THE ALASKA FEVER. It Is Taking Hold of Congressmen and Government Clerks. Carried A way by Ti»le» of I lie Gold Dincoverie* nt Cape Nome, They Tliftnk of Km lie rat I uftt (o the Frozen >orth. [Special Washington Letter.] Gobi), gold, gold: Its quest per ' vudes the minds of individuals, corporations and nations. All men are striving to lay up treasures on earth, rather than in heaven; and gold is the condensation and syncopa tion of earthly treasure. Mythology has perpetuated the story or the golden fleece; and the history of that iyage embodies the first great or ganized expedition in search of the yel low metal. The full story discloses the fact that there were vast placer min ings, and that the argonauis found the precious stones in river beds, just as the modern gold seekers find it in the beds of the creeks and along the coasts of Alaska. The liible tells us that "Jehosliaphat made ships of Tarshisli togo to Opliir for gold;" also that "the navy of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of algum trees and precious stones; ' also that *'tliey came from hir and fetched ■from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King .Solomon;" also it records that King David set apart for the palace and house of (iod, for his son Solomon, "three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand tal ents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses;" also, "the weight •of the gold that came to King Solomon in one year was six hundred and three score talents of gold, besides that ■which the chapmen and merchants brought; and all of the governor? of the country, and the kings of Arabia, brought gold and silver to Solomon, and Solomon made two hundred tar gets of beaten gold, six hundred shekels of gold went into one target. Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold, and all of rhe drinking vessels of King Solomon w ! of gold, and all the vessels of the h<-ii •• of the fcrest of Lebanon were or pure gold; none were of silver; it was not anything accounted of in the days ■of Solomon." Hut where was Ophir, whence canii all of this supply of gold? Nobody can tell. The fact that it was brought by "the navy" indicates that it came from afar, over the seas, l'cople have •conjectured that it came from Califor nia. although there is no record of the ■circumnavigation of the globe prior to that of the adventurers of the six teenth century. It has been con jectured that it came from the rich mines of South Africa, where thou sands of lives have recently been sacri ficed on account of gold. Hut, no mat ter where it came from, the liible story •shows that in the ancient times gold was regarded as the basis of wealth, the condensation of work and wages, and that adventurous spirits sought and delved for it.to please their kings, their lords and masters, and to enrich themselves. For several weeks past the room of •the house committee on public lands has been thronged with gold seekers from Alaska. They seek amendments to the mining laws which will enable them to lawfully carry on their search for gold. They are particularly anxious to have certain rights granted them along the coast line, where it is claimed that unlimited quant it ies of gold are to be found in the sands. One of their number, J. 11. Osgood, says: "Forages ant' ages t he rain, snow, heat -and cold have assailed the mountains MINING AT CAPE NOME. (Washing Gold from Sand by Throwing Water Through Sluice Uoxes.l and hills, readingtliem and washing the heavy metal downwards. Gold seeks the lowest levels when it is released from the grip of the quartz. For prob ably 50 miles along the coast of Cape Xome the sands are enriched with pure gold. We want the right to stake off mines, not only along the coast, but for a mile or more out into the ocean." In reply to a question from the chair man of the committee why they desire protected rights out into the ocean. Mr. Osgood said: "Whoever finds a good strong clay or rock bottom to the ocean along that coast will be able to scoop up gold by the buckets full, it there, as sure as you live It has sunken down into the sands along the coast, and it has sunken down into flic sands far out into the ocean. There is no doubt of it in the minds of those of us who have been there and investi gated the conditions. The mountain fissures have been contracted by the extreme cold, and they have been ex panded by the summer heat. The rain, snow and winds have liberated the gold, and it has been ages and ages seeping down to its lowest attainable level. That level is along the coast and beyond the water line. We want lawj to protect us from each other, iu order that the rights of each man may be safely defined. We all know that the gold is there, but we do not want to lie so far from civilization without per fect understanding of what we may do and what we may not do. There is a highway (10 feet wide, and we want the privilege of mining across or under that highway, for it is full of gold. The metal is there, in fabulous quanti ties. We must have it, and we want all of our individual and collective rights well defined by law." Another one of thesn gold seekers, Albert Dal/.ell, said: "The annular the ory of the earth's development is sure ly right. As the molten world whirled in space it bulged at the center; what we now call the equator. The molten mass, gradually cooling, permitted the heavier parts of the circumference to sink towards the poles. That is the reason such immense quantities of gold found lodgment in Alaska. In my