2
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS.
H. H. MULLIN, EU;tor.
Published Every Thursday.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
fer y«ar 12 <»
*pald In advance 1 !»
ADVF.RTISING RATES:
AdTer»l*ements are published at the rate of
»ne Collar per square for one insertion and Ilfty
fonts per square for each subsequent insertion.
> Rates by the year, or for six or three months,
•re low and uniform, and will be furnished on
pppllcat'.ou.
Legal and Official Advertising per sfpare,
three times or less, *2: each subsequent mser-
Hon fO cents per square.
Local notices 10 cents per line for one lnser
aertion; 6 cents per line for each subsequent
•on<ecutivo Insertion.
Obituary notices over Ave lines. 10 cents per
line. Simple announcements of births, mar
riages and deaths will be Inserted free.
Business cards, five lines or less, i 5 per year,
over five lines, at the regulur rates of adver
t slug.
No local Inserted for less than 75 cents per
Issue.
JOB PRINTING.
The Job department of the Prkss Is complete
and affords facilities for doint; tho best class of
work. pARTICULArt ATTUKTION PAXDTO LAW
Pkintino.
No paper will to discontinued until arrear
ages are pold, except at the optlou of the pub«
usher.
Papers sent out of the oounty must be paid
lor In advance. ,
Increasing Insanity.
Conditions local to Massachusetts
were recently cited by the state board
of lunacy in explanation of the in
creased number of patients in tlie in
sane asylums of this state, says the
Hoston Herald. They cannot apply in
Xew York, but a similar increase in in
sanity cases is reported by the authori
ties of that state. The number of new
cases last year was 60U greater than
in the year previous, and the lunacy
commission reports that "all the hos
pitals are overcrowded and rapidly be
coming more so." "We can't build hos
pitals fast enough to take care of the
apalling increase," says one of the
state officials. The increase is due, in
the opinion of this official, to the mod
ern method of living and the character
istic self-indulgence of the race. "There
is a general lapse from the old stand
ards of morality and responsibility,"
he says, "children of the growing gen
eration seeming to have no idea of
order. The average boy of to-day, if
he sees a sign of no spitting on the
sidewalk, will walk up and spit under
it. This shows a dangerous intellec
tual condition." The relation of law
lessness to mental deterioration is not
always realized. But lawlessness on
the part of the individual indicates a
lack of self-restraint and an inability
for self-government. If statute laws
are disregarded, moral and physical
laws will not receive greater respect.
Self-gratification excuses one form of
lawlessness as well as another. It
tends to fill the insane asylums as well
as the jails. t
When America, with its 80,000,000
people, found its national expenses
amounting to a billion dollars a year,
there was a gasp of wonder anl anxi
ety at the extravagance it seemed to
imply. Great Britain, which has only
half as many people as this country,
is rapidly approaching a two-hundred
million-pound budget. This year a
deficit of many million pounds is an
ticipated. Modern governments are
expensive machines, and as there is a
growing disposition among people all
over the world to require their govern
ments to engage in an increasing num
ber of activities, * billion-dollar con
gresses and two-hundred-million-pound
budgets are not high-water mark; the
tide is still rising.
The declared purpose of the Cuban
national lottery bill is to increase tlie
national revenues. This is frank, any
way, says the Boston Herald. The os
tensible object of lotteries generally is
to give the participants a chance to
win more than they invest, the real ob
ject, of course, being to make money
for the projectors by indulging *he
gambling spirit of the people. There
is no lack of that sort of thing in
Cuba. Turning the lottery wheel and
cock fighting are the favorite Cuban
sports, and they are about as ineradi
cable as prize fighting and horse racing
are with us.
Few of the younger generation rea
lize that it was not until after the civil
war that a transcontinental railroad
Was built, and it became possible togo
by rail from New York to San Fran
cisco. Previously the journey was dif
ficult, but not quite so long or so haz
ardous as that which a German lieu
tenant is making by automobile from
Dar-es-Salaam in German East Africa
to Swakopmunde in German Southwest
Africa. He started in August, 1907, and
in December of last year had reached
Johannesburg.
