Bellefonte, Pa., February 21, 1880.
WHY THEY TWINKLE:
BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
When Eve had led her lord astray,
And Cain had killed his brother,
The stars and flowers, the poets say,
Agreed with one another,
To cheat the cunning tempter’s art,
And teach the race its duty,
By keeping on its wicked heart
Their eyes of light and beauty.
A million sleepless lids, they say,
Will be at least a warning;
And so the flowers would watch by day
And the stars from eve to morning.
On hill and prairie, field and lawn,
Their dewy eyes upturning,
The flowers still watch from reddening
dawn,
Till western skies are burning.
Alas! each hour of daylight tells
A tale of shame so crushing,
That some turn white as sea-bleached
shells,
And some are alway blushing.
But when the patient stars look down,
On all their light discovers,
The traitor's smiles, the murderer's frown,
The lips of lying lovers,
They try to shut their saddened eyes,
And in the vain endeavor
We see them twinkling in the skies,
And so they wink forever.
aL AA ————a
THE RAZOE OR THE RIVER.
QUAY DID NOT DECIDE WHICH HE WOULD
USE TO END HIS LIFE.
After Robbing the State Treasury of
$260,000, He Becomes Despondent.
The Scoundrel Saved by Cameron.
The following is taken from a twelve
column article published the New
York World :
When vice prevails and impious men bear
sway, the post of honor is the private station.
— Addison.
The uninterrupted tide of power
which set in Statesman Quay’s favor
for fifteen years of political life caused
him to become more and more unscru-
pulous. His private habits at Phila-
delphia and Harrisburg,were such as to
cause almost continuous scandal. If
as a gambler Quay were successful he
would have accumulated a fortune at
cards or on the turns of the wheel, but
there never was a more unlucky votary
of the fickle goddess who patronizes
games of chance. “How much did
Quay lose last night?” has been the
inquiry for years past by some one or
other who was present at or was aware
of the part taken by the eminent states-
man at a game of some kind or other
the night before. Hard play and hard
drinking told on the nerves of the state
treasurre, or,at least, his acquaintances
thought thac such was the fact during
the winter of 1879. The customary
phlegm, the nerve, the undaunte i
cheek of the boss appeared at times to
be insufficient to buoy him up, and he
was nervous and 1rritable. His exces
ges became greater than usual, and
finally the gang around him began to
shake their heads and whisper that
“the old man was breaking down.”
Among the cronies of Statesman
Quay were J. Blake Walters, the cash-
ier of the state treasury, and A. Wilson
Norris, the reporter of the supreme
court. They too were observed to be
unusually distrait. A friend of Walters
informed me that during this period the
condition of the cashier was fretful;
that he would suddenly spring from his
chair and walk up and down the room
and would sigh.
“One day I found him lying on a
sofa in his office. He said that he
twas so nervous that he could not rest
nights.’ I asked what might be the
trouble. He replied: ‘It you knew
you might understand my feelings, but
this is something I can’t talk about to
my best friend. You see how Quay
acts? Well, he feels just as bad as I
do.’ When Walters told me this he
was a sick man. He had an ulcerated
tooth, and I thought that he was ner-
vous from pain. I did not think for a
moment what the real trouble was.”
Samuel Butler, of Delaware, the newly
elected state treasurer, would by law
assume his duties on May 1, 1880.
As the time approached Statesman
Quay became more and more nervous.
He paid frequent visits to a certain
broker's office down Chestnut street in
Philadelphia, and when he came away
it was observed that his face looked
very grave. Samuel Butler flitted in
and out of the state treasury with an
air of importance.
The treasury who was to go out of of-
fice was Amos C. Noyes, of Lock Ha-
ven, who was known popularly as
uSquare-Timber” Noyes. He was
elected to the office in 1877, and I do
not think that a person could be found |
who questioned his personal integrity if |
the broad state of Pennsylvania were |
oone over with a fine-tooth comb.
