Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 June 1878 — Page 2

The Rensselaer Union. I»M '"»"■» 1 " . --AK. •—v,- ■* - • .. - ■ MBWMHIIH, • * INDIANA.

General Newt Summary.

CLUUMoa N.iyHngsChalnßaa of tt» com I* Ik* late VkMMNtfal election, to a lon* lettar to a Mend ta Nmr Torfca, says President Hayes’ tttto totfce Prertdoocy rest* «pon the dwtalan <ff fee Electoral Tribunal, everyoat rataMtafftofeatdetenaiaatloo. “If now It prtkHy ifceted the BtodonU rale, end wMeh the OomMm dM eot notice, end If a heal mnafij ertrti for correetlnf; the error, yon wot belters that aach a proceeding aahrthe hnr awH land to a disturbance. * • • It h erectly becaaae thl. U prefer datermlnlcg questions by legal meth oh, aad If legal Method, have not been provided to Invent legal methods of determining them, and to submit to the determination than arrived at, that the country cannot be Mexican tacd. Having accepted the Electoral Commission, of course we won bound to submit to Its results, but wa ought at least be allowed to show, If sash was the fact, that the returns upon which the Commission passed were procured by tread.” Ho says be does not believe there is any danger of a civil war Cion kg oat of the investigation. P". M.-Gzs. Km has written an open letter to the people of the South, in which be reproaches the Members of Congress from that sartloa for their desertion of the Encnttra, aad ask* the people to retire those Rdorasentattves who have shown such subservience to the plans of Northern revolutionists. Mr. Key says the unseating of the President will inevitably lead to a bloody civil war, and ho appeals to the patriotism and honor of the people of the (tenth to prevent the catastrophe. Tn main Mature of the Army bill, as It pawed the House, on the 98th, are as follows: Fixing the strength of the army 5t90,000 men; raMiiag the force of various staff departasauta, aad providing for a board to reorganise those departments; fixing the number of Major-Generals atone, and of Brigadier-Gen-erals at three; reducing the number and rank of aides dp nampi; reducing the pay and emoluments of officers; transferring the Indian Bataan to the War Department, and prohibiting the employment of troops for civil purposes, unless specially authorised by act of

Iv a tetter to the Washington /'oaf, on the 9Kh Bit., Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, replies to certain criticisms by Clarkson N. Potter upon his settee in opposing the lnvescigatioo resolution in the House. He characterises Mr- Potter’s statements In this connection aa being untrue, and says he looks upon the whole of the investigation proceeding, “ concocted as it was, conducted as it has been, as most unwise, moat unfortunate and most mischievous. Its effect will be to disturb the peace, harmony and quiet of the country. Neither Mr. Potter nor anyboby else can prevent it.*’ Decoration Dat (90th uIL) wss quite generally observed a. a holiday at Washington and in various parts of the country. The soldiers’ graves were visited and decorated with flowers, and other appropriate ceremonies were duly observed. Twxfirst formal meeting of the Potter Investigating Committee was held on the 31st. ult., and It was finally decked to conduct the proceedings wjth open doors. J*s. E. Anderson, Mapervtror of West Feliciana, La., was present rsndy to give his testimony, but be was hot examined. Minister Noyes bad been subpee. naed, and. it was said, would return to this country at once. Mr. Cobb (lad.) bad resigned from the committee, and Mr. Springer (10.) had been appointed In bis stead.

THE KANT. Tu New York State Convention of the National Greenback Labor Reform party has been called to meet at Syracaee, on the 23d of July. Tbe Prohibition State Convention of MasaachuaetU is to be held on the 11th of September. T- ' Or the 80,000 looms In Fall River, Mass., 12,000 were idle on the 28th, and 4,000 operatives were out of employment. Tu Rhode Island Senate, on the 80th nit, on motion of a Democratic Senator, passed a" resolution by a unanimous vote, declaring the title of Mr. Hayes to the office of President settled by the Electoral Commission beyond all question, and deprecating all proceedings looking to any question of his title. The House subsequently concurred in this action of the Senate, by a vote of 42 to 10. Tn venerable editor and poet Wm. Cullen Bryant fainted and fell down the stone steps as he was about to enter the residence of a Mend in New York, on the afternoon of the SKh ult., and was quite seriously injured. Re had been exposed to tbe heat in Central Park, being one of the speakers on tbe occasion of the on veiling of a bust of Martini, and became quite fatigued. Jan. 6. Bum has been chosen Chairman of the Maine State Republican Committee. The next State Convention is to be held at Portland, August 1. Tn Pennsylvania Prohibitionists have nominated: For Governor, Gen. F. H. Lane; Lieu-tenant-Governor, John Shallcroes; Secretary of Internal Affairs, Calvin Parsons; Supreme Judge* Deaid Agnew. The Philadelphia Commercial Exchange has voted to petition Congress to increase the standing army aad to defeat the pending Army bill.

