Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1890 — Page 6

She Republican. Q*o. E. Mabsball, Publisher. BEN3BBLAER. - ? INOI AM A

It is not (renorally known that Met 100 has a public school system which provides instruction for the children of all classes, including the Indian sranr~" .. 1 . Said a Chicago wife: Mft is real mean for Charlie to be so good to tne ; I want to get a divorce and go on the stage; tut he is so kind I cannot help loving him, and that is what makes me hate him so." Spaniards are predicting that Spain would soon be a republic if the baby king would die. The people of that country seem to {stand in awe of one little sickly royal infant It is hard to get away from old traditional notions. It is a matter of curren t belief in Brooklyn that hardly a public contract is awarded there upon which the contractor must not divide his profits with the ring which controls the entire government of Brooklyn and Kings, coun- ** - • -

When a man says he does not care a “curse” he means that he does not care a cress, the lingual me to thesis here being similar in that which makes ••gooseberries” out of gorseberries, “axe” out of ask, and “wapse” out oi wasp. __ The Indian who commits a murder expects to die for it if he is caught, and be takes his punishment stoically. He has no excuses to offer, no pleas for mercy to make, and he knows . nothing of tho emotional insanity dodge. Some people, suggestively remarks a sharp critic, are so busy meddling with other people’s business that would not be surprising at the general resurrection to find some of these everlasting snoops getting out of somebody else’6 grave. Mexican hotels are said to be very poor, the best of them not being equal to third-class houses in the United States. Tourists, although delighted with the country, do not stay there any length of time because the comforts peculiar to American hotels are not obtainable any where in Mexico at any price. Crimes against commerce merit heavy punishment The time has gone when they can be regarded lightly. Overissues of stock, convenient failures, chicane of any kind ought to be drastically treated. The community will be the better for the experience. There will be fewer failares and more honesty in commercial intercourse. A mountain of clam shells has been discovered about three miles east of Mount Vernon. It is over 600 feet high and has a surface of soil nearly > 1 toot thick. Underneath this clam shells abound to the level depth. There are trees growing on the mountain Which show an age, judging by the rings about the heart, of from 150 to 200 years. 1 Nobody who lives in the past is worth his room in the social world, apd the rule applies to communities, states and nations, as well. Why is the savage and the barbarian superseded in the race of life? Because they will not movA forwacd r^ bnt nttwgc to. the ways of"the past So it is in civilized communities—they., stagnate unless they move abreast with the progress of the time. The one fashionable terpsichorean recreation—the waltz, is on the decline. It is doomed. It is being is tabooed- in the best society rircles of the world. That which hastening its doom is the fact that Herr Strauss, who may be regarded as the creator of the modern fashionable waltz, has pronounced against it, and substituted in its stead wnat he calls “conversation dances.” It is a faet not generally known that it requires from ten to fifteen years for an orange tree to develop. A grove does not attain perfection in less time than that, the land spectators to the contrary notwithstanding. It is true that an orange tree will bear a few oranges within a few years after planting, but a tree has to bear not only a few, but a great many oranges to make the industry pay. The project of a grand longitudinal railroad for the two American continents and the connecting isthmus is beginning to take definite shape. It has been the subject of more or less remark, often derisive, ever since it first emenated from the fertile brain of Hinton Kowan Helper. Mr. Helper’s “impending crisis” oarae. and his intercontinental spinal-column railroad may yot erne rge from dreamland into the world of realities. The officers of the New Hampshire militia complain of“the indiscriminate .bestowal of military titles by secret Organizations, ” and they are going to t&kA.thp matter before the legislature. But if military titles are a good thing, how can there be too much of a good thirigP How are you going to prevent any American citizen from giving himself any military rank he fancies P Give the Colonels who never colonelM a daanee to enjoy themselves.

THE NEWS OF THE WEEK

DOMESTIC. Rev. Dr. Talmage arrived heme on the 4th. Secretary Tracy continues to improve slowly. Niohoiasville, Ky., refuses to license saloens. The Merino Sheepbreeders are in session at Rochester, N. Y. •■ -- ■There are fears of an Indian uprising in San Juan county, N. M. The trial of the Cronin jury bribers is set fer Feb. 10 at Chicago. Gen. Schofield is engaged to wed the widow, Gen. Kilpatrick. Fivfc cattlemen were badly injured in a wreck near Peotone, IIL, on the 4th. The Montana deadlock was broken on the sth in favor of the Republicans. F. A. Walton, Pacific Express Agent at Dallas, Texas, is missing with $85,000. Three section men were billed by a passenger train near St Cloud, Minn., on the 4th.

