Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 June 1886 — Page 7

DEMOCRATIC EXTRAVAGANCE

It Permeates Every Department of the Present Administration - ncreased Appropriations. Hew Democratic Pledges Hare Been Violated—Administrative Reform v? —i During the debate in Congress on the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill, Representative McComas, of Maryland, made a scathing arraignment of the ruling administration for its failure to carry out its reform pledges. He spoke as follows, addressing himself to the Democratic side of the House: In 1876, in 1880, in 1884, to get power you pledged your party by its platforms to civil-service reform. Now that you are in possession of the Government, you would throw off the mask and array your party against it. But the reform will survive. It has come to stay. ONE PLEDGE REDEEMED. Candor compels me to admit that you have kept one pledge of your platform of 1884. I refer to its declaration “that change is necessary is provod by an existing surplus of more than 8100.900,000.” The last Democratic President had left the treasury empty, worse than empty. So the platform pithily pledged the party to do It again, to get rid of the surplus. Apparently you have redeemed that pledge. Without repealing a tax, without taking off a customs duty, without lifting a single burden from the people, in a single year yon have wiped out as with a sponge the ' surplus revenue. Said President Garfield on this floor: “There are two committees of this House that stand, if I may so speak, with their backs to each other and facing in opposite direction. One is the Committee of Ways and Means. That committee faces out upon all the business of this country from which a revenue can be had. They ask tho nation this one question, Where can we get a revenue to supply the machinery of this Government, to fill the treasury as it ought to be filled? And they apply to all of the people of this country, to all its wealth, to ull its trade, to all its commerce, and ask what contributions shall be gathered and how they shall be gathered from the people." But that committee want one thing before they start out upon this inquiry—they want the figures, the sum total. And they turn to the other committee which stands bock to back to them, the Committee on Appropriations, and inquire of that committee how much money mußt we give you to run this Government for the coming year? And they get the figures from the Committee on Appropriations. That committee says to them we will require so many millions of dollars. The .first scene in this spirited drama is presented to-day, and there is a new meaning in it. We behold tne eminent chairman of the Wayß and Means (Mr. Morrison) and the eminent chairman of the Appropriations (Mr. Bandall) standing to-day with their backs to each other. They are indeed literally facing In opposite directions on the tariff.

The other scene, the fruit of Garfield’s long experience on this floor, is omitted. The Ways and Means Committee do not turn to all the Committee of Appropriation and ask how much money must we give you to run this Government for the coming year. “The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee.” Had they turned and examined they might have withheld a tariff-revision bill based on an assumed enormous surplus revenue. Lot this House then turn and look the other way, after six months of session, to see whether the revenue will indeed exceed the appropriations for the coming year. THE SURPLUS EXPENDED. The report of the committee on the new Morrison tariff bill says: “The expenditures for the fiscal year 1885, including pensions and the legal requirements of the public debt,, were 8305,830,970.54. .Neither ‘the actual needs of an economical administration of the Government nor the patriotic expectations of the people justify any increase of this enormous annual expenditure, and we may safely-estimate the annual surplus to exceed 830,000,000.’ ” Upon this estimated surplus, by enlarging the free list and reducing duties it is hoped to reduce the customs revenue more than 825,000,000 annually. This legislation is based upon the results of 1885; but the estimates of expenditure by the administration for the year 1887 largely exceed the actual expenditure for 1885. The first Democratic President since Buchanan, in his first message to Congress, for the first time since the war reported that there waa an estimate I deficiency for 1887. Secretary Manning reported that as compared with the lost year of Republican rule the receipts hod fallen off nearly 825,000,000 (824,829.163.54), while expenditures had increased more than 816,101,003 (816,100,690.78). For the year 1887 he estimated the expenditures at 8339,589,552.31, and estimated ordinary receipts at 8315,000,000, whereas the Ways and Means Committee as umo a surplus of 830,000,000. The highest fiscal authority of the Government reports an estimated deficit for 1887 of 824,589,562.34. Instead of one hundred millions surplus there is fear, just fear, of a large defi it. Now turn to the appropriation bills already passed or reported to this House. They wjll increase this apprehension. The agricultural, the army, the Military Academy, the District of Columb a, the Indian bills, as they passed this House, show slight reductions as compared with the current law for 1886; the consular and diplomatic and the postofflee bills a marked increase, exceeding the reduction made in the legislative, executive und judicial bill now before the House as compared with the current

