Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 February 1874 — EPITOME OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

EPITOME OF THE WEEK.

Condeued from Telegrams of Accompanying Bates. Friday, February 6. —A Calcutta dispatch says the famine in India is increasing, and it is estimated that 150,000 natives are already severely distressed....At the recent opening of the German Reichstag, the speech from the throne, delivered by the Imperial Commissioner, concludes with the assurance that all the nations of Europe are resolved to preserve peace.... Several more riots are reported at the elections in Groat Britain. At Willenhall several persons were fatally injured. At Handy one man was killed and many others were wounded. At Askeaton, Limerick County, Ireland, firearms were freely used, and three men were killed. Serious disturbances have also occurred in other localities.... A dispatch has been received in London from the commander of the Ashantec expedition, announcing ‘that all the white prisoners held by the Ashantees have been delivered to him, and that the King has accepted his terms -for a cessation of hostilities, and has agreed to pay an indemnity of £200,000... .The Russian Minister at Washington has authorized a contradiction of the report that Russia has refused to send goods to the Centennial Exposition on the ground that it is a private undertaking. , The Russian Government never intimated or express* d any such intention.... Physicians who went to North Carolina for the bodies of the Siamese Twins have returned to PhiladelThe bodies were In a good state of preservation. The examination will be conducted by the College of Physicians privately, but a report will be furnished to the public. .... A Mrs. Hoag, of the town of Porter, Wis., attempted to extinguish a kerosene lamp by blowing down the chimney. An explosion followed, and she was fatally burned... .According to a report made by Special Agent M. B. Robinson to the Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington, large quantities of the public land in Colorado have been fraudulently pre-empted.... The National Grange, in session at St. Louis, has appropriated 13,000 to tbe State Grange of lowa, in consideration of the great expense incurred by that Grange In relieving the wants of distressed brethren in Northwestern lowa. Appropriations of SI,OOO to Minnesota and $750 to Dakota were also made The gro-. eery store and dwelling of Chris. Mehr, in Evansville, Ind., was burned on the morning of the sth, and four of the inmates perished in the flames. There were, when the fire broke out, about ten persons in the house, including Mr. Mehr, bis wife and six children. Mrs. Mehr seized two of the children and rushed through the flames, and a boarder seized another of the children. Mr. Mehr rushed out, and, seeing that some of the children were missing, again rah into the house and was not again seen alive. When found he clasped in his arms the threo children who had been left behind, the four bodies being burned almost to a crisp. Most of the other inmates were more or less burned... .On the morning of the sth the Green Bay night express train, about twenty miles north of the Kishawaukee bridge, near Harvard, 111., etruek a hroken rail, throwing three passenger coaches, a Pullman sleeper, a baggagecar and a second-class car into the ditch twepty feet below. The stove in the baggagecar was overturned and 6et fire to the car, and, as there was no means of extinguishing tbe flames, the entire train and contents were consumed. Forty persons were more or less Injured, but no lives were lost, the passengers escaping from the burning cars by means of the windows. (SATURDAY, February 7.—Gen. Sickles has taken final leave of the Spanish Government, and placed Secretary Adee in charge of the legation... .M. Buffet has been re-elected President of the French Assembly....By a recent collision between two trains on the Great Western Railway in England several persons were killed and others injured.. . .A London telegram gives a report that Gladstone, being assured of a majority in Parliament against him, has sent in his resignation to the Queen.... In the National Grange at St. Louis a report was received from Secretary Coffey, of the State Grange of Missouri, stating that there are 1,600 subordinate Granges in the Btate. Several amendments to the National Constitution were proposed. Charleston, S. C., was unanimously chosen as the next place of meeting. Several standing committees were appointed. Mr. Thompson, a representative from Canada, reported that they had ten live Granges in the Dominion, some numbering over 100 members each; that they wanted to establish a Dominion Grange, bo as to have under their control a fixed headquarters, and their most earnest desire was to see the organization become international in character. Monday, February 9.—The London press unanimously recognizes the completeness of the defeat of the Government In the Parliamentary elections. A cable telegram says Gladstone will await the conclusion of the elections before deciding as to what course the Government must pursue.... President Grant has appointed the following-named gentlemen as the Board of Visitors to the Military Academy: General Charles J. Hamilton, Wisconsin; Commodore C. R. H. Rogers, U. 8. N.; J. D. Cameron; Pennsylvania; A. B. Kindig, Iowa; Francis Wayland, Tale College; A. P. Temple, Tennessee, and Richard P. Hammond, California Three Boston hotel-keepers, arrested for violation of the Massachusetts Prohibitory law, were before the Police Court on the 7th. The proprietor of the Tremont House pleaded guilty, attd escaped with fifty dollars fine and costs. The two others pleaded not guilty, and were'each sentenced to three months’ Imprisonment at hard labor, besides the payment of a fine of seventy-five dollars. They appealed, and will carry the case through « the courts.... The Territorial Legislature of Montana has passed a bill to remove the capital from Virginia City to Deer Lodge....A Columbus (Ohio) dispatch says the success of the women’s temperance movements at other points has caused the disciples of temperance in that city to organise, and arrangements an being m.*te for a grand attack at that point Dio Lewis has ■ been called on, and will be there to start the movement... .Jefferson Davis has sailed from New Orleans to Liverpool, his physician having recommended a sea voyage. Tumdat, February 10.—A Berlin di*. patch announces the death of David Friedrich Strauss, the eminent German theologian.... A London telegram states that the diplomatic

