2 CAMERON COUNTY PRESS. H. H. MULLIN, Editor. Published Every Thursday. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Per year R 00 If paid in advance 1 aO ADVERTISING RATES: Advertisements are published at the rate of one dollar per square fur one insertion and tlfty cents per square for each subsequent insertion. Kates by the year, or for si* or three months, •re low and uniform, and will be furnished on application. Legal and Official Advertising fcer square, three times or less, *2: each subsequent inser tion fO cents per square. Local notices lu cents per line for one inscr ■ertion: 5 cents per line for each subsequent consecutive insertion. Obituary notices over five lines. 10 cents per lice. Simple announcements of births, mar rlages and deaths will be inseried free. Business cards. Ave lines or less. *5 per year; over live lines, at the regular rates of adver tising. No ioeal inserted for less than 75 cents per issue. JOB PRINTING. The Job department of the Pkkss Is complete ami aft. rds facilities for doing the best class of wi.rk Pariicli.au attention fail*to Law Pki.nti.ng. No paper will be discontinued until arrear ages are paid, except at the option of the pub lisher. Papers sent out of the county must be paid for in advance. The London Sunday-school Union proposes to celebrate its centenary next July by a forward movement, ■which shall gather a million new scholars into the Sunday-schools of Great Britain. To teach those 100,000 new teachers will be needed. It is reported that the Russian min ister of the interior is considering a pioject for nationalizing the medical profession, so that all doctors and chemists would be state officials. A commission has been appointed to col lect information on the subject. It is not generally known that the jackal is a greater destroyer of hu manity in India than the tiger. Sta tistics published by the government of India show that while 928 persons were killed by tigers, more than 1,000 children were carried away by jackals. "Big Ben," the world-famous clock in the tower of the house of parliar ment, London, is being lighted by elec tricity, so tnat its time may be read during the occasional clear night. It is still unreliable, however, not hav ing been cleaned since 1888, and its weekly winding takes two men 12 hours. The United States geological surrey report, for 1900 gives a list of 541 mineral or medicinal water springs, which list does not include those of purely local celebrity. The total pro duction in that year was 39,562,136 gal lons, valued at $6,948,000. In 1901 the production rose to 55,775,000 gallons, and in 1902 to 65,000,000 gallons, worta in round figures $10,000,000. In Venice water is somewhat of a luxury, as the inhabitants have to de pend upon the rains, and there is no company for supplying the city. The water for drinking and domestic uses is collected in subterranean reservoirs, where it is said to be filtered. It is doled out at the public wells, which are opened one hour daily for that purpose, and then are carefully locked up. Wert Gerrare, in his book on "Great er Russia," tells some amusing stories of Russian slowness to appreciata moc?ern improvement. For instance, St. Petersburg and Moscow have each but one man selling stamps at the chief post office; he closes his drawer at 2 p. in., and can not reckon without a counting-board. There are a half dozen or so branch offices, but at these Stamps are scarce. However little credit a horse may commonly receive for possessing deli cacy of scent, there are some perfumes grateful to him. Horse trainers are aware of the fact, and make use of ♦heir knowledge in training stubborn and apparently intractable animals. Many trainers have favorite perfumes, the composition of which they keep a secret: and it is the possession of this means of appealing to the horse's aethest.icism that enables so many of them to accomplish such wonder ful results. Man has by no means the monopoly of the coughing function. The cough ing bean also possesses this fuction. It is a native of warm and moist trop ical countries. When any particle of dust settles on the breathing pores in the leaves of the plant, a gas ac cumulates inside, and when it gains sufficient pressure there comes an ex plosion with a sound exactly liko coughing and the dust is blown from the lodgment. What is stranger, the plant flushes a vivid red through this spasmodic effort. Hamburg has a sort of animal uni versity at which beasts from all parts of the world are. trained and accli mated for the zoological gardens of Europe. The most expensive animal is the hippopotamus, a good specimen of which costs $4,500. The