law for 1886; ' The amount of regular annual appropriations mode at the last session were for 1886. 8219,595,283.18 The permanent annual appropriations as reported by the Treasury amount for 1886 t 0........... 118,154,728.69 i 1 — ... Making the total appropria- : tions for 1886 8337,750,011.87 The pension appropriation law for 1887 is an increase over 1886 of. .. 15,754,2Q0.00 The river and harbor bill for 1887 is on increase over 1888 (when none was passed) of 15,142,100.00 The aggregate appropriations which have already passed this House for 1887 show 308,646,311.87 The navy bill as reported is 811,- • " 849,858.70, and the naval construction bill ns reported is 86,425,000, aggregating 818,274,858.70, in excess Of the law for 1886, which was 815,070,817.95, in the sum for 1887 of, 3,204,020.75 The coast and harbor fortifications . bill mp.y readily increase that of 1886 over 1897 more than 4,000,000.03 The deficiency bills for 1887 will exceed those for 1886 more than.. . ,4,000,000.00 The public buildings and all miscellaneous appropriations will show an increase over 1836 for 1887 of more than. 5,000,000.00 The total appropriations for : 1887 will therefore exceed... .8384,850,332.62 To meet this enormous appropriation WET find the amount of estimated revenue for 1887 .8315,000,000X0 And tho amount of estimated postal revenue for 1887 47,542,252.00 The total estimated revenue being for 1887 only 8362,542,252.00 TARIFF REVISION THEREBY IMPOSSIBLE NOW, With a deficit of twenty-two millions between estimated revenues of 1887 and the actual appropriations for 1887 what a mockery of the _ prostrate business, the distress of the people, the unemployed labor of this country is it for the tariff tinkers to cry for a cutting’down of surplus revenue. With such a deficiency what excuse is there for the eloquent gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Breckinridge) saying that the problem before us U to reduce these excessive revenues? That problem lias been solved by this Congress. The surplus has been squandered by the extravagance within this hall and has shrunken with the shrinkage in business outside. To-day and for the next -year we need the present tariff for revenue. In this year of depression ouy highest duty is to secure and maintain for the American people the advantages resulting from highly paid labor. In a year when labor is crying out for fewer hours and higher wages yondare not .overwhelm our people with the products from abroad of labor at half wages and twelve or fourteen hours per day. At a time when the crops of the farmcrß briDg the lowest prices known during the century, when the dairy industry cries out for relief against oleomargarine, and the woololip has steadily fallen in value, you say to the fanner you will take away his home market, yon will filibuster on this floor against the bill to save the cows and milk and butter of his farm in order to befriend the oleo manufacturers, and you will ruin the sheep husbandry of the nation. We conld not if wa would reduce the tariff revenue now, and the project of tariff reform is as fntile and hollow as your treatment at civilservice reform.

.. ; y:: y; • . -• ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM ALSO A FAILURE.; ‘What then of your third great campaign E ledge of administrative reform? The people! eard your cry “turn the rascals out, ’ and let you in to look at the books. You control every department. You have put in the heade of every bureau and the chiefs of every division. You have steadily turned out experienced men to put in new men wherever the civil-service law permitted or could be evaded, you have ignored the laws protecting Union soldiers in office. The new Secretaries, the new Commissioners, the new assistants and deputies, -the new Comptrollers, the new Auditors, the new heads and chiefs reported promptly that the books were correct to a penny, and they now report the estimates for appropi iatlon to run the Govern-, inent during the next year, 1 It is true there wda a proclamation of economy at the outset. The Executive Mansion sat the example. Three olejrks were cut off, but one of them is put back on this bill at an Increased salary, and the appropriation for the White House will this year greatly exceed that of last year. The i carriages, horses, and drivers were put away with ostentation, but already some of these have been restored, and nearly every departi meat clamors tm a larger contingent fund, which is the sure temptation to extravagance. There was a loudly advertised reduction of the number ani salaries of all custodians of public buildings throughout the land. Much clamor was made in the press about a thirty per cent, reduction herein. But quietly the old number of men and the Barne salaries were restored, and the difference will be paid in the deficiency bill this year. The administration received the cred t of this reform, the chance to fill the places auew, and spent as much money, and for the next year quietly demand more than thirty percent, more money than the Republican administration ever expended for this purpose. In these and many like instances these early spasms'of economy now quietly swell the deficiency bills. You taught the honost Democrats to believe that the offices were overcrowded with useless employes at high salaries, and that the mission of your party, returning to power, was to decrease the offices and reduce the salaries. But the very agents you put in place to do this work report that your cry of “retrenchment and reform” was oampaign thunder, and the Democratic administration demands more men and higher salaries. Take these estimates I hold in my hand at random. The whole book is a surprising tribute to the efficiency of Republican rule. Turn to the Navy Department Here they want an assistant Secretary at a handsome salary, an increase of the salary of the chief clerk of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, an increase of the salary of the draughtsman, the assistant draughtsman, and the assistant messenger ; they want three additional draughtsmen. All this when they had to spend 825,000 in England for a plan of a single whip by an Englishman They call for more than thirtyfive millions of dollars for the navy.

