Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 September 1897 — WESTERN. [ARTICLE]

WESTERN.

William Solomon shot and killed Ed Stutsman during a quarrel at Petersburg, Ind. J. R. Hamlin, a commission broker, formerly of Chicago, was found dead in a bathroom of a St. Louis hotel. The buggy and team with which C. A. Norton of Durand, HL, escaped have been found in the southern outskirts of Madison, Wis. On account of the Nashville exposition the Commercial Association of Chicago has abandoned the project of holding a carnival-Chicago Day, Oct. 9. A. Vanatta is dead and F. Morrison and E. Kohn are in a dangerous condition at Willshire, Ind., as a result of swallowing a great quantity of pills on a wager. Bishop Messmer of the diocese of Green Bay has written a letter condemning the grand ball which was the closing feature of the Wisconsin -State convention of Catholic Foresters. The Democrats of Colorado have decided against fusion with any other party and nominated John A. Gordon for Supreme Court Judge. They indorsed Bryan and free coinage at 16 to 1. The heat has been intense throughout different sections of Missouri during the past week or more, and this, combined with the scarcity of moisture, is drying up the corn and causing suffering among cattle. The Spokesman-Review has weather crop reports from all sections of Eastern Washington and Idaho. From nearly all points come reports of weeping skies and -sodden fields. Continued'Tains are bleaching the grain and injuring wheat in the shock.

The head-on collision on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe proves the worst disaster that has occurred on that system in many years. Ten people ■were killed outright or soon died of their injuries, and fifteen others were more or less seriously injured. After the close of the session of the. letter carriers’ convention, in San Francisco, a caucus of second-class city delegates was held and resolutions asking for reforms in the service were adopted. The ladies who accompanied the delegates from the East visited the mint and the Academy of Sciences; ~ Hot, dry winds in lowa have checked the growth of belated corn, and in some places have actually ruined it, while the early corn has been hastened to maturity. Those who cut their late corn now will secure the larger measure of feeding value of the crop. The drought has seriously affected the potato crop and pastures. The annual convention of the National Railway Master Blacksmiths’ Association opened at the Leland Hotel in Chicago, Tuesday morning with an attendance of over 100 members. The association is organized for the purpose of discussing and disseminating information respecting the best methods of applying iron and steel to railway and car construction. Late corn near St. Joseph, Mo., has been seriously damaged by the prolonged drought and the crop will be much shorter than expected. Early corn is said to be out of danger, but many fields of latte corn will be good only-tor fodder. The hot, dry weather has also injured the fruit crop and pastures are bm-ning up, with stock water scarce. The drought is the most severe for many years. Charles Sayers of Chicago went to his home Thursday night and found that supper was not ready, He upbraided his wife. William, the elder son, took the part of his mother, and the father struck the boy on the head with a lighted lamp. Vedella, the 20-year-old daughter, made a heroic attempt to save her brother from the father’s violence. Her clothes caught fire and she died of burns. Sayers was arrested. A member of the Nebraska Board of Agriculture, who has returned from an

extended trip through the State, makes this report as to the result of his trip, and figures have ben prepared which show that there are 100,000,000 bushels of «ld corn yet in the hands of the farmers of the State; 50,000,000 bushels of old corn in cribs in the State; 250,000,000 bushels of new corn safe from bad weather or frost and assured to the producer, whatever may happen to the late corn; from 50,000,000 to 75,000,000 bushels of late corn, which has been injured to some extent by the late hot weather, much of which, however, will be saved if rain comes to the State within a few days; and 75,000,000 bushels of wheat, rye, oats, barley and flax. This makes a total of 500,000,000 bushels of grain raised by the farmers of Nebraska this year, allowing for 25,000,000 bushels of late corn to be saved out of the total acreage. It is estimated further that of this crop there will be consumed in Nebraska 150,000,000 bushels, leaving 350,000,000 bushels to be shipped out of the State during the next twelve months. The profit to the railroads for moving this grain will be $10,000,000. > Friday noon wheat was in good demand on the Chicago Board of Trade at the start at about %c improvement over Thursday’s closing price for December and lc for September. For a supposedly defunct deal September Went through some surprising and it gave a good example of its galvanized style of agility by jumping to $1 within a minute or two of the opening. December first went through a little of its parallel bar exercise, swinging itself around so swiftly that jt was difficult at times to see whether it was head up or head down. That was merely the preliminary to its grand star performance of climbing up the backs and over tire heads of the bears, who flung up their hands in attempts to stop its reaching the dollar mark. From 98%c to 98Hc to begin with it rose to 98%c, turned around and went back again to 98%e. Then it dropped to 97%c and rose from that in a gradual way to 97%c. From the latter point to 99%c was the work of about twenty minutes, and those fluctuations were all within the first two hours of the session. Chicago received 269 cars, only twelve of them contract. Minneapolis and Duluth receipts were 496 cars, against 1,143 the corresponding day of year before. Thos. W. Keene, the eminent tragedian, is now in the second week of his engagement at McVicker’s Chicago Theater. Mr. Keene’s engagement so far has proved very successful. The audiences have increased nightly, and Mr. Keene is to be Congratulated upon the strength of his company and the manner in which he has staged and costumed all of his plays. It has been said by some that the legitimate drama is on the wane. This is not so. It is on the eve of a great revival, and to-day there are more heatergoers in the United Spates than there ever have been. This fact, strange to say, comes from the vaudeville and cheap theater craze. When the continuous performances were inaugurated they were of the straight variety order, given by members of that branch of the-profession. Gradually little sketches were introduced; then again, some actors and actresses were enlisted from the legitimate ranks and introduced a little longer plays. Now you go into one of these theaters and you will see the same audiences that were accustomed to patronize the variety show listening attentively to plays and selections given by good artists. The people’s tastes are becoming elevated aud their intellect wants something better than the ■skirt dance or an acrobatic turn. Thea-'ter-goers will thank Tom Keene for his tenacity in upholding and sticking to the legitimate drama, which will never die as long as it has such a talented exponent as the above named artist.