price of a rhinoceros is $2,»00 and a trained ele phar.t from India costs about the same. Lions are $1,500 a pair. Ben gal tigers SI,OOO apiece. A giraffe costs $1,200 a camel $l5O. Snakes rango from $25 to SSOO. A Good Friday custom of long stand ing, the counterpart of which can bo seen in possibly no other city on the Western hemisphere, was observed in the climbing of Catholic pilgrims to the Church of the Immaculate Concep tion on Mt. Adains from East Third street, Cincinnati, near the reservoir, tip to the church. There are 150 steps, on each of which those who made the pilgrimage rendered a short prayer. Beginning early the steps were crowd ed and several thousiuid worshipers made the ascent before evening. UNABLE TO 1)0 IT. Lowell Cotton Mills Cannot Af ford to Increase Wages. OTaaatachiiarttß Board of Arbitration and Cone Illation Reports ! •>- favorable ou Itie Demand ol the ICniploye» lor ITlore Pay. Boston, April 23.—According to the report of the state board of arbitra tion and conciliation presented to Gov. Bates yesterday the textile cor porations in Lowell involved in the present strike of 17,000 operatives, with a single exception cannot afford to pay their help the 10 per cent, in crease in wages demanded by organ ized labor. The opinion of the board is corroborated by a statement from a state statistician, based on the fig ures of an accountant employed to make an examination of the financial condition of it he seven mills in ques- : tion. The exception is the Lawrence; Manufacturing Co., "the books ofj which, according to the report show' that it is able to grant the advance demanded. After reviewing the demands that have been made since March, 1902, for increase of wages and the refusal by the operators to concede the in creases, the report says: "The point, at issue Is whether the mills can afford the increase. The operatives assert that they can. The agents claim they cannot and wiil consent, to an exa mi nation of their books by the 'board." The board shows that the cost of living in 1902 is 15.37 per cent, higher than in 1897, against 'the 25 per cent, claimed by the workingmen. and that the wages in cotton mills in Lowell have been raised 10 per cent, in the same period. The 'books of the Massachusetts) mills show increases in wages since 1898, ranging from 14 to 23.3 per cent. The board does not find from ex amination of the lists of .stockhold ers that the Lowell mills are con trolled by a combination, as alleged by the employes, nor does it find that the soiling agents control prices in such a way as to depress wages. The full amount of holdings of the sell ing agents does not show that their interest is sufficient to give them con trol!. On the question of salaries paid to officials the boa.rd shows that out of every SIOO received from goods made. $1.62 was paid in salaries in the Fall River cotton mills, $1.51 in Xew Bedford and $1.43 in Lowell. Inspection of the mills by the board itself and by an impartial expert, the report says, has shown that the Lowell corporations labor under a disadvantage, in comparison with those having modern plants. Lowell manufacturers have to meet, south ern competition on coarser goods and that of the best equipped-mod ern mills in finer fabrics. BANDS OF SMUGGLERS. Their method* are TCxpoaied by a Young tlan at Bniralo. Buffalo, N. Y., April 23. —The oper ations of a we'll organized gang of smugglers who have, it is alleged, brought hundreds of Chinamen into this country over Niagara river, were disclosed Wednesday by James Fox, 22 years old, while on the witness stand. Fox was pSaced under arrest while riding on a street car. with a "contraband" Chinaman. Upon the advice of his mother. Fox said he would make a clean breast of all he knew concerning the smugglers and testified that there were regularly organized firms in Canada, who made it a business to bring Chinamen across the Pacific to Vancouver, thence by rail to Toronto and finally across the border to the United States. Upon the testimony of Fox the fed eral authorities have arrested George F. Judson, of this city, who, it is al leged. is the leader of the smugglers. The hearing yesterday was merely preliminary to a trial when, it, is said, evidence will become public showing the smuggling operations and the participation therein of per sons doing business in Xew York, Chicago and Toronto. More lalandN for Cncle Sam. Washington, April 23.