“By P. GRAY MEEK.
Ink Slings.
wes and volcanoes both seem to be
on the rise. ° E
—In afew weeks more it will be entirely
-, proper to refer to him “a8 postscript
—As the recognized national bird, Mr.
EAGLE will now retire fora few days in
favor of Mr. TURKEY.
—Evidently there must be a hitch some-
where. We have not heard of a new war
in South America for three days.
—Chicago’s newest paper is called Fuel.
Whether the kind that requires poking to
make it bot has not yet been demonstrated.
—The Kansas city patient who killed
his doctor simply showed his belief in the
* necessity of a reversal of the usual order in
the killing process.
— Under a recent arrangement between
London theatre managers upper-tendom
in that city will be compelled to take its
chances with other people in securing pre-
ferred seats. Oh, ’ow ’orrible!
—Pennsylvania isa great State, and out-
side of its two big ring-ruled, repeater-
ridden cities is Democratic by 11,249 ac-
cording to the recent elections. Really
there is, after all a ‘‘balm in Gilead.”
The great trouble Mr. DALZELL'S
friends are meeting in their efforts to make
him Speaker, is, to convince the other fel-
lows that the capacity of a CANNON is not
to be judged by the noise it makes.
—Our thankfulness that the meeting of
Congress is yet three weeks distant,
takes on the appearance of a funeral smile
when we remember that we have still six
weeks of the STONE administration to
endure. :
— And now it is said that the guberna-
torial microbe has found a lodgment in
the brain of Cougressman-elect DRESSER.
Really it is wonderful the lack of judg-
ment some diseases show when in search of
a victim.
—The great sorrow that now sits so
heavily on the hearts of Republican pro-
tectionists is the fear that the old CANNON,
most likely to be first on the firing line of
the next Congress, may go off at half-touch
on the tariff question.
— Since the elections are over Mr. ROOSE-
VELT'S ‘‘war on trusts’’ seems to have lost
the strenuousity of its volubility, and to
be rapidly nearing a condition of inocuous
desnetude. Our deepest sympathy goes
out to the expiring cause.
— Oh, no. Mr. Quay did not plead the
statutes of limitation this time to avoid
the penalty for violating the Civil Service-
law. He didn’t need to. He had faith in
the limitation of the efforts of those who
are supposed to enforce the law, and that
faith was not in vain.
— After all benovelent assimilation has
proven a winner. Down in Delaware it
bas assimilated Gassy ADDICKS and Stren-
uous ROOSEVELT to such an extent that
they can’t tell one from t’other when it
¢ omes to shaking the plum tree or ladling
out the spoils of offices.
— Twenty-nine of Pennsylvania's sixty-
seven counties gave Democratic majorities
on the 4th inst. Get off that long face
Democrats, and have faith in the final
triumph of right. You don’t appreciate
how well you have done, barin’ the stay-
at-homes, and the frauds that overwhelmed
you.
— Since their endorsement of ‘‘Oleo’’
BILL, the farmers of Pennsylvania are en-
titled to the front of the stage to explain
why “any old grease’’ should be prohibited
passing as the real product of the cow.
Possibly their elucidation of this question
will show more consistency than did
their votes.
— Republicanism must have been the same
three thousand years ago. It might not
have called itself the Republican party and
it might not have been QUAY who was its
boss, but it was on hand all the same and
must have been close akin to the enemy of
the present day. Else how would SOLOMON
bave known that when ‘the wicked are
m nltiplying transgressions increaseth.’’
__¢Tt we haven’t swept them out of exis-
tence we have at least held our own,”’ is the
way one of our Republican exchanges puts
it. And come to think about it we guess
it is about correct. In fact we can’t recall a
single repeater-ridden city or a community
in which the tough and the criminal dis-
ports himself unmolested that didn’t stick
closer to Republicanism than a burdock
burr does to a cow’s tail.
—Great indignation is said to have been
aroused over the fact that the old Philadel-
phia school board, that stands accused of
extorting money for securing positions for
te achers, is at the front of the Republican
procession again and propose continuing
business at the old stand. This may be
so, but the trouble with Philadelphia in-
d ignation is, that it never seems to in-
dignate when it would do any good.