Ono oi the first Filipino women to
hold a physician's degree will be a
young girl from Cavite, who is said to
have taken rank as tho most brilliant
student in the Philadelphia Women's
Medical college. As a child at home,
she recalls being awakened by the roar
of Dewey's guns. So were many of her
countrymen and women awakened in a
mental as well as a physical sense.
Roll-top desks are said to be losing
their popularity, a result of the stead
ily accelerating pace of business life
consequent upon shortening hours and
improved methods. The inviting pigeon
holes offer too seductive a place for
business to slumber in. The flat-top
desk is franker and shows more read
Uy how matters stand.
HOUSE RECEIVES
NEW TARIFF BILL
ESTIMATED GOVERNMENT'S REV
ENUE WILL BE INCREASED
FROM $-10,000,000 TO $50,000,000.
PROVISIONS OF THE MEASURE
Coffee on Free List—Tea Taxed Eight
Cents—More Revenue from Cigar
ettes —Steel, Lumber, Iron Ore
and Hides on Free List.
Washington, P. C. Downward re
vision, maximum and minimum provis
ions which impose an average maximum
duty 20 per cent In excess of the present
tarilT, and numerous provisions by which
it is estimated that tho revenue to tho
government will he increased from $lO,-
000,000 to $50,000,000, are the salient fea
tures of the new tariff hill which was In
troduced in the house yesterday by Rep
resentative Si reno E. Payne, chairman of
the ways and menus committee. The rec
ommendations made by President Taft
that an inheritance tax be provided and
that a limited amount <>f tobacco and
sugar be admitted free from the Philip
pines are included in the bill. The
measure also provides for the Issuance of
Panama canal bonds to the amount of
$<10,000,000 to reimburse the treasury for
the original purchase of the canal, ancV
re-enacts the provision for the issue of
treasury certificates, the amount being in
creased from $100,000,000 to $250,000,000.
Coffee on Free List.
While there Is no duty imposed upon
coffee, tea is taxed eight cents when im
ported from the country where it is pro
duced and nine cents when from other
than the producing country. The in
ternal revenue tax on cigarettes Is ma
terially increased while the tax on beer
and whisky is undisturbed. In the steel
and lumber schedules, and iron ore, hides,
tallow, cottonseed oi! and works of art
more than 20 years old are placed on the
free list.
Boots and Shoes Reduced.
The tariff on boots and shoes is re
duced 40 per cent and on other leather
manufactures in proportion. The pottery
schedule remains about the same, but the
duties on window and plate glass of the
smaller sizes are increased, while the du
ties on the larger sizes are reduced. The
tarifT on wool of the first and second
class, used principally in clothing, is not
disturbed, but on wool of the third class,
known as carpet wool, it is reduced on the
cheaper grades. A five cent reduction is
mude in tho duties on shoddy and waste,
while wool tops are assessed six cents a
pound more than tho duty on scoured
wool, which is unchanged. The recom
mendation's for placing wood pulp on the
free list and reducing the duties on print
paper, with certain restrictions, made by
the Mann committee of the house, are in
corporated in the bill.
Refined Sugar Lowered.
The duty on refined sugar Is reduced
5.100 of a cent a pound and on dextrin '/i
cent a pound. A reduction of % cent a
pound is also made in the duty on starch,
with the exception of potato starch. Zinc
in ore is assessed 1% cent per pound for
the zinc contained. The tariff on pig iron
is reduced from $1 to $2.50 per ton.
The principal increases are made in the
duties on lemons, cocoa and substitutes
for coffee, coal tar, dyes, gloves and
coated papers and lithographic prints.
Reciprocity Provisions.
As was expected, tile new tariff bill is
made on a maximum and minimum basis,
with the provision that the maximum
rates are not togo into effect until 60
days after the passage of the bill. Re
ciprocity provisions aro contained in the
paragraphs assessing duties on bitumin
ous coal and coke and agricultural imple
ments, by which these articles are given
entry free of duty when imported from
countries which permit the free importa
tion of these articles from America.