Old “Square Timber” was a man of
business, cool and level-headed. When
he appointed Blake Walters his cash-
jer many of his friends told him that he |
had made a mistake. Noyes was a.
Democrat of the old school who was
elected by the people during Gov.
Hartranit's incumbency by a change of
feeling against the Republicpn ring.
Blake Walters was likewise in thelum-
ber business. He held timber lands
and he was interested in a mining |
scheme in the West. He was a tall,
finely proportioned man, with a full
face and bushy hair. His appearance
suggested a well fed ecclesiastic in
many respecte, and when he went down
to Harrisburg he was comparatively
unsophisticated and guileless in the de-
vious ways of politics. He had no
legislative experience. When at the
state capital he fell in with the fast,
drinking and poker playing set, of which
Statesman Quay was a master spirit,
and he quickly became as dissipated as
any of the gang. Senator William
Wallace was his political sponsor, flu-
and it was through the latter's in
ence with “Square Timber” Noyes
that the latter disregarded the advice of
friends and appointed Blake Walters
cashier of the treasury.
About this time Noyes became one of
the group of visibly nervous person about
the capitol, and his nervousness was of
a kind that was more apparent than
that of the others, As for Wilson Nor-
ris, he simply maintained a substantial
spree, and his nervousness rested with
comparative ease.
On a memorable afternoon there dis-
embarked from a train at the Pennsyl-
vania railroad station a fine-looking
gentleman, gay and debonnaire in his
aspect and with the confident, easy
manner of a prosperous man of the
world. He entered a cab and was
driven to the Lochial hotel, the head-
quarters of the leading politicians who
make Harrisburg their home during
the sessions of the Legislature. For
many years Statesman Quay had oc-
capied a suite of rooms at the Lochiel,
and Host George Hunter regarded “the
old man’ as one of his valued guests,
notwithstanding the occasional little
eccentricities of the latter, which were
of a nature no conservative boniface
could consistently permit in his cara-
vansary. As a digression, for instance,
when the festive stateman had gazed
so frequently upon and partook so deep-
ly of the contents of the flowing bowl
as to become threatened with the dire
nervous malady vulgarly known as the
jimjams, Mine Host Hunter, wisely
and with unselfish regard for the future
of his guest, ordered the myologist in
charge of the Lochiel bar to refuse, un-
til further orders, Statesman Quay’s
call for liquor. The boss was not ac-
customed to being thwarted in his will,
and, although in a state of dishabille,
clad only in a single white garment, he
proceeded downstairs to the recalcitrant
barkeeper and threatened to blow out
the contents of his cranium unless the
whiskey bottle was fortwith produced.
Entertaining little episodes of this sort
were frowned on by Boniface Hunter,
who was also explicit in demanding
that his distinguished political guest
should show a marriage certificate when
attractive young women were introduc-
ed as nieces and wards.
Toresume: The jaunty] gent'eman
who had recently arrived in town ap-
proached the office of the Lochiel and
inquired fo: S.atesman Quay. “He'sup
in the room,” was the response, and
then it was whispered in the ear of the
pew arrival : “The old man’s in a bad
way. Been full several days.” ‘It was
unnecessary for the handsome gentle-
man to appear shocked or even sur
prised, for he was entirely familiar with
the habits of the man from Beaver.
He merely shrugged his shoulders and
remarked that he would go up and see
what was going on.
On reaching the apartment of the
distinguished statesman he knocked.
Probably it the door had been unlocked
he would have entered without aid or
preliminary formality. After a while
the door was opened, and a singular
spectacle was presented. The occupant
was partially dressed, his hair was
awry, his eyes were bloodshot and
watery, his broad, round face was
flushed, and his hands tremulous. An
unshaven chin added to the general as-
pect of unkemptness. In plain lang
uage, he was the eminent leader of
Pennsylvania politics in one of the
stages of the condition known in the
slang of to-day as a “jag.”
The gentleman inquired, “What in
sheol is going on?”