opin ion, it can be found also in Iceland, in Greenland, in Norway, Sweden, Siberia and all about the arctic circle. The same theory leads me to believe that NOME^ (Separating Gold from Sand l>y Hocktra and Cradles.) gold in vast quantities will also be found about the antarctic circle. That condition of the earth caused the great deposits in South Africa, and also pro duced the deposits of I'cru which caused the greedy and bloodthirsty Spaniards to slaughter the Incas and devastate Peru. But the natives there still guard their secret, and the world has never yet secured possession of the real wealth of that country. Vast quantities of gold must have been held in solution iflong the line of the equator and suddenly become imbedded in the quart/, before it could escape to the poles. Hut the real home of pure gold it? in the frozen regions of the far nor!i), and the far south." This is an interesting theory, and apparently a new one. It has attract ed the attention of those who heard the statement so earnestly made. Several scientific rctv In the Xational museum and Smithsonian institution seem inclined to give the annular the ory sufficient credence to warrant sci entific investigation. From these remarks the reader will at once observe that these Alaskan gold-seekers are not ignorant, hap hazard searchers of gold. They are intelligent, educated, skilled in geol ogy as well as mineralogy, and are going about their work systematical ly, as well as earnestly and enthusi astically. Keverting to the fact that as yet very little is definitely known con cerning Alaska, one of the gentlemen produced a manual published in 1849, concerning the situation in California. At that time the publisher of this manual wrote: "I must confess that 1 have no confidence either in the profitableness of the mines in Cali fornia. or in their permanency. If California slacks a little in its gold productions, or the iron market im proves a little, the balance will turn in favor of iron, as to the value of yearly production." Think of that. A well-educated writer and publisher, in 1849, assumed that the production of iron in Cali fornia would be more valuable than the output of gold. The miner who produced fhis publication said: "Very little is known of Alaska to-day, and there are many intelligent people who think that the gold supply has been overestimated or exaggerated. liut the contrary is true. There is enough gold within the arctic circle to sup ply tin- world for millions of years." To show how little was known in 1849, and what progress lias been made, the gentleman referred to an other page of the book, containing the words: "The population of upper California consists of about (>.OOO whites and 20,000 Indians. The chief places are San Diego, with good but not deep harbor; Monterey, on a large bay having a good anchorage, and San Francisco, on a bay of that name, which is very spacious, extend ing upwards of liO miles from north east to southwest, and with an aver age breadth of about 20 miles. The latter is likely to be by far the most i m port an t set t lenient." The gold hunters from Alaska spent several weeks here, and their state ments concerning the gold fields, par ticularly about Cape Nome, where thousands of miles of coast sand seem to be enfolding untold millions of gold, have aroused the gold-seeking desire in the minds of many. Com mittee clerks and congressmen are talking of going there, but the con gressional elections this year will probably keep them at home. Hesides the congress will not adjourn until the summer is almost gone. Hut the congress will adjourn on March 4. HOl, and then a number of our good people will rush to the golden coast, like those adventurers of the long ago, in search of the golden fleece. SMITH D. PP.Y. j An electric trolley will be laid be- I tween Milan and Varese, Italy. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1900 BY EIGHT MAJORITY. The House of llepreoentatlves the Porto Idea nTu rill" 111 11, Jimt ax It fame Iriim tile Senate. Washington, April 12.—-The long and bitter struggle over the Porto Kican tariff bill ended Wednesday when the house by a vote of 161 to 153 concurred in all the senate amendments. The bill now requires only the signature of the speaker and the president of the senate before going to the president for his approv al. l'lie signatures will be attached to-day and before nightfall the bill will be a law. As the bUI passed it was a simple one imposing IS per cent, of the Dingley rates on goods going into I'orto Kieo from the United States. As amended by the senate and agreed to by the house all restrictions on goods coining into the United States from Porto Kieo are eliminated and certain foodstuffs and other articles which heretofore have gone into I'orfo Kieo free by executive order are excluded from ilie operation of the 15 per cent, duty imposed on goods entering the islands from the United States. A complete scheme of civil government for the island is aUo attached to the measure. On the final vote nine republicans voted against the bHI. Two demo crats, Messrs. Davey and Meyer, of Louisiana, were paired with demo crats in favor of the bill and one democrat, Mr. Sibley, of Pennsylva nia, voted for it outright. Mr. Stal lings (dem., Ala.) was the only mem ber on either side absent and unpair ed. The vote came at 5 o'clock after n very interesting and exciting de bate of five hours which covered not only the bill, but the special order under which the house acted. One of the most dramatic features or the day was the reading by Mr. Kichardson. the minority leader, of the original opinion of Charles E. Magoon, the legal advisor of the war department, in favor of the view that the constitution extended over Porto ltico. Mr. Dolliver, or lowa, in reply called Mr. Magoon a clerk who tried to overrule the great lawyer at the head of the war department. STOLEN BEER STAMPS. A Government Oilierr Arrest* a Man Willi £IO,OOO Worth 111 llin Posses slon. New York, April 12.