Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 April 1901 — Page 3

Current Topics

Nebraska's Senators-Elect.

' A "Radical Earl. Earl Grey, who proposes to municipalize all the saloons of England, and thus reduce the drink evil, is one of the big commercial noblemen of Great Britain. He was appointed government manager of the South African Chartered Company in conjunction with Cecil Rhodes, was one of the company and one of its largest stockholders, and was a favorite of the late qveen, who loved him because the prince contort was his godfather. Lord Grey is a handsome man of 44, and succeeded to the title only a few years ago at the death of his granduncle, who was saia to have been the most cantankerous, censorious and quarrelsome old gentleman within the recol-

EARL GREY.

lection of the most ancient of the realm; The new earl lives in Northumberland, in one of the stateliest mansions in England, surrounded by wooded and watered estates covering 20,000 acres. In London he occupies a fine house facing Hyde Park.

the Anthracite Coal Crisis.

An article in the April Atlantic by Talcott Williams throws light upon the real causes of the threatened strike in the Pennsylvania coal fields. This writer shows that strikes are often the result of intense competition. Every new machine and every shifting of trade has in it the possibilities of strikes in the industries affected. Thus the invasion of England by American steel products is likely to produce labor troubles in English steel mills. It is a change of this kind that has forced the anthracite mineowners and their employes into a state constantly bordering on conflict. For the firsts time both sides are now thoroughly organized and each feels the pressure of conditions which seem to it unendurable. The real cause of the anthracite troubles is the increasing competition of bituminous coal. From 1840 to 186(5 the annual output of each of the two kinds of coal was practically the same. By 1870 the anthracite had forged snead of its rival in the proportion of 16,000,000 tons to 14,000,000 of soft coal. Anthracite had everything tn its favor and the iron of the country was made with this kind of coal. Miners got good wages and capital made large dividends. Then the capitalists did as they usually do In such cases—they watered their stock. Between 1870 and 1880 the capital engaged in anthracite increased from 150,000,000 to $154,000,000. Yet during the same period bituminous coal suddenly leaped far ahead of in 1880 the hard coal output was 23,000,000 tons, while the soft coal was nearly 42,000,000 tons. The use of coke had been discovered, and the iron industries had begun to substitute bituminous for anthracite coal. The anthracite interests thus found themselves heavily overcapitalized and face to face with strong and unexpected competition. Their decline dates from that time. In the last twenty years the anthracite output has doubled, but that of bituminous coal has o quadrupled. The Pennsylvania owners sought to save themselves by employing cheaper and less intelligent labor. They scaled down wages through the company store, a high price for powder, and various devices for mulcting the miner in weighing his output. Strikes followed inevitably. These conditions are still pressing

upon the mine-owners with increasing force, says the Chicago Tribune. In the flush days of thirty years ago the shafts were only 400 or 600 feet deep. Now they are thrice that depth, and it costs much more to bring each ton to the surface. The steel industries were formerly confined to the East, near the anthracite mines. Now the cheap Western ore and cheap bituminous coal are steadily drawing the iron industries toward the West. The overcapitalized anthracite industries have increasing difficulty in making dividends. The result is an imminent danger of serious disturbances, yet, as Mr. Williams says, the danger from a further deterioration of labor and wages would be still worse.

A Good American Plan.

An English shipbuilder says that British shipbuilders are able to get American steel at from $4 to $8 less a ton than the same steel, is sold for on this side of the Atlantic. Adherence on the part of the American manufacturers to this policy of asking a high price at home and a lower price abroad will, he says, keep up the price of ships built in this country and keep down the price of those built in Great Britain. There is no doubt that American shipbuilders have been made to pay excessive prices for steel. The benefit of the great reduction in the cost of manufacture of that metal in this country has not been enjoyed by them as it has been enjoyed by men in the same" business in a foreign country. If the United States Steel company were to add the building of steel and iron ships to the industries it is to be engaged in it could turn out such ships for use in the foreign or coasting trade at prices which would defy competition. If the company were to build ships and sell them at a reasonably figure Americans would buy and use them to carry on trade with foreign countries.

Burns the Riders Over.

