Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1905 — Page 2

WEEKLY REPUBLICAN. QEO. E. MARSHALL, Publisher. RENSSELAER, - • INDIANA.

OLD WOMEN IN PANIC

PORTION OF INGLESIDE. HOME IS DESTROYED BY FIRE. Mrs. Mary lvyttile Perißhcs While Attempting Rescue and Another Inmate la Badly Injured—Arctic Explorer Prepare* to Blow Way Through Ice. Fire destroyed a part of the Ingleside Home for Aged Women in Buffalo, N-. Y. In a panic among the fifty inmates of the place, Mrs. Mary Ivyttile, 50 years old, was killed and four were hurt. The fire was discovered while the women were preparing for supper. Most of them were on the second and third floors, and they became panic stricken as the smoke rapidly filled the linlls. Mrs. Kyttile succeeded in getting out of the building, but returned. Mrs. Margaret Greishaber also returned to the building upon learning that a friend could not be found among those outside. The firemen refused to allow her to enter the door, and she started to climb a fire escape. When she reached the windows on the second floor she lost her hold and fell to the ground. S|ie was seriously injured.

TO BLOW WAY THROUGH ICE. Ziegler Relief Expedition Will Use Dynamite to Reach Explorers. W. S. Champ, secretary for William Ziegler, has engaged Captain Kjeldeneen to command the arctic steamer Terra Nova on her approaching voyage to the far north. Mr. Champ will leave for America on board the steamer Majestic in a few days. The Terra Nova will sail in May. Mr. Champ in the course of an interview said he had no doubt that the Terra Nova would reach Franz Josef land, where she would find records giving the whereabouts of the FialaZiegler expedition which started for the north pole in June, 1903. “When I return from America,” said Mr. Champ, “I will bring two American doctors and two specialists, one of whom is a mine expert, and who will blow their way through the ice if such a course should be necessary.” BIG LOSB IN BIRMINGHAM FIRE. Shift in Wind and Rain Check Blaze with $240,000 Loss. A shift in the wind and a soaking rain enabled the firemen to check the fire in the business district of Birmingham, Ala., after property valued at $240,000 had been destroyed. Stores which, with their contents, were valued at $1,000,000, were in great danger when the weather came to the aid of the department and prevented the blaze- from becoming a conflagration. Two firemen were severely injured by falling walls. One of the engines exploded, but the crew escaped injury. Engine of Moving Train Explodes. Two trainmen were killed and twentyfive passengers were 'injured in a wreck on the New York Central near Whitesboro, N. Y. As the east-bound Buffalo special was passing the western express at a high rate of speed the locomotive of the latter train exploded, hurling the thirteen cars of the special from the track and partly demolishing the day coaches of the express. Four Perish In Flames. The family of Jay Antis, consisting of Antis and his wife and two grown daughters, is supposed to have* perished in a fire which destroyed their home in Johnstown, N. Y. The house was enveloped in flames when neighbors discovered the fire, and owing to the density of the smoke all efforts to enter the burning structure were futile. Theater Crowd in Panic. A moving picture machine exploded on the stage during a performance at the Mechanic Hall Theater in Salem. Mass., starting a fire that drove an audience of 1,300 people in a panic from the place and destroyed the building, entailing a loss of $50,000. None of the audience was seriously injured. Minister Mysteriously Dead. Rev. C. F. Bentley, Prohibition candidate in 1890, was discovered dead in a cheap lodging house in Los Angeles, and the police are searching Tor a mysterious veiled woman who accompanied him to the place. Soldier Ground to Pieces. With his foot caught In the frog of a railroad switch, a man believed to he Marion Robinson, n soldier at Fort Snelling, Minn., was run down by a Milwaukee train near the fort and instantly killed.

Manufacturer Kills Himself. John B. Scully, Chicago iron manufacturer, committed suicide by shooting in Humboldt Park. 11l health and worry beenuse of his wife’s illness are given as the cause. Two Children Cremated. At Ely. Minn., the residence of Mathew Pavlesick burned and two of his children were cremated. The mother was seriously burned while trying to Bave them. Woman Dies ut Age of 102. Mrs. Tilghman C’raigie is dead at Qunkake, Pa., at the nge of 102 years. She passed her life on a farm and was the mother of fourteen children. Banker Beckwith Dies. Banker C. T. Beckwith of Oberlin. Ohio, is dead, and the case against Mrs. Chadwick is weakened. Morgan's Carriage Runs Down Woman J. Tierpont Morgan’s carriage, containing the financier and his wife, was chased by the police and his coachman was arrested in New York City for running down a woman, who later refused to prosecute. •- ** Business on Solid Basis. According to R. G. Dun & Co.’s weekly review, trade progresses steadily, all speculative excesses having been avoided thus far, and the numerous negotiations now pending indicate that the maximum of activity is yet to come.

