well-being of babies. Thousands have been expended in stamping out cholera among swine, but not one dollar was ever voted for eradicating pneumonia among human beings. Hundreds of thousands are consumed in saving the lives of elm trees from the attacks of beetles; in warning farmers against blights affecting potato plants ; in importing Sicilian bugs to fertilize fig blossoms in California: in ostracizing various species of weeds from the ranks of the useful plants, and in exterminating parasitic growths that prey on fruit trees. In fact, the Department of Agriculture has expended during the last ten years over $40.000.000. But not a wheel of the official machinery at Washington was ever set in motion for the. alleviation or cure of diseases of the heart or kidneys, which will carry off over 6,000,000 of our entire population. Eight millions will perish of pneumonia, and the entire event is accepted by the American people with a resignation equal to that of the Hindoo, who, in the midst of indescribable filth, calmly awaits the day of the cholera. "During the next census period more than COOO.OOO infants under 2 years of age will end their little spans of life while mothers sit by and watch in utter helplessness. And yet this number could probably be decreased by as much as onehalf. But nothing is done." INHERITANCE TAX BY STATES. Half of Commonwealths in Union Get Revenue from Wealth. Investigation by the bureau of census shows that, in 1902, about one-half of the States of the Union had inheritance tax laws, which yielded to them an aggregate of a little more than $7,000,000. This amount is believed by the census officials to have increased in the present year to fully $10,000,000 or $12,000,000. In a report, based on the forthcoming report on "Wealth, Debt and Taxation," the census officials say that "at leArt a dozen States are materially assisting in the support of the State governments from this source of revenue." As shown by the census bulletin, the amount of inheritance tax collected in 1902 by the States which had laws taxing inheritances was as follows: INHERITANCE TAXES. California $ 290,4471 New York. $3,304,f,r.5 Colorado.. 2VN. Carolina. 4.241 Connecticut 334.73." Ohio 13.0HS Delaware 0X8 Pennsylv'a. 1,231.70 Tennessee . 3.1,039 Vermont ... 20,440 Virginia ... 10.256 Washington. 1.524 W. Virginia. 6,340 Illinois ... Iowa Maine Maryland. . Mans Michigan. . Minnesota. Missouri. . Montana. . Nebraska. . New Jersey .103.810 117,332 30.K77 83.780 433,710 1G4.083 0.077 Continental 229.854 U. S. .. .17.220.774 30,331 1 Ilawall ... 1,393 32 149,577 Total ..$7,231,107 Odd and Ends The volcano Kilauea, in Hawaii, is again active. Theodore Koosevelt, Jr., being initiated into the Harvard fraternity, "Dickies,w did a week of odd stunts. Edna Irvine, the young daughter of the treasurer of Wyoming, is now to face a charge of aggravated assault at Sheridan, Wyo., instead of the priginal charge of attempted murder, for which she was facing trial. She shot a cowboy on her father's ranch because he was "sassy. At the biennial municipal election in Atlanta, Ga., W. R. Joyner was chosen to succeed Mayor Woodward. The Mayor-elect has been for twenty-seven years connected with the Atlanta fire department and has been president of the International Association of Fire Engineers. The factory building at ISC Wooster street, New York, occupied by Eppelsheimer & Co., Greenberg & Co. and Greenwald & Co. was burned, with a loss of $100,000. The Chinese medical and other tests for recruits are so strict this year that oat of G.OOO men wishing to join the northern army, recruiting for which began Dec. 9, only -100 were accepted. Grover Ford, reported under arrest at Hartford, Ind., shot and killed George Cash and badly wounded Lydia Inchminger as they were returning from church in Bock Bridge county, Virginia, June 25, 1905. Donato Milanctti, 27 years . old, of Midland, the new steel town near East Liverpool, Ohio, fired two shots into his wife's breast, killing her instantly, and then shot himself twice in the head. The rural mail carriers of Newcastle, Ta.. are about to appeal to the Tostoffice Department because the farmers seldom purchase more than one stamp or postcard at a time, stopping the carriers in the cold to make change. As the result of the many disastrous wrecks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Strait of Northumberland this fall the federal government has decided to establish life-saving stations along the Prince Edward island coast.