—Within the past two months two mysterious rob beries of beer stamps, by which the government lost $16,000, have oc curred. One of these thefts occurred while the stamps were in transit be tween the treasury department and the post office in Washington, and the other between the post office an 1 the internal revenue office in Chicago. The stamps stolen in Washington were worth SIO,OOO and those in Chi cago $6,000. Revenue Agent Thompson, of the New York district, recently suspected that the stolen beer stamps were hidden in Hrooklyn and that tho thieves made P. McCauley's saloo»i their headquarters. Agent Thomp son learned thai the stamp thieves had made arrangement for the sale of a large quantity of the stamps to a brewer's agent at the Astor house. Late yesterday Thomas Hlaney, a bartender employed in McCauley's saloon, was seen to enter the hotel with a big bundle under his arm. He seemingly failed to meet the pros pective purchasers and afterwards was arrested by Mr. Thompson. The bundle which Hlaney carried was found to contain about SIO,OOO worth of beer stamps. The prisoner was unable to satisfactorily account for these stamps. Hlaney was taken be fore a United States commissioner, who held him in $5,000 bail for ex amination on Friday. INDIA'S FAMINE. A Consular Iteport Dcwrlbfi the Ap palling Distress that Prevail*. Washington, April 12.—The urate department has made public one of the reports on which it based its statement to the navy department reative to the famine in India. This report is from United States Consul Fee, at Horn bay, and presents start ling figures to illustrate the extent of the visitation. Mr. Fee says that, notwithstanding the season of acute distress has liardv commenced, the returns far exceed those recorded during the initial stages of the fam ine three years ago. It then affected only 1,000,000 persons; now the figure is 3,500,000 and the daily expenditure is placed at $84,000. The famine area covers 300,000 Square miles with a population of 40,- 000,000 and there is a further area of about. 145,000 square miles, with a population of 21,000,000, in which more or less distress prevails, and where relief already has been or will be given. The consul says thai the applications for relief are overtaxing the state authorities and are in creasing at an appalling rate. The number of applicants at the relief works during the last week In January averaged 3,500.000, with the most trying period still two months distant. In conclusion, the consul expresses Ilie fear that the South African war will so divert 'he atten tion and contributions of Knglish men as to oblige India to fig'.it the plague and famine alone. Leaned lor 9Oil Years. New York, April 12.—At a joint meeting of the Third Avenue and Met ropolitan Street railway directors yesterday the lease of the Third ave nue for U'.Ht years to the latter cor poration was effected. Skyscraper to be .tlade a Fortress. Chicago, April 12.—Contractors working on the Merchants' Loan and Trust building, Clark and Adams Streets, are planning to convert the new skyscraper into a huge fortress. All the union men employed on the building have either struck or been discharged in the last two days and efforts of the contractors to finish the building inside the stipulated time, May 1, with non-union men nave, it is considered, practically made the work a test of the strength of the contractors and labor unions in the present labor crisis in Chicago GOVERNOR OF PORTO RICO. rrmidriit TleKinley Selot I* < 'liarh-at .tl, Allen, of tlac Navy Department, loi an Important Position. Washington, April 13. —Charles* H. Allen, at present assistant secretary of the navy, will be Uie first civil gov ernor of Porto Kieo, under the provi sions of the bill passed by congress. Thursday afternoon Mr. Allen was summoned to the White House by the president and the formal tender of the post was made. Mr. Allen return ed a practical acceptance. Then the president and the next governor of Porto Kieo spent an hoi'f in close conference respecting the matters to be arranged in the imme diate future. Owing to the fact that little more than two weeks' time in tervenes before the civil government mu>-t go into operation, it was decid ed that it would not be practicable to complete the cabinet of the gover nor in that time. therefore Mr. Al len will go alone to San Juan at the earliest, possible moment after Secre tary Long returns to Washington, whii li should be on Saturday next. Mr. Allen will put himself in touch with tien. Davis, now military gover nor of the island, and spend a short time in acquainting himself with the insular affairs and in studying the character of the men who present themselves to his notice as proper material for members of the new cab inet. As soon as he gains the knowledge he seeks, Gov. Allen will return to the United States. He may leave Gen. Davis in charge during nis absence, but in case it shall have been found possible to complete the formation of the cabinet, or even if only one mem ber shall have been appointed, then