Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 120, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1903 — FROM THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE EARTH [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FROM THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE EARTH

BATES FINDS FEW RECRUITS. Commander Says Men Entering Army Are Not Up to Standard. The annual report of Maj. Gen. Bates, commanding the department of the lakes, has been given out for publication. It says that the character and general-phyaiealnppea ranee of recruits is not up to the standard of former years. The number of undeveloped youths appeared e=pecially noticeable. The general mess system in operation at Fort Sheridan, Columbus barracks and Fort Thomas-' is reported unsatisfactory, and a return to the company mess system is recommended. There were 357 enlisted men tried by general court martial, an increase of twenty-two over • last year. One hundred and eighteen of the men tried belonged to other departments. Of Hie total number Tried 342 wefe convicted and elefen acquitted. In the cases of four the sentences were disapproved. Two hundred men were convicted for desertion. The report concludes with an urgent recommendation for a military -.prison. - • ■ ■ TRUST SHIPS TIED UP. Mate% Go Out and the United States Steel Company Decides to Fight. Many of the lake vessels belonging to the United States Steel Corporation are tiinl up as the result of a strike of union seamen. The trouble arises over the employment of Captain Frank Itae, who is not a member of the Masters’ AssociaAs fast as the trust boats reached their docks on .Lake Erie, the mates quit work. Seven of the vessels, the Malietoa, Rensselaer, S. F- D- Morse, Clarence A. Black, John Fjitz, Douglas Houghton, and barge 117, went into the South Chicago harbor and are now without second officers. In the hope of defeating the strike, fSe company has discharged the crews.of many of the steamers and ordered the boats to {>e tied up. The “trust” fleet consists of 117 vessels engaged in carrying iron ore from Lake Superior and Lake -Michigan shipping points to smelters on Lake Erie and in Chicago. * TWO WOMEN AND GIRL SLAIN. Kansas Farm Hand Suspected of Crime Has Fled. ' Mrs. Eliza Payne, a widow, aged 65 years; her daughter, Mrs. Edith Williamson, aged 35, and the latter's daughter, aged about 12 years, were murdered in their beds with a cultivator shovel, fifteen miles north of Lebanon, Kan., in Lo-, gan township, neat the Nebraska line. Suspicion rests ow—a farm hand named Thomas Madison, aged 40, who has been working in the neighborhood and who has. been in lovoAvith Mrs. Williamson, who apparently 6pumed his attentions. Madison is quoted ns saying that if Edith Williamson did not marry him she would never marry anyone. Madison lias fled with officers in pursuit. Woman and Money Missing. Mrs. Austin Flynn of Wilkesbarre. Pa., who sailed from England Aug. 12 with a fortune of several thousand dollars left by a relative, landed in New York Aug. 19, and since then her family has heard nothing from her. They believe she confided to some one on the ship that she had a large sum of money and was robbed and murdered after she landed. Grief Prompts n Suicide, Grieving over the death of his wife at Chicago from consumption, Robert Stockwell Hatcher, aged 40 years, of Lnfayette, Ind., shot and killed himself in n room at the Planters Hotel, St. Louis. Mrs. Hatcher was corresponding secretary general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Flumes at Sault Ste. Marie. Fire which originated in Ivlosser’s candy store destroyed an entire block of the heart of the business district of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The damage amounts to about $300,000. The principal losers are 11. L. * Newton and D. K. Moses & Son, proprietors of the largest department stores in the'city. River Steamer Goes Down. The Park Bluff, a steamer acting ns bowboat of the Glenmont, one of the Van Sant Company’s boats, sprung a leak while coming up Lake St. Croix and sank near South Stillwater, Minn. Five men were asleep on the Park Bluff, but managed to escape, except James Ferguson of La Crosse, engineer of the boat. Hurricane Cost* 100 Lives. Half a hundred ships and at leaf* 106 lives wero lost in the hurricane that has swept the Atlantic from above the coast of Maine to the southern point of Florida. Seventeen of the lost craft were big vessels, most of them schooners, but one was a British steamer, the Mexicano. Move for New Canal Treaty. The Colombian Senate has approved the bill authorising the government to negotiate a new Panama canal treaty with the United States on its first reading. Senator l’eres y Soto announces that he will oppose it in the subsequent debates. < Breaks Record for Rabiea. After suffering all the tortures of hydrophobia for a week and exhibiting unmistakable symptoms of the disease Thomas Flyun is dead in a New York hospital. He never had been bitten by a dog. The doctors say his is the first case of tbo kind on record. Bulgaria Appeals to Powers. Bulgaria has appealed to the powers to prevent the devastation of the country by Turkey, plainly stating that unless -tbo-ntrocities are stopped, the nation will be forced to adopt stern defensive measure*. , Telephone System Badly Damaged. Fire in the five-etory telephone building at Sixth and Wyandotte streets, Kansas City, burned op completely all. the toil boards and damaged tire main switch-

