Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1873 — General News summary. [ARTICLE]

General News summary.

CONGRESSIONAL. In the Senate, on the 16th, bills were pawed—fixing the compensation and length of sessions of Territorial Legislatures and committing the care of Penitentiaries to the Territorial authorities; House 1)111 to incorporate the Loomis Aerial Te)egraph_ Company; fixing the second Monday of October for the opening of the annual session of the United States Supreme Court.... Mr. Buckingham’s hill providing for a return to specie payments was called np, and Mr. Sherman made a lengthy speech and then reported from thp Finance Committee a substitute for the hi 11... A resolution was adopted instructing the Committee on Privileges'and Elections to inquire whether there is a legal State Government in Louisiana, and, if so, by whom constituted.... Adjourned. In the House, on the 16th, the bill for the admission of Colorado as a State was debated. ... .The Oklotioma Indian To-rtitory bill was, after discussion, laid on the table—(l3 to 45... .The Senate bill, amending the Agricultural College act by extending the time for granting the lands, was passed... .Adjourned. In the Senate, on the 17th, bills were passed—appropriating $300,000 to defray the expenses incident to a representation of the United States in the Vienna Exposition; repealing the act for the relief of certain Indians in the Sioux Supcrintendcncy The resolution instructing the Committee on Elections to inquire into the defects of the present Electoral system, aud the best means for remedying them, was taken up, and Mr. Morton spoke at length in behalf of the resolution, giving his views of the dangers attending the Electoral plan now followed in the election of President and VicePresident. He was followed by Mr. Trumbull, who agreed with Mr. Morton as to some of the.def eets and dangers of the existing Electoral system, hnt dissented from some of His views ns to the proper remedy.... Adjourned to the 20th. In the House, on the 17th, a large number of hills of a private character were reportcd from the Committee on Claims, and disposed 0f... .The Senate bill confirming: certain railroad lands in lowa to the Mississippi & Missouri and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Companies, was taken np and debated, and the main question was ordered—Bß to 73... .Adjourned. In the House, on the 18th, bills were passed—to revise the Pension laws; to quiet land titles in lowa, providing that the title to lands in lowa heretofore approved and trstrfleti hy the Department of the Interior for railroad purposes to aid in the construction of a railroad from Daven port via lowa City to Council Bluffs, under grant# made by Congress, according to the adjustment t hereof miide at the General Land Office, shall be confirmed to the Mississippi Missouri Railroad Company aud the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company, and their assigns, the corporations to whom lands were certified—this act to be construed as conveying only any reversionary or other interest which the United 8 titles may have in the lands, and all lands settled upon in good faith and now occupied by homesteads or preemption settlers are to be excluded from its operations ... A large number of hills of a .private character were' disposed of...,Adionmed. In the Senate, on the 20th, a petition was presented for a prohibitory liquor 1aw.... Several bills to amend the Bankrupt law were reported adversely from the Judiciary Committee, and a majority of the committee reported a new bill repealing’ the Bankruptcy act of March 2,1867. and all supplementary and amendatory acts,»said repeal to take effect on the Ist day of next July, provided that the repeal shall not in any way affect any proceedings in bankruptcy commenced before the Ist day of next. Ju1y..... A hill was introduced fixing-$2.50 as the minimum price at which the Government shall sell all the lands remaining to the United States, within the limits of grants for rail or wagon roads, excepting lands within the indemnity limits, and the claims of preemption settlers, mid" the privileges accorded by the existing homestead laws to soldiers and ■Bailors. —~ :: ; 7:'- ——- ; In the House, on the 20th* bills were introduced—providing for bringing suits for claims against the United States in the United States Circuit Courts for the distribution of the Goneva award; organizing the Indian Territory of Oklolmina; to repeal the law taxing deposits in savings hanks; to punish pretended counterfeiters of United StnteH currency and coin... .A hill was passed repealing the Bankrupt law. In the Senate, on the 21st, bills were passed—for the protection of owners of saw-mills on the Mississippi River; for the erection of public buildings at Nashville, Tenn.; for the sale of a. portion of the lighthouse reservation at Fort Gratiot, Michigan; to enable the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to purchase certain improvements within the Nez Perees reservation in Idaho . Bills were introduced-legalizing the titles of