Here we find the Commissioner of Pensions deman ling that all the salaries of all the-chiets of all his divisions be increased, and insisting that an increased force is necessary in the War Office for searches of records. The Commissioner of Patents calls for 102 additional employes. He appeals for increases of salaries all along the line—Bsoo more for the assistant commissioner, 8250 more for the chief clerk, 8500 more lor the law clerk, 8500 more for the financial clerk, and an increase of 8100 more for all the model attendants. He wants an additional tribunal of appeals in tjie Patent Office, with three judges at adequate salaries. Turn to the United States Treasurer, who asks amiperease of the salaries of some of his subordinates and insists that their compensation is not commensurate with the work done. He protests that the salaries paid nuder Republican rule are less than salaries paid for like services by private establishments with much less responsibility. Tne Sec. etary of War asks an increase of salary of 8250 for his chief clerk, of 8400 for his -disbursing clerk, of 8400 for each of his three chiefs of divisions, and of 8200 for each of three assistants to them. This ory for increase of salary runs along every line of administration. To administer the executive, legislative, and judicial offices of the Government the new administration demand fifty-three more offices than under the Republican administration were provided for the last year, and they require more money than last year, although, if we regard the decrease of interest on the public debt, the last year was the most expensive since the war. But I will not weary the House with a recapitulation of all the calls for new offices and higher salaries made by the new administration. - - - It is fair to state that the bill before us, by the economy of the committee, and the reduction in the Treasury mainly by the decrease of employes in the internal revenue service to accord with decreased business in that branch, the decrease in the Quartermaster General's office by decrease of war claims, and closing unnecessary mints and assay offices, makes substantial reductions. But this same bill grants many of the increases of employes ana some of the salaries. Taking all of them together, the estimates of the new administration to run all the departments of the Government for 1887 exceed the appropriations of 1886 more than 856,000,000. Omit the river and harbor bill, for whose extravagance this House is responsible, and still we find the new heads of the Government, with professions of “retrenchment and reform," demanding for the next year more officers than the Republicans, and forty millions of money more than was appropriated last year. What a splendid tribute to Republican management, or what a fraud was the cry of Democratic economy I Never was a general call for higher salaries in every department more unexpected, more indefensible. When we are at peace, when the business of the internal revenue and the customs service have shrunken with the depression of the country, when a dollar is harder to earn, and ill buy more than at any time since the Government’ was founded, I protest against any general increase of salaries, fixed Incomes to be paid out of the declining wages of labor and cheapening products of the farm and mill and inine -- > But after the extravagance of this House at this session you gentlemen of the majority are hardly the persons to turn and rebuke the new heads of the administration for the extraordi- • nary discrepancy between their and your loud professions and protestations of economy and reform in the public service, and the enormous increase of Expenditures proposed for 1887 in running the Government. Alas, administrative reform too is a failure! —'-‘rj— 4“ The efforts of the Chairman of Appropriations (Mr. Randall), aided by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Holman), cannot stem the tide of extravagance here. The passionate protests of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hewitt) againßt the reckless waste here go unheeded. The oft-repeated warnings of the Chairman of the Ways and Means (Mr. Morrison) that the majority were not sent here to spend more money and make more offices than the Republicans had, grow more and more patbetic as he sees his followers sweep away the surplus and begin upon a deficit. If you who are the majority are convinced that you are as dangerous to the country as your leaders say you are, and if you believe the country is fast finding it out, you should pass the appropriation bills and go home. You are forced to abandon all pret nse of being as economical as the Republicans were. You postpone great questions to consider small ones. You waßte the people’s time and money. There is a fleck of war-cloud on our Northwestern horizon. Take back, therefore, Borne of the money you have just voted to waste on obscur> bayous and creeks, that with it we may begin to fortify our defenseless coasts on the lakes, oceans, and gulfs. ~ Watch the flock of public building bill* now fluttering over our heads. Already this session 84,167,737.50 have been appropriated in ono bouse or the other for these i>urposes, and as much more will be fought for if this session be prolonged. I beg you to save that 6um to build up the navy. Remember that the pensions justly due the defenders of the nation, their widows and orphans are a sacred obligation. Keep the money we will need for these debts of honor safe from the tramp of the army of schemes crowding the calendar, coming with “the Constitution and an appropriation." , U you remain all summeip=Tnere is no hope that you may pass the educational bill, for the majority here are deaf to the warning th it the tide of illiteracy rising in this country, higher and higher in the South, is the greatest danger of the Republic. They do not accept the saying of Murtin Luther: “Ignorance is more dangerous for a people than the armies of ah enemy." But there is danger that you may embrace that eminently American, that truly constitutional scheme, the Tehuantepec Canal, with its enormous demand for 837,0011,000. Yon have returned io cur fathers’ house hungry and thirsty and reckless as ah erring prodigal son. You nave grievously disappointed 1 the great body of the people, both the Republicans and the-sincere Democrats, all the citizens who desire under all administrations an economical, honest, and capable Government. (Great applause.] ■ - .... - Smith— “ That dqg of yours keeps me awake nights, howling.” Jones—“ Why, I have no dog. It must be my daughter singing.” Smith—“ls that so? Excuse me. lam sorry. I don’t suppose she can be shot, eh?” ... The highest building in the world is the spire to St. Peter’s Church, Rome, five hundred and eighteen fset.