Five men were badly scalded on the 4th at Philadelphia, by the explosion of a boiler. Jos. P. Murphy, a New York cotton goods manufacturer, failed for. $500,000 on the 4th. Sash and door factories are now the industries sought to be purchased with British gold. The Kansas City Packing and Chase Refrigerator Company suffered a loss of $200,000 by fire. - - The indictments against the New York boodle Aldermen, who have not been tried, will likely be dismissed. The Kentuoky State Senate passed the hill prohibiting the sale of cigarette to boys under eighteen years of age. It is olaimed that the Chicago police have promoted crime in order that they might hare the credit es making an arrest. Rhode Island’s Legislature has before it a bill increasing bribery penalties, and including the taker as well as the briber. An explosion in a Wilkesbarre (Pa.) -eeal mine killed three men and seriously injured six others. Five men are missing. The Sons of the American Revolutions organised a society at Wilmington, Dels? ware, with ex-Secretary Bayard as Pre»i dent. * A rat in a Cincinnati pawnbroker's window ate a fifty dollar diamond/ and was caught, cut open and the spark Recovered. The funeral services of Mrs. Traci- and her daughter were held at the WhigaHouse on the sth. The President and otjsjer dig nataries being present. ||- Five hundred Birmingham, AlaJf miners have struck, not because of poof wages, but because they think they are n®t proper • ly waited upon while at work. A construction train on the «ih went through a bridge, 65 feet high, atithe Dales, Oregon. The tender fell oil the ca. boese, killing ten men and injuring sixteen. \ The New York Senate reconsidered the vote defeating the World’s Fair bill, and passed the measure on the oth. It wab sent to the Assembly, hut stuck there on attend ments, I The contest for the West Virginia Governorship ended on the 4th, in the seating of Fleming on a party vote, 43 for Fleming and 40 for Goff. The Republicans accept the situation gracefully. S An appeal has been received at Riel® mond, Va., signed by 350 citizens of Grans ville county, which says the farmers ar® suffering for the necessaries of life, owing! to the failure of the crops. In a riot at St. Adelbert’s Church,| Buffalo, over a change of priests, 2,300 Polish women and girls participated,charg ing upon a body of police and assaulting the newly appointed priest. At Portlaud, Ore., about 1,400 sacks oj delayed Western mail and a large numbei of passengers arrived by boat from Dalles on the 6th, having been transferred from! the Union Pacific train at that point. Friday a portion of the bottom of the] town of Plains, Pa., fell out, wrecking several mining tenement bouses. The cave in was caused by taking too many pillars from the mines below the place. J. W. Troutt, a farmer residing in Todd county, Kentucky, was crossing Clifty Creek, which was high, on a wagon, when he was washed away and drowned. His wagon and horses were also swept away and lost. A war of races occurred among)workers on a railroad in Bibb county, Ala., on the 7th. The blacks ambushed a party of whites, firing into them and killing two/ men. Three others were seriously/ wounded. At Cleveland, Thursday night, whjje the family of J. B. Perkins were at dinner, a thief climbed up the front porch, apd, gaining an entrance to the uouse, stolß a jewelry-box containing $4,600 wortlf of diamonds aud $75 in cash. I At Susquehanna, Pa., Miss Charlotte Dunlap, a highly respected young |ady, who was connected with one of the. first families of the place, committed suicide by taking strychnine. It is said that tyfer act resulted from a love affair. / Rev. Mr. Ball, who made such serious charges against Mr. Cleveland irithe, campaign of 1884, and growing out of which he claimed libel against the Jifew ,jYork Post was defeated in his libel j&uit before the Jury at Buffalo on the 7th/ Wednesday night an armid mob took possession of the jail at Lexington, Miss., and liberated Eugene Story/ who had been convicted of murder and sentenced to be hanged. The case was oiy appeal to the Supreme Court. Other/ prisoners were released at the same time The Railway Age affirms that th,e trip around the world can be made in less than sixty days, providing no time is lost at connecting points. “The little traveler who has just finished the round in 72% lost over 18 days in waiting for connections. The down stage to Casa Grande, Arizona, Thursday, was held up by a masked r Mhxipan, about twelve miles from Florence.' The Weila-Fargo express box was ■ laken. It is not known how much was' secured. The mails are not disturbed. A posse has been organized for pursuit. Thursday, the second section of pasaen gcr train No, 6, east-bound, and No. 8, a west-bound passenger train [on the Pan -