seven years 1 settlers on lands to which Indian titles had been extinguished; authorizing the Texas Pacific Railroad Company to make payable in lawful money the bonds which it has hitherto been authorized to issue... .The credentials of P. B. 8. Pinchbaek as Senator-elect from Louisiana were presorted.,. .The hill to authorize the Construction of six new sloops of war was taken up, and an amendment was agreed to limiting the aggregate tonnage of tho vessels to 10,000 tons and the aggregate cost to $4,000,000. In the House, on the 21st, the Committee on Appropriations were instructed to inquire into the present value of existing telegraph the cost of constructing the same, and the probable cost of new lints.... A was passed, authorizing settlers on untimbered land to enter forty acres of timbered land for every hundred and sixty acres of nntimhered land, at $1.25 per acre,.-. .A rcport wafl nnule frnm thc Committe<> on Flections. that Mr. Niblack, a contestant, was entitled to the seat from Florida, as against Walls... .The bill for the admission of Colorado was taken np and debated ... .The hill reported from the Committee on Commerce, for the encouragement of the foreign commerce of the United States, was considered. In the House, on the 22(1, bills were passed-to amend tho act granting the right of way to the- WaUa Walla & Columbia River Railroad Company; appropriating $113,500 to supply the deficiency for the expenses of the United States Mixed Commission on American and British claims... .The hill fhr the admission of Colorado as a State was taken up and debated,.. A message was presented from the President, vetoing the act reducing from two years to six months the time in which new trials may be, on motion of the United States, granted in the Court of Claims. In the Senate, on the 22d, bills were passed—House hill abolishing the grades of Admiral and Rear-Admiral of the Navy; to authorize 4he Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with tho Creek Indians for a portion of the lands occnpled hy them ; supplemental to the act incorporating the Texas Pacific Railway Company; to provide for the construction of ten new sloops of war; to abolish the frauking privilege on the Ist of July HGKt —83 to 16,... A substitute for Mr. Morton’s bill to regulate the distribution of they Geneva award was reported from the Jndiciarjr Committee -The bill to allow women to vote and ho.itl the-Territories was Indefinitely postponed credentials of Mr. McMillan, elected hy the Warmoth Legislature to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Kellogg,as United Stages Senator from Louisiana and the credentials of Mr. Ray, elected referred Legislature, >voro presented and THE OLD WORLD. One of the persons who went from France to attend the funeral of Napoleon brought with him some soil dug from the garden of the Tuilerles, which he strewed over the coffin after it was deposited in the sacristy of tb*#hapel at Chiselhurst. Many French spies were present at Chiselhurst while the funeral services were taking place. News from Livingstone, dated November 80, state that the last train of supplies sent out had reached him, and that he had begun another march into the Interior of s Africa. Deeissey, French Minister of War, has written a letter to Marshal McMahon, prohibiting the circulation of Bonaparte add res set in the barracks of the French troops, and urging the severe punishment of persons found distributing such papers. ' "* The number of emigrants who left the port of Bremen for the United States, last year, was S0,00(£ Emigration from Hamburg, during the same time, 50,000. 1 : Agrami' receptiorrwas given on" the 16 th, at Chiselhurst, by, the Empress Eugenie and NaprUdon IV., to 1,000 soldiers, Statesmen tnd other distinguished Frenchmen. The Empress and her son passed thrbugh rooms 'flljed with people, all in the deepest mourn-

lng, and gave their hands to be kissed. It is said. the. Imneiiallats. expect a speedy'restoration of the Empire, with the Empress as Regent. The Right Hon. Edward Bulwer Lytton (Baron Lytton) the well-known English author,, died in London on the 18th, aged 67. The London Daily News Of the 20th says of the lease of Samana Bay to an American Company, that it is not likely to give rise to any diplomatic complication, but the wjiolesomeness of this tendency to acquire territory beyond continental limits is doubtful. The Turkish Government i has sued the London Timex for libel in publishing a communication, alleged to "have been signed by the Turkish Minister in London, containing untrue statements with reference to the finances of the GoverfiTrteHtof Turkey. Another of England’s distinguished public men is dead —the Right Honorable Stephen Lushington, the venerable statesman and jurist, aged 91 years. ~W The World’s Exhibition at Vienna will open in May; The American Commission is very active in securing space and providing accommodations for exhibitors from the •United Btates. It is reported that a conference has been held at Chiselhurst, at which it was decided that the Empress -Eugenie and Prince Napoleon should be the political guardians of the Prince Imperial, and therefore direct the movements of the party. It is said that no manifesto announcing the intentions of the Bonapartists will be issued. The Prince Imperial will not be called Napoleon IV., but be known as Count Pierrefouds. II« has adopted as his motto: “Strength, but not impatience.’’ Feroniily, Decamp and Beusf, condemned Communists, were shot on the 82d, on Satory Plain. Feroniily died without Uttering a word. Decamp’s last words were: "I die assassinated. Down with false witnesses, lawyers and Thiers!” Beust died cheering “the Republic, the Commune, and the army.” Only one volley was fired, as all died instantly. There were but few spectators on the ground, In t.he eases of ten other Communists, who were to have bees executed about the same time, the President has commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life. THE NEW WORLD. Gold closed in New York on the 22d at The recent terrific hurricane of snow, attended by intense cold weather, in the Northwest, was most calamitous in its effects throughout Minnesota. Scores es persons who were caught in the storm are frozen to death. All the railroads and the common roads in the State were blocked with huge snow-banks, rendering transportation impossible. The storm broke upon the State, from the northward, very suddenly, and continued to rage furiously for over two days, Sqmc idea of the extent of the storm and its fatal effects maybe formed from the. following particulars given in a St. Paul dispatch of the tilth: “The list of deaths by the late storm Is receiving hourly accessions. So far the greatest number of casualties are renoried from Brown County, in the vicinity of New Ulm, within a few miles of which eighteen persons are known to have perished. A gentleman from Redwood Falls savs that when he left there, thirty-seven deaths had been reported of persons frozen in ReaviHe. Chippewa, Yellow Medicine and Redwood Center. Among the fatnl cases mentioned in Sibley County nre P. B. Baker, A. K. Jenkins and P. Sanderberger. Those named from Brown County are Thomas O’Connel, with team: Mr. Tenny, a young man named Morehouse; L. M. Fox, wtfe, child, and nephew, of New Ulm, were »Viirtaken by the storm on thc Redwood road, between Madelia and Marshall. They protected themselves with the sleigh-box and sacks of flour until Wednesday morning, when the nephew and child died. The mother held the dead body of her child in her arms until Friday morning, when they were discovered and taken to Marshall Mr. Fox Is very bndlv frozen, and his wife Is insane. A dispatch from Fergus Falls says that the loss of life in that vicinity already reported is twenty, while the-loss of stork can he counted by hundreds. Houses have entirely disappeared beneath the huge snow-drifts, and travel is entirely blockaded and stopped. A Morris dispatch mentions the finding of the dead bodies of P. Fretland, a man named Oleson, and a Mr. Reakey. A son of Mr. Bcakey is missing, and has undoubtedly perished. Bans Oleson was found, after being ont forty-eight, hours, badly frozen, and will probably rile. Christian Heg was caught in the storm on Tuesday and hnried tn adrift, where he remained until Saturday afternoon, when he was found, badly frozen, hut may recover. Hon. H. R. Wells, of Preston, Fillmore County, reports the loss of a 'minister and family from Lime Springs. lowa, who were visiting in Fillmore County. The mtnisfer, with hi. wife am! two children, undertook to reach-home, and when near home the horses gave out, and he took one child and made his way to the house, hnt. In returning to the cutter, where he left his wife and remaining child, he was lost, and was found the next day frozen to death. His wife and child, left in tho cutter, were also fonnn dead, but the one taken to the honse was found alive.” In the Kellogg Legislature on the 15th, John Ray was unanimously elected United States Senator, to till the term made vacant by the resignation of Kellogg. The President Issued a proclamation on the 17th to the effect that “ from and after the fourth day of March, 1873, except as herein specified, persons holding any Federal civil office by appointment under the . Constitution and laws of the United States,will be expected, while holding such office, to hold no office under any State or Territorial gift, or under charter or ordinance of any municipal corporations, and, fhrthtfr, that the acceptance or continued holding of any such State, Territorial or Municipal office, whether elective, or by.appointment, hy any person holding civil office as afore-,i said under the Government of the United States, other than judicial officers tinder the Constitution of the United States, wilt tie deemed a vacation of the Federal office held by such person.” The exceptions made to this declaration are Justices of the Peace, -Notaries Public, and Commissioners to take acknowledgments of deeds, of bail, or administer oaths, and “the appointment of Deputy Marshal of the "United States may be conferred upon Sheriffs and Duputy