Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1907 — Page 2

WEEKLY REPUBLICAN. GEO. E. MARSHALL, Publisher. RENSSELAER, INDIANA.

HORRORS OF FAMINE.

14,000 HAVE PERISHED IN RUS SIAN PROVINCES. Malignant Scrofula, Due to Inssufficient or Improper Food, Rages -- Indian Territory Lawsuit Baress Strange Compact Between Men. From official representatives in eastern Russia the government has recently received harrowing accounts of the misery and destitution prevailing there, especially in the province of Ufa. Up to the end of April 20,000 cases of malignant scrofula were registered, all the result of insufficient or improper food. More than 250,000 poor of the province are being fed in public soup kitchens. Since the beginning of the year the number of deaths due directly to famine is computed at 14,000. Relief work is chief - ly by private individuals and societies. The Russian government does little but muddle and interfere. The lower house of the Russian Parliament, by 176 to 146 votes, adopted the hill providing for the appropriation of $8,750,000 for famine relief purposes. The Poles and members of the group of toil abstained from voting.

BASE BALL STANDINGS. Games Won and Lost in Clubs in Principal Leagues. NATIONAL LEAGUE. W. L. W. L. Chicago ....26 7 Boston 13 19 New York..26 7 Cincinnati ..11 21 Phil'delphia 19 12 St. Louis.... 9 25 Pittsburg ..17 12 Brooklyn ... 7 25 AMERICAN LEAGUE. W. L. W. L. Chicago ....23 10 Philadelphia 14 17 Cleveland.. 22 12 St. Louis....14 20 Detroit ....18 12 Boston .....11 21 New York..15 15 Washington.. 9 19 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. W. L. W. L. Columbus ..18 13 Milwaukee ..16 17 Kansas City.l6 12 St. Paul.... 16 18 Minneapolis 17 13 Indianapolis 15 20 Toledo ..... 16 16 Louisville ...12 17 WESTERN LEAGUE. W. L. W. L. Des Moines. 19 12 Denver ..... 16 13 Omaha ..... 19 15 Sioux City.. 13 19 Lincoln ....17 14 Pueblo .... .11 12 SUIT REVEALS FAUST IN LIFE.

Man Gets $12,000 to Kill Self in Year, Weds Heiress and Refuses. In Coweta, Ind. T., George Johnson, a wealthy stock man, has brought suit against Henry James for $50,000, revealing a modern drama of the Faust variety equaling Goethe's original. Johnson alleges that James made an agreement with him for a consideration of $12,000 to kill himself at the end of one year, thereby leaving Johnson $50,000 life insurance, which James had obtained in favor of Johnson. James took the $12,000. went to Sag Harbor, spent money lavishly and married an heiress. Johnson alleges that James both refuses to repay the $12,000 or kill himself, according to contract. Sees End of White Plague. Dr. Nicholas Senn. the famous Chicago surgeon, has aroused much comment in Omaha by the prediction that consumption will be entirely eliminated in twenty-five years. Dr. Senn has been led to this belief by the thoroughness with which all the large cities of the country have grappled with the disease in the last two or three years. Settles with Victim's Widow. Philip Schwartz, known as the "Duke of Shantytown," who is under indictment for murder in the first degree for shooting Policeman Satters in Cincinnati, paid $650 to the widow. Mrs. Satters had sued for $10,000, claiming that was the value of her husband's service to his family. The $650 was a compromise. Mrs. McKinley Is Dead. Mrs. William McKinley died at her Canton, Ohio, home without regaining consciousness after her recent stroke of paralysis. President Roosevelt and Vice President Fairbanks attended the funeral Tuesday afternoon. Body Found in Trunk. The body of a murdered New York priest was found in a trunk left in a rooming house as security for a rent bill. Police are searching for two men who occupied the room. Much Money in Dividends. The principal corporations of the United States, numbering 320, will disburse in interest and dividends in the month of June the sum of $70,000,000. according to a report from New York. Death of Theodore Tilton. Theodore Tilton, who became famous as the plaintiff in the $100,000 damage suit against Henry Ward Beecher, died in Paris after thirty years of life almost as a recluse. Bank Robbers Get $1,200. Bank robbers cracked the safe in the bank at Winnebago City, Neb. They secured about $1,200. Tiger Kills a Child. A royal Bengal tiger at Twin Falls. Idaho, broke his cage, killed a 4-year-old girl, clawed many ponies and injured several people before being shot. Miscreants Wreck Train. Limited train No. 20 on the Southern Pacific coast line was wrecked at West Glendale, ten miles north of Los Angelos, Cal. The wreck was the deliberate work of train wreckers. One man was killed and twenty-two persons injured, three possibly fatally.