_—Remembering the awfal travail of soul
there was among those who filled the pul-
pits of the country when Elder ROBERTS
claimed a seat in Congress,a couple of years
ago, one might expect to see a ministerial
army already on the march to prevent the
election of Apostle Smoot to the United
States Senator. There is great probability,
however, of the discovery later, that in the
estimation of these brothers Mormonism
is a crime only when its members refuse
to vote the Republican ticket.
VOL. 47
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA., NOVEMBER 21, 1902.
Hope for Better Things.
All sorts of reforms are talked of in con-
nection with the next legislature and some
are even hoped for but it requires a strong
measure of optimism to expect avy. One
which is more or less universally demand-
ed and, in consequence of that fact, might
have some chance of fulfillment is a re-ap-
portionment of the State into senatorial
and representative districts. A more
atrocious measure than that now in force
was probably never devised, and as it dis-
criminates against one party in one place
and another in another the demand of all
those who suffer might result in a new
measure.
The present senatorial apportionment
was bad enongh in the beginning but has
grown worse as it has grown older. That
is the shifting of population has increased
discrepancies which were bad enough at
the outset. It was in order to avoid such
evils that the constitution enjoined re-ap-
portionments every ten years. To continue
them the machine has prevented a re-appor-
tionment for twenty-five years. There is
a possibility that it may be made by the
next Legislature. It will be bad, of course,
but it can’t be as bad as the present law.
Any change must be for the better. For
that reason any change is to be welcomed.
As an evidence of the enormity of the
present law it may be mentioned that Lan-
caster county with a population of 159,241
has two Senators while Berks with a popu-
lation of 159,615 has only one. Berks has
nearly 400 more population than Lancaster
and yet gets only half the representation in
the Senate. Other districts are nearly as bad
but because that serves the interests of the
party it is continued. It is in violation of
the constitution, but that makes no differ-
ence. It is in conflict with the obligation
of every Senator and Representative in the
Legislature but no attention is paid to that.
Patty interests have been the guide in the
past and we can only hope for better things
in the future. :
The Games Too Big.
It is early in the game hut we enter our
protest now. ‘‘Raising’’ the wages of the
rail-roaders was all right. They needed
and deserved it and the ‘‘pot’’ will be none
| to'large when they ‘rake it in.” With
many it is a question ‘of ‘grave doubt as to
whether it was just the *‘fair thing’ in the
corporations to ‘‘see the raise” made their
workmen and ‘‘swell the pot” on freight
| rates simply because they knew that the
loss would eventually lessen the ‘‘chips’’
held by the public. But when a New York
court increases the ‘‘blind,’’ in a game of !
kiss, to $200 and leaves it open to be played
without ‘limit’ that simply ends it with
ordinary fellows by placing it beyond
our power to ‘‘make good’’ the ‘‘ante’’ or
to even get a chauce at a ‘‘draw.’”’ Hence
this protest.
Foolish But Dangerous Talk.
The threat of Governor ODELL of New
York that certain members of a labor
organization in Schenectady, in that State,
would be put on trial for treason wonld be
amusing if it were not so grave a matter,
That is to say it indicates the drift of the
public mind into dangerous channels and
that is always a menace. The offence of
the labor unionist in question is in the
fact that they expelled a member of their
organization because as a member of the
National Guard he responded to the call of
the Governor for troops to preserve order in
a strike region. That was an exceedingly
silly thing to do but it isn’t anything like
treason.
Labor unionists are under no obligation
to join the National Guard but if they do
voluntarily attach themselves to the
body they are bound to fulfill the obliga-
tions. In fact having joined the Guard
they forfeit their title to good citizenship
by failure to perform the duties for which
it is organized and maintained. Neither
wonld we recommend them to refrain from
joining the Guard. The nearer perfect the
National Guard is the less reason there is
for maintaining a standing army, and be-
cause the fathers of the Republic were
opposed to large standing armies and in
favor of the citizen soldiery represented by
the National Guard, such organizations
were encouraged from the first.
