BY P. GRAY MEEK.
a
Ink Slings.
—Summer outings and war taxes are
both in order at the present time.
—1It is the work of Republican Spaniards
that the Democracy of Altoona needs to
keep an eye skinned for.
—DMuch as we may dislike to admit it
yet truth compels us to acknowledge that
CERVERA'’S fleet is now made up of fast
vessels. -
—Licking Spain will be but a short job
in comparison to the time we will have
licking war stamps after the unpleasantness
is over.
—It is generally supposed that Mr.
WANAMAKER'S cable will be in working
order again by the time the Altoona con-
vention meets.
—A drop of one dollar in the price of
wheat in two weeks! Lordy, how the bot-
tom seems to bave fallen out of Republican
‘‘prosperity !’’
—It is to be hoped that peace will be de-
clared between the contending forces of the
Clearfield Democracy after their trial battle
on Saturday next.
—Mr. QUAY'’S efforts to capture part of
the Democratic party of the state can prop-
erly be considered the latest annexation
scheme reported.
—=Speaking of sinking funds, it begins to
look as if the Spanish navy would prove
the largest and most permanent thing of
the kind known.
—Judge GORDON’S engineers have dis-
covered that it is neither a clear track nor
a down grade over which they are trying
to haul his gubernatorial boom.
—When President LINCOLN said ‘‘you
cannot fool all the people all the time,”
he evidently had no knowledge of the kind
of voters the State of Oregon would pro-
duce.
—Now that an issue of bonds has been
secured for the banker and broker, the oth-
er fellows, who Mr. Mark HANNA charac-
terizes as “‘tramps and loafers,” can go on
with the war.
—Dr. SWALLOW has given excuse for but
one libel suit, so far, in the present cam-
paign. This can be excused only on the
ground that the doctor has not yet properly
warmed up to his work.
—1It was a good convention and its work
was well done. Let the Democratic people
of the county do their duty as well and
Centre will be back in the Democratic
column by a large majority.
—It is the masked batteries that Republi-
can insurgents are supposed to be planting
along the way to the gubernatorial chair,
that is giving the STONE forces the most
uneasiness, just at this stage of the war.
—1I¢ can bardly be that the service has
already absorbed all the sons of all the
millionaires, and yet, when we come to
think about it, we haven’t heard of any of
them being commissioned for at least twen-
ty-four hours.
—The Democratic county convention
seems to have gotten the exact range of the
enemy’s camp. If the Altoona convention
does as well there will be little of the bosses
fortifications left after the November bom-
bardment.
—It is a singular yet undeniable fact,
that in these times of intense patriotism,
all the fellows who wear the blue are not
at the front. Proof of this is furnished in
the appearance of the army of would-be
post masters about here.
—Since Chairman GARMAN and Judge
GORDON have kissed and become friends,
it is said that the bond of sympathy be-
tween them has grown so strong, that the
chairman ouches whenever the judge’s po-
litical corns are touched.
—The {rigidity observable at the meet-
ing of QUAY and anti-QUAY Republicans
of this place indicates that no matter how
high the thermometer may get, there will
be a coolness in the local political atmos-
phere about them for some time.
—R. G. DUNN & Co. reports the failures
of the week as 245 in the United States
against 214 last year. This list does not,
however, include the failure of Mr. QuAY’s
convention to renew its pledges of reform,
or refer to the burning of the state capitol.
—It don’t require one to look past a
sight post to discover how fast this govern-
ment, under the command of Mr. MARK
HANNA'S administration, is drifting in
the direction ofa large standing army and
the necessity of increased and endless
taxation.
—1It is stated that the new government
bonds will be issued by the 15th of J uly.
While they may not be exactly the ‘*bonds
of iniquity,’ that Peter preached about,
they will cause a great many people to un-
derstand what it is to be “‘in the gall of
bitterness,” long before they are paid.