Gold dosed in New York, on May 31st, at I<H*. The following were the dosing quotations for produce: No. 2 Chicago Spring, Wheat, $I.ll*@l.l8; No. 8 Milwaukee, Oats Western and State. SB@B9c. Corn, Western Mixed, 47@48c. Pork, Mess, 89.90. Lard, #5.75. Flour, Good to Choice, #4.6505.75; Winter Wheat, S&.BO@ASO. Cattle, [email protected] for Good to Extra. Sheep, $3.50 ® 5.00. Hogs, 83.50® 8410. At East Liberty, Pa., on Majr3Ut, Cattle brought: Beat, #5.0005.25; Medium, $4.00® 4.80; Common, $4.0004.35. Hogs «oMYoriters, #8.1503.25; Philadelphias, $3.40® IAO. Sheep brought #3.0004.50—aw-onling to quality. At Baltimore. Md., on May 31st, Cattle brmtght; Best, 85.12*05.75; Medium, Hogs sold at 84-5004.87* for Good. Sheep were quoted at *35004.73 for Good. _ warn* Apis south. Tn Chicago Board of Trade haa adopted a resolution to memorialise Congress to provide by law for the increase and maintenance of the army to full 100 regiments of 1,000 men eaeh, to provide adequate protection from any outside or internal demonstrations of violence which may ariee in the future. Tn Turners of the United States in Convention at Cleveland, on the 28th, adopted a platform in which tbeae so-called reforms were demanded: The abolition of the Presidency and the United States Senate mid the concentration of power in the House of Representatives, which shall eject a Commission to act asthe Bxacutive; the protection of labor; the sanitary protection of the cUlicn and govern mental supervlson of factories and the houses nMood^tomtoms; lews forbidding the landgMltis to aO IntfyWnals and corpora On noar; aboHtion of ta^ntn^f^oih fctSggX' frop^,7 ‘ oW

Tun Democratic State Convention of lowa met at Cedar Rapids, on the 99th, and nominated the following ticket: For Secrotary of State, T. O. Walker; Auditor, Col. Elboeck; Treasurer, K. D. Frnn; Register of Land Office, T. 6. Bardwell; Judge of the Supreme Court, J. C. Knapp; Clerk of the Supreme Court, M. V. Gannon; Reporter of the Supreme Court, J. B. Elliott; Attorney-General, John Gibbons The resolutions favor a tariff for revenue only; denounce the Republican party, its measures and its men as responsible tor the financial distress, the misery and the want which now afflict the Nation; deprecate the funding of the non-interest-bearing debt, and Insist that the bonded debt be refunded at a rate of Interest not exceeding 4 per cent; favor the equal recognition of gold, silver and United States notes in the discharge of public and private obligations, except where otherwise provided by contract and to that end favor the unconditional repeal of the Resumption act and the coinage of silver' on equal conditions with gold;oppose any further retirement of United States notes, and favor the substitution of Treasury note* for National Bank bills; declare that a thorough Investigation into the election frauds of 1876 should be made; that it U the duty of the General Government to take immediate steps to improve the great Western rivers, etc., etc. Tux Cincinnati Board of Trade has adopted resolutions protesting against the further reduction of the United' States Army and urging the enactment of a law for its increase. Considkbabi.e excitement was crested in Cincinnati, on the 30th ult., by the discovery of the body of Hon. J. Scott Harrison (who was buried the day before in the family vault at North Bend) In the dissecting rooms of tbe Ohio Medical College. A son of Mr. Harrison, accompanied by s friend, was in search of another body which had been stolen s few days before from the same locality, when they came across the corpse of Mr. H. It was not known the body bad been stolen until it was recognized by the son. The janitor of the college was arrested. The excitement at North Bend was Intense. Mr. H. was the son of the late President Harrison. R. W. Cobb Is the Democratic candidate for Governor of Alabama, W. W. Screws for Secretary of State and J. 11. Vincent for Treasurer.

ChiefJistice Gailt, of the Supreme Court of Nebraska, died at Nebraska City on on tbe night of the 29th ult,'of dropjy, after a abort Illness. Ox tbe 31st ult., at Mansfield, Ohio, Edward Webb was bung for murder. A mob estimated at from 10,000 to 15,000 persons broke down the inclosure snrrounding tbe Jail, despite the efforts of the Sheriff and his guard, and witnessed tbe banging. John Henry Robinson (colored), was also hung at Caroline Court-House, Va., for tbe murder of Eliza Roy, his sweetheart, and Fred Robinson (also colored), at Groesbeck, Tex., for a felonious assault upon Mrs. Lena Whatley, a white woman. Ix Chicago, on May 31st, Spring Wheat No. 2 closed at 98@98)fc cash. Cash Corn closed at 35c for No. 2. Cakh Oats No. 2 sold at 23c; and 23)fe seller Julv. Rye No. 2. 51c. Barley No. 2, 45J£ @ 4«e. Cash Mess Pork closed st sß.l7}<. Lard. 18.40. Beeves— Extra brought [email protected]; Choice, $4.60 @4.90; Good, [email protected]; Medium Grades, [email protected]; Butchers’ Stock, [email protected]; Stock Cattle, etc., [email protected]. Hogs—Good to Choice, [email protected]. Sheep—Poor to Choice, [email protected].

rORKIttX IXTEIXIOKXCK. The invitations to the Powers to meet in European Congress st Berlin, on tbe 11th of June, were formally issued and dispatched on the 27th. They were signed by Prince Bismarch. A Vienna telegram of the 27th says Austria bad occupied tbe Island of Adakaleh, in the Danube. The island was promised to Servia by Russia, but Austria notified the Powers that when it ceased to become Turkish it must, become Austrian—and took possession. A St. Petebskvho dispatch of the 27th says the Russian Imperial Bank had become so heavily Indebted that the Government had declined to continue the publication of the weekly returns. Tbe affairs of the bank were in a condition of almost hopeless confusion. A dxstcbbaxce occurred in Belgrade, on the 27th, and an excited crowd pelted Prince Milan’s palace and cheered for Karogeorgevitch.

