Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1873 — General News Summary. [ARTICLE]

General News Summary.

THE OLD WORLD. -Twenty thousand coal miners in Leicestershire, England, are on a strike. By an explosion of fire damp in a coal mine in the Parish of Rhiwabon, North Wales, recently, several miners were killed and wounded. In a recent speech in the Prussian Diet on the bill to regulate the training and appointment of the clergy, Bismarck defended the attitude of the Government, and took occasion to deny the oft-repeated report that he instigated the occupation of Rome by the Italian Government. Information has been received of a revolt at Madrid of eleven battalions of volunteers, who fired on General Contreras, who escaped, but four others were killed and several were wounded. Shots were fired during the night in various quarters of the city, and the volunteers broke into the Hall of Congress, where the Permanent Committee was in session; but they sought safety in flight. Marshal Serrano and a number of political friends concealed themselves. On the following day the Government dissolved the Permanent Committee, and the city became more tranquil. Lieutenant-General Socias has been appointed Captain-General of Madrid, in place of General Pavia, Who lias resigned. A special from Vienna to the New York Herald , on the 25tli, says; “Twenty-five cases of sporadic cholera were brought to the hospital, yesterday, five of which proved fatal. An effort is being made to conceal the fact of the appearance of the disease in the city. .'On the 31st of March the manufacturingcity of Joackenisthal, m the mountains of Bohemia, was destroyed by fire. Out of 586 houses in the city, 450 were completely burned, and 500 perons were made houseless. The German Emperor arrived in St. Petersburg on the 27th, and was received with extraordinary honors. He was met at Gatsckina, thirty miles from the capital, by the Czar and Grand Dukes who accompanied him to the city. The two Emperors made their

entrance in the presence of immense crowds of people who manifested great enthusiasm. Emperor William first reviewed the regiments of which he is honorary Colonel, and was then conducted to the winter palace where lie was formally received by the Court with most imposing ceremonies. The Czar presented to him his portrait, a sword of honor, the cross of St. George, the iron cross for merit, with the additional inscription, “for valor,” and an inkstand and vases in lapis lazuli. A London dispateh to the New York World says: “The gravest apprehensions are felt in the highest circles in Paris of an immediate civil war. The monarchists are determined to oust President Thiers at any cost.” The Empress of Russia, attended by numerous relatives, inis arrived in Rome, Italy. Tlie result of the French elections to fill vacancies in the Assembly was, three Radicals, four Republicans, and one Legitimist. In Paris Barodet defeated the Count do Remusat by some 45,000 majority. It is said that President Thiers was greatly discountenanced by tlie result, and that a change in the ministry is probable. ■■'*. At a fire in Liverpool, Eng., recently, one man was burned to death and an entire family of six persons suffocated. Tlie Lancashire Railway Company’s carriage works, in Manchester, Eng., together with 50 locomotives and 150 coaches were burned on the 27th. The loss is $1,000,000. - The King and Queen of Benmark are to visit London in May. News from Carlist sources Tcport a Carlist victory at Vera, where 1,400 Republicans were defeated by 700 Carlists. Although the battle lasted all day, and ended in a complete rout, tlie loss of the defcated was only 80 killed and wounded. William Charles Macrcady, the well-known English actor, is dead. He was "eighty vears of age. - The race for the two thousand guinea stakes at Newmarket, Eng., was won by Gang Forward, Kaiser second, and Sullivan third. Ten horses ran. a Thu Provincial Conrsjxmdenz says the visit of the German Emperor to St. Petersburg confirms the pacific policy agreed to by tlie Emperors of Germany, Russia, and Austria, last September. It is especially significant at this time, because the prospects of quiet in western Europe were growing gloomier. Two cases of cholera were reported.in Madgeburg, Germany. The bill to remove the political disabilities of females has recently been the subject of a long debate in the British House of Commons, in which the cause jof the sex was led by Mr. Jacob Bright, The bill was finally defeated by a vote of 222 to 155, ~