—When the Democrats at Altoona get
down to work on their platform there
shouldn’t be much trouble in finding at
least one plank upon which all of them
could agree. The lumber that the con-
tractor sold for $24 and for which the State
paid $55 per thousand ought to furnish
this.
—With wheat at 72 cents, won’t some
good optimistic Republican please take the
platform and explain where Republican
‘‘prosperity,”’ is benefiting the farmer?
This information the country needs. It
needs it badly and it needs it quickly if
Mr. HANNA'S administration is to have
the credit that it claimed a few weeks ago.
VOL. 43 _
A Deficiency and a Loan.
As a revenue producer the DINGLEY tar-
iff has turned out to be the complete fail-
ure that was predicted. The close of the
present fiscal year, on the first of the com-
ing month, will show it to have created a
deficiency of $95,000,000. The available
balance in the treasury is $92,000,000, this
being all that is left of the $293,000,000 se-
cured by the CLEVELAND bond issues.
With such a deficiency the country
would be in poor shape for war. but the
new revenue bill will increase the reve-
nues under the DINGLEY law in the neigh-
borhood of $150,000,000. But the chief
dependence for money is on the war loan,
which will consist of a bond issue of $400,-
000,000, and $100,000,000 certificates of in-
debtedness bearing interest.
No provision is made for the issue of
greenbacks, and the coinage of the senior-
age is reduced to $1,500,000 a month.
There is $42,000,000 of this silver belong-
ing to the government, which could be
coined at once and made useful in paying
the expenses of the war, but its coinage is
made a mere dribble of a little over a mil-
lion a month, in order that there may be
more occasion for a loan and a hetter chance
for the bankers.
This $42,000,000 of silver is clearly the
property of the government. Itis coinable
in silver, which the people would gladly
receive, but in this matter the government
prefers acting as foolishly as the business
man who with cash assets in his safe would
borrow money to carry on his business.
The Oregon Election.
Much comfort is being extracted from the
Oregon election by the party against which
the tide of public condemnation had strong-
ly set, in the recent local elections in near-
ly all the States. There has been an in-
crease in the Republican majority in that
State, but it was due to exceptional causes,
one of which was the appeal which the par-
ty leaders made to the voters to sustain the
Republican administration in the war.
This no doubt had more of an effect than
any influence which the money question
had on the result.
But if the Oregon voters would have had
such a case of bad state government and
general political eorruption to deal with as
will be presented to the voters of Pennsyl-
vania this ) ear, their State election would
bave had a different result. Not only in-
fluential Republican leaders in this State,
but great masses of the party’s rank and
file, are in rebellion against a corrupt
machine and a tyrannical boss that are as
disgraceful to the party as they are injuri-
ous to the State. :
When such a feeling exists among the
Republicans of this State, presenting such
promising propects of better State govern-
ment, the Democrats of Pennsylvania
should act so judiciously in their plan of
campaign and in the character of their
State nominations as to alienate none of
the elements that may be united in a con-
test for State reform.
The Right Treatment.
The friends of good government are en-
couraged by the improved prospect of the
Democrats adopting a line of action at their
State convention that will confine their
campaign to issues bearing exclusively
upon State government. There was a dis-
position to include national questions in
the contest, but this is giving way to the
conviction that the introduction of such ex-
traneous issues would not only have no
relevancy to State interests, but would do
harm by the division it would be likely to
cause among those whose efforts should he
united in bringing about the needed reforms
in the government of the State.
Local abuses can be corrected only by
local remedies. When a citizen is injured
by the evils prevailing in the public affairs
of his State he can mot expect to he re-
lieved by resorting to the currency or
tariff questions for a remedy. Remedial
action of that kind would he as great an
error as taking the wrong medicine in case
of physical disease.
Our State is suffering from an internal
derangement. Republicans as well as
Democrats diagnose it as a had case of ma-
chine misrule, which has assumed a can-
cerous form which requires a surgical
operation. The indications that the right
treatment is going to be adopted are en-
couzaging when the party leaders appear to
be coming to the conclusion that the intro-
duction of national issues would be out of
place in treating a case of disordered State
government.
