Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 January 1902 — Page 2

WEEKLY REPUBLICAN. «EO. E. MARSHALL, Publisher. RENSSELAER, - - INDIANA,

GIRL WAS A BURGLAR

CONVICTED IN COURT AT WEST HURLEY, N. Y. : ' ... . f 1 Seven teen-Year-Old Maiden Goes to SKiV Honae of Refuge, but Refuses to Kx--1 poae Her Accomplices - Life Insuri ance la an Asset in Bankruptcy. The mystery surrounding a long series of thefts in and around the mountain hamlet of West Hurley, N. Y., has been »*rtly solved, and Jennie Green, a 17-Year-old girl, has been sentenced to a term of three years in the house of refuge •t Hudson. Jennie Green was one of the prettiest girls in West Hurley and one of the most popular. All the young men in the village were her admirers, but the held her head hifeli and kept them mil at a distance. The burglaries had continued for months. In each instance entrance to the building had been effected in a way which shewed that the work ,was done by inexperienced hands and probably was that of somebody in the tillage. The officers were puzzled when they found a clew which led to Jennie Green as one of the thieves, and they could hardly believe their eyes when they found a quantity of the stolen property in her home. The girl was arrested. iThe trial took place before Justice of the Peace Barton and a jury. The evidence was conclusive of her guilt, but there was every reason to believe that she had Hot been alone in the thefts, and the authorities expected to get the rest of the gang through her confession. But she 2 tefused tar say a word that- would betray her confederates] She was found guilty of burglary, and in view of her youth .was sent, not to prison, but to the house of refuge.

STOLE FROM HIS EMPLOYERS. Young Grocery Clerk Escapes Prosecution —Cannot Endure Disgrace. For over a year Julius F. Yaeger, Jr., •ged 26 years, a trusted employe of the grocery firm of George E. Gelihnrt & Brother, in St. Louis, stole from his employers, with whom he lived. On complaint of the firm he was arrested, and he returned to them all the money he had taken, amounting to $2,230, and his employers refused to prosecute him. When his sweetheart, a Miss Ulrich, became aware of what he had done, she refused to see him. Smarting under the disgrace he committed suicide by hanging himself in his father’s barn at Oakville, St. Louis County. LIFE INSURANCE NOT EXEMPT. Judge Jenkins Makes an Important Ruling Regarding Bankrupts. Judge Jenkins of the United States Court of Appeals ia Milwaukee has decided that life Insurance policies issued under plan become a portion of the estate of a bankrupt, and must be surrendered to creditors. The ruling is new, and will apply in hundreds of cases. It was handed down in the bankruptcy proceedings of David Welling of Chicago, and reverses a decision byJudge Kohlsaat. BOUND AND BURNED TO DEATH. Thieves Rob Ohio Railway Employe \ and Cruelly Take His Life. \ Robbers attacked Michael Sweeny, who Ss in charge or a signal sliahty on the tshurg and Western Railroad, near Girard, Ohio, and after binding him went through his pockets, taking his pay, and then set fire to the shanty. A passing crew heard his cries for help and,attempted to rescue him, but were too iate to save his life. Mail Robbery Is Reported. A railway mail robbery between Springfield, Mass., and Boston has been reported to the postal authorities at Washington by Postmaster Kiuner of West Springfield, who hag also notified the United States inspectors at Boston. Conductor A. B. Bartholomew of West Springfield while signaling near Rochdale, Mass., found hundreds of letters along the tracks. Suidide’s Identity Established. The man who committed suicide in a hotel at Hamilton, Ohio, two months ago has been identified. He is James Dolan, a street car conductor of Dayton, Ohio. , Ilis brother, who identified the body, said that he must have committed suicide because he was threatened with locomotor ataxia. Kills His Wife with ail Ax. George Ilnkes, a Huntington, W. V.i., turfman, fatally assaulted his wife with an ax, carving her head and face to an unrecognizable mass. Her skull was penetrated half a dozen times, lie escaped on a freight train. Widow Is Set Free. At Plattsburg, Mo., Mrs, Addle B. Richardson was acquitted of the charge of having murdered her husband, Frank B. Richardson, a wealthy merchant, who was slain as he entered his home Christmas eve, 1000. Pittsburg Banks to Unite. Four national bank* in Pittsburg, with an aggregate capital of $1,700,000 and a surplus of $435,000. are, according to reliable reports, to be merged into one financial institution under a national charter. Gen. H. C. Hobart Dies. Gen. Harrison C. Hobart died at the Soldiers' Home at Milwaukee. He was the sole audvivor of the hand of men who tunneled out of Libby prisqn and escaped to the Union lines during the Civil War. Earthquake Startles Monnd City. Two distinct abocka of earthquake were felt in Bt. Louis and in many or the towns in the immediate vicinity of the city. The first shock was light. The second waa more severe. It awakened persons who bad slept through the first •bock. Company Is Found Responsible. The coroner’s jury found the New York Central Railroad responsible for tunnel d Isa Stef and charged officials with faulty management. Engineer and fireman of