THE NEW WORLD. Gold closed in New York oh* the SOtli at 117@117*. Doc Colburn, messenger for Captain Darling, arrived in Kausns City on the 23d; and reported the finding of thirteen dead bodjes of whiti men, all in one place. The bodies were found on Medicine Lodge Creek. The Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington lias recently issued regulations under the act providing for the sale, of United States lands containing coal, approved March 3 last, as follows: Ally Individual of 21 yearn of age and a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become such, hiay enter hy legal subdivisions any area not exceeding 160 acres. Any association may enter not to exceed acres. Any association, if not less than- four, persons, who shall have expended not less than $5,000 id" working and improving any coal mine or mines, may enter not exceeding 610 acres. The price per acre is $lO where the land is situated more than fifteen miles from any completed railroad, and S2O per acre where the land is within fifteen miles of such road. In conflicts, when improvements, etc., have been commenced subsequent to March 3d last, or shall be hereafter commenced, priority of possession and improvement shall govern the award, when the law has been fully complied with by tiach party. A mere possession, however, without satisfactory Improvements. will not seenre the contract to the first occupant, when the subsequent claimant shows his full compliance with the law. A boy named Wilfred Fitts is In jail at Exeter, N. H., charged with the killing of another tK>y, named Emerson, while he, the murderer, was in a somnambulistic state. Recently, while in a similar condition, Fitts got hold of a razor belonging to one of three prisoners in the jail, and attempted to cut their throats. .> Henry Fralich was hanged in Syracuse,. N. V., a few days ago, for the killing, In August last, of Peter Schaaffer.

A singular affair has occurred in Madison Wis. Several months ago one Jacob Smitz mysteriously disappeared, and his wife made contradictory statements as to His whereabouts, and a belief was entertained that she had made away with him. A few days ago she locked up and left the house. Believing she intended flight, she was arrested, and the house was entered by officers, who were assailed by the missing man, who proved to be a raving ma-

niac, and who had been for a long time con cealed and cared for by his wife. A New York special says that it is now asserted in Wall street that the recent tightness in money was, in a great part, the result of the operations of two railroad Presidents, in connection with tlie deposed President of another road; Tom Scott was one of this triumvirate, J. F. Tracy, President of the Northwestern and Rock Island Roads, was another, and Jay Gould, ex-President of the Erie, was the third. A special from New Orleans, 251 h, says “Governor Kellogg has sent State militia into Tangiaholioa parish, installed the officers, scattered a mob who had collected, and restored order. He has secured a steamboat, on which is mSimted a 12-pound howitzer, for service in the rivers and bayous, and has organized a battalion of cavalry. He has also directed the Attorney-General to prosecute .Governor McEnery under tlie Usurpation act, and also for treason, and has offered a large reward for evidence which will lead to the conviction of those who: were engaged in the recent massacre in Grant Parish.”

The epizootic lias at last reached the Pacific coast, and at San Francisco business was greatly impeded for want of .horses. Chinamen were employed to carry and haul burdens. It is stated in a Washington dispatch of the 25th that the Commissioners to the Vienna Exposition have been suspended, and Legrand B. Cannon, Theodore Roosevelt and Charles F. Spang, now in Vienna, and Jackson S. Schultz, Wm. H. Aspinwall, Samuel G. Ward, William T. Blodgett and James Renwick will act until tlie suspensions are removed or permanent _Commissioners are appointed. Tlie scientific and honorary Commissioners do not come under the operation of the suspension order. The suspension of the Commissioners to the Vienna Exposition, it is stated, was due to alleged irregularities and exactions on the part of some of them in the disposal of privileges, etc. A Vienna journal intimates that large sums were paid to the suspended Commission' ers before leaving America by a number of large firms forvarious concessions. Tlie money was accepted on pretext of a subscription for the erection of a model school-house, and the journal ironically remarks that they thus exhibit the fruits of that institution. It mentions that two restaurant-keepers, Germans, paid each SI,OOO for the school-house. Gen. Van Buren had addressed to President Grant a strong remonstrance against his suspension. On the night of the 26tli, the residence of Mr. Klees, about two miles from Otis, Ind., a small station at the crossing of the Lake Shore and L. N. A. & C. railroads, caught fire and burned so rapidly that an old gentleman by the name of Kreist, with his daughter Mrs. Klees, and five children were.burned to death. Mrs. Klees could have escaped alone, but went into another room endeavoring to save her children and was lost. Mr. Kreist was lying with a broken leg perfectly helpless, and could do nothing but await his fate. Mr. Klees and his brother-in-law, Mr. Kreist, escaped but were severely burned. So great was the heat of the lire that the bodies were burned to ashes. / 1 President Grant and party were at Denver on the 26th