Beneficial to the Bankers.
The bonds to be issued for war revenue
are likely to be so attractive to the bankers
that there will be but a slim chance for in-
dividual investors to get any considerable
share of them. In New York the bond
syndicates that usually have the preference
in such transactions are preparing bids
that will absorb most of the issue, while a
heavy demand for the bonds will come
from London, an order for $1,000,000 of
them having already come in from that
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
quarter. When such movements of the
big capitalists are on foot itis difficult to
see how the loan is going to be popularized
to any appreciable extent.
This issue of bonds for war purposes
brings forcibly to the public mind the ca-
lamity that befell the country when a too
compliant decision of the supreme court of
the United States struck down the income
tax law by a strained decision against its
constitutionality. If that law were now
in operation, drawing a due tribute to the
treasury from the overflowing wealth of the
millionaires, the war expenses could be
met without the issue of a dollar in bonds.
Wall street and Lombard street, how-
ever, are so overstocked with capital need-
ingjinvestment that the influence of those
money centres had but little difficulty in
inducing a Republican Congress to pass
a revenue measure that will be expensive
to the American people in paying the in-
terest that vill constitute the advantage of
the money lenders.
Stone’s Hypocritical Address.
QUAY’S nominee for Governor had a
speech prepared for the convention after
his nomination, but he was not given a
chance to speak his piece. The servants of
the boss who composed the convention had
obeyed orders in nominating his man, but
what the nominee’s views might be on pub-
lic questions was of no interest to them
whatever. Probably they believed that he
had no views except such as his master al-
lowed him to entertain.
Candidate STONE having missed the op-
portunity of firing off his speech at a con-
vention that didn’t want to hear it, sent it
out nevertheless, as if it had been regular-
ly delivered. Its most notable feature
is its effort to connect his machine candi-
dacy with the war, and to give an appear-
ance of patriotism to QUAY’S rotten poli-
ties.
A single passage will be sufficient to
show the hypocritical character of the ad-
dress :
“We are fighting the battles of Almighty
God. Already griefsits about the hearthstone
and tears are shed in our State for the first
of the fallen in this war. * # #% We of Al-
gheny will not soon forget the Maine.
‘Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget.”
In accepting this nomination and becomi ng
the standard-bearer of a great party in a
great State, I naturally feel the responsibility
that rests upon me.”
Speaking of this bare-faced attempt to
disguise machine rascality by the use of
patriotic expressions and an invocation to
the Almighty, the anti-Quay Republican
Philadelphia Ledger says: “It would be
extremely difficult to compress into as brief
a form so striking an example of the un-
seemingly mixing of political and dem-
agogic platitudes with unconsidered blas-
phemy.”
There could not be a more severe con-
demnation of QUAY’S candidate than the
above quotation extracted from one of the
most reputable Republican journals in the
State.
*‘Lest we forget’’ the real issue of the
contest, in which the people of the State are
ahout to engage, it must be born in mind
that this man STONE, whom a political,
licentious, autocrat has forced upon the Re-
publican party as its candidate for Gover-
nor and who so hypocritically prates
about ‘‘fighting the battles of Almighty
God,” is merely the retainer of a party
boss by whose election to the governorship
a vicious political machine would maintain
its misrule of this State.
They Don't Want Discussions.
There is something characteristically im-
practical and absurd in candidate SwaArL-
LoWw’s challenging the machine candidate
to a joint discussion of the issues of the
state campaign.
Discussing the issues is about the last
thing that the QUAY gang can be induced
to do. They have a supreme contempt for
any other issue than the political loaves
and fishes. For their retention of the
spoils they depend upon the power of the
machine and the ability of the hoss to keep
the party membership in line.
This being their reliance for success in
the campaign, they don’t want any discus-
sion. They will scarcely put themselves
to the trouble of denying the charges of
corruption which they know to be true and
are generally believed by the people.
