Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 March 1885 — Page 7

THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN.

A Comprehensive Hap, Slowing at a Glance the Scene of Military * Operations. Another Garrison in Danger of Sharing the Fate of Khartoum—A Sketch of £1 Mahdi. A MILITARY MAP. Exhibiting the Scene of Operations in Egypt. i We print to-day a clear and well-defined map of the seat of war In the Soudan. It shows the position of the British forces and the routes and distances between different strategetio points. The fall of Khartoum not only released the main army of, the Mahdi for active operations in other parts of the field, but gave courage to the Arabs, and caused tribes which had been vacillating an<j affecting neutrality to openly take sides against the British and their scattered forces. That Gen. Wolseley should have thus scattered his forces can be accounted for on no other supposition

than that he depended upon Gen. Gordon’s repeated assurances that he could hold Khartoum indefinitely, and thus keep the.principal force of the Mahdi lnlly employed in that direction. The failure to do this, through unexpected treachery of a portion of the Egyptian garrison, disconcerted all his plans, and a retrograde movement became Inevitable in order to concentrate all his forces.

FIGHTING IN THE DETEST. A Garrison in Peril oi Sharing the Fate Of Khartoum, A dispatch from Snakin confirms the report of a brilliant victory won by the Mndir of Taka and the Shnkria tribe of friendly Arabs against the Hadendowah tribe in an attack made by the latter upon some friendly tribes for supporting the garrison at Kassala with grain. It is now stated that daring the battle no less than 3,600 of the Hadendowahs were killed and among the slain was Sheik ah Moosa. The Kassala garrison is short of food and ammunition, and, as the place Is hard pressed by the enemy despite the recent repulse, surrender must soon result unless the garrison is relieved. The difficulty encompassing the gairison of Kassela is increased by the appearance of the Italians at Massowah, which Interferes with the authority of CoL Chermside, who was preparing an immense convoy, with provisions, munitions and money, for Kassala, Those measures of relief are now suspended. Kassala is the second city in importance in the Soudan. It has 20,000 inhabitants. The garrison numbers 3,000. Kassala is the keystone to the line of frontier strongholds of Senheit. Amdib, Ghlra and Gullabot, all of which are resisting the Mahdi. Kassala has been besieged for a year. Chermside has offered re-enforcements, but the commandant refused them, as he was unable to feed them. Unless either England or Italy now afford speedy relief, Kassala will share the fate of Khartoum. Gen. Brackenbury’s Advance Toward AbaHameu. A dispatch from Korti says: Gen. Brackenbury, commander of the late Gen. Earle’s forces, reports from Debbeh, opposite Kanlet Island, that the 2lst February this entire force, including 780 animals, guns, and equipment complete, crossed ovet.to the right bank of the Nile, ready to advance at daybreak Sunday to AbuHamed, forty Smiles distant. Brackenbury/Had visited the scene of Col. Stewart’s muftrer and found some of Stewart’s - visittn2-oaf#s, papera belon ing to Herbin and Power, and a shirt-sleeve stained with blood. The Bteazner which conveyed Stewart from Khartoum to the place where murdered is now sixteen feet above the present level of water. She Is gutted and filled with sancU The houses and all property belonging to the blind man, Fakrl Elman, one of the principal instigators of Stewart’s murder, were completely destroyed.

THE MAHDL Biographical Sketch of the Han Who la Causing England So Huch Trou' le. The following account of the Mahdi was drawn up by the late Lient. Col. Stewart, who • was killed at Merawi on his way down the Nile ftiorh Gen. Gordon at Khartoum : Mahomet Aohroet, the Mahdi, is a Dongolawi, or native of the Province of Dongola. fils grandtkther was called Fahil, and lived on the Island of Naft Arti (Art! is Dongolawi for , “island'’). This Island lies east of and opposite Ordl, the native name for the capital of Doni gola. His father was Abdullahi, by trade a cari penter. In 1832 this man lett and went to Shindi, a town on the Nile south of Berber. At that time bis family consisted of three sons and one daughter, called respectively Mahomed, Hamid, Mahomet Achmet (the Mahdi), and Nur-el-Sham (Light of Syria). -1 Shindi another son was bom called Abdallah. As a boy Mahomet Achmet was apprenticed to Sherif-en-deen, his uncle, a boat- {?}, residing at Shakabeh, an island opposite Sennaar. Having one day received a beating from bis nn le, he ran away to Khartoum and Jo ned the free school or “Medressu" of a falcnlearned man, head of a sect of dervishes), who resided at Hoghali, a vil age east of and dose to Khartoum, This school is attached to the tomb of Sheik Hoghali, the patron saint of Khartoum, and, who is greatly revered by the Inhabitants of that town and district. (The Sheik or Uds tomb or shrine, although he keeps a free school and feeds the poor, derives a very handsome revenue from the gifts of the pious. He claims to be a descendant of the original Hoghali, and through him of Mahomet.) Here he remained for some time studying rel gion, the tenets of his Sheik, etc., bat dW pot make much progress in the more worldly acoom. lisbmrnts of reading and writing. After a time he left and went to Berber, where he joined another free school kept by a £heik Ghubush at a village of that name situated nearlv oppos to to Mekherref i Berber). This school is also attache! to a shrine greatly venerated by the natives Here M hornet Achmet remained six months, completing his religious education. Thence he went to Arad up (Tamarind Tree) village, south of Kana. Here In 1870 he .bojame a uisciple of another faki— Sheik Nur-el-Daim (Continuous Light). Nur-el-Daim subsequently ordined him a Sheik or IU, aud ha then left to take up his home in the Island of Abbs, near Kana, on the White Nils. Here he began by making a subterranean excavation (khaliva —retreat) into which be made a practice of retiring to repeat tor hours one of the names of , the Diety, and this accompanied by fasting, in-