Sheriffs, and Deputy Postmasters; the emolument of whose office doear not exceeds6Oo per annum, who are also excepted from the operation of this order, and may accept and hold appointments under State, Territorial, or Municipal authority; provided the same be found not to Interfere with the discharge of their duties as Postmaster.” The farmers of Illinois recently held a Btate Convention at Bloomington, which was largely attended. A State Association was organized for persistent and systematic work in the interest of the produce**, apd resolutions were adopted declaring that the railroads in the State of Illinois stand in open defiance of the I&WS, by charging rates greatlyln excess of what, the laws allow, and by unjust discriminations’' and extortions,” and insisting upon the enforcement of the State laws bearing upon this matter. *; : Perteet, the Chicago wlfe ipurderer, has had his second trial, on a clujh&e of venue, gt Joliet, and is again convicted of murder

in the first degree, with hanging as the penalty. —-7 The Woman’s ..Suffrage Convention, recently in, session in Washington, charged an admission fee on the night of the 18th, and the District authorities entered the room and caused the close of the meeting, on the ground that the parties had no license. A supplementary treaty has Been-entered into for the lease of Samana Bay to an American Company. It provides that the effective capital of the company must be SBOO,OOO in current money of the United States, divided into 8,000 shares of the value of SIOO each; but said capital and shares may be increased from time to time by a vote of not less than the two-thirds part of the capital existing at the time. A Washington dispatch of the New York Herald of the 18th states that Congressmen consider the Samana Bay scheme impracticable, and the Haytien Minister thinks the American purchasers will find that they have made a bad speculation | the bay being fit for nothing but a naval Station. The next Illinois State Fair will be held at Peoria, to last one week, beginning September 15. S; W. Dorsey, ‘Republican, has been elected United States Senator by the Arkansas Legislature, in place of Senator Rice, whose term will expire on the 4th of March. News on the 20th was to'the effect that the Captain-General of Cuba had been authorized to purchase a large quantity of -rifieain the-UnitedStates. The political aspects of the island were assuming a more threatening attitude. It was reported in Havana that a large expedition of the friends of the Cuban revolutionists, with arms and ammunition, had landed safely near Guantanamo. Recent information from San Domingo is to the effect that most of the valuable franchises of-tfie island have passed into The possession of the new American Company. Leading Cuban tories in New York, sympathizing with Spain, have forwarded to Madrid a protest against the intervention of Secretary Fish in regard to slavery in Cuba. A New York dispatch of the 20th says .three thousand cases of small pox were reported to exist in Boston, and the percentage of deaths was much larger than by all other caußes combined. Nearly all the burials were made in the night. The epidemic had a serious effect upon commercial interests 'generally. General Lee’s birthday was celebrated at Savannah, Ga., on the 20th, on which occasion the first parade of military since the war took place. General Wade Hampton delivered an address. The day was generally observed as a holiday, and resembled the Fourth of July before the war. In the Senate of the Kellogg Legislature, on the 20th, MeSsrs. Jenks, Swords and Worrell, who withdrew on the 10th, taking seats With the Fusionists, were expelled. All post-offices having a daily mail are hereafter to be supplied with weather reports issued- by the Signal Service Office. Frames are to be furnished, and Postmasters are Instructed to display the reports publicly in their offices, in order that all classes may have the benefit of the information. In the New York Senate, on the 21st, Roscoe Conkling received 20 votes for United States Senator; Charles G. Wheaton, 5; Henry R. Holden, 1; Wm. M. Evarts, 1. In the Assembly, Cohkling received 92 votes; Wheaton, 26. The election of Mr. Conkling was ratified in joint convention on the 22d. In the case of Foster, the New York carhook murderer, the Court of Appeals has afllrmed-the judgment of the Court below, and has ordered tho sentence of death to be carried out. The election of United States Senator took place in the Pennsylvania Legislature on the 21st. The vSte stood in the Senate: Cameron, 18; Wallace., 11; Wright, I; Marshall, 1. In the House: Cameron, 59; Wallace, 37. A New York dispatch of the 20th says "the full text of the Samana purchaso convention shows that the Company has obtained absolute sovereignty over the Peninsula, withjts ‘ inhabitants and private interests. The sovereignty conceded to the cam : pany is greater than that of the State of New York, or any other State ih the Union, for it includes the right to levy and collect customduties, and to do many other things wliiqh can