—Official ad vices received at the navy depart ment from the Philippines record the discovery of a number of valuable islands in the southern part of the archipelago which are not on any of the charts in the possession of the government. So far as known no foreign government as yet has laid claim to this territory, and to pre clude the presentation of such claim Secretary Moody has taken steps to have the islands properly charted as the property of the United States, after first having every effort, made to learn if any government had ground for claim to the new islands. Decreased Nearly 23,000,000 Tons Wilkesba/rre, Pa., April 23.—The an nual report for 1902 of James E. Rod erick, chief of the state bureau of mines, shows the production of an thracite coal last, year was 36,911,551 tons. This is a decrease of 22.994,400 tons compared with the production of 1901, due to the strike. To mine this coal 300 lives were lost and 641 men were injured out of a total of 148,141 men employed. In 1901, work ing full time, 513 men were killed and 1,243 injured. A Fatal Wreck. Spring Valley, Wis., April 23.—One man was killed and three others were injured in a wreck on the Spring Valley branch of the Chica go, St. raul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroad yesterday. A mixed train was stalled on a hill two miles west of here, and two cars that had been left on the track while the rest af ithe train went over the ridge, .broke away. They gained terrific speed and collided with another train coming up the grade. When the ears started most of the passengers and the train crew jumped and were only slightly Injured. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS* THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1903. TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE. Toil People Hilled by Kxplo*fon* In the Plant of an Oil Company ut Jlln neapoll*, ntnn. •Minneapolis, Minn., April 24.- Ten persons, eight men and two women, were killed by an explosion at the plant.»of the Northwestern Star Oil <'o. at. the foot of Sixth avenue about 11:30 o'clock Thursday morning-. The dead are as follows: W. H. Davis, president. ('. H. Durrin, general manager. Stanislaus W. Mitchell, cashier. Jacob Domm, bookkeeper. Miss Caroline A. Record, bookkeep er. Harold C. Colbern, clerk. Miss Ella M. Rounder, stenog rapher. David Dacey. foreman. .Tohn Spontanske, laborer. Joseph La Fond, laborer. The injured: Will Larson, laborer: Charles Aironson, Joe McGinty, Wal ter E. Seott, Joseph Dronick, E. J. Link. Joseph Livingston. The explosion came without an in stant's warning and a second after the concussion, the walls had been thrown down and the entire struc ture was a mass of flames. Not a person in the office escaped alive. Five workmen engaged on the sec ond floor were thrown 20 feet into the air and these were tlie only per sons who escaped. They climbed through the debris arfd are now at a hospital. Although the cause of the explo sion has not been determined, it is said that some of the employes of the company were emptying some oil tank ears into the tanks in the base ment of the building and it is possi ble that sparks from a switch engine ignited the inflammable fluids. Several explosions followed in quick succession and made the work of the firemen difficult and danger ous. The men could not approach the ruins and the water thrown on the flames was without effect. The department, could do nothing but al low the flames to burn themselves out and then search for the 'bodies of the dead. At a late hour last night three bodies had been recovered. tho.«e of Domm and Misses Rounder and liec ord. The tire is still burning and the work of searching for the bodies is carried on with great danger, for it is believed that another tank filled with oil has not exploded. The company was composed of W. TT. Davis and was not incorporated. The stock was valued at $40,000 and the building at $15,000. The insurance was $23,700 and the loss is total. All that remains of the building is a fire wall, which stood between the office and the tank room. All the other walls are leveled. Since the great mill explosion of IS7S this is the greatest disaster that has been experienced here. DEPOSED THE SPEAKER. Turmoil Reigned In tlie Illinois House of Representatives. Springfield. 