In thick, husky tones Statesman
Quay replied :
“J am debating whether I will cut
my throat or go and jump into the Sus-
quehanna river.”
«Pooh, pooh,” replied the visitor,
“what'sup? Tell me all about it.”
After some desultory preliminary talk,
the explanation for Statesman Quay’s
nervousness, which had been the cause
of solicitude to his henchmen, was
made plain. He informed his visitor
that, in company with Blake Walters
aad a high official of the state, he had
embarked in a speculation in certain
stocks of the New York market, that
Walters as cashier of the treasury drew
out funds belonging to the state, that
the venture proved unsuccessful and
that an exposure was emminent. Sam-
uel Butler the new treasurer about to
take office, would not do so until a quan-
tity of paper in the treasury which was
placed there by Quay, Walters and the
rest, was taken out and cash substitut-
ed. Butler was not a man to be in-
timidated, and old “Square Timber,”
who only ascertained the raid on the
funds of his office when they were gone,
was nearly frantic. Altogether, it was
a very pretty how-to-do that the quak-
ing despairing boss poured forth to his
listener. The latter was, as he is to-
day, above all things, cool and collect-
ed. He neither expressed surprise nor
unfavorable comment. He merely in-
quired : “How much are you out?”
The boss groaned as he replied:
“Pretty near $200,000.” Then the
visitor whistled softly.
The conference which followed was
prolonged. Quay made as complete a
statement as his maudlin condition
would permit. He said that the money
was gone for goud and all, that he fear-
ed that Blake Walters would squeal or
that honest od “Square Timber”
would allow his indignation to control
him and denounce the perpetrators.
Blake was a Democrat—the only mem-
ber of the party included in the ranks
of the conspirators—and there was a
pressure on the state treasurer to keep
quiet from an influential member of his
party, in the hope that the scandal
would be averted. Altogether States-
man Quay’s state of being was quite as
abject as it was when his fears ran
away with him at the time of the Pitts-
burg strike.
The manner assumed by the gentle-
man in whose auricles the damning
tale of crime was poured was such as
to temporarily calm the fears of the
despondent boss, and the latter promis-
ed that he would forego committing
snicide until his visitor could look
about and see what could be done.
“I will go to Washington and see
Don Cameron,” said the visitor. “Keep
quiet until I return and cut off’ your
lignor.”
Immediately he repaired to Wash-
ington over the Northern Central rail-
way to communicate the startling in-
telligence to Senator J. Donald Came-
ron. The latter had recently taken the
seat in the Senate chamber which he
kad acquired as the result of the fa-
mous deal when his distinguished fath-
er, the wily old Simon Cameron, resign-
ed the office in sublime disgust. Don
Cameron was then, as always, a chip of
the old block, and the man who
went ‘from Quay’s room to see him
knew the value of his cold, delibera-
tive mind.
“My son Don is a d——d far seeing
fellow and the principal disadvantage
he has had to contend with in life I did
not have, for he was born rich and I
poor,” old Simon used tosay with gusto.
Senator Cameron was in his seat in
the Senate when the messenger arrived
in the lobby. I wili say at this point
in the story that the latter individual,
who plays so important a part in this
story, is one of the best known citizens
of Pennsylvania, a man of wealth,
and commanding influence. He sent
his card to Senator Cameron, who
hastened to meet him. The two retir-
ed to a private place, and the story of
the great raid was recited. Don Cam-
eron can be as cool as an iceberg, but
on this occasion he cast reserve into
the fire, and the whole of the troops in
Flanders could not have sworn any
worse than he did. And why not? He
saw the desperate nature of the situa-
tion. Not that he cared for the plight
into which the Republican boss had
placed himself,but the danger the scan-
dal would cause to the Republican par
tp was in his mind’s eye. A hasty con-
sultation was held and a plan of action
agreed on.
“Go back to Harrisburg,” said Cam-
eron, “and investigate this thing to the
bottom. You will find that Quay has
not told all. Probe itdeeply and then
report to me, and I mast try to fix it
up. The party must be looked after.”