FROM THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE EARTH

COULDN’T BEAR DEFEAT. William H. Hoflfmeister Kills Himself in a St. Louis Hotel. •William H. Hoffmeister of St. Louis, ex-supreme recorder of the Legion of Honor, committed suicide at the Planters’ Hotel in that city, by shooting himself with a revolver. The only witness to the suicide was George M. Ackley of Kansas City. Mr. Hoffmeister was defeated for re-election as supreme recorder of the Legion of Honor by C. B. T. White, and an entirely new supreme council was elected after a sensational contest. One feature of the struggle was the arrest of Otto A. Overbeck, candidate for supreme chancellor, the highest officer iu the order, leader of the oppm, sition to the administration. Mr. Overbeck was arrested by a detective as he was entering the Holland building on his way to the meeting where the election was to be held. At the Four Courts a complaint was lodged against Mr. Overbeck for carrying a concealed weapon. Frieuds of the Overbeck ticket, however, procured Mr. Overbeek's release on bond and hurried with him to the meeting hall, where they arrived in time to vote, his one vote being necessary to win. KILLED IN BATHHOUSE. St. Louis M ill lona ire'MtTrde red -After Being Robbed. ~X.' Dean Cooper, the millionaire treasurer of the Graham Paper Company, died in St. Louis as the result of an assault, in which his skull was fractured while lie was in the cooling room of the Vista Turkish bathhouse. William Strother, the negro attendant at the bathhouse, who was on duty and who informed Mr. Cooper’s family of the assault, is held as a prisoner at the Dayton street police Station, A diamond ring valued at sl,500 and a diamond pin worn by Mr. Cooper when he entered the batli were found in the basement of the bathhouse. They had been concealed under the flooring in a crevice above the top of a joist. A sledge hammer bearing fresh blood stains was found in the basement soon after the police had boon summoned. The negro declares his innocence.

INDIANS TO QUIT TERRITORY. Creeks, Disgusted with Dawes Commission, Will Leave Oklahoma. There is a movement on foot among the full-blood and half-breed Creek Indians to sell all their, lands and leave Oklahoma. They say they are tired of the long-drawn-hut methods of the Dawes commission and the Interior Department and that they see only starvation for the future. Their game is all gone. The law preventing the Indians froth leasing their land for more than a year leaves them penniless. They are now -preparing -a petition to Congress as a last resort. On account of the drouth the crops were a failure and many of them must depend on charity. % DETECTIVES GUARD THE SHOPS. Imported Men Refuse to Work for the B.& O. Company iu IndianaFifty men were imported by the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railway Company to take the places of strikers who went out at Washington, Ind. The men were secured through a St. Louis employment agency and were hired at $1.50 a day. When the new men arrived and learned that a strike was on about twenty-five of them refused to go to work in the machine shops. Detectives are guarding the shops and yards. Suicide Does Not Void Policy. In Kansas City the Court of Appeals decided in the ca§c of Fannie Brassfield vs. The Knights of the Maccabees that fraternal insurance orders must operate under the laws of Missouri. The State law provides that it shall he no defense that the insured committed suicide. Brassfield committed suicide and the Muccubevs refused to pay the policy. Admits Theft of $25,000. , In a statement made to the selectmen of Wellesley, Mass., former Town Treasurer Albert Jennings, who was arrested on a charge of forging a note for $5,000, admits that he is guilty both of forgery f.nd embezzlement aud that the amount involved is $25,000. / Chinese Kill Missionaries. Bishop Berman of. the Western Mongolian Mission has written that Fathers Van Merhaeghe and Bougaerts were massacred at Pingle, Province of Kansu, by a hand of soldiers and Mohammedans, who escaped across the Yel|ow river to the Ordos country. Stop Swearing In Saloons. The saloonkeepers of Toledo, Ohio, held a meeting recently, at which a resolution was unanimously adopted requesting proprietors and bartenders not to use profane language in their saloons and to post notices forbidding patrous to swear on the premises.