The machine leaders count upon retain-
ing their hold on the larger percentage of
the Republican vote by the force of party
allegiance, and the division of the anti-
Quay force, by SWALLOWS candidacy, they
calculate on as suring the plurality that
will retain the state government in the
hands of the corruptionists.
With such a plan of campaign QUAY’s
gang can laugh at the erratic Doctor's de-
sire to splurge in discussing the issues of
the campaign with them on the stump.
They count on having the advantage of his
candidacy without all the talk that would
be involved in such palaver.
———
——Mr. WANAMAKER evidently has
come to the conclusion that the way to
flatten Mr. QUAY is to puncture his politic-
al tire.
BELLEFONTE, PA., JUNE 17, 1898.
Harmony First.
From the York Gazette.
If the friends of reform do not permit
themselves to become bewildered by the
clamors of one selfish and designing party
and the snarls of another disappointed and
defeated faction, victory will perch upon
the Democratic banners this year and the
reforms for which that party has fought
through thick and thin will follow as fast
tee legislature can dispose of the work
set.
Harmony is the key note. The issues
are plain. It only remains for all the dif-
ferent elements in the party to get together.
Once this is done victory is assured, for the
people of Pennsylvania are sincerely tired
of being robbed and misgoverned by their
Republican taskmasters, and they are anx-
ious to be led out of political slavery.
They will accept the Democratic candidate
for Governor as their Moses, provided he
has a united party at his back. Therefore
every Democrat should do his utmost to
bring about a perfect unity of purpose and
interest in the party.
Neither Popularity nor Character Will
Save Him.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch, (Rep.)
This nomination was not unforseen, as it
was more than possible for it to be made if
the full force of the organization was ex-
erted to secure it. But the question that
is to follow as an ultimate result is the one
that posseses the most vital interest for the
nominee and the party managers, as well
as the public at large.” We do not depre-
ciate Colornsl Stone's estimable personal
character. We have no intention of deny-
ing the popularity that may partially en-
able him to bear the load under which he
enters into the campaign. But neither pop-
ularity nor character can overshadow the Sact
that he stands as the candidate of a political
organization which, having undertaken re-
Jorms and pledged itself to their performance,
coolly turned the whole platform “and pledges
into a jovial bunco game without even the
pretense of an apology.
Not the Choice of Republican Voters.
From the Pittsburg Times, (Rep.)
The ticket slated has heen put through
and is now before the Republicans of Penn-
sylvania for their ratification at the polls
in November. As regards the nominee for
governor, the Times has no change in opin-
ion. It still considers him, as it has done
from the very inception of the contest
which has ended in his nomination, the
weakest candidate before the party. He is
not now nor has he ever been the real
choice of the majority of the Republicans
of Pennsylvania, and “he cannot command
that _ggength that can only come Jrom the
unifed support of a harmonious party. The
mere fact that he is the nominee neither
adds to his strength nor makes him more
acceptable.
Enough to Defeat Quay’s Nominee.
From the Philadelphia Ledger, (Rep.)
The contest of honest against dishonest
political methods has just begun; it has
not ended. All that John Wanamaker
charged against the Quay legislature and
the Quay executive officers is true. The
need for reform is greater now than before
Quay again asserted his power by controll-
ing the action of the Republican conven-
tion. There are more voters in the State
opposed to Quay and his methods than
would be necessary to defeat his can-
didate for governor, but whether they
can be brought together at the polis
in support of one candidate is problem-
atical.
To Vindicate an Infamous Legislature.
Philadelphia Bulletin, (Rep.)
The weakness of Colonel Stone is that he
has been nominated not only by the Quay
faction but primarily and chiefly through
the efforts of the most offensive” members
of the faction. He has been made the rep-
resentative of their selfish interests, and he
has heen supported by them with the ex-
press purpose of emphasizing their control
of the party organization and vindicating
the infamous record of the last Legislature,
for which they were responsible. There is
no doubt that it will be more bitterly op-
posed than any gubernatorial nomination
this State has ever made.
