Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1886 — Page 7

The Republican. —— - RENSSELAER. INDIANA. G. E MARSHA! J A PußUftn*.

The debt of France now equals $6,000,000,000. Clemenceau (maintains that it must be abolished, and its amount shows clearly it will bo abolished, “liecause the French can neither pay principal nor interest.” There are only four’ students this year in the school for agriculture and horticulture connected with Harvard College. The instructors are so numerous that there is one for each pupil, and a few left oyer even then. The instruction is given by lectures and recitations and by practical exercises in the green-housea, fields and laboratories. Gen. Sigel, the newly-appointed pension agent at New York, was visited by tw6 Germans the other day who insisted on receiving government pensions. Being asked if they were veterans. they said they were —they served under Von Moltke in the Franco-Ger-man war. They asserted* vehemently that he had the power, as pension agent, to give his fellow countrymen pensions. At Budapesth, Hungary, the Austrian Government has a model dairy school, where from ten thousand to fifteen thousand quarts Of niilk are daily manipulated- It has also opened an official wine cellar where farmers can store their vintages if of a salable quality; have it prepared, classified and sold under the guarantee of the state seal, as of a certain quality, and at a proportionate price.

“I ske it stated,” says Mr. Laboucliere. “that while Englishmen drink th e times as much tea as coffee, Americans drink eight times as much coffee as tea. This in a great measure is due to the coffee that is sold in the United States being less adulterated than ours, To a certain extent it may also be accounted for by the fact that Americans are richer than we are, for there are a good many more cups in a shilling’s worth of tea than in a shilling’s worth of coffee. ”

In one of his letters to his sister, just published,' Benjamin Disraeli wrote, anent a party at Bulwer’s: “I- was introduced, ‘by particular desire,’ to Mrs. Wyndham Lewis, a pretty little „Avoman, a flirt, and a rattle; indeed, gifted with a volubility I should think unequaled, and of which I can convey no idea. She told me she ‘liked silent, melancholy men.’ 1 I answered ‘that I had no doubt of it.'” And yet in a few years Mrs. Lewis and Mr. Disraeli “were married and lived happily ever after,” as the story books sav.,

A rechntly-makbied electrician who lives near Sacramento, Cal., has devised a scheme for protecting his wife from the annoyance of tramps. The vagrants invariably sought the kitchen via a rear stairway, so the electrician detached the four bottom steps from the others and attached a powerful battery to them. A wire from the b'attery ran info the kitchen, and when a tramp is seen approaching all that is necessary is to touch a spring at the proper moment, and the seeker after provender is thrown nearly over the back fence.

A young woman of Columbus, Georgia, about to visit the generating station of the electric light company, was told to leave her watch at home, lest it be magnetized by the strong electric current. s>he did so, but complained afterward that her watch would not keep good time. She sent it to a jeweler, but he reported that it was not magnetized and kept good tiine. Still, whenever she carried it her time was too slow, although when she left it in her room it ran correctlV. A gentleman who knew of the circumstances suggested to the young lady that she wear another pair of cossets when next she carried the watch. She did so, and had no further trouble with the watch. The steel springs in her corset had been magnetized.

The term lady has so fallen into doubtful repute by indiscriminate application to all sorts of people, reputable and disreputable, of high and of low degree, to the ignorant, ! the wulgar, and the coarse, as well as to their betters, that we manifestly need a substitute for a word which has been dragged into such evil usage. Perhaps no better word can be found than the half obsolete term gentlewoman, about which lingers so dainty and thoroughbred a flavor. We have no other substantive in the language which expresses so perfectly the characteristics which were once comprehended by the title of lady; and the word, though somewhat long, is well adapted to ordinary use, people already being familiar with the masculine form. ■'' - y

A becent writer in the Atlanta Con- ~ tells tkis unique story of Tiger Tail, the Seminole chief: “A sewing machine agent drifted into his dominion one day and set up a machine in Tiger ~ Tail's tent The old chief, with great deliberation, watched him .put jt through its paces. C. He then arose, brushed the agent to one side, and, seating himself, adjusted his feet in the treadle. He started the wheel and

found that he could make it go. He sewed up one piece of cldtli and down another, and then gravely and critically examined his work. At last he appeared to be satisfied that it was all right. Ho then turned qnietly to his wives, who had ■watched the proceedings with interest, and kicked them one after the other out of his tent. ”

It is reported in court circles at St. Petersburg that a formal sejmration will shortly take place between the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess Serge, whose ■ eighteen months’ , married life been i prolific in squabblings and misunderstandings. They would have been separated nearly a year ago if the Emperor and Empress had not then interfered to avert the scandal. The Grand Duchess is the second daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, and the Queen will be exceedingly wroth at this termination of her granddaughter's married life. The Princess Elizabeth of Hesse was so sick of the sordid dog-hole economies of Darmstadt that she resolved to marry a wealthy husband, and she refused two highly eligible German princes only because of the inadequacy of their means. One of them has since married the richest fQyal heiress in Europe.