board, so that for at least thirty days, and probably for two or three months, there will lie no telephono service in the business district and po toll or long-dis-tance service between Kansas City and any outside town- forkhe same length of time. FORM BIG GROCERY TRUST. " Chicagoans Merge Ohio Wholesale Houses anil Bcek Others, What is regarded as one of the final steps in the direction of merging the prominent grocery,- houses in Ohio has been taken through the incorporation in Now Jersey of the Ohio Grocery Company, with a Capital j>f $11,250,000, of Which $5,000,000 is 6 per cent cumulative preferred stock. The incorporators are Lewis B. Daly, Joseph Mitchell and B. B. Lewis. The principal promoters are F. C. and M. N. Letts of Chicago and George Bundy of Grand Rapids, Mich. It is claimed the combination will include more than 25 per cent of the Ohio wholesale firms. The promoters say they will soon meet Indiana wholesale grocers, options on whose stock have been secured, and merge from sixteen to eighteen grocery companies. Illinois will then be entered and later New York. Eventually it is planned that the big companies in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, lowa, Michigan and Canada shall be merged. The offices of the company will be in Toledo.

ABMV OFFICER KILLS HIMSELF. Lieut. Mitchell, Recently Married, Cominiti Suicide «t Leavenworth. Lieut. Lancy M. Mitchell, Second infantry, committed silicide by shooting in his quarters at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Before killing himself lie made out a cheek payable to his wife for the amount li'Aj-had in bank and pinned this to a money order received from Manila and addressed that to Mrs. Mitchell. Fie did not leave any statement giving his reason for suicide. Lieut. Mitchell married Miss Grace White of Guthrie, Okla., Aug. 24, and they item to Port Leaven* worth from their bridal trip. His parents live in Preston, Mo. He was a soldier in the Twentieth regiment and distinguished himself in the Philippine campaign. Sees KmTto Hair and Teeth. Dr. 11. W. Wiley of the Agricultural Department in Washington acquired while abroad a batch of new theories. According to the doctor the human race is becoming hairless and toothless as the result of increased intellectuality and the prevalence of “readily chewed’’ health food?. He declares the day is rapidly approaching when hair and teeth will become as extinct as the dodo bird. Gaa Bloat Wrecks House. The house -at 1006 McClure street, Marion, Ind., occupied by and families, was partly destroyed by an explosion of natural gas. Mrs. Hnttie Luca-bel was terribly burned nnd probably fatally injured. Ora Crabtree, 6 years old, also was fatally burned. Mrs. William Crabtree, mother of the children, was burned in an effort to save them. He Survives 20,000 Volts. An electric current of 20,000 volts passed through Joseph Mariconi at Spier Falls, N. Y., but he lives. The man fell nguinst two wires, the points of contact being at the head and on the liip. He was knocked unconscious and was badly burned where the current entered and left him, but otherwise shows uo ill effects. . ' Evansville Rioter Convicted. William Trimble was convicted in the Circuit Court at Evansville, Ind., of taking part in the. riot of July 5 Inst. The penalty for riotous conspiracy is from two to ten years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary. Trimble is the first man to be convicted of rioting, and there are several more cases. Dun's Review of Trad?. R. G. Dun & Co.’s review of Chicago nnd general says the only disquiet for the week was due to fear of frost, but the flurry was only temporary nnd prices remained stable. Fewer labor troubles are cited as au encouraging feature. * Make Coin in Penitentiary. The counterfeiting of United States coin has been carried on in Pennsylvania penitentiary, at Philadelphia, by five convicts under officials’ noses. Warden Bussinger and the cigar department overseer lmve been suspended. Fresh Plot in £ervia. A special dispatch from the Bulgarian frontier reports that another Servian military plot has been discovered at Kraguyevats, fifty-nine miles from Belgrade. Several officers have been arrested. Woman Darned Herself to Death. The hotly of Mrs. Glen D. Cheatham was found burned to a crisp at Aurora, S. D. She had poured kerosene on heir clothes and set fire to them. Her mind was imbalanced over the burning of an only ohild a year ago. Vanderbilt Makea o Conp. One of the biggest coups in Wall street during the reeeut bear raid was made by young Cornelius Vanderbilt. He cleaned up $10,000,000, it is said, using a margin of $2,000,000. His fortune is said now to exceed $20,000,000 in all. Jews and Christiana Fight. Fierce fights between Jews and Christians, in which four Christians and two .Tews were killed and many persons seriously Injured, are reported from Gomela, in the government of Mogbiteff, Russia. Bad Storm in the East. A fierce storm swept down on New York and the Atlantic coast, causing great damage and loss of life. President and Mrs. Roosevelt aud party on the yacht Sylph had a thrilling experience.