The London Timet, on the 28th, contained a notable, editorial, urging the establishment of a British Protectorate over Turkey in Asia. Prince Goktsciiakoff, the Russian Premier, has so far recovered from his recent illness as to be able to leave his bed. During the first three weeks of the Paris Exposition 756,400 admission-tickets were sold. Earl Russbli. died on the night of the 28th. He wss eighty six years old. A Belgbaue telegram of the 28th says that Col. Markovltz, a Greek priest, and six other persons were recently shot, at Anjelorata. The Sultan has ordered the reinstatement of ex-Sultan Murad in the Tcberegan Palace, and the pardon and release of those recently engaged In the emeute at Constantinople. The Cretan insurgents have refused the amnesty lately offered them by the Turks through the British Consul, but bavc offered to accept A regular armistice.

The weavers and spinners of Macclesfield, Eng., have agreed unconditionally to return to work ot the 10-per-cent, reduction demanded by the masters. London dispatches of the 20th say there was considerable uneasiness in governmental and diplomatic quarters over an apparent change in the attitude of Austria. While England and Russia had substantially agreed to submit tbe treaty to the Congress, Austria was continually engaged In hostile demonstrations. She had concentrated a large body of troonsin Galicia, Transylvania and Dalmatia, and ordered Her iron-clads to tbe Albanian and Macedonian coasts. Strategical points on the road to Herzegovina were also being fortified. The London Olobe of the 30th ult. gives the following as the points agreed upon between Russia and Great Britain, subject to the decision of the Congress: Bulgaria to be divided into two Provinces, one north of the Balkans, to be ruled by a Prince, and tbe other, south of tbe Balkans, but not touching the Egean Sea, with a Christian Governor; Turkish troops to permanently quit Bulgnria; England not to oppose the retrocession of Beiusarabia or the annexation of Batoum; the conditions of tbe navigation of the Danube to he arrsnged ,bj, the Congress; Russia not to advance her Asian frontier, or take indemnity in land, or otherwise interfere with the claims or security of British creditors of Turkey; Congress to settle the question of indemnity; Thessaly, Epirus and the other Greek Provinces of Turkey to be reorganized ; Barazid to be ceded to Turkey and Kotour to Persia; the condition of the Dardanella and Bosphorus tn remain in ttatu <p*n, etc.

Acoobdixg to late Constantinople dispatches tbe Mohammedan insurgents numbered 30,000, were well armed and impregnate located. The German Iron-clad Grosser Kurfurst collided with her consort, the Koenig Wilhelm, in the British Channel, a few miles from Folkestone, near Dover, Eng., on tbe morning of the 3lst ult The Grosser Kurfurst sank immediately, her boilers exploding as she wont down. It wss reported, oh the morning of tbe Ist, that between 300 and 400 persons perished. A Rohe (Italy) dispatch of tbe 31st ult. reporta tbe Pope as‘lll in body and distressed in mind hy tbe plots and cabals organized to defeat the refprms be bad promised, and it was

said he bad Intimated a desire to abdicate tbe P*p«*y-FORTV-rIFTH tORUEEMS. In the Senate, on the 25th, the concurrent resolution was passed declaring that tbe provisions of Uw existing treaty between China and tbe United (Mates, allowing unrestricted immigration to this country from China, might wisely be modified to as to subaerve Ute neat interests of both Governments, and inviting tbe attention of the Kxecntive to the subject . The Hunae bill to provide for the publuution of notices of contest under the Homestead. Preemption and Tree-Culture acts was passed. In the House, a bill was reported and referred to apply the proceeds of the sale of public lands to tbe education of the people.... The Army Appropriation bill was taken np in Committee of the Whole, and several proposed amendments were disposed of.

A bill was introduced and referred in tbe Senate, on the 27th, to repeal the existing taxes on capital and deposits of bunks and bunkers, and to impoae taxes on dividends in excess of 8 per cent.... A resolution was agreed to requesting of the President copies ofall correspondence. not already submitted, and of all memoranda and minutes in possession of the Government relating to the selection of Mr. Maurice Del fosse as one of the Commissioners under tbe Treaty of Washington on the Fisheries question ... After tbe further consideration of the bill to provide a permanent form of government for the District of Columbia, a motion to take up the bill to forbid the further retirement of legal-tender notes was agreed to- -28 to 28. Several bills were introduced and referred in the House, among which were the following: To regulate the sale of United (Mates securities; to establish a permanent sinking fnnd; to encourage and aid the higher education of the colored race in the District of Colombia and in the several States; to establish a National University at Washington . .The Army Appropriation bill was further amended in Committee of tbe Whole and reported to the House, and a vote on the amendment, increasing the limitation of tbe strength of the army from 91.000 to 26,000 men, resulted—yeas, 116; nays, 120. Mr. Garfield changed from yea to nay. so that he might move to reconsider, the rote then being 117 to 119. Messrs. Garneld and Hewitt rose simultaneously to move to reconsider, and the latter was recognized by the Bpcaker, who claimed tliat the Chair was hound by all parliamentary prnctioe to recognize the gentleman in charge of the bill. A motion to lay on the tabta the motion to reconsider was finally carried -121 to 114—thns limiting the strength of the army to 20.000 men. Messrs. Patterson. Williams (Mien.). Wigginton and ail the Texas members except Reagan voted with the Republicans in favor of the amendment increasing the limit to 25.000 liten. A bill was reported in the Senate, on the 28th, from the Committe on Foreign Relations, providing for the payment of the award made by the Fishery (Commission at Halifax nn der the Treaty of Washington; also a concurrent resolntion approving of the views and recommendations emhraoed in the report of the committee nn the subject....Tbe House bill tn forbid the further retirement of legal-tender notes was taken np and passed—3l to 18.