New llentl for North wcatern. After an extensive search of the academic field the board of trustees of Northwestern University at Evanston. 111., have 4 elecfod Prof. ' Edmund J. James, now of the University of Chicago, to the presidency of the institution. High ty Year-Old Woman Itnrned. Mrs. Dorothy Hoffman, 80 years of age. was burned to death at her home in Ironton. Ohio. She walked near an open grate firo and her dress ignited. Being alone and unaided, she was fatally burned, living but a short time. Change in Chinese Attitude. The Emperor'WChin a granted an audience to the minister* of foreign powers, nn j. for the first time in history, received them as represetitatlves' of monarch* equal in rauk to himself. Marriea His Btcpmother. A few months ago Frederick Handers, middle aged, of Bremen, Ind., Married the young daughter of a neighbor., Han

ders’ handsome Bon fell in love with his pretty stepmother, the latter reciprocating. The husband and father learned the secret of the young people and procured a divorce. Later he accompanied his son and former wife to the county clerk's office, where the young couple w r ere wedded. TRIES TWO WAYS OF SUICIDE. Pennsylvania Farmer Badly Hurt by Explosion Hangs Himself. Determined to die, Lawrence Moridz, a farmer; aged 37, residing near Erie, Pa., showed woqderful courage in his method of committing suicide. After sending his family to the city and bidding them an affectionate farewell he took a package of blasting powder out into a field to a rock pile. He placed the explosive under a pile of stones and, sitting down on top, he touched a match to the powder. The explosion blew off his left hand and injured him otherwise, but the injuries were not fatal. With blood streaming from a dozen wounds he ran to the barn and crawled up into the haymow. Here he fastened a rope about his neck and to a beam and jumped off. The fall broke his neck. LIVE HIGH ON “QUEER” MONEY. Californian and Handsome Young Wife Accused of Counterfeiting. After two years of high living at. their fine residence in Fruitvale, San Francisco, Ulysses G. Bair and his pretty young wife have been placed in jail on the charge of counterfeiting. At their house was found a complete counterfeiting outfit and spurious coin of the face value of S7O, said to be the best imitation of genuine coin ever seen there. It is charged that Bair and his wife have put in circulation thousands of counterfeit dollars in the last two years. Bair frequented the race tracks and admits having won thousands- of good dollars through the medium of his bad ones. LYNCHED FOR HORSE STEALING. Sioux Indian, Fresh from Jail, for Swapping Animals. John Yellow Wolf, a Sioux Indian who was released from the Deadwood, S. D., jail recently, was lynched for horse stealing while oh the way to his home on the Ilosebud reservation. When Yellow Wolf started for .the agency he Wps given a worthless old horse and saddle. Below Rapid City he turned the old horse loose and caught a young horse out of a pasture on which to complete the, journey, lie was overtaken by a number of men, and was later found dangling to a cottonwood tree near White River. Yellow Wolf had served several terms in the Deadw r ood jail for various offenses.