PLAN NEW ROUTE TO GULF. Surveyors Work to Establish Canal from Lake Michigan to Wabash. Surveys are now being made for the ship canal from the south shore of Lake Michigan to the Wabash river, the plan being to shorten the waterway jfrom Lake' Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico, as it would be 450 miles shorter than the Chicago canal. Five routes are being considered, one following the St. Joseph valley to Tippecanoe valley, then to the junction of the Wabash river. The second route is from Michigan City by way of Trail creek and Laporte to the Tippecanoe valley, and the third is from Michigan €kjM*y way of the Little Calumet, thence down Crooked creek to the Kankakee river. The fourth route is to Wolf lake from the Grand Calumet, LEeuce to the Kankakee river, and the fifth is from the St. Joseph river into the Kankakee valley by way of the big Monon creek. The routes ary from 117 to 157 miles and the estimated cost is between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000. The plants to induce Congress to undertake the Pjoject. FACE SHORTAGE OF WHEAT. Owing to Storm’* Ravages Big Blills May Have to Close. It is almost impossible to estimate the amount '6f damage done to the Northwest by the rains of the past few days. Millions of bushels of wheat which under ordinary circumstances would have been graded high' is so reduced in quality by the rains that it will sCtl from 10 to 25 cents less a bushel, ou account of the storm. Minneapolis grain men say that a large amount of the unthrashed wheat will be reduced from first grade milling grain to little better than feed. The conditions are such that tbe mills in Minneapolis may be facing a serious crisis, for there may be no wheat of grade for them to grind. The elevator men in Minneapolis are seriously disturbed over the situation. BUSINESS MAN IS A ROBBER. Respected Clttzem of New Jersey Tow Commits Scores of Burglaries. Supposedly a successful business man with a comfortable home in- Ridgewood, N. J., and a member of the Odd Fellon-s' lodge in that place, but really a dangerous bufglar, George Kinnard, alias George F. Howard, fell into tbe bands of the New York police after evading them for more than a year. While a respected citizen of Ridgewood as Howard the prisoner, it is alleged, committed scores of burglaries in as many towns within a radius of fifty miles of his home. Chnmbcrlain and Colleagues Out. Joseph Chamberlain, colonial—secretary ; C. T. Ritchie, chancellor of the exchequer, and Lord George Hamilton, secretary for India, have resigned from the British cabinet, and their resignations have been accepted. Mr. Chamberlain expresses the.belief that the country is not ready for a tax on foodstuffs, and that he can better aid the cause of imperial unity when in private life. Killed ou Warship’s Deck, The explosion of a barrel of fifty-six gallons of alcohol on the flagship Olympia caused the death of Corporal Yeager, United States marine corps, and of the master-at-arms of the ship and seriously wounded four of the marines. The famous vessel is in dry dock nt Norfolk navy yard and was badly damaged by the fire which followed the explosion.

Notorious Forcer Taken. Harry Kirby, one of the most notorious forgers iu the country, was arrested in La Crosse, Wis., by Detective William Lynain. J-Drby is wanted in Duluth, Chicago, Oshkosh and many other cities of the Northwest for forgeries. When he was searched a forged check was found iu his pocket. Marconi M ill Help Peary. William Marconi stands ready to equip Robert E. Peary's next polar expedition with wireless telegraphy. He is confident of overcoming all physical obstacles that might be thought to interfere with the use in the arctic regions of this latest factor in world communication. Kills Wild Dear in a City. The first bear to be killed within the city limits of Duluth was shot near the State normal school iu sth street by Dr. Peter Kraft. It was a fine black bear, weighing about 300 pounds. Last season fifteen or more bears were killed near Duluth. \ . Bubonic Plague in Manila. One hundred eases of bubonic plague are reported iu Toledo, the most northern and populous suburban district of. Manila. Of these eighty have had a fatal termination. Twelve cases, with nine deaths, are also reported from Cebu, in the province of Visayas. Fire in Colnmbus, Ohio. In Columbus. Ohio, a lira which started in the Columbus Transfer Company’s building resulted in a loss of $75,000, as follows: Columbus Transfer Company, $50,000; C. C. Aler Paper Company, $15,000; goods in storage, SIO,OOO. Wages May Be Reduced. A movement so reduction in wages of 10 per cent has been started by the National Metal Trades Association, but union labof leaders hope by negotiation to ivert the demand. About 100,000 machinists are affected by the move. Chicagoan Dies of Poison. Adam Roeenrweig, a brewer who came to Binghamton, N. Y., .from Chicago, committed suicide after trying to kill his wife end daughter, who escaped by fleeing to a neighbor's. He had been drink iug heavily. Bhaken by an Earthquake. A distinct earthquake shock was felt st Boulder, Colo. It was felt also at Eldora, Ward and other points in the vicinity. , No damggfe was done. **