EDWIN H. CONGER DIES.

Former Minister to China Succumbs to Illness. Edwin Hurd Conger, former minister to China, died at his home, in Pasadena, Cal., Saturday. The family was

[image: E. H. Conger.]

E. H. CONGER.

born at Galesburg on March 7, 1843, and received his education in old Lombard University, Later he attended the Albany Law School, where he was a student with President McKinley, and he was a youth when he steped from the classroom to shoulder a musket in the war for the Union. Enlisting in the One Hundred and Second Illinois as a private, he saw service In the same brigade with President Harrison, and susequently marched with Sherman to the sea. Before the end of the conflict he had been breveted major for gallant and meritorious service. When the war closed, Mr. Conger practiced law for a time at Galesburg, but in 1868 he went to Dexter, lowa, and there began farming and stockraising, and also entered into the banking business. Naturally he took an interest in politics, and successively was elected treasurer of the county, and then State Treasurer. In 1884 he was elected to Congress, and served three terms. In 1891 he was first appointed minister to Brazil, and was reappointed in 1897, and the following year he was transferred to China, and while there Mr. Conger performed notable service. He was in Peking during the siege following the terrible Boxer uprising, and after the capture of that city by the allies he conducted the negotiations on the part of the United States. Subsequently he was head of the commission that negotiated the new commercial treaty with China, which went into effect in 1902. Mr. Conger was appointed ambassador to Mexico in 1905, but his health failing, he resigned the post within a few months and went to live at Pasadena, where he was seized with, his fatal illness.

Race Suicide Stirs Roosevelt.

An article in a recent number of the Review of Review [illegible] "The Doctor in the Public School," upholdlng small families, has drawn from President Roosevelt a letter to Dr. Shaw, editor of the Review of Reviews, protesting against such teaching. Dr. Cronin makes the statement that physical defects go hand in hand with large families, whether of the rich or of the poor, but this the president says is not true. In proof of his position the president points out the fact that athletes are most apt to be found in fair-sized families, and he points to the vital statistics of Massachusetts showing that the average American family has so few children that the birth rate has fallen below the death rate. He reiterates his belief that the tendency of well-to-do families to die out means the elimination instead of the survival of the fittest, and he declares that our country could not continue to exist if it paid heed to the expressed or implied teachings of such articles, which furnish excuse for every unnatural prevention of child bearing, and for every form of gross and shallow selfishness in American social life.

Bond Thefts Now $800,000.

Later details of the bond robbery of the Trust Company of America came to light through the examination of Loan Clerk Douglass’ confederate, Broker Dennett. It Was found that the actual value of the bonds taken was not less than $800,000, and that Douglass had laid aside $500,000 more for convenient abstraction on the morning that suspicion caused his sudden departure. Douglass and his associates had raised about $200,000 in cash and loans on the stolen collateral. It was admitted by the trust company officials that they had paid out $165,000 to recover most of the bonds which had been placed with various brokers, and that the actual loss would be $140,000, considering the $25,000 bond of the loan clerk. The effort to connect a prominent Boston man with the deal was not successful, although it was believed that a third party assisted in the negotiations.

Biographical TidBits

Justice W. H. Moody is the blond bachelor of the United States Supreme Court. Charles Law Watts, a 16-year-old boy of Kent. England, weighs 373 pounds and is still eating. Theodore Gill, the world’s greatest authority on fishes, works for the United States government for $1 a month. Joseph Lang, the public executioner of Vienna, wears a heavy gold watch chain and a massive watch, which is held in his pocket by a thief proof hook. J. P. Nannetti. M. P., for the college division of Dublin and mayor of that city, is a working printer, and is foreman of the Freeman's Journal. George Trollope, an English actor of considerable note, has forsaken the stage and will enter the Catholic priesthood. He first appeared in "The Sign of the Cross.” Chief Appah of the Utes holds commissioner Leupp responsible for everything. Being told that Congress makes the laws, “If you let them make such a law you are no account in your job," exclaimed the old chief.

at the bedside when the end came. In a varied and [picturesque career] Mr. Conger, as an Illinoisan. shed honor on his State. As soldier, business man, statesman and diplomat he fulfilled his duties in a highly acceptable manner. He was

STEAMSHIP BURNED IN LAKE AND LOCATION OF DISASTER.

[image: Photo - Steamer Naomi]

[image: Drawing - map of Lake Michigan]

Five lives were lost and about seventyfive people had a perilously close escape from death and a property loss of $250,000 was caused when the passenger and freight steamer Naomi of the Crosby Transportation Company burned in the middle of Lake Michigan while on her

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—Cincinnati Post

JUDGE HARGIS FREED.