It is entirely probable that Senator
Cameron's action was based on that
which he regarded as his duty to his
party, otherwise he would have allow-
ed the statesman and his fellow con-
spirators to have disported in a striped
suit in the penitentiary.
Back to Harrisburg hastened the
messenger of cheer to poor, miserable
Quay, who was cndeavoring to sober
up only to realize more acutely the
terrible position in which he was placed.
Senator Cameron was so deeply interest
ed that he followed his visitor to the
open air, outside on the capitol steps,
and stood bareheaded and anathema-
tized the folly of Quay and his con-
federates.
As Senator Cameron prophesied,
the subsequent delving into the intri-
cacies of the affair only served to dis-
close its magnitude. The sum of mon-
ey involved was larger than forgetful
Statesman Quay would at first admit.
The total was in the neighborhood of
$260,000. Quay still resided in Phila-
delphia, where he went at the time of |
the recordership deal. He had moved
from North Broad street to another
residence when the investigation was
completed at Harrisburg. When Sena-
tor Cameron had been apprised of the
details of the steal a meeting was ar-
ranged to take place at Quay’s house.
Thither repaired Don Cameron, sup-
ported by a distinguished lawyer,a gen-
tleman of commanding position in the
profession, who once filled a cabinet of-
fice. Quay and his visitor were of
course present, as was the state official
involved in the steal, and others whom
I have no occasion to mention. The state
official last mentioned was feeling toler-
ably comfortable for his part of the sum
to be made do to the wronged and robbed
treasury of the people of Pennsylvania
had been guaranteed by a wealthy firm
of coal operators of Pennsylvania and
New York. He had turned over what
property his wife and himself possessed
In a provincial city and he was in the
condition of mind which a man who
had fallen over a precipice and had
been drawn back by the hair of his
head may be supposed to feel. T will
say nothing of how the minor crimi-
nals were saved. The whole of the de-
tails are known, but for reasons they
are omitted here. Quay,the arch-raider,
had given all of the securities he pos-
sessed, but the gap still open was a
tremendous one. Here stepped in Don
Cameron. He paid out of his own
pocket a sum of money in excess of
$100,000—I am pledged not to mention
the exact sum—to save tne Republican
party in Pennsylvanta the disgrace and
the expense of the rapacity and roguery
of the leaders. Cameron was a rich
man, and he felt able to put out of his
private means the large amount of
money mentioned above, to accomplish
that which he felt to be a positive duty
to his political affiliations.
When the business was completed a
high state official, in the excess of his
complacency over his escape, approach-
ed Senator Cameron and exclaimed
effusively :
“Senator, vour act has mortgaged
me to you for the remainder of my
days.”
Po which, with a sarcastic inflection
of his voice, thus coldly replied the
son of old Simon :
“Well, sir, I regard my security as
devilish bad.”
The statesman of Beaver likewise felt
chipper. His proverbial good luck
had averted ruin. He ventured to
thank the senator for what had been
done. The answer was sharp and em-
phatic. “1 dont’ do this to save you,
Quay, but for the sake of your wife and
your children.” Cameron probably al-
lowed a dash of sentiment to step in
momentarily when he made this reply.
To the gentleman who first received
the story from Quay's own lips was
left the carrying on of details. He re-
ceived notes of hand from Quay, and
one of them for $25,000 has not yet
been paid.
Statesman Quay was indirectly the
cause of the death of two of the persons
mentioned in the story of the great
steal. “Old Square Timber” Noyes
never recovered from the shock the dis’
covery caused to him. Blake Walters
was as sensational as a scenein the Sur- |
‘go Herald.
rey theatre penny-dreadfuldrama. His
habit of dissipation developed at Har-
risburg increased.
his life by his own hand. There was an
effort made to conceal the suicide by
certain interested persons, and it was
given out that he died of blood poison-
ing, resulting from an abscess around
the root of a tooth. He certainly suf-
fered from a trouble of that nature, but
it was in’ a moment of extreme depres-
sion that he destroyed his life. Wal-
ters always felt deeply his treachery
towards “Squire Timber” Noyes. He
was by no means a bad hearted man;
but he was weak and easily yielded to
the superior will of Quay and others of
the Harrisbnrg ring.
