.J-j.JJvj(-'vf -:-" ' -'.. -:--"::- -t ... ..-ya M . )"-J "- ' - :.ai.jitfxTi:rBiQiZ3jL!ijjXaife LANCAfclMt i)All iNTELLiGESTCEU, WEDNESDAY. MAKCH 10, 188th -H ;e I t ? K -Lancaster Intelligencer. WEDNESDAY EVE'G, MABCH 10, 1880. The Newspapers and Their Friends. The Philadelphia Recerd is disturbed at the general satisfaction expressed at the punishment that has come upon the crime of Kemble and his co-defendants, among whom it declares are " men with whom we have had large and frequent business transactions men who are in every way the equal of any writer or any owner of any Philadelphia paper, and men who befriended many of the very writers who yesterday cried the loudest for their damning." The Recerd is frank anyway. It is bad te be a pharisee as its neighbors are, it thinks. But it is bad te be an intimate of men who plead guilty te the crime of corruption. It tends te de trey confidence in the absolute integrity of the conduct of a newspaper that it proclaims its large transactions with men of Kemble's character ; and furthermore finds itself in a mood te say of the law punishing the corrupt solicita tions of the legislator that such solici tations may consist merely in " a dinner given te a member of the Legislature, and a glass of whisky and water pledged in geed fellowship will send a man te the penitentiary." Evidently the Rec Rec ord, in all its regret for the fate of its friends, lias a wrong appreciation of the situation. If its friends had net plead guilty its lament might have been mere reasonable. But it ought hardly te ask the public te believe that Mr. Kem ble did nothing worse in the way of cor rupt solicitation than te proffer a dinner and a glass of whisky te the legislators who yielded te his seduction. If his of fense had been se mild he would have been ever se glad te show it te the world by testimony ; it would have answered much better than his pretest te show that though technically guilty he was really innocent. The writers upon the Philadelphia journals may be as bad, or worse, than Kemble, and we are ready te believe the Recerd when it declares that many of them are, since it points them out and seems te knew all about them, and is ready te include itself among the number who herd with confessed crim inals and possess them as friends, and have large and frequent business trans actions with them. It is a fact that has been a long time very conspicuous te the outside world that the Philadelphia newspapers are very prone te defend through thick and thin the rings and corporations who have "frequent and large business transac tions.' The Recerd sometimes has been an exception, and in the matter of oil transportation has been en the people's side. But it has lapsed from grace ; and gracefully lapses when it becomes expe dient. It has a loving side for the Penn sylvania railroad management, notori ously conducted as it is te give rich op portunities for the plundering propensi ties of its officers. It has a hard hand for the Beading railroad management, which.if it is net always wise, is at least, as every one knows, always honest. It is hopeless te expect te find a Philadel phia newspaper that will de justice te the people in thcirstruggle with corpora tions. Net one of these journals te-day denounces the gagging of the stockhold ers of the Pennsylvania railroad at the meeting yesterday by the hirelings of the company that filled the hall, and by its tool in the chair, Mayer Stokley, who declared the meeting adjourned after Vice Presdent Roberts and somebody else had been allowed te eulogize ex-President Thomsen, and te denounce Mr. Parker, who had just introduced a resolution of inquiry into an allegation that Thompson had corruptly received fifty thousand dollars of the company's money. Mr. Roberts's purchased words could net justify Mr. Thomsen against such a charge, manifestly. If it was net true, it would have been properly met by Mr. Thomsen's friends by a demand for investigation and net a call for its suppression. Nobody can deny this : yet these wretched Philadelphia newspapers, in their reverence for the men with whom they have ' large and frequent business transactions," denounce the men who sought this most proper investiga tion, and attempt te held up te scorn stockholders who simply ask for an in quiry into grave accusations against the integrity of their officers and con cerning the corrupt disposition of the moneys of its treasury which are charged te the account of betterments. Men who ask their stewards te explain where their menev has cone are feels and chronic growlers; while the stewards are faithful servants. Fer have net the newspapers " large and frequent business transac tiens" with them: and de they net knew ? It is a touching and graphic story of the famine in Ireland which Mr. Ilep Ilep werth tells te thepublic through the Her ald te-day. But if what a writer in the Penn Monthly says about the game laws of Scotland is correct, it would net be a wonder if the Scottish peasantry would sooner or later be reduced te a similar condition of destitution. Thousands of square acres of land in the Highlands, which might be feeding sheep and cattle and yielding excellent crops, are laid out as deer forests and hunting grounds. The lands are held by the tenants, sub ject te the right of the owners te hunt en them, the occupants being forbid den te disturb or kill the game no matter hew destructive it becomes te their growing crops. Old paths across the moors, leading te fisheries and reducing long distances, are shut up lest the passers-by may disturb an occasional roe or hare ; incoming tenants purchase valuable crops, te have them utterly de stroyed or greatly impaired by fees against which their leases allow them no protection, and a general waste of values and uncertainty of profit ensue which make the Scotch renter's Jet a most pre carious one. Whk.v