cense-burning, and prayers. His fame and sanctity by degrees spread far and wide, and Mahomet Achmet, became, wealthy, collected disciples, and married several wives, all of whom he was careful to select from among the daughters of the most influential Baggara Sheika (Bsggara—tribes owning cattle and horses) and other notables. To keep within the legalized number (four) he was in the habit of divorcing the surplus and taking them on again according to his fancy. About the end of May, 1881, he began to write to his brother falls (religions chiefs), and to teach that he was the Mahdi 'foretold by Mahomet, ana that he had a divine mission to reform Islam, to establish a universal 'equality, a universal law, a universal religion, and a community of goods (“beyt-nl-mal"); also that all who did not believe in him should be destroyed, be they Christian, Mohammedan, or pagan. Among others he wrote to Mahomet Saleh, a very learned and influential faki of Dongola, directing him to collect his dervishes (followers) and friends and to join him at Abba. ; This Sheik, Instead of complying with hja request, informed the Government, declaring the man mnst be mad. This information, along with that collected from other quarters, alarmed ‘his Excellency Reoaf Pasha, and the result was the expedition of Ang. 3, 1881 . In person the Mahdi is tall, slim, with a black beard and light brown complexion. Like most Dongolawis, he reads and writes with difficulty. He Is local head of the Gheelan or Kadriee order of dervishes, a school originated by Abdul Kader-el-Ghu am , whose tomb is, I believe, at tiagdad. Judging from his conduct of affairs and policy. I should say that he had

considerable natural ability. The manner in which he has managed to merge the usnally discordant tribes together denotes great tact. He had probably been preparing the movement for some time back. j,

KHARTOUM. Gen. Colston’s Description of tbe Chief Arabian City. Khartoum is a city numbering between 60,000 and 00,000 people. Several European consuls reside there. The American consul was Azar Abd-el-Melek, a Christian Copt from Esneh, and one of the principal merchants. The European colony is small aad continually changing; for Khartoum is a perfect graveyard for Europeans, and iu the rainy season for natives also, the mortality averaging then from tmrty to forty per day. which implies 3,000 to i, OOO for the season. Khartoum is the commercial center of the Soudan trade, amounting altogether to $63,000,000 a year, and carried on by about 1,000 European and 3,000 Egyptian commercial houses. Drafts and bills of exchange upon Khartoum are as good as gold in Cairo and Alexandria, and vice versa. From official sources I learned that the city contained 3,060 houses, many of them two-storied, each having from ten to 160 occupants. Stone and line are found in abundance, and the buildings arc, after a fashion, substantial, the houses belonging to rich merchants being very spacious and comfortable. There are large bazaars, in which is found a mu oh ..greater variety of European and Asiatic goods than would be expect-d in such distant regions. In the spacious market-place a brisk trade is carried on in cattle, horses, camels, asses, and sheep, as well as grain, fruit, and other agricultural produce. Many years ago an Austrian Roman Catholic mission was* established and liberally supported by the Emperor of Austria and by contributions from the entire Catholic world. It occupies a large parallelogram surrounded by a solid wall. Within this inclosure, in beautiful gardens of palm, fig, pomegran te, orange, and banana, stand a massive cathedral, an hospital, and other substantial buildings, Before the people of Egypt and the Soudan had been Irritated by fore gn interference, such was their perfect toleration and good temper that the priests and nuns, in their distinctive costumes, were always safe from molestation, not only at Kfiartonm, bnt even at El Obeid and the neighborhood, where the majority are Mussulmans and the rest heathens. It was stated some months'ago that Gordon had abandoned the Governor's- palace and transformed the Catholic mission into a fortress, its surrounding wall and massive buildings rendering it capable of strong resistance.