But to expel a member of the National
Guard from a labor organization is not
treason. The constitution of the United
States defines treason as levying war against
the United States, adhering to enemies of
the United States or giving them aid or
comfort. Expelling a gnardsman from a
Jabor organization hardly comes within
that definition, thongh when ignoramusses
are elected to such offices as Governor of
a State there is no telling what construction
might be put on the laws, and therefore
though such talk, is absolutely absurd it is
dangerous. Still Governor ODELL will
hardly carry ous his threat. It would make
him even more ridiculous than the labor
unionists,
— Mr, ROOSEVELT'S recent experience
with BEARS, shonld teach him that the
place to find the ‘one not afraid of a Presi-
dent, is in Pennsylvania.
Tariff- Mongers Frightened.
The tariff-mongers of the country are in
a state of consternation over the prospects
of tariff reform by the next Congress. They
had hoped that with the help of the presi-
dent they would be able to tide over this
question until after the next Presidential
election and draw upon the treasuries of
the trusts for a génerous campaign fund as
usual. But the Republicaus of the Middle
West are growing restive under the tariff
tax burdens and threaten a revolt. The
Iowa idea is increasing in popularity and
when, the other day,the Wisconsin delega-
tion under the leadership of Representative
BABCOCK declared for JOSEPH G. CANNON
for speaker it was at once interpreted as an
alliance of the tariff reform forces in the
Republican party on Mr. CANNON.
Immediately after the election announce-
ment was made that Mr. CANNON would
be a candidate for the Speakership. He is
what is called a ““moderate protectionist,’’
but has no sympathy with the theabsurdly
high schedules of the DINGLEY law. In
order to head him off, therefore, his enemies
announced that Mr. BABOCK, who is chair-
man of the Republican Congressional com-
mittee would be a candidate. BABCOCK
believes that the only way to regulate the
trusts is to put trust products on the free
list and extend competation with them to
the whole world. The tariff mongers imagin-
ed that they could play one of these tariff
reformers against the other and run JOHN
DALZELL, a trust attorney and corporation
agent, into the office between then.
The action of the Wisconsin delegation
is interpreted, therefore, as an evidence of
an alliance between CANNON and BABCOCK
with the view of making such changes in
the tariff schedules as appear to them desir-
able. BABCOCK is already a member of
the committee on Ways and Means and the
fear is that he will be advauced to the
Chairmanship of that influential body and
be given a place on the committee on
rales. In that event there would be no
possibility of stopping tariff reform. BAB-
COCK consented to a delay the last session
on the ground of political necessity but he
is convinced now that the political necessi-
ties are on the other side and he will press
his anti-trust legislation. It promises to
be a very pretty fight.
— Pennsylvania Republicans show in-
dications of approaching the coming ques-
tion of tariff revision with about the same
degree of assurance that a San Francisco
preacher would a case of bubonic plague.
That Sunday Dinner.
The President is off on another haphaz-
ard excursion. This time he is hanting
bear in the cane swamps of Mississippi.
He has been there since Thursday or Fri-
day of last week and reached the camp af-
ter a hazardous andj laborious trip of a
couple of days. He hadn’t shot any bear
or other game up until this writing, ac-
cording to the published reports, though
two worn out critters had been run down
by the dogs and one of them was tied to a
tree by his guides in order that he might
havea chance to ‘make a Kkilling.”” He
didn’t shoot at the imprisoned beast, how-
ever. He’s too game a hunter for that.
He didn’t want bare bones, and the story
is that the captured animal was very thin.
But even if TEDDY didn’t get any big
game he had a cracker-jack of a dinner on
Sunday. The press reporters accompany-
ing his party say that he didn’t go hunting
on that day but took a ride out through
the forest with a gun on bis shoulder. He
was probably afraid the. butterflies would
light on him and took the gun for protec-
tion. Nevertheless the ride gave him a
ravenous appetite and on his return he sat
down toa dinner of roasted hear paws,
possum aud sweet potatoes. The dinner
was served in the open air on a table made
of rough boards and tin plates and oups
were used. There weren't enongh of
knives and forks to go around, but we are
glad to say that the President didn’t have
to eat with his fingers.