The Army Appropriation bill was passed in the House, after being amended so as to provide for the transfer of the control of the Indiana to the War Department—l3o to 115; fixing the number of cavalry regiments at eight, and of infantry at eighteen; and prohibiting, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, the employment of any part of the Army as a pone eomitat in, or otherwise, under the pretext or for the purpose of executing the law, except whensnch employment mAy be expressly authorized by act of Congress— 130 to 117. . The conference report on the bill to encourage the growth of timber on Western prairies, was agreed t 0... The Senate amendment to the bill for the repeal of the Bankrupt law was agreed to. • • • A favorable report was made on the bill to establish a postal saviDgs depository, and to aid in refunding the interesting-bearing indebtedness of the United States. A motion was made in the Senate, on the 29th, and defeated ‘by a tie vote—2G to 26 —to take up the House bill to remove the legal disabilities of women to practice in courts of the United States.... A bill was introduced and referred to establish a board to he known as the Pacific Railroad Commissioners.. . .The Conference report on the bill relative to the cultivation of timber on the public domain was agreed to, and the bill was passed.... Several amendments to the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Appropriation bill were agreed to, among them being those res'oriup the number and compensation of employes of the Senate, and of clerks, messengers and laborers in the various Executive Departments of the Government, the offices of As-sistant-Treasurers, the Mints and Assay Offices throughout the country ... Adjourned to the 31st. The Senate adjournment resolution was called np in the House, and was amended so as to fix the day of final adjournment on the 17th instead of the 10th of June, and the resolution as amended was adopted. ... The Conference report on the Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation bill was agreed t 0.... A bill was introduced and referred to secure the most efficient arms for the use of the regular army and military.... Ad- . joumed to the 31st. Bills were passed in the Senate, on the 31st ult. -providing for the appointment of an additional Circuit Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circnit, composed of the Stateß of Indiana and Illinois; the Legislative, Judicial and Executive Appropriation bill, with several amendments On motion, the concurrent resolution approving of the views of the Committee on Foreign Relations embraced in the report accompanying the bill providing for the payment of the award made by the Fisheries Commission, at Halifax, was taken up and debated. Bills were passed in the House—appropriating $20,000 to defray the expenses of the Potter Investigating Committee; Senate bill for the relief of settlers on public lands under the Pre-emption laws in reference to the computation of time for perfecting titles.... Mr. Springer was appointed on the Special Investigating Committee in place of Mr. Cobb, who resigned on account of ill-health.

The Origin of Obeisances.

Speaking of a party of Shoshones surprised Dy them, Lewis and Clarke say: “The other two, an elderly woman and a little girl, seeing wo were too near for them to escape, sat on the ground, and, holding down their heads seemed as if reconciled to the death which they supposed awaited them. The same habit of holding down the head and inviting the enemy to strike, when all chance of escape is gone, is preserved in Egypt to this day. Here we are shown an effort to propitiate by absolnte submission; and from acts so prompted originate obeisances. When, at the outset, in illustration ot the truth that ceremony precedes not only social evolution but even human evolution, I named the behavior of a small dog which throws itself on its back in presence of an alarming great dog, probably many readers thought I was putting on this behavior a somei whac forced construction. They would * not have thought so had they known that a parallel mode of behavior occurs among human beings. Describing the Batoka salutation, LiviDgtone says: “ They throw themselves on their backs on the ground, and, rolling from side to side, slap the outside of their thighs as expressions of thankfulness and welcome.” Whether or not consciously adopted for this reason, the assumption of this attitude, which implies, “ You need not subdue me, 1 am'subdued already,” is the best means of obtaining safety. Resistance generates autagonism and arouses the destructive instincts. The stronger animal or the stronger man becomes less dangerouswhen the weaker animal or man passively submits; because nothing occurs to excite the passion for victory'. Hence, then, the natural genesis of this obeisance by prostration on tbe back, which, perhaps, more than any other position, makes selAdefensc impracticable. I say perhaps, because another attitude may be instanced as equally helpless, which more elaborately displays complete subjugation. “AtTonga Tabu * * * * the common people show their great * * * * the greatest respect imaginable by prostrating themselves before him, and by putting* his foot on their necks.” The like occurs in Africa. Laird says the messengers from the King of Kundah “each bent down and put my foot on their heads, and threw dust over themselves.” And among ancient historic peoples this position, originated by defeat in battle, became the position assumed in acknowledgment of submission.— Herbert Spencer j in Popular Science Monthly.

■MCBLL4IEOUB ITEM. —The tramp argues that over-pro-duction is at the bottom of hard times. —A gosling with four wing* runs about the streets of Natchez. The little gooee is quite happy. v —An ill-natured editor says the women all use paint, and he “ sets his face against it .''—Chicago Advertiser. -— A good name is like the cloud of incense which remains in the church long after the fire in the oenser has gone out. —A man who breaks the Sabbath excuses himself thus: “If fish are wicked enough to bite on Sunday they ought to suffer for it” —A little girl told a playmate that two miners had been at her house nearly all the week. The miners referred to were calciminers. —What is the difference between Congress and a highly-educated poodle? Answer —The poodle can do anything but talk.— N. Y. World.

—Many women are showing their good sense in wearing dresses in the street which do not require to be held up.— N. Y. Graphic. —Gardeners might not. like to part with their gardens, though they are always ready to fork over their grounds. —Chicago Com. Advertiser. —A young man hugs to his soul a delusion when he thinks he can supply his wife with pin money by playing pin pool.— New Orleans Picayune. —The elder Dumas used to say: “ The man who abuses me does not intend to ask tor a loan of money; therefore, I have a fair offset for his words.” —ls a man is stricken with the mania of speculation, he is very apt, at some point in his career, to grow careless and leave off the “s.” — N. Y. Herald. —What’s the difference between the Prince of Wales and water in a fountain? One is heir to the throne, and the other is thrown to the air. —Commercial Advertiser.