Accident to Steamer. Captain Jones of the White Star tine steamer Bovie, which arrived in New York Liverpool, reports that he passed the Anchor Liner Astoria, in latitude 44:47 degrees north, longitude 53:47 degrees west, displaying the signal “Met with accident, floating obstruction.” # The Astoria made other signals, which were not seen until too late to decipher. Flames Cause Havoc in Columbus. A four-story briek building at Spring and Capital streets, Columbus, Ohio, occupied by Samuel Stevens, wholesale grocer; E. B. Robins & Co., and Zinn, Judkins & Co., wholesale hatters, and John Ilayes & Co.,'jobbers in leather, was gut 4 ted by fire, entailing a loss estimated at about $200,000, practically covered by insurance. Big Crcnniery Trust Formed. Charles 11. I’atison and John A. Parks of the Kansas creamery trust have swung the deal they have been workin'g on for the organization of a gigantic trust to take in all the large creameries of the country. The new corporation is to be known as the National Creamery Company and will have a capital of $18,01)0,000. Drop Dayton Poison Charges. The grand jury at Dayton, Ohio, because of lack of evidence, ignored the case of Mrs. Mary Witwer, who was charged with poisoning her sister, Mrs. Pugh. The case attracted considerable attention last fall because of the allegation that the deaths of a number of persons were caused by Mrs. Witwer. Three Shot Dead in Feud. Three men are dead and four wounded, one fatally, as the result of a gathering of hostile clans to attend a murder trial at Belleville, Texas. The man fatally wounded is the one who was to bo arraigned for taking human life, while two of the killed were relatives of his first victim. Two Farmer* Killed in Fight. In a fight near Taylorsville, Ky., Tkos. Jewell shot and killed Nathan Bruner nnd his son John, and slightly wounded David Bruner, another son. Jewell says the Bruners, with a man named Price attacked him and be was forced to shoot' in self-defense. Gigantic Steamship Trust. Evidence is accumulating to show the formation of a gigantic transatlantic steamship pool, taking in thirty lines, all British or American. German, French, Holland and Scandinavian bonts are not included in the proposed combine. Battle in Panama Harbor. Columbian insurgents surprised thn government forces in the harbor of Panama, burned and stink the Lautaro, killed Gen. Allen apd many of his followers and scattered the survivors. Colored Official Is Killed. John E. Bush, colored, receiver of the United States land office at Littlo Rock, Ark., was'assassinatcd at his home. The assassin escaped. * Lorn for Jtlchmond Grocers. Gates & Brown, wholesale grocers at Richmond, Vs., were burned out. Loss SBO,OOO, covered bj insurance.