His conscience prompted him to
write a letter, the existance of which is
known only to four persons. The
special correspondent of the World
spent ter days endeavoring to see this
posthumous writing which proved to
be of momentous importance. I was
not permitted to use the contents of the
letter, although I pursued it from be-
ginning to end. Itis in possession of
a person to whom it was given by the
person to whom it was addressed.
Contrition for his acts while cashier
of the treasury is the prevailing theme.
Four pages of paper are covered, and
there is asad tone, which shows the
state of mind the writer was in. The
time may come——there are certain con-
ditions which may supervene—whea
the letter can be made public. By per-
mission I am enabled to quote a few
words. After naming the persons asso-
ciated with him in speculations which
caused the loss of the State's money,
Walters said : “A will stronger than
my own led me on.” And there is
not the slightest doubt that he told the
truth when he mad: the claim.
A lawyer of the name of Speer was
the attorney who aided in adjusting the
business of the settlement at the treas-
ury when the money was refunded.
A newspaper like the World could
have driven the corrupt gang out of
power in short order, but the press of
Pennsylvania has allowed Quay to go
on unmolested by aggressive attacks on
his shameless conduct. The feeling
which the pardoning board scandal cre
ated and which occurred openly at
about the same time as the secret raid
on thestate treasury—which the people
of the state did not know about—they
do not to-day for that matter—led a
turn over in politics and Mitchell
wa selected United State senator in
1880.
For a period of three years after
1882, Statesman Quay was in very bad
odor and ont of office in voluntary exile.
The manner in which he obtained his
next place is not the least entertaining
of his many undertakings ; certainly it
is quite as unscrnpulous as any of his
crooked dealings. His friend and de-
pendent, Gov. Hoyt, thought that his
rather tough conscience had received a
strain and turned Independent in the
fall of 1882. He became desperate,
and although entirely in the power of
Quey, the latter was likewise as deeply
in his power. Neither one could well
afford to anger the other. Then it was
that Robert Emery Pattison, who was
ore of the best governors Pennsylvania
ever had, was elected and held office
from 1883 to 1887. During the period
of Quay’s open disgrace he passed his
time at various places—Atlantic City,
the Continental hotel, Philadelphia, in
the winter. If I were to recount some
of the stories of the temporarily depos-
ed statesman’s doings at Atlantic City
and at certain places in Philadelphia,
the hair of the reader would stand on
end.
The two States of North and South
Dakota, says the Pittsburg Post, ‘‘were
hustled into the Union to subserve par-
tisan purposes and before their people
were ready for the responsibilities and
burdens of State government. North
Dakota, only two months a State, is al-
ready insolvent, and there is such des-
titution in both North and South Dako-
ta that there are loud calls for relief.
The expenses of North Dakota for the
coming year are $534,230. Her utmost
receipts can only reach $251,898. Her
deficiency, therefore, will be nearly
$300.000. She cannot relieve herselt by
taxation unless it is made confiscatory.
She is estopped from borrowing enough
to meet the deficincy by her constitu-
tion. In this dilemma it is proposed
to close the public schools, and many
of the public institutions and thereby
cut down expenses.”
The two Dakotas, as the Post ob-
serves, should have been admitted as
one State, and had it not been for ofiice-
grabbing politicians who deluded the peo-
ple, and the necessities of the Republican
party, that proper policy would have
been adopted. As it is, the two infant
and sickly States have the same represen-
tation in the United States Senate that
New York and Pennsylvania have with
their eleven millions of people.
Ho 2 He Got a Place.
One of the brightest advertising men
in Chicago made his rise through the
fall of another. It was some years ago
when as a mere boy he was tramping
the streets of Chicago, broke and in
search of any sort of a job which offered.