GRAND DUKE[?]S VIEWS.

Vladimir Declares that a Constitution Now Would Be Death of Russia. Grnnd Duke Vladimir, uncle of Emperor Nicholas afrd commander of the Imperial Guard, Wednesday granted the first comprehensive official interview that has been given by a representative of the Czar in connection with the present crisis in Russia. The grand duke defends the Russian government for the steps it has taken to chock the riots throughout the country. He declares that the movement which started the thousands of workers marching toward the winter palace Jan. 22. was inaugurated by revolutionists, and ihsists that it was the duty of the government to fight back the mob with every power it possessed. lie declared that the Russian people nre to he given a voice in the government, biit adds that at present the mass of Russian citizenship is not ready for a constitution. He deplores

GRAND DUKE VLADIMIR.

the attitude of the foreign press, and especially the unfriendliness manifested for the bureaucracy by-the American newspapers, calling attention to the fact that Russia was the friend of the United States when it needed friends. The statement made by the grand duke to the interviewer may be thus summarized: A constitution would mean the end of Russia, as the State would be gone, anarchy would supervene, and when it ended the empire would be disintegrated. Russia is not ripe for a constitution. But the people will be given a voice in the government,. Of that I am certain. They will be given the means of presenting their needs and grievances direct to the sovereign. Why does America misinterpret and think ill of us - We have always been friends—friends of a century, friends when America needed friends. Why has nil this changed? What lias Russia done to deserve it Y Why should the foreign press, especially that of Great Britain, not hesitate before any calumny? I have stood aghast at the frightful stories they have- printed. It is infamous. Gorky will not be hanged. Talk of the government hanging hint is nonsense.

NATIONAL RULE OF RAILROADS.

President Roosevelt in n Speech Urges Rail Rate Control. “In some stuli body ns the interstate commerce commission there must be lodged in effective shape the power to see that every shipper who uses the railroads and every man who owns or manages a railroad shall On the one hand be given justice and on the other Wind be required to do justice.” declared President Roosevelt the other night in his speech before the Union League Club of Philadelphia. The President pointed out what lie considers dangers to the country if the corporations are not controlled so as to. give all men an equal chance in business. Power to make rates, lie insisted, should be given to a national tribunal, and should all other means fail he would seek an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to bring about federal control of interstate commerce. Said the President: "There must he lodged in some tribunal the power over rates, and especially over rebates —whether secured by means of private ears or private tracks, in the form of damages or commissions or in any other manner—which will protect alike the railroad and the shipper and put the big shipper and the little shipper on an equal footing. “The great development of industrialism means that there must he ail increase in the supervision exercised by the government over business enterprises. “It was beyond question the intention of the founders of our government that interstate commerce in all .its branches and aspects should he under national control. If the courts decide that this intention was yqt. carried out ami made effective in tlm. Constitution as it now stands, then the Constitution will have to he amended.”

The Comic Side OF The News

Stoessel concluded lo choose a new place for liis tomb.„ The Attorney General proposes to grind the Paper Trust to pulp. A cold wave is a good thing in its place, but the Arctic circle is its plucel A third Russian fleet is to start, or begin to prepare to, start. Admiral Togo will endeavor to attend personally to its finish. Congress, at any rate, is about to be led gently up to the tariff revision trough. Suffering reader, if you don’t know what is the matter, you probably have the. grip. If President Castro liked the big stick he found in his Christmas stocking he is keeping quiet about it. Exercise a little sympathy for Dr. Chadwick. How would you like to Lav# such a wife as Mrs. Chadwick? Attorney General Moody will make no mistake in classifying the paper monopoly as a large chip off the ohl trust block. I

WAR IN THE ORIENT.

POSSIBILITY THAT THE STRUQ GLE IS NEARING AN END. Torn by Industrial and Political Coli▼nlsions, Russia Muy Make Peace with Japan—Czar’s Government Between Proverbial Devil and Deep Sea. Some of the Chicago papers prophesy that the war between Russia and Japan is nearing an end. The St. .Petersburg papers have been allowed to print a brief Paris dispatch to the effect that Gen. ' Kouropatkin bad Opened negotiations with Field Marshal Oyaina. This conies on the heels of the rumors which have been current in the circles of high finance that peace was impending. If it was the intention of Russia to place a new loan in France, the project has been temporarily abandoned. That may be either been usd of a 'determination to end the war speedily,* or because of the troubles within the empire, which make it an inopportune, time to borrow.