RURAL TOPICS.

Somo Practical Snggeationfl for the Husbandman and th• Housewife. bhrsidn for the Farmer, Stock* Breeder, Poulterer, Nurseryman, and Housekeeper. AGRICULTURE. —7:; A Good Mixture. Orchard grass and medium red clover flower and. seed nearly together, and are a good mixture. Sow of the first one and one-half bushels mixed with two or three quarts of the latter per acre. Orchard grass withstands the severest drouths, is a strong feeder, and is essentially a pasture grass. It gives the best results on strong, rich land, ana will winter-kill on soils that are liable to heave Canada ThUtle*. Canada thistles are one of the most easily extermined woed pests we have.' Cut at any time in hot weather and keroseno poured on the roots will kill them even: time. Canada thistles can be killed in one year by salting Btock on them for one rammer. Cut them off even with the ground, put sslt on every one, and as of ten as they appear salt again. I killed a good-sized patch m that way in one summer, and they have never showed Up since.— for. New England Homestead. Dairy farming adds #1 per acre to the value of land, while it saves 81 per acre to the value oc land as againstgrain farming; thus $2 per acre—good rent Twenty of the poorest milch cows in the country, that two men can milk in one hour and a half in the morning and the same in the evening, will pay the wages of two hired hands and furnish groceries for a good-sized family by selling cream at ton cents n gauge. The slum milk wifi raise twenty hogs that will be worth #9 each,Ml2o, and to this may be added #3OO worth of calves, as a clear profit over and above the crop raised by the two hired mem Don’t calculate on simply the price of the cream, bat take the result at the end of the year .—Junction City (Kan.) Republican. > Mortgage* on Growing Crop*. The extent to which agriculture is palsied by this practice is not generally realized It prevails mostly where all efTort is centered on a single crop, which is a collateral for the lender of the money, or the vender of farm supplies. In the Northwest wheat region many farms are weighted with this fatal incumbranoe, and in the cotton States the curse is still more prevalent. Mr. Dodge, the statistician of the Agricultural Department, has addressed inquiries on this point to the various State agents in the South, and their replies make a pitiful story of discouragement and confiscation. In general it is not money that is borrowed from the banks, but credit from merchants who furnish provisions, farm implements, fertilizers, and the like, and take mortgages on the coming crop, payable when that matures. This might be endurable if only legal interest were paid, even when that is as high as one per cent, per month. But the merchant charges from fifteen to twenty-five per cent above cash prices, and when the notes mature the farmer must sell, regardless of price, and thus may lose again by being forced to dispose of his crop when prices are low. In Nbrth Carolina not less than one fourth of the crop is sacrificed to meet this exorbitant interest In South Carolina more than a million of dollars will be paid this year for advances. In Georgfi the average addition to cash price of all goods sold to fanners is said to be 50 per cent, per annum.- In Florida the entire cotton and fruit crops will no more than pay the debts of the year. In Alabama the cost of this indebtedness to the agriculture of the State in the form of diminished production and improvement and increased wear of farms and improvements is $5,000,000 a year. In Mississippi one third of the farmers are hopelessly ruined. In Louisiana 75 per cent of the farmers and planters are in debt In Texas it'will require from 75 to 85 per cent of the value of the cotton crop to pay the year’s debts. In Arkansas it takes every bale of cotton to settle up for advances. Now, behind this there is some encouragement whenever the farmer begins to try diversified agriculture, and several States report that prospects are brighter than they have been; but after all the burden is unendurable while the soil is wearing out with the lives of its tillers to pay tribute to the commercial class. — Philadelphia Press. FRUIT CULTURE. Bumbler Pruning of Grape Tine*. E. Williams, of Montclair, N. J., read a paper on the subject of “Summer Pruning” before the last convention of tho American Horticultural Society, an abstract of which we give herewith. As the vines awaken from their winter sleep in the spring, and the buds begin to swell, it will be observed that two buds often appear from what seemed but one in a dormant state. The first and simplest operation in summer pruning is to rub off one of these and all superfluous ones wherever they appear. A simple touch of the finger will do it The weakest and generally the lowest one has to go. If the buds from any canae start feebly, the sooner this is done the bettor for those that remain. In cases where they start strong and vigorously, however, it is well to defer their removal until the embryo clusters have appeared. If these shoots have grown a foot or a foot and a half, no matter. The check to the vine will be the greater and their removal none the less demanded. The remaining shoots are pinched off at one or two leaves beyond the last cluster fruit, and the laterals are stopped in the same wav as recommended for tne young vine, to one leaf. Those bearing cones and laterals, after recovering from the check thus given, will soon make a fresh start in wood-making, and the pinching process is to be repeated as before, leaving an additional leaf each time. The effect of this treatment is to retard the sap and retain it where it is needed for the full development of buds, leaves and fruit The leaves remaining increase in size mnch beyond their normal proportions, anfl a strong, vigorous leaf of this kind is most capable of resisting the attack of mildew. The large? the leaf area next to the fruit, the larger and finer the fruit will bo.