There was unconventionality, to say the
least, in this feast. of the Chief Magistrate
of the ‘‘greatest nation on the face of the
earth.”’ Most people would say that there
was an absence of respect for the office in
such a gypsy performance. No other Pres-
ident who has ever occupied the high office
would think of doing such a thing. Mr.
ROOSEVELT probably thinks the ‘‘plain
people” will admire such a disregard of
the ordinary forms of society. He may be
mistaken. The plain people are never de-
ceived by the antics of {a clown. Instead
of a disregard of the forms of society this
performance of ROOSEVELT'S on Sunday
was simply an exhibition of an insane vani-
ty which will go to any length in order to
provoke people to talk. It is the way
of a bronco buster president.
——Centre county’s corn crop, that is
now about housed, will average but little
over half a yield. While a few sections
report a full crop, from many others the
facts come that less than half a harvest
was gathered, and much that was taken
in was soft and almost worthless if placed
upon the market.
Worse Than Any Southern Wrong.
It might be considerable of a job to con-
vince the ordinary Republican that the ap-
portionment bills in this State, that regu-
late the number of Congressmen, Senators
and Representatives that each party may
secure, are the most infamous and unfair
that disgrace the statute books of any
Commonwealth. It ought not to be a
difficult task to prove this to the satisfac-
tion of others, however. :
In the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburg
and Allegheny the districts are so formed
that the 102,236 Democratic voters, resid-
ing and paying taxes within them, cannot
elect a single Congressman, or Senator.
Philadelphia with its 70,636 Democratic
voters cannnt even elect a Democratic
member of the Legislature.
1043 Republican votes in Forest county,
secures a member at Harrisburg, but 70,-
636 Democrats of Philadelphia are denied
Representation, even in the lower House
at Harrisburg.
Outside of the cities named the State is
entitled to 149 members of the House at
Harrisburg; to 38 Senators, and to 22 Repre-
sentatives in Congress.
The vote of the State, exclusive of the
two counties named shows that the Demo-
cratic candidate for Governor received
345,372 votes while the Republican candi-
date bad but 332,307; giving the Demo-
crats a majority of 12,065.
Yet with this majority in the State, they
have of the twenty-two Congressmen but
six; of the 38 Senators but ten; and of the
149 members of the General Assembly but
thirty-nine—or less than one-third the Rep-
resentation in each instance that 1s allowed
the Republicans.
Is there a fair minded being within the
limits of the Commonwealth who will
stand up and say that apportionments that
perpetuate this kind of a political wrong
are fair or just in any way ?
Is there any community, or class, in the
South, that is discriminated against and
disfranchised as are the Democrats of Penn-
sylvania ?
We don’t expect that calling attention
to these great wrongs will right them. We
only refer to them, that Democrats may
understand the hollowness of the profes-
sions of those who pretend to desire fair-
ness, and yet go on voting for. a party that
continues and profits by such apportion-
ments.
High Price of a Blunder.
A vital point in the coal strike dispute
was touched during the cross-examination
of President MICHELL by WAYNE MAc-
VEAGH at the hea ring before the com-
mission on Monday. Mr. MACVEAGH, who
had been employing every device to con-
fuse and confound the witness, read the
proclamation of Governor STONE calling
out the troops and declaring the existence
of a reign of terror in the coal region. Mr.
MITCHELL'S reply was a denial of the cor-
rectness of the Governor's statement. ‘‘The
city, country and State authorities,’”’ he
continued, ‘‘were entirely competent to
handle the matter without calling out the
troops.” *
Thereare many reasons for believing that
the vital mistake of the authorities was
the calling out of the troops. There was
no disturbance at Shenandoah at the time
which amounted to a riot or resembled a
reign of terror. An incompetent Sheriff
was terror stricken and that was all. He
got a notion into his bead that his life was
in danger and appealed; to the Governor
for troops and the Governor with, as little
understanding of his duty as the Sheriff
had of the facts, yielded to the demand.