A Washington dispatch to the Associated Press, 26th, says: It is understood that further action on the part Of the Government concerning tlie Louisiana difficulty will await tlie arrival at New Orleans of Secretary Belknap, who has been instructed to make a quiet but thorough investigation into Louisiana affairs, consulting witfiTGeneral Emory, Governor Kellogg, the;mcmbcrs of the CusteHHHtrastsqr.il tv, and the Republicans of the opposition government who may be willing to give their views. It will be tbe wish of the executive officials of the Government that action in Louisiana matters be delayed until Belknap’s return. Then, with the judgment of Belknap to guide them, future disturbance or revolt may be met with prompt and decided action, from which no appeal will be considered. A Baton Rouge (ha.) dispatch of tlie 27th says: “A detachment of 125 of the Metropoll tan .police, with Winchester rifles and one piece of artillery, arrived here last evening from New Orleans and left tills morning for Port Vincent, Livingstone parish, for the purpose of installing the appointees of Kellogg. They were met at Harrold’s ferry at noon to-day by a committee of three persons representing the Port Vincent party, and it is presumed that matters will be adjusted without bloodshed. A Washington dispateh of tlie 26tli says that up to that date about twenty Members'and three Senators, out of 327 Senators, Members, and Delegates, have turned into the treasury’ or donated In various ways tlieir extra salary. Representatives Peters, of Maine, and S. S. Cox, of New York, are the latest ones who have refused the amount, accompanied by a request that no public mention should be made of it. F. L. Taintor, cashier of the Atlantic National Bank, of New York City, is a defaulter to tlie amount of some $400,000, which he confesses to having lost in Wall street in stock .speculations. Taintor made no attempts to escape, but was arrested and lodged in Ludlow Street jail.

John J. Murphy was liangvd at Stockton, Cal., on the 25tli, for the murder of Patrick Murray five years ago. Twenty-seven delegates from the various trades’ unions in the United States met in secret session in New York City on the 25th, and, after discussion, resolved to postpone any attempt to enforce the eight-hour rule till 1874. The Memphis life and General Insurance Bank, D. B. Mallory, President, has suspended, with liabilities of $25,000, which, it is said, are fully secured by the assets. The town of Mariana, Ark., was recently nearly destroyed by fire. A Washington dispatch of the 28th says that the Commissioners of Internal Revenue will soon issue a circular requiring Collectors of Internal Revenue to make two returns during the month of May, from the Ist to the 19th and from the 19th to the 31st, in order that the liabilities for the new bonds may be determined. . A Charleston dispatch says that advices from neighboring coast sections report disastrous results to crops from the killing frost of the 26th. Much of the cotton w ill have to be replanted, and the injury to early vegetables is irreparable. Frost so late in the season had not occurred In that section for fifty years. _jlftenerul Gillem has forwarded to General 1 Sherman a full official report of the circumstances attending the murder of General Canby. lie says that the night before the conference the interpreter cam e to Glllem’s sick-bed and called him to witness, in the presence of several others, that he had warned them all of the danger of holding another parley with Captain Jack . away from protection of troops. sGillem became satisfied from indications coming uuder his observation that reaction was intended, and he determined