Proprietors of amusement enterprises who are looking for a novelty to take the place of the common roller coaster, toboggan slide, “shoot-the-chutes,” etc., will find in the invention presented herewith sufficient novelty to last for one season at least. In fact, most people would be inclined to think there was too much novelty to the apparatus, since it turns the passengers completely over in the early part of its journey around the circuit The inventor claims this can be done with perfect safety, as the centrifugal force of the moving .weight in the car holds every passenger in place almost In spite of himself. Edwin Prescott of Arlington, Mass., is the inventor, and the idea here applied is that of

CENTRIFUGAL RAILWAY.

imparting such high speed to the car by causing it to descend a steep grade that when it changes its course as it does in passing through the vertical loop of track, the center of gravity will tend toward the bottom of the car, thus forcing every rider more firmly into his seat. The passage through the loops is accomplished so quickly that it is hardly realized, and then the car proceeds with the less exciting portion of its journey. The car takes on its load in the position shown, and the cable elevates it to the top of the steep incline, with the passengers facing backward through the first stage of the journey. Michigan’s decline as a lumber state is strikingly shown by the figures ol the product of 1900. In the Saginaw river district there were produced in 1882 1,011,000,000 feet of pine lumber, while last year the pine output dropped to 129,921,408 feet

ANCESTOR CROMWELL’S FRIEND.

Harr 1 non Descended Frtm Man Wh» Signed King’s Death Warrant. One of the powerful characters portrayed in the elder Dumas “Twenty Years After” was Colonel Harrison, a Puritan colonel whom Cromwell loved and trusted, and who had charge of the execution of King Charles L About the time that the great historical romancer was preparing the material for the “Three" Muskateers” series a lineal descendant of that stern old Roundhead was elected President of the United States. He was William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States. This Puritan colonel had three great descendants— Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; General William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, and General Benjamin Harrison, twenty-third President of the United States. To Dumas’s vivid fancy, the story of this Puritan officer suggested the elements essential for the creation of a great hero of romance. It was a story of bravery, firmness and moral integrity and purity; a story that contained as thrilling a narration of bravery upon the field of battle as ever has been told by any soldier; a story that spoke of an absolute incorruptibility and devotion to conviction, and a firmness of the same fibre that showed in Cromwell himself. Added to this there was the tragic experience that fell to Colonel Harrison, who was in command of the troops upon the day when King Charles knelt to the block, and who himself went unflinchingly to death upon the gibbet. Before the Restoration Harrison became a major-general. His death is told of in the following entry made by Samuel Pepys in his diary under date of October 13, 1660: “I went out to Charing Cross to see Major-General Harrison hanged, drawn and quartered, which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any man could do in that condition. He was presently cut down and his head and heart shown to the people, at which there was great shouts of joy. It is said that he was sure to come shortly at the right hand of Christ to judge them that now had judged him; and that his wife do expect his coming again. Thus it was my chance to see the King beheaded at Whitehall, and to see the first blood shed in revenge for the King at Charing Cross.” General Harrison had been appointed by Cromwell to convey Charles I. from Windsor to Whitehall for his trial, and he signed the warrant for the beheading of the King. When the King was In General Harrison’s custody he was struck with his soldierly appearance, and he told him that he had been informed that he (Harrison) would assassinate him. Harrison answered that Parliament would not strike the King secretly. The descendants of the patriot came to America soon after the hanging at Charing Cross, but the family did not come prominently into view until just before the Revolutionary War.

The Slav and Woman.

Abhorrent even to the strongest “Slavophile” is the position occupied by woman in the family and in social life, says a writer in the Outlook. To escape the charge of prejudice, I shall quote a few proverbs current among the Southern Slavs—a few out of many hundreds: “The man is the head, the woman is grass.” “One man is worth more than ten women.” “A man of straw is worth more than a woman of gold. “Let the dog bark, but let the woman keep silent.” “He who does not beat his wife is no man.” “What shall I get when I marry?” asks a boy of his father. “For your wife a stick, for your children a switch.” “Twice in his life is a man happy—once when he marries, and once when he buries his wife.” And the woman sings in the Russian folk-song, which I have freely translated: “Love me true and love me quick, Pull my hair and use the stick.” Although there are love songs of another kind, in which the woman is praised for her charms, she becomes virtually a slave as soon as she marries, and the little poetry of the folksong does not accompany her even to the marriage altar. She is valued only for the work she can do in a household and for the children she can bear, and, should this latter blessing be denied her, her lot becomes doubly pitiable, and she often seeks release by suicide.