His last nickel had gone for ford, and
one afternoon he was walking through
a down town alley tired and disgusted.
Happening to glance upward he saw a
boy leaning out of a window. In 2
moment the boy lost his balance and fell
to the pavement with the customary
dull thud. The discouraged youth has-
tened to the boy’s side and discovered
that death had been instantaneous.
Looking up at the open window [rom
which he had fallen the youth counted
the stories and then sought the stairway
near by. Mounting the stairs he dashed
into the editor's room, for it was the of-
fice of the Prairie Farmer, and blurted
out: “Do you want a boy?” Looking
up in surprise the editor answered :
«No, we havea boy.” Then the youth
said: “I'll bet you haven’t--your boy
just fell from the window and is dead.
T want his place ”” Investigation found
that the youth was right, and he was
engaged for his pushing way. Since
then he has risen by degrees and made
money, and very few of his friends
know how he gained his place.—Chica-
Finally he ended
The Farmers awakening.
It would seem as though the great |
cause of Tariff Reform were pervading
all classes, all states and all of the peo-
| ple (except always of course, those in-
| terested in tax robbery, and the politi-
| cians who expect to be keptin power
: by the monopolists). The Jersey State
Board of Agriculture is the last body to
betray a decided reform bias. These
gentlemen had a meeting yesterday, and
a member from the ‘agricultural county
of Burlington offered a resolution against
the proposed increased duty on tin plate,
which matter is now being considered
{ before the Committee on Ways and
Means of Congress. The resolu‘ion ex-
pressed it as the cpinion of the Board
that such an increase would work di-
rectly to the disadvantage of a great
number of farmers in the State whe
were interested in the business of can-
ning tomatoes.
Judge Forsythe, another representa-
tive from Burlington county, was par-
ticularly strong on the subject. He laid
giress on the fact that the industry of ti
plates competed with no similar in-
dustry in the country. “We've had
twenty-eight years of your infernal high
protection,” said the Judge, “and we're
tired of it.” He continued that the
Sheriff was taking possession of the farms
around him in Burlington county, and
such as brought $175 an acre a few years
ago were recently knocked down at
$54. The Judge concluded: “More
protection to the mill-owner, and let the
poor devil of a farmer take care of him-
self.”’— Philadelphia Evening Herald.
The Late Lord Napier’s Nerve.
The death of Lord Napier, of Magda-
a, recalls a story of the old soldier’s
nerve as exhibited once, in a time of
profound peace, in India. The Sikh
warriors were famous swordsmen, and if
any one was hardy enough to test their
skill, they could cut an apple, resting on
the palm of a man’s hand, cleanly in
two equal pieces, so that each piece
dropped separately to the ground, with-
out fraying the skin of the outstreched
hand. Perfect steadiness was required
in the person holding the apple, for if
the hand shrank the consequences were
likely to be serious. It is, perhaps,
needless to say that the offer to perform
this feat was more often made than
accepted.
For along time Lord Napier refused
to believe that the wild soldiers could do
this thing, and when one of them in-
vited him to hold the apple and wit-
ness the exploit he promptly consented,
supposing that the swordsman would
flinch from the undertaking; but the
Sikh had entire confidence in his own
skill. His eye, however, detected a lit-
tle irregularity on the general's right
palm as it was held out, and he asked
him to present the apple in his left hand.
Lord Napier afterward said that, for
the first time in his life, he was conscious
of the sensation of fear,as the conviction
flashed upon him that the man was not
going to “back out.” However, firm as
a rock, the hand, with the apple upon
it, was extended.thesword flashed down,
and the fruit fell in two segments to the
earth. The skin was not scratched, but
its owner said he felt the keen blade
touch it, as though a hair had been
broken across it. He added that,though
he was at last convinced of the Sikh
swordsman’s skill, he would never again
allow one of them to test it in that way ;
and he advised his officers to make the
same resolution.—New York Sun.