WORK OF CONGRESS

In the Senate Tuesday many minor bills from the calendar were passed without objection, among them one providing for a child labor investigation by the Department of Commerce and Labor and one authorizing a loan of $ 1,000.0t to the Jamestown exposition. The urgent deficiency appropriation bill was passed. A message from the President on the Japanese qquestion was read. The Indian appropriation bill was passed by the House. District of Columbia business and the reading of the Presidrnt's mes sage occupied the remainder of the ses' Kion. President Roosevelt sent in a message to the Senate Wednesday dealing with tne discharge of negro troops. After some debate action was postponed until the next day. The pension calendar was cleared by the passage of more than 200 private pension bills. In the House a resolution was adopted giving the com mittee on enrolled bills an additional clerk. A resolution still further increasing the force in that office met determined opposition. The absence of a quorum was disclosed and Speaker Cannon brought about adjournment. -: :- In the Senate on Thu.-sday Senator Foraker made an extended criticism of the basis of President Roosevelt's action in discharging the negro troops of the Twenty-fifth infantry. He was replied to briefly by Senator -odge, while Senator Scott sustained the demand of the Ohio Senator for a full investigation by tbe Senate military committee. A resolution directing such investigation is before the Senate for action at its next meeting. Adjourned at 2:43 p. m. until Jan. 3, 1907. In the House Representative Mondell (Wyoming) succeeded in passing his bill extending the time in which entry nvn mi1 make final settlement on the Shoshone Indian reservation. Representa tive Tayne (New York) called up his resolution relating to the distribution of the President's annual message to the several committees. The House then, after passing the resolution, adjourned for tbe Christmas holidays at 12 :4o p. m. National Capital Note. Representative John S. Little. Governor-elect of Arkansas, has resigned from Congress. President Roosevelt entertained Gov.elect Hughes of New York at a dinner at the White House. Tbe opening of bids for the completion of the Tanama canal has been postponed from Dec. 12 to Jan. 12. ' Senator Frye withdrew from the Senate calendar the compulsory pilotage bill because of its recent defeat in the House. The House defeated a bill validating 20,000 certificates of naturalization that are clouded because court clerks failed to ask the applicants if they were anarchists. The measure will fe called up again. Miss Jane Addams and Miss Mary McDowell of Chicago conferred with President Roosevelt on the immigration bill. Thfy urged an investigation of the immigration question before shutting out aliens. The Senate agreed to a resolution rem:estins the iudiciarv committee to in form the Senate if Congress cau prohibit interstate commerce in child labor-made goods under the commerce clause of the Constitution. The House committee on immigration reported favorably a bill to validate 20,000 certificates of natar!!aiion which are of doubtful legality because of the failure of clerks to ask the applicants if they were anarchists. American exports of meat and dairy products have increased 00 per cent in the last ten years and for the present calendar year amount to. $200,000,000, according to a statement made by the Department or' Commerce and Labor. Representative McKinney of Illinois introduced bills appropriating $5,000 for the purchase of additional ground for the public building at Rock Island and mcreasing the appropriation for a site and public building at Moline to $123,000. Senators Cullom and HopVins will urge the President to appoint Oliver E. Tagin of Chicago, now special attorney in the Department of Justice, to be an assistant attorney general to succeed James C McReynolds, soon to retire. Tne Russian ambassador. Baron Rose, announced that a man representing bim'!f as Prince Magatch, who is said to be in America negotiating for farm machinery for the Russian department of agriculture, has. no authority to represent the Russian government. The interstate commerce commission set Jan. 7 and S for a hearing at Chicago