—The fast horse Controller accomplished a remarkable feat on the racetrack at San Francisco, April 20. He scored twenty miles within an hour, hauling a wagon. —The prayer of the Norman mightsuit the spirit df our own time. It was, “ Kind Heaven, I do not ask for wealth: only to be placed within arm’s-length of some man who has it.” —ln Texas the railroad employes all carry shot-guns strapped to their backs; and the Postoflice Department has just issued an order that each railroad post-al-agent in the State shall be armed. —While passing Fortieth street the other‘day he said to her, pointing at the New Women’s Hotel: “ Stewart’z Home!” “Is he?” she replied. “When did he get back?” — Port Chester Journal.

—“ There is no truth in men,” said a lady; “they are like musical instruments which sound a variety of tones.” “In other words, madarae,” said a wit, “you believe that all men are lyres.” —South America retracts. She has ascertained that her “ oldest man” lied about bis age, and she leads him to jail and begs the pardon of other Nations for claiming that he was 180.— Detroit Free Press. —“Didn’t you guaranty that that horse wouldn’ t shy before the discharge of a cannon?” said a cavalry officer to a horse-dealer. “Yes, I did, and I’ll stick to it,” replied the dealer. “He never shies until after the cannon is fired.”

—An English vicar on a Monday morning was standing at his gate, when one of his parishioners arrived with a basket of potatoes. “What’s this?” said the vicar. “Please, sir,” replied the man, “ it’s some of our very best taturs —a very rare kind, sir. My wife said you should have some of them, as she heard you say in your sermon that the common taturs didn’t agree with you.” —Oh, don’t you remember the meitdow-lot, Maud, And the brooklet that rippled from the spring? Where the buttercups gleamed in the clover, Maud, And we listened to the meadow-lark sing. Oh, I’ve strolled down there in my manhood’s days, Bnt I sot up and dusted when I found That I'd sat down right where some bumble bees, Maud, Were just coming out of the ground. -Hawk-Eye.

—ln the pockets of a ragged tramp recently taken up in New Haven, Conn., were about half a peck of cigar stumps and scraps of folded paper. On opening these scraps each was found to contain a sum of money. There were four five-pound Bank of England notes, four gold sovereigns ana $74.05 in money of the United States, almost S2OO altogether. —The extent to which science has forced its way in the ordinary modes of life is very singular. Very lately the *« Berlin Veran fur Gewerbefleisa” awarded a prize to Prof R. Weber for his investigations into the causes of mill fires. He has shown that all sorts of flour in dust-clouds are inflammable," and he confirms the results obtained by Mr. Galloway, that some of the explosions in coal mines, supposed to bo due to fire-damp, have really been caused by clouds of coal-dust. Closely following these results was the great mill-fire in Minnesota, the other day, in which the investigation of some eminent American scientists, who probably had never heard of the learned German Professor’s inquiries and deductions, reached similar conclusions, attributing the conflagration to the inflammability of floor in dust-clouds. This goes far to show the accuracy of scieuce when examined by competent, practical in* quirers. —Philadelphia Press.

Setting Tramps to Work.

Boston did something last winter toward settling the tramp question. In the winter of 1877, a spectator might have seen, on pretty much any morning, a crowd of 150 or more of vagrants waiting around the Chardon-street Home for a gratuitous breakfast. These folks had spent the night in the beds of the various police-stations, and they were living regularly in this manner. At length the Overseers provided a pile of wood and some saws, and then required every applicant to do two hours’ work previous to receiving a meal. Some of the regular visitors thereupon marched off and were seen no more, saying that they hadn’t fallen so low as to work for a meal. The number of vagrants soon fell off to about fifteen. When this last winter set in, the Overseers procured some 300 cords of wood from the city, and, for two days’ wdrk upon it, they gave the worker an order for two dollars’ worth of and groceries at wholesale prices. Then, finding that even at that rate the dealers were making a profit on the poor of some 60 per cent, the city opened a store of its own at the Popie, ancWeliverod the articles bought.

In this wav, the articles, with all expenses added, did not cost two-thirds as much as under the old system at wholesale prices. The Overseers have succeeded admirably in relieving the really destitute, and at a cost of $20,000 less than the year before. It is intended to keep up the wood-yard and the supply-store as permanent institutions.— Lovatll (Matt.) Courier.

INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS.

—A tramp saved a train on the Kentucky Central Railroad from destruction the other night by signaling it with his shirt that he had stripped from his back and set on fire. He nad discovered a large tree that had olown across the track, and adopted this method to prevent accident —Last week Messrs. Allen and John Campbell, of Union Countv, Miss., poisoned themselves fatally by eating the tubers of the plantcommonly called hemlock, Conium maculata, under the impression that it was ginseng. They died in violent convulsions three hours after eating the roots. —The Rev. Mr. Penticost explains the story that a “Mrs. Rogers, of Middletown, Conn., a lady known for her benevolence, has presented him with a bank book with a comfortable sum to his credit,” by sayirig that the book was a certificate of deposit of five dollars, and that the bank that issued it is insolvent.