NEWSBOYS IN A RIOT. Union and Nonunion Forces Argue with Fists and Brickbats. A riot occurred at Fifteenth and F'arnam streets, Omaha, between union and non-union venders of newspapers, in which sixty newsboys were engaged. The fight was being desperately waged and many small combatants showed cuts and bruises when the patrol wagon arrived. All who could not escape were taken to the station. The fray was brought on by a placard on which a newsboy had daubed in shoe blacking a request that certain papers be boycotted. The union's displeasure was directed toward a St. Louis and a Chicago paper, which had raised the newsboys’ price from to 4 cents a copy. The small standard bearer excited the ire of F. C. Smith, 23 years old, captain of the non-union clan, and the row stanted. “Mogy” Bernstein, known as the “king of the newsboys," appeared just as his unionist followers were being overcome by their opponents with the bulky Smith at their head. Mogy soon turned the tide of battle, and each union lad was sitting astride of his foe when the police arrived. MOTHER AND SON WHIPPED. Alleged Mistreatment of aYonng Wife Arouses Missouri Town. G. Xi. Huckleberry, _a...photographer of Odessa, Mo., and his mother, Mrs. WTBT Huckleberry, were whipped with rawhides the other night by about seventyfive of the leading men and women of the town. Huckleberry is about 22 years of age and was married recently to a young woman connected with one of the best known familiesof Johnston County, Mo. lie is reported to have abused his wife, and his mother, it is charged, has several times taken part in the rows. Finally Huckleberry threatened his wife’s life, which caused one of the neighbors to swear out a warrant for his arrest. Two policemen were taking Huckleberry before a justice of the peace, his father and mother accompanying them, when the officers were overpowered by -the mob. The'young man was stripped to his shirt, and the lash was laid on his back about fifty times. His mother was punished with similar chastisement. ROBBERS ESCAPE WITH SIB,OOO. Jonas McCune of Columbus, Ohio, Despoiled of Government Bonds. The police department of Columbus, Ohio, has been notified that SIB,OOO in government bonds had been stolen from the residence of James McCune. Mr. McCune lives in the extreme eastern part of the residential district of the city, which, because of the imperfect manger in whidh it is lighted, has become a fruitful field for thieves. No trace of the burglars has been found. Mr. McCuue said that he is not worried much over the loss of the bonds. He is very anxious, however, to recover the other papers, including his will, which are very valuable to him, but to. no one else. Great Landslide at Juneau. An enormous landslide occurred in the basin above Juneau, Alaska. It is stated the slide was 1,700 feet in width. Thousands of tons of rock and dirt tumbled from the mountain above the Last Chance Mining Company's flume and completely demolished it for a long distance. Fortunately no people were injured. Runaway Train Kills Four. Four men were instantly killed on the log railroad of the Lackawanna Lumber Company at Cross Fork, Fa. The men were loading logs cfn a car when a runaway train came down the incline road and crashed into the car upon which the men were. Kansas Commander Ousted. The executive committee of the Kansas G. A. H. ordered Martin Norton, the department commander, to vacate his office at once. The committee had been investigating charges preferred against Norton and sustained them in every particular. Body Found in a Reservoir. The body of W. C. Johnson was found in the city water works reservoir at Douglas, Wyo. Johnson disappeared several days ago, nud it is believed that he committed suicide while temporarily insane. Riot on a Steamer. News has been received that a riot broke out on the Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s steamer Columbia at Panama, and that several members of the crew were perhaps fatally, or at least dangerously, wounded. Armenians Fight Tnrks. Two armed Armenian bands have appeared at Sandjak, in the Mush district of Asiatic Turkey. In an encounter between the Armenians and a detachment of Turkish troops the latter lost an officer and two men killed. British Force Missing. Wessels’ command Of Boers cut np a patrol of fifty men belonging to the local town guard of Cradock, Cape Colony, on the Tarkastnd road. A few stragglers have returned. The remainder of the party are miaaing. • - Upholds Free Hchool Books. In Cleveland the Circuit Court dismissed the appeal of M. Vr Mooney, representing th# parochial school* of the Oath olic Church ki that city, who sought t</ restrain the distribution of free books to public school pupils. ' Denmark Wants to Bell. Denmark has signified her willingness to accept the offer of the Umted States for the three West Indian Islands, the price being between $3,000,000 and $4.000,000. To Crown Alfonso on May 17. Alfonso XIII. will be crowned King of Spain at Madrid on May 17, on his sixteenth birthdav.

DEATH OF 29 MINERS.

DUST EXPLOSION LEAVEB TRAIL DESTRUCTION. Horrible Catastrophe at Lost Creek, lowa—Wive* and Families of Entombed Workers * Cause a Panic at the Month of th* Pit. Twenty-nine miners were killed and eight seriously injured in an explosion at Lost Creek, lowa, and the workings of the mine are seriously -damaged by the fire which followed the explosion. Over 100 men were in the colliery at the time of the accident, but only those in one portion of the mine were cut off from escape. The accident occurred just at the noon hour and was what is known as a dust explosion. The miners had just fired their noon shots, one of which failed to operate as desired. The burning powder ignited the gas and the explosion followed. Debris was blown out of the shaft mouth over 200 feet in the air. The top works were so seriously damaged that it was some time before the rescue parties could go to the aid of the entombed miners.

Families at Pit Month. It was just 12:15 when a dull roar, coupled with a shock which could be felt for miles around, told of some grave accident at the mine. Within five minutes the ground surrounding the pit mouth was thronged with the wives and the families of the miners. Then as they stood around, not grasping the full import of what had occurred, from out of the pit mouth burst a shaft of flame, setting the top works on fire and rendering the work of rescue Impossible. A panic immediately followed. Many of the women, who did not know in what part of the mine their husbands Jhqd been working, ran frantically through the groups of men who were gathered together excitedly discussing means of rescue, Bome_hunting a familiar face, only to be told after half an hour’s search that the bread winner of the family and the head of their household was somewhere in those workings from which vicious puffs of flame were being spouted forth. Several women had to be restrained from leaping into the mouth ol the pit even before the fire was under control, and the physicians who had been summoned from all the near-by towns were busy immediately upon their arrival in attending to the women, who, frenzied by their grief, were on the verge of losing their senses.