Novel Electric Heater For Liquids.

A novel idea in electric heaters for liquids has been patented by a Canadian. It consists substantially of a metallic receptacle, having an electrode passing through but insulated from the wall thereof and near the bottom. One of the conducting wires is secured to this pole, while the other is grounded upon the metallic wall. Owing to the very high resistance of water, and diffusion therein of carbonate or certain other liquids, it is not practical to use them in the receptacle in their natural or normal state, and therefore the inventor decreases the resistance by the salt of sodium or like suitable substances. When the current is turned on to the receptacle containing the liquid, the latter is soon heated to a very high temperature, and other vessels may be suspended therein containing articles desired to be heated.

To Spell Shakespeare's Name,

It has been shown thaf Shakespeare’s name has been spelled by responsible writers in 1906 different ways. In his own time his contemporaries spelled his name in thirty-two different ways.

Dealing with Captured Revolutionist Leaders.

At the present time, as Emilio Aguinaldo is likely to discover, there is nothing particularly dangeijaus about playing the part of a revolutionist. A hundred years ago it was different. Then a man or woman who revolted against established authority was fairly certain to have his or her head cut off, and was likely to have other unpleasant things happen. Now, so long at least as one is careful to rebel against a civilized and enlightened power, a captured leader is likely to be furnished with a handsome residence on some salubrious and beautiful island, paid a liberal allowance by the government against which he has rebelled, and asked to live a quiet and healthful life, with nothing to worry about In all the law books the old definition of a rebel and the punishment for rebellion remain, but, though the “high treason” be proved the death penalty is rarely enforced. A good example of the way in which rebels were treated only a century ago is found in the story of Toussaint I’Overture, the famous negro slave, soldier and statesman, who founded the black republic of Santo Domingo. In 1793, when the English invaded the island, Toussaint, who was already a trusted military leader among the blacks, declared in favor of France and took the oath of allegiance to the French republic. He took the field against the English and drove both them and the Spaniards off the island. Then he was made commander-in-chief of the military forces of the island. In 1801 Toussaint assumed control of the government. A constitution was drawn up making him president for life. When this constitution was sent to Napoleon he broke out into a fury and sent an army of 30,000 men, under General Leclerc, with a fleet of more than sixty war vessels, to subdue the black usurper. But Toussaint was an able soldier, and the climate fought with him. Within a few months 20,000 of the French soldiers perished of yellow fever, and the negro soldiers and "slaves, rising in a general rebellion, put 60,000 white people to death. Finally peace was restored, and Toussaint was treacherously seized and imprisoned. Then he was transported to France and confined in a cold and dismal dungeon, where he suffered from lack of food and sickness, dying at the end of ten months’ imprisonment of consumption and starvation. Another more modern rebel is Arabi Pasha, the Egyptian, who defied for a time the united power of England and France. In 1881 Arabi Pasha, at the head of the Egyptian army, became practically the military dictator of

A Collapsed Bubble.

The news came recently from Honolulu that one Isaac Newton Hayden had died there and left $20,000,000 and that heirs were wanted for the estate, Haydens being so scarce in Honolulu that there was danger the estate would be left unclaimed. Rather than have this calamity occur several public-spir-ited claim agents in this country have been viborously promoting a Hayden boom. Haydens by blood and Haydens by marriage have been asked to furnish their pedigrees to the promoters, not forgetting a bonus to reimburse the latter for expenses. The scheme was