After Port Arthur fell the Czar, in an address to his soldiers and sailors, gave them to understand plainly that the war was to go on until both army and navy had won victories. Since then many things have happened. Russia has been torn by industrial and political convulsions. A strike wave is spreading over the empire. There is a bold and insistent demand for some measure of liberty and for a national assembly. The evidences of the unpopularity of the war are visible on every side. The educated classes beg that it cease. The reservists on their way to Manchuria escape from their guards win never possible. It has become a serious question how far Gen. Kouropatkin can be reenforced without denuding the western part of the empire of regular troops that may be needed to cope with possible domestic, crises. Tens of thousands of reservists can be sent him. but they cannot be depended on. There are abundant reasons why the war party should change front and seek for a peace which it lias been asserting was impossible unless It m ant the submission of Japan. The statement of the Russian member of the North Sea commission made a month ago that Russia would soon make a temporary peace, during which she would build a navy and get ready for a new war may be verified. If it were not for the rumors of peace the fighting in Manchuriai last week would claim more attention. Gen. Kouropatkin pushed forward a corps on his right flank and Gen. Oyama, who lias been re-enforced by Gen. Nogi, took the offensive. There was sharp fighting, for over a thousand Russian wounded were sent to Mukden. The Japanese claim a victory and the Russians say they were successful. The sudden aetiviy after weeks of comparative repose may be the prelude of a spring campaign—if there is to lie one. The main fighting lias been at tli * west end of the armies—that is, on the Russian right and the Japanese left — though skirmishes are reported on the extreme east, and we are also specifically told that the artillery tiring lias been heaviest iii the center.

If it were not for the temperature, which is below zero, it would l>e easy to believe that, the decisive battle was now beginning, but how a battle, which must necessarily be of many days’ duration, can be fought when the fighters are freezing their hands and feet, and when the wounded will almost certainly die of exposure lefore they can be succored, it is bard to Nevertheless, if the weather moderates the engagement may be on. If Kouropatkin is taking the offensive his decision may he due e ther to his conviction that he is in better position to fight tlie Japanese now than he can hope to he at any time later during the year. Or it may be due to pressure from St. Petersburg insis'.ing that he ercate a diversion and give the Russians at home something to grow excited over besides thoughts of revolution. It may even lie that Kouropatkin feels that it is essential that he get his army actively engaged before it hears the news of the bloody 22d of January, lest that news, perhaps in exaggerated form, may excite it almost to point of revolt. Japan, it is reported from Toklo, has begun to lay down a battleship of 10,000 tons. The tonnage is probably wrongly given, for the largest battleships now afloat or building do not reach 17,000 tons, it is also stated that a fifth army, to be under the command of lieutenant General Kuwanmra, is being organized. The purpose of the army is not mentioned, but one naturally . thinks of Vladivostok. Whether a serious siege of that fortress is contemplated or not, a feint against it on a large scale is not improbable, with a view to bringing new confusion into fcouropatkin’s plans. Nothing is known of the whereabouts of the Russian fleet. It is hidden somewhere in the Indian ocean awaiting re-enforcements which may uevor be scut.

On Doc. 31. 1003, the aggregate stock of money in the principal countries of the ‘world was 512,31.'1,1*10,000. Of this amount $5,028,200,066 was gold. $3,201,400,000 silver, whi1e'53,483,500,000 was uncovered paper currency. About onefifth of the total is held in this country, or approximately $2,500,200,000. The stock of gold iu the United States is greater - than that of any other country, being nearly one-fourth of the whole, or iu the neighborhood es $1,320,400,000, and we have about ?0*0,200,000 in silver.

The Money of the World.

THOUSANDS FALL IN BATTLE.