representatives of Spain at Brussels, Berlin and Lisbon have resigned....A second decree has been issued by the Japanese Government, this time a peremptory one, recalling all tbe students residing abroad at the expense of the Government, except those who have given the very highest proofs of advancement....Jovellar, Captain-General of Cuba, has declared the entire island in a state of siege, and ordered the mobilization for active service of four volunteers out of every ten, this mobilization to begin immediately and continue six months. All persons between the ages of twenty and forty-five, not volunteers on the Ist of February, are to be enrolled in the militia.... A communication from the members of tbe Boston Grange was presented on the 9th to a, committee of the National Grange appointed to consider the important question whether the membership of the Grange entitled it to recognition. The memorial recites that its members were the only persons in Boston who took any interest In the movement or did anything to assist National Deputy Abbott in his work In Massachusetts. They plead that the Grange was organized by Mr. Abbott, as the representative of tbe National Grange, and was accepted by the State Grange, and plead that they are “interested” in agriculture in a way to bring them fully within the scope of the organization.... The resolution to remove the headquarters of the National Grange to St. Louis has been referred to a special committee of five, to report at the eighth session of the National Grange. The following is the committee: Messrs. Parsons, of Minnesota; Warden, of Florida; Hamilton, of Alabama; Colton, of Vermont, and Allen, ox Missouri... .The committee to Investigate the condition of the homesteaders in Northwestern lowa have recently returned to Des Moines. In the counties of Lyon, Sioux, O’Brien and Osceola there is great destitution, and, unless relief, be speedily granted, there "will be much suffering and many must leave their claims. Wednesday, February 11.—The Madrid Impartial says tbe Bpanish Government lias agreed to an exchange of prisoners with the Carlists.... There was much rioting at Chesterfield and Barnsley, England, on the 10th, and many policemen were injured. Disraeli, in an address at Buckingham, congratulated his constituents on the result of the elections, which he declared justified the policy of the Conservative party in introducing and carrying a Reform law when last it held power.... The Ministry in British Columbia tried to force an alteration in the terms of the Confederation through the House on the night of tbe 9th. The people demanded a submission of the question to them, but the Ministry refused. The people, one thousand strong, proceeded to the Houses and broke up the sitting. Intense excitement prevailed, and secession was threatened.... The Boston School Board has, after a long debate, refused to reconsider their unfavorable action relative to the admission of ladies to membership. The vote stoodi3s in favor to 67 against The Kansas House of Representatives has passed a resolution —57 to 26—requesting the County Attorney to take steps for bringing ex-Benator Pomeroy to trial.... Master Adams, of the National Grange, has appointed as the Committee on Centennial Celebration Messrs. Saunders of Washington, Chambers of Alabama, Hudson of Kapsas, Wright of California, Chase of New Hampshire, Brown of Michigan, and Davie of Kentucky. Thursday, February 12.—A letter from Paris says: “The recent suspension of the greatest of French Catholic papers, L'Vnivers , at the instance of Prince Bismarck, furnishes a striking proof of how complete is the subserviency of the French Government to German orders.”...-The Board of N|vigatiou Commissioners at Washington have adopted resolutions favoring the opening up and improvement of the great water lines, and denouncing what they term “the false cry of economy.” .... The Massachusetts Senate has passed the resolution annulling and rescinding the resolution of 1872 which censursd Charles Sumner for his action relative to battle-flags.... At a recent meeting in New York city of the Cheap Transportation Association, information was glvffn that a “people’s freight road” would soon be built across the continent, which would be managed in the interests of the people. After the work shall be fairly begun it will be completed in three years.... The reoent Connecticut Republican State Convention nominated Usury B. Harrison for Governor; John T. Waite for Lieu-tenant-Governor; John Q. A. Stone, editor of the Windham County Transcript, for -Secretary of State; Hon. David P. Nichols for Treasurer; Colonel E. P. Packer for Comptroller. Resolutions were adopted declaring that States Should be left to regulate their own Internal affairs ; * Indorsing the course of the National Administration in reference to the recent election in Texas; opposing any further increase of paper currency; favoring early resumption of specie payments and equal taxation; denouncing land grants to monopolies; demanding prompt punishment of dishonest officials, and strict economy in National and State Governments; favoring the formation of a bureau for the purpose of obtaining statistics and information relative to the condition of the laboring classes, upon which to base proper legislation, and subchitting the question of a revision of the State Constitution to the people.... Several self-styled Doctors in Chicago have been arrested and held to bail in the sum of $5,000 each on the charge of publishing and circulating obsceno literature.... A Springfield (Ill.) dispatch says about eleven railway companies are running under the schedules of the Btate Board of Railway and Warehouse Commissioners. Not all of these have formally notified the Board of their acceptance, but have ffuietly altered their own rates to suit. The Toledo, Wabash <& Western has signified its intention to reduce its passenger rate to three cents per mile, the Board rate, being nearly two cents less than it wanted to charge.... The praying temperance movement in Ohio is still progressing. Strong demonstrations are being made in Xenia and Columbus. In the latter city the ladies are preparing for a determined onslaught upon the Legislature. A Cincinnati dispatch says the reports from Southern Ohio and Indiana show no abatement of enthusiasm in thia temperance crusade. Everywhere there it an abundanca'of faith In its ultimate triumph. In ShelbyvtUe, Ind., a lively antagonism has developed. The saloon-keepers had served a written notice on the ladiee that they would hold them responsible ter loss of business, and the next day an immprfse meeting of citizens was held and an corpora ted company organized, with $300,000 capital, to light the legal traffic legally, if

other means fail. The ladies then prepared a reply to the paper of the saloon-keepers, charging them with destroying the business Of the community, exhausting resources,- adding to taxes and increasing crime, and defending their right to pray for the removal of such an evil.