Inheritance Tax Provision.
The inheritance tax provision of the bill
is similar to the New York state law. It
provides a tax of 5 per cent on all inher
itances over SSOO that are collateral inher
itances or in which strangers are the
legatees. In cases of direct inheritance
the taxes prescribed are: On SIO,OOO to
SIOO,OOO, 1 per cent; t>n SIOO,OOO to $500,000,
2 per cent, and on those over $500,000 ,1
per cent. It is estimated that $20,000,000
annually will be derived from this tax.
Foreign Trade Agreements Discontinued.
The maximum and minimum provision
of tho bill does away with the necessity
of continuing the foreign trade agree
ments. The abrogation of these is pro
vided for in a section which authorizes
the president to issue notices of tho ter
mination of these agreements within ten
days after the 1)111 goes into effect. The
French agreement would therefore ter
minate immediately, while the German
agreement would remain in force for six
months. The time that must intervene
before tho inoperation of the other re
ciprocity agreements would become ef
fective range from three month- to one
year.
WASH-OUT PIPE BLEW OUT
Four Persons Killed and 30 More or
Less Seriously Injured When a Pi
lotless Train Smashes Into Depot.
Montreal, Que. —Pour persons are
dead and 30 others were more or
less seriously injured as the result\of
the blowing out of a wash-out pipe on
the locomotive hauling tho Boston ex
press due at the Windsor Street sta
tion of the Canadian Pacific railway
yesterday morning, three miles out
from the station. Scalding steam filled
the cab and the engineer and fireman
were forced to jump. The train, with
out a guiding hand at the throttle,
dasb' 1 into the station, through the
grr all into the women's waiting
r then into the rotunda where
tire itive, after demolishing one
massive ,ranite pillar, was brought to
a standstill by another. The four per
sons killed were sitting in the wom
en's waiting room.
Southern Historian Passes Away.
Columbus, Ga Dr. John William
Jones, who by his historical works
and close association with Gen.
Robert 15. Lee and Gen. Stonewall
Jackson gained the title, "Historian of
the Confederacy," is dead here.
Mining President Resigns.
Duluth, Minn. —Thomas P. Cole,
president of the Oliver Iron Mining
Co., a subsidiary of tho United States
Steel Corporation, lias sent in his res
ignation. His successor, it is general
ly believed, will be W. J. Olcott.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1909*
TAFT AT YALE COLLEGE
SETS WITH BOARD TO ACT UPON
UNIVERSITY MATTERS.
CHEERED BY THE GRADUATES
The President Made a Brief but Witty
Response on Demand for a
Speech from Him.
New Haven, Conn.—As a fellow
of Yale corporation, President Wil
liam H. Taft came to his alma
mater yesterday and for nearly three
hours sat with the board to act upon
university matters. When he left the
meeting and with President Hadley
of the university started to leave
Woodbridge hall togo to lunch he
found himself the objective of many
hundreds of Yale graduates whose
sharp cheer was followed by the de
mand for a speech.
President Responds.
The president made a brief, witty
response, in which he told the
students how dear to his heart was
his Yale affiliation and the honor of
being a Fellow was too great for him
to voluntarily relinquish. The student
body greeted the speech with "brek
ke-ke-kex, co-ax-00-ax" which woke
the echoes of the new campus. Then
most of the student body trooped in a
long irregular procession after Presi
dent Taft and President Hadley as
they went to the latter's house for
lunch. A mid-afternoon train took
both presidents to New York.
Greeted by Former Graduates.
New York City.—With songs of
the football field and the boat race
course, with a deafening cheer and a
rousing chorus of "Here's to Go*hl Old
Yale, Drink Her Down," President
Taft was greeted last night as the
first Yale president of the United
States by more than 1,500 graduates
of the famous old New Haven univer
sity. The graduates came from all
over the country. They ranged from
silvery haired old gentlemen whose
degrees bear the date of '53 down to
the youths who left their alma mater
only last June. The dinner, one of the
largest ever given in New York, was
served at the Waldorf-Astoria.