Recent Casualties in Manchuria Estimated at 1 o,OOp. —Tokio advices say that the casualties in the fighting at Chencttielipao and Heiknutai are estimated at 5,000 on the side of the Japanese and 10.000 on the Hussion side. Russian activity on the "Slinkhe river seemed to have ceased after the fights at Chencliiehpao and Heikoutai, where the Japanese were victorious. The object of the operations is not clearly understood here, but it is suggested that the Russians either intended to turn the Japanese left and move a heavy force -down west of the Liao river, or were seeking to divert attention from a projected operation against the Japanese right. It is reported that the weather has been milder, but it is still cold, so that it is impossible to expose the troops at night. The Tokio expresses the opinion that GeiV. Kuropatkin either ordered the movement to divert attention from the domestic conditions in Russia or planned to, make a fight before Field Marshal Oyaina had been heavily ro-orrforoed. The Russian attempt to turn the Japanese left has resulted in complete failure. The Russians chose the worst weather of the season, depending, perhaps, upon their familiarity with a snowy country to aid them in their operations. Their artillery attacks on the Japanese permanent line were, it is thought, a demonstration to prevent the withdrawal of men to re-enforce the Japanese left. All Sunday afternoon and into ft the niglit an artillery duel was kept up across the Shaklie river. There was much heavy rifle firing from positions where the intrenohments are close.

MAY LAND AN ARMY.

General Staff Is Preparing for Trouble in Santo Domingo. According to a Washington correspondent, the general staff of the army is preparing for possible trouble in Santo Domingo with which it may not be within the power of the navy to cope, while the Navy Department is getting ready to land marines as custom house guards on the northern coast of the island, Gen. Chaffee and his associates are preparing for the quick dispatch of troops in case the insurgents attack the marines or show themselves in sufficient numbers near the cities to become a dangerous factor in the situation. There are members of the general staff who believe that Jaudenes, the insurgent leader, and the thorn in the flesh of President Morales, will not submit to seeing cut off a source of revenue upon which lie is accustomed to rely without a -blow, even though the blow be aimed at a power like the United States. The army has just as thorough an understanding of the Santo Domingo imbroglio and its possibilities for future trouble as has the navy. In fact, a man has just returned to Washington and has given the army officers composing the strategic board all the information, including maps, which' is necessary for planning and carrying ont a sharp and quick campaign in Santo Domingo if such a campaign becomes necessary.

OPINION HITS PACKERS.

Supreme Court Hands Down Decision in the Beef-Trust Casa. The Supreme Court of the United States has decided the case of the United States vs. Swift & Co., known as the “beef trust” case, charging conspiracy among the packers to fix prices on fresh meats, etc. The opinion was handed down by Justice Holmes and affirmed the decision <J* the court below, , which was against the packers. In his opinion Justice Holmes discussed at length the various contentions of the packers and disposed of them individually. He admitted that some of the charges were less specific than desirable, but said this was necessarily true because of tlie vast extent of the field covered. He added that enough had been shown to prove continued offenses, aud an oft'ctise of such a nature as to justify the proceeding. The opinion continues the injunction granted against the packers under the Sherman anti-trust law by the lower courts. It was concurred in by all the members of the court.

LABOR NOTES

American railways handle about $12,. 000.000 worth cf grain a year. No less than 8,132 women in lowa are employed in agricultural pursuits. The net profit from the Russian government monopoly in the sale of spirits last year exceeded £40,000,000. Almost the entire commercial wealth of India, with its population of 300,000,000, is said to be in the hands of less than 00,000 persons. The building trades of San Francisco, which include sixty unions and 21,000 men, intend to erect a “temple,” which will accommodate all the unions and the general officers. It is expected to cost about SIOO,OOO. In 1903 we were Switzerland’s best customer, with the sole exception of Germany and Great Britain, leaving behind and far behind, all other countries, even France, Italy and Austria-Hungary, on its own borders. Official statistics show that the area under crops in Great Britain showed a decrease of 25,009 acres last year on the figures of 1003, the acreage under wheat being 1,375,284, which is the smallest area ever recorded. The restriction that salmon may not be taken from the waters of southeastern Alaska untilmfter July' 1 of each year has been removed, and in view of this it is expected that the catch will be very much larger this year than previously. It is said that the most costly leathet in the world is known to the trade as piano, leather. The secret of tanning this leather is known only .ta a family of tanners in Germany, though 'the skins from which it is tanned come almost entirely from America. Working girls in Berlin overage nine hours nud a half each day, for which they get about $2.80 a week. Only ons in five is able to have her own bedroom; the others share their rooms with from one to six other girls. Some of them hardly know what a warm meal means, ryn bread beieg principal food.

NOT RIPE FOR REVOLT

BUCCEBSFUL REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA STILL FAR OFF. People Not Sufficiently Strong Nor Sufficiently Organized to Enforce Their . Demands Russian Peasant Classes Hard to Enthuse.

