Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1874 — EPITOME OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

EPITOME OF THE WEEK.

Condensed from Telegrams of Accompanying Dates. Friday, February 13.—A London telegram announces the close of the Ashantee war and the intended departure of Sir Garnet Wolseley and his forces from the Gold Coast on the Ist of March... .According to the January circular of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry there had been an increase, since the middle of December, of 1,566 Granges, and the whole number is now over 11,000. The largest increase took place in the former slave States, where 565 new Granges were formed, against 459 in the Western States. The national membership of the Granges now numbers 780,000 In the National Grange, on the 12th, Mrs. Taylor, of South Carolina, was elected as Pomona, In place of Mrs. Kelley, resigned, and Mrs. Moore, of Florida, as Flora, in place of Mrs. Abbott. A resolution was adopted, “That it is the sense of the National Grange that the expression ‘interested in agricultural pursuits,’ in article five of the Constitution, means engaged in agricultural purstilts, and having no interest in conflict with our purpose.”.... Major-Gen-eral James B. Stcedman has been elected to succeed Chief-Justice Waite as delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention. .... The woman’s temperance crusade opened in Jeffersonville, Ind., on the 12th, with an immense prayer meeting in one of the churches. About two hundred ladies have banded together and propose to move upon the saloons in that city after the manner of their sisters in Ohio. The ladies in Northern Ohio are preparing for an active campaign in the same direction. The campaign was opened in Oshkosh, Wis., on the 12th. A praying band visited some of the saloons, andpreparations arc making to besiege them all. Saturday, February 14.—A mob of several hundred men marched toward the Cap-tain-General’s palace in Havana on the evening of the 12th, with the intention of demanding that the Government send into the field the entire battalion of volunteers with their own officers, instead of one-tenth of the battalion, as ofdered in Jovellar’s recent decrees. - Mounted police met the rioters and dispersed them. There were no casualties. The city was quiet on the 18th, but further trouble was feared.... The Massachusetts House of Representatives has concurred, by a vote of 119 to 48, in the resolution of the Senate rescinding the vote of censure on Senator Sumner passed in 1872.... On the night of the 12th the safe of the First National Bank of Quincy, 111., was blown open, and $150,000 in currency and bonds were stolen. A reward of $20,000 has been offered for the capture of the robbers... .The National Grange has adjourned to meet in Charleston, S. C., on the first Wednesday in February next. Before adjournment action was had on the question as to the standing of the Boston Grange, and the Secretary was instructed to notify all State Granges “that the Boston Grange is no longer connected with the Patrons of Husbandry, and henceforth no fraternal recognition can be extended to it by any Grange, State or suborcllnate, and the Master of the Massachusetts State Grange is hereby required to make a formal demand for the surrender of the dispensation and ritual of the Boston Grange, and when received to return to the said Grange the money paid for said dispensation and ritual, and return them without delay to the office of the Secretary of the National Grange at Washington." The report of the Committee on Transportation, after being presented and partially discussed, was withdrawn on the ground that it was too specific and not general enough in character, and the whole matter was postponed until the next annual meeting... .Several cases of trichina spiralis have appeared in Chicago and vicinity, directly traceable to some ham eaten by the sufferers. Two of the Aurora (Indiana) sufferers have died from the effects of trichinosis, and the bodies have undergone post-mor-tem examination. „The microßcppic view of portions' of the flesh of the vidrnns-after their death developed the startling fact that rpill--1 ins of the trichina? were seen alive, coiling and uncoiling in the tissues. • Monday, Feb. 16.—Taylor’s pantechnicon find extensive furniture establishment in London, covering an acre of ground, was recently destroyed by fire. The total loss, including’the contents of the burned structure, consisting of pictures, mirrors, 500 carriages, and a vast amount of other goods of various kinds, is estimated at $15,000,000. Five houses and several large stables adjacent were partially destroyed. There were a number of accidents and two firemen were killed. The building alone was insured for $1,000,000 A Madrid dispatch says the National troops havedefeated abandof 2,000 Carlists before Tolusa, and revictualed the city... .The First Reformed Episcopal Church of New York has been organized by Bishop Cummins. The Bishop announces that two churches in Philadelphia and one in Brooklyn are soon to be added to hie charge. ... .The latest news from the Western frontier indicates an extensive Indian war. Further outrages are reported. A Cheyenne (W. T.) dispatch says: “A war is inevitable between here and the Sioux Indian reservation. The country is rolling and fine grazing, and there are not less than 50,000 head of cattle there, but we would rather have war than peace when we are robbed and murdered with impunity.”... .The Mississippi Senate has defeated the House resolution requesting Senator Alcorn to resign. Tuesday, February 17.—A dispatch from Key West, Fla., states that news is received there that 7,000 volunteers have taken possession of Havana, Cuba, and the CaptainGeneral has been compelled to take refuge on board the iron-clad Arapiles....At a recent • dinner given to his royal visitors by the Czar of Russia he said in a speech that “ The Emperor of Germany, the Queen \of England, the Emperor of Austria and myself will preserve the peace of the w0r1d.”... .The Gladstone Ministry resolved on the 16th to resign in a body, and Mr. Glad- __ stone started immediately for Windsor tonnnvey the information to the Queen.... A Madrid telegram says the, Spanish Government has officially notified all foreign pewers that it has blockaded all the northern ports of Spain... President Grant has ordered that the Court of Inquiry in the case of Gen. O. O. Howard be composed of Gens. Sherman, McDowell, Pope, Meigs and Cole, with Maj. A. B. Gard- • ner as Judge Advocate. The court will meet in Washington on the 3d of March..... By the falling of the ice building in Philadelphia ' twelve men were killed, six seriously and eighteen slightly injured. A bill has been passed by the Illinois Legis-