KORTI. The Present British Base of Operations in Egypt. Korti, the headquarters of Lord Wolseley, on which point all the different branches ot the expedition are ordered to concentrate, is at tbe sharp bend of the Nile where its course for a short distance is toward the west. About fifty miles below Korii is Debbeh, where it is probable that the whole force will be established after it has been brought together at, Korti. At Debbeh the Nile takes rather a sharp turn and resumes its northern coarse. This place is just on the border of the territory ruled by the Mndir of Dongola, a Sheik who has remained steadfast in his friendship tor and co-operation with the British. In peaceful times Debbeh is a place ot some importance, because there the great caravan route to El Qtx id and the Darfour region leaves the Nile -and strikes off to the southwest across the Baynda Desert. Korosko. the other point mentioned as the locat on of a portion of the British force. Is some 00 miles farther down the Ni e, and from here starts tbe caravan route across the Nubian Desert to Abn-Hamed, at the sharp bend in the coarse of the river, 180 miles above Korti. Korosko is not far above the First Cataract, and below that point the navigation of the Nile is unobstructed. When Lord Wolseley’s whole force is mastered at Korti, it will probably be about 8,50 i men strong, a- Wolseley kept about 3.000 men with him at Korti, Gen. Brackenbury has about 2,200, Gen. B filler about 1,900, and there are abont 1,400 at Gakdul Wells. ,

GUBAT. A Sacred Village. Gubat, the present center of British military operations in the iroudan, is a village of 130 houses and about 700 inhabitants." It is surrounded with vegetable gardens, widen supply the markets of BBendy, of which town Guoat Is virtual.y a suburb, although situated ou the other side of the Nile. It contains, also, the cemetery where were buried some of the most famous saints and chieftains of Sbendy, a fact which makes the village sacred in the esteem of the entire Mohammedan world, and wiU render its occupation by the British peculiarly lrr.tating to ElMahdl A marble bust of Coi. Fred Burnaby, paid fen: by popular subscriptions, is to be placed as a memorial in the new Binning* ham Art Gallery. Thebe is a great difference between a dude and a man, bat at a distance i they look very much alike.

CONGRESSIONAL.

B* Work of the Senate and Boose of Representatives. Mb. Aujsow submitted a conference report to the Senate, Feb. 25, on the army appropriation bill, and said that the conferrees had agreed as to all differences, except those relating to courts-martial in time of peace. The House provision, h* said, so amended the ninety-fonrth article of war as to enable courts-martial to control the hours of their own session. An animated discussion concerning the Swaim court-martial ensued. Mr. Hoar said that persons inferior in rank to the accused were sometimes found in snch courts, and that such persons might have a personal Interest in the decision of the court. Theoretically, the Judge Advocate was an Impartial officer, bnt in fact he was a vigilant prosecutor, who regarded a conviction as a personal triumph. Hr. Ingalls thought that the proceedings subsequent to the Swaim courtmartial were ‘ a disgrace $o civilization. Mr. Sherman said that the great evil connected with courts-martial was the Judge Advocate. Mr. Hoar declared that he saw no reason in time of peace for the existence of oonrtsmarUal. Mr. Ingalls said that what had been done in the trial of the Swaim case would not be permitted under Russian tyranny or Turk sh despotism. Gen. Swaim, he said, had been Eursned with a revengeful malignity, ever since is appo.ntment to office. Th w- persecution was ane to the jealousy of West-Pointers. Mr. Conger spoke in the same strain. The whole affair, Mr. Conger averred, was a mockery of Justice. Mr. Hawley denied that any such jealousy existed between volunteer officers and graduates of West Point. The Senate insisted upon its amendment striking ont the House provision permitting courts-martial to control their own hours of session, and the conference committee was reappointed. A bill was reported in the House of Representatives by the Commit'ee on War Claims making an appropriation for the payment of Fourth of July claims. The Senate bill was passed with amendments appropriating tloo.Ooo to pay certain citizens for supplies furnished the Sioux and Dakota Indians in Minnesota between 1860 and 1862. Consideration of the river and harbor bill was resumed, and continued till late in the evening.

WpEN the silver bill came up in the Senate, on the 26th nit.. Mr. Sherman declared that the Government rested under no obligation to give the trade dollar preference over silver bnllion. Since the coinage of standard silver dollars commenced, the market value of silver bullion had been steadily declining. The exportation or hoarding of gold would contract the currency so sharply as to shock every hamlet in the country. The best remedy for threatened evils would be s.n International agreement to maintain the free coinage of silver at a fixed ratio. Mr. Beck said he wonld give no President the power to strike down silver coinage. Mr. Hill argued that the expulsion of gold wonld give an increased value to the silver and paper in circulation. Mr. Coke remarked that the suspension of silver coinage would itself contract our money supply by $50,000,000 a year. No action was taken by the Senate. Mr. Hoar Introduced a new Pacitte Railway funding bill. The Honse bill to provide a fireproof building to contain the medical library of the army was passed. In the House of Representatives the conference report on the army bill was adopted. An agreement was reported on all amendments except that relating to the hours during which courts-martial may hold sessions, and a further conference was ordered. Mr. Cobb moved to suspend the rules and take from the Speaker's table the bill repealing the pre-emption and timber-culture laws He said that no greater evil had been done to the future of the country than had been done through these laws. Mr. Converse asserted that more frand had been committed under the homestead laws. Mr. Valentine said that he voiced the sentiments of the people of the West in protesting against the repeal of the timber-culture laws. The demand for their repeal, he said, came from the railways and cattle kings. The motion to suspend the rules was lost. Mr. Randall moved to suspend the rules in order to consider the sundry civil bill for four hours, the time to be devoted to debate on the clauses relating to silver suspension and the New Orleans Exposition. The motion was lost by a vote of 118 yeas to 119 nays. Mr. Randall finally moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, with the silver clanse stricken out, after two hours’ debate on the New Orleans proposition. This was agreed to, and after farther discussion the bill went over.