There sits in Congress (says the Baltimore Sun) a man who once ran against Grover Cleveland for the post of Sheriff of Erie County, New York, and, although beaten by him at the time, he filled his unexpired term and is now a member of Congress. The member is John B. Weber, of Buffalo. He is a small man, with a pleasant face, and quick, active step and manner. He is a Republican, but that does not prevent him from being on godd terms with President Cleveland. Soon after Mr. Weber came here this winter he called at the White House, and jokingly remarked to Mr. Cleveland: “You see lam following you. First you beat me for Sheriff; I fell into your shoes when you became Mayor. Lookout; perhaps the same good luck may follow me now that I- am here with you in Washington.” The President smiled and said: “I am watching you, never fear.”

A Kentucky farmer moving to Kansas chartered a box-car, into which he put eight horses, with his two sons and a dog to look after them. The boys had comfortable quarters in one end of the car, and as there was plenty of room, the thrifty old farmer put in two bee-hives. As they Were jolting along the bees got warmed up, and came out to inquire what it all meant. The response of the boys and the dog was as lively as possible. All made for ’the door, the boys yelling to stop the train and fighting the bees with their bats. The dog was first out, yelping and howling, and the others, canie tumbling after. By the time the conductor got the train stopped, and help arrived, the’ bees were out in full force and furiously mad. It was only after a pitched battle that the hives were removed and the horses sayed. Some of the bees got into the passenger coaches, where they made things lively and warm for the passengers, but after a hard fight they were vanquished.

Col. Bob Ingersoll (says a writer in the New York Time*)- entertained two or three friends at his home on Fifth Avenue, and not unnaturally, perliiips;’ - somebody drifted the conversation over toward religion, and one man was rather aggressive .in his condemnation, of all heresy. This prompted Col. Ingersoll to tell a story. “My views regarding religion are not generally unhe said; “I am credited with a good many ideas that I have never entertained. lam very ipuch like an old Indian of whom I have heard. An enter-, prising missionary with the tribe was bent upon the conversion of this particular savage. One day out on the plains the good man plied his subject vigorously, till finaNy the red man, pick- ■ ing up a stick, bent down and drew a small ‘That’s what Indian know,’ he said. Then he drew a larger circle round the first, and, pointing to it, said: ‘That’s what white man know; but outside of that Indian know-much as white man—know nothing.’ The Indian’s doctrine is my doctrine,” ended the orator.

A Woman at the Bottom of It.

W.e all know the story of the Turkish Gadi who held that there, was always a woman at the bottom of every trouble. On one occasion there appeared before him one of his officers, who stated that a certain man had fallen out of a window and killed himself, “ Where is the woman?” asked the Cadi. “It was a man, Your Sublime Highness,” responded the officer. “Where is the ■woman?” repeated the Cadi. “It was a man, Your Ecstatic Nobleness,” humbly reiterated th? officer. “Where is the woman?” fiercely demanded the Cadi. "I tell you it was a man who killed himself, Your Effulgent . Radiance," roared theofficer. Then an explanation followed, wlien it turned out that the man was leaning out of his window to look at a woman, a few doors off, when he lost his balance and fell to the ground. “Ah!" cried the Cadi, triumphantly, “I knew there was a woman at the bottom of it*, there always is.”— Texas Siftings. The oldest editor in Connecticut it A. E. Burr, of Times, who has been at the head bf that papei 47 years, before which he was on the Cour ant. s

HOT SHOT.

