Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1875 — NEWS OF THE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

FOREIGN. The American rifle team arrived at Belfast, Ireland, on the 6th, and were enthusiastically received by the Inhabitants and municipal authorities. The commission appointed to prepare the draft of a new constitution for Spain have concluded their labors. It was thought on the 6th that it would be adopted without essential modification. A rumor prevailed in Madrid on the 6th that the Alphonsists had captured Cauta Vteg» A pigeon-shooting match between A. H. Bogardus, of Illinois, and the English champion, Geo. Rimmei, took plaee at Hendon, England, on the 7th, and was easily won by the former. The contest for the Mayor and citizens' cup at Belfast, Ireland, on the 7th resulted in the succeshaof the American team. A Madrid dispatch of the ’7th announces the departure of the entire Carliet forces from Valencia and Arragon. The Alphonsists were in close pursuit A dispatch to the London Standard of the Bth reports that an insurrection had broken out against the Turks in Herzegovina. The Ministerial Commission appointed to consider whether Italy shall participate in the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition has decided in the negative on account of the expense necessary. The United States Government has been so informed. The rivers Toques and Orbiquet, ,iu France, have overflowed their banks and inundated the town of Lesieux and its environs. Several lives were lost. A terrific rain and hail storm recently visited Switzerland. The hail-stones were of unusual size, killing and wounding many persons, destroying crops and damaging much valuable property. Leading Norwegian papers predict a commercial crash in Norway in consequence of the stagnation in the timber trade. A Madrid dispatch of the Bth announces that Carlists were continually presenting themselves to the authorities, demanding amnesty. A Madrid dispatch of the 9th announces the defeat of the Carlists at Trevino, with a loss of 460 killed and sixty prisoners. All the foreign Mayors to whom invitations were sent to attend the international banquet at Guildhall, London, have signified their acceptance, with only two exceptions. The damage caused by the flood in the Rhone Valley is estimated at about 1,000,000 francs. „. v . - —_— - - - A Vienna dispatch of the 11th says the insurrection in Herzegovina, along the Dalmatian border, had assumed large proportions. The populace had attacked the Turkish authorities in the frontier towns and raised the Austrian flag. Cortina, Mayor of Matamoras, Mexico, was recently arrested by the Mexican authorities under suspicion of being concerned in the Texas raids. A New Orleans dispatch of the 11th says orders had been given at Matamoras that would interfere- with the traffic in stolen stock. The Mexican Government seemed to be in a sort of panic, said to be caused by communications from Washington, the tenor of which had not yet been made public. Mexican papers say that the removal of Cortina will permit the authorities of Matamoras to execute the laws; that he was the supporter and defender of criminals and the enemy of justice and order.

DOMESTIC. The first celebration of our national birthday ever attempted by the American Indians took place at Atoka, I. T., on the sth. There were at least 8,000 Indians present, and a bountiful dinner was prepared for all in a grove near the town. An educated Indian presided and speeches were made by several white orators. A Washington dispatch of the 7th states that under the act of July IS, 1574, providing for the resumption of specie payments, the Treasury Department had disposed of about $10,000,000 of bonds known as 5 per eents> authorized by the act of July 14,1570, and with the proceeds had purchased about $9,000,000 in silver, for the purpose of retiring ractional currency. In his recent report concerning the Black Hills region Prof. Jenney says that eouutry is admirably adapted for agricultural purposes; that the soil is very rich, the water sufficient and the pine timber heavy and valuable. Mrs. Stringer, of Cincinnati, a few mornings ago fouud the kindling-wood in her cookstove too damp to burn well when a match was applied, so she undertook to hurry up matters by pouring coal-oil from a can into the stove. It is hardly necessary to add that, after five hours of the most acute agony, she died from the effects of her burns. A real-estate lawsuit which promises to rival in magnituie and duration the celebrated suit of Mrs. Gaines in New Orleans is one of the probabilities In Chicago. A strip of land containing about twenty-five acres and worth several millions of dollars, on which stand the Illinois Central depot and a portion of the tracks, is in dispute, having just been originally entered by Willis Drummond, late Commissioner of the General Land Office, at the Land Office in Springfield, although it has been occupied and presumably owned by the railroad company for the last thirty years; Prof. Steiner, with three companions, made a balloon ascension at Milwaukee' oil the evening of the 7th, intending to make an eastward voyage to the Atlantic coast. They took a southwesterly direction, and after being up three hours landed about tweßty-eight mile 3 from Milwaukee without meeting with any accident. The quality of the gas with which the balloon was inflated is said to have been poor, and did not give buoyancy enough for a longer trip. Another attempt was contemplated. The count of the funds in the Treasury vaults at Washington has developed no discrepancy or deficit, with the exception of the $47,000 package stolen some weeks ago. and to which no dew has yet been obtained. The Comptroller of the Currency has called upon the National Banks for a report showing their condition at the close of business June 30. The Comptroller desires to retire all the circulatihg notes of the denomination of five dollars of the following banks, the notes of that denomination having been successfully counterfeited; The First, Third and Traders’National Banks, Chicago; First National Bank of Partem, 111.; First National Bank of Canton, HI. National banks throughout the eOunjry are requested to return all