of the testimony in the cases growing out of the terminal charges at the stock yards and the advance in rates upon cattle coming from points west of the Mississippi river. The House committee on elections decided unanimously to report favorably the Tillman bill forbidding national banks and other corporations to contribute to campaign funds after adding a clause making the offense punishable by imprisonment as well as fine. Vice President Fairbanks received from Representative Steenerson an invitation from several Chippewa half-breeds of Minnesota who bear his name and are related to him to attend the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the White Earth Indian reservation. The War Department has selected Dover, N. J. as the site for the government powder factory for which Congress appropriated $1G3,000 last session. The President and Mrs. Roosevelt the other night dined with the Vice President and Mrh. Fairbanks, the company including, among others. Speaker and Mrs. Cannon and Ambassador and Mrs. Reid. President Roosevelt has received from Emanuel Nobel of St. Petersburg, nephew of the founder of the Nobel prizes and present head of the family, a cablegram congratulating him oc receiving the peace prize. The Senate committee on industrial expositions authorized a favorable report on the bill for a government loan of $1,000,000 to the Jamestown exposition. Representative Foster of Vermont introduced a bill providing that the title of "American ambassador" shall be borne by all diplomatic representatives of the United States above the grade of charge d'affaires. John II. Perrin of Indianapolis appeared before the House committee on banking and currency in support of the American Bankers' Association credit currency measure. He urged the necessity for $200,000,000 more in bank notes. Representative Hardwick of Georgia introduced a bill requiring all railways to Install the block system and providing that railway telegraphers shall be licensed. Representative Goulden of New York, in the debate on the Indian appropriation bill in the House, made an earnest plea for larger appropriations for the improvement of waterways. The House committee on commerca will begin hearings Jan. 8 on the Sherman bill requiring railroads to sell mileage books at a rate of 2 cents a mile and Dec. 14 on the Townsend bill for an arbitration to settle labor disputes affecting interstate commerce or the call

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CHICAGO. The favorable conditions which tare characterized commerce so strikingly throughout the year have suffered no decline, and it Is a fitting culmination to the unprecedented activities that the volume of Christmas dealings has surpassed the high record made a year ago. Notwithstanding the enormous buying of holiday Roods, the general demand is well sustained in seasonable lines, especially high-grade apparel, footwear and household needs. Tbe buying power of the ieopie never before has been so strongly demonstrated and liberal purchases have carried sales of the luxuries to a remarkable extent. Jewelry, art and music stores sharing largely In the general prosperity. Stocks in the leading retail sections throughout the city have undergone satisfactory depletion on a fairly profitable margin, although the selling expense forms an enhanced item. A feature of the dealings has been tbe greatly increased number of visitors from many outside points who bought liberally, and it Is clear that this mar ket has become a more attractive center than hitherto for discriminating buyers. Wholesale branches now settle Into the usual quiet of the dying year, attention being given mostly to preparatlons for the annual inventories. Road salesmen return with satisfactory orders for spring delivery, and tlrc volume of sales thus far compares very favorably with that of last year in dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, ladies' suits and men's furnishings. Advices testify to continued headway made in the business done by interior merchants. Agricultural conditions remain good, winter wheat doing well and there being no enforced marketing of crops. Little complaint Is noted as to western collections, while a higher ratio of failures this week