J'etrelf was exjicllcd from the Legislature for bribe-taking his appreci ative constituents, re-elected him by a handsome majority. Should he be con victed in the Dauphin county sessions of bribe-offering his district will doubtless start a third term boom for him. Harper's Weekly says, with truth and force, that "the object of a national nom inating convention is te ascertain and compare the views of the entire Repub lican party of the United States, actirg both as citizens of a state through the delegates at large and as citizens of dis tricts through the district delegates," and consequently instructions and unit rules are a gross abuse of the majority principle and a disastrous wrong te the party. There can be no question that this is the true principle te direct both parties. It is enough that the state at large, expressing itself through the party convention, should elect and, if it deems wise, instruct the delegates at large, but the district delegates represent their re spective districts ; they are responsible te and should take orders from no ether constituencies. It is a geed thing for all the Democrats of a state te think one way and their delegation has mere strength when it votes solidly all one way, but when their different el ements think and feel differently, it is right that eacli should be heard. Fer such reasons we opposed the unit rule when it was, by a fraud, imposed upon the state convention held in Lancaster four years age, and for the same reason we are opposed te it again. Seme of the Grant people are very much disturbed lest Washburnc may be in training te succeed in gathering for himself Grant's strength at the national convention when it shall appear that he cannot be nominated. Legan, tee, is suspected of treachery te the old com mander, and it is hinted that his fero cious attack en the English language in his speech en the Perter case was a bloody shirt bid for second place en the Blaine ticket. Simen Cameren has been telling them in "Washington that the op position te a third term grows porten tous and altogether the geese does net hang nearly " altitudinem "' as it did some weeks age. PERSONAL. Lord Byken's Bible was recently sold at auction in Londen. It was net much worn. Wasiiiujknk 'can, under no circum stances or conditions, become a candidate for president. General Grant is my first, last and only choice. " Hen. Isaac "W. IIayxc, for twenty years preceding reconstruction the attorney gen eral of Seuth Carolina, and grandson of Issac Ilaync who was executed by the Brit ish during the occupation of Charleston, died yesterday, aged seventy. The friends of General Butler arc fully satisfied that he will re-elected one of the beard of managers of the national homes for disabled soldiers. General Butler takes great pride in having these institutions run properly, and he evinces a geed deal mere inteicst about being continued as a manager than he docs about the alleged coalition between his friends in Massa chusetts and the regular dyed-in-the-wool Democrats of that state. There was a funny scene in the Senate during Mr. McDonald's speech. He had lest his eye glasses, and when he came te refer te the printed volume he tried te borrow a pair. At first he took Allisen's, then Judge Davis's, Pendleton's, Teller's and Eaten's in order, but could net sec with any of them, and had te step. Finally Harris, of Tennessee, came way across the chamber and handed him a pair that seemed te suit, and after an interval of about five minutes he continued his speech. 1 larrisburg special te the North Ameri can by telegraph : Much surprise was occasioned te-night among politicians gathered in this city at the statement made by a reliable and prominent member of the Legislature, that Hen. Matthew S. Quay had announced te him in Phila delphia, a few days age, that he was net a candidate for the United States Senate, and under no circumstances would he be. This intelligence was se unexpected that it was net at first believed. The gentle man who was authority for it had no hesi tancy in reiterating it te these who ques tioned him. MINOR TOPICS. Tiikiii: arrived in New Yerk during Jauuary, 8e2S immigrants,against2818 dur ing January, 1879. The total immigration for the twelve months ending February 29, 1880, was 147.9C3 against 82,454 dur ing the preceding twelve months. A fact probably but little known is that the United Slates nickel five-cent piece furnishes a key te metric measures and weights. This coin is two centimetres in diameter, and its weight is five grammes. Five of them placed in a row will give the length of the diamctrc, and two of them will weigh a decagramme. Mr. Vexneu comes forward once mere te say : " I did net predict ' heavy snow falls from the 1st of March.' The heaviest storms will come after the leth. This is distinctly stated in my letter. St. Pat rick's day and one day after will give the heaviest falls of the winter. The ether dates given are days en which snow may be expected te fall in appeciable quan tities." " In appreciable " is a saving word. Mn. Cevert, of New Yerk, has intro duced in the Heuse a bill te punish extor tion and blackmailing in the District. At present there seems te be no statutory law upon the matter, se far as "Washington and the District are concerned, and if black mailing is an offense at all, it is one of sim ple common law character only. The re cent scandals in connection with several high public officials have called attention te the matter and Mr. Cevert's bill is re garded as timely. It punishes the offense by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term net exceeding ten years. Bishop Lay, of Easten, Md., writes con. ccrning divorce and irregular marriage : " One can but wish that some mede could he devised whereby the various Christian bodies could agree en these great questions of morals, and se influence