For the Second Time a Jury Finds Him Not Guilty. At Lexington, Ky., the jury in the case of Judge James Hargis, charged with the murder of Thomas Cockrill, returned a verdict of not guilty. Almost three years after the shooting of Town Marshal Cockrill-at Jackson the verdict was rendered in the case of the first of those who were charged jointly with the murder, and another chapter in the famous Breathitt county feud annals is concluded. June 21, 1904, Cockrill was shot in the court house at Jackson. He died at Lexington, where he was taken for medical treatment. During the trial several witnesses swore that Judge Hargis, his brothers and Sheriff Ed. Callahan had entered a murder conspiracy, promising immunity to any one who would shoot Cockrill, Dr. B. D. Cox and J. B. Marcum, all three of whom since then have been killed. The defense, however, presented testimony tending to disprove the conspiracy charge, and Hargis, testifying on his own behalf, denied all connection with the shooting. Curt Jett, who confessed killing Marcum, for which be was given a life sentence, was a witness against Hargis. The Hargis case had been on trial longer than two weeks. More than fifty witnesses were examined. This is the second acquittal of Hargis, he having been declared not guilty of the murder of James B. Marcum at his trial at Beattyville last July.

Young Girl Shot

Lena B. Reeves, 20 years of age, shot and killed at Sayre, Pa. Whether the girl fired the shot into her own head or was murdered is not positively known. Four Italians are held.

Prohibition War in Kansas.

The Kansas Supreme Court has appointed receivers for the property of all the breweries in the United States doing business in Kansas, holding that the State has a right to confiscate all property of any illegal business. Most of tbe brewers appear to be making little resistance, but all are giving support to the Annheuser-Busch company of St. Louis, which is disposed to fight the order. The receivership rule is based upon the prohibition law which went into effect in 1881.

GUESS WHERE THEY’RE GOING.

STEAMER 'NAOMI'

regular night trip from Grand Haven to Milwaukee. Four of the victims were coal passers penned down in the forecastle by the flames where many of the rescued passengers from the decks of the freighter Kerr and the steamer Kansas saw them at the port holes vainly imploring for help. J. M. Rhoades of Detroit, a passenger, was the fifth victim. He was terribly burned in his berth and died soon after reaching n hospital at Grand Rapids. By the time the three steamers had reached the scene the Naomi's boats were in the water filled with people and a number of passengers were still huddled on the stern of the burning ship. The captain of the Kerr ran his big steel ship up under the Naomi’s stern so close that the imperiled people leaped to her deck. The rescued passengers tell graphic and thrilling tales of their dangers and are unanimous in praising the coolness and bravery of the Naomi's crew. The steamer was burned to the water’s edge, and was towed into the harbor a smoldering hulk. The burned bodies of the four missing coal passers were found in the forecastle of the Naomi when the hulk was boarded.

PASSENGER DEATH RATE HIGH.

Report Shows 3,965 Accidents on Railway Trains in Quarter. More passengers on railway trains lost their lives in train accidents in the quarter ended December last than in any previous three months in the history of the country except for the quarter ended in September, 1904, according to a bulletin issued by the interstate commerce commission. The total number of collisions and derailments reported during the December quarter of last year was 3,965, and 1,430 passengers and trainmen were killed and 19,514 injured. Of this number 180 passengers were killed in train accidents, which is four times the general average of all quarters since September, 1904, when the highest record of 228 killed was made. The next highest record was 147 in the quarter ended in December, 1903, and this was three times the average of the nine preceding quarters.

OLD WORLD NOTABLES

The Sultan of Turkey is fond of animals and has a wonderful collection at Yildiz. The King of Norway served as an ordinary apprentice in the Danish navy for nine months. The Czar of Russia has a strong dislike to being photographed alone. He is, however, quite at ease when posing as one of a group. Raisuli, the Moroccan bandit, is an educated man, tracing his ancestry through Mulai Idris, the founder of the Moroccan empire. King Leopold of Brussels is reckoned as the richest man in Europe so far as real estate is concerned. The German Emperor rarely prepares a speech and never uses notes when delivering an address in public. Lord Cromer is such an industrious man for England in Egypt that he rarely accepts an invitation to dinner. M. Rouvier, the French ex-premier, has secured $600,000 of the $1,400,000 necessary to start a new daily newspaper in Paris. It will be the organ of ths Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas.

MRS. M’KINLEY DEAD.