Egypt, and in 1882 both British and French warships were sent to Alexandria to overawe and defeat the rebels, and to make a prisoner of Arabi as their chief. For many weeks Arabi was able to hold off the enemy, but finally he was overtaken and his forces cut to pieces at Tel-El-Kebir. Arabi was captured by the British troops and placed on trial on a charge of high treason. He pleaded guilty, and was sentenced, with the members of his staff, to banishment to the island of Ceylon. There he has lived ever since, a welcome guest at the houses of British authorities on the island, and the recipient of a large allowance from the British government. When Arabi gave up his sword and went into exile he was only 42 years old and was in appearance the typical leader of a savage and fanatical people. Now that he is past 60 his expression has softened, and he has become a venerable and gentle old man. Practically every member of his staff who went into exile with him is dead, and his last wish is to go home to Egypt and die in the land of his fathers. The United States has had to deal with a number of rebels. One of the first was Daniel Shays, the leader of a rebellious force of Massachusetts men, who objected to the collection of the large taxes after the close of the revolutionary war. Shays organized a force of 2,000 men, marched on and captured the town of Worcester, and finally demanded thq surrender of the United States arsenal at Springfield. The United States officer in command fired a number of cannon over the heads of Shay’s army, which broke and ran. Shays and a number of leaders were arrested and tried on charges of high treason. Several of them were convicted and sentenced to death, but these sentences were never executed.. Finally a free pardon was granted to all who had taken part in the rebellion. A little bit later the so-called whisky insurrections broke out in Pennsylvania. These disturbances were of so much importance that President Washington ordered out 13,000 troops and sent commissioners over the mountains to deal with the rebels. There was some bloodshed and many cases of violence shown against the officers who were sent by the national government to collect the tax bn whisky and other alcoholic products. No arrests were made, however, and the rebels were not punished in any way. Often, as history, shows, a rebel is safer and enjoys a much longer lease of life when he is captured by a humane foe than when he achieves the object for which he started on his ca-

SOME NOTABLE REVOLUTIONISTS OF HISTORY.

well under way, Haydens were turning up in all directions, eager for slices of Isaac Newton’s fortune, and bonuses were just beginning to come in when news came from Honolulu that instead of $20,000,000 Isaac Newton’s fortune amounted to just S4O. In the face of such a shrinkage as this the bubble burst, and the Haydens are no longer interested in the matter. So far as the claim agents are concerned, they will get no sympathy. Their business is that of profiting, by popular greed and credulity. Hence it is a matter for congratulation when one of their schemes col-

reer of violence. As example, Danton may be cited. Born a farmer, he went to JParis and became a barrister. He was master of a sort of rough eloquence which proved effective, and he grew daily in power and popularity. In personal appearance he was a giant. Finally he became minister of justice under the revolution and then president of the terrible committee of public safety. Then he aroused the enmity of Robespierre and was sent to the guillotine in April, 1794. A few months later Robespierre met the same fate. Both of them might have lived on for years in comfortable retirement if their rebellion had been put down and they had been sent into exile by a generous king. But the most unhappy, as well as the most beautiful, rebel in history was Lady Jane Grey. She was not a rebel of her own will and choice. She had no thought for reigning as Queen of England until the plan was brought to her by her ambitious father-in-law. Then she consented, and when, after holding the title of Queen Jane for nine days, she was sent to the tower she was ready to plead guilty to the crime of treason. She was young, beautiful, and the most learned woman of her times, but she was executed on the charge of which she had admitted her guilt Not so was Queen Ranavalona 111, of Madagascar treated when a few years ago the French, who had claimed Madagascar for a good part of two centuries, decided to take her into exile. She and her two uncles were detected in a plot to overthrow the French authority. The men were tried and executed, but the Queen herself was captured in her palace, where she lived almost like a hermit, and taken first to a little island in the ocean. There the spirit of revolt followed her, so that the French finally decided to transport her to Algeria, where she would be too far from home to head a rebellion. Accordingly, she has been given a fine villa, a staff of servants, and an allowance of $5,000 a year by the government, and it is said that she has a much better time than when she was locked up all the time in her palace at home, with no amusement except to fly paper kites out of the window. Now she has developed a great taste for French millinery, as well as a liking for cigarets, chewing tobacco, and jewelry. In the line of jewels, it is said that her collection is valued at $2,000,000. The proposition to send Aguinaldo to Guam will probably meet more opposition from his friends than from himself. His oath of allegiance may cause this idea to be abandoned.

lapses before it comes to a head. As far as the 'Haydens are concerned they have probably been saved from throwing away their money. Even if Isaac Newton had been worth $20,000,000 there are so many Haydens that each heir would have had but an infinitesimally small slice, especially after the claim agent had made his grab, and all the heirs would have been unhappy. At a recent congress of naturalists in Berlin it was resolved to petition the government to supply the funds foj a floating biological laboratory on the Rhine.