The revolution which many believed would result from the massacres in St. Petersburg and the politico-industrial up-

GEN. TREPOFF.

be doubted if they are agreed upon the natufe of their political necessities. Above all, in the disturbances which have just swept over Russia there were no concert of action, no uniformity of demand and no solidarity of purpose. In St. Petersburg, it seems as though the industrial misery of the strikers was made a pretext by the socialists and revolutionaries, representing but a small percentage of the discontenfld, to make political demands which were really revolutionary in character. Like a flock of sheep the strikers followed their revolutionary leaders, paying with their lives in many cases the penalty of their confidence and credulity. And in other purely Russian centers the condition seems to have been similar. In the cities of Poland and Finland the demonstrators, as should be expected, were better organized. There the principal of nationality was involved. The Poles and Finns not only demanded increased political rights, but are utterly opposed to Russian government and sovereignty in any form, and if in the near future a formidable revolution is to occur in Russia it will have its beginning and its greatest support among the oppressed nationalities of Finland and Poland.

Not Ripe for Revolution. Viewing the situation dispassionately, there does not seem an encouraging chance of successful revolution in Russia In the near future. The justification for it exists —causes which in other lands would speedily subvert the government sustaining them —but the Russia!} people have not as a whole reached that degree of development, that stage of political aspiration, which would lead them through blood and fire, through sacrifice and .suffering, to free institutions and political supremacy. The peasant classes of the country were little affected, if at all, by the recent turmoil, and they constitute an element without which revolution is impossible. The industrial workers of the cities form only tWo per cent of the population, nnd not all of these look higher than the mere means of sustenance. Evidently then the day of successful revolution in the empire of : the Czar is far distant.

Yet the disturbances may have a salutary effect upon the government. They ure the voice of discontent and dissatisfaction speaking in the only way that is ppen in a country where freedom of the press and freedom of speech are denied, and sooner than have that voice growing in volume and Intensity, threatening the stability of institutions and undermining national loyalty and fqnlty to the throne, the government may see the wisdom of granting reforms, whicli may stave off that day which, sooner or later, is bound to come, when the people shall enter into possession of their rights and wipe out the rule of caste, so long the bane of Russia and the withering blight upon the development of her people.

The Rioting at Warsaw.

While the disturbances are not yet ended in Russia, they have reached a stage where their futility i# Self-evident. The world is aware how they were extinguished in St. Petersburg in the blood of their authors. The same repressive measures were applied in Moscow, Riga, Libau, Saratoff and other centers of agitation, and the mailed hand of militarism is enforcing obedience to the reign of the knout in Warsaw, Lodz and other cities of Poland. At Riga, eight miles from the Gulf of Riga, the soldiers and mob came into bloody conflict. When the soldiers opened fire great crowds rushed down the embankments of the river Dtina, hoping to escape across the ice. The latter gave way and scores are said to have been precipitated into the water, where they sank to death in its icy embrace. At Riga the disturbances were purely political and were fomented by students from other parts of Russia. The most serious disturbances of any outside of St. Petersburg were the distinguishing features of Warsaw, Poland. There, too, the agitation was political in nature and there, too, the demonstrators, to a greater degree than elsewhere, boldly faced the soldiery, using revolvers and knives ngniust the representatives of autocracy and repression. In the desultory fighting which was carried on in the streets 1(>0 persons, it is estimated, were killed or wounded. One phase of the • Russian situation that created a deep international interest was the posting of proclamations in various cities, wherein it was charged tlint English ngents were fomenting the troubles and furnishing the necessary funds, in order to embarrass Russia in the work of sending re-enforcements, naval and military, to the far East. Great Britain took exception to this, acting in diplomatic channels, and the placards were pulled down and a rebuke was administered to those responsible for them. Another incident which once threatened to take on an international importance was the Wounding by Russian troops of the British consul and vice consul in the streets of Wnrsaw. The affair, however, was purely accidental and the matter quickly subsided.

Brief News Items.

Ralph Rodgers, a prominent young planter of Bay Springs, Miss., has been assassinated. | The Cleveland City Council has voted to ask Andrew Carnegie to build a $2,000,000 librury there

heavals in other Russian cities has no t materialized. Oppressed as nre the Russian people and desirous as they are to obtain political rights, they are not sufficiently strong nor sufficiently organized to enforce their demands. They lack cohesion and they lack leadership. It may, too,

