Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1900 — OFFER CHILD AS A SACRIFICE. [ARTICLE]

OFFER CHILD AS A SACRIFICE.

lowa Parents Are Driven to Insanity Through Religious Zeal. Driven to insanity by religious zeal, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Spencer, residing on a farm six miles northwest of Lovilla, lowa* became imbued with the idea that they had been called upon by God to sacrifice their infant child. They accordingly removed its clothing, aud in its nude condition held the infant out in the yard until it was frozen to death. The father’s hands and feet werd badly frozen. The Sheriff was notified, and after a hard struggle Spencer was overpowered, four men being necessary to manage him. He is a prosperous farmer, and has always been regarded as one of-the prominent men in the community. There are three other children in the family. BIG VEIN OF KAOLIN FOUND. Prospectors Locate It Five Miles East of Custer, S. D. W. R. Bond aud F. M. Hughes of Custer, S. D., have discovered on the southern slope of Harney Peak, five miles east of Custer, a forty-foot ledge of the finest quality of onyx and kaolin,, or China clay. The vein of clay is fifteen feet wide and the quality is said to' be the best. It is used for the manufacture of fine porcelain. This is said to be the largest body of kaolin in the United States. BIG FIRE IN KANSAS TOWN. Business Portion of Winfield Destroyed, Leaving Many Homeless. Fire destroyed the business portion of Winfield, Kan., and threatened the city building aud county jail. The Hackney block, a three-story building erected at a cost of $125,000, and its entire contents were burned, and a hundred people were made homeless. The Arlington Hotel was destroyed, and the Rutter livery barn was burned with ail the horses. Court Sustains Monnett. The Ohio Supreme Court handed down a partial decision in the cases of Attorney General Monnett against the Standard Oil Company and its constituent companies which holds the Valentine-Stewart anti-trust act to be constitutional in so far as it appears to the eases passed upon. Over $14,000,000 Coined. The monthly statement of the Comptroller of the Currency shows that the •coinage executed at the mints of the United States during January, 1900, amounted to $14,053,431, as follows: Gold, $11,515,000; silver. $2,364,161; minor coins, $174,270. Two Perish at East Grand Forks. Fire in East Grand Forks, N, D„ destroyed'. the Kelly A Gillum saloon aud burned to death W. I). Kelly, one of the proprietors, aud D. .1. MeAdarn, one of the oldest residents and former Mayor of the city. • Expires on a Train. Capt. A. W. Gillman, superintendent of the Goodrich Transportation Company, and one of the most Widely known men on the lakes, died very suddenly of apoplexy on a Chicago and Northwestern train as it was approaching Manitowoc. Feels that He Cannot Interfere. Tn ariswer~to the appeal made to him" by the Queen of Holland to use his influence to stop the South African war, Pope Leo has sent a sorrowful reply that he is unable to offer his offices for the cessation of hostilities. Costly Fire in New York. In New York tire broke out in the seven-story building occupied by the Hey wood Bros. & Wakefield Company, chair manufacturers. One hundred aud fifty men escaped in safety from the building. The loss is about $300,000. New Ball League Formed. A ■ new baseball association has been formed called the American Association, which is to work in harmony with aud under protection of the National League. Four clubs have already been selected to play in this association. Marshall Field’s Niece Weds. Miss Minna Field, daughter of the late Henry Field of Chicago and niece of Marshall Field, eloped with Preston Gibson of Washington and was married in New Y'ork City without the consent or her mother, Mrs. Thomas Nelson Page. Fire ot Bella ire, Ohio. The large electric plant of the Bellaire, Ohio, steel works, owned by the National Steel Company, was burned to the ground aud the electrical machinery was wholly destroyed. Goebel Is Shot Down. Senator William E. Goebel was shot in the street at Frankfort, Ky. The wound is not fatal.