—Chicken-thieves have become such a nuisance in Houston, Tex., that a mechanical genius has invented a sort of dummy chicken, bearing a close resemblance to the genuine article, and loaded with buckshot, powder and caps. Upon being taken from the roost the innocent-looking fowl goes off, and with it the thief. —A lovers’ quarrel came to a heartrending end in West Troy the other evening. Joseph Potter, aged nineteen, went with a companion to call upon his sweetheart. Miss Morriss, aged eighteen, and the best of feeling prevailed until a few moments before the departure of the visitors. Young Potter made a thoughtless remark which wounded the lady’s feelings, and the two young men arose with some embarrassment to take their leave. She went with them to the door, but paid no attention to the farewell greetings. The young men had not gone far before the cry, “ Good by, Joe!” came to their ears, and on turning about they caught a glimpse of a young lady running at fuU speed toward the canal. “Joe” recognized the voice, unnatural as it sounded, and ran back as fast as he could, but before he had gone far heard a splash and a shriek. He plunged into the canal to rescue his sweetheart, but he was too late. —A few weeks ago an instrument of writing, purporting to be the last will of an old citizen of Monroe County, in Missouri, was offered for probate in the proper court. It devised all the estate to <gie son, William, cutting off the widow and the other children, of whom there were several. The father had been in delicate health for some years, and the entire care and management of the estate, together with the support of the family, had devolved upon William, who had labored faithfully, and, beside supporting the family, had made valuable improvements on the farm. The testimony of the subscribing witnesses to the will showed that the testator was not of sound mind when he executed it. Strange to say, William did not want the wul probated, assigning as a reason that he wanted the family to have the property, as they needed it, and he could get along without it. On the other hand, the family wanted him to have the property, as he had fairly earned it. —Missouri Republican.

Hallermeier’s Hard Luck.

Joseph Hallermeier, an Austrian, about thirty-two years old, as brown as a nut, poorly clad and travel stained, walked into'Treasurer Gilfillan’s office yesterday. He was from Pulaski County, Mo., about thirty miles below St. Louis, and has walked all the way; to Washington. He had in his hand an envelope containing fragments of masticated greenbacks, which he wanted, if possible, to have redeemed. Some time ago he dug a .hole near a tree at home, and, for safe keeping, placed therein $215 in five-dollar greenbacks and National Banknotes, all the money he had. The hogs in rooting around the spot unearthed the pocket-book containing the money, and chowcd and tore the notes into little bits. Upon discovering this, Hallermeier gathered together the pieces and tried to dispose of them in his neighborhood and in St. Louis. Unsuccessful there, he took up his march for Washington to see what he could do here. Treasurer Gilfillan examined the notes, and found that only two National Bank fives and two greenback fives —twenty dollars in all —could be recognized and redeemed. This amount was given him in exchange for his mutilated currency, and he went his way. In telling his story, Hallermeier could not keep from crying. This was all his money, he said, and he was buying a farm. A short time ago he had given an agent eighty dollars to enter his patent, but just before the loss of the $215 he had discovered that the agent had kept the money and had not entered the land.—Washington Star.

A Snake Den in Kansas.

Being in Concordia last Sunday, and having had my curiosity aroused several times during the last two years "by what appeared to be extravagant reports of a den of snakes at some place south of Concordia, I availed myself of an invitation to substantiate the story. The first thing that attracted our attention after hitching our horses was the almost unbearable stench which invaded our nostrils, and which we soon found was caused by two enormous pyrSmfds of dead snakes. Such a sight as met our gaze was the first of this kind in our experience, and was one that we can hardly expect to repeat. Snakes from fifteen inches to three and a half feet lay there coiled, straight, intertwined, massed and matted together, a huge pile of dead and decaying snake flesh. Not all were dead, for here and there among the pile might be seen some slightly moving ana quivering, showing that they were among those which had been consigned to the increasing pile that day. - The den itself is in a high rocky knoll or Waff. The knoll is a magnesian limestone formation of a very loose porous character. About fifteen or twenty cubic yards of earth and rock had been excavated, and on each side of this hole near the bottom was a ledge of rocks beneath which an excavation appears to have been made either naturally or by some wild animal forming a narrow cage which may penetrate into the inmost recesses of this mound, In this excavation were »•?-

eral young men, one of whom especially attracted our attention as, with a pair of heavy buckskin glover, he would incessantly be niton the watch, and now and then, reaching into the cavern as far as he could reach or get his body in, he would pull therefrom with his hands a large snake. Hundreds must have been hilled in this way on Sunday—certainly too many while we were there to keep any accurate count, and being not a very warm day it was not a good day for snakes either. The den was discovered two years ago by a boy who called a Mr. Graves to tne spot. He says that the ground was literally alive with them, and that he succeeded in killing three hundred in about half an hour. He said that to his knowledge almost 6,000 had already bteen killed at that spot; and it was proposed on Sunday next to call the neighbors together for several miles around ana have a “ snake bee” and a general extermination day, for which they would come prepared with materials and tools to insure success by excavation if necessary. 1 will only add that the snakes appear to be of the racer species, not, however, the species of blue racer common to Illinois, and not of a venomous nature. However, they show somo fight when they get wanned up, and strike at an approaching object promiscuously.— Atchison {Kan.) Champion.

THE OLD HOME. It is not a castle olden, Htnnding in the sunlight golden, Helic of the Past, With a deep moat mossed and fcoary. O’er ita rain cast. Bat a mansion fair and pleasant, Known alike of peer and peasant For its kindly cheer. With its glades and leafy covers. Ferny haunts of loitering lovers. And the shy wild deer. Crimson blossoms redly glowing, Flickering shadows o'er it throwing, Vail t ,e lichen's stain; Snnaet gleams of rose and anvber. Where the ivy tendrils clamber, Flash each casement pane. Lnrks no ghost behind the arras. Happy midnight dreams to harass, Wakes no Banshee’s wail: Tapestry, or antique lumler, Doth its sunny hall incumber Shield nor suit of mail. Morning wakes its household noises, Busy footsteps, laughing voices. As in days of yore: Bums its warm hearth, too, brightly. Where the gay groups gather nightly. Though it knows no more. Hearts, by other loves supplanted; Steps, that once its precincts haunted. Hushed by mount and sea; Only my sad heart remembers Flowery Junes and dark Decembers, Spent, old home, in thee. Shadows pace the garden alleys. Wander with me through the valley^ J tin my woodland walk; And by the streamlets willow-shaded, Where the song-birds serenaded, Parted lovers talk— Idly talking, idly dreaming, With the snnlit waters gleaming Golden at their feet. While the fair-haired children plunder, Kosy-mouthed and blue-eyed wonder, .Fruitage wild and sweet. When I stretch my hands in greeting. Each familiar name repeating. Straightway from my sight. Back to angel bowers they vanish, Even as beams of morning banish, Visions of the night. -5- Chambers' Journal.