The pinching procesr also results in full, plump and well-developed buds on the canes to be left for the next year’s fruiting. Vines which are allowed to grow at random and take care of themselves, seldom fruit, purely from lack of development The sap, being allowed to pursue its natural course unmolested, has no time to stop and pay proper attention to these buds. The short-spur system depends absolutely for success on this summer prunWilliams cited the case of a very successful amateur who has vines ten years old treated on this system, some of the spurs on which are not over 114 inches long, so short in some cases that the base bud seems to start almost out of the old wood, and yet this bud will give as good fruit and as large clusters as any, and does bo year after year. It is simply due to this full development resulting from summerpmniqg. __ g FLORICULTURE. The Qm< cm a House Plant. How can the rose be managed as a house plant, and what varieties are most suitable for that purpose? The only roses that are likely to succeed when grown in the window garden are ,a few varieties, and those belong to the Tea, Bourbon and Bengal classes. Ana to have them do well in the winter it will be necessary to commence preparations early in the spring, in order to nave strong and healthy plants, furnished with an abundance of healthy working roots, for the rose is rather impatient when grown as a window plant; but a great deal will depend upon the treatment the plants receive. Having procured the young plants early in thesprixig, theyjshould be potted into three-inch pots, and placed in a warm and sunny situation. Water should be given when required and air on all favorable occasions. About ths middle of May the plants should be repotted into four-inch pots and plunged to the rim of the pot in any sunny place in the open ground. After the plants are plunged they should b« well mulched with coarse stable manure, and watered whenevor necessary, and the ven r instant anv flowers are noticed they should b« removed. The pole should be turned at least once a week, in order to prevent the plant* from rooting outside the pots to their manifest

injury. This treatment should be continued up to the first of September, when the plants should be taken up and oarofully examined shifted into larger pots if necessary, trimmed intoshape, and placed in any' shelter wk situation until they ara brought inside, which should be done before cold weather sets in, if they are intended for early blooming; while those intended for later bloom can be allowed to remain outside, until the weather becomes cold, when they can be removed to a light, 000 l cellar and afterward be started into rwth whenever it is deemed necessary to so. Roses require s rich, well-mixed soil, the most suitable being composed of two-thirds well-decayed sods from an old pasture, onethird well-decayed stable manure, with a fair sprinkling of bone dust; mix these materials thoroughly, and use the compost rough. In potting, use porous or soft-baked pots, and let them be proportionate to the size of the plank Be certain to drain the pots well, and in potting place the plant in the center of pet, And water thoroughly to settle the plank The following varieties are the most suitable for window garden cultivation: Twelve .Teas —Safrano, Bon Silene, Isabella Sprunt, Rubens. Odorato, Perle des Jardins, Gen. Tartas, Yellow Tea, Madame Bravy, Madame de Vatry, Madame Lambard, and Souvenir d’un Amie Four Bengals—Queen’s Scarlet, Douglas, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Dueher. Four Bourbons—Hermosa, Queen of Bourbons, Queen of Bedders. and Edward Desfosses. Besides these there is a class of recent introduction, known as the Polyantha roses; they are of dwarf habit and are continually in bloom, tho flowers being produced in clusters, and although the individual flowera are not large are very perfect Of these, the most desirable are Mignonette, rose; Mile. Cecil Brunner, salmon pink; Little White Pet, light pink; and Paquerette, pure white. Besides these we have the dwarf form of Rosa Indica, commonlv called the Fairy Bose. It is a very pretty little miniature rose, having double, rose-colored flowers, about the si e ol a dime. As it is constantly in bloom it is a plant that will always attract considerable attention, and is deserving of a place in every window garden.— Charles E. Parnell, in Vicks Magazine. GARDEN HINTS. Tomatoes. Dr. Sturtevant, of the New York experiment station, says that careful experiments have shown that unripe tomato seeds will grow and give a gain of fifteen days in earliness over ripe seed from the same plants. Pe&sand corn fit for table use will grow and produce earlier crops than ripe seed, but plants from immature seed are more feeble than those from ripe seed. Earliness seems to be in proportion to the state of ripeness of the seed from which the plants have been raised. The practical question to be determined is how to combine Doth earliness and vigor in the satne plank Cabbage* and Bean*. Cabbages and beans are now being cultivated as in Switzerland—as associated crops. The beans are planted in February, in drills thirtyoine inches apart, and five inches between each dibbled-m seed. A plow or horse-hoe keeps the intervals freshed up, when the thousand-head cabbage or other variety previously sown in a nursery bed in autumn is planted out toward the close of March, and at a line distance of twenty-six inches. By the end of July the beans are removed ana' the ground they occupied is loosened up to mold the cabbage. The latter can be stripped about Christmas, and will Bend out sprouts until the end of March, when they can De eaten down by breeding Bheep. Bone Steal. A correspondent of the Journal of Agriculture gives Hits experience with bone meal, having tried it in comparison with twoywti-. ficial manures on a lawn. All of the manures were applied at the same time in March, on separate parts of the lawn, and he remarks: “The two artificial manures had decidedly the best of it for the first season. The bone meal did not improve the appearance of the grass in the leastjwhile that treated with artificial mt-. nures displayed a marked improvemenk The bone meal produced more effect the second season than the artificial manures had the first, but the latter were evidently exhausted the first season. The third season, again, told in favor of the bone meal, and what will be the case this year remains to be seen. Similar experiments were tried with peas, onions, lettuce, and cauliflower, and other vegetables, which resulted in favor of the two artificial manures, the bones evidently making no difference. These observations and experiments prove that bones, however they may be ground, do pot act in any marked degree during the first season, but prove an invaluable lasting manure.” The conclusion was also reached, very properly, that for pot-plants, when an immediate effect is desired, bone meal is without value, and artificial manures that will act quickly should be employed in such cases. Aaparagu* Culture. While visiting a farm at Concord, Mass., the editor of the New England Farmer had his attention called to a knife used for cutting asparagus. He says it appeared to be a largesized butcher knife, broken squarely across near the middle of the blade, and then hollowed out like a swallow’s tail, and ground to a fine edge. In using it the knife is thrust in a slanting direction straight down through the stalk, with no side motions to endanger other stalks that may be pushing up near by. It is well known now by asparagus-growers that the slightest cut or bruise on a growing stalk of asparagus, made before it gets above the ground, will entirely spoil it for market, for the bruised side stops growing, becomes woody and hard, and the stalk as a whole turns ana seems bent on getting back into the ground again. Crooked asparagus stalks are worthless for any purpose, and they are only made crooked by carolessness in cultivation or in cutting. The swallow-tailed knife-blade with its blunt edges is a perfectly safe tool to sever the shoots and to toss them ont upon the surface of tho bed. As fast as the cutting was finished, a horse-plow was run along each side of the row, throwing a generous furrow toward and partly upon the crowns of the p ants. A man following upon his knees draws with his hands as much of the Boil of the furrows as is needed for completely covering to the depth of from two to four inches. The earth covering smothers all weeds, and thousands of young seedlings, which are as objectionable as other weeds in an asparagus bed. One field of asparagus, covering about an acre, as given uninterrupted cuttings annually for near twenty-five years, snd is apparently in a good condition now as at any previous period. Liberal annual manuring, careful and clean culture have done the business for this oldest asparagus bed wo ever saw, and possibly the oldest good bed of its size in the country. In sotting a new bed the plants are placed with the crowns about ten inches deep if the land is sandy, if heavy clay they should be set more shallow.