the body pol itic ; as it is, no matter hew outrageous the marriage is, some minister or ether can be found te celebrate it. It is a grave question whether there can be any religion witueut a severe morality. Conversion, experiences, rejoicing; yes, apostolic ministries, laying en of hands, holy sacraments, arc little worth unless they make us keep our bodies clean, te tell the truth, te pay our debts and te show mercy te the peer." The Pittsburgh Pest understands " from high authority at Washington that Judge Thurmau and the Democrats of the Senate judiciary committee were satisfied that the appointment of bummer deputies te intimidate voter and bulldoze election, was sufficient cause for the rejection of Kerns as United States marshal at Phila delphia. If they believe Mr. "Wallace's speech of last May, they could reach no ether conclusion. But Mr. "Wallace was willing Kerns should be confirmed. He and Senater Cameren agreed en that point. And Judge Thurmau and the Democrats of the Senate judiciary committee would net report adversely in a case where both senators from the state desired confirma tion." r. it. it. Tlie Nicholas Repe Tract Scandal. What Caused " a Bread Laugh" in the Stockholders Meeting. In the meeting of Pennsylvania stock holders, Philadelphia, yesterday, Edward T. Parker presented the following, but when the opening sentence brought forth the old familiar expression '' Nicholas Repe Tract Matter ;" there was a bread laugh through the meeting. The commu nication was as fellows : Te the President and Stockholder. of the Penn sylvania Railroad : Gentlemen : In December, 1876, when I first spoke te President Scott in relation te the "Nicholas Repe Tract" fraud, he expressed himself in terms of such strong indignation, and evinced a determination te investigate and prosecute the case, that I was induced te give him information about ether matters which should be in vestigated and received his assurance that these matters would all be thoroughly in vestigated, and substantial justice done en behalf of the company. I have patiently waited but have never yet heard from Mr. Scott, and as nothing has been done I feel it but just te lay the matter before this meeting and call your attention te the fol lowing facts : First. Seme time before the death of our late president he received the sum of ,.30,000 as a gift or present for alleged ei vices rendered in securing a lease of a western railroad I think it was the Fert "Wayne read and at about the same time ether donations were made te ether officers for the same services. These donations, if made, were certainly unlawful, and the truth could be easily ascertained from the minutes and records of the company, and restitution and return of the money be obtained from the estate of the deceased president and from the ether officials who may have received it ; as I am informed the services were performed by ether per sons. Second That two of the directors have received from the treasurer of the company $1,000 each per year for sixteen years, be ing a total of $32,000, for acting as nomi nal trustees. I believe for two or three years past the beard has refused te pay them, and I also believe they should be made te refund the money already re ceived. Third That one of the officials of the read, while building for himself a house, had that house furnished in hard weed, deuble-sashed windows and wainscetting, as stated te me, in the handsomest man ner, with the company's material, coming from the company's shop and by workmen in the employ of the company. Respectfully, Edw. T. Parker, G14 Spruce street. When the communication had been read, Vice President Roberts arose and said : " Mr. Thomsen's relations te the Fert Wayne railroad arc well known te the existing administration of the com pany, and I for one, can say they stand te-day without one particle of blemish upon his character, and that much te-day redounds te the company's profit, and Mr. Thomsen went further, aye went twice as far as any individual stockholder in the use of his individual means in that matter, and he laid it down as he picked it up. He it was who sprang te the breach. If he was ever paid any paltry token for such services I never heard of it ; but no matter what it was or might have been, it was no sufficient return." "I think it is extremely unfair," said Colonel Snewdcn, when Mr. Roberts had sat down," after years of prosperity, te force us te listen te a rehash of old things. If this was a meeting hostile te the Penn sylvania railroad company, and called for the purpese of forcing down its stock, then maybe this matter would be proper. Te thus attack one dead and in his grave is the meanest outrage I have ever heard of." This burst of Cel. Snowden was greeted with loud applause, that was repeated and repeated again, and when Mr. Parker rose he was greeted with hisses. "I call for the previous question," called out Colonel Snowden as Mr. Parker at tempted te speak. " There is no resolution attached te the communication, and, therefore, there is nothing te pass upon," answered Mayer Stokley. " Mr. Chairman," called out Mr. Parker. "There is nothing before the chair," said Mayer Stokley. " I move we adjourn," called out several. The motion was put and unanimously carried, and at 12:15 o'clock the meeting adjourned. PRESIDENTIAL OUTLOOK. Secretary Schurz Asks a Subordinate for his Views. As an indication of the interest felt by members of the administration in the presi dential question, the following amusing incident occurred in an interview between Secretary Schurz and a prominent official of the interior department, whose field of duty is in the West, and who is known te be a pronounced Grant man. After a long discussion, involving various points connected wilh the business of the depart ment, the secretary brightened up and said : ' By-the-by, what are your views