Is without special indications of an unhealthy kind. Bank exchanges a year ago were considerably swollen by the closing of three local concerns, and, allowing for this, there is sustained gain, in the current total. Conditions In the leading Industries reflect no material change. The customary falling off appears In the aggregate of new demands, but the pressure is undiminished upon production, and few plants can le shut down for more time than is necessary to make Imperative repairs. Raw materials are yet rapidly absorbed and price3 maintain their high position for pig iron, finished steel, lumber, hides and leather. The markets for breadStuff s, provisions and live stock show seasonable activity, and, with few exceptions, values range higher. Failures reported in Chicago district numbered 28, against 25 last week and 18 a year ago. Dun's Review of Trade. NEW Y0HK. Holiday buying, easllj- the pre-eminent trade feature, increases as the Krason draws to a close and early predictions, of a record turnover are being fully realized. Stocks have been so well disposjed of that jobbers have booked a large volume of re-orders. Otherwise, however, general retail trade Iu seasonable goods has been subjected to vagaries of weather, being excellent where kw temperatures have prevailed, tut backward elsewhere of the South, and In the Northwest, where the weather has been too mild or too rainy for the fullest developments. In the larger distributive lines, wholesale and Jobbing business is comparatively quiet in consonance with tbe season, drummers being in for the holidays, while Inventorying Is uuder way. The failures In the United States for the week ending Dec. 20, number 227, against 220 last week, 235 in the like week of 1H05, 240 in 19aL 23 In 1903 and 1G0 In 1002. In Canada failures for the week number 2G, as against 31 a week ngo and 38 In this week a year ago. Bradstrcet's Commercial report. . Chicago Cattle, common to prime. $1.00 to $7.10; hogs prime heavy, $1.00 to $C32; sheep, fair to choice, $3.00 to $3.50 ; wheat. No. 2. 73c to 74c ; corn. No. 2, 43c to 44c ; oats, standard, 32c to 33c; rye, No. 2, GTc to -ific; hay, timothy, $13.00 to $18.00; prairie, $9.00 to $16.50; butter, choice creamery, 27c to 31c; eggs, fresh, 23c to :Yc; potatoes, 32c to 39c. Indianapolis Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $7.00; bogs, choice heavy, $1.00 to $6.40; fliep, common to prime. $2.50 to $1.50;' wheat, No. 2, 73c to 75c; corn. No. 2 white, 43c to 41c; oats. No. 2 white, 35c to 37c. St. Louis Cattle, $4.50 to $7.00; hogs, $4.00 to $6.30; sheep, $3.50 to $6.00; wheat. No. 2. 75c to 76c; orn. No. 2, 40c to 41c; oats. No. 2, 34c to 30c; rye. No. 2, 61c to C3c. Cincinnati Cattle. $1.00 to $3.00; hogs, $4.00 to $6.35; sheep, $300 to $1.50; wheat. No. 2, 75c to 77c; cern. No. 2 mixed, 42c to 43c; oats. No. 2 mixed, 36c to SSc; rye, No. 2, 70c to 72c Detroit Cattle, $4.00 to $5.00; bogs $4.00 to $O30; sheep,$2.50 to $5.00 r wheat. No. 2, 76c to c; corn. No. 3 yellow, 45c to 46c; oats No. 3 white, 35c to 37c ; rye, No. 2, 69c to 70c. Milwaukee Wheat, No. 2 northern, 78c to 80c; corn. No. 3, 40c to 41c; oats, standard, 34c to 35c; rye. No. 1, CCc to 67c ; barley, standard, 54c to &3c ; pork, mess $16.15. Buffalo Cattle, choice shipping steers $4.00 to $6.25 ; bogs fair to choice. $4.00 to $6.60; frhecp, common to good mixed, $4.00 to $5.75; lambs fair to choice, $5.00 to $8.00. New York Cattle. $4.00 to $jiK); hogs $100 to $6.75; sheep. $3.00 to $5.50; wheat. No. 2 rod, TSc to 79c; corn. No. 2, 51c to 52c; oats, natural white, 40c to 41c; butter, creamery, 30c to S3c: eg?s western, 27c to 30c. Toledo Wheat, No. 2 mixed, 74c to 76c; corn. No. 2 mixed, 42c to 43c;' oats. No. 2 mixed, 34c to 35c; rye. No. 2, C5c to C7c; clover seed, prime, $8.25. . Under rather unfavorable conditions of weather and sea the first-class battle ship Vermont had her screw standardization tests over a measured mile of the Pookland. Me., course. Her fastest speed wlih tidal corrections was at the rate of 18.52 knots an hour. John J. Kinneally, the 6ocialist-Iabof candidate for Mayor of New York ia th campaign of 1905, was drowned la Lonj Island sound ol Oik Point. a

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