The Hypocritical Pretenses of the Democratic Party Laid Bare. f ; * ■ , [Extracts from the speech Of Uongreiiinan Barrows on the Edmunds resolutions.) ' It there has been any one thing In the last fifteen years to which the Democratic party ■earned more ardently attached than any other it was reform in the civil service, lu season and •oat of season, In public and in private, by speech and platform, it has coveted every occasion to make solemn protestation of its devotion to this new-found objefitof its idolatry. Its enthusiasm at times would brook no restraint Although reform and the Democratic party never had any personal acquaintance until 1872, when they met for the first time in a Liberal Republican convention, yet from that hour there sparng up an attachment between thein which has been absolutely phenomenal. Some slight conception of the warmth of its devotion at that time may be gathered from the following devotion preserved in its platform of 1872: TUio civil service of the Government has become a mere instrument of partisan tyranny andnersonal ambition, and an object of selfish greed. It is a scandal and reproach upon free institutions, and breeds a demoralization dangerous to the perpetuity of republican got eminent. We therefore regard a thorodgh reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour; that honesty, capacity, and fidelity constitute the only valid claims to public employment; that the offices of the Government cease to be a matter of arbitrary favoritism and patronage, and that public station shall become again a post of honor.— Democratic platform, July, 1872, Baltimore. In 1876 the Democratic party renewed its vows of fidelity with such earnestness as to banish all thought of the possibility of betrayal, in the following language. Reform is necessary in the civil service. Experience proves that efficient, economical conduct of the Governmental business is not possible if its civil service be subject to change at every election, be-a prize fought for at the ballot-box, be a brief reward for party zeal, instead of posts of honor assigned for proved competency, and held for fidelity in the public employ; that the dispensing of patronage should neither be a tax upon the time,of all our public men, nor the instrument of their ambition. — Democratic platform, St,. Louie, Mo.. Juiie 27. 1876.

In 1880 its ardor had somewhat cooled, and was fast settling down into respectful consideration, as the following declaration in its platform discloses : "We pledge ourselves to a general and thorough reform of the civil service." In 1884 six words, compressed into one curt sentence, measured its waning regard: “We favor honest civil-service reform.” But if the public mind had become distrustful of the sincerity of the Democratic party in its professions touching reform in the civil service, it was fully reassured by Mr. Cleveland in his letter of acceptance, in which ho said: “The selection and retention of subordinates in Government employment shall depend upon their ascertained fitness and the value of their work. Public employment will be open to all who can demonstrate their fitness to enter it." These are some of the professions with which the Democratic party came up to the campaign of 1884, and under which it was intrusted with national control, In view of these utterances the people had a right to expect, and in many instances were undoubtedly deluded into the belief, that the Democratic party would in good faith redeem its promises inf this regard. That, in the language of the Democratic platform, “honesty, capacity, and fidelity" would be the only valid claims to public employment, and that, in the words of the President, “the selection and retention of subordinates in Government employment would dapend upon their ascertained fitness.” Indeed) the Democratic party and its nominee for the Presidency were so completely committed to the doctrine of reform in the civil service that there was no escape from the execution of the law in this regard but by public renunciation or secret evasion. The former step would have been commendable in the highest degree in contrast with that other course which this administration seems determined to pursue. To have failed to execute the law would have been bad faith; to pretend to execute it while secretly nullifying it is not only ba I faith but hypocrisy. On the 4th day of March, 1885, the Presidentelect in his inaugural address declared that "the people demanded the application of business principles to public affairs,” and that “civil service reform should be in good faith enforced.” While these high-sounding words were ringing in the public ear the Postmaster General is writing a “confidential" letter to Democratic Congressmen “to get their cases ready," and lie thought “from 15 to 20 per cent, of fourth-class postmasters in Ohio might be removed within the next two months.” This is the “application of business principles to public affairs.” [Laughter.] While the echo.of these words was yet ringing in the public ear the Postmaster General quietly whistles to his side the whole uncounted pack of hungry office-seekers and sets them upon the track of honest officials with instructions to hunt them down and hold them at bay until the Postmaster General could take their official life. This, Mr. Chairman, is reform in the civil service! This is “doing business behind glass doors.” The whole history cf American politics discloses no parallel to this. It is no part of my purpose, Mr. Chairman, -to catalogue the long list of removals or count the disreputable appointments which make up the first year s record of this reform administration. Every Congressional district has its instances, and these are Within the knowledge of the individual members of the House, I only desire to summarize the result of the application of “business principles to public affairs,” as exemplified in the Postoffice Department during the first twelve mouths of its administration. The First Assistant Postmaster General, in his able annual report for the year ending Juilt'3o, 1885, at page 27, states the whole number of Presidential offices at that date was 2,‘f33, and the whole number of fourth-class postoffices i 49,019. To these 2,233 Presidential offices there were appointed, between March' 4, 1885, ifiid March 4, 1886, 1,078 Democratic Postmasters, or nearly one-half of the entirenumber were changed the first year., Of those 1,078 appointments, 782 were made necessary by reason of death. resignation, ,or expiration of commission: 228 'were appointed to succeed Postmasters suspended, 7 in p.lace of Postmasters removed for cause, and 1 to succeed a' 1 oitmaster removed —nearly 300 suspensions and removals in twelve months in Presidential offices alone. Not content with 782 vacancies caused by death) resignation. and expiration of commissions, the President supplements this record by 296 suspensions and removals— upon what ground the country is not yet advised. But this does not furnish a fair illustration of the workings of reform in this department of the Government* The President and undoubtedly the Postmaster .General have felt themselves somewhat hampered and embarrassed by that provision cf the Constitution which makes it necessary in these matters to take the advice and obtain the consent of the United States Senate. Such a requirement gives undue fiublicity to official conduct and destroys that reedom of action which is found in fourth-class offices, where the will of the Postmaster General is supreme. In response to the request of the Senate recently directed to the Postmaster General_eall-_ ing upon him to state the number of removals in fourth-class offices between March 4, 1885. and March 4, 1886, he states the whole number of removals between those dates to have been 8,635. This does not includo. appointuienta to vacancies, but all these were removals ostensibly for cause. Add to this the Presidential removal during the year and we find the total removals of postmasters to be 8,931 in twelve months. This is over 744 a .month, 28 every working day, 4 an hour, or 1 e'very fifteen minutes. This is conducting the affairs of the Postoffice Department on “business principles."' “ The foregoing exhibit in a single branch of the Postoffice Department furnishes a fair illustration of the practical workings of the civil-service law, as interpreted by the Postmaster General. What is true of this department is undoubtedly true of all. Indeed, as early ns June, 1885, the country was advised by Mr. Higgins, when hungry Democrats were complaining of the delay in furnishing them with the means of subsistence, that there had already been between three and four thousand changes. “There are,” he said, “about eighty-five internal raVenue collectors, and fifty-two of them are now Democrats. Each has under him fifty to one hundred employes, and all these are being conI mtly changed. So you will perceive that you tan soon count up to the. thousands. It is the same with the customs officers and the postoffices.” This declaration was made within ninety days after this administration came into power. -Thie-is upon authority of and what he does not know about “refbrm" is scarcelv worth acquiring. - J But the most ludicrous feature in this whole reform business is tue constant boasting ofjthe Democratic party that it has brought the Government back to the practices of the lathe s, and that in the application of its reform views to governmental affairs it Is reproducing the halycan days of Jeffersonian simplicity and Jacksonian honesty. Ona is at a loss to know which most to admire in this assumption, its novelty or its audacity. Let us read a page of the nation’s history in the days of the'fathers touching the question of removals in the civil service, Washington in