handle railroad, collided near Bowerstown, O. Engineer Martin and the ofireman on 1 the east-bound train were badly scalded mid bruised. Martin’s injuries will probabl/cause his death. The engineer of No 8 had disobeyed his orders in not side tracking his train at Bowers town to allow No. 6 to pass. A revivalist at Oakland, Cal., predicts the destruction of San Francisco, Alameda and Oakland within eighty days by an earthquake, Chicago by the overflow of Lake Michigan, and the end of the world in 1896, previous to which aH Europe will be a battle ground It is said that there are people who place faith in the prediction. A special train with 1,000 negroes arrived at Birmingham, Ala., on the ith, over the Georgia Central railroad. The negroes were enroute from South Carolinia to Louisiana and Texas. They were packed into the car like sardines in a box. Few of them seemed to know where they were going or what they would do when they reached their destination. They seemed to trust everything to the agents

who had them in charge. Two freight tnfrns, one bound east loaded with cattle, and the other bound west loaded with coal, plaster, etc., eoiided at Yarmouth Center, four miles east of St. Tbomas, Ont., Wednesday. The engines struck with terridc force. Twenty-five or thirty cars were wrecked, and the debris is piled up about the station in a great mass. The engineer of the west bound train, John Cook, was killed, and a number' of train men were seriously injured. The others saved themselves by jumping. The. loss of property will be considerable. Information has reached Charlotte. N. C that two men were killed and three badly injured during services in a country church, about thirty miles from; Sparta, N. C., on Sunday. The Rev. Joseph M. Strooke during the course of his remarks said: “There is a man in this congregation who is so mean and unfaithful to hisMife that it is a wonder that God does nq£ rain down fire and brimstone upon his head And consume him.” The preacher .pointed his finger toward Thomas Coleman, who occupied a seat near the pulpit, and as he didlgo that individual jumped to his feet to inquire if the parson meant to be personal inVs remarks. No sooner was Coleman on Ms feet than half a dozen dea cons were up demanding that he sit down. Everything wa| in an uproar, and an attempt was made; to eject Coleman. Coleman resisted, and, seizing a stick of wood lying near the stove, he began to weild* it hard and fast, knocking four men to the floor apd fatally wounding Jeremiah FergusonOne man wrenched the club from Coleman and dealt him a deadly blow across the head. He then walked out of the church and has not been seen since. The riot lasted six minutes, and was participated in by many of the congregation, who used clubs as weapons. The killed were: Thomas Coleman and Jeremiah Ferguson. The injured were: Edward Clawson Rober Edwards and John Peeby. The centennial of the Supreme Court of the United States was celebrated at New York on the 4th. The President did not attend because of the afflictions in the families of Secretaries Blaine and Tracy. The attendance was the most noted that ever assembled in the Metropolitan Opera House. The building was elaborately decorated. The members of the United States Supreme Court were among those in attendance. Ex-President Cleveland presided and made a brief speech. He was cheered vociferously. He closed his speech in the following words: “Our fathers had sacrificed much to be free. Above all things they desired freedom to be absolutely secured to themselves and their posterity. And yet with all their enthusiasm for that subject they were willing to refer to the tribunal which they devised, all questions arising under their newly formed constitution, affecting the freedom 1 and protection and safety of the citizen. Though bitter experience had taught them that the instrumentalities of government might trespass upon freedom, and though they had learned in a hard school the cost of the struggle to wrest liberty from the grasp of power, they refused,in the solemn work they had in hand, to take counsel of undue fear or distracting perturbation; and they calmly and deliberately established as a function of their government, a 1 check upon unauthorized freedom and a I restraint upon dangerous liberty. Their j Attachment and allegiance to the sovereign- j Jty of their States wef e warm and unfalter- j /ing; but these did not prevent them from ■ contributing a fraction of that sovereignty to the creation of a Court which should guard and protect their new nation and save and perpetuate a government which should in all time to come bless an independent people. ” Prayer was offered by Rev. Morgan Dix and the principal speech, by Justice Field, followed. At night a banquet was given. .FOREIGN. Prince Bismarck dined with Emperor William on the 4th. The Marquis of Hartington left London Thursday for Egypt. The Mexican Government has formally recognized the Republic of Brazil. More than 100 people were drowned near Manking, China, by a cloud bursting. Henry M. Stanley has been selected a member of the Russian Geographical So ciety. Switzerland has excepted Emperor Will iam’s invitation to an international labor conference. The report of the Provincial Bank of Ireland gives evidence of an improvement in the industries of Ireland. The London Times on the 3d, compromised the Parnell libel suit, it paying Parnell £S,(XX) and alibis expenses. Passengers and mails have beeD landed at Bay of Bulls, St. Johns, by sleds, over twenty miles of ice blocking the harbor. The influenza is spreading in the City of Mexico, and has assumed a more virulent form. A number of dearths have resulted the disease. A special Rio dispatch says: There is a ministerial crisis in Brazil. The trouble has reference to the questions of financial which do not at present seem likely to be realized. Senor Demetris Ribiero, Minister of Agriculture, has retired from the Cabinet and a new appointment has been made. Senor Ribiero was not well known in Brazilian politics before bel wet called to the Ministorv. • . . ' - -S ■- • - -V m .--1 -f .■» ■