’ A Very Dainty Dish. The following is a very delicious pudding, the recipe for which I begged from Mrs. Marshall, of the School of Cookery, for yoU: Pour half a pint of warm cream on the crumbs of two Frenoh rolls, two ounces of castor sugar, one ounce of vanilla chocolate and five large eggs beaten up. Always use a rather low mold with a pipe in for this pudding, and, after having buttered it, line it with well buttered paper; pour in the mixture and steam it for twenty minutes or half an hour, then turn it out and remove the paper; pour chocolate sauce over it and serve a nice compote of fruit in the center. And this is how tne chocolate sauco is made: To three ounces of vanilla chocolate add two ounces of easter water; when it boils stir in a tablespoonful of creme de riz that has been mixed in a.little cold water; boil all together till quite smooth, then tammy and use. —Miss Madge, in London Truth. - Com Meal Mush. Put into your kettle nearly as much water as you wish of mush; when it boils stir in the meal evenly until a thin mush is formed. Let it 000 k slowly for almost or quite an hour; add salt to your txste. The coarser the meal the longer it should be cooked English currants or raisins may be cooked with it, or sweet apples may be sliced and spread over the top a half-hour before it is done.—Serve with cramp and sugar, or with maple syrup. Fruit Pudding, A delicious pudding is made in this way; Chop a pineapple quite fine; take some cake which is a little dry, rub it fine in your hands or crush it on a kneading board; put it into a pudding dish in alternate layers with thepineapple, sweeten abundantly, moisten with cold water and bake m a moderate oven for an hour and three-quarters.

THE YEAS AND NATS.