1 I eight, wars rcmo.ed ouly nine, all for raise. Jonn Adams lu four wars removed nine, and, Im> stated, none for political reasons. Jefferson in eight years removed thirty-nine; none for party i>nrposoH. Madison tn eight years removed five. Monroe in eight years removed nine. Jehu Quincy Adams in four years removed two. The first six Presidents * holding the Presidential office tot forty' years removed only seventy, three office-holders. Heveutytthrec removals in forty years! Whv, sir, tho’ Postoffice Department alone has made more remo-ala than that in fprty minutes I laughter), decapitates more than that before breakfast as a mere appetiser. And yet the Dem< crafic party has the impudence to look the American people in the face and declare without blushing that it has returned to the practices of the fathers. Let us have done with-this farce of reform. The people are sickening of it. It was quite an attraction in the beginning, but it has ceased to draw, and you had better ring down the curtain and put out. the lights ' if you would save the performance or tho performers from public ridicule and contempt. Take it from the boards, or it will be hissed off by a disgusted public. —. And here let me say that the crowning infamy in this whole business of reform lies in the dishonorable methods employed to secure the removal of honest, capable officials. If you would say to a Republican; “I want this office because you ore a Republican, and I want it for a Democrat because he is a Democrat," that would be honorable and manly. But you say: “We cannot do that, for we are committed to the doctrine that removals shall not be made for partisan reasons, and that honesty, capacity, and fidelity shall constitute the only valid claims to public employment We ■mat aeem to keep this promise to tho public it we blacken the good name of every Republican official in the land." And so you permit, nay, not only permit, but invite, charges to be made against faithful and upright public servants upon which they are removed, and thereupon you give out that they are removed or suspended for cause. But when the susspended official or his friends ask to be advised of the nature of these charges, then this reform administration replies, “That is a sealed volume, and you can not be permitted to open it." I am not alluding now to the controversy going on in the other end of the Capitol. I have in mind an instance within my own knowledge. Two Government officials in my own city, of unquestioned integrity and unimpeachable character Wi public and private life, were removed from office, and when I demanded of the head of the department to be advised of the nature of the charges preferred against them, I was informed that I could neither have a copy of the charges ner be informed of their substance. These charges against those men are only harmless because no imputation cun possibly destroy public confidence in their official or private character. In this refusarto disclose the nature of these changes lies the infamy of this whole business. Men of the highest character in public and private life, against whose fair names the breath of suspicion even has never come, are turned out of office and branded with some crime which they are not permitted to know, and can not, therefore, disprove; and these charges, unknown and unanswered, unanswered because unkown, puss into the permanent archives of this nation to remain so long as the Government shall stand. This, I repeat, is the crowning infamy of this whole business, and ought and will consign any party that approves it to deserved retirement. But I am suspicious the Democratic party has deluded itself into the belief that-such a conrse will lead to great patty advantage and contribute tb its future success. You argue that this method is a three-fold victory; first, you say, we get the Republican official out and a Democrat in, which is of prime consequence; second, by withholding all knowledge of the grounds upon which removals are made we will keep from the people the real cause, which is purely a political one, and continue the deception that we are reformers ; and, third, by denying to removed officials the right to kpow and answer the charges made against them the suspicion will obtain that they are removed for some malfeasance in office, and in the approaching campaign we have but to point to the long list of removals for convincing proof of official corruption. If this is your reasoning, let me say to you that you are making’s, fearful mistake. If you would remove the Republican official, saying to him, “It is not because you. have not been a faithful and honest public servant, but solely because you are not in accord with the Democratic party," there is not a Republican official in the land who would not gracefully surrender and accept the situation. He would probably continue a Republican from conviction, but the simple loss of his office would not spur him to unusual zeal. But when you remove him upon some sec et charge, ejnanating from some secret, unknown source, which he is not permitted to know or answer, reflecting upon his public or private'character, he not only continues to be a Republican, but be becomes your active, implacable foe. The office was of little value to him, but his good mime is a priceless legacy, cherished above all elite, which he hoped to bequeath untarnished to his children. That is but a common sentiment. “Whosteals my purse steals trash; * ♦ ♦ But he that fiiches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed." You, for party ends, are wantonly placing a stain upon thousands of good names, and be assiwed they will not rest inactive under the foul' aspersion. Nay, more, their kinsmen and their fr onds will make common warfare with them. Honorable men of all parties Will espouse their cause, and this Democratic reform administration will answer for its vilification of worthy citizens at the bar of public opinion, Where it will receive swift and merited condemnation.

