Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 58, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 March 1899 — THE MAINE MYSTERY. [ARTICLE]

THE MAINE MYSTERY.

DISCOVERY THAT MAY PLACE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT. Alleged Discovery of the Location of a Mine Switchboard at Havana by an Ohio Officer—Cleveland Hotel Destroyed by Fire. A Cincinnati paper prints a story that the location of the keyboard by which the Maine was blown up in Havana harbor has been found by an American engineer officer. The story is that Captain T. L. Huston of the volunteer engineers, who entered the service from Cincinnati and who had been assigned to the duty of cleaning out the fortifications of Havana, discovered in the gunroom of the Cuartel de Foerste a wooden box or hut, in which he found a gutta percha tube containing one large copper wire and several smaller Wires. He also found evidences of a keyboard having been torn away. Captain Huston confided his discovery to Warren J. Lynch, general passenger agent of the Big Four, who was visiting Havana, and said he was about to trace the wires to prove his theory that the Maine was exploded from that point. The wreck of the vessel can be seen from this gunroom not more than a hundred yards distant. The room itself was in a part of the prison to which access was only allowed to a few officers. FIRE IN CLEVELAND HOTEL. Sleeping Guests Aroused and Saved by the Police. The Brooklawn Hotel in Cleveland was partially destroyed by fire shortly after 5 o’clock the other morning. Over fifty people were asleep in the building when the fire broke out. A high wind was blowing and the flames had gained great headway when discovered by a policeman. The latter promptly ran through the building, awakening the guests. In many cases it was necessary to break in doors in order to arouse the sleepers. A panic ensued, but all the occupants finally escaped without injury. Several women were carried down the fire escapes by firemen. The origin of the fire is unknown. Loss about >IO,OOO. FIVE CHILDREN SUFFOCATED. Terrible Result of Lamp Explosion at Hutchinson, Kan. The home of John Moore at HutchinKan., was burned to the ground, the result of a lamp explosion, and his five children, ranging in age from 3 to 12 years, lost their lives. Firemen found the children lying side by side in their bed on the floor, all dead, but not badly burned. They had apparently been suffocated by smoke. The father, who slept in an adjoining room, was so badly frightened that he was unable to attempt a rescue. Mrs. Moore was away from home. India Adopts the Sugar Bill. The legislative council of India has adopted the countervailing sugar bill. The viceroy of India, Lord Curzon of Kedelston, expressed satisfaction at the unanimous feeling of the council on the subject of the bill. He said the- fullest inquiries had shown the necessity of urgency in the case, and he condemned the bounty system as being “a vicious expedient for selfish interests.” Coal Combine Completed. Pittsburg capital is about to figure in more combinations. Some of the biggest coal interests doing business at Cincinnati have been merged into one concern and a number of representative window glass manufacturers are about to consummate the proposed window glass trust if possible. The former combine has been completed, while the latter has been hanging fire. Many Miners Are Stranded. Miners who have arrived at Seattle from Copper river, Alaska, say that Gov. Brady has been requested to ask the Government to send a vessel to Copper river for the purpose of bringing home stranded prospectors. There are between 200 and 800 of these men who are without means to secure transportation. Many of them are suffering from scurvy. Engineer and Brakeman Killed. The southwestern limited on the Lake Shore road was wrecked at West Seneca, N. Y., by an ice-clogged switch. Engineer Henry S. Shattuck was killed and Brakeman George W. Roberts was severely injured. While the passengers were roughly shaken up, none was in- . jnred. “Apple King” la Dead. John M. Downey is dead at Sugar Lake, Mo., of brain fever, aged 60 years. He was known as the “apple king,” and was one of the proprietors of the Reece & Downey orchard, one of the largest in the country. Death of Orville B, Skinner. Orville B. Skinner, for several years traffic manager of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad, died at Cleveland, at .the age of 65 years. Mob Routed by Soldiers. In a riot at Laredo, Texas, over removing smallpox patients to the pest house, two men were killed, a woman and several of the rioters seriously injured. Report a Rich Copper Find. * Miners in from Blackfoot reservation report a rich strike of copper on Swift Current, eight miles above the town of St. Mary, Mont 2s Execution of Mrs. Place. Mrs. Martha Place was put to death in the electric chair at Sing Sing, N. Y. . Riot in Cuba’s Capital. A serious conflict between the police and people of Havana resulted in much shoot- . ing and clubbing. From thirty to fifty people were wounded, some seriously. Ajnong the injured is Police Captain Es- ; taitapeg, formerly a colonel in the Cuban , ■ Devastation by the Winds scnea of terrine windstorms swept Arkansas, doing an immense amount Of property damage and killing a number ; W persona