Widow of Martyred President Passes Away at Canton. Mrs. McKinley, the widow of the martyred President, expired at Canton, Ohio, Sunday afternoon. Her death was so peaceful that it was with difficulty the physicians noted when dissolution came. There was no pain and no struggle. The body of Mrs. McKinley is to rest in the vault in West Lawn cemetery, which holds the remains of her husband, until the completion of the national mausoleum on Monument hill, when both caskets will be transferred to receptacles in that tomb. Although for thirty years Mrs. Mc Kinley had been something of an inva lid, she was comparatively well until a week before death, when she suffered a stroke of paralysis. Throughout the long period of her invalidism, dating from the death of her two little children, Mrs. McKinley showed a firm and unwavering belief in the career of her husband and by her cheering words, in spite of person-

[image: Drawing - Mrs. M'kinley.]

MRS. M’KINLEY.

al afflictions, encouraged him when there was darkness at hand. She believed that his star of destiny would never set until he had become President of this land and for more than a quarter of a century cherished that belief until her hopes were realized. After President McKinley’s death she expressed a desire to join him and prayed day by day that she might die. Later, however, she frequently told friends she desired to live until the completion of the McKinley mausoleum, which is the gift of the nation and which is to be dedicated on Monument hill Sept. 30 next. Mrs. McKinley was born in Canton June 8, 1847. James A, Saxton, her father, was an intellectual and pro- [gressive business man and banker, his Ida Saxton was reared in a home of comfort and ease. After attending Canton schools she was a pupil at a private school at Delhi, N. Y. Later she went to a Cleveland academy and finished her education at Brook Hall seminary, Media, Pa. While she taught Sunday school in the Presbyterian church young Lawyer William McKinley was superintendent of the First Methodist Episcopal Sunday school. Among many admirers and suitors the handsome young soldier, who had been with Grant and Sherman and won distinction in the Shenandoah valley, was the favored one. Her life, as the wife of William McKinley was a devoted one. They never “kept house’’ while he was in Congress because of her invalid state. She, however, desired to be with him as much as possible and spent much time in Washington. On his campaign tours while he was Congressman, Governor and President, she journeyed with him After McKinley’s term as Governor ended, they came to Canton in January, 1896, in time to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary in the first home of their early married life. This wedding anniversary was the beginning of a year and two months’ residence in Canton, during which time Mr. McKinley was nominated and elected President of the United States.

GOES UP IN SMOKE.

Many Millions Eaten Up by Actual Fires and by Fire Protection. In all this huge country of ours we built about $500,000,000 worth of new buildings a year; our fire losses, including cost of fire departments and insurance, exceeds that sum. Two hundred million dollars is actually burned up—gone into smoke; fire departments, high water pressure and all that sort of thing mean nearly $300,000,000 more; we annually pay out $195,000,000 to the gentlemen who condescend to gamble with us on the question of fire in insurance premiums. We get back, after considerable trouble and some litigation, about $95,000,000 from the insurance companies as a slight salve for our fire injuries! Surely not a profitable gamble. Now then, the above are normal losses, so called. One fire, like San Francisco’s, means $315,000,000 wasted in smoke, $1,000,000,000 in lost business to that city and the country generally, $12,000,000 to clean up the debris and $350,000,000 and 20 years’ time to get the city in the condition it was before the fire. To counterbalance all that vast total the people of San Francisco may, after long delays, much quibbling and tiring litigation and fussing, get $135,000,000 from the insurance companies!

Short News Notes.

Gen. Funston used to collect botanical specimens for the Department of Agriculture. Leopold, King of the Belgians, is said to be the richest monarch in Europe, next to the Czar of Russia. The Duke of Orleans contemplates an expedition to explore the northeast coast of Greenland this spring. The Sultan of Turkey eats sparingly, eats meat seldom, and water is his principal beverage, supplies of which are conveyed to his palace in sealed barrels.

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COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