’Squire Hobbs’ Filosofy.

Despare am de gatewa tu insanity. De Her am a twin bnidder ob de theaf. Filosofy am de kee tu Natur’s privat lybrary., Humensimpathy am de motiv powr eb sibilizashun. It am a lammentibel fac’ dat nun but de good boyz ebber dy. , It neber paz tu be 2 greedy. De big orranj am not de sweetes’. Vise am an illejitermate chile ob sosiety, an’ disipashun am its fodder. Intelligens am de fodder of ability, an’ mqrpallity am de niudder ob justis. Es yon am a little man, doan’ be discurrajed. De dog am mitier dan de steer. A bawky mule ma be lazyvbut it am alwaz bes’ tu keep on de off sid ob de kickin’ port De fassest boss doan- alwayz win de rase; Jikewiz de bes’ man doan’ alwaz git de offiis. De differens atweene a dood an’ a munky am dat a dood haz a kane an’ a munky haz a tale. ' It am a peculeyer sac dat de lazy boy. am mos’ always de wup wot firs’ ketches de rabbet. Es ebery boddy wuz ob de same opinyun wot a lot ob party babies dere wood be in dis Wort’. Bull-dOgz, s hot-gunz an’ stogy butes hab brok more harts dan ail odder thingz kumbined. - , - ----- . - Sum wun haz sed dat a red-hedded man am meek, but I fine dat if am de rewerse wif a red-hedded'oman. Filosofy haz nebber yetbinable to explane de peculeyer magnettik dttrackshun atween a nigger an’ a hen. A dishones’ man am like a pitcher wifout a handel: you kan’t trus’ hitii onles you grip him wif bofe hans. Sum folks lib in dis worl' like de man wot kummensed his dinner on py an’ kake an’ finished up on bred an’ ’lasses. Sum men git so ful ob kussedness dat it skarez de hare offen de top of der hedz, while wot’s lef’ turns pail wif frite. POAN' let yure hart git kankered wif enwiusness: de nigger wot fingerz de banjo de bes’ kan’t alwaz finger de mos’ taterz out ob de groun’. It am sed dat bibelz, skulez, an’ wimmen am de grate sibillizerz ob de worl’, but Ise inklined tu think dat it am peech trees, shingelz an’ slipperz. Obzerwashun hab konwinsed me dat a kat‘kin set more-kubik feat ob air a wibratin’ tu de kubik inch ob kat dan enny odder libbin’ creetur a top ob de yeath. De man wot kin milk a breechy kow, put up a stov-pipe, or tac down a karpet wifout usin’ kuss wordz, am entitled tu a reserbed seet in heaben up klose tu de orkestra. An ole batchellar am -lik a kite wilbut string er tale. No man kin sale sukseesfully tn prosperrity wifout he am pilitted by a wixtuus wif an’ tide doun by a lot ob bloomin’ responsibillitiez. - - ~ .. .

