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ESTABLISHED FEBRUARY 8, 1845.
Vol. 43, So. 358. Entered at 1'tttsburg Post
office, November H. 1S37, at second-class matter.
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PITTSBURG, WEDX ESDAY. JAN. SO. 1SS9.
THE CABINET SLATE.
The Cabinet slate, as announced from
various points, agrees thatfonr members are
selected, namely: Blaine, Allison, Wana
maker and Alger. The practical agreement
as to these names is indicative of its probable
correctness.
A Cabinet so organized would present to
a certain extent the leading characteristic of
Mr. Lincoln's first Cabinet, that of combin
ing the leading candidates for the Presi
dental nomination rather than seeking the
heads of departments with the sole eye to
the duties which they will have to discharge.
If this conld be taken to mean that the
President is to tnrn out a second Lincoln, it
would be very gratifying. But in view of
the inability to draw that conclusion, the
selection may provoke a good deal of criti
cism. Mr. Blaine at the head of our diplo
macy will, in the present juncture of affairs,
either make a spoon'or spoil a horn; but the
nation might wish assurance that it will not
be the latter. Of the remaining three names
the proportion assigned to large-sized bank
accounts cannot fail to provoke the jeers of
the opposition.
There is a month yet before the Cabinet
commissions are issued; and the slate now
reported may not be final. In the mean
time, there will be some satisfaction in ob
serving the flutter of the New Yorkers at
the possibility that they may be left out in
the cold.
SOMEWHAT TOO OPTIMISTIC.
Senator Sherman's position, that the Uni
ted States should maintain their rights in
Samoa, but that war is an absurdity which
nothing wonld justify, betrays an optimism
that is hardly warranted by the circum
stances. War between tne United States
and Germany would be an absurdity and
ought to be an impossibility. So too, war
between a great power like Germany and a
petty ruler of a few South Pacific islands
ought to be an impossibility, but we have
seen Germany declare war on Malietoa for
the evident purpose of securing control of
his islands. "War for the control of Samoa
wonld be an absurdity, on our part, no
doubt; but whether war to maintain the dig
nity of our Government and to enforce onr
rights under treaties would be or not, is
something which this nation has get to con
sider seriously. Bismarck's ill concealed
contempt and dislike for the United States
is based on the belief that nothing can make
ns fight; and if we do not show the contrary
in this case, there will be reason for consid
ing that opinion well founded.
ME. VANDERBILTS SEAL) DOG.
When millionaires collide the heavens te
sound and the earth trembles. Messrs. W.
K. Yanderbilt and Christian Roberts, mil
lionaires, both of New York, are on the
verge of upsetting the universe. They have
not collided yet; but, unless their friends
work the switches deftly, the dread catas
trophe must ensue.
A dead dog is at the bottom of the trouble.
Dead doers have been known to cause annoy
ance in thickly populated neighborhoods be
fore. But it isn't that kind of trouble in
this case. The dog was alive till a few days
ago, and contributed considerably to the
happiness and comfort of Millionaire Yan
derbilt Unfortunately the dog sought to
diffuse the joys of his society upon Mil
lionaire Boberts, who lived next door.
Probably the dog was surprised to receive a
rebuff, and at all events it is known that he
was found in Mr. Boberts' yard dead. This
was very painful for the dog; and in a lesser
degree for his owner.
Mr. Yanderbilt for once felt that his mil
lions availed him nothing. No amount of
money could revive the spark of life in his
departed St Bernard. A rich man's dead
dog is very much like a poor man's dead
dog. Contemplation of this unconsoling
condition led Mr. Yanderbilt to write Mr.
Boberts a scathing letter, in which he
threatened to take the dead dog into the
courts.
But Mr. Yanderbilt's dog is still dead.
THE MEAT QUESTIOK.
A somewhat extended article in the York
Gazette signed by initials which are not
intended to conceal the authorship of ex
Lieutenant Governor Black, argues strong
ly in favor of the bill prohibiting the im
portation of dressed meats into the State.
The argument may be condensed as asserting
that the shippers of cattle on the hoof need
protection against the syndicate asserted to
control the dressed beef business; that the
bill if passed would not raise the price of
meat as the competition of live cattle would
keep it down; and finally that consumers
would gain by being freed from the exac
tions of the alleged dressed beef monopoly.
Such an argument exhibits a confusion of
reasoning that is not unusual where the
intent is to make a special plea in favor of
a stated object, rather than to draw a con
clusion from consistent principles. If the
bill wonld not increase the price of meat to
consumers the grangers and butchers who
are urging the measure are terribly fooled,
for their sole purpose is to increase the
price and to take away from the people the
cheapness resulting from the economy of
transportation on dressed beef. Prohibit
that economy and the competition of live
stock shippers will remain; bnt the pro
gress in the direction of cheaper food by
the masses made in the past ten years will
be destroyed.
