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