en the presidential outlook?" The reply was : " I beg your pardon, Mr. Secretary, but I have none." "But," said the secretary, "you certain ly have a preference among the prospec tive candidates ?" The official hitched his chair somewhat impatiently and answered, "-Ne sir : I have none. Under the civil service rules of the president and the peculiar regula tion of this department, I am supposed te have no politics at all." The interview terminated, and Mr. Schurz mused for some minutes en the eccentric workings of civil service reform. An Irlih Sam Patch. In Louisville, en Sunday, Thes. Beyle, an Irishman, accomplished the feat of jumping from the bridge which spans the Ohie into the falls below a distance of 100 feet. About three Sundays age he jumped off in the presence of a few friends, and when he claimed te have performed the feat the public were leth te believe him. Se about two weeks age he announced his intention of making the leap, and was en hand at the appointed time, as was a large crowd, but the authorities objected and the police interfered. Se en Sunday he did it without announcement. There were nine feet and eight inches of water where he jumped. Although young in years he is an old diver, and has jumped off a number of bridges in this country, among which are tbe tiuymdette, near Huntingdon, West Virginia, and a bridge at Decatur, Alabama. THE BATTLE BEGUN. Representative Petroff en Trial Fer Corrupt SoUcUatien. In the Petroff trial yesterday the cm paneling of the jury was net attended with much difficulty. The following is a list of the jurors : Henry Bener, fanner, Washington ; Jonas Deible, farmer. Upper Paxton ; Frank Ferree, teacher, Lykens township; Samuel Longenecker, laborer, Susquehanna ; S. S. Miller, farmer, Lewer Paxton; Jehn Meyer, farmer, Derry; Jeshua Mowrey. carpenter, Dauphin ; Win. D. Peffenberger, blacksmith, Dauphin ; Jonathan Petteiger, farmer, Lewer Pax ton; Christian Smith, farmer. Derry: Win. II. Seal, stone mason, Upper Paxton ; Warren A. Zellinger, hatter, Harrisburg. Judge Pearson charged the jury net te al low any person te speak te them relative te the case, after which he ordered the crier te adjourn the the court until 2 p. m. Before the Petroff case was opened at the afternoon session. Judge Pearson gave notice that indiscriminate cress-examination would net be permitted. After a short consultation by the counsel for the com monwealth, the district attorney addressed the jury en the subject of the bribery e f members of the Legislature, presenting the case of the prosecution with ability. He referred te the various statutes for the punishment of bribery and remarked that while corrupt solicitation of members of tlie Legislature is net as degrading as murder and robbery it was far reaching in its pernicious effects that it undermined the very foundation of our government. He read extracts from Judge Pearson's charge te the grand jury last August in which he described bribery and de nounced it as an offense which should be punished. J. E. Allen, journal clerk of the Heuse of Representivcs in 1879, was the first wit ness for the commonwealth. He was asked whether he remembered the introduction of bill Ne. 103 in the Heuse, te which he answered that he did. Mr. Brewster objected, stating that this was net proper evidence. Mr. Gewen said the original document would be produced at the proper time. The court overruled Mr. Brewster's ob jection. The commonwealth proposed te submit the journal of the Heuse as evidence te show that bill " Ne. 103" had been under consideration last year. The defense ob jected te its reception, claiming that it was net proper evidence, as there was nothing te indicate that the journal was published by authority. After considerable discus sion the court said : "I think we will have te receive the evidence." The defense next objected te the recep tion of the printed riot claims bill, but the court overruled it, the defense taking ex ceptions, as it did previously. Representative Watsen, of Mercer county, was the only witness of importance exam ined in the afternoon. Judge Brewster subjected him te a rigid cress-examination. His testimony did net differ from that he gave before the Heuse committee in May last. He stated in substance that the de fendant had approached him one evening early in March in the Lochiel hotel, and after asking him hew he intended te vote ou the riot bill, said that there was money in it, and inquired if he did net want te become a " rooster." After the bribery investigation had begun Petroff pleaded with witness te answer no te all of the questions propounded by the committee in order that defendant be net implicated in the investigation. Mr. Gewen asked what was understood by the word " rooster." Te this Mr. Brewster objected. The de fendant's counsel preferred the jury te judge of this for themselves. Judge Black deemed such evidence admissible, and as it was slang thought it required translation for the eulightment of the jury. It certainly was net intend ed te mean that the witness should he transformed into that bird. Senater Carpenter acknowledged him self ignorant of the word's meaning as applied in this case could sec no objectcen te an explanation. After some further discussion Judge Pearson decided te permit the explana tion. The witness then defined a "rooster" te be a legislator who would allow his vote en a bill te be influenced by a pecuniary con sideration. Durinjr the cress examination the wit ness admitted that the statement made be fore the investigation committee, that Petroff had net offered him money, was true. When the cress-examination was con cluded Mr. Gewen asked the witness if he adhered te his statement that he interpret ed PetrefFs negotiations with him te mean that money would be paid for his vote en the riot bill. This brought ou another battle between the opposing