111., April 24. Slugging and rolling over each other across the speaker's platform in a general fist fight at the feet of a score of fe male guests, the members of the Illi nois legislature yesterday surpassed the wildest scenes of the Austrian reichsrath. Charges by the speaker of the house. John If. Miller, that at tempts had been made to bribe him were formally made last night as n.n explanation of the extraordinary ac tions on his part, which precipitated the riot. The interior of the legis lative chamber last night resembled, in a measure, the track of a tornado, bo general was the wreckage of chairs and desks. Street railway franchises more val uable than gold mines were directly at stake, federal court receivership proceedings against the Union Trac tion Co., of Chicago, having brought the matter to a sudden Issue. The federal receivership was held by many to indicate an intention 'by the street railway company to fight out a claim to 99-year franchises, instead of negotiating with the Chicago city council for a renewal of franchises on a 20-ysar basis, with a municipal ownership option on tlie part of the city. The stormiest time ever exper ienced in the Illinois legislature be gan almost without warning, in a whirlwind of wild disorder, which arose in the house of representatives over rival traction measures, or so called municipal ownership bills. CONCLAVE OF PRELATES. Archbishops of the Catholic Church Hold u Convention In Washington. Washington, April 24.—The annual meeting of the archbishops, the most distinguished ecclesiastical body in the Catholic church of this country, was held Thursday in McMahon hail, of the Catholic university. The de liberations of the 'body, which were held behind closed doors, were pre sided over by Cardinal Gibbons. While no formal statement of the work of the archbishops was made, it was understood that much time was devoted to consideration of the policy of the Catholic church in the Philippine islands. The first public ceremony of the day occurred at 3:30 o'clock. It con sisted of breaking ground for the proposed Dominican house of studies, located across from the university campus. The ceremony was simple, but iinpresive. A party of pre lates, headed by Cardinal Gibbons turned (he first earth -vhieh marked tlie beginning of the proposed .struc ture. Carnegie'* I.ntest His l.lit. Xew York, April 24.—The trustees of the Tuskegee Normal and Indus trial Institute in Alabama have re ceived $600,000 toward 1 ? the endow ment fund from Andrew Carnegie, who attended the recent meeting in be.half of the Tuskegee Institute where ex-President Cleveland pre sided. ' Town Swept by I'l re. Fairbury, Neb., April 24.- The worst fire in the history of Fairbury broke out Thursday. One quarter of the business part of the town was destroyed. Loss $240,000. TYNER DISMISSED. Sensational Feature of Postal Scandals Made Public. R« eor<l» in the Sale of the Ofllre of the Assistant Attorney Cieneral for the Poatofllee Department Were Taken by Tr uer'* Wile. Washington. April 24. —A most sen sational development of the investi gation of postoffice affairs occurred just before the department closed yesterday, when Postmaster General Payne announced the summary dis missal of James N. Tyner, assistant attorney general for the postoffice department, coupling with the an nouncement, the startling charge that all the papers and records in the safe of tlie latter's office had been abstracted by Mrs. Tyner, wife of the discharged official, with the as sistance of others. The postmaster general states that Mrs. Tyner has refused tiie demand of the govern ment for the return of the papers taken. The facts are told tersely in the letter of dismissal signed by Post master General Payne late Wednes day afternoon and made public last night. After Gen. Tyner had received the letter of dismissal from Postmaster General I'ayne he called into consul tation Ross Perry and L. T. Michen er. attorneys of this city, who are in timate friends, regarding the matter. These gentlemen made a statement as follows: "(ien. Tyner asks from the public a suspense of judgment until he can put before them the facts relating to his removal from office and the cause assigned therefor by t.he postmaster general. Washington, April 25. —The post master general yesterday certified to the attorney general for such action as he may deem necessary the cases of the persons involved in the ab straction of the papers from the safe of the assistant attorney general for the postoffice department. Attorney General Knox expressed the opinion to Postmaster General Payne that unless there is somehting to show whether the documents taken from the safe are government prop erty or private papers, no case would lie. This statement was made after Mr. Knox had gone over the papers forwarded to him by the postoffice department. Mr. Payne replied by stating the circumstances attending the taking of the papers and the fact tat most of the papers filed in such government safes are of a con fidential nature and therefore are not of record. Attorney Ttoss Perry, of this city, counsel for the Tyners, called on the postmaster general yesterday subse quent to his interview with Attorney General