Sow ftongTe*3»en Voted Upon the Proposition to Take Up Mr. Morrison’s Revenue Measure. In the National House of Representatives on Thursday, June 17, Mr. Morrison, of Illinois,' moved to go into committee of the whole for the purpose of considering revenue bills. The motion was defeated by a vote of 140 yeas to 157 nays. Following is the vote in detail:" YEAS, Carlisle Forney OTirrall Adams {N Yi Gibson (Md) O’Neill (Mo) Allen (Miss) Gibson (W Va) Outhwaite Anderson (O) Glass Peel BaMentine Glover Perry Barbour f . Green (N C) Reagan Barksdale Hale Reese Barnes Halsell Richardson Barry Hammond Riggs Beach Harris Robertson Belmont Heard Rogers Bennett Hemphill Sadler Blanchard Henderson Sayers Bland (N C) Scott Blount Herbert Seymour Breckenridge Hewitt Shaw (Ark) - Hill Singleton Breckenridge Holman Skinner (Ky) Howard Snyder Bnrnes Hudd Springer Bynum Hutton Stewart (Tex) Cabell James Stone (Ky) Caldwell Johnston (N C) Stone (Mo) Campbell (NY) Jones (Tex) Storm Candler King Strait Carieton Kleiner Swope Cutchings Laffoon Tarbnry Clardy Landes Taulboo Clements Lanham Taylor (Tenn) Cobb Lore Throckmorton Cole (Md) Lovering t Tillman Compton Lowery Townshend Conißtock Mahoney ' Trigg Cowles (N C) Matson Tucker Crain Majrbury Turner Crisp, McCreary Van Eaton Croxton McMillan Wakefield Culberson Mcßae Ward (Ind) Daniel Miller Weaver (Iowa) Dargan Mills Welborn Davidson (N C) Mitchell Wheeler Davidson (Fla) Morgan Willis Dawson Morrison Wilson Dibble Neal Winane Dougherty Neece Wise Dunn Neilson Wolford Fisher Norwood Worthington Ford Oates —MO. NATS. Adams (Ill) Grosvenor Payson Allen (Mass) Grout Perkins Anderson (Kan) Guenther Peters Amot Harmer Phelps Atkinson Hayden Pidcock Baker Henderson (la) Pindar Bayne Henderson (Ill) Plumb Bingham Henley Price Bliss Hepburn Randall Bound Herman Kanney Boutelle Hires Reed (Me) Boyle Hiscock Rice Brady Holmes Rockwell Browne (Ind) Hopkins Komeis Brown (O) Irion Rowell Brown (Pa) Jackson Ryan Brumm Johnson (N Y) Sawyer Buchanan Johnston (Ind) Scranton Buck Kelley Seney Burrows Ketcham Sessions Butterworth Lafolletto Smalls Campbell (Pa) Laird Sowden Campbell (O) Lawler Spooner Campbell (N Y) Lofevre Spriggs Cannon Lehlback Stahlnecker Conger Libbey Steele Cooper Lindsley Stewart (Vt) Curtin Little St Martin Cutcheon Long Stone (Mass) Davehport Louttit Struble Davis Lyman Swinburne Dingley Markham Symes Dorsey Martin Taylor EB(O) Dowdney • McAdoo Taylor Ike (O) Dunham McComas Taylor Z (Tenn) Ellsberry McKenna Thomas (111) Ely McKinley Thomas (Wis) Erernentrout Merriman Thompson Evans Millard Vlele Everhart Millikan Wade Farquhar Moffatt Wadsworth Felton’ Morrill -~ Waite Findlay Morrow Wallace , Fleeger Muller Ward (Ill) Foran Negley Warner (O) Fuller O'Donnell Warner (Mo) Funston O’Hara Weaver (Neb) Gallinger O'Neill (Pa) Weber, Gay Osborn West Geddes Owen Whiting Gil Allan Parker Wilkins Goff Payne Wood burn—ls 7. Green (N J)

MEN OF NOTE.

Hon. A. G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania. Andrew G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania, is the only surviving member of the trio of famous war Governors, of whom Wm. Dennison, of Ohio, aud Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, were the other two. He is now sixty-nine years old, having been bom in his present home, Beliefonte, Pennsylvania, in 1817. It is a satisfactory comment on any man’s abilities and strength of character to know that he can live a long Hfe in the village where he was born and be honored to the last with the best offices within the gift of his fellow citizens. Governor Curtin has grave faults, and always has had, bnt the fact that he stood by the Union in its

hour of need, and was so efficient in the discharge of all the duties of Governor of one of the great Northern States, answers for them all. He was educated for and practiced law. He was made Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Governor«of the State. After the war he was sent as Minister to Russia, and was elected as a member of the convention that made the present Constitution of the State. In 1880 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Twentieth Congressional District of Pennsylvania for Representative. He was elected again in 1882 and 1884. He served as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Forty-eighth Congress, and as Speaker Carlisle failed to appoint him to that place in the present Congress, he declined to serve as Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, which was tendered him. When it was decided to investigate the strikes by a Congressional committee, he was placed at the head of said committee, and is now serving in that capacity.