The only speeches of the evening
were made by President Taft and
President Hadley.
CASE OF MURDER AND SUICIDE
Husband and Wife Found in Home
With Rifle Bullets in breasts—
Neighbor's Head Blown Off.
Oil City, Pa. —The dead bodies
of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Briggs,
with holes from Winchester . rifle
bullets in their breasts, were found
at their home, ten miles east of
Tionesta, Forest county, yesterday.
The body of Amos Walton, a neighbor,
was found in the house with his head
almost blown off. It is believed Wal
ton killed Briggs and his wife and
then committed suicide. Walton was
50 years old and Mr. and Mrs. Briggs
each 35 years old.
Recently Walton beat a son of
Briggs, who made information against
him before a justice of the peace at
Marionville, charging assault and bat
tery. Walton was placed in the cus
tody of a constable. The hearing was
to have taken place yesterday morn
ing. Walton asked permission of the
onstable to return home that he
might secure witnesses and the re
quest was granted. He went to his
home, took a 48 calibre Winchester
rifle and was seen going to the IJriggs
residence, arriving there about 11
o'clock. The body of Briggs was
found near a barn from which he was
evidently coming when killed. Mrs.
Briggs was killed in the kitchen of
her home and the body of Walton was
found on a chair in another room.
REVIEW OF TRADE CONDITIONS
Reports from the Principal Cities in
the United States Are of a Gen
eral Hopeful Character.
New York City.—R. G. Dun & Co.'s
Weekly Review of Trade says:
Most of the tests by which trade ac
tivity is measured make favorable
records. Reports from the principal
cities are of a generally hopeful char
acter, but the fact remains that there
is still lacking that buoyancy and
readiness to make long commitments
from unsettling uncertainties.
The week has witnessed the intro
duction of a tariff bill making large
cuts in duties on iron and steel and
other products, but apparently less is
apprehended from this than from a
possible failure of congress to heed
the words of President Taft and get
through with the tariff business as
soon as possible. The coal trade is
confronted with a labor crisis. The
iron trade continues in the process of
price readjustment, though a slow re
vival in structural lines is a reflectiigi
of increased activity in building. Cop
per lias experienced further depres
sion.
Much the more important feature of
the week in cotton goods has been the
resumption of dxport demand.
New Assistant of Treasury.
■ Washington, D. C. —The secretary
of the treasury lias announced the
appointment of Charles Dyer Nor
ton of Chicago as assistant secretary
of the treasury to succeed Louis A.
Coolidge, resigned.
Inaugural Committee's Surplu^.
Washington, D. C. —At a final meet
ing of the inaugural committee, it
was disclosed that the committee
hiid a surplus, after the payment of al!
bills and the return oi' all guarantee -
jf about s£,ooo.
TUFT'S MESSAGE
TO LAWMAKERS
REVISION OF THE DINGLEY TAR.
IFF ACT URGED BY THE
PRESIDENT.
READJUSTMENT AND REVISION
The Present Tariff Act Does Not
Furnish Income Enough to
Pay the Authorized
Expenditures.
Washington, D. C.—President Taft's
message to congress is as follows:
"To the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives:
"I have convened the congress in
this extra session in order to enable
it to give Immediate consideration to
the revision of the Dingley tariff act.
Conditions affecting production, man
ufacture and business generally have
so changed in the last 12 years as to
require a readjustment and revision
of the import duties imposed by that
act. More than this, the present
tariff act, with the other sources of
government revenue, does not furnish
income enough to pay the authorized
expenditures. By July 1 next, the ex
cess of expenses over receipts for the
current), fiscal year will equal SIOO,-
000,000.
Pledged to Revision of Tariff.
"The successful party in the late
election is pledged to a revision of
the tariff. The country, and the busi
ness community especially, expect it.
