Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1899 — FOOD GROWS SCARCE. [ARTICLE]

FOOD GROWS SCARCE.

A SHORTAGE FEARED IN TWO ALASKA TOWNS. i, No Danger of Starvation, but Exercise of Economy Necessary —Peril of River Boats-Firemen Killed by Falling Masonry, Advices from the lower Yukon river indicate a scarcity of’supplies at Rampart City and Fort Hamilton, but there is ho fear of a serious shortage. The stock of butter and sugar will need careful husbanding. There are about 200 people at Fort Hamilton, and about 2,000 at Rampart City. The general health is excellent. The steamer Monarch has a big cargo of supplies at Dahl river. Steamers Rideous, Evans and Mary E. Graff also have through cargoes aboard. There is some fear for the safety of a number of river steamers when the ice goes out next spring. Among them are the Herman, Dawson City, Governor Stoneman and Yukoner. They lie between Andreafski and the mouth of the Tanana. Five vessels whose names are not known are said to be stranded in Aphoon Pass, the principal mouth of the Yukon delta. The greater part of the ice goes out this way. *The crews of these vessels are removing from them everything possible in anticipation of their being crushed by the ice. CI’ACK BANK VAULT. Ingenious Robbers Use Trolley Wires to Operate Drill. Cracksmen gained an entrance to the vault of the Oberlin, Ohio, Banking Company between midnight and 3 o’clock the other morning. The robbers connected the trolley wire of the Cleveland, Berea, Elyria and Ohio Electric road, which runs directly past the bank, to a drill machine to operate on the outside door of the vault. After forcing this door they inserted a big charge of powder and blew the interior'of the vault into a thousand pieces. The walls on all sides were badly shattered, plaster was torn off and the vault doors were blown over twenty feet out of their settings. However, no money was , secured, as the robbers failed to get into the big safe, evidently for lack of time. The papers and books inside the vault were damaged beyond redemption. THREE FIREMEN KILLED. Buried Under Debrie While Working in Ruins in Philadelphia. At 3 o’clock the other morning, while a dozen firemen were at work in the ruins of the store of the Emerson Shoe Company in Philadelphia, which was burned out at a big fire the night before, a mass of iron and stone crashed down from the upper floors, burying the men beneath it. Three of the firemen were killed. When the three men were first buried under the debris they answered the shouts of their comrades, but the answering cries soon ceased, and the unfortunates undoubtedly met death by suffocation. Five of the firemen were injured, two seriously, by the falling debrig. SWORD AND BIBLE TO PHILIP. Commodore Receives Prevents from Texas Sunday-School Children. A beautiful sword and Bible, purchased by the Sunday school children of Texas, were presented to Commodore John W. Philip, who commanded the battleship Texas during the war with Spain. The sword was made by the same firm who designed the Dewey sword and cost $3,500. The presentation was in approval of Commodore Philip’s public utterance after the Santiago engagement, acknowledging the sovereignty of Almighty God. The battleship Texas is at Galveston, commanded by Capt. Sigsbee, and all officers and men attended the ceremony. Express Agent’s Startling Discovery. The agent of the Adams Express Company at Baldwin, Ohio, upon instructions from the company, opened a box that had lain in the office undelivered for eleven months, to find that it contained a human body. The box was addressed to Dr. Emerick, who has not lived in Baldwin for a dozen years, and with whom communication has been lost. Agree Upon International Tribune. The Anglo-American commission has agreed upon the establishment of a permanent international court or tribunal, similar to the interstate commerce commission, for the adjustment of disputes that may arise from time to time affecting commerce and'transportation between the United States and Canada. Offers SIOO,OOO to a ‘ cliool. A Salina, Kan., man, whose name is withheld, has entered into an agreement with the Kansas Wesleyan University to endow that institution with SIOO,OOO. He offers to give the money in 1900, providing that at that time the university is free from debt and that it adds $25,000 to the endowment. Rare Brip-a-Brac Destroyed. The residence of Douglas Sherley, the former leader of Louisville’s fashionable set, was damaged by tire to the extent of about $12,000. The residence and furnishings, which were very costly, Mr. Sherley being a collector of rare bric-a-brac, were fully covered by insurance. Pipe Causes Fatal Explosion. One man was killed and five seriously injured in a powder explosion at Mossgrove, Pa. The victims were members of a construction gang and were blasting rocks near Mossgrove. It is supposed that a spark from a pipe ignited a keg of powder. Absorbed by the Smelter Trust. At Joplin, Mo., a deal was closed involving $2,000,000. « By it all of the Lanyon zinc smelters in the Kansas coal belt and natural gas belt pass into the hands of exGov. Flower and other New York capitalists and become a part of the smelter trust. Mardi Gras Parade Spoiled. The Rex parade in New Orleans was partly spoiled by the cold weather. The Com us parade in the evening w’as a brilliant affair, despite the fact that the participants were nearly frozen. A ball at the French Opera House followed. Addition to Ohio’s Capitol. The corner stone of the new $200,000 addition to the Ohio statehouse was laid the other day at Columbus. The stone was laid by Gov. Bushnell. J Killed by an Icicle. At Kansas City, U. G. Gibson, 28 years old, was instantly killed at the Rex mills by a large icicle falling upon him from the corn Are Of the building.