The greatest fortress in the world from a strategical point of view is the famous strohghold of. Gibraltar. It occupies a rocky peninsula jutting out jnto the sea, about three miles long and three-quarters us a roile wide. ,- r - ——• —==—. at . The largest dynamo in the world is being set up in Cleveland. Five hundred horsepower will be required to drive it, and its current will furnish incandescent lights of about twenty thousand candle-power. Coming home from “the >club”—policemen returning from a riot *' rghrj

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

—Two men, Hiram Cast on and William Close, lost their lives in a new well at Fort Wayne recently. Tho well had been touted for “damps” in the morning and found all right. When a depth of thirtysix feet was reached, the diggers struck a large stone. J Caston, who was the contractor, sent for Cloee, who was working in another well, to come and aid in taking out the stone. The was not again tested for “damps,” the men having been ont of it but a short time. Cloee waa lowered, and when down only about five feet fell out of the bucket to the bottom. Caston at once stepped into the bucket and ordered the men to lower him to rescue Close. When down abont fifteen feet he signaled the men to draw him up, which they did instantly. When nearly at the top, and Almost within reach, Caston tumbled out, joining Close at the bottom. It was then ascertained that the deadly g(iß was within three or four feet of the surface. The bodies were then lifted out with hooks attached to ropee. The two men were middle-aged, married, and both leave quite large -families. —The W. C. T. U., of Crawfordsville, have gained another victory in the cause of temperance. Last year a saloon was ran on the square which contained three churches —Methodist, First Presbyterian, and Episcopal. The saloon was so notorious that the owner did not dare apply for another license. So one Shanks applied for a liquor license for the purpose of selling liquor at this place. The W. C. T. U. circulated a petition which was nnmeroasly signed, praying the Board of Commissioners not to grant the license. The case was set for trial recently, and, after abont twenty women gathered around the Commissioners, Shanks conclnded to withdraw his application. The W. C., T. U. claim that they had enough evidence against Shanks to have landed him in the penitentiary. —Some time since a Panhandle passenger train was wrecked at Windfall. Three mep—Vice, Justice, and Berry—living there were arrested. Bnrke, the injured fireman, died from injuries received in the wreck. Mob violence was feared, and the prisoners were taken from Kokomo — where they had been removed for safekeeping—by the Sheriff and deputies, heavily armed. The excitement was intense at Windfall, where several thousand people had assembled from miles aronnd. There was no demonstration against the wreckers. * Preliminary examination was waived, and the three men bound over without bail, charged with murder in the first degree. Justice made a confession, giving fail particulars of the dastardly work. —A somewhat sensational case, bordering on the ridiculous, has come to light in society circles at North Manchester. Names are not divulged, but a Miss called upon a lawyer, and d'esired to employ him as her attorney in bringing a damage suit against Mr. for fracturing her breastbone by squeezing her in a loving embrace. Both parties move in good society. The lady desires SI,OOO damages, and says proceedings will be entered in the coarts at Wabash. It is looked npon as a doubtful case, and is probably a thin pretext to extort money or force a compromise,, the girl being “badly stuck on” the fellow. —The Cass County Sunday-school Union that met at Logansport elected the following officers to ser% for the entming year: President, Rev. James Best; Vice President, Rev. W. H. Daniel; Recording Secretary, Dr. D. L. Overhelser; Statistical Secretary and Treasurer, Homer Kessler. Vice Presidents were also elected from the various townships. The Union takes in the Sabbath-schools of all denominations and has been held annually for several years.

—A carpenter shot his wife dead recently at Terre Hante. He married her last December. fie had been jealous of her, and she went to a friend’s house. In the morning he called for her; she tried to hide, and when he found her she said* in reply to his question if she was going to lire with him, “No, you have been too mean to me.” He drew a revolver, and, saying “Yon will never live with any one else,” shot her in the temple. —A gardener, living at North Madison, swallowed a quantity of pans green with suicidal intent. A physician was hastily summoned by members of the family, and administered an emetic, but the treatment came too late to be effective, The man was 35 years of age and the father of two children. The only known motive for the commission of the act is that he was tired of life and desired to end his troubles. —The twenty-second annual commencement of the Fort Wayne Central Grammar School took place in the Masonic Temple a short time ago, a very large audience being in attendance. The graduates numbered twenty-six—twelve in the Latin course, six in the scientific course, and eight in the training-school. Twenty-two of the twenty-six are girls. 7—A physician of Knox County claim* ‘ that he was for ten months confined in the public insane asylum at Buffalo, N. Y., and cruelly treated. He was returned to the Indiana Hospital as a dangerous man, but since his arrival has shown himself to be not only not dangerous, but of sane mind, and has been sent to his home. —A company has been organized at Fort Wayne to bore for natural gas. The capital stock is fixed at SIO,OOO. The stockholders embrace several leading capitalists. business men, and manufacturers. —Thirty thousand gallons of raspberries have been shipped from New Albany to Western cities since the season Opened. —The man who was horse-whipped and run out of North Manchester by Regulators for abusing his wife, is again living with her, they having packed their goods and shipped them to Anderson, and “eloped” together, seemingly as happy as youthful first lovers. —At North Manchester, a well-known hide-buyer attempted suicide by deliberately walking into the river where the water was three or four feet deep and lying down. He was taken out of the water and carried fcume. He threatened to repeat his at--empt.