next day to send a courier to General Canby, with a message instructing him to be on his guard. Just as he was about to write he heard ‘firing, and a moment afterward he saw the assault and murder of Canby and Thomas that had been coihmittcd, and that it was then too late to save them. An examination into the affairs of the Atlantic National Bank showed that the actual deficit, independent of the capital and surplus, amounted to $604,000. About SIBO,OOO of this amount could be traced to bad debts, for which the cashier (Taintor) was not responsible. About $420,000 of losses were made by him in liis stock speculations. It was found that, besides using the funds of the Bank for the purposes of speculation, he had also “spouted” $162,000 of private securities left for safe keeping in the Bank. Two tickets were also found representing $75,000 of gold as assets. The Bank is hopelessly bankrupt. The stockholders lose all their investment and surplus. The depositors may receive 50 per cent., while those who placed their securities in bank for safe keeping have no redress, Taintor says that the speculations entered into by him were all on behalf of the Bank, and had they proved successful the Bank would have had the entire benefit. The Secretary of the Treasury has directed the Assistant Treasurer at New York to sell $1,000,000 in gold on the. first, third, and fifth Thursdays, and $1,000,000 on the second and fourth Thursdays, in all $6,000,000, and to buy $500,000 on the first and $500,000 on the third Wednesday of May, in all $1,000,000. The Secretary has also directed the payment without rebate on and after April 28, of interest due on bonds May 1. At lowa City on the 28th, the building known as Market Hall caught fire and was burned, the falling wall burying five persons in the ruins, two of whom, Robert Love and George Andrews (colored), died soon after being taken out. Mrs Hart, a University lawstudent from Comanche, lowa, it w%s thought would not survive. The others had their limbs broken, but were not otherwise seriously injured.

Advices from the. Modoc seat of war, via San Francisco, 29th, bring intelligence of. a fearful slaughter of U. S. troops by Capt. Jack’s baiid of Modocs. On the 26th ult., a force of sixty-nine men, composed of batteries K and Aof the F#urth Artillery,and company E of the Twelfth Infantry, under command of Capt. Thomas, went out to reconnoitre the position supposed to be held by the Modocs in the lava beds. The object was mainly to find out how the Modocs wert situated, and whether the mortars could be brought up and used effectively against them. As the troops approached the cave in the lava beds, about halfpast ten, the command was brought to a halt and the men allowed to take a rest. While in this position, the Indians opened _a. fire from a bluff to the eastward of where the troops were stationed. Capt. Thomas immediately threw his men into skirmishing order, with Lieut. Wright’s company on the right. The latter, however, had not got into position before they were flanked to the right by a party of fourteen other Indians, that had come up to the advance of those who had fired first* The cross fire on Wright’s men proved very demoralizing, and they broke back in confusion, leaving their gallant leader in an exposed condition, and supported by a few of his noncommissioned officers. In the meantime another small party of Indians had obtained a position to the left, and opened a raking fire on the two. batteries of artillery. It was a fearful trap, and tlio first four shots Were only fired to draw the troops more direeiiy between the fire of the twenty-four Indians on the right and left. The rout was complete. The officers and non-commissioned officers mostly lay stretched on the rocks with their life blood ebbing fast away, and confused and demoralized as they were, the men became an easy prey to the Modocs, who, confident in the protection of their native rocks, shot them down like so many frightened deer. Forty-nine were killed and wounded out of a command of sixty-hide men. The officers killed art, Captain Evan Thomas, Fourth Artillery; Lieutenant Albion Howc,~ Fourth Artillery; Lieutenant Thomas Wright, Twelfth Infantry, and Lieutenant Arthur Cranston, of Battery A, is missing—probably killed. The Modocs, it is shfied, were armed with Spencer carbines and breech-loading muskets. Their loss could not be ascertained, as their dead and , wounded were secreted in the caves. Colonel Green, in an official dispatch, containing the report of the disaster, says: “Justice to the memory of the gallant dead compels us to record the following wellauthenticated facts: When Capt. Thomas found himself .and his men surrounded by the vindictive foe, true to his nature as a soldier, besought to cheer the soldiers on to the bitter end, obtain, if possible, life for life, and sell their lives dearly, saying: ‘ Men, we are surrounded. We must fight and die like soldiers.’ In his noble efforts to sustain the courage of his small command, he was ably seconded by Lieut. Howe and Lieut. Wright. After receiving his mortal wound he burled his gold watch and chain among the rocks and emptied his revolver among the enemy before dying. If living, he would also write, in terms well deserved the praise of Lieut. Harris* who was similarly situated.”