counsel in which Messrs Gewen and Carpenter participated for the commonwealth and Messrs. Brewster, Mann and Herr for the defense. Mr. Brewster said that inference could net be considered as evidence and vigorous ly opposed the admission of such testi mony. Mr. Gewen spoke strongly in favor of his claim and thought it was necessary that the iurv should have the benefit of such evidence. He was ably seconded by Mr. Carpenter in the same line of argu ment. Judge Pearson then decided that the tes timony was admissible, after which the court adjourned until 9 o'clock this morn ing. LATST NEWS BY MAIL. The Grand Central hotel and Webster house, Oakland, were destroyed by lire last night. Less, $275,000. The Belgium Chamber of Deputies, by a vote of 97 te 8, decided te maintain a lega tion at the Vatican. In the walking match at San Francisce at 9 a. m. yesterday, O'Lcary had made 128 miles and Western 113. All reports from the interior of Cuba agree that the sugar crop is about forty per cent, smaller than that of last year. A Berlin dispatch says : "Military ma ma eoeuvres en a grand scale are culminating and a sham fight is preparing at St. Peters burg." Lucius Shelden, a telegraph operator, while suffering from mental aberration, was drowned in Lake Pontchartrain. He leaves a wife. Burglars broke open the a safe of John John Jehn eon, Rogers & Ce., of Marianna, Phillips county. Ark., en Monday night, and car ried off $10,000 in currency and state and county warrants. The supreme court of Georgia has re fused a new trial te Sam Hill, convicted of the murder of Jehn Simmons, the alleged seducer of Hill's wife. Hill was sentenced te hard labor for life. James Cudleb, of Parkville, N. J., aged 24 years, who married en the 3d, commit ted suicide by hanging en Sunday night. He was considered an imbecile from his youth. In Middletown, N. Y., at the charter election five women were elected members of the beard of education ever five men. The Republicans elected the president, collector, and two trustees, and the Demo crats two trustees. Over 100 women voted for school officers. On Saturday one Gessett went down from Johnville, Tenn., te Tipton ville, with the avowed purpose of killing Richard Jehnsen, who he had heard had accused mm of being a horse thief. Jehnsen hear ing of Gessett'8 threats, procured a Win chester repeating rifle, and when Gessett came shot him through the right breast, killing him instantly. Jehnsen surren dered himself, but was acquitted. Rebert Jarrard, a lawyer, who shot a man named Rice, in Rochester, N. Y., en Saturday night, has hanged himself. The men met en their way home at a late hour and fell into a chaffing conversation about nothing, whereupon Jarrard discharged a small pistol, hitting Rice in the breast. The latter is still alive. Jarrard was in toxicated and afterwards lamented the deed. FAMINE'S STRIDES. Repert of a Member of the Committee. Herald Belief Visiting the Hen's Scenes of Abject Misery and Sickening Squalor The Palsy of Hun ger. Gee. Hepworth, one of the Herald's re lief commissioners advises that paper from Londen cencernins his first visit te the afflicted and famine-stricken Irish peepla . He says : It is easy te understand the causes of the present poverty. The people have had three bad crops in succession ; things have been growing worse and worse until the almost utter failure of the crops last year brought them te the verge of starvation. They had nothing te plant a want which the British government will supply by the lean of seed potatoes en very easy terms. They have nothing te eat, a want which you have yourselves se generously helped te supply by gifts which 1 am sure you will supplement by ether gifts when you knew what is the real state of the case. In order te understand for myself the condition of affairs I spent a few days under the leader ship of Colonel King-IIarman, covering about thirty square miles en the first day and ever forty en the second. I viMtcd a large number of small settle ments en the west bank of the Shannen, in the counties of Roscommon and Sligo. Fer about ten hours each day I rode and walked, entering altogether about a hun dred wretched hovels, which this aillicted people delusively call their homes, and where from morning till night they en counter the dread monotony of want and misery. While fully prepared te meet mere or less distress everywhere, knowing through former visits something of the chronic state of poverty in which the peo ple live, I was net prepared, nor could anything I have ever before seen in any degree prepare me, for the scenes of abject misery and sickening squalor which I found at every turn. The people did net knew of my coming, and could net pre pare for any dramatic display of wretched ness and want. Unawares I searched every comer of scores of houses for any means of subsist ence, and came back at night with an ach ing heart. I had seen what it would de you all geed te see. Even after hearing it I am sure you will increase your giftr, generous as they have been, until this great chasm of distress can be bridged ever. When I tell you that I have seen men utterly break down when I slipped a pal try shilling into their hands, and women clutch a leaf of bread as though they were afraid that some one would suddenly ap pear te take it from them, you can faintly imagine what I have experienced in the last few days. The friend who accompa nied me observed that I felt a large lump in my threat all the time. I could find no fitting language in which te express my sympathy. The first case I remember was that of an old woman who sat en the muddy threshold of her hut as we went by, lift ing up her hands as if in supplication and crying, ' Nothing has passed my lips for twenty-four hours." I never knew the value of a leaf of bread till that moment. When we gave her half a leaf she took it with the eagerness