The naval appropriation bill, with an item of $112,00Q for the purchase of the torpedo-boat Destroyer from Mr. Ericsson, passed the Senate Feb. 27. A hill also passed for the sale of the Sac and Fox reservaiion in Nebraska »nd Kansas. On a bill to grant a pension of S6O per month to the blind and penniless daughter of ex-Presi-dent Tyler, the vote showed that no quorum was present. In executive session. Francis E. Warren was confirmed as Governor of Wyomipg. An hour was spent on the nomination of E. A. Kreidler to be Marshal of Montaha, the Wisconsin Senators opposing the removal of A. C. Botkin, and no action was taken. The House of Representatives passed the sundry civil appropriation bill, with an item of $360,000 to pay indebtedness and premiums of the New Orleans Exposition. Mr. Kosecrans reported a bill for the retirement of Maj. Gen. H. G. Wright. A bill was passed appropriating $5,000,030 to be expended by the Secretary of War in improvements at Galveston, and for continuing work along the Mississippi River.

A communication from the Attorney Genera], stating that the deficiency bill as passed by tbe House insufficiently provided for the expenses of juries, etc., in the United States pourts, was read in the Senate on the 28th alt. The report of the conference committee on the agricultural bill was agreed to. The Hopse substitute for the river and harbor bill, appropriating a gross sum of $5.u00,000, was referred to the Commerce Committee. Mr. Mitchell offered a resolution instructing the Finanoe Committee to prepare a bill suspending the coinage of the silver dollar. He asked unanimous consent to an immediate consideration of the resolution, and requested permission to read Mr. Cleveland s letter on the subject. Objection was made and tbe matter went over. The House bfil forfeiting the Sionx City and St. Paul land-grant was taken up and discussed at some length. The Senate passed the Honse bill providing for the erection of public buildings as follows: At Aberdeen, Miss,, not to exceed $75,000; Clarksburg, W7V<., $50,000; Wichita, Kan., $50,000; Port Townsend, W. T., $70,01.0; for the Appraiser’s office, Chicago, $50,000. Also a bill increasing to SIOO,OOO the appropriation for a public building at LouisviUe. Ky. In the House-of Representatives Mr Anderson offered an amendment to the rules providing that the Appropriations Committee shall report aH general appropriation bills not later tha 1 May 1, during the long session nor later than Feb. 1 daring the short session. The conference reports on the agricultural and army bills were adopted. The postofflce appropriation bill was taken up and most of the Senate's amendments were concurred in. An exception was made, however, against the amendment relative to the compensation of American steamships for carrying the mails, and a new conference was appointed. The naval bdl was referred to the Appropriations Committee The fortification bill was passed, thus disposing of the last of the appropriation bills. In tue course of debate, Hr. Horr, of Michigan, expressed his approval of every line of Grover Cleveland’s letter on the silver question. The Honse Committee on Foreign Affairs snbmitte 1 a majority report, finding no sufficient reason why the United States should participate in the Congo conference. The President signed an older throwing open to settlement the greater part of the Winnebago and Crow Creek reservations, comprising 6 0,000 acres, lying east of the Missouri River and south of Pierre. President Arthur issued a proclamation calling upon the Senate to convene March 1 for the transaction of business. Tbe friends of silver in the Honse of Representatives held a conference, and decided to make a formal reply to tbe le ter of Presidentelect Cleveland. They deny that the continued coinage of $28,000,000 per annum in standard silver will force gold to a premium or drive it out of circulation. They contend that, in order to preserve a stable ratio between the money volume and population, an annual increase of $40,000,000 in enrrenoy of some kind is required. " ' ;

In Sweden young girls place under three separate cups a ring, a coin, and a piece of black ribbon. If the ring is first accidentally exposed she will-be married within the year; if the money, she will, get a rich husband; if the ribbon, she will die an old maid. It is a favorite amusement among the young girls in Russia to conceal their fingerrings in small heaps of corn on the floor. A hen is brought in, which at once begins to peck at the tiny heaps of grain. The owner of the first ring exposed to view will, according to popular belief, be married before her companions in the experiment. Journalists in India are excused from jury duty. *

INDIANA LEGISLATURE.