BMOKBBSS POWDER FOR NAVI. New Product Meets the Test of All Service Conditions. The Navy Department is ready to take whatever steps may be necessary in carrying out the provisions of the naval bill for the purchase of smokeless powder during the coming year. It is not intended to antagonize the commercial interests involved in this line of manufacture by throwing the whole burden of production upon the Government plants. The Government has a plant at Indian Head which, when completed, will turn out a maximum amount of about 3,000 pounds a day. But this will in no way compete with the private manufacturers. The navy now has a powder known to the profession as pyrocellulose, which is equal to, if not better than, the smokeless product used by foreign powers. The new powder, which has been tested by the navy under service conditions, has been so nicely adjusted to their requirements that it has increased their efficiency an average of 500 second feet. INDIANS IN A TEMPER. Fear of an Outbreak on Leech Lake Reservation. Michael Gogins, a well-known and conservative pine cruiser, says the Leech Lake, Minn., Indians are in a dirty temper and ready for any sort of deviltry. They have been holding councils two or three times a week and the proceedings are kept very quiet. The Indians’ grievance is based on a fear that after prospective pine sales are over they will still be in debt, something that has been known to happen before. Gogins says the Indians could muster in case of trouble fully 1,200 fighting men, nearly all armed. The Government has lately ordered the two companies of the Seventh infantry away from Fort Snelling, and the State now has no available military force except newly organized militia. MOTHER AND CHILD HIDDEN. John A. Barnes Is Granted a Divorce by a Cleveland Court. John A. Barnes, the husband of the second Mrs. Magowan of Trenton, N. J., obtained a divorce from her at Cleveland on the ground of willful absence. The wife put in no plea. This is the beginning of the last chapter in the kidnaping of little Beryl Barnes by Mrs. Barnes last November. The courts gave Barnes the custody of Beryl, but the child is still in the possession of the mother, who is in Montreal, whither sfee fled after her successful abduction of her daughter. Big Oil Deal on Foot. S. C. Rutan of Chicago, representing an English syndicate, claims that he has obtained an option on 100,000 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation, in the northern part of the Indian territory, in the recently discovered oil fields. Maj. Graham, an ex-officer of the British army and an English capitalist, is at the head of the syndicate. The capitalists back of it include many of the wealthiest men in England who have had experience in the European oil fields. Mr. Rutan says the present company, of which he is an official, has men back of it whose wealth would easily aggregate $250,000,000. It is independent of the Standard Oil Company, and expects to compete with that company not only in the markets of America but of Europe. Tank line steamers of 7,000 tons burden have been built and are in the hands of the company. They will run from Port Arthur and other gulf ports to European countries. It is claimed that the plan is practically certain to go through and that the steamers will be running within a few months. Seventeen wells are already in operation and the rigs for several more will be built as soon as the syndicate secured control. Bicycle Makers Combine. Makers of bicycles have arranged the details for the formation of a trade pool that will involve capital to the amount of $50,000,000. It is understood that ten of the leading makers of wheels have entered the combine and that several others will probably be persuaded to add their signatures to the agreement. A. G. Spalding of Chicago is credited with being the moving spirit in the proposed trust. With him are associated Col. A. A. Pope and R. Philip Gormully of the Gormully & Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Chicago. Attempts to form a bicycle trust have been many in the past, but all have been futile, primarily because the small manufacturers could neither be controlled nor eliminated. Whitney Heads a Big Trust. W. C. Whitney is the head and shoulders of an electric trust which has consolidated with the storage battery companies and will control the electric cabs of New York, build thousands of others, establish electric delivery wagon lines and omnibus routes, push the Holland submarine torpedo boat, build electric launches and ferryboats. The capital stock will be $100,000,600. Crimes of a Texan. Ed Beau, at Bleton, Texas, drove his wife from therr home through the principal street of the town at daylight, shot her down and then killed himself. He had stolen a shotgun from the hardware store of Wilson & Austin and fired the store leaving it. The store burned; the loss ;s $25,000, with $5,000 insurance. f portaman’s Park Sold. At 8:. Louis, under the foreclosure of a deed of trust, Sheriff Rohlmann sold at public auction the Sportsman’s Park and Club, Including the franchise held by the St. Louis Browns, to R. A. Gruner, a prominent lumber dealer and one of the club’s directors, for $33,000. Persia Settles Damage Claims. Under diplomatic pressure Persia has settled in full the claim of Dr. E. G. Wishard, an American missionary at Sfcinerau, whose house, with the connivance of soldiers, was robbed in June, 1898, of goods valued at 200 tomans (about $350). Riot in Hot Springs, Ark. One of the bloodiest combats which ever occurred in Hot Springs, Ark., took place the other afternoon at 4 o’clock. As a result of the fierce conflict five men are dead and another dangerously wounded. Mrs. Harold Frederic Dice. Mrs. Harold Frederic, widow of the well-known American correspondent and novelist, who died in London in October last, is dead of cancer. Oliver Provoet Hanged. Oliver Provost was hanged at Port Arthur, Ont. Provost murdered two French swine herders named Carrie and Delvin, Feb. 10, 1897. Peace Treaty Signed. The Queen Regent at Madrid has signed the treaty of peace between Spain and UH V«HvU Dl-MU-B.