Knox. He told the postmas ter general that the Tyners would be glad to have the postmaster general or any representative of his depart ment look over the papers at the Ty ner residence. Mr. Payne talked with Mr. Perry at some length and point ed out to him that the Tyners were given an opportunity immediately after the papers were taken to open them in the presence of the officers of the department and had refused to show them, or to indicate to the government representatives even the nature of the papers. Mr. Payne was asked subsequently if he declined Mr. Perry's proposition, but said he could not discuss that phase of the question. Tt may be stateo as the department's attitude, however, that it will not give much weight to any papers that are re turned and that it is unlikely any further serious effort will be made to recover the pipers in view of the fact that there is no way of showing whether any papers returned were the ones actually taken. Postmaster General Payne said: "If there were conclusive evidence that all the documents taken away would be shown that would be one thing, but the fact that these papers that, were taken have been out of the possession of the department for three days is another thing. If there was any motive to take the papers or any internum of doing away with them there has been ample t'ime to do it. Whether the papers were pri vate or not, the impropriety of the act is apparent, to say the least. T regard it as quite as improper to take from a safe in a government of fice the private papers of Gen. Tyner or Mrs. Tyner, or of anybody else in the manner that those papers were taken, as to take any other papers. The impropriety of the act itself is sufficient to remove any officer of the government." Harrison .T. Barrett, formerly a law officer of the postoffice department and frequently acting assistant attor ney general has sent a letter to the postmaster general regardingthe lat ter's statement that charges against Garrett are under investigation. The statement was made in the letter re moving Gen. Tyner. A Ht-ltlnh IteverNe In Somallland. Aden, Arabia. April 24.—-The Brit ish transport Hardinge arrived here Thursday fom Berbera, the capital of Somaliland, East Africa, with the report of a British defeat in Somali land. Ten officers and ISO men. out of a total British force of 220 men, were killed in an engagement with the Somalis on April 17. The British were under command of Col. Cobbe. He 11'* I'lylng Machine. Washington, April 24.-—The feat :'-e of Thursday's session of the Nation al Academy of Science was a lecture by Prof. Alexander Graham Bell, on flying machine experiments lie has been conducting and a display of models of the new kite or flying ma chine he has constructed. Prof. Bell said he had built a kite the frame of which would present, a triangle no matter from what side viewed. His frame is a perfect tetrahedron. This form he had found avoided the de fects named and moreover he was surprised at the facility with which such a kite could be managed. MR. BAER TALKS. President ol the Heading Co. Testifies Hefore the Inter-Mtate Commission. New York, April 25.—President Baer, of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, was present Friday when the inter-state commerce commission resumed its hearing on the complaint of William R Hearst against the an thracite coal carrying railroads. Mr. Baer said he was president of so many companies he could not remem ber the names of them all. He said about <53 per cent, of the mining properties of the anthracite region is owned or controlled by the Philadelphia <Sr Reading Coal Co. About 21 per cent, of the coal pro duced is owned by the Philadelphia & Reading Co. Mr. Shearri read to the witness the section of the Pennsylvania constitu tion which debars companies incor porated as carriers from engaging in the business of mining or manufac turing and asked if the operation of the Heading Coal <£• Iron Co. is not in violation otf that provision. "The Philadelphia Coal &■ Iron Co. exists under the statutes of Pennsyl vania," replied Mr. Baer. "It does not evade any laws of the state nor of the [*nited States. I shall be glad to have the question tested in any form you may select." Fred F. Chambers, secretary, and Orlando C. Post, auditor of the Del aware. Lackawanna & Western rail road. were called, but, on advice of the company's counsel refused to produce or discuss any contracts en tered into by their company and the coal companies. E. B. Sturgis, a coal operator of Seranton. refused to produce similar contracts. Mr. Sturgis was one of the promoters of the proposed inde pendent, railroad to