Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1887 — Plucky Mr. O’Brien. [ARTICLE]

Plucky Mr. O’Brien.

Since ISSO our manufactured prbduets in silk has' grown from a value of $24,61Q,7£3 to over 150,000,000. Hox. Wm. M. Evarts, of New York iB a lineal descendent of Roger Sher.man one of the signers of the Constitution. Tint refusal of the clerk of the New York Superior Court to accept Herr Hoet’s preliminary declaration of intension to become a citiaen of the United States has served to call general attention to the fact that there is a law of Congress which provides that before a man is admitted to citizenship in this country, he shall have resided here at least five years and “shall have behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same.” The rigid enforcement of these provisions by all officers having dutieß connecter! with process of naturalisation is desirable for evident and forcible reasons. Even Ireland appears to be sharing in some of the prosperity which many of the leading countries of Europe and their dependencies are enjoying at the present time. In the first half of 1887 there was an increase of 3 per cent in the earnings of Irish railroads, as comparer! with the corresponding time in the previous year, and an important growth in the deposits of joint stock and savings banks. Unfortunately, however, those material advances are accompanied by an increase in the use of whisky. This, of course, may he considered, in pome slight degree, -an - indication of prosperity as it shows that money is more plentiful in Ireland than it has been for the past eight or ten years. Still this increase in the consumption of spirits in that country is somewhat surprising, when it is borne in mind that in England and Scotland, where there has also‘been a growth in business activity, less whisky is now used than in any previous period of the same duration for several years past, The frequency of the attempts recently made to wreck railroad trains, proves conclusively that either the laws against that species of deviltry, or the manner in which these laws are enforced, need a pretty robust revision at once. A Mexican law affixing the death penalty to offenses of this class, and the 1 proceedings preHminaryte—carrying penalty into effect were so simple and spmmarv that in many cases the culprits were placed securely under ground before the railroad authorities had time to clear the wreck and start thetrain on its again. The law was on the statute book about three years, and was repealed a few months ago. According to American notions, of course, this law was barbarous. It should be remembered in extenuation, however, that it was far less barbarous than the practice it was directed against, and that the miscreants whom it dealt with were fully as deserving of death as the Chicago anarchists who are to be hanged November 11. It was on the statute book for a brief period only. But it has succeeded in making train wrecking in Mexico as complete a novelty as it yrould be ifi Ithiopia or below the Antarctic Circle. If the various States of this country should use a little of the vigor and intelligence displayed by Mexico, this class of malefactors would soon become a missing link in the species of American criminals. Xelvee Sent to Joliet. Oscar Neebe, the anarchist, sentenced 1o fifteen years’ imprisonment on account of the Hay market massacre, was taken to Joliet, Monday, and placed in the penitentiary. The transfer was made very quietly, the officers fearing an attempt at rescue, and not even a I reporter knew of the design until the ! party were on the train. Neebe asked to see his lawyer before starting, but the request was refused.

Mr. William O’Brien, who is confined in the. Cork jail, avers that if he is convicted and imprisoned lie will resist to the end of his life any demand to wear the prison garb, or to periorm menial I ofllces, such as common criminals are forced to do. Mr. O’Brien is the recipi- j ent of every courtesy that hundreds o: ladies and gentlemen of Cork can show him.