KNIGHTS OF LABOR.

A Biography and a Sketch Which Will Be Read with Interest at This .... Juncture. *> ~ r '• I ..Terrence Vincent Powderly, authoritative j louder of the Knights of Labor organization I (says the New York World), was born at Carbondale, PA., Jan. 24, 1849. He went to school for six years, and when 13 years old went to work as a switch-tender for the Delaware & Hudson i Canal Company. When 17 he went into the ma | chfiie shop of the company. He went to Scranton and found employment in the shops of tho Delaware, Lackawanna & 'Western Railroad Company. In 1870 he joined the Machinists and Blacksmiths’ National Union. He soon became President, and*began to study the labor problem in the shopo z by talking to his fellow-workmen, watching the endeavors and aims of employers and employes. In 1872 Mr. Powderly married. The'trades-union was too narrow to salt his views. His father, had been a day laborer, and he learned that no labor organization could thrive until it took In every class of laboring men. The machinists did not take kindly to Mr. Powderly’s suggestion that they take in the laborers, the carpenters, painters, and every other trade. Tn November, 1874, a friend invited him one evening to some to 11 labor meeting. He went without any idea of What sort of a gathering it was. It was Local Assembly No. 88 of the Kidghts of Labor, and he at once joined it. He found there men of all trades and all crafts. It was his idea of a labor organization, and he at once entered heartily into its plans. The panic of 1873 left Powderly without employment. He went west into Ohio looking for work, came back into Western Pennsylvania, and in Oil City found a job, and Was sent by the Machinists and Blacksmiths' Union of that city as a delegat.) to the General Convention held at Louisville in September,>lß74. Scon after he was back in the employ of the Dickson Manufacturing Company at Scranton, and it was on this return that he joined the Knights He soon induced the entire union to join the Knights, and the union was disbtinded. In 1877 tbe railroad strike took many from this section, and about five thousand men wentfrom that district. Many of them were in the order of Knights, and, when they pushed on into the West, were instrumental in building up new local assemblies. Up to this time the Knights of Labor had no General Assembly, and many of the leading Knights were in correspondence on the subject. M. F. Turner, Secretary of District Assembly No. 1, Philadelphia; Mr. Griffith, of Chicago; Charles H. Idtchmon, of Marblehead, Mass.; and Mr. Thomas King, of Reading, Pa., hod been writing one to another, ana the result was a call, for the first General Assembly at Reading in January, 1878. . A constitution was adopted at this time, and Uriah 8. Stevens, the founder of the order, was chosen Grand Master Workman. At the St. Louis Convention, held in St. Louis January, 1879, Mr. Stevens was re-elected, and Mr. Powderly was chosen to the second position as General Worthy Foreman. The time of the meeting of' the General Assembly was changed to September, and in September, 1879, a convention was held in Chicago, when Mr. Stevens sent a letter declining re-election as Grand or General Master Workman, and suggesting Mr. Powderly, in strong words of praise, for the position. That choice was made, and each successive September, at tbe general assemblies, he was re-elected. He had continued to reside at Scranton, and in April, 1878, his fellow-workmen put his name in nomination for Mayor and elected him. His first act was to discharge the entire,police-force. This he did because he feared that fils enemies would seek to create disorder and possibly do damage, and he wished to have by him men In whom he' could trust to repress any uprising. In 1880 Mayor Powderly was re-elected and in 1882 again chosen on a Democratic ticket, but the labor element showed its strength by giving him a majority in several strong Republican districts. - Since his induction into ihe order of Knights of Labor, Mr. Powderly Jias given it his entire attention and a vast amount of study. He has virtually reorganized the order. He found it a close, oath-bound body, but at the Detroit General Assembly, in 1881. he urged the abolition of oaths and 1 the removal of the obligation of secrecv. Mr. Powderly has filled the position of constant instructor for seven years, and has not had a single day off, not even a whole Sunday. , ■ _ _ _ __ Mr."'Powderly in 1875 went somewhat into the study of law, and while Mayor of Scranton got a very good legal training and habit. He started the’ Labor Advocate in Scranton during 1877, but this publication, he said, “died easily while I stood by its bedside.”