It was what the operators wanted. They
thought it would provoke the miners to
riot. All ic did, however, was to prolong
the strike.
It wae a costly blander but is the price
which people pay for putting incompetent
men in office. A deputy sheriff was jostled
while he was conducting a non-union-work-
man home and he resented the action with
a blow. That led to an exchange of bumps
and the non-union-workman were ‘‘rolled
around” a bit. That was the excnse for
calling out the troops which cost the tax-
payers of Pennsylvania over a million and a
half of dollars and the mine owners and
miners thirty times as much in loss of
wages and m:irkets. It is a high price fora
trifle and it looks now as if there was no
recompense for the loss.
——If there was nothing else gained by
the deal between the Democrats and citi-
zens of Pittsburg than the defeav of BILL
MARSHALL, who so shamelessly disgraced
the position of Speaker during the last ses-
sion of the Legislature, that should be
enough to secure it the approval of every
decent citizen in the Commonwealth. But
when we remember that in addition to
licking MARSHALL, it ended the official
careers of two QUAY Senators and a half a
dozen QUAY representatives, all of whom
were equal to MARSHALL in everything
that was disreputable or bad, one cannot
help coming to the conclusion that, after
all, it was a pretty good kind of a “deal’’
+o make.
NO. 46.
Philadelphia a Disgrace to the State and
a By- Word to the Union.
From Harper’s Weekly (Rep.)
Friends of honest government all over
the United States will learn with profound
regret the out-come of the election for
Governor in Pennsylvania. It matters not
whether the Democratic nominee for that
office, ex-Governor Pattison, was or was
not the strongest candidate that conld
have been selected by the Democratic party.
Equally immaterial is it whether in times
past representatives of the Democracy have
been accused in one State or another of
offenses against the purity of the ballot;
the fast remains that all this election in
Pennsylvania ex-Governor Pattison and
the Democratic party stood squarely and
unmistakably for ballot reform. It is
equally certain that at this time in Penn-
sylvania the Republican party, as per-
sonified in Senator Quay, who dictated
the nomination of ex-Judge Pennypacker
for Governor, stood for a perpetuation of
the corrupt electoral practices which have
long rendered Philadelphia a disgrace to
the State and a by-word in the Nation.
_ It should be remembered that .in 1900,
when Mr. Quay was a candidate for re-
election to the United States Senate, he
promised, in a public speech, that should
the Republicans control the Iegislature
then about to be chosen, they would heart-
ily co-operate in passing any equitable
measure for ballot reform that might be
propounded by the Democratic minority.
The Republicans did control the Legisla-
ture, and the Democrats did bring forward
a hill for the purification of elections,which
was rejected, not on the ground that it was
inequitable or inefficient, but on the plea
that it was unacceptable to the disreputable
leaders of the Republican party im Phila-
delphia. That is to say, no penalty for
crime should be enacted if it fail to com-
mand the approval of the criminal. During
the present campaign for Governor Mr.
Quay recognized that his promises had
ceased to carry any weight with the peo-
ple of Pennsylvania. To prove the sin-
cerity of his intention to promote genuine
hallot reform be had a committee appoint-
ed for the specific purpose of devising a
measdre which should meet with general
acceptance, and which the Republican can-
didates for seats in the Legislature should
bind themselves in advance of the election
to support. :
The hollowness of the pretense has been
exposed by the fact that no report was
made by the committee, and that accord-
ingly no Republican member-elect of the
Legislature has pledged himself to his
constituents to uphold definite pro-
ject. Neither was it possaible at any time
during the canvass to elicit from ex-Judge
Pennypacker a promise that, in the event
of his election, he would use the influence
of his office to prevent fraudulent voting
and false returns by an efficient .registra-
tion law. Now, there is no doubt what-
ever that the people of Pennsylvania desire:
such a registration law . for they
have recently amended their State
constitution for the express pur-
pose of authorizing such a statute. The
Legislature has not availed itself of the op-
portunity, however, and there is no reason
to believe that it ever will do so, so long
as the Republican party remains dominant
in the State and is controlled by its present
leaders.