lature, and signed by the Governor, giving up the dead bodies of unclaimed paupers and criminals in Chicago for dissection... .In the town of Lake, near Chicago, a few mornings ago, a family consisting of Mrs. David Thompson, her four children and a nurse woman were found in a pitiable condition by a neighbor, two of the children being dead, and the mother, the two remaining children and the nurse in a semi-conscious state. It was thought the family had either been poisoned or were suffering from the effects of noxious gases from a coal stove in the room. One of the remaining children has since died. Mr. Thompson was absent from home at the time of the tragic occurrence. Wednesday, February 18. —A late arrival from Honolulu brings intelligence of the death on the 3d of the Hawaiian King, Lunalilo. The Legislature had been called together to consider State affairs and to name a successor.... A London dispatch says that Dr. Beke, the English traveler, reports that he has discovered the true Mount Sinai. It is situated one day’s journey northwest of the village of Ahata, in Arabia, at an altitude of 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. Dr. Beke says that he found the remains of animals that had been sacrificed. He also discovered Sinaitic inscriptions which he copied.... The autopsy in the case of the Siamese twins has been concluded at Philadelphia, and shows that Chang and Eng were so vitally united that death would have followed any attempt to separate them during life. The membrane which lines the abdomen. was one in both, extending through the mysterious ligament that bound them together. This ligament was also connected with the liver and the heart of each.... The Philadelphia municipal election occurred on the 17th. The returns received up to mid night indicated that Stokely (Rep.) had been re-elected by about 16,006 majority. In PHteburgh ttlff Republucans elected their ticket by from 1,000 to 1,800 majority. In Allegheny City the Independent Republican ticket was elected. In Altoona, Wilkesbarrc, Williamsport and Allentown the Democrats carried the day, and in Easton the Republicans were successful. The Democrats of Syracuse, N. Y., elected their Mayor... .The State Grange of Ohio met at Xenia on the 17th. There were present 555 delegates, all Masters of Granges.- Worthy Master 8. H. Ellis presided. One hundred and fifty visiting members were present. The Secretary reported that 555 of the 600 Granges in the State had been organized since last April. A motion to make the meetings open was voted down.... The Chicago Inter- Ocean of a recent date says the firm of George B. Hodge & Co., proprietors of what has been advertised as the Union Furnishing Store, were bankrupt, and their stock was in the hands of the officers of the law; that they had been missing for a week, and that the express companies and Postoffice authorities were retaining all packages and letters addressed to the Union—Furnishing Company, for ultimate return to the senders. ’ —— ... .......■ Thursday, February 19. —The London Timet of the 18th says the final result of the election may be exactly stated as follows: Conservatives returned, 351; Liberals and Home-rulers, 302. Of these 466 were elected after a contest. The total number, of votes polled in the United Kingdom and Ireland was 2,500,000.... Disraeli has been tendered and has formally accepted the Premiership of Great Britain The Rev. Robert Moffat, the celebrated English missionary to South Africa, is still in doubt as to the correctness of the report of Dr. Livingstone’s death... .At a recent mas's meeting in Chicago the saloon-keepers of the city unanimously declared they would not pay the recent advance in the price of beer (the brewers having advanced the rates to twelve dollars per barrel), but that they would import from other cities.. . .The first annual session of the State Grange of Missouri met at Booneville on the 18th. Nearly every county in the State was repreresented. The State Grange organized last May, with 300 subordinate Granges, since when their number has increased to over 1,700. Master T. R. Allen delivered a long address, in which he gave the history of the Order in Missouri, and made many suggestions looking to the perfeetion of the organization in the State, and touching the growth and future prosperity of the Order.... The Ohio State Grange on the 18th unanimously passed a resolution tendering the sympathy and aid of the Order in Ohio to the women of the State in putting down the evil of intemperance. Columbus was chosen as the place of holding the next meeting of the State Grange. All the amendments proposed by the National Grange, except items first and second of number three,.concerning life members, were adopted.