PERSONAL AND LITERARY.

—Prof. H. R. Palmer and wife sailed for America, May 18th, in the Scythia. —Mrs. A. T. Stewart owns a solitaire diamond worth $35,000, which is said to be the largest in the United States. —The late Rev. Dr. Putnam, of Boston, never would consent to the engagement of an assistant. He said he had rather preach poor sermons himself than listen to them from others. —lt being proposed to erect by public subscription a monument over the grave of Charlotte Cushman, the Utica Herald remarks thatshe left over $500,000, and made no appropriation for a monument; nor did she leave a cent for charitable purposes. Conclusion: the heirs can afford to put up a monument.

—The bepuzzlements of the English language must be something fearful to a nervous foreigner. The padded cell of the maniac would be the destination of anyone who attempted to comprehend the following: The dyer dyes awhile, then dies— To dye he's always trying; Until upon his dying bed He thinks no more of dyeing. — N. Y. Herald. —Gen. Grant’s visit to England has given rise to a lawsuit. The Council of Sunderland entertained him and charged the ratepayers with the expenses of a special train, the ringing of bells and music. The bill was then charged to the borough fund, but the ratepayers objected to this on the f round that the money collected Was irected by the statute to be applied to certain purposes, of which the reception.of Gen. Grant was not one. The Court before which the case was brought sustained this view of the case, and so the gentlemen who got up the reception must pay the expenses, some SSOO, out of their own pockets

—Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines is at present a picturesque feature of Washington society. At seventy, she is a small, delicate woman, with bright, restless, black eyes, clear Complexion, auburn hair, without a single thread of silver in it. (She wears a wig.) Wears pale blue and lavender bonnets of a decided scoop-shape, but otherwise dresses in good taste; she says she can out-walk, talk, dr laugh any woman in the United States, and expects to live fifty years longer, but disclaims any intention of levying upon the land in the moon. Says when she gets h,er dues she will build a hotel for workingwomen that will, put Stewart’s all m the shade. She speaks in tender tones of her “ sainted husband, Gen. Gaines,” demised forty years ago, and believes she is carrying out his wishes in giving the greedy lawyers plenty to do.—(Jhtca'tfo Tribune. —Mrs. Mary Ann Booth, widow of the late Junius Brutus Booth, has sold her farm near Belair, Md., containing 148 acres for $8,500. This is the farm upon which the great actor Mved for a number of years, and where Edwin Booth was born. Junius Brutus Booth, being an Englishman and never having been naturalized, could not hold rear estate in fee-simple, and consequently in 1824. leased the farm for 1,000 years from Richard M. Hall at a yearly rent of one cent. Booth, before his death, made an assignment of the property to Edwin Forrest, the actor, from whom it. was purchased by the late Rev. Thomas S. C. Smith, of Harford County, in 1868. Mr. Smith held the title a very short time, and assigned it to Mrs. Booth, who has just sold it. The lease has 946 years yet to run.— N. Y. Evening Pott

The phonograph may bottle up the woice and pass it down to future ages; but the smile that twists the face of a man as he seeks solitude and gazes upon his name in print for the first time will always have to be guessed at.

DEVASTATION AND DEATH.

Butrecllve Tornadoes la PertldAa of Wlaeoaala and Illinois-Great Ua .of Life and Property. A tornado struck Mineral Point, Wia., about five o’clock on the afternoon of the 22d, doing great damage to property and resulting in the loss of several lives. The following particulars are given by telegraph: A large stone brewery and several buildings surrounding It were demolished. At the residence of John Speneeley there was a large family reunion. Mrs. Waller, mother of John Waller, one of the party, was instantly killed. The rest of the Inmates of the boose miraculously escaped with only slight Injuries. The residence of Judge Cothren was also struck by the storm, and his mother, an aged lady, lulled. After wrecking Mr. Spenseley’s house, the cyclone lifted the house of Mr. Leonard from its foundation and shivered It to stoma In the air, carrying with it Mrs. Leonard, whose body was found about 1011 yards distant, mangled In a fearful manner. It next carried off tbe house of John Coleman, badly injuring Mr. Coleman, his two daughters and Tip Allen, who were In the house at tbe time. Benjamin Beunett’s house was totally destroyed, and Mrs. Bennett thrown over In a wood pile, escaping with but little injury. Tbe houses of James Prince and William Jacks were destroyed. At the brewery of C. Gellman tbe storm did the greatest amount of damage, carrying off the houses of Mr. Gellman and Mr. Adams, and badly Injuring a Miss Zimmer. The brewery building and barn connected therewith were totally demolished, and a number of valuable horses killed. The bouses situated In the summer-garden of John Jenck, opposite the brewery building, were destroyed, and Mrs. Myers and Mary Jenck were killed. Mr. Boban’s family, who lived a short distance from the gardens, were dangerously Injured, and Mrs. Bohan died about midnight. The house of Martin O’Dowd was reduced to ruins. Mr. Beardsley’s house and v,am were carried seven or eight rods from tbe foundations. William Cooking’s house was taken, and nothing left but a few pieces of the furniture. A school-house, about two and a ball miles east of the city, was carried off, with the teacher and scholars. Two of the scholars, a brother and sister, were killed and the teacher slightly injured. The teacher, while holding one of the smaller scholars in her arms, was thrown several rods. Most of tbe children are unhurt