A dispatch from Portland, Oregon, 29th, says that 1,400 Indian warriors arc camped at White Bluffs, Yakima river, above Walla Walla, putting up breastworks. The settlers arc greatly alarmed. The Indians arc traveling about painted, warning the whites to leave the country. The Spokane Indians arc threatening, and also warning settlers to leave. Massacres like those by the Modocs are feared. A dispatch from Yrcka, Cal., 29th, says the people of that place and Scott’s Valley are arming, and apprehensive of a general Indian war. The ladies have taken measures to send the sick aud wounded lint, bandages, fruit and other necessaries. The settlers in the valleys of Oregon above the lake and lava bed are getting out with their cattle and property, and are afraid to remain longer. Governor Beveridge, of Illinois, has issued a proclamation setting apart the 39th day of May as decoration day. :

Payment of a policy of life insurance was some time ago refused by a prominent New York company, on the ground that death had resulted from suicide, which, by the terms of the policy, freed the company from liability. The case has been carried through the courts, and the Supreme Court decides that the company, notwithstanding its stipulation, must pay, as,.the suicide was committed, during insanity, and was not, therefore, a voluntary, intelligent act, . . --, ' - -i An expedition is to be organized by the Gov* ernment, in readiness to depart from Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, on the 15th of June next, for the protection of the engineering parties of the Northern Pacific Railroad in making, surveys for the location of the line of that road between the Missouri River and the’Rocky

Mountains. The expedition will comprise $ large force of cavalry, infantry and artillery, and two hundred six-mule teams will accompany it. They will remain in the field until October 15. A dispatch from Gen. Gillem to Gen. Sherman, dated Lata Beds, 28th, says: “The Indians occupy a position in the rocks about four miles south of their caves. It wilt be impossible to surround them with the force at or cn route to this plaee. The circumference of the lava beds Is about thirty miles.” On the night of the 29th, at Harrodsburg, Ky., a mob surrounded the jail and demanded of the jailor a negro boy named Robert Curd, who was under sentence of imprisonment for committing an outrage upon a woman some months ago. Recently the jailor had allowed the boy to go after his cow every evening, and a few nights previous he had made another assault upon a colored girl. The boy was, surto the mob, and the next morning his lifeless body was found hanging to a tree. It is stated that the mob was composed of colored men. s ; -“*• ——— Governor Dix has signed the New York City, Charter.

The special commission at Vienna appointed by the President to examine into the alleged irregularities of the original commission, have reported to the effect that some of the subpended commissioners appear to be implicated on charges of improperly receiving money. It leaves the following persons free from the charge of any irregularity, viz.: Dr. Anthony Ruppancr, Thomas McElrath, Lewis Seasongood, J. C. Botten, G. L. Blodgett, H. G. Garretson, Edward Gotthiel, Clayton McMlchset, Isaac Cook, A. G. James and William F. Rounds. They recommend that no part of the suspended commission be' restored at present. The Third Assistant Postmaster-General de? cides that postal cards that have been once properly transmitted through the mail, and the stamp thereon cancelled, can, after their being returned to the sender in a sealed envelope with a remittance, be transmitted to the person originally addressed, with the word “ Paid” stamped or endorsed thereon, by placing upon the card a one-cent adhesive stamp. The Post-master-General decides that no discount can be allowed to purchasers or agents who desire to keep postal cards on hand for sale to the public. Representative James Brooks, of New York, died in Washington on the night of the 30th ult., of a malarial disease contracted in India .while he was making a trip around the world, and which was accelerated, undoubtedly,!*/ — the shock- given his nervous system by the censure of the House of Representatives last winter in the Credit Mobilier matter. He was in his sixty-third year.