THE GREAT EXCEPTION

greatest joy may not be won Tn the brightest day, And the greatest good may not be done For the biggest pay. The sweetest grapes may not have grown On the largest vine; The brightest jewel may not be thrown From the deepest mine. . They are not the swiftest streams that run Through the deepest pools. But the loudest boasting is always done By the biggest fools. —Chicago Times-Herald.

HUMOR OF THE DAY.

“All the while the cashier was burning the candle at both ends.” “And keeping it dark! Well, I declare!”— Detroit Journal. ■“Oh, May! how did you get your hair arranged so beautifully?” “I did it up carefully, and then played two games of basketball.”—Puck. He (on short acquaintance) “You have divine eyes.” She—“ And I must say you have sublime cheek to tell so.”—Philadelphia Bulletin. “No doubt yoti think me heartless,” Said flirty Miss Devine. “0. no!” said he; “how could I, Since you have stolen mine?” —Philadelphia Record. “Did you hear Vognerlist execnt" that Beethoven Sonata?” “Yes, I knew it was a case of horrible assault, but I didn’t know that he had killed the piece.”—Kansas City Star. “I think,” says Mrs. Starvem— On this subject she’s a crank—- “ That the man who jumps his board bill Should ba made to walk the plank.” —Philadelphia Press. Toucher (after having watched the angler for a long time) “Say, I just admire your wonderful patience. Wouldn’t you like to lend me five dollars a little while?”—Fliegende Blaetter. “There’s just one trouble with your flannel cakes,” remarked the jovial boarder. “What’s that?” inquired the landlady. “They may be all wool, but they’re not a yard wide.”—Philadelphia Record. “O, no; she’s not at all what you would call a really feminine woman. She affects masculine ways.” “How?” “Well, for instance, yesterday I saw her give a streetcar conductor a nickel when she had five pennies in her purse.”—Chicago Post. “Do you read a novel as most women?” asked Ardent Admirer; “read the last chapter and then the rest of the story?” “Oh,” said the Loveliest Girl, “that sort of thing is out of date. We now read the last chapter and then go to see the dramatization.” —lndianapolis Press. “My dear,” said the meek Mr. Newliwed, “I don’t like to complain, but this omelet you made ” “What’s the matter with it?” she Inquired. “Well—er —it’s rather hard to cut, and man would send me tough eggs. I’ll stop dealing with him.”—Philadelphia Press. “Good evenin’, ma’am,” said the tramp, presenting himself at the back door, hat in hand. “Oh, you’re after somethin’ to eat, I suppose?” said the lady, wiping her chin with her apron. “No, ma’am; you’re wrong, lady; I want nothin’ to eat All I want is the privilege of sleepin’ in your barn overnight. Since these kidnapers have been about nobody can feel safe outdoors.”—Yonkers Statesman.

The Responsibility of the Typewriter.

With all due respect to the makers of typewriting machines, I think they are largely responsible for a tedious, diffusive style of business correspondence. In the old days when letters were written by hand, they were as concise as politeness allowed. Writing was laborious and time was valuable. But talking to a stenographer is easy, and letters have the rambling, careless style of conversation. Ideas are beaten out thin. I have seen a message sprawled over two pages which, in the days of manuscript correspondence, would have been boiled down to less tlian one page. While 1 am on the subje , I wonder how much advertising is lost through blunders and omissions in routine correspondence. I believe that in every large establishment there is room for a good letter writer, who will give attention not alone to the substance, but to the form of correspondence. This work calls for qualities not to be found in ordinary clerks.—National Advertiser.

The Central Park Blockhouse.

It has all along been the popular impression that the blockhouse in Central Park was one of a chain of five blockhouses which extended across the city and were used by the British soldiers in the British occupation of the city after the battle of Long Island. The fact was never before disputed until Washington's Birthday, when the flag was being raised over the ancient landmark. W. L. Ferguson, who has delved into the subject and was pres?nt at the ceremony, said that the present building was erected in the War of 1812 as a powder storehouse. A building had been erected in the Revolutionary War on the spot where the present building stands, but was used only as an observatory or “lookout” by the enemy, and had been subsequently destroyed.—New York Sun.

Eater* and Eaten.