AMERICAN WHEAT IN SPAIN. First Shipment Since the War Received at Valencia. The lack of a commercial treaty with Spain, the former treaty having been terminated by the war, is not altogether preventing trade between the two countries, although American products are handicapped by an additional 20 per cent 'duty in Spanish ports owing to the lack of a treaty. Still, even under these conditions, United States Consular Agent Mertens at Valencia reports to the State Department that there is a great demand for American wheat. A cargo of 4,000 tons of red winter wheat which had just arrived there proved entirely satisfactory, and importers were willing to receive more. SUICIDE OF PRINCE ALFRED. Latest Reports Are that Queen Victoria's Grandson Killed Himself. It is now definitely known that Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg, grandson of Queen Victoria, committed suicide at Meran, Austria, whither he had been taken from Berlin and placed in a private sanitarium. The cause of the Prince’s removal from Berlin was a gambling scandal compromising him gravely. He shot himself in the head, the wound proving fatal after several days. It was given out by the family that the prince was suffering from brain trouble. Drinks that He May Die. Harry Slupisky, who had been employed lately at Bolthmann’s saloon in Clark avenue, St. Louis, chose an odd method of suicide the other night. After the place closed he went into the basement, tapped a cask of the oldest whisky in the house and proceeded to his death through a piece of hose pfrpe. When he had imbibed his full he tottered upstairs and fell over on his bed, where his lifeless body was found the next morning. Slupisky went there about six months ago. It is said he had a wife and child in East St. Louis. He was educated at Harvard University for the law, but later decided to become a minister, and for that calling he studied quite a while. Finally he married, his life was unhappy and ever since he had been drifting. Bad Fire in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, fire destroyed three sixstory business buildings on Market street and a number of smaller structures in the rear, entailing an aggregate loss little short of $400,000. The locality of the fire was only a few yards from Wanamaker’s big department store. New York Has a Big Fire. A five-story building at 625 Sixth avenue, New York, occupied by the Henry McShane Manufacturing Company, was wrecked by fire. Loss is about $40,000. Fireman Brennan was; injured by falling bricks. England Enters Protest. Lord Salisbury has sent a formal protest to the French and Italian Governments against the agreement -whereby Italy ceded a part of the Raheita coast in east Africa to France. Minnesota Officer’s Narrow Escape. Albert Berg, Secretary of State of Minnesota, narrowly escaped death at Washington through inadvertently taking an overdose of a patent medicine containing chloral. Chicago Journalist Dies in Paris. Thomas Burnside, formerly a Chicago newspaper writer, died At Paris, of brain and heart trouble. Death was hastened by excitement over an impending duel he was to fight. Burned to Death in Texas. During the last ten days twenty persons, sixteen of them children, have been burned to death in Texas, nearly all having their clothing set on fire at open hearths. Baltimore Firemen Injured. By the collapse of a wall during the progress of a small fire at the building of the Baltimore Barrel Company, Baltimore, Md., ten firemen were injured. Navy Yard Swept. Fire destroyed the great machine shops in the Brooklyn navy yard, causing a loss to the Government of between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. John G. Otis Gored by a Bull. Former Congressman John G. Otis was gored by a bull on his farm near Topeka, Kan. He received a dozen wounds. Elyria Hotel Scorched. The Hotel Topliff, in Elyria, Ohio, was damaged $2,000 by fire. The forty guests escaped in their night clothes. Death of Felix Faure. Felix Faure, president of the republic of France, died at Paris of apoplexy after an illness of three hours.