onl vbe done by a sovereign nation. Baez not only sells them these extraordinary privileges, but he sells them the flag of the Republic of St. Domingo, to use as they may see proper.” .. It is reported that a few days ago Edward S. Stokes received in prison an envelope containing a card, on which was written: “ Edward S. Stokes, from a friend. If you want to commit suicide, suck the back of this card, which contains deadly poison.” Stokes handed the card to the Warden of the Tombs. In his. recent testimony in the trial of Tweed, Garvey swore that his bills for plastering the New York Custom House amounted to $395,000. He also stated that only 35 per Cent, of the amount was retained by him, the rest going to Tweed <fc Co. It having been charged that Mr. Bogy had sccdrcd his election to the United States Senate by the Missouri Legislature by bribery, an investigating committee was ordered by tbe.Legislaturc. ■ ■■■'■- ’' S The. war with the Modoc Indians, in Oregon, promises to be a serious affair. The first attack on their stronghold took place on,the 17th'. The Indians mustered two hundred warriors, and ,the whites, volunteers included, were four hundred in number. The skirmish lasted all day, and ended in the repulse of the troops, with a loss of fourteen killed and twenty-three wounded. now many Indians were killed is not stated, but the probabilities are that there were few, if any. They are all practiced sharp-shooters, and were so perfectly concealed in the cliffs and rdeks that scarcely any of them could be seen during the entire day. Nothing further would be attempted until re-enforcements arrived. The Wisconsin Legislature on the 21st reelected Hon. Timothy O. Howe.to the United States "Senate, the vote standing, in the Senate, 22-for iloweto Ofor 11. L. Palmer, of Milwaukee; in the Assembly, 01 for Howe to 35 for Palmer. The two branches of the Illinois Legislature voted-separately. for Units;<l_Sto teß Seoator on the 215t. 1 In the Senate the vote stood; Oglesby, 33; Trumbull,' 10; W. F. Coolbaugh-, 2. In the House the vote stood: Oglesby, K 2; Trumbull, 00;. absentees, 11, A protest was made -by the Democratic and Liberal members against Mr. Oglesby’s election a* being unconstitutional, because of his already holding a State office. The AfKtnis&s senate has memorialized Cbngress, asking the passage of a 'civil rights bill similar to that of Mr. .Sumner’-*,

The Honse bl)4 to abolish the franking privilege,' as amended and passed by the Senate, on the22d, Is as follows : Belt enacted, efe, That the franking privilege he. and the same hereby Is, abolished from and after the Ist day of July, 1873, and that henceforth all official correspondence, of whatever nature, and other mailable matter sent from or addressed to any officer of the Government, or to any person now authorized to, frank such matter, shall be chargeable with the same rates of postage as may be lawfully imposed upon like matter sent by or addressed lo other persons: that no compensation or allowance shall non® or hereafter, be made to Senators, members Mnd delegates of the House of Representatives on account of postage. In the case of Miss Susan B. Anthony, charged with illegally voting at the November election, the United States District Court of New York has denied the application for a writ of habeas corpus and the discharge of the lady from custody. The court declined to decide the question of the right of a woman to vote, and gave Miss* Anthony .the opportunity which she desired of appealing the case to the Supreme Court of the United States for final decision. The Samana Bay Company held their meeting in New York on the 22d, and adopted the Commissioners’ report, and ratified the contract made with the San Domingo Government. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: A. B. Stockwell, President; Paul N. Spofford, VicePresident; Henry Clews, Treasurer; R. R. Hazard, Secretary. The announcement that Foster will be hanged had. a very depressing effect upon -Stokes and other murderers in the New York Tombs. When Foster received the news he secluded himself in his cell, refusing to see any one. The Nevada Legislature has elected John P. Jones, Republican, to succeed James W. Nye in the United Btates Senate. The vote stood: Jones, 53; McCoy, 47; DeLong, T; Mcßetb, 1. A St. Paul (Minn.} telegram of the 21st says the reported^loss of life by the great storm proves to have been greatly exaggerated. A good many lives had been lost, and a number of persons had been more or less crippled, but nothing like the terrible disaster first reported. The Susquehanna River was rising at Port Deposit, Md., on the 21st, arid there was over six feet of water in the streets. All the houses on the river side had been deserted. Rain had been falling all day. Women and children have taken refuge on the heights, where they built fires to keep from freezing. Ice was gorged opposite the town, and piled up twenty-five feet high. The Georgia Legislature, on the 22d, elected General Gordon United States Senator. Gordon received 112 votes, Stephens 86, Ackerman 14.