Rescue Parties Have Difficulty. It was 3 o’clock before the rescue parties were able to enter the mine, and when finally the cages were riggeib the fire under control and they were lowered into the ruined workings they found at every step charred bodies of the men who had been killed by the first shock and over whose corpses the flames had wrought havoc, burning some of them so badly that identification was barely possible. There were 110 men at work in the mine at the time of the explosion, but eighty managed to escape, comparatively uninjured, through the various air shafts. The total property damage will not exceed SIO,OOO. The mine is owned by the Lost Creek Fuel Company, of which Charles E. Lofland, Frank Lofland, H. L. Spencer and J. M. Timbrel of Oskaloosa are principal owners.

The town of Lost Creek has a population of about COO. The mine in which the explosion occurred is known as shaft No. 2, and was opened only about one year ago. The mine sells its output to the lowa Central Railway Company. The mine was quite recently inspected by the State mine examiner and declared in good shape. Dust explosions are common in bituminous mines, but seldom affect more than a single room.

NEW SIGNAL SYSTEM URGED.

Dispatchers Say Present Method ol Sending Orders Is Antiquated.

Train dispatchers of the country want all possibility of collisions removed by doing away with the present system of train orders, that can be misinterpreted, aud signals that may be unseen. Instead of these antiquated methods it is proposed to substitute colored electric lights In the engine cab, signals that always can be seen and never can be misunderstood. It is desired to make the safeguards against wrecks as nearly perfect as possible by not trusting to a man’s mind. Mechanical accuracy only is believed to meet the requirements of the age. Among others to urge a change is A. O. Miller of Aurora, chief dispatcher of th« Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway. He suggests that several disastrous wrecks of late were due to the alleged misunderstanding of written orders, and insists that written orders nevei should be used. The placing of “block" signals along the track at this day when trains often run eighty miles an hour, is held to be unsafe, as they cannot always be read by the engineer when going at such speed. “Automatic blocks or lights In the engine cab,” said Mr. Miller, “means just two things—when they are clear or whit* the train should proceed; when they are red the train should stop. There should be no written orders.” This system of movable blocks or lights in engine cabs has been shown to be feasible. Such a system is being Installed on the Chicago aDd Eastern Illinois Railroad chiefly through the efforts of Mr. Miller, who took the Initiative in bringing the system to perfection. The engineer is held to be the one mae on whom the safety of the passenger! depends. Mr. Miller insists that this man's life and those of his assistants are always at stake, and hence to brand snob men with negligence or carelessness ia nnjnst.

News of Minor Note.

Toledo, Ohio, telephone companies hava been consolidated Ad competition ended. The Chilian congress has authorised the isape of bonds to secure a loan of $12,800,000. A post office has been established at Reach, Kao., with William Q. Smith aa postmaster. Ex-Gov. and Mrs. Levi p, Morton of New York announce the engagement of their fourth daughter. Mias Aliee Morton, to Wlnthrop Rutherford of New York City. m

Congress.

The time of the House of Representatives was occupied Monday in general debate on the urgent deficiency bill, which carries a total of $1§,7<M,230. An item in the bill carrying $500,000 for a military post at Manila precipitated a long debate, iu which some of the ablest debaters on lioth sides of the House took phrt. When pressed for an explanation os to the reason for the proposed appropriation of $40,000 for the emergency fund for tfie State Department, Mr. Cannon admitted that it was for the entertainment of Prince Henry of Germany. Mr. Clark (Mo.) wanted to know who was going to pay the expenses of Whitelaw Reid, Captain Clark, Gen. Wilson, young Pierpoot Morgan and young Wetmore, who were to bo dispatched to London to see King Edward VII. crowned. “We were to pav the expenses of Prince Henry’s visit,” said Mr. Clark, “and it was a poor rule that did not work both ways. If it was right and proper for ua to pay for the entertainment of Prince Henry, why should not England pay the expenses of Reid, Clark and the others?” Mr. Cannon in his reply drew the fire of Mr. De Armond of Missouri. Others who participated Were Mr. Richardson. Tennessee; Mr. Grosvenor. Ohio; Mr. Alexander, New York; Mr. Grow. Pennsylvania; Mr. Williams. Illinois, and Mr. Underwood. Alabama. Discussion of the Philippine tariff bill occupied attention in the Senate Tuesday. the debate continuing three hours, and resolving itself along political lines. Senators Lodge, for the Republicans, anil Rawlins, for the Democrats, were the principal speakers, and were given close attention. The bill was made the unfinished business and will probably hold' that preference until the final vote. • In the absence of other pressing business the House managers are allowing the widest latitude in the debate on the urgent deficienLCj. bjlljnow before the House. The irrigation of arid 1 ands uTthe” West and the advisability of retaining control of the Philippines were the main topics under discussion Tuesday. The speakers were Mr. Sibley (Pa.), Mr. Dinsinore (Ark.), Mr. N'ewlands (Nev.), Mr. iMondell (Wyo.), Mr. Robinson (Ind.), Mr. Kern (Ill'.), Mr. Gaines (Tenn.), Mr. Vandiver (Mo.) and Mr. Greene (Iowa).