of a famished deg. She trembled with age and weakness, for she was ever seventy years of age, and hunger had reduced her te the likeness of a skeleton. There was a glare in her eye that told of famine. She steed in the middle of the read and thanked Ged that Americans had net forgotten Ireland. It was hours before I could get away from that haunting hairgard face. Ner shall I seen forget the sight which I saw in another hut. The mother of seven children was holding the youngest, a girl of a few months, in frantic embrace, meaning as she rocked te and fro. She looked up with startled ;azc as we entered the deer, which we could only de by bend ing, and gave a low cry as though in very terror. After a lew minutes she was re assured, for she thought me an agent of the landlord sent te evict her. Then she told me she had nothing te cat for many days except a peer dele of Indian meal which a relief cemmittee gave her, and for which she was thankful enough. She added that being half starved herself it was impossible te supply milk for her babe. She would be compelled te see it die by inches in her arms. But for the meal which the relief committee supplied the family would have literally had nothing te eat. But I cannot recite all the indi vidual instances. Let me give you a sample of what I saw in many scores of huts, and in a few which are thatched and of stone, and stand en the edge of a beg which affords them peat for fuel. They contain three small rooms. One is the room where the household lives. Through a small hole in its reef the kitchen smoke is generally forced te escape There is almost a peat famine this year en account of the wet weather. The only fuel consists of a bunch of green twigs. Anether room is for the cow if they are happy enough te possess one, which is very rarely the case. The cow is part of the family and always gees in and out through the front deer. In the third room, which is perhaps eight or nine feet square, the family sleeps. They have one bed, with two thin, worn out blankets, and here four of a house hold of nine must sleep, net lengthwise, but crosswise, covering themselves as best they can. The rest pile up a small bundle of straw in the corner and sleep en it. Pressed by hunger, they have eaten all their store of potatoes. The only feed in the whole house is a few pounds of In dian meal, which they mix with water, and make into a stirabeut. This is all they have and all they will have until the autumn. What wonder, then, that they should be disheartened and discouraged:' I have asked again and again what part of their wretchedness is due te intemperance. I am assured that it is caused solely by the utter failure of the crops. And with all this poverty the majority of the Irish are cheerful. The people are enduring the great stress of suffering with a pluck and courage which are truly admirable. It is my hope and prayer that the American people will net feel that enough has been already done. Pinched as the Irish are te-day their condition is one of happiness in compari son with that in which they will find them selves in the course of a few weeks. Frem the early part of April until the fust crop is reaped that will be the season of their real trouble, of their actual struggle for ex istence. Feed them until the middle of the summer and the blessings of the whole of Ireland will rest en your generous hearts. The committee have money, but it is net enough te last until the end of the famine. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, are keeping soul and body together by your bounty and generosity. Fer the sake of charity make one mere efiert. Give your cemmittee the means of warding off the otherwise inevitable horror or star vation. I shall visit Maye and Denegal next week, and will make another report. - . At Concord station, Crawford county, en the P. & R. R. R., Mrs. Win. Dillen, aged 50 years, was run ever by the ears and instantly killed. A man of Union Mills, Erie county, who was disappointed in a love affair, has net spoken te a woman for twenty years. He is a miser, and averts his head when he meets ene of thc.oppesitc sex. STATE ITEMS. James Andersen has been mangled te death under the cars in Erie. Maj. Wm. Frew, a prominent citizen of Pittsburgh, died last evening. Aaren Rau was caught between two cars at Stemten, Lehigh county, and fatally injured. The staff of the Oil City Derrick gave Burdette, of the Haickeye, a compliment ary dinner en 3Ienday in Oil City. The Democratic state committee of New Jersey has appointed May 19 as the time for holding the state convention te cheese delegates te the Cincinnati convention. The thirteenth anniversary of the histor ical society of the Philadelphia conference of the Methodist Episcopal church was cel ebrated last evening in the Union M. E. church, Fourth street below Arch. Ad dresses were delivered by Rev. Jacob Tedd, D. D.; Jehn P. Newman, D. D., and ethers, and managers were elected for the ensuing year. Rev. R. L. Dashiell, Methodist Episcopal missionary secretary, died in Newark. N. J.; en Monday night. The Republicans of Cumberland arc speaking out. The standing committee of the county has issued a call for primary elections next Saturday te vote en the following resolution : i',lieselced, ihat the choice of Cumberland county for president of the United States is James G. Blaine, and that the delegates from this district te the national conventional arc instructed and required te cast the vote of this dis trict ler James G. Blame as long as he is a candidate before the convention." Dr. Halm's body arrived at Washing ton, Pa., shortly after seven o'clock, yes terday, accompanied by Dr. Happel and A. Kautfman, father-in-law of deceased. The body was encased in a plain iron coffin and immediately conveyed te the crema tory. It was then placed in an iron crib and covered with a sheet saturated