There seems to be no hope of redemption
for Pennsylvania until shame and despera-
tion shall provoke the whole body of voters
in the State, outside of its chief city, to
combine and heap an anti-Republican ma-
jority so huge that not even the scoundrels
who manipulate ballot boxes in Philadel-
phia can manage to counteract it. In the
absence of such a righteous uprising every
State election in Philadelphia will be re-
garded as a farce, and the pity with which
the honest voters of that Commonwealth
are viewed by onlookers will be largely
tinctured with contempt.
Where the Wage Increase Came in,
From the Harrisburg Star Independent.
“A very practical illustration of the
false claim that under Democratic ad minis-
trations the laboring man’s wages fall
while under the Republican administrations
they increase is shown in a recent exhibit
of the pay-roll of the H. C. Frick Coke
company. The wages of the employees of
that company have been increased five
times during the last seven years, and are
now 50 per cent. higher than they were
when the first increase was made Of the
50 per cent. increase 31.9 was made during
the administration of Grover Cleaveland
under the operation of the much derided
Wilson tariff. The first icrease was made
on April 1, 1895, and was 15.4 per cent;
the next on October 1, 1895, 6 per cent.;
the next in January, 1896, 10.5 per eent.;
all of these during the Cleveland adminis-
tration. - Under Republican administration
and the Dingley tariff increase was 7.2 per
cent. on April 29, 1899, and 12.5 per cent.
on February 18, 1900. These additions to
the wages of the employees of the H. C.
Frick Coke company were made without
any strikes, under the management of Oran
M. Kennedy, who was the Democratic
candidate for Congress in the Fayette,
Greene and Somerset district.” .
Able to Hold His Own.
From the Buffalo Courier. :
As witness for the miners before the
Coal Arbitration Commission. John Mitch-
ell was again under cross-examination re-
cently, and with all fairness can be said to
have comported himself admirably. Mitch-
ell unquestionably is a very bright man,
able to maintain a battle of wits with the
keenest of trained disputaunts. His inter-
rogator recently was the brilliant Wayue
MacVeagh, former Minister to Italy, who
has been prominent in the councils of both
political parties, and appears in these pro-
ceedings as counsel for the Erie Company.
Mr. MacVeagh resorted to the arts of his
profession, seeking now to intimidate or to
entrap his witness, but if the labor leader
did not really score the more points, he ab
least divided the honors.
——Sabseribe for the WATCHMAN.
EE
Spawls from the Keystone.
—Carlisle’s town council has passed an or-
dinance imposing a fine of 50 cents on persons
who spit on the sidewalks.
_—The United Mine Workers’ officials of the
Ninth District at Shamokin have announced
that $480,000 was paid out for relief during
the strike.
—Mrs. Jonathan Keck, of near Emaus, Le-
high county, who will be 90 years old on the
19th of this month, husked corn for a half
day on her son’s farm.
—Mrs. Lavinda Noll, of Ruscomb Manor,
raised the two largest radishes in Berks coun-
ty, one being 2 feet 4 inches long and the
other 28} inches in circumference.
—From a seventeen acre cornfield a Ship-
pack, Montgomery county farmer took 1500
bushels of corn, filling three corn cribs, each
32 feet long, 43 feet wide and 7 feet high.
—In common with other railroads, the P.
and E. live is suffering from a freight block-
ade. On Saturday there were 3,300 cars
standing between Renovo and Sunbury.
—Among the champion red beet growers,
John D. Klopp, of Mount Aetna, Berks coun-
ty, heads the list with a red beet 25 inches in
circumference and weighing 113 pounds.
—Mrs. Emma Covely, of Zionville, is the
champion parsnip raiser in Lehigh county,
the largest ones measuring 15 inches in length
19 inches in circumference and weighing 5%
pounds.
—Daniel Richard, of Fagleysviile, Mont-
gomery county, is the owner of a calf with
two tails, one being at its proper place, the
other being attached to the shoulder, at the
base of the neck.