The prospect of a change in the rates
of import duties always causes a sus
pension or halt in business because
of the uncertainty as to the changes
to be made and their effect. It is
therefore of the highest importance
that the new bill should be agreed
upon and passed with as much speed
as possible consistent with its due
and thorough consideration. For
these reasons, I have deemed the
present to be an extraordinary occa
sion, within the meaning of the con
stitution, justifying and requiring the
calling of an extra session.
"In my inaugural address, I stated
in summary way the principles upon
which, in my judgment, the revision
of the tariff should proceed, and indi
cated at least one new source of rev
enue that might be properly resorted
to in order to avoid a future deficit.
It is not necessary for me to repeat
what I then said.
Advocates Quick Work.
"I venture to suggest that the vital
business interests of the country re
quire that the attention of the con
gress in this session be chiefly de
voted to the consideration of the new
tariff bill, and that the less time
given to other subjects of legislation
in this session, the better for the
country.
(Signed.) WILLIAM H. TAFT.
"The White House, March IC, 1909."
HEGEMAN MUST STAND TRIAL
President of Metropolitan Life Insur
ance Co. Charged with Perjury of
Alleged Misstatements.
Albany, N. Y. —The court of ap
peals has decided in effect that
John R. Hegeman, president of the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., must
stand trial on the charge of perjury in
connection with alleged misstate
ments made in his aunual report of
the Metropolitan Life filed with the
state superintendent of insurance on
January 1, 1905.
Mr. liegeman was arrested in New
York in February, 1908, 011 warrants
charging perjury and forgery in con
nection with his annual report of the
affairs of the Metropolitan Life Insur
ance Co. The appellate division, first
department, held that there was no
foundation for the charges and direct
ed that the habeas corpus writ which
had been sued out by Mr. Hegeman
when he was arrested 011 information
filed by District Attorney Jerome be
unheld and that the defendant be dis
charged from custody.
AFTER THE FATAL AFRICAN FLY
Naturalist to Photograph Insect That
Causes Sleeping Sickness in
Dark Continent.
New York City.—James Ricalton,
a well known faunal naturalist
and entomologist, sailed to-day for
Africa with all his plans laid to start
a campaign that may result in re- j
moving most of the terrors of the
sleeping sickness which causes so
many deaths in the Dark Continent
and is a mystery to scientists. Air. j
Ricalton carries with him a camera
with a specially constructed lens and !
shutter with which ho hopes to ob
tain photographs of the fly that 1
spreads the dreaded pest. During the !
Boer war Mr. Ricalton was in South \
Africa and ho has done much hunt
ing in that country.
Warships to Keep Peace.
Washington, 1). c. Because of
the unsettled conditions existing in !
Central America it is the intention of :
the administration to keep three I
United States war vessels stationed !
in the waters on the western coast
for a time at least.
Must Not Call Man a Liar.
Atlanta, Ga.—To call a man a
liar in Georgia is a breach of the
peace and means a fight, accord
iug to the state court of appeals inn
decision handed down.
YOUNG LAO KIDNAPPED
A RANSOM OF SIO,OOO DEMANDED
FOR BOY'S RETURN.
THREAT MADE TO KILL CHILD
A Stranger Drove to the School the
Boy Was Attending and Said the
Lad Was Wanted by His Father
Sharon, Pa.—Ten thousand dollars
ransom is demanded for the re
turn of William Whitla, Attorney
James P. Whitla's 8-year-old son, who
was spirited away from school here
yesterday morning by an unknown
man, furnishing a mystery which the
detectives of the country are being
asked to solve. Accompanying the de
mand for ransom is a covert threat
that the boy will be killed unless the
money is produced. Hundreds of tele
grams and telephone messages have
been sent to the police of various
cities asking their assistance in the
search for the boy and his abductors.
Tho first fruit of these came last
night when Chief of Police Crain, of
this city, received word that the rig in
which the lad was taken away had
been recovered at Warren, 0., with
the child's hat on the buggy seat.
Attorney and Mrs. Whitla are
among the town's leading residents.
