Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1904 — NATIVES ARE ABUSED. [ARTICLE]

NATIVES ARE ABUSED.

ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY BELGIANS IN THE CONGO. Mission Representatives Ask United States to Interfere—Twelve Miners Rescued from Death in Flooded Mine by Comrades Who Made Human Chain. ■Representatives of the American Baptist, the Southern Presbyterian and the Disciples of Christ, African missions, called upon Secretary of State Hay the other day and described affairs in the Congo country, as viewed from the mis-., sionary standpoint. In the delegation was Dr. T. S. Barbour, Boston; S. H. Chester, Nashville; A. McLean, CincinXtati; Dr. Layton, Bolongi, Africa; Dr. Morrison, Kassai, Africa, and Dr. Leslie, Africa. Stories of atrocities practiced on the natives in the Congo country by their Belgian rulers was - the principal feature of tire conference. They were illustrated by photographs taken by the missionaries, the subjects being children and youths maimed and mutilated with hands aud feet chopped off, and according to the members of the delegation, all because their parents and male relatives failed to bring in the prescribed numb.er of pounds of rubber daily. The missionaries also showed that their work Was rendered nearly valueless by the attitude of the Belgian officials in the Congo country. They monopolized all of the food supplies, making it difficult for the missions to procure vegetables or fowls or anything to eat from the natives, who were obliged to turn their produce into the hands of the Belgian Officers. Then, by the cruelties practiced upon the natives, the latter were driven away from the missions and the schools Were emptied.

STORM WRECKS 200 HOUSES. Eight Persons Are Seriously Injured and Electric WiresL evelcd. Eight persons were seriously injured, the industrial school and 200 houses wrecked, the city flooded and every electric wire placed out of commission by the worst storm which has visited Louisville, Ky., for forty years. The damage 1» estimated at $1,500,000. In Louisville the wind attained a veloeity -of sixty miles and the rain fell in torrents, ac-

entire city was for a time flooded, Third avenue, near the Confederate monument, being three feet deep in water. Street car service was suspended for several hours. The roof of the main building of the Industrial School of Reform was blown completely off, falling

clear of the building on the ground. A panic ensued among the 100 sleeping v boys, who rushed for the ground floor.They were finally stopped without any one being injured. The building was flooded.

MINERS SAVED BY. HUMAN CHAIN. Twelve Men Join Hands to Rescue Imperiled Companions. Clasping hands in a long line, twelve miners at Brazil, Ind., rescued from a flooded mine ten of their number held prisoners by a surging torrent. The breaking of a dam at the Excelsior clay works caused the accident. The ten men were rescued in safety, although two were unconscious, due to the foul air in the slope where they had sought refuge. There were twenty-five men in the slope, and fifteen had left it at noon to eat their dinners on the outside. When the dam broke it was feared the ten inside would be drowned, but as soon as the torrent subsided somewhat the rescuers stemmed the current, which rose to their waists. They found their companions at the extreme end of the slope, and two of them, William King and John Mooney, were unconscious, but soon recovered when carried outside, and are now out of danger. No one was hurt.

SIX KILLED IN A TORNADO. Thousands of Dollars Worth of Property Destroyed in Missouri. A cyclone swept the country twenty miles north of Caruthersville, Mo., causing a great loss of life and destroying thousands of dollars’ worth of property. The wires have been down and authentic news has been hard to get, but as belated reports come in the loss of life and property increases. It is now known that six persons were killed. The Sliuemakcr family, four in number, near Portageville, are dead and their home is demolished. Wesley Miller and wife, living two miles north of Mount Pleasant were killed and their home swept away. Their bodies were blown 200 yards and badly mutilated. Miller was a wealthy mill owner and planter. Typhoid Fever Closes Institute. TljXJacob Tome Institute at Fort Deposit, Md., hns been closed owing to the prevalence of typhoid fever, which has broken out among the boarding school scholars. Unions Menace New York* Three big labor strikes will tnko place May 1 In New York unless the grievances shall have been settled before then. More than 30,000 men . are involved in the threatened trouble. Death Time Is Set. Judge Kersten has passed sentence of death on the Chicago car barn bandits, fixing April 22 as the day of execution. Freight Station Is Burned. The Pennsylvania Railroad freight station at West Philadelphia was destroyed by fire; loss $35,000. Six Buildings Burn. Rix structures in tho business section of Jermyn, Pa., Including the Merriman and Thomas Bray buildings and the Assembly Hall, were burned, causing a loss of $60,000. _ _ Nebraska Fires Are Put Out. Tho prairie fires that have been raging In Holt County, Nebraska, have been extinguished after burning over about oop-tenth of the county and destroying thousand* of tons of hay, numerous barns and aheds, and a few houses. The less la estimated at $50,000.