If the following is a “chestnut,” I hope it may be pardoned on its merits: A little boy was once asking for information about the habits and customs of cannibals. Having satisfied himself up to a point, he concluded that they were very wicked, and asked if they would go ’to hell. He was assured that such was the fate in store for them. “How dreadful!” he said. “And I suppose all the good men they have eaten will have to go, too 7'--London Truth.

SAYING AND DOINGS

Echo of an Antt-TitHum Tiayf. The death at Columbia, 3. C., of tha widow of Preston S. Brooks recalls the sensation caused in 1856 when Brooks, then a representative in Congress from South Carolina, pounded Senator Chas. Sumner into insensibility as the latter sat in his seat in the Senate chamber. At the time the "civil war in Kansas" was at its height. Senator Sumner on May 22 delivered a speech in the Senate which deeply incensed the members of Congress from South Carolina,

from which state many of the members of the proslavery army which invaded Kansas started. After the Senate had adjourned, and while Senator Sumner still sat in his seat Congressman Brooks entered the

Senate chamber, Charles Sumner, and, approaching from the < — struck him repeatedly over the heai with a heavy cane until he fell unooo scious. Friends of Mr. Brooks from the South accompanied him, and, with drawn revolvers, prevented the other senators from protecting Mr. Sumner from the brutal assault. during a debate in the lower house of Congress, hot words passed between Brooks and Anson Burlingame of Massachusetts, as a result of which the latter was challenged to fight a duel He accepted, and Canada was chosen as the place of meeting, with rifles as weapons. Brooks failed to appear at the appointed time, and was branded as a coward by newspapers and pubMe sentiment throughout the North. As a result he resigned his seat, but was unanimously re-elected and received many testimonials from various parts of the South.

Mistaken in the Taylor.

Former Governor R. L. Taylor of Tennessee while in Knoxville a few days ago, says a correspondent of tee Nashville Banner, told this joke at hka own expense partly, and partly at the expense of a Pennsylvania mountain community: “I had been billed several days to speak in a little town which had only one railroad and which was in a mountainous section. I dreaded the place because I did not expect a crowd. I reached the town and fully 1,000 people were out to see me. A committee of the most prominent men in tha town met me with a carriage and a brass band. ‘Yankee Doodle’ >waa played many times, but Dixie’ was never thought of. The spokesman for the party told me that he was glad to welcome to the town a man who had been so badly treated by the Democrats, and who was entitled to the office of Governor beyond all doubh His statements were applauded and I wondered how I had been mistreated. But I held my peace and waited. X was called upon by men of all claaeea, who assured me that I had been elected beyond all doubt* I thanked every one for his kindness in the matter. I was told that I would have a big house that night, and sure enough X did. “The chairman, rose and said: 'I take pleasure in introducing a man who has been cheated out of the Governorship of Kentucky, and who did not kill Goebel. I welcome a martyr of Democratic infamy in our midst, and he is surely welcome.’ “I delivered my lecture and the mistake was never known while I waa there. I left on the first train, which left fifteen minutes after the close of my lecture. I will never lecture in tha town again.”

Telescopic Sight for Shooter.

The corps of sharpshooters now on duty in the Philippines has just been equipped with telescopic sights for their rifles. Experiments with the new sights have been carried on for the last six months

by the Army Board of Ordnance, and it has been found that the Krag-Jor-gensen rifle is as effective with the telescopic sight in use at a range of 2,000 yards as at 500 yards with the ordinary sights. It is expected that the telescopic sight will be especially valuable In the dark and shadowy jungles of the tropical forest in the Philippines. It has

also been found effective Ln foggy and misty weather, enabling the marksman to see clearly objects which are altogether obscured otherwise. The telescopic sight selected Is one which magnifies twelve diameters. It is of practically universal focus, and therefore does not need readjustment for different marksmen or for different ranges.

Farmer Boys and the City.

In spite of advice and admonition to the contrary, ambitious country boys will continue to come to the city so long as it offers them a broader field of action and greater hopes of large rewards. The men who are now trying to persuade the farmer’s boy to stay on the farm may not accomplish much, but they will certainly do no harm. The boy who is likely to suoceed in the city will come in spite of them, while perhaps they will be able to keep some of the probable failure* out of the strain and struggle of city competition.