The former is a brotner-in-law of
Frank 11. Buhl, the multi-millionaire
steel man. At 9::«<) o'clock yesterday
morning a stranger drove up to the
East Ward schoolhouse, where young
Whitla is a pupil in room No. 2, and
told the janitor, Wesley Sloss, the lad
was wanted at once at his father's
office. Sloss conveyed the message to
Mrs. Anna Lewis, the boy's teacher,
who dismissed the child. The man in
the buggy had a dark complexion,
dark hair and a stubby mustache. He
was stockily built. He spoke excellent
E«glish and was evidently American
born. When Sloss appeared with the
boy the stranger smiled and helped
him up to the seat beside him. He
then drove off in the direction of Mr.
Whitla's office.
Warren, O. —A man said to an
swer the description of the one
wanted at Sharon, l'a., on a charge of
kidnapping the Whitla boy was ar
rested here last night.
IN MEMORY OF DEAD RULER
Tributes in Poem, Song and Speech
Rendered in Honor of Grover Cleve
land's Seventy-second Birthday.
New York City.—Tributes in poem,
song and speech were rendered yes
terday in honor of the seventy-sec
ond birthday anniversary of the late
President Grover Cleveland at memo
rial exercises in which President Taft,
Gov. Hughes, Chief Justice Fuller and
Mayor McClellan made addresses and
several hundred of New York's most
prominent citizens attended. Mrs.
Cleveland, with a party of friends, oc
cupied a box in Carnegie hall, where
the memorial was held.
President Taft was introduced by
Mayor McClellan, who called upon the
audience to rise and be presented to
the president cf the United States.
The president spoke with unusual fer
vor in his eulogies of Mr. Cleveland.
Mr. Taft paid an earnest tribute to Mr.
Cleveland as a man who was as com
pletely American in his character as
Lincoln. As a public official Mr. Taft
praised Cleveland for his rugged hon
esty and for his adherence to prin
ciples which he believed to be right,
in his fight to limit legislative restric-
tioii of executive discretion Presideut
Taft declared that Cleveland had won
the everlasting thanks of the Ameri
can people.
Chief Justice Fuller, who admin
istered the oath of office to Mr. Cleve
land on his inauguration and to all his
successors, spoke of Mr. Cleveland's
greatness and told of his power in the
nation. The audience frequently
cheered the chief justice as he de
livered his speech.
MANN NOT GUILTY OF MURDER
The Freed Man Was Very Much Af
fected and Promised to be a
Honest Citizen.
Chicago, 111. —Dramatic scenes ac
companied the acquital here yester
day of Lunian C. Mann, charged with
the murder of Mrs. Frances Gilmor
Thompson, last July. The evidence
against Mann was circumstantial; his
defense an alibi. The Jury took but
one ballot. With the words "not guilty"
from the lips of the foreman the scene
in Judge McSurleys court became one
of excitement bordering on hysteria.
"I've been a bad man, but years from
now you will hear of me as an honest
citizen, Mann said in thanking the
jury. Tears were rolling down his
cheeks and his sobs made it almost im
possible for him to speak.
Under cross-examination the de
fendant was compelled to relate a sor
ry story at which his mother hung her
head. He told of drinking bouts dur
ing one of which he spent SI,OOO in a
single night; of gambling and of low
associates.
Perhaps Fatally Injured.
Hazlehurst, .Miss.—George \V. Cov
ington, president of the Bank of
Hazlehurst, was injured, it is believed
fatally, and his wife severely hurt
when their automobile was struck by a
passenger train of the Illinois Central
railroad here.
Havana Insurgents Surrender.
Havana, Cuba. Sergeant Cortes, the
leader of the insurrestionists and
his whole band, surrendered last night
to the civil authorities of Kemedios, in
Santa Clara province.
Keystone
State Jots
Harrisburg.—Superintendent of Pub
lic Printing Poineroy has announced
that the contract for the.state print
ing for the next four years has been
awarded to C. E. Auginbaugh of this,
city. He was the lowest bidder at
80 per cent off the schedule price.
He is a binder of this city.