Mr. Hoclke’s olvil-servlce bill canto up in the Senate Fob. 2;., »as read i third time, and defeated by wrote of 2) to 19. Senators Bailey, Hoover. Magee and Peterson were the Democrats voting In favor of the bill. The following bills were read a third time: Relieving railroads from liability for damages tor animals killed in certain cases, passed; approving a contingent fund of s‘,otw per month to be used bjr the Super ntendent of the Insane Asylum for current expenses, passed; prohibiting the employment of children under 12 years of age in mines and factories. On the last named measure the vote was, yeas 25, nays 15,- so that it failed for lack of a constitutional majority. Mrs. Josephine R Mchols addressed the House in support of the Staley bill providing for scientiffe Instruction in the gublio schools on the effect of alcohol on the uman syste in. She spoke earnestly for fifteen minutes, and was attentively listened to. The Ho us \ daring the day, passed the measure by a vote of 5* to 3& The following bills were recommended for passage in the House : Supplemental to an act authorizing the sale of lands ; providing for the construction of bridges over railroads; establishing the Indiana weather service; providing fife protection at the insane hospital; abolishing ail distinctions of race and color made in the laws of the State: creating the Forty-eighth judicial circuit; in relation to assessments for gravel and macadamized roads; providing tor the re-election of a Reporter of the Supreme Court; regulating the incorporation of cities and defining their powers; providing for the erection of fish ladders; authorizing the dissolution of the Eastern Indianh Agricultural, Mechanical and Trotting Park Association; e*tab taking provisions respecting private corporations.

Bitxs prohibiting the employment of children under 12 years of age la mines and factories; extending the benefit of the mechanics' lien law to farm hands: to enable municipal corporations to hold and purchase real estate for sanitary purposes outside city limits; concerning election of Justices of the Peace and their powers; and to amend the drainage laws, were passed by the Senate on the 26th alt. Mr. I'oucbe'S bill to prevent townships from appropriating money to build railroads was defeated. Senator Mayer said there were eighteen east-and-west lines centering in Chicago which crossed Indiana, Not six of them were paying affairs, per se they derived their profit by forcing paying roads into a pool. Meanwhile the town-hips that had taxed themselves to build such roads under the impression that freights wonld be reduced bv competition had been deceived. The joint resolution proposing a woman-suffrage amendment to the constitution was defeated bv a vote of 25 to 22. In thd House several new bills were introduced. A resolution was introduced, which was adopted, authorizing the appointment of two Representatives and one Senator to call the attention of the Legislatures of other States to the importance of securing a uniform system of laws on the subject of marriage and divorce, and to consider the propriety of holding, a convention to frame such laws. The legislative apportionment bill passed after a long discussion. The House c mmittee to investigate the affairs of the Knightstown Soldiers' Orphans’ Asylum reported ofgt-ially that the charges preferred by Supt. Whits against John M. Goar, a Trustee of the institution, were true and proven, and recommended the immediate removal of Goar and White.

Mr. Atkins’ bill to divorce the Soldiers’ Orphans' Home from the Institute, for Feeble-Minded Chilren, and appropriating $50,090 for the erection of a new building, was defeated in the Senate on the 27th nit., by the close vote of 23 to 22. The following bills were passed: The militia bill, appropriating SIO,OOO for uniforms and equipments and putting the militia on a satisfactory basis; to leortranlze the State Board of Health, adding one member. Empowering cities and towns to levy taxes for building bridges. The bill appropriating SIO,OOO to Mrs. barak May, for sei vices rendered by her late husband sb architect of the new State House, was dedicated by a vote of 22 to 26. Subsequently, however, the vote was reconsidered and the bill passed. The special committee ap ointed to investigate the accounts of Senate officials reported "that Secretary Kelly and Assistant Hofstetter had be in carrying on the pay-rolls more employes than were allow d by Jaw, and that they have overdrawn the amount of the money due them for the entire session. Mrs. Josephine Nichols addressed the Senate (by invitation) on the necessity of the passage or the bill lor the education of school children on the off eats of alcohol and other stimulants. In the House the special order was the sicond reading of the Senate bills, and the reports of the House committees on them wire one urred in without opposit on. A large number were in this manner advanced to third reading, the only important amendment to any being that of Mr. Smith, of Tipi ecanoe, whch incr ases the pay of conrt stenopra hers from $5 to $6 a day. The Committee on Ways and Means made a majority report favoring the passage of Senator Magei’s bill for the continuance of the work on the three new insane hospitals; and appropriating $150,000 for the current year, $338,000 for 1886. and $40,000 for their maintenance up to F eb. 1,1887. Mr. Gooding, from the committee, made a very long minority report, in. which he recommended a continuance of the work on the Evansville asylnm and an appropriation of $190,000 therefor, and that tbe work on the Richmond and Logansport bnlldings be stopped at once, the materials sold, and the contractors indemnified for any loss they might sustain. The minority report was laid on the table by a vote of 46 to 22, Mr. Shively's bill for the regulation of the practice of medicine was discussed, and various amendments were offered, but all were laid ou the table at the request of the supporters of the bill, who urged the fa t that it wonld never become a law ir amended this late in the session. The following Senate bills were indefinitely postpon -d; Amending the common schools act; providing for the probating of wills or recording copies thereof in other counties; providing funds for the expenses of county institutes.