By Wliat Metliocla Its Members Hope to Solve the Labor Question. Tfie District Assejnbly Is composed of three delegates from each local assembly in its jurisdiction, and is the highest tribunal within its dominion. There are what ore called “trade districts" and “mixed districts." The former, as ■the unms donates, are composed of those of any one or affiliated trades. Thus a district of printers contains stereotypers, type-founders, conqxwitors, pressmen and feeders, bookbinders and sewers, lithographers qnd plate printers. A district of shoemakers has within it every person working at that business in onv capacity. A mixed district is formed cf I assemblies of every trade having less than five locals, -which number is necessary before a trade can be organized as a distinct district. There are several trades in the order which liave national districts, and it is hoped by many u Knight that in time every national and international trade union will le covered with th < shield'of the order. It is said that if such was possible it would inure to the strength of the (r.id'e union, as it has been found that every trade is dependent on all the others.’ Local assemblies can*be formed of men and women, or men or women re spectively, of any one or more trades, or no trade whatever, excepting iwj ers, bankers, brokers, and rum-sellers, w-ho are cons dered to be drones in the human hive, or seeking always their own preferment first, last, and all the time. In every local assembly a half-hour at each meeting must be devoted to the discussion qf "labor in all its interests." It is during these moments that the “declaration of principles" is tiken up and enlarged upon by some one designat'd forthat purpbse, In locals newly founded the declaration is taken up section by section; beginning with the following paragraph- . - d'

"Tt e aMrmingslevelopment and aggressiveness of groat capitalists and corporations, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and hopeless degradation of the toiling masses. It is imperative, if we desire to enjoy the full blessings of life, that a check be placed upon unjust accumulation and the power for evil of aggregated wealth. This much-desired object can be accomplished only by the united efforts of those who obey the divine injunction. Tn tfie sweatof thy face shalt thou eat bread. Therefore we have formed the order of Knights of Labor, for , the purpose of organizing and directing the power of the industrial masses.'* She aims of the order are declared to be: 1. To make industrial and moral worth, not wealth, the true standard of individual and national greatness. 2. To s.ecure to the worker the full enjoyment of the wealth they create, sufficient leisure in which to develop their intellectual, moral, and social faculties; all of the benefits, recreation, and pleasures of association; in a word, to enable them to share in the gains and honors of advancing civilization. To secure these results certain demands are made upon the State and National Legislatures, in addition to which the Knights of Labor "will endeavor to associate their own labors. "To establish co-operative institutions such ns will tend to supersede the wage system by the introduction of a co-operative industrial systems to secure for both sexes equal flay for equal work; to shorten the hours of labor by a general refusal to work more than eight hours; to persuade employers to agree to arbitrate at differences which may arise between them and their employes, in order that the bends of sympathy between them may be strengthened and thnt strikes may be n ndered unnecessary. Th» Knights of Lalor have attempted to introduce in the order distributive co-operation and life insurance on the assessment plan, but thus far without any success. The credit of founding this great order is due to Uriah'S. Stevens, who died in Philadelphia in 1882. The idea of the Knights of Labor, a secret bro.herhood, was many years in dere'.op ng it. dulf. and did not take practical form until 1869, when Mr, Stevens wss working as a clothing-cut-ter. For years it w«S a strictly secret i ociety. Dr. Bessels, who is in charge of the government carp ponds, says that only about 200 out of every 1,000 goldfish spawned pass through the early stages of goldfish It is claimed that a lady in Oshkosh has » coffin for a bedstead, and every night lies down to rest with as much serenity as those who retire in the conventional manner. Master Workman Powderly worked in a machine shop in his youth, and conned his books by a candle's fitful dame. | Philadelphia proudly claims that she * has 22,000 more women than men.

SHOOTING TO KILL.

A Posse of Deputies Protecting a Train Fired Upon at Port Worth, Texas.