in alum. Ne services were held. At 8:05 p. m. the body was carried te the retort room by four men and shoved in head formest. A slight odor as of burning hair pervaded the vicinity. In twenty minutes the sheet began te expand, the bones of the feet could be seen devoid of flesh, and at the end of an hour the friends left satisfied. Orders were given te have the ashes forwarded te New Yerk. LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. TO'KACCO. It-. Culture in the North. Pennsylvania has entered se largely and se successfully into the cultivation of to bacco as a permanent crop, that the city of Lancaster is really becoming an important tobacco market. Since the ruin wrought by the civil war, the Southern tobacco crops have net recuperated as rapidly as ether branches of Southern agriculture. The case is perhaps better in Kentucky than in Virginia, for Louisville is considered the leading tobacco market. Richmond, how ever, has regained a large proportion of her former importance in the tobacco trade, al though unable te give the planters the aid of capital as of old. The true centre of tobacco culture will probably be found in the Gulf states, wherea superior quality will hereafter be produced that may rival the flavor of the Cuban article. At the present time the aim of the American cul ture appears te be quantity instead of quality. The result of the census this year will enable us te judge better as te the distribution and prospects of this crop, se that we may judge et the progress we are making toward the feimer position as the great leading exporter of tobacco The above from the Germantewu Tele graph's agricultural department hardly shows such an appreciation of the to bacco interest in Pennsylvania, and espe cially in Lancaster county, as would have been expected from such a high authority en subjects relating te agriculture as the Telegraph has rightly become. Really Lancaster county hardly comes into com petition with Richmond and Louisville in the cigar leaf business. The trade there is principally in tobacco used for chewing, and though wrappers are quoted there, seed leaf tobacco is a very incon siderable portion of the Southern and Southwestern trade. Even before the war the cigar manufacturers depended rather en Connecticut and Cuba than en " the Southern tobacco crops, " and new that Lancaster county has superseded all ethers, this is net only "really becoming" a market for tobacco, but in quality as well as quantity the tobacco crop of Lancaster county is one of the great material in terests of the country. The capital in vested here in warehouses, &c., and the presence here of the agents and principals of nearly all the greatest tobacco firms in the country fully attest this, and it is doubtful if we will ever find a competitor in the Gulf states. NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS. K vents Acress the County Line. The Friendship fire company of Harris burg has accepted an invitation te visit the Friendship fire company of Wilming ton en the 1st of July. At Reading yesterday a frightful acci dent happened te a boy named William Yeagcr, employed at the works of the Reading pipe mills. He was accidentally thrown against a huge fly-wheel, hurled around at the rate of seventy revolutions per minute, and was horribly mangled. His dead body was then hauled out of the pit. Evan Rogers, East Whitcland, Chester county, has slept in the house in which he new rcsides,every night for the past thirty eight years. He has rented his farm and will move te Morristown in April. Hew he will be able te pass the night away from his present home is a momentous question even te himself. On Tuesday morning 20 shares of Columbia national bank stock were sold at private sale, at $125 per share. This is an advance of $15 per share during the past year. The purchaser was a farmer, who thus disposes of his surplus tobacco money. In Delaware the leccnt warm spell has had the effect of net only advancing vege tation but also the peach trees, the buds of which are nearly a month ahead of time. In the lower part of the state the bud,s arc very forward. A gentleman who came up from Delmar last night stated te a Gazette reporter that he saw two peach trees in full blossom at that place. They are alongside of a house, and were net exposed te the cold winds, which accounts for their being in blossom. Sentenced. Themas E. Gable, of this city, who was tried a few weeks age before the U. S. district court at Philadelphia, and con victed of selling cigars in boxes that Jiad been before used, was yesterday sentenced te undergo an imprisonment of six months and pay a fine of 8100. A Dead Deg. Fer several days past the carcass of a dea'd deg has been lying en North Duke street between James and Frederick streets te the anuoyance and discomfort of residents in the vicinity. It is the duty of the street commissioner te have it remeved. ' MASK TWAIN." A Humorist Who Dees Net Always Jeke. His Sympathetic. Kind and Considerate Let ter te Mary Ellen Ky lie. Our readers are familiar with Miss Mary Kylie, the "banner woman," and her ,V harmless eccentricities. Fer years she has been went te see visions and dream dreams of a condition of universal peace and social harmony, in which all wrongs should be righted and all ills cured. With her, great political ami religious questions have a close connection, and though she is a de voted Catholic, the millennium she works for and prays for involves a restoration of the "era of geed feeling" in church and state, when heretics and saints, Republi cans and Democrats, lawgivers and law- ereaKers, snail be reconciled and meet in one communion. Te this end Mary makes many banners with characteristic inscriptions and end less decorations, which she hangs in pub lic places, and writes lengthy epistles te the newspapers and te public men. Fer some months past she