CHICAGO. Aside from the effect of unfavorable weather on leading retail lines, the course of business is steady, production in the industrial branches being fully sustained and new demands carrying the period of assured forward work farther into 1908. No diminution appears in the pressure for supplies of raw material. Current inquiries indicate that heavy orders for rails and equipment are impending, and there is fair activity in furnace product, structural shapes and wire. Local building operations involve unusual consumption of materials, and the forces employed increase, at exceptionally high wages. Manufacturing conditions remain favorable, wood and leather working plants steadily increasing outputs, and there is a large distribution of electric and brass goods. Receipts of ore fall short of expectations, owing to late opening of navigation, but fresh arrivals of lumber and hides exceed those of a year ago. Dealings in the wholesale branches make a fair aggregate. Mercantile collections continue to be very encouraging. Bank statements this week exhibit deposits at the highest level. Commercial borrowing is not particularly urgent at this time, but money works easier, although the discount rate remains at 5-1/2 per cent. The markets for provisions and live stock reflect steady absorption, and better receipts of hogs increase packing, but the breadstuffs are in lessened demand, the rapid rise in prices having discouraged cash operations. The total movement of grain at this port aggregated only 7,403,880 bushels, against 9,368,130 bushels last week and 5,746,688 bushels a year ago. Compared with those of last year, there are increases in receipts of 14.3 per cent and in shipments 42.6 -per cent. Receipts of live stock were 266,893 head, against 253,345 head last week and 280,814 head last year. Failures reported in the Chicago district number 14, against 26 last week and 24 a year ago.—Dun’s Review of Trade. NEW YORK. Crop and trade reports are irregular, but there is a slight improvement visible as a whole, owing to higher temperatures. Relatively the best reports as toretail and wholesale trade come from the Pacific Northwest. In the central West. Southwest, North [illegible] South the volume [illegible] hind a year ago [illegible] Foundry pig [illegible] Business for [illegible] the price basis being $22 per ton, valley furnaces. Some southern iron has alsobeen disposed of for first quarter shipment, the quotation being $18.50 Birmingham. Demand for basic pig for delivery in the last half of 1907 is quite heavy. Business failures for the week ending May 23 number 165, against 184 last week, 170 in the like week of 1906, 179 in 1905, 184 in 1904 and 181 in 1903. Canadian failures for the week number 19, as against 22 last week and 13 in this week a year ago.—Bradstreet’s Commercial Report.

THE MARKETS

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Chicago—Cattle, common to prime, $4.00 to $6.55; hogs, prime heavy, $4.00 to $6.35; sheep, fair to choice, $3.00 to $6.10; wheat, No. 2, 96c to 98c; corn, No. 2, 53c to 54c; oats, standard, 45c to 47c; rye, No. 2, 84c to 86c; hay, timothy, $14.00 to $21.00; prairie, $9.00 to $15.00; butter, choice creamery, 22c to 24c; eggs, fresh, 13c to 15c; potatoes, 50c to 66c. Indianapolis—Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $6.00; hogs, choice heavy, $4.00 to $6.50; sheep, common to prime. $3.00 to $5.25; wheat. No. 2, 91c to 93c; corn, No. 2 white, 53c to 54c; oats, No. 2 white, 42c to 44c. St. Louis—Cattle, $4.50 to $6.25; hogs, $4.00 to $6.52; sheep, $3.00 to $5.50; wheat, No. 2, 97c to 98c; corn, No. 2, 53c to 55c; oats. No. 2, 43c to 45c; rye, No. 2, 75c to 76c. Cincinnati —Cattle, $4.00 to $5.60; hogs, $4.00 to $6.55; sheep, $3.00 to $5.00; wheat, No. 2, 95c to 96c; corn. No. 2 mixed, 53c to 55c; oats, No. 2 mixed, 43c to 44c; rye, No. 2, 74c to 76c. Detroit —Cattle, $4.00 to $5.75; hogs, $4.00 to $6.60; sheep, $2.50 to $5.50; wheat, No. 2, 99c to $1.00; corn, No. 8 yellow, 55c to 57c; oats. No. 8 white, 47c to 49c; rye, No. 2, 86c to 87c. Milwaukee —Wheat, No. 2 northern, 99c to $1.01; corn, No. 3, 52c to 53c; oats, standard, 44c to 45c; rye, No. 1, 81c to 83c; barley, standard, 83c to 84c ; pork, mess, $16.45. Buffalo—Cattle, choice shipping steers, $4.90 to $6.00; hogs, fair to choice, $4.00 to $6.75; sheep, common to good mixed, $4.00 to $5.75; lambs, fair to choice, $5.00 to $7.00. New York—-Cattle, $4.00 to $6.00; hogs, $4.00 to $7.00; sheep, $3.00 to $6.50; wheat. No. 2 red, $1.01 to $1.03; corn, No. 2, 60c to 62c; oats, natural white, 49c to 51c; butter, creamery, 23c to 25c; eggs, western, 15c to 17c. Toledo —Wheat, No. 2 mixed, 99c to $1.00; corn. No. 2 mixed, 55c to 57c; oats, No. 2 mixed, 46c to 47c; rye. No. 2, 79c to 80c; clover seed, prime, $8.20.

Interesting News Items.

Joseph Milner is under arrest as the result of the finding of the dead body of T. Sirmans, a storekeeper at Sirmans’ station, Madison county, Florida. More than a score of families were ren dered homeless by a fire which swept Lincoln, N. 11., entailing a loss of $100,000. Twenty-two cottages and two large residences were destroyed.