A Truly Factional Candidate.
From the Philadelphla Times, (Ind.)
Colonel Stone, the Republican candidate
for governor, is not responsible for the
perilous conditions which surround him.
He did not create them. There is nothing
in his personality or public record to cause
Republican disintegration. Heisa gallant
soldier and a gentleman of blameless repu-
tation and of admitted ability, but months
ago his contest for gubernatorial honors as-
sumed a distinct factional attitude that has
made him the objective point of the most
profound and widespread revolt ever
known in the history of the party.
Stone’s Defeat a Triumph of Public
Virtue,
From the Philadelphia Record, (Ind.)
This year, however, the names on the
ticket will be of lesser consequence than
usual. The battle is of methods and not of
men. It is the misfortune of the regular
nominees that they must go into the con-
test with the machine brand upon them.
They will stand or fall as the machine
shal! stand or fall in the public estima-
tion. Their success will be the vindication
of the machine ; their defeat a triumph of
public virtue and a step toward better gov-
ernment.
——While a strict observance of the
truth compels us to acknowledge that Mr.
QUAY may not be the original discoverer
of the fact that ‘‘the way of the transgress-
or is hard,’’ the rocks and other obstructions
that Mr. WANAMAKER has piled in his
political pathway, would seem to indicate
that he will have every opportunity of
discovering the reliability of this statement.
a —
Lieutenant Blue Makes a Seventy-Mile
Trip.
All of the Spanish Fieet Found in Santiago Harbor
8o That it is Practically Disposed of With Samp-
son There.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 14.—If there
was any question as to Admiral Cervera’s
fleet being in Santiago harbor, it was dis-
pelled to-day by the reception of the fol-
lowing cablegram :
“Mole St. Nicholas, June 13.—Lieuten-
ant Blue just returned after a detour of
seventy statute miles of observation of the
harbor of Santiago de Cuba. He reports
Spanish fleet is all there. The Spanish at-
tacked vigorously the camp at Guantana-
mo. An outpost of four marines were kill-
ed and their bodies mutilated barbarously.
Surgeon Gibbs was killed.
‘SAMPSON.’
The officials here are full of praise for
Lieutenant Blue’s achievement. Victor
Blue has been long known in the navy as
an enterprising and daring young officer,
but it required a good deal of sustained
courage for him to go ashore in a hostile
country and alone make this reconniossance.
He was, in the eye of military law, noth-
ing more nor less than a spy, and had he
been captured by the Spaniards he would
have been tried by drumhead court-martial
and executed.
Spain Turns to Germany for Help.
MADRID, June 14.—The Spanish press
has increased its optimism, !based on the
belief that Germany intends to prevent a
bombardment of Manila by making a naval
demonstration. The newspapers urge sac-
rifices with the view of securing Germany’s
assistance, and political leaders express
themselves in favor of offering Germany the
following concessions in return for her ‘“tak-
ing the initiative in checking America :'’
Firstly, naval stations and coaling depots
in Spanish Oceanica.
Secondly, Spanish concurrence in the
development of Germany’s commercial and
political relations with Morocco.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Duke
Almodovar de Rio, told the newspaper men
to-day that the Spanish Government had
not taken any step in the direction of peace
negotiations.
The Minister also said he had not re-
ceived any confirmation of the reported
third attack on Santiago de Cuba.
Camara is Fearfal.
His Reserve Squadron Insufficient to Cope With Our
Fleet.
GIBRALTAR, June 14.—The Cadiz fleet
consists of the battleship Pelayo, the cruis-
ers Carlos V, Victoria and Lepanto, auxil-
iary cruisers Rapido, Patriota and Meteoro,
and three torpedo boat destroyers. The
Alfonso XIII, being too slow, will be left
behind with six trans-Atlantic steamers
and five torpedo boats now at Cadiz.