MR. CARLISLE'S STATEMENT.

Democratic Address to the Con a try ' Concerning the Course of Speaker Heed. An addresß to the country, explaining the position of the Democratic mem. bers of 4 the House, has been prepared by ex-Speaker Carlisle, and will be signed by all the minority members The address is as follows: The present situation in the House of Representatives is so anomalous, and the unprecedented decisions of the Speaker so full of danger to the integrity of future legislation, that we consider it our duty to submit a brief statement of the facts in order that the propriety of the course we have taken may be fairly determined. The House met on the 2d day of December, ' 1889, and immediately organized by the election of a Speaker and other officers, i On the same day, by a-resolution of the; House, the Speaker was authorized to appoint a committee on rules, and the rules of the last preceding House were referred to that committee. The committee, consisting of the Speaker himself and four other

members, was appointed on the sth day of December, and on the 9th it made a report authorizing the Speaker to appoint all the other committees, and defining their jurisdiction. The committee on elections, to which was referred all cases involving the rights of members to their seats, was appointed on the 9th day of December. Although nearly two months have elapsed since the committee on rules was appointed, it has made no report on the matters referred to it, except the partial one made on the 9th of December, and consequently the House has been compelled to conduct its business without any rule or system except the general parliamentary law as construed by the Speaker. There have been no calendars, no order of business, no fixed time to receive reports ( -from committees or for the consideration of bills or resolutions, and, in fact, no regular methods whatever in the proceedings of the House. The American House of Representatives has been during all this time, and still is, so far as rules for its government are concerned, in precisely the same condition as a popular meeting or a political convention,

in which the chairman and his partisans absolutely control all the proceedings. No measure can get before the House for consideration unless the Speaker chooses to allow it to be presented, and members have no means of knowing in advance what they are to he called upon to discuss or decide. This is the first time in our history that a legislative assembly or even a public meeting has attempted to transact business for any considerable period without a regular code of rules preserbing the order of its proceedings, and the inconvenience and injustice resulting from such an attempt have been forcibly illustrated in the present instance. The Speaker has repeatedly during these extraordinary proceedings refused to entertain parliamentary motions that have been recognized as legitimate ever since the government was established, and when attempts have been made to appeal from his decisions he has refused to submit the question to the House. By his arbitrary rulings, sustained in some instances by less than a quorum, he has subverted nearly every principle of constitutional and parlimentary law heretofore recognized in the House. This personal and partisan domination of the House was submitted to, though not without repeated protest, until we became convinced that it was deliberate purpose of the Speaker and his supporters to proceed without rules to oust the Democratic members, whose seats are contested, and admit their Republican opponents whether elected or not. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, the committee on elections called up a contested election case and the Democratic members determined that in the absence of rules it should not be considered if they could prevent it by any proper parliamentary proceedings. Accordingly they raised the question of consideration demanded the yeas and nays, and on the call of the roll refrained from voting. The result was that less than a constitutional quorum voted, but the Speaker, in violation of the uniform practice of the House for more than a century, proceeded to count members who were present but not voting, and declared that the House had decided to take the case tip. From this decision an appeal was taken, and on a motion to lay this appeal on the table the yeas and nayswere taken, and less than a quorum voted, but the Speaker again counted members not voted, and decided that the motion was agreed to and nis ruling thereby sustained. The Constitution

