Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1895 — CANTON’S EXECUTION GROUND. [ARTICLE]

CANTON’S EXECUTION GROUND.

Those jolly old settlers aged eighty-three, or thereabouts, who never rode on a railroad train, are dying off at an alarming rate this winter. There certainly cannot be many of them left. A new Cabinet officer is talked of and Hon. Nathan Frank, of St. Louis, formerly a member of Congress from that city, claims the honor of having invented the proposition. The new official, if the measure materializes, will be known as the Secretary of Commerce. Mr. McEtrick, of Massachusetts, has charge of the bill in the House, and is said to be hopeful of its final age“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide; and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold the camels were coming.” This scriptural text might possibly have been the foundation for the Scotch tnelody, “The Campbells Are Coming, oh ho! oh ho!” but the probability is that it was not. We mention it in this connection merely as a passing thought. Charles IL, of England,following the downfall of the house of Stuart In the time of Cromwell, fled to the roval palace of Woodstock and was in hiding in that vast building for a considerable time as an outlawed personage, finally escaping to the continent, After the death of Cromwell, in the course of events Charles was restored to the throne. Eugene Debs has just retired to Woodstock jail, a temporary exile, by order of Judge Woods. There be those who will find in this coincidence a happy omen for the noted labor leader. Chicago’s famous merchants, Seigel, Copper & Co., who operate the great department store <?n State street, have secured leases on Sixth avenve, New York, and will at once erect an eight-story block, 200 x 500 feet, at a cost of $1,250,000, for a similar establishment in the great metropolis. They will purchase the land on which the building will stand, as soon as the' negotiations can be completed, at a cost of $2,750,000, making the total investment in the enterprise, $4,000,000. When completed Seigel, Cooper & Co. will rent the building, by departments, and they propose to make the establishment the most complete in the world. A decision from the Indiana Supreme Court, in the case of Joseph Sliney vs. Louis Gauss, a saloonkeeper, from Huntington county, is of general interest, and establishes a precedent that is likely to prove a valuable check upon the liquor traffic in the [ future. A minor son of Sliney obtained liquor from Gauss, became intoxicated and was drowned while in that condition. Judgment against Gauss was given for $670, and the Court declares that the “wrong charged against Gauss is not mere negligence or non-feasance in failing to discharge a duty imposed on him by law, but it consists jf an active, aggressive wrong, a violation of the criminal law. He made the deceased intoxicated. He set in motion a dangerous force and $ gust answer for the immediate reflowing therefrom.”

Tn® ablest lawyer, the most consisteut Christian, the best citizen, perfect man, the possessor H- ts iavery attribute that goes to make r ' ll< ttf6' I Pdblest work of God, an honest nan,”djd live in Georgia, but died thirty-eight, and was Athens, Jan. 6. He was t tbs Hon. Geo. D. Thomas, and the : 'A&c‘^'e ! 'extravagant estimate was upon his character some years igo by the late Henry Grady.himtelf almost able and eloquent man. { * grange to say, the people of Georuniversally held the same <j concerning Mr. Thomas, years, previous to the ill—which ended his life, Mr. uiitnas was Professor of the Law J ,. ) b ! eparVheßt of the State University. .iHe fl evertook part in politics. It bn Ik pleasant to note amid the rush"’hjgfidp'offlnodern life, that the race once in awhile,' of a character, a man Io perfect that all agree upon his rooWWTf'myrits, whose benignant u MpMiAvaateflucha glamour about 1 fid dBUf lilb'that art! are led to exI be - an lit* tbfttAcadppy If MusU’ftoiraXQ^.site.iA* 1 -, 6 > at Ip. m. The newspapers of Gotham lave the great divine a cordial send-

off and have dubbed the congregation “The Free Lance Church.” Dr. Talmage himself refused to sav anything about the venture further than that he would preach at he ame place every Sunday afternuvu a*i 4 o’clock. A scqpe not down on the programme occurred that some what marred the solemnity of the opening service. A handsome young man under the “inflooence” went out “to see a man,” evidently believing that he was at a theatrical performance. On his return he staggered up the aisle, only to find his seat occupied. He became angry and remarked in a maudlin manner, “I protest.” A disagreeable interruption seemed imminent and Dr. Talmage requested the ushers to “remove the poor benighted soul,"which was done, the p. b. s. continuing to “protest.” That -distinguished English visitor to the United States. John Burns, M. P., got a dose of American bluntness at Pittsburg, Dec, 28, that must have given him a pain. One Col. Rend, a delegate to the convention of miners and operators, in session, at which a resolution had been offered extending the honor of a seat to Mr. Burns, arose in his place and proceeded to “rend” the “blarsted Britisher” in great style, accusing him of the most offensive conduct toward Americans and American institutions. Mr. Rend cntered:an emphatic protest against receiving foreign visitors with honor who were in the habit of traducing American ways in any form in public, which he vehemently charged that both Mr. Burns and Mr. Stead had done. Mr. Rend said that the only object of these English reformers in visiting our country was to obtain material for the preparation of slanderous books which they would publish on. their return home, and insisted that it was time to stop lionizing such characters. Strange as it may appear, Mr. Burnd was seated at once, only one vote being recorded in opposition to the resolution to that effect —that, presumably, being cast by Col. Rend himself. Various first-class cities are already “laying the pipes” to secure the Presidential conventions of the two great parties next year. St. Louis wants the Republican convention, ana wants it bad. If the managers who control this matter for both the Democratic and Republican parties are able to properly size up the situation, they will hold their nominating conventions at Indianapolis. The reasons making this a desirable move on the part of both parties are many and obvious. The capital of Indiana is practically the center of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Its railroad facilities are unexcelled. Its hotel accommodations can be made ample And paramount, and above all other reasons, Indiana will be considered debatable ground by all conservative politicians, and the influence of a great national convention will be considered of great value in the way of creating prestige. If Tndianoplis has not public spirit enough to secure the next conventions, it is because her citizens have had their confidence shaken by the conduct of similar enterprises heretofore, and will not, perhaps, feel like raising a fund sufficiently ample only to see a huge slice of it gobbled up b» alleged managers.

Heads of Criminals Kept in Pickle in Earthen Jars. “Scenes in Canton.” bv Florence O’Drlsooll, M. P., in the January C :ntusy. We arrived at a place where a lot of rough, unbaked pipkins covered the ground. It was a narrow strip of land twenty or twenty-five feet wide and seventy or eight}’ long, the only patch of ground not built upon in the neighborhood. "This is the place,” said the guide; “itisoneof thesights.” It was not much of a sight. I thought, after a hurried glance, and I did not feel inclined for deeper investigation. Hitherto it had seemed as if nothing could upset me, but that afternoon I was doubtful. Near the middle where the pipkins were not so close together, the ground was discolored. “What is that?” said 1. “Some men were beheaded ther • ■ day or two ago.” he answe <?. “Would you like to see their heaThey are in those large jars standing near the wall.” But I declined. Some half-dozen T-shaped crosses were stacked against the wall. I inquired of these harmlesslooking instruments. “They are for tying people to, to keep them in position for the lipg-chee, was the reply. I had heard this word before So I asked about it. “Oh,” said the guide, as if imparting the most ordinary information", “the ling.chee is cutting into pieces# while alive.” “Is this form of execution often carried out?” I asked. “Yes,” be turned .toffee, The guidfl.PßlJl dwdt wishamtMta* WiM* mMfa jword;but T escapedgflmidtaft lowed evidently with great contempt for my capacity as a sight-seer.