It is reported that Admiral Camara has
told Captain Annon, Minister of Marine,
that his squadron is insufficient to meet the
Americans and therefore its sailing is
doubted.
The artillery practice shows a good aver-
age.
Troops Approaching Manila.
First Expedition of Nearly 2600 Men May Arrive
Saturday.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 15.—In a
semi-official announcement from the war
department is is stated that the first ex-
pedition of troops to Manila, nearly 2600
men, on the transports City of Sydney,
City of Peking and the Australia, were last
spoken beyond Hawaii.
The ships were ahead of their schedule
time and should reach Manila by June 18
(Saturday). It has been decided that
these troops will occupy fortifications in
the neighborhood of Cavite.
A MONUMENT FOR ‘‘POTTER’S FORT.”
—The ladies belonging to the Belle-
fonte chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, erected at the Old
Fort, on Thursday last, a monument weigh-
ing 5000 pounds for the purpose of marking
the exact location of Potter’s Fort, built to
protect the inhabitants of that valley about
1777. It stands just in front of the Old
Fort Hotel, is about four feet in height and
three feet square. Upon the polished face
of the monument, fronting the fort, there
is this inscription :
‘Erected June 9th, 1898
By the
Bellefonte Chapter
of the
Daughters of the
American Revolution
To mark the location
of the Old Indian Fort
Known in 1777 as Potter’s Fort,
‘Which stood 650 feet
North of this spot.’
The fort stood ob the site of the old
white farm house and, as that is quite a
distance from the main road and in some-
what of a hollow, it was considered advisa-
ble to place the stone in a more prominent
location. A few of the leading citizens of
Centre Hall were present and Mrs. Fred
Kurtz sent a beautiful bouquet which was
placed on the marker. The Rev. F. F.
Christine, of the Centre Hall Presbyterian
church, offered an appropriate prayer and
the Chapter joined in singing several na-
tional songs. After the ceremonies, a de-
lightful supper was served at the hotel.
A description of the monument, the loca-
tion, and a short history of the fort, will
found in the issue of the WATCHMAN of
April 29th.
— Although it is mid-summer at Santiago,
Admiral CERVERA shows no disposition to
take an ‘“‘outing.’’
Spawls from the Keystone.
—Seized with cramps while bathing near
Mahanoy City, young Frank Ferguson was
drowned.
—The wife of John Lockard, residing near
i Bangor, Northampton county, was terribly
gored by a vicious bull.
—Six hundred more King hopper coal cars
will be built in the Philadelphia & Reading
railway’s shops at Reading.
—The First Presbyterians, of Altoona, have
broken ground for a $40,000 solid stone
church building of 1,400 capacity.
—While walking on the Reading railway
tracks at Locust Gap, Northumberland coun-
ty, 13-year-old John Quirk was killed by a
train.
—Nearly 400 Catholic men of Scranton
have organized a Holy Name Society, the
object of which isto discourage the use of
profane language.
—A telegram from Washington announces
that the Altoona postoffice has been advanced
from the second to the first class. It also
states that the salary of the postmaster has
been increased from $2,900 to $3,000.
—Robert Headings, of Honey, Mifflin coun-
ty, while cultivating corn afew days ago
found a watch which he lost seven years
ago. It was an open faced, silver one and
except a slight rust on the hair and main
springs the watch was in as good condition
apparently as when lost.
—John Jacob Astor's battery of mountain
artillery, six guns, passed through Altoona
as a section of southwestern express Tuesday
morning. More than a hundred men com-
prised the roster of the battery. The mil-
lionaire colonel and his command are hound
for Manila, where they will join the land
force under Gen. Merritt.
—On Flag day in Philadelphia a move-
ment was made for the purchase of the little
house on Arch street, near Third, where
Betsey Ross made the first American flag.
The option money was paid for the property
and as the landmark was associated with one
of the most memorable incidents of early
history the building is to be preserved for
future generations.