tidewater. He said the scheme was dropped when the railroads offered tlie operators better terms. TRADE BULLETIN. Some Hesitation 1* Noted In Several ■lranehe* of Hunlness. Xew York, April 25. —R. G. Dun & Co.'s Weekly Review of Trade says: Traders responded promptly to bet ter weather in many sections of the country, notable activity appearing in seasonable lines of wearing appar el, yet wholesalers report conserva tism as compared with earlier months this year, although business is more active than it was a year ago. Some branches are still backward, and there is more or less complaint regarding collections, while renew als are frequently asked. Outdoor work is vigorously prose cuted. agricultural communities en deavoring to make up lost time, and structural undertakings call for large quantities of lumber and building materials, sustaining quotations. La bor problems are beimr solved with encouraging celerity. Lake navigation had the expected effect, in reducing rail freight congestion, and ship ments are more prompt, yet there is no diminution in the splendid in crease of gross railway earnings. Ample supplies of fuel make it pos sible for blast' furnaces to turn out pig iron in abundance, and a new high water mark of production may be expected for April. Augmented stocks of coke and pig iron, however, fail to result in sufficient steel as yet, billets being in urgent request. Set tlement of structural labor troubles has renewed activity on bridges and buildings, which revives interest in steel. Billets will be brought from abroad at the earliest possible date. Failures this week were 166 in the United States, against 212 last year, and 15 in Canada, compared with 12 a year ago. RESUMED HIS TOUR. President Roosevelt Leave* Yellow stone Park. Gardiner, Mont., April 25. —Presi- dent Roosevelt resumed his tour yes terday. Before going, .however, he participated in the laying of the cor ner-stone of the new gate at the northern entrance to Yellowstone park. The ceremony was performed according to the Masonic ritual and was in charge of the grand officers of the state of Montana. Special trains brought hundreds of people, including a large body of Masons, and as the weather was perfect, the scene was a very pretty one. The president rode down from the post accompanied by Maj. Pitcher and was escorted to the gaily decorated stand where he delivered an address. Troops and bands of the Third cav alry were drawn up in front of the stand as a guard of honor. Frank Smith, grand master, conducted the services. The president on behalf of the Masons of the state was present ed with a Masonic charm, mounted on a nugget of Montana gold. The president began his address by thanking the people and the soldiers for his enjoyable two weeks' holiday and then spoke of the natural won ders of the park. A lll£ Caveln, Wilkesbarre, Pa., April 25.—The town of Avoea, eight miles from this city, was the scene of considerable excitement Friday, caused by a sec ond cave-in that proved more disas trous than the one that took place on Monday last. The surface over the workings of the Langeliff mine began settling and several acres of land in the heant of the town are affected. Eleven properties on both sides of Alain street are within the affected district and much uneasi ness prevails among those residing in that portion, as the surface went down to the depth of nearly three feet. A Holdup on a Train. Lincoln. Neb., April 25. —Passengers on a Burlington passenger train were robbed of SI,OOO early Friday morn ing as the train was leaving the Bur lington station in Lincoln. The train has been robbed three times within 100 miles of Lincoln. Tlie robbery last fall netted $50,000 to the men who did the work, and no trace of them has ever been found. Cooper* Strike. Chicago, April 25.—Five hundred coopers and other employes of the Pioneer Cooperage Co, went on strike Friday to abolish piece work. WANTS TOO MUCH. United States Liable to Call a Halt on Russia. Great Britain and Japan .flay Join I'uele Nam In a Proteat to the Cblnetr Not to Accept Rui nla*x Demand* In , Jlauchurla. j jets Washington, April 25.