Mr. Maqee’s bill authorizing fore ign surety companies to do business in the State on the same terms as insurance companies, and empowering Btate and county officials to accept snch surety as bonds, passed the Senate on the 28th nit. Huffstetter, Assistant Secretary ofthe Senate, resigned, and John D, Carter, oi Orange County, was unanimously elected to fill the vacancy. Gen. Manson then said he regretted exceedingly that he had signed the warrants for pay in advance of some of the clerks and officers whose conduct bad been the subject of inquiry. Senator Smith, 6f Jennings, presented an illadvised resolution, to the effect that the Senate exonerated Lieut. Gov. Manson from all complicity in the irregular practice which had become common, bnt Fonlke and Yonche for the Republicans, and Magee and a half a dozen Other Democrats at ones rejected it. ’'Exoneration,” they said. "implies • suspicion, and the Senate has tbe most implicit confidence in its presiding offic.r.” A rt solution was introduced instructing the Attorney General- to take steps for the recovery ot all moneys illegally drawn by employes of the Senate. The Democratic caucus bill for Congressional and Legislative apportionment were introduced. The Senate bill regulating the public printing of the 8 aie was brought up, and witu it was read the message from Gov. Gray on the subject. The bill and message were referred to a committee. Senator Hiliigass’ bill allowing municipaliti g to pnrehas; lands for sanitary pnrpos s outside of the corporate limits, and legalizing alt snch pnrehas s already made, was read a first time and relerred, the Ho se refusing to suspend the rules to finailv dispose of it. This bill is general in its opeiation, but is thought 10 hsve es. ec a. reference to 1 galizing tbe purchase of the Sella- s farm by the city of lndianapo,is. Tbe Ho-, se th n took np bills on third reading. Th most important of tbem was one | ruv,fling that when a person is acquitted on any cri - inal charge on the sole g ound of insanity, that tact should be set forth in the verdicand the court shon d upon this finding order him to lip sen to the insane asylnm and kept there nndi further orders, without any formal insanity proceedings, and also provid.ng pnnlahm nt tor persons who are accessory to the fact, after th* crimes bill has passed. TheJnsane hospital bill was passed, appropriating s2gS.<>oo for ne\t year, ands2Bs,o-. 4) for tb following year. Ther were only two votes in the negative. Mr. Heimintroduced a bill prohibiting sir etralway iomI antes from working their employes more than twelve hours a day.

The British drink bill for 1883 foots np $628,386,375. The quantity aggregates 1,032,142,158 gallons. This would make a lake a mile long and a mile wide, with a of thirty-five feet, or sufficient to float men-of-war. The highest-priced clock in America is owned by a Wall street broker in New York. It cost $34,000, and was mads in that city. « Canon Fabbab wiU visit tbs United States next autumn. \ 1 ? *

Old Jeff “the Greatest Patriot.”

The erection of Jeff Davis into a god, now going on so rapidly in the Booth, is enough to nuke even a Copperhead dizzy, saying nothing of thorn who are not yet done langhjng at the fleeing President of the Confederacy being captured in a woman’s dress and hoop-skirts at the close of the war. The Soothcrn press mad the Democratic leaders in the United States Senate got the old traitor np to an altitude of loyalty but two weeks ago, which they claimed made him as great a patriot as any in the country. Then the Liberty Bell was sent South, apd old Jeff, as the South’s greatest man and first citizen, called out tp welcome it and escort it to the New Orleans Exposition. Ever since the Southern press has been lavishly at work to show that not only is he as great a man, and as loyal a citizen, as the nation affords, but that he is the greatest patriot of all, and also—may all file gods defend us—also “the greatest Union man" of all, and indeed the only American statesman who is really true to the Union.