—The largest chestnut tree in Pennsylvania
is standing in a field on the farm of Peter
Bear, near Fogelsville, Lehigh county, being
70 feet high and measuring 26} feet in ecir-
cumference.
—Judge Rice, of the Superior Court, who
endured an operation for appendicitis ab
the Presbyterian hospital three weeks ago
and who was on a fair road to recovery, is
now critically ill from pericarditis.
—Because his wife committed suicide a few
years ago Adolph Loheide, aged 50, of East
Pittsburg, on Tuesday, followed her example
and sent a load of buckshot through his heart.
He brooded for years over his wife’s act.
—The freight congestion problem has
grown so serious that the Pennsylvania rail-
road company is thinking of ‘shutting up
shop” for a week; that is, refusing to receive
any more freight for shipment to Pittsburg
and points east.
—Clarence Trego, of Berwick, returned
from a hunting trip in the Pocono Mountains
with a catamount weighing over 40 poun ds.
The catamount made a jump for Trego, as
soon as he saw the animal and it took six
shots to kill the beast.
—William Hawn, of Mill Creek, a track-
walker on the Pennsylvania railroad, was at-
tacked on Monday night by two negroes,who,
after robbing him of his wateh and money,
beat him so severely that he will probably
die.
—Recent disruption in the Third brigade
of the National Guard, which several days
ago caused General Gobin to announce his in-
tention of resigning, threaten to continue un-
til almost every officer .on the brigade staff
has resigned. :
—The Western Union Telegraph company
has at last shownits hand, and iustead of
taking down its poles and wires along the
Pennsylvania railroad it will on November
20th, make application to the United States
court in Pittsburg for an injunction to re-
strain the railroad company from interfering
with the poles and wires.
—The salary alone of the troops kept in the
hard coal fields during the recent strike will
exceed $1,000,000. Transportation and supply
accounts will largely increase this estimate.
This is considerably in excess of the cost of
sending the troops to Homestead during the:
great steel strike in 1892. The cost of the
Homestead riot was about $500,000.
—Statistics, gathered by the United Mine
Workers from the Schuylkill region for
presentation to the arbitration commis-
sion, shows that only four per cent. of
the graduates of the local High school are
sons of miners. The wage rate shows on an
| average of $385 per year for the mine work-
ers, wages of laborers being included with the
miners in the calculation.
—William Frank, a teamster, was the vie-
tim of a peculiar nitro-glycerine explosion a
few days ago. While driving up a steep hill
near Oil City he kicked a stone from under
the wagon wheels. The stone rolled down
the hill and struck a discharged glycerine
can, producing an explosion, Driver and
horse were knocked down, the former sus—
taining severe injuries. A'hole 13 feet in
Jdiameter was torn in the ground.
—The postoffice at Falls Creek was bur-
glarized last week, this being the fourth time
that it has been robbed. The burglars se-
cured $160 in cash, stamps and the registered
letters; in all about $300. The safe was not
blown open but the combination was pried off
with a cold chizel. The post office depart-
ment offers $200 reward for the arrest of the
thieves, who are supposed to be a quartette
of well dressed men who were seen taking in
the town the day before.
—Ray Young, aged 14 years, was accident-
ally and fatally shot at Quaker bridge on
the West Branch railroad last week. The
father of the boy was in the buggy and
the young man threw his double barreled
breech loading shot gun in the back part of
{he vehicle. The stock hit the seat and both
barrels, which were pointing full at the
young man, were discharged. His liver was
shot away and a great hole was torn in
his right side. He died about five hours lat-
er and was conscious up to the time of his
death. i
—The Pennsylvania railroad has now at
work on the extension of the old Western
Pennsylvania railroad a large force of men to
complete the road from Red Bank to New
Castle. The work is being rushed with all |
possible dispatch. The new line will prove
of immense ‘aid in relieving congestion.
Eighteen miles of the new road are now un-
der construction, the contract having been
let to Bennett & Smith, of Greensburg; Ryan
& Hasset, of Rochester, N. Y., and the Broad-
head Contracting company, of Butler. This ;
portion of the line will connect the Bessemer
and Lake Erie, Pittsburg and Western and
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