A Pretty Story.
Secretary Rusk has appointed Mrs.
Josephine O'Brien, of Washington, to a
position in his department ; and theraby,
writes a correspondent of the New York
World, hangs a pretty tale. Mrs. O’-
Brien’s application Lad been on file
many weeks, and the utmost efforts of
Republican frienda failed to secure the
coveted appointment. Naturally she
was very much depressed. Her little
11-year-old daughter, Josie, was very
indignant when her mamma failed to
secure an appointment, and avowed her
intention "to see the Secretory about it
herself. A little later the bell of Secre-
tary Rusk’s house in Massachusetts
avenue was rung and the servant who
answered it was confronted by an indig-
nant little damsel, who wanted to see
the Secretary. He was not in, but Miss
Josie replied that she would wait
for him. Secretary Rusk eame in soon,
and the little girl immediately demand -
ed to know why her muzmma had not
been appointed, and proceeded to give
the astonished Secretary the names of
prominent Republicans who had in-
dorsed her application, The Secretary
was so much amused that he assured
the little girl that her mother should be
appointed. But Miss Josie had evident-
ly heard of assurances that do not a -
sure, and she went next morning to the
department and presented herself to the
Secretary, saying that she had come for
her mother’s appointment. This was
too much for the Secretary, and the ap-
pointment was made out, much to the
delight of the persevering little girl and
to the astonishment of the mother.
Josie says that Secretary Rusk is the
nicest man she ever saw. v
EEC a ————
A GRAMMATICAL QUESTION.—Years
ago, in Cheyenne, there was a terrible
dispute about a point of grammar, one
party claiming that “I done it” was cor-
rect, and the other contending that it
should be “I have did it.” The decis-
ion was left to a tall professor, with sev-
en revolvers and a porcupine beard, who
promptly declared that anybody who
said “I have did it” was a liar. “Are
you.a grammarian ?” asked an opposing
member of this society for the promo-
tion of pure English. No, by 1”
shouted the Professor, “I'm a Missou-
rian!”
ECTS ——————
Hoodlum Politics in the House.
Houston Post.
Speaker Reed remains master of the
situation in the House of Representa-
tives. He is proceeding on the plan of
the hoodlum ward meeting, where ‘de
Chair runs der Machine, an’ any bloke
wot don’t like it gets de bounce.” The
Western Republicans suffer by this
method as well as the Democrats, and
there is a prospeet of rebellion that will
break the backbone of the majority.
All Sorts of Paragraphs.
—The Pan-American delecates will
visit Montreal.
—~Queen Victoria receives 300 or more
letters a day.
—French speculators have created a
corner in sardines.
—General Raum has issued 34,000 pen-
sion certificates thus far.
— General Sherman was seventy years
old the 8th of February.
—A dog that can’t bark is one of the
curiosities of Edinboro, N. J.
—Two-thirds of all the children born
in Conecticutin 1889 were boys.
—Leo XII will beeighty years old
on Mareh 2, should he live till then.
-—No less than 1,000,000 prairie chick-
ens are marketed in Chicago every year.
—Colonel North, the English nitrate
king, has a private dog-house that cost
$5,250.
—The Farmers’ Association of South
Carolina will nominate a State ticket
this year.
—D’Albert, the pianist, is a strict veg-
etarian and eats an enormous number of
apples.
—Rubber pavements have s uccesssful-
ly been tried on a bridge in Hanover
and a street in Berlin.
—A Philadelphia shoemaker’s dog
died from swallowing a piece of sole
leather in mistake for beetsteak.
—Eight hundred pennies were re-
ceived in a single collection in one of the
Chicago churches not long ago.
—Sir William Gull says that when
fagged out by professional work he re-
cruits his strength by eating raisins.
—Unecle Sam pays his 200,000 em-
ployes, including soldiers and sailors, an
average annual salary of $825 apiece.