of the United States provides that a major ity of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may be authorized to compel the attendance of members in such manner and under such penalties as each House may provide. Another clause of the Constitution requires the House to keep a journal of its proceedings, and provides that when one fifth of the members present desire'it the yeas and nays shall be taken. On any question and entered on the journal. Since the beginning of the government under the Constitution more than a hundred years ago, the House of Representative and the Senate have uniformly construed the first clause of the Constitution quoted above to mean that a majority of all the members elect must be present and actually participate in the transaction of business, and that whenever, upon a call of the yeas and nays, it appeared from the journal, which is the only official record, that less than the constitutional quorum has voted on any proposition, the vote was a nullity and no further business could be done until the requisite number appeared and voted. Every presiding officer in the Senate, and every Speaker of the House except the present one, has held that when less than a quorum voted on a call of the yeas and nays, no matter how many might be actually present, it was his duty to take notice of the fact and declare that the pendiLg bill or motion had not passed. When the vote is not taken by yeas and nays; it is not entered upon any journal, but if any member makes the point that no quorum has voted, the proceeding is a nullity, and the vote must be taken over. The presumption of the law is that when nothing appears to the contrary the proceedings of a legislative body are regular and valid, and, therefore, when the official record does not show that less than a quorum voted, or attention is not called to the fact in sueb. a way as to furnish legal evidence of it, the question cannot be made afterwards. Many bills have been passed when there was no quorum voting, and it is equally true that many have passed when there was no quorum actually present, but this does not prove that the proceeding would have been valid in either case if the official record had shown the fact. In order to secure certainity and stability in the administration of the law it is a rule in our jurisprudence that when a particular construction of a constitution,

or a statute, has, for a long time, been acquiesced in, not only by those whose duty it is to execute it, but also by those whose personal and property rights are affected by it, the courts will recognize it as the true construction and enforce it accordingly, Even if this were an original question it would not be difficult to show that the practical construction of the Constitution whioh has prevailed i iu the House and Senate for over one bun-. dred vears is the correct one. Speaker Reed himself, when in the minority on the floor Of the House, stated the true meaning and the true philosophy of the Consti-1 tution when he said: “The constitutional idea of a quorum is not the presence of a majority of the member? present and par ticipaling in the business of the House. It is not the visible presence, but ment and votes which the Constitution calls for." General Garfield, Mr. Blaine, Mr. Conger, Mr. Rohesou and other eminent Republicans have taken the same position, and their arguments have never been answered. If any legal or political niTTVrmm—«n» mimlM ntV

I question can be settled in this country by i the long acquiescence of jnr.sts and state* men of all parties, ceitaialy this question has passed beyond the domaiu of discus ! “ on -. When, therefore, tbß present Speaker repudiated this settled construction of the Constitution, and decided that when the offical record, which the Constitution requires the House to keep shows on a call of the yeas aud nays tliau a quo rum has not voted, he can c mu t mo nbe s present and not voting, and taut, oy hit own act, outside of the recorded vote, determine that a measure has p.nsed,we considered it o.ur duty, as a part of the representatives of the people, to onter our protests in every form available to us under the circumstances. We are not contending rfor the fight of the minority to govern, as the supporters of the Speaker nave endeavored to make the country be“®ve; On the contrary, we are denying the right of a minority to elect members from their seats or to pass laws for the government of the people. Under the Constitution a majority of the members of the House constitute a .quorum to do business, and we

are simply insisting that less than a majority shall not do business. We are contending that the majority shall take . the responsibility which properly belongs Jto them, and shall come in the House of i Representatives and vote if they desire to control its proceedings; and we are pro- . testing against their right to carry their measures by counting us when we do not vote. The claim of the majority that they have a right to govern the House without attending its sessions and taking part in the conduct of its business is too preposterous torequire refutation. It must be evident to any one who understands the position taken by the Democratic minority in the House that it cannot possibly resul t in any injury to the country, or any injustice to the majority. Its only effect will be to compel the Republican majority, elected Dy the people, to assume the responsibility imposed upon them. On the other hand, no one can foresee the evu» that may result from the inauguration of

the practice of counting votes rnr, trin Order to make a quorum. Under it a minority of the members elect to the House and Senate may pass the most tyrrannical laws for the oppression of the people, the most corrupt laws lor the spoliation of the public treasury. If intended or not, its direct ten eney is to break down the barriers heretofore existing for the protection of the citizeu against the encroachments of . power and the spoliation of the treasury by despoilingthe limitations which the Constitution has wisely imposed upon the legislative department. Constitutions are made to restrain majorities and protect minorities. A majority ruling without limitations or restraints upon its power is a pure despotism, and is inconsistent with our system of government.