has manifested great interest in " Mark Twain '' (Samuel L. Clemens) and has addressed him sev eral letters at Hartferd, Conn., en the sub jects which lie near te her heart. Nene of these elicited any response, until her last, which embodied a preposition that te settle all denominational dif ferences in Lancaster she would give a grand dinner, at which among the i guests should be Bishop Shanahau. Rev. Dr. Grecuwald, Rev. Father J. C. Hiekcy and ether clergymen of differing churches, and she net only requested $5 aid for this purpose, but also "Mark Twain's " pres ence at the dinner te carve the turkey, which was te grace the feast. This letter, like the ethers, gave an nccuint of some of Miss Kylie's visions. In response, Miss K. received about ten days age the sub joined letter, which, after some hesitation, she has furnished for publication. Though marked " private " it is worthy the appre ciation of a larger circle of readers than the many te whom its recipient has shown it ; and its sentiments de such credit te the heart as well as the head of the writer, that we take pleasure in laying it before our readers. The tender sympathy it evinces for her te whom it is addressed, the kind consideration for her eccentricities, the strong common sense and the delicate touches of humor it contains, aiesuiHci'-iit apology for transgressing its mark of pri vacy. The letter contained a check fr 5 signed by "S. L. Clemens," which has beeu duly cashed here and honored in Hartferd ; and the Mr. Miller referred te is Mr. J. N. Miller, 452 East King sheet, in whose care Miss Ivylie had asked for the answer te be sent. Mark Twain's Letter. FAKMlNnTO AVENUK, t llAIETKOKK, Fub.il, IS.-f). V Well, Mary, my friend, you must think I am a slew sort of correspondent, ami the truth is, I am. Yeu must feigivc this fault : it is one which I have never been able te correct. I am a pretty busy person, and a very lazy one ; therefore I am apt te let letters lie a long time before I answer them. However. once a year, en or about Washington's birthday, I raku together all the un answered letters and reply te tlieni. I meant te answer the letter you sent me some weeks age, but waited for Wash ington's birthday te come. Write te me whenever you feel like it, Mary, but don't you feel hurt if I keep you waiting till the next Washington's bii thday for an an swer. I de net feel half se much hurried and bothered when I have a year te answer a letter in as I de when people cxitcct a reply right away. I only send money te people once a year, tee, and that is en Washington's birthday, se you see if I had answered you cailier I could net have sent you the live dollars until new. Take this check which I enclose, and go te the bank with Mr. Miller, and he will tell the banker you are the person named in it, and will give you the money, or, if you cheese, you can mail the check (after writing your name en the back of it,) te Messrs. Geerge P. Bissell & Ce., Hartferd, Conn., telling them te send you a postal order, ami they will scud it by leturu mail. 1 think your idea el getting these clergymen together at a din ner table is a very geed one. lliey will have te put up with each ether's soci ety a geed long time in heaven, se they may as well begin te get used 10 it here. Resides, I think, as you de, that their com ing together in a friendly spirit will have a geed influence en ether people. I am much obliged te you for asking me te be present and carve the turkey, but I must net go. Always when I caive a turkey I swear a little. (xVll people de te them selves but I swear right out. I never could help it, though it has cost mc many a pang.) I think a person ought net te swear where clergymen are, unless they provoke him. Well, I couldn't be there, anyway, because I have te stay at home and stick close my work, else this nation would become se ignorant in a lit tle while that it would break one's heart te leek at them. Ne, you and I have our separate duties in this world, Mary your line is te humanize the clergy, and mine is te instruct the public. Let us net interfere with each ether's functions. I have a most kindly sympathy toward you and your work, and perhaps that is a better contri bution than my own presence w.mld be. Yeu say "Pity me" indeed I de, and that is a true word. 1 wish I could tell you whether these were genuine vis- , ions and inspirations you have written me about, but I can net be absolutely certain. They eecm te me te be just like ail the visions and inspirations I have ever heard of, and se I think you may rest assured that yours are se perfectly true and genu ine and trustworthy as any that have ever happened in the world. New let that comfort you, Mary, let that give peace te your troubled spirit, and believe mc you friend S. L. Clemens. (Mark Twain.) That Old Problem. In accordance with the prevailing mania for puzzles, a correspondent sends us the following : Will you please give the following space in your columns. Ques: If I sell a horse for $00, then buy him back for 880. and then sell him for 110, hew much de I gain '.' This question has caused excitement ou the part of some in reference te the cer rect answer Mathematicians please give me an answer. We are sorry te hear that this old and familiar problem is again causing distrac tion. There is but one possible though several plausible answer te it. The iirt figure is net te be taken into account in the absence of any knowledge as te what was first paid for the beast. The answer te the problem is the same as if it read : " Bought a horse for $80 and sold him for 1110. What did I make ?" Mayer's Court. Mayer MacGenigle this morning had six diserderlies before him, one of whom he committed for 20 days, one for 15 days, three for 10 days each, and ene was dis charged en payment of cest1;. tl 51 U fl it i n v M "I 1 M PA t- j IP m .fi V3 fe-.a 151 m & U ii l