——The new Spanish Minister ot Com-
merce, the Duke of Veragua, is reported
to be a lineal descendant of Christopher
Columbus. :
——«Buffalo Jones,” of Garden City,
Kan., killed a buffalo from his herd the
other day and sold the meat for fifty
cents a pound.
——Levi Williamson, of Ansoaia, Conn.»
has a hog that is seven feet long and
weighs 1,000 pounds. It isso fat thatit
is unable to get up.
——Chicago is to have a fourteen-story
hotel, costing over a million .of dollars.
The projectors expect it to pay for it-
self during the World’s Fair.
—A bundle of spider webs, not larger
than a buckshot and weighing less than
one drachm, would, if straightened out,
reach a distance of 350 miles.
—Thomas E. Blacksheer, of Thomas-
ville, Ga., is eating new potatoes from
planting made in September, and has
ripe strawberries on his place.
—The freedom of the serfs in Russia
has been repeatedly declared a great fail-
ure. They are said to be far worse off
now than in their former condition.
—Concurrently with the reports of
destitution in the Northwest are asser-
tions that cattle are so cheap that it
does not pay to ship them East.
—One of the lessons taught by Nellie
Bly’s girdling the earth is that a young
woman may go on an extensivetrip with
no other baggage than a grip-sack.
—The first convert to Christianity in
the Upper Congo valley was recently
baptized at Equator Station. The val-
ley contairs thirty million people.
—1It is figured that 1,664 houses were
lost in the Johnstown disaster, and
property in the flooded districtis valued
at $770.693 less than before the flood.
—An observant contemporary has
made the discovery that the fair should
not be held at Chicago, New York, St.
Louis or Washington, but around the
waist.
—M. Eiffel not only got his idea of a
great tower from American suggestions
for the Centennial Exposition, but an
American elvator lifted the patrons of
his tower to the top of it.
—T. Bailey Aldrich, who isa recent
vietim of the grip, compares the sensa-
tion to that of a misfit skull that is
too light across the forehead and that
pinches behind the ears.
—One of the professors of the Univer-
sity of Vienna, is said to have discovered
the bacillus of the influenza, and it
seems to be a near cousin, if not the
twin-brother of the pneumonia germ.
—The German imperial administra-
tion’s effort to pass a bill for the expul-
sion of the socialists from the empire has
been beaten in the National Reichstag
by the overwhelming vote of 169 nays to
98 yeas.
At a recent autograph sale in Lon-
don the signature of Voltaire brought
only two guineas, while that of Isaac
Watts sold for three; and while ten
pounds were given for a Boswell letter,
one by Johnson brought only nine.
—The Shaw of Persia in additien to
the masses of jew, in the royal treasury,
has a private fortune stowed in vault or
elsewhere which is known to consist of
at least. £3,000,000. To this he is per-
petually adding fresh accumulations.
—Georee Newcomb, the English lion
tamer, who died recently, in 1874 had a
terrible encounter at Swindon with five
African Lions, when he received nine
wounds on the right arm, in addition to
other injuries. Three of the lions died
in the struggle. Newcomb had previcus-
ly had his lefteye torn out by a leopard.
—The Cloverdale (Cal.) Reveille says:
Tt has been reliably ascertained that out
of 185 cases of successful swindling
throughout the State by traveling sharp-
ers in various ways, by which people of
the rural districts were robbed, some to
the extent of thousands of dollars, only
nine or ten were subscribers or readers of
a country paper.
— With this issue of the Kicker we
cease the weather forecasts we have been
publishing, as forecasted from our own
observatory, for the last six weeks.
While we have had wonderful luck in
hitting the weather for three days abead
our local subscribers have had no inter-
est in it and have discouraged the enter-
prise. This arises from the fact that no
one here cares a cast iron cent what the
weather is. If fair, they go out and
shoot jackass rabbits and run horses; if
foul, they gather in the barroom and
drink whisky and play sevenup. The
least that concerns them is what the
weather is going to be on the morrow,
and we don’t propose to educate them
up to feel anxious about it.
=ame
TE