The House went into committee of the whole soon after opening on Wednesday and resumed the debate upon the general deficieney bill. Mr. Padgett of Tennessee, the first Bpeakwv advoented the adoption of a declaration in favor of pledging the United States to give independence to the. Philippines. After some further remarks by Mr. Chandler of Mississippi and Mr. Zenor oL Indiana Mr. Watson of Indiana closed Ibe general debate with an hour’s speech in defense of the administration’s Philippine policy. Stirring partisan debate, lightened by one shaft of pure oratory, marked the proceedings, when the item in the urgent deficiency bill appropriating $500,000 for a military post in Manila came up for consideration. Congressman Cannon offered an amendment to appropriate the same sum for “shelter and protection” of the enlisted men-in the Philippines, and the Demo-' crats took this occasion to state their objections to tho Philippine policy of the administration. The amendment was adopted—by— a—vote of 127 ayes to 103 nays. At The conclusion of routine business in the Senate Mr. Nelson called up the bill establishing a department of commerce. Mr. Quarles of Wisconsin offered an amendment providing that the Secretary of Commerce should have complete control of the work of gathering aud distributing statistical information naturally relating to tho subjects confided to his department, and to this end the Secretary of Commerce should have authority to call upon all other departments of tho government for statistical data to be published ns he may deem wise.

Senator Hanna was the central figure in Senate debate Thursday when consideration of the Department of Commerce bill was resumed. The pending question was the amendment offered by Mr. Pettus o.' \labama providing that the Depnrtmeui of Labor bo not transferred to the proposed new department. Mr. Pettus made a brief argument in support of his amendment, nnd he was supported by Mr. Bacon. In reply Mr. Nelson, in charge of the pending measure, said he had heard no protest against the transfer until recently an official.of a labor organization had objected to it. lie maintained that it was a mistake to leave the labor department without the jurisdiction of an executive department. Mr. Hanna said the establishment of the new department was in the interest of both capital nnd labor. In the House the consideration of the urgent deficiency bill, which has been under debate since Monday, was completed, but owing to the lateness of the hour passage of the bill was postponed until Friday. A successful effort was made to increase the pay of rural free delivery Carriers from SSOO to SOOO per annum. Mr. Hill of Connecticut made the motion to increase the appropriation for this purpose. It was Insisted by Mr. Cannon, Mr. Loud, chairman of the postoftlco committee, and Mr. Payne, the Republican floor leader, on the ground thnt the method was irregular, but the members with rural constituencies supported it aud it was adopted by a vote of 100 to 78. On Friday a vote was reached on th« urgency deficiency bill. The item that had aroused Democratic opposition was ingeniously amended so as to appropriate $500,000 for ‘‘the protection and shelter” of American troops serving in the Philippines, instead of specifically for bn*e_ racks. In its original form the item had received the aupport of only one Democrat. Mr. Cummings of Now York'. When the rote was taken upon it in amended form it received the aupport of sixteen Democrat* in addition to the full Republican strength, the vote being 178 to 105.

Washington Notes.

Residence of the Chinese minister has been transformed into'an Ideal oriental home by Si me. \Vu. The Benate committee has reported favorably on the proposition to grant a pension of $3,000 n year to the widow of President McKinley. Subcommittees of the House banking and currency committee hive been appointed to consider what financial legislation ia necessary at this session of Congress. Asset bonking currency is not likely to be favored.