—Adam Corter, the son of Nathan Corter,
a farmer, who lives north of Flemington,
Clinton county, was badly injured Friday
night by being kicked on the head by a horse.
The young man was found lying unconscious
in the lane about 9 o’clock and it is not
known how long before that the accident oc-
curred. Physicians were summoned and on
examination they found his forehead crush-
.ed and his face badly cut and bruised.
—One day recently Mr. W. G. Hadden, of
Cherryhill township, Indiana county, made
a novel discovery in one of his fields. A
large hawk was found fluttering on the
ground and when Mr. Hadden approached it
he found a large housesnake wrapped about
the bird’s neck. It is supposed that the
hawk had attacked the snake when the
reptile succeeded in strangling its foe.
Both snake and bird were killed by Mr.
Hadden.
—Receiver Thomas W. Barlow, of Philadel-
phia, of the suspended Peoples bank, was
enabled Monday, as, a result of receiving a
check for over $400,000 from President Jas.
MecManes, to announce to the depositors and
creditors that he can pay them a dividend of
90 per cent., and that the remaining 10 per
cent. will follow in three months. President
McManes, when the bank failed, announced
that he would personally guarantee that not
a depositor or creditor would lose a dollar,
and he has made his word good.
—The will of the late A. S. Van Wickle,
the Hazleton millionaire who was killed last
week by the accidental discharge of his gun,
while at a pigeon shoot, probated Monday,
makes a number of charitable bequests,
among them being Princeton College, $45,-
000; Brown University, $45,000, and La-
fayette College, $30,000. The Milnesville
and Coleraine collieries are to be operated
under the present plan under the direction
of the trustees. His wife and I. P. Pardee
are named as executors and trustees of the
estate.
—The other day, while Samuel Edmiston.
of Maitland, Miffiin county, was cutting
down a small tree it lodged against a sapling,
and he tried to pry it away with a hand
spike, when he heard a noise at his feet and,
looking down, saw a big rattlesnake ready
to strike. He jumped away and in doing so
slipped on a wet piece of bark and fell on a
log, injuring his back very severely. He
looked for the snake and it jumped for him,
and if it had not been that his dog attacked
thesnake he would have been bitten.
—What might have been a very serious ac-
cident or resulted in the death of J. C. Mar-
tin, the well-known coal operator, and Geo.
P. Meek occurred at Portage on Tuesday.
Mr. Martin was standing on the tipple of a
mine when two cars that had gotten beyond
the control of some one came crashing down
the incline, knocking him from his position
and demolishing the tipple. Beyond being
badly shaken up he was not seriously in-
jured. George P. Meek, who is employed at
the tipple, had a finger of the left hand
broken. He isaged 59 years. The tipple is
a wreck.
—Ebhensburg Mountaineer-Herald : ‘Old
Tom,” a horse, which for the past twenty-
tour years has been owned by Mr. John
Lloyd, of Ebensburg, is dead. He was about
29 or 30 years old, and for many years was
as familiar a figure on our streets as any
other old citizen, being driven in the express
wagon. During the past five years he has
been on the retired pension list, and has been
as happy a horse as the kindness of his owner
could make him. “Old Tom’’ was a highly
intelligent animal, and was almost capable of
delivering the express goods himself with-
out any human guidance.
—Max Craeger, aged 17, and John Sprow,
alias McNeal, aged 18, of Tomstown, a moun-
tain village fifteen miles from Chambersburg,
engaged in a fight precipitated by Sprow,
Monday night, and Sprow died Tuesday from
injuries received in the altercation. Craeger
is in jail. The boys are relatives. Sprow
threw stones at Craeger and the latter hit
Sprow with a big rock inthe forehead. Sprow
fell to the ground unconscious and itis said
Craeger then jumped upon him and battered
his head with a rock, beating him fiercely.
Craeger admits the killing but says the fatal
blow was received while the boys were roll-
ing over the ground ina fierce struggle and
that Sprow’s forehead came in contact with a
rock.
Ah