—The dis patches from Pekiri announcing the terms which Russia has named to China for carrying out the Manehu rian agreement were read with deep concern in diplomatic circles yester day. While the diplomats are not disposed to publicly comment on them, it is expected that the United States, (Jreat Britain and Japan will join in a firm note to the Chinese gov ernment insisting that China do not agree to the conditions which Russia seeks to impose. It is rather expected in diplomatic quarters that the United States will take the initiative, possibly because of the prompt action taken by Secre tary Hay on one other occasion when Russia sought to secure an agree ment. with China which was held by this and other powers to be inimical to their interests. The interests of tlie United States. Great Britain and Japan in Manchuria are such, it is said, to bring those countries closely together in this matter. In view of the last developments in Manchuria the naval strength of the various powers in Chinese waters becomes interesting. The Russian fleet has been gradually increased un til now it numbers 42 vessels. France has 31 ships and 20 others in India and Cochin China waters, flreat Bri tain at last accounts had 37 \ihr ves sels in Chinese waters and Germany 17. The Kentucky and Oregon are the only American battleships on the Asiatic station, 'but there are 24 smaller American warships, including two monitors and some gunboats in Philippine waters. Japan has a strong naval force on the coast. London, April 25. —There is in con templation a forcible joint protest on the part of Great Britain, the United States and Japan against the Rus sian demands in the matter of the sovereignty of Manchuria. Sir Ernest Satow, British minister to China, in a dispatch to the foreign office lias confirmed the published synopsis of the note addressed to China by M. Plancon, Russian charge d'affaires at Pekin. Further official advices regarding the intentions of the Chinese government and'explana tions from St. Petersburg are await ed anxiously. In the meantime the Brit if h government is not taking active measures, although Foreign Secretary Landsdowne intends to cir culate pourparlers looking to joint action from Washington. London and Tokio, provided further information sustains the present abstract of the Russian demands. The Associated Press is authorized by the foreign office to state that if the Chinese government correctly represents Russia's claims, these claims constitute an absolute breach of all the undertakings given in con nection with Manchuria and utterly abrogate the principles of the open door, territorial development and in ternal comity to which the British government has committed itself. It is added that in these principles Great Britain always has acted in concert with the United States. UNDER LOCK AND KEY. Deelarat'on of Independence Will be Kept In a Fire and Light Proof Sate. Washington, April 25. —The Declar ation of Independence is to be seen no more by the public. An order has been issued that henceforth the his toric manuscript shall be kept under lock and key in a great fire and light proof safe. The declaration will never be exhibited again at any of the great international fairs. This decision was reached as the result of an examination of the document by a. committee of the American Academy of Sciences now in session in this city, who acted as the instance of Secretary Ilay, whose attention has been called to the sad state of tht famous document by Andrew Allen, librarian -of the state department. Most of the text, of the declaration is still legilble, but only one or two of the signatures can be made out. There is only a trace of the auto graphs of John Hancock, the first to sign. The committee made a careful ex amination of the declaration. It was found that the ink used was not of the first quality. The fact that the engrosser (now unknown to history) used a stub pen and bore steadily upon it. accounted in a measure for the better preservation of the text as compared with the signatures. The great damage sustained, however, •was in 1820 when a copy was taken by the crude letter press process. This was done in order to secure a facsimile for the surviving signers and their families. Slaughtered 55 o» Their Foe». Vienna, April 25.—Dispatches from Sofia, Bulgaria, announce that a band of Macedonians recently surrounded and slaughtered 40 Baehi liazottks and 15 gendarmes, near Petriteh, Macedo nia. out of revenge for the murder of their leader, ('apt. Saeff, who was recently killed in an engagement. The band subsequently captured the dis trict chief of Petriteh and 25 sol diers whom they stripped and re leased. Kioto In a French City. Paris, April 25. Manifestati growing out of the dispersion of congregations contii*ie to bf ported from the provinces. Tlv serious disorder occurred la* ing at Nantes, where moun' darmes were forced to char al times to scatter a crow 3,000 persons. Twenty-th were made, the Marquis member of the chajnber being among those appi patches from Grenoble day passed quietly at of the Grande Chartr monks are still barri
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