CONGRESS

A bill extending the extradition latys to the Philippines was passed by the Senate Monday. It was agreed to vote on the statehood bill Feb. 7, the amendments to be considered on that date under the ten-minute rule. Mr. Teller spoke in opposition to the bill. In the House the conference report on The legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bills was ngreed to, 121 to 112. The conference report on the Philippine government bill was presented. The postnffice appropriation bill was taken up and debated until adjournment. the Senate Tuesday a House bill was passed extending to express companies engaged in interstate commerce the prohibition against carrying obscene literature. A bill largely increasing the fees for incorporating stock companies in the District of Columbia was passed and Mr. Platt of Connecticut introduced a measure intended to correct abuses under the local corporation laws mentioned by the President'in his message Monday. Mr. Nelson of Minesota spoke on the statehood bill.. In the House the Senate amendments to the army appropriation bill were down aud the measure was sent tor conference. A resolution offered by Mr. Fitzgerald of New York calling on the Navy Department for information regarding tlm inequality in the amount of armor plate delivered for the battleships Connecticut and Louisiana was adopted. The conference report on the Philippine government bill was agreed to. The postoffice appropriation bill was considered until adjournment. In the Senate Wednesday Messrs. Clark (Mont.), Dillingham and Teller continued the discussion of the statehood bill, Mr. Dillingham supporting the measure as it stands and the others contending for amendments and the right of the four territories to be admitted as so many States. A number of semi-public bills were passed. The Senate resolved to insist on its amendments to the army appropriation bill, nivd a conference committee was appointed. Mr. Proctor reported the agricultural appropriation bill. The bill carries appropriations aggregating $0,787,170, an increase of $200,740 over the bill as passed by the House. In the House the postoffice appropriation bill occupied attention during the greater part of the day. The bill went over for further consideration. Messrs. Shirley and Sibley discussed railway rate legislation for more than an hour. The conference report on the fortifications bill was adopted, __ A bill authorizing the Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Company to construct a dam across the Mississippi river from Keokuk, lowa, to Hamilton, 111., was passed by the Senate Thursday. The agricultural appropriation Dill was taken up and the provision for the distribution of seeds_was discussed at length. In the House a motion to strike out the provision for subsidies for special southern mail facilities in the postofflee appropriation bill was lost, 77 to 115. The measure was considered until adjournment.

The Senate Friday sitting as an impeachment body, received the answer of Judge Swayue to the articles of impeachment made by the House, and entered an order fixing Feb. 0 as the time when nil preliminary pleadings shall he presented, and Feb. 10 as the date for beginning the regular trial. The ftrguhrrsession was then taken up and Senators Stone, Berry and Morgan spoke against the joint statehood hill. Senator McCumher presented a memorial from the North Dakota Legislature praying for the removal of the tax on alcohol in order that it may he more freely used for fuel, and Senator Clay a petition from the National Cotton Growers’ Association for the appropriation of a “few million dollars” to extend the market for cotton goods. The House panted the postofflee appropriation bill, carrying an appropriation of $180,787,413, after motions to exclude rural carriers from civil service rules and for the dismissal of postal employes belonging to organizations seeking increases in salaries had been ruled out. Bills were passed allowing homeseebers until May 1. 1900, to establish residence on lauds formerly within the Rosebud and Devil’s Lake reservations; authorizing the extension of the western boundary line of Arkansas and allowing the Minneapolis, Red Lake and Manitoba Railway Company to acquire certain lands in Red Lake Indian reservation, Minnesota. The House Saturday passed the diplomatic and consular appropriation bill, carrying $2,107,047. wi.hch is an increase for this service of $78,710 over the current appropriation. A number of minor hills were disposed of by unanimous consent. The debate while the diplomatic Dili was under consideration was very brief and whs devoted to railroad rate legislation and reciprocity treaties. Mr. Long occupied most of the time given by the Senate to the statehood hill with n speech in support of the bill ns it stands. He gave*especial attention to the portion of tiie lull providing for the union of Oklahoma and Indian Territory as one State, and urged the importance of giving self-government to the people of thnt section. In connection with the agricultural appropriation bill there was considerable debate upon the question of forest reserves. The bill was not disposed of.

In the National Capital.

" The postoffice appropriation bill has been completed. The .approximate total is $180,000,000, an increase of $10,000,000 over the current appropriation.' Of . this increase $5,000,000 is for rural delivery. ! James D. Yeomans of lowa was appointed interstate commerce commissioner to serve until Senator Cockrell’s term in tlie Senate expires. The House committee on merchant marine and fisheries authorized a favorable report on the shipping bill reported to'Congress by the merchant marine commission. Senator Fairbanks, after conference with Secretary Hay on subject of Canadian reciprocity, announced that question of reassembling the joint high commission will be considered after prorogation of the Canadian parliament.