O*r »r the Officers Killed, Two Mortally Wounded, arid u Striker Killed. (Fort Worth (Texas) dispsteh.) The first tragedy to result from the strike on the Texas and Pacific oeentred Haturday afternoon, when a group of strikers,-'lying in ambush a short distance south of the city, fired on « portion ®f the Sheriff's posse, fatally wounding Officers Townsend and Snead, and sending a bullet through the thighs of Policeman Fulford. One of the strikers, Frank Pieree, a switchman, was killed, and Tom Neece, another, was shot in the groin. Two other strikers are believed to haver- been wounded. Officer Townsend is dead, and Officer Snead is now lying at the point of death. Owing to the bold stand taken by the strikers during the week it was feared that serious trouble would soon ensue, and when it was known Friday night that warrants of injunction had been served on many of the strikers, and that tbe company would make a desperate effort to get out trains in the morning, under the protection of the Sheriff, bloodshed was deemed inevitable. At 10 o’clock yesterday morning officers began to collect at the Union De]x>t and in the yards, and a few minutes later Engine 54, loaded with armed men, steamed down into the Missouri Pacific yards amid the derisive shouts of the spectators. The engine was then backed np to Hodge, from which point it was to pull a freight train into the city. At 11:35 . the train eame into the yards unmolested by the crowd. A woman waved a red flag as a signal for the engineer to stop, but he paid no attention to it. Proceeding on its way by the Union Depot, the train passed on south, guarded by twelve officers, armed with revolvers, under the command of Special Deputy Marshal Courtwright. At the crossing a mile and a half from town a switch was found open and the trpin.halted. The officers approached the switch and discovered about twenty of the strikers lying in atribush, with their Winchester rifles aimed, ready to shoot. Firing was opened by both sides almost simultaneously, and after about fifty shots had been fired the officers retreated to the train and retured with their wounded comrades to the city. The tragedy occasioned terrible excitement throughout the city, and Sheriff Maddox at once -armed two companies of citizens with carbines and stationed them at the depot to be ready for future emergencies. The Mayor issued a proclamation appointing seventy-five special policemen, and telegrams were ( sent to Gov. Ireland urging him to hurry on a regiment of militia at once. He immediately ordered out the troops. The troops here now number 235 men. Adjt. Gen. King, Brig. Gen. A. S. Roberts, Attorney General Templeton, Inspector General P. Smyth, and Col. W. P. Gaines are on the ground. Two companies of rangers accompanying Gov. Ireland are on the way to the city from Austin. District Judge Peckham was called into consultation with the railroad officials this morniug, the result being that about 12 o’clock a freight train was sent south under guard of the Grayson Rifles and a special force of fifteen citizens. Another train was at once made up and sent noith, also under guard, and at 5 o’clock a third, tiain pulled out . going south.

The statement is made that the Knights of Labor have determined that Fort Worth shall be the point where trains shall ba stopped at all hazzards and that there . they will win or lose their battle. On the other hand, it is said the citizens declare that the Missouri Pacific trains shall move, even though it costs scores of lives to accomplish it. No one is allowed to stand on the streets. ’ The officers are in citizens’ dress, and nearly every man in town not known as a striker has a permit to carry concealed weapons. . Attorney . General Templeton, who is here with Adjutant General King, says: “Since the authority of the State has been invoked it shall be wielded, and trains must move if it takes the whole militarv force of the State to do it.” ’ -

Mr. Hoxie and the Knights—A Cohl Reception. (St. Louis telegram.) Secretary Turner and William H. Bailey, of the General Executive Committee of the Knights of Labor, arrived from Cincinnati, and after a long conference with the joint committee of the Districit Assemblies went to the office of Mr. H. M. Hoxie, Vice President of the Missouri Pacific. Their interview was of short duration, and was very unsatisfactory. They say that.they were, received coldly, and that Mr. Hoxie’s demeanor was eminently disappointing. He told them that the company bad decided to reduce its force of shopmen by 50 per cent., and that a large number of men had already been employed to fill the places of tbe strikers. Such of the old , employes as wished to return should apply for a position, and their applications would be considered, without regard to their connection with the strike, but the company reserved the right to reject any objectionable applicant. These terms were not what the committee expected, and they accordingly withdrew. Mr. Hoxie was very cool. He did not even ask the oommittee to be seated. ’ The World of Labor. ■ . The Eureka Iron Company, of-Wjhur-dotte. a suburb of Detroit, has recognized the right of its employes tb join the Knight* of Labor. Journeymen bakers, of New York, to the number JaC twelve, hundred, liare. xteter- _ mined to strike, on May 1, for twelve hours’ work five days a week, and fourteen bouts on Saturday. E. P. Allis, of Milwaukee, infoimed eight bundled employes of the naachineshops bearing his name that work would be permanently stopped should an attempt be made to enforce the eight-hour rale. The strike has been crushed at Atchison and .Parsons, and the Mayor of the city offers to pay whatever damage has been inflicted upon railroad property within the town by strikers. The street-car strike at Pittsburgh has been adjusted, except as to one line. The men are to get the same wages as heretofore, and the hour question is to be further arbitrated-

A LYNS (Mass.) dispatch states that Assembly No.-3021), Knights of Labor, have adopted a.memorial to Congress declaring that the laboring men of America are entitled to the ordinary comforts of life and a fair*expectation of shelter and'repose for their declining yearn; that in times of de-pression-the Government should liberally appropriate the surplus revenue in the prosecution of public works; and especially commending the Hennepin canal project as likely not only to temporarily benefit thousands of needy men, but as promising employment for thousands more for all time to come.