CHARLES DICKENS’ ANNIVERSARY.

Seventy-eight years ago Friday, C harles Dickens, the great novelist of the common people, first saw the light at Portsmouth, England. The anniversary has been appropriately observed by the Christoinathian Literary Society, of the Central Christian church. Charles Crosley read a well considered paper on the life of the storj teller whose works have exercised so great a humanizing influence in the world. He spoke of him in his early work as areportor when he wrote in one hour a column Parlimentary report equal to two columns of one o's the journals of to-day, and was equaled by none in rapidity and accuracy, and of the time When he sprang suddenly into the fullness of fame as a novelist Reviewing Dickens’ works, Mr. Crosley said: “In the whole range, vast as it is, which constitutes the common literature of America and England, there are no purer tfooks than those written by Dickens. There is no line in them which the most fastidious or the most tender hearted husband or father could wish to keep back from a ctiild. They may be taken up at any time or any place, and the reader will be gratifk d at the entertainment they sup ply and the moral lesson they teach. Dickens’ life as an author was traced till the time of his death at Gad’s Hill, June 9, 1870.” No death since that of Abraham Lincoln, the essayist thought, had cast such universal gloom over the world. According to the great author’s wishes, the funeral was strictly private, and his burial in Westminister Abbey was witnessed by fourteen mourners and about as many more attracted by curiosity.

THE WESTERN FLOODS.

The extend of the damage by the late rains to the Oregon & California Railroad between Ashland, Ore., and Roseburg, 150 miles north of here, can not be estimated, ever approximately, but is very heavy. The railroad from Grant’s Pass to Roseburg is reported one continuation of slides. The streams all over Southern Oregan are reported as high as, if not higher than, in 1861. A report reached there Thursday night from Glendale of an immense slide on the railroad half a mile south of West Fork, in Cow Creek Canyon. The slide eame from a high mountain down to the bottom of the canyon, a distance of 800 or 1,000 feet, covering the track and filling the canyon. The report says trees are standing on the slide the same as they were then it „ started from the summit. The water backed up in the canyon for a distance of three miles and five hundred feet wide and from fifty to seventy-five feet deep. Tunnol No. 3 is completely buried in water. The creek is trying to cut through the side, but the earth is jammed so tight that so far it has not given away. Telegraph iine men built a raft, and will try to get a line across the lake that has been formed.

MONTANA STATE SENATORS ARRESTED.

At Helena, Thursday, when the Senate met and none but Republicans answered the roll call, a resolution prepared by the Lieutenant Governor was adopted, requirng all Senators to be present on February 8, at 10 h. m. Another resolution, also prepared by the Lieutenant Governor, provides that members absent without loave shall bo fined as follows: For first day’s absence, $51); second, $100; third, S3OO. fourth. $400; fifth, $800; sixth day, SI,OOO. Then another resolution was passed authorizing the President of the Senate to issue duplicate warrants for the arrest of absent members to sheriffs or other peace officers in the several counties iu Montana. • Following tbes&iinstructjions Lieutenant Governor Rickards sent telegrams to ail the sheriffs in the State with the result that Senator Beckler, of Dawson county, was arrested at Glendive Thursday afternoon. Ho wired 1 to Helena for a lawyer, and an attorney loft for that point Thursday night, iris understood that a writ of habeas corjras trill be applied for by Book lor, who is the only man arreeted so fag. ■OOfrJU -r-'-— 1-

AVALANCHES AND FLOODS.