Washington.—Charles Gratz, hunted
for six years on a charge of horse
stealing, was arrested at the home oC
his father, Joseph Gratz, near here,
and lodged in the county jail. In lUOS
Gratz is alleged to have stolen a horse
and buggy owned by a rural mail car
rier. He was indicted, but disap
peared.
Canonsburg.—German measles, epi
demic here and in South Canonsburg,
is causing annoyance in the public
schools and Jefferson academy. In
South Canonsburg there are 500 cases,
with 125 of the 350 public school
pupils ill. In Canonsburg there are
300 cases. The disease does not ap
pear in a severe form.
Butler.—Charged with felonious as
sault with intent to commit murder,
Ernest Genung was held for court by
Justice James N. McNally. Genung,
it is alleged, attacked ten street loiter
ers who, he says, insulted his wife.
George Poline and Alexander Collins
were stabbed and the latter has just
left the hospital.
Harrisburg.—Gov. Stuart has signed
these bills: Appropriating $75,000 to
state normal schools for tuition; to
enable cities and boroughs to unite
with the state in building armories,
and for a commission to ascertain the
cost of condemning toll bridges over
the Delaware. The latter was Mr.
Marvin's resolution.
Chambersburg.—Thomas J. Brere
ton on April 1 will resign as engineer
of the Cumberland Valley railroad
after 16 years' service. Mr. Brereton
was born in Pittsburg and received
his civil engineer degree from Colum
bia university. He retires to manage
the Denny estate in Pittsburg, of
which he is one of the executors. He
will continue his residence here.
George C. Koons of Reading will suc
ceed Mr. Brereton as engineer.
Harrisburg.—The senate has finally
passed the Magee bill amending the
Pittsburg city charter, providing for
the creation of a department of health
and increases in the number of asses
sors and magistrates. The portion
providing for the regulation by coun
cils of street railway companies was
stricken out. The house concurred on
the bill as amended, McJunkin of But
ler casting the only negative vote, and
it is now with the governor.
Harrisburg.—The state railroad
commission, in an opinion given by
President Nathaniel Ewing, has ruled
that no railroad can create a favored
district in a terminal zone. The de
cision was given in the case of the
York Manufacturers' association
against the Northern Central and
Western Maryland railroads. It is
one of the earliest cases brought be
fore the commission and the Pennsyl
vania company vigorously opposed the
action.
Harrisburg.—James W. Keller, a
graduate of the Massachusetts Agri
cultural college and for some time first
assistant chemist of the department
of agriculture, has been appointed
chief to succeed Prof. F. D. Fuller,
who goes to Washington to take a
government position. Mr. Keller was
formerly connected with the labora
tories of Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and New Jersey. Che new first assist
ant is John S. Spicer, a graduate of
State college, and appointed from
Cameron county. Both are highly
qualified.
Harrisburg.—Chairman James F.
Woodward of the house appropria
tions committee has introduced the
general appropriation bill, which, af
ter printing, will be referred back to
the committee. Then the ax will fall
upon certain soft spots which are vis
ible even to the naked eye. The bill
carries $27,461,823.96, of which $15,-
000,000 is for public schools, the bal
ance being for the various depart
ments and fixed charges of govern
ment. There will be $1,000,000 addi
tional provided for paying the expen
ses of the primaries by a bill present
ed by Mr. Woodward, and by special
act $300,000 will be provided to cover
overpaid taxes, etc., making the gen
eral budget $28,761,823. This added
to the $54,000,000 asked for state and
charitable institutions, soldiers' pen
sions, public roads, etc., gives a grand
total of more than $83,000,000. Audi
tor General Young and State Treas
urer Sheatz agree that the available
revenues will not exceed $44,000,000.
Waynesburg.—Organization of the
Waynesburg & Monongahela Street
Railway Co. has been effected. The
company obtained the charter pre
viously granted to a group of Waynes
burg promoters who planned a similar
line before the dissolution of the
Farmers and Drovers' National bank.
The officers of the original concern
have resigned. General Manager Shel
don that construction of the new
trolley line from Waynesburg to Mon
ongahela will be commenced at once,
the tract having been awarded ta
a New York iiriu.