It is not merely the tar-heeled press or cheap papers of the South that are thus making Davis into a hero. The leading and more conservative papers of the South are doing it, too. The St. Louis Times-Demo-crat, the most moderate and tolerant of Southern papers, in its issue of last Sunday, comes up to make the astounding claim that Davis is not only a patriot bnt the beet end chiefest of good Union men. Quoting and growing very indignant over a paragraph in which the St. Louis Globe-Democrat criticised the action of the Southern Democrats in the United States Senate, in defending Jeff Davis as being aToyal man one day, and eulogizing a silk American flag the next, the Times-Democrat says; “We are not quite sure in what the little difficulty of our contemporary consists—whether it is fonnd in reconciling the “honor and patriotism" of Jefferson Davis with the cillture of silk, or with the American flag, or with woman’s work, or with the making of a present to Congress, The honor and patriotism of Mr. Davis are not in antagonism with any pi these things, that we are aware of. Certainly not with the American flag, if the lnster shed , upon its folds and the blood shed in its defense at Monterey and Buena Vista count for aught, or if' a life-long advocacy of the principles which it is supposed to symbolize means anything. In the sense of determined'afld unwavering opposition to sectionalism, Mr. Davis probably carries more genuine American’ feeling—more (rue unionism—in his wounded he?J, than his defamers carry in their heads ana hearts. No nobler protest against the sectional spirit has never been made than that to which he gave utterance in Congress almost forty years ago. * * * His career has been so grossly and persistently misrepresented that there are, no doubt, many who will scarcely believe that we have really been citing the record of Jefferson Davis, or that he was in heart, in speech, and in conduct to the very last, a consistent and genuine devotee of the American flag and American Union, in the only sense in which a State Bights Democrat could be such—and that a for higher and truer sense than his calumniators can comprehend. That is what puzzles the GlobeDemocrat. Happily, the time has come when it has ceased, or will soon cease, to puzzle right-thinking and patriotic people of any section or party,” In other words, the Times-Democrat thinks the time has already come when everybody accepts Jeff Davis as being “the greatest opponent of sectionalism,” and as having “more true Unionism” than any other man now living. What may not be judged as to the feeling, expression, and intentions of the rabble and th§ rqbid elements of the South, when such a moderate paper as the TimesDemocrat thus exalts the arch traitor, whose bones should now be rotting under the gallows-tree, as the greatest of patriots aifd the truest of Union men now living?^— Des Moines Register.

Keeping Up Party Organization.

The Kepnblican party has bo President. It has only one b.anch of Congress. It has no directing and organizing head unless the National Committee undertake to do so. That is what it should do. It should be the directing executive h ad of tbe party for the next four years. It should maintain an office in New York or Washington in charge of some such efficient man as exCommissioner Dudley,of Indiana. It should work the whole field and maintain Republican clubs and organization everywhere. Now there are many of the Republican dabs of t he late campaign still in existence and anxious to remain so. But they will soon foil away for lack of direction and co-operation and headship. All this the National Committee can supply. It can put itself in correspondence with all clnbs and county committeemen. It can thus organize elobs where they do not exist. It can supply clnbs and persons with documents. There will be no Bepnblicans in office by 1888 and this clnb organization and a small fee the members would be willing to pay would furnish the campaign fund for 1888. The National Committee by that time will have' ready at tbe very outset of the next President ail campaign the party organized in every locality in the country. The list of the members or numbers of the organized clnbs will be on file in the office of the National Committee, and it wBI thus begin tbe campaign with a perfect organization and quite a full canvass of tbe whole field at the very outset We urge the National Committee to take bold of the work we have here outlined. —Keokuk Gate City.

One of the “Pleasant Reminiscences.”

Tbe other day I saw, in the possession of Gen. J. S. Robinson, a photograph of an ex-Federal soldier who has been vainly trying to get a pension. The pieture represented him in a nude condition. He was a man of stalwart frame, and the picture was taken after his liberation from the pen at Andersonville. When he waa put in there he was a hearty, robust young man, weigh--4 -g 179 pounds. When rescued he weighed ninety pounds. The picture is the ghastliest thing upon which my eyes ever rested. The face is the face of a death’s head, with hollow eyes, hairless scalp, with tightdrawn skin and grinning teeth. One look at that awfol sight, ana you turn away in horror. This .is one of the “pleasant reminiscences” of the war mentioned so cheerfully by Mr. Carl Schurz in his speech in Charleston, 8. C.— F. D. M.'s Current Notes.

Liberalism Versus Law.

Rigid Sunday laws must be enacted and arforced. The Republican party favors tins; the Democratic party opposes it. The Republican party believes in the enaetion oi rigid laws m to saloons, and the vigorous enforcement of them; the Demoeratie party oppose it. The Republican party favors the vigorous enfbroement of the laws against gambling-houses and all dens of iniquity in the cities; the Democratic party favors a liberal policy. If a liberal policy is to rule this country, and liberalism is to prevail in the enforcement of laws, the proud barriers that exist between. ciTilization and barbarism will be broken down. Do we want the liberal policy of the Democratic party, or the honest enforcement of the law by the Republican party? .Down with liberalism, up wiihan honest enforcement of the law.— Kokomo Gazette- Tribune. 1 ; ' '' ,

GEMS OF THOUGHT.