that person will act as temporary governor. As to his intentions respecting Hhe administration of the island's affairs, Mr. Allen disclosed these during a short interview in which he said: "It is true the president has asked me togo to Porto Kieo as the civil governor. I regard this tender in the spirit in which it is made, as a great compliment, although its acceptance means undertaking grave responsibil ities. "My effort will be to administer the government provided by congress in such manner as to command and hold the confidence of the people, to help them so far as I may, to realize the best there is in them, and to assist them in the development of the island along the lines which have made us such a prosperous nation." A POOR PLACE FOR DOCTORS. Porto ICleans nre I liable to Pay tor I'lij slelans* Service*. Sail Juan, Porto Kieo, April 13.—- The startling fact was recently made public that in many districts of Porto Kieo, where the population reaches thousands, there is no resident physi cian. For instance, Wayuya, a town of 1,500, must depend on the simplest remedies in the ease of illness, as there is no physician within call. At Utuado the oeath rate is 8 per cent, annually, and this town is a day's ride from i'onee through the moun tains. It appears that physicians have been sent to these districts; but they refuse to remain, largely because no town is able to support one. As a result of this condition of things the order providing a physician for every 500 people is now very difficult of en forcement, because the towns reply that there is no fund to pay for such service. This island is one vast poorhouse, and there are opportunities for char ity at every step. Were SIO,OOO 1o be expended immediately for medicine and medical aid, it would possibly save the lives of 3.000 people. At one time the government considered the feasibility of assigning a physician to each town, at an aggregate cost of SBO,OOO per yaar, but the funds for such an outlay are not available. Three Railroaders Killed. Hellefonte, Pa., April 13. —An aecT dent occurred Thursday on one of the mine sidings of the Hellefonte Snowshoe railroad, three miles east of Snowshoe, by which three men were killed and one injured. One of the mountain shifting engines was returning empty from the Holt mines to the main line at Snowshoe, when the rails spread and the engine and a dozen cars were thrown over the em bankment. The engineer, A1 Kovvan, jumped and escaped with his life, though badly injured, while Harry leniple, fireman; Calvin Temple, brakeman, and AI Heamer, hostler, were caught under the wreck and killed. TCmlorned the <»oid Standard. Portland, Orii., April 13.—The re publican state convention met Thurs day and nominated one justice of the supreme court, food and dairy com missioner, four presidential electors and elected four deleg.ates-at-large to the national convention at Philadel phia. The convention endorsed the gold standard legislation of congress and I lie course of President McKin ley's administration in the Philip pines. The delegates to the national contention were not instructed. Itelused to Hurry ilie rase. Frankfort, l\y., April 13.—The at torneys for the republican officials yesterday •' fined to sign the agree ment to lit. u the litigation for the possession of minor state offices through the state courts so that the supreme court can hear it with that for governor. No reason is assigned. Want* Scribe* lor Sleuths. Chicago, April 13. —Chicago newspa per reporters may be enlisted in the city police service. ( tiief of Police lvipley advises their appointment to places in the detective department The recent robberies on the Lake Shore drive, including Hie Potter resi- j deuce, from which nearly $20,000 j worth of jewels were stolen, and the j apparent inability of the detective j l'orce to lind a clew lias, it is said, brought Chief Uipley to the eonclu-j sion that the employment of newspa per nun would result in a vast iin-| provement in the force. CHICAGO'S LABOR WAR. !N'OII>I'IIIOIIIMM ARO ANNULLED Junt at the Cloitc of Working Hour*. Chicago, April 13.—A riot between union and non-union men in front of the Merchants' Loan & Trust build ing, Adams and Clark streets, would lia\e assumed grave proportions but for the arrival of three patrol wagons tilled with police officers who had j been summoned to the scene by riot ; calls. The trouble was incited by strikers who attacked a number of non-union men as the latter were leaving the building last evening lor their homes. (Superintendent Tinsley, who had charge of the architectural work in the building, was assaulted by two of the strikers and sustained light in juries about the head. .John Keeley, a laborer, was taken into custody and locked up. Trouble had been brewing at the new structure all day and for this reason six extra policemen were sent to guard the non-union men as they left work for their homes. The offi cers had arrived at the structure and were on patrol. They had not been made aware of the fact that the men had quit work, and the first intima tion they had of trouble was when a crowd of strikers surrounded a num ber of non-union men who had left the building and severa' lights had begun. Officers dashed up to the throng, but the strikers had increased in numbers to nearly JO and, fearing greater trouble, riot calls were sent into several police stations. The ar rival of these otlicers dispersed the crowds. Strike sympathizers eluded the guards at the Marshall Field building yesterday and assaulted two men. A foreman, who was asked by two men, upon replying that no union men would be taken on, was struck by both men, who then made their es cape. Tne second assault was made upon a non-union man who with his companions was on his way to the building. He was singled out and se verely beaten by three men who also escaped. Fifteen hod carriers and three plas terers were brought into the building early without being molested and were put to work. The guards have been doubled. COLLAPSED. A I'onr-Story Kiilldlns la It*. Killing Three People ami Clint Ij Injuring Six. Pittsburg, April 13.