notes of these banks of the denomination of five dollars to the-Treasury for redemption; and no additional bills of this-denomination will hereafter be issued to these bsuks. Early on the morning of the 9th, as the Vandalla passenger train bound east on the Terre Haute, Vandalia A Indianapolis Railroad stopped at Long Point, a lonely station in Clark County, 111, for water, four men Vtoarded the cars and detached the engine and express car, and two of them jumped on the engine and ordered the engineer to go ahead; on his refusing they shot him through the heart, and then ran the engine out two miles and attempted to rob the Adams Express car. The messenger, Mr. Burke, barricaded the car and successfully resisted their efforts until the fireman, who had leaped from the engine when the engineer was killed, rallied a party and came to Burke’s relief. Many sliot6 were fired into the express car, but without effect. One thousand dollars reward is offered for the murderers. The James brothers are. suspected of being the perpetrators of the outrage. The name of the murdered engineer was Miio Ames, and he lived at Terre Haute. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has decided to allow such claims 'of State officers for the refunding of the income tax paid upon the. emoluments of their offices as were tiled in due thne, whether those emoluments eonslat of salary or of fees. „ a Mrs. Algernon Sartoris, daughter of President Grant, has a fine boy, born on the nth lit Long Branch. It weighed ten aud a half pounds. The daughter of Patrick Boylan, of West Davenport, lowa, was fatally burned the other evening by the explosion of a can of kerosene, while lighting the kitchen lire with the contents. She was burned to a crisp and lived but a few hours. ris. . rERSONAL. At a largely-attended meeting of Plymouth Society of Brooklyn—composed of pew;-hold-ers in Plymouth Church—ou the evening of the 7th aresolution was unanimously adopted fixing Mr. Beecher’s salary for the ensuing year at SIOO,OOO. It is understood among the congregation that this increase of salary is for this year only, and is intended to help defray the expenses of the recent trial. Mr. Beecher testified before the Grand Jury in the Loeder-Price case on the 7th, denying all-the allegations made by the accused so far as they related to himself, reply to the usual questions Price acknowledged his guilt of perjury and conspiracy, Loeder pleading -not guilty. — ' A St. Louis dispatch of the Bth announces the death, at his residence in that city, of Gen. F. P. Blair, Jr. He was fifty-three years of age. The Executive Committee of the National Grange, in session in Washington on the Bth, agreed, by a vote of three to two, to remove the headquarters of the National Grange from Washington to Louisville, Kv. They also resolved to hold the next meeting of the National Grange at Louisville on the third Wednesday in November next. The headquarters will be removed to Louisville in a few weeks. —— — : —-—— It is 6aid the immediate cause of Gen. Blair's death was an injury received by falling and striking his head against a piece of furniture while walking across the room. He had been out riding and returned feeling, much invigorated; but being seized with diz ziness he fell and became unconscious. He never rallied, and in a few hours quietly passed away in the presence of his family and friends. Mr. F. D. Moulton has recently addressed a letter to the District Attorney of Brooklyn, asking for a speedy trial under the indictment for libeling the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, which has been pending against him (Moulton) for nearly a year. Attorney Britton responded that he could not well attend to the matter at the present time, owing to more urgent cases,-but intinrates-thatTater in the season he will endeavor to have the mat-' ter attended to in the courts. The funeral of Gen. Blair, at St. Louis on the 11th, is said to have been the most imposing attair of the kind ever witnessed in that city.

POLITICAL. The Comptroller of the Currency reports the amount of additional circulation- issued during the month of June, $1,615,525; amount of legal-tender notes deposited during the same period, $5,009,636; additional circulation issued since the passage of the act of June 20, 1874, $11,601,892; amount of circulation destroyed and retired during the same time, s9,o27,o6o—showing an actual increase of bank circulation during the year of only $1,978,820; amount of legal-tender notes deposited for the purpose of retiring circulation since the passage of the same act, $25,523,057, and amount deposited by banks iu liquidation previous to that date, a total of $29,336,732. Deducting from this amount $9,027,066 (amount of circulation permanently retired) will leave $19,709,666 legal-tender notes on deposit July 1 for the purpose of retiring circulation. The-Wisconsin Republican State Convention was held at Madison on the 7th. The Hon. Harrison Ludington, of Milwaukee, was unanimously nominated, by acclamation, for Governor. The other nominations are: For Lieutenant-Governor, H. L. Eaton; Secretary of State, Hans B. Warner; State Treasurer, Maj. Henry Baetz; Attorney-General, John R. Bennett; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Robert Graham. E. W. Keyes was reelected Chairman of the State Central Committee. The platform adopted approves the letter, of President Grant “discouraging the continuance in office of any Chief Magistrate of the nation for a longer period than two terms;” indorses the present Republican National Administration: indorses the policy of arbitration in settling difficulties between nations; favors a tariff for revenue only; advocates the gradual resumption of specie payments; favors legislative control of public corporations, etc. The Opposition,State Convention of Minne- ! sots, held at St. Paul on the 7th, nominated ! D. L. Buell for Governor; E. AY. Durant, j Lieutenant-Governor; Albert Scheffer, Treasj urer; J. AV. Sencerbox, Railway Commissioner: Adolphus Bierman, Secretary of State; | Lafayette Emmett, Chief-Justice; M. Doran, | State Auditor; A. A. McLeod, Clerk Supreme Court. The name Democratic-Republican was adopted, and the resolutions favor a resumption of specie payments and a return to gold and silver as a basis of currency; a tariff for revenue only—none f>r protection; the State control of public corporations, etc. A small industry tor women and ehil- ! dren has sprung up' in Edinburgh, in the making of “fire-lighters” from sawdust. The refuse is collected, molded together into little cakes with clay, or some resinous substance, and, packed in paper boxes,; as hawked about lie streets by the manu-i facturers.