He that will look into many parts of Asia and America will find men reason there, perhaps as acutely as himself, who yet never heard of a syllogism.— Locke. , It is only through the morning gate <Jf the beautiful that you can penetrate into the realm of knowledge; that which we feel here as beauty we shall one day know as truth.— Schiller. All high beauty has a moral element in it, and I find the antique sculpture as ethical as Marcus Antoninus, and the beauty ever in 'proportion to the depth of thought— Emerson. The culture of flowers is one of the few pleasures that improves alike the mind and the heart, and makes every true lover of those beautiful creations of infinite love wiser, purer, and nobler. — J. Vick. ‘ The criterion of true beauty is that it increases on examination; if false, that it lessens There is something, therefore, in true beauty that corresponds with right reason, is not merely the creation of fancy. —Lord Greville. Lite has no significance to me save as the theatref tn which ray powers are developed and disciplined for nee, and made fruitful in securing my own independence and the good of those around me, or as the scene in which I am fitted for the work and worship of the world beyond.— J. G. Holland. True humanity consists not in a squeamish ear; it consists not in starting or shrinking at tales of misery, but in a disposition of heart to relieve it. True humanity appertains rather tothe mind than to the nerves, and prompts men to use real and active endeavors to execute the actions which it suggests. —C. J. Fox. Thebe are in many languages proverbs relating to the sad fact that it is not always the laborer that reaps the fruits of his work. This ib often enough the case with the literary research. One man does the work, but another steps in at the last moment and appropriates its most precious results. “I labor,” runs the Talmudic proverb, "and thou findeet the pearL” We are forced, for the sake of accumulating power and knowledge, to* live in cities; bnt snch advantages as we have in association with each other is in great part counterbalanced by our loss of fellowship with nature; For snrely we know that the meadow grass, meshed with fairy rings, is better than the wood pavement cut into hexagons; and surely we know the fresh winds and sunshine of the upland are better than of the vault or gaslight of the ballroom.— Ruskin. No woman can be the worse for possessing brains. The hue and cry set np against higher education, examinations and new openings for woman’s work, has a hollow ring about it. Hen have a sneaking suspicion that they are not so intellectually superior as they have been led to suppose. Unconsciously to themselves, they are afraid of being found out; or else, perhaps, they are lazy, and are fearful of being stirred np. Yet womanliness does not consist in intellectuality. The first thing 4n which it does consist is self-respect.— Samuel Pearson.

Boys and Overcoats.

“Let me tell yon,” said a Detroit man “that it’s all nonsense for boys to wrap up the way they do nowadays. Why, when I was a youngster such a thing as a boy's overcoat was never heard ot” “How did the little fellows keep warm in cold weather?” “Exercise, of course. I was raised up north, and in the winter I had a warm jacket and a pair of mittens, and tied my ears up in a woolen comforter. Chest-protectors and insoles and flannel underwear and such were unknown quantities in those days, and it was cold enough sometimes to freeze the ho/ns off of a brass monkey.” “And were you never cold ?” “You bet I was cold, but I jnst run for it. An overcoat! Why, a boy in overcoat would have astonished the community. And the boys in those days had one pair of mittens to a winter. If they lost them, they blew on their fingers to keep them warm. If ihey wore out, they patched the seat of the mitten with leather. It makes me sick to see the puny boys of to-day rolled up like a lot of gir:s and afraid of catching cold. And that is jnst how they get cold, too. Boys had sore throats in those days and their grandmothers garg:ed them with salt and water, and made them hot doses ot vinegar and molasses sni butter, and they got well the next day. They did not die off at a minute's notice because they forgot to put on their arctics.” And the indignant citizen went off muttering. “Boys in overcoats ? Well, I should smile to remember. —Detroit Free Press.

The Origin of Batter-Making.

There is no way of ascertaining when or how this familiar process of buttermaking was first used. Butter is mentioned in the Old Testament, but modern Biblical scholars think that the word thus translated denoted a liquid preparation of cream. The oldest reference to true batter is probably that made by Herodotus, in his account of the Scythians. In the writings of Dioscorides, a native of Cilicia, Aria Minor, who lived in the first century, we have a description of the process of making batter from sheep’s milk by agitation. Frequent mention is made in these old writings of the use of butter as an ointment whence we may conclude that the process of making it was not so well understood as to give a very palatable article. The Greeks obtained tbeir knowledge of bnttermaking from Asia Minor, and the Romans learned it through the Greeks. But butter-making, ss we are acquainted with the process, was an acquisition of the inhabitants of northern Europe, and by them has been transmitted to ns. Even now butter is little valuedm the Southern countries of Europe, edive oil being mueh preferred there.— Atlanta Constitution. i Brooklyn, belles have taken to bowling as a pastime;and they have demonstrated that it is possible to Bowl without beer, a feat which men Have heretofore considered impossible. .