The town of Burke, L T., in the Coeur D’Alene mining district, has been nearly destroyed by disastrous avalanches. Half of the business houses are in rains. Three men were killed, and the terror stricken inhabitants have fled to the towns of Gem and Wallace, fearing a repetition of the disaster. Particulars are meager, as the wires to all the points in the mines have gone down, leaving no means of communication. The first disaster occurred Wednesday afternoon, and, Thursday morning, with scarcely a moment’s warning, a tremendous mass of snow swept down upon the town from the west side of* the narrow gulch in which it is situated. Five men were buried beneath the snow. Two were rescued, but the others are dead, and their bodies have not been recovered. The ill fated town lies in a narrow gulch, through which Cayon creek pours its waters into the south fork of the Cceur D’Alene. It had about two hundred inhabitants, who have deserted their wrecked or menanced homes and places of business. The nearest town is Gem, also upon Cayon creek, and three miles down the stream. Wednesday another disastrous avalanche went down upou a boarding-house connected with the Custer mine, which is situated upon Nine-mile creek, about five miles from Burke. The boarding-house was full of miners. Some.-were killed, others had narrow escapes and a number were more or less injured.

The disasters are not a surprise to those familiar with the topography of that section. The townaare situated in very narrow gulches, on either side of which abrupt mountains arise. The snow-fall this winter has been unprecedented in thiscountry. Within the last few days it has been raining hard, which hai the effect of loosening the snow-banks, and precipi tating them upon the town and the houses below. The Coeur D’Alene mining district is one of the richest in the world, both for gold’ and silver. It includes the famous Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines, perhaps the greatest fissure vein in America. The principal town is Wallace. The other towns ar6 Wardner, Osborne, Burke and Gem.

TERRIBLE MINE DISASTER.

An explosion occurred, Thursday, in a colliery at Aberyschan.in Monmouthshire, England, ten miles northwest of Newport.! Three hundred miners were imprisoned, and for several hours no communication could be had with them. An opening was finally effected and nearly 150 of them were rescued. A number of those taken, out are severely injured. The owners of the colliery estimate that half of the miners in the pit lost their lives by the explosion. The cause of the explosion was the floods ing of pits adjacent to that in which the explosion occurred. By the flooding of these pits gas was dislodged and forced' into the pit where work was in progress,, and there it was ignited and exploded. There must have been a great quantity of' gas, as the explosion had tremendous force., It was heard at a distance of a mile. All 1 the gearing in the shaft was thrown into, the air as if from the mouth of a volcano,, and simultaneously a vast, bright volume of flame snot forward, followed by a dense, heavy column of smoke. The work of removing the bodies of the miners is being carried on as rapidly aspossible. Already one hundred and fifty bodies have boon taken from the pit and i is believed that thirty more remain there, The ventilation of the pit has been restored! and this greatly faciliatos the.efforts ofi the workers. A very pathetic incident in the work of rescue was the finding of the bodies of a, father and his five sons in a group. They had not been burned at all and they appeared to be calmly sleeping. All of them; died from suffocation. Several of tho men who had volunteered far the work es" rescue were made aick by handling the burned bodies and were obliged to come to the surface. The list of those who lost their lives by, the explosion in the colliery, at Abersychnn, is constantly increasing. One hundred bodies have thus far been taken from the pit, and it is believed that the total number of persons killed will reach 190.

FARMERS IN CONVENTION.

No Substitutes Wanted for Government Bonds. At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Kansas Farmers’ Alliance and State Grange, held a for the purpose of ! founding a basis of union for the two or ganizations, a platform was adopted, whioh says: “We demand that no class of securities shall be substituted for Government bonds as a basis of security for national bank notes for the purpose of perpetuating the national bank system in that no more national banks shall be chartered, and no charters now in existence shall be renewed; that legal-tender treasury notes be issued by the Government in lieu of national bank notes when such national bank notes shall be retired; that the volucne shall be increased sufficiently to meet the demand of the business Interests of the country, and that they be made a full legal-tender for all debts, both public and private. i We demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver, or the issue of silver certificates against the unlimited deposit of bullion, which certificates shall be a legal tender for all debts, both public and private ; we demand that congress shall pass such laws as shal. effectually prevent the dealings in futures in agricultural and mechanical productions; wejdemand the passage of laws prohibiting alien ownership of land, and that congress take early action to devise soihe plan to obtain all lands now owned by alien and foreign syndicates, and that all lands now held hy railroads and other corporations in excess of such as are actually used oand needed by them be reclaimed by the Government ana held fdr actual settlers* The liquor war in Banger is assuming a lively pbase. It is a kind of Bangorilla warfare, so to speak.