Mhodul Point, Wis., May 25. The storm originated twelve miles southwest of this city, doing no considerable damage until within one mile of here, when It struck H. Phillips’ barn and carried it away, killing five cows. After leaving the Town of Mineral Point It divided, and came together again six miles east of here, In the Town of Waldwick. It swept everything before it for a distance of twelve miles, where It again divided. Mr. Kramer’s place was totally destroyed, and the next was Powers’. About fifty houses and barns were destroyed from here to Adam&ville. Between this place and Darley’s store, three miles, six persons were killed, and the school-house, church and store demolished. Moscow Is also In ruin, and four persons killed. Two families are blown away, and as yet nothing has been heard of them. From there to Perry Is eight miles, and nothing Is left where the tornado struck. Perry Is carried away. The damage from hero to Perry is estimated at- SIOO,OOO, and fifteen lives lost The Welch settlement, ten miles southwest, is completely demolished. Several received Injuries that will prove fatal, it is feared. Six funerals took place In this city on yesterday. Madison, Wis., May 24. Tbe tornado which passed over this place last night proves to have been more widespread and destructive than was thought last night The storm came from the direction of the southwest, passing through a section of the State where no telegraphic communications are established, hence details of tbe great destruction and loss of life are meagre. Enough has been received, however, to show that the devastation and sacrifice of property and life has been appalling. In the vicinity of Primrose, twenty-five miles southwest of this city, from there through Mount Vernon to Paoll, the storm seems to have done widespread damage. From twenty-five to thirty barns and farm-houses were blown down, some of them utterly destrpyed and the debris carried off 'before the mighty avalanche of wind, some of it falling twelve and fifteen miles away, one shutter of a bouse falling in Lake Mendota, near this city. Some twelve or eighteen persons are known to be killed, and large numbers severely Injured. Graphic yet terrible descriptions are fiven of the terrible effect of tbe tornado. earns and wagons are reported taken from roads, and carried in tbe air and dashed to the grouud. At Dr. George Fox’s, near Oregon, two valuable horses in a pasture were taken up 100 feet In the air, carried fifty rods, and dashed to the earth, killing them Instantly. The storm came from the direction of Mineral Point, where it wrought such terrible damage, raised from the ground seven or eight miles southwest of Madison, and again struck the earth near Fort Atkinson, northeast of here. Near Primrose and Paoll the storm seemed from a half to a mile in width, and swept everything before ft, mowing down trees, fences, barns, houses and shrubbery as if with a scythe.

Babbinoton, 111., Mar 28. The peculiarities of the tornado, which swept through this town last Thursday do not seem to be appreciated by any of the correspondents. The formation of the great rolling cloud, which expression fitly describes the tornado, was seen by a witness who explains that it was in reality a joining together of two clouds approaching from opposite directions, and that neither one had any danger in it until joined with the other. It seems to have kept almost a uniform height throughout the whole of its career; that is, after it struck the house five miles from here. Before that time it had been gradually dropping toward the earth, but after that it maintained substantially the same height all the way. This is very clear from the fact that in the low places, bogs and marshes through which it passed it scarcely touched anything, whereas, when it came to a rise of mound, or a hill of any kind, its force was terrific. The appearance of the country over which it passed is most extraordinary. There is what might be called a furrow about 200 feet wide, perfectly black, and having not a fixed thing resting In it. That is, the turf was torn up and thrown either out of the track or forward some distance. The fences were taken bodily, excepting here and there a few posts. The hedges were stripped perfectly bare. Most of the trees were torn up by the roots, except in a few cases where they were small. In these cases the Insignificance of the object saved it. The blackness which characterizes this swath or furrow of 200 feet is due to the fact that the whole of the soil around aboui, is of black loam after a few inches have been cut off.

All through the path of the wind, and for as much as a half a mile on each side, the ground is sprinkled with various kinds of sticks and lumber, and, curiously enough—a thing which cannot easily be explained—all these are stuck in the ground and are upright. One can see a fence-board and the timber of a barn standing side by side upright, and to look at a field over which the storm passed gives one the idea that some one has gone over it and driven stakes in it This appearance is found from the beginning to the end of the career of the cloud. The cloud made some curious discriminations which are hard to explain. For Instance, at Braun’s place it annihilated the house itself, and even went so far as to tear out the stone lining of the cellar. And yet, wHhln five feet of that place, it left the floor of a kitchen and it took one of the beams out of the barn and brought it forward some 100 feet, throwing it down near where the house had stood, though the barn was some distance further on in the direction that the cloud was going. Again, it killed almost every living thing with which it came in contact, but made a curious exception of Braun’s horses. It'smashed up his hogs, and sheep, and poul/fry, but the horses were comparatively uninured, and will recover. It is most remarkable o a person living here to see the path picked out by the cloud from the time it left Elgin until the time it disappeared. Its full force struck but one house, though others were sohtowhat affected. And vet it was almost impossible. to pick out a straight line through the town without encountering at least a dozen residences. Probably a most ingenious man could not have laid down a path for such a tornado and bad it strike only one house, as this one did. If it had veerea to the right or left a hundred feet, it would have taken at least a dozen places. . Three persons were killed in this vicinity.

Six hundred and eiqhtt rats were around the granary and outbuijdir.es of a Minnesota farmer the other day. The New England cotton and print mills are losing nearly as much by fire this year aa by Treasurers.— Hawk-Eye.