—Without warn ing the four-story brick bu,tiling at the corner of Second avenue and Wood street collapsed yesterday, burying in its ruins a number of peo ple, three of whom were taken out dead. Six were badly hurt and sev eral others slightly injured. The dead are Mrs. Martha Jones, aged 01; En gene Bernhardt, aged 2u«dillan There ill July and lCndorse tile Project. Minneapolis, Minn., April 14.—The Journal says: "All the farmers of the world in a sort of international trust to restrict the production of wheat and raise prices" is the plan which it is hoped to carry into effect, at the international agricultural con ference in Paris, July 9-16. It is pro posed to ask the farmers of the world to reduce their wheat out put. by 20 per cent, and not to sell a bushel for less than sl. J. C. Hanley, of St. Paul, active agent for the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial union, the, National Cotton Growers' association, the Farmers*' Federation erf the Mississippi Valley and the National Grain (Srowers' as sociation, is the chief promoter of the international agricultural trust in America. Prof. ('. G. Ruliland, of the Univer sity of Fribourg, Switzerland, is the chief promoter of the plan in Europe. The idea was conceived by these two men independently. Mr. Hanley has been interested in many "hold your wheat" schemes and is prominently associated with the Farmers' elevator and various other co-operative undertakings. He has lontf believed that if the farmers would only come to an understanding as to limiting production and agree to sell only when their price could be obtained, they could easily master the situation. As a professor of economics. Prof. I'uhland has come lo the same conclu sion. His study of the agrarian prob lems of different countries led him to believe lhat the only cure for the widespread troubles of farmers, which are much more severe in the old than in the new world, is to restrict pro duction. Hoth were hard at work getting the idea into practice when they encoun tered each other through correspond ence. Since then they have been work ing with a common idea, viz: To persuade the international agricul tural congress to indorse the plan and recommend it to the various na tional associations present, for appli cation next year. While 20 per cent, reduction in acre age is desired, Mr. Hanley points out that if only 5 per cent, can be secured the world's wheat, corp will be reduc ed about 125,000,000 bushels, which is, he says, enough to bring the price at Liverpool up *° s'• To help out the effect of a restricted production the farmers are to hold their wheat for Of) days, and are to market it at not less than $1 a bushel. "Almost everything the farmer buys," Mr. Hanley said, "is regulated in price.by some trust. On the other hand, all that the farmer sells has its price determined by the competition of all the rest of the farmers of the world. The farmers propose to unite, stop ruinous competition among themselves and make the world pay a fair price for their product." Following ttie Paris conference it is hoped to have established a perma nent International Grain Growers' association. Ordered the Company to Dissolve. Columbus, 0., April 14.—The su preme court last evening issued an order dissolving the Capital City Dairy Co., which was held to have forfeited its right to do business tin der its charter in Ohio, by violating the law prohibiting the coloring of oleomargarine in imitation of butter. Harry I*. .I link and Charles i). Beards ley were appointed trustees by the court to wind up the company's af fairs. Such drastic measures by the court were not anticipated by the at torney general, though the court, was asked to oust the company from its charter. ©eivey and IJryan Will Attend. Chicago, April 14.—Admiral Dewey and W. J. Bryan will meet Tuesday evening. May 1, for the iirst time since Dewey announced he was a pres idential candidate. All doubt as to Mr. Hryan's presence was dispelled Friday when the Lakeside club re ceived a telegram from him saying that he would be present at that or ganization's celebration, which is a part of the programme, lloth the distinguished guests are aware of the prospective meeting. Killed ller Traducer. Little Hock, Ark., Apru 14.—At Al exander yesterday Mrs. T. X. Holland shot and tilled William Cook, a mem ber of a prominent family. Mrs. Hol land claims Cook defamed her char acter. Ktruek lor .Hore Pay. Philadelphia, April 14.—The 800 mi ners employed by the Temple Coal Co. at their Forty Fort collieries made a demand on Thursday for an increase of wages, which was refused. The men resolved not togo to work until the*! - demands were acceded to and the mines were idle Friday. Six Hryan Delegates < litisen. Albuquerque, X. M., April 14.—The territorial democratic convention elected six delegates to the national convention and instructed theiri to vote for William J. Bryuu for presi dent. 3