There is a like haphazard quality in the
charge that the business is in the hands of
a clique or syndicate which exacts undue
prices. The fact that cattle on the plains
of the "West are immensely cheaper than
formerly, while meat to the consumers is
very little cheaper, gives this as
sertion force; but it has no bearing on
a bill of this sort, for the reason that the
bill proposes no remedy for it All methods
of transportation, whether in refrigator or
improved cattle cars, should be given an
equal chance to demonstrate their economy;
flje B
all persons should have equal rights to
compete in any method, and any jugglery
of railway rates to monopolize the business
in the hands of a clique, whether dressed
beef shippers or stockyard companies,should
be exposed and punished. But instead of
any move in this direction it is proposed to
absolutely shut offone method of cheapening
the transportation of food, for the avowed
purpose of making meat dearer.
That was the object openly professed by
the advocates of the bill before the com
mittee at Harrisburg. That this purpose is
in contravention of the Constitution of the
United States, and deals with the one food
staple that has declined in price the least,
during the last quarter of a century, suf
ficiently characterizes the measure.
UNJUSTIFIABLE VIOLENCE.
What condition it is which makes a New
York street car strike the most violent and
productive of disorder among all the strikes
is rather hard to tell. Possibly the fart that
employers are more than usually imperative
has its result in making the employes ex
ceptionally violent. But there can be no
doubt that such acts as took place there yes
terday, in connection with the street car tie
up, are wholly inconsistent with the charac
ter of a nation which governs itself and
obeys its own laws.
Granted that the strikers' demands are
reasonable, it is an attack upon the whole
country when thev are enforced by mob law.
If men barricade the streets and deny the
universal right of every man outside of
prison to traverse the public highway, they
do not attack a miserable and niggardly
street railway corporation, but they attack
the whole people. It is to the common peo
ple's interest that the laws should be
obeyed and every man's equal privilege
to use the streets in any lawful manner,
maintained. When a wage dispute leads
men to attack and mob those who differ with
them, they are injuring the cause of labor
more than anything else by turning a gov
ernment of law into a government of brute
force.
Pittsburg is far beyond this medieval
way of settling economic questions by rio t.
If capital and labor elsewhere cannot learn
that civil warfare injures both sides far
more than can be gained from it, they will
have to learn the severe lessons of experi
ence. PITTSBUBQAND FEEIGHT BATES.
The statement published yesterday, as
coming from an official of the Pennsylvania
Company, that rates on its westward lines
had got to be advanced, because that cor
poration has lost money, may evoke some
criticism. That the Pennsylvania Com
pany may not nave made mucn money
during the past year is quite possible; but
if so, it is nothing very remarkable.
The raison d' etre of that corporation was
not for profits, but to control Western lines
in the interest of the Pennsylvania Bail-
road; and we believe that the subsidiary
corporation has never yet declared a divi
dend. No doubt, in the recent epidemic of rate
cutting, some of the Pittsburg rates have
got pretty low. The announcement that
these rates will be put on a reasonable basis
by the Pennsylvania Company no matter
what other lines may do, is indicative of
nothing more than a sane business policy.
But when the question of iron rates is taken
up, as effecting the comparative production
of pig iron in Western Pennsylvania and
Chicago, it is necessary to point that, while
the railroads have a right to charge living
rates on iron from this section West,
it does not follow that they should charge
excessive rates on the material for iron. In
connection with this allegation of unprofit
able business, it is pertinent that so far as
the public has any information, the actual
rate on iron ore from the lake ports to Pitts
burg is higher than it was two years ago;
and there is good reason to believe that the
ore, coal and coke traffic ot Pittsburg pays
larger profits to the railroads in proportion
to the value of the freight than any other
staples transported in equal volume in the
United States.
If it is true, as alleged, that Chicago can
produce pig iron cheaper than Western
Pennsylvania can, the Pennsylvania Com
pany will be the heaviest sufferer from it,
next to the iron interests themselves. But
that very fact should induce the inquiry
whether it is not better for the railways to
take smaller profits on the very profitable
ore traffic than to gradually lose it alto
gether. BAYABD'S BACK DOWN.
It is rather amusing to find that Mr.
Bayard is now asserting in reply to the
question why he has not protested against
Germany's seizure of Malietoa, that "he
had no authority or such a course." This is
rather weak. Mr. Bayard must have had au
thority for some such course,or he would not
have declared in 188G,in instructions to Mr.
Pendleton, at Berlin, that "we expect noth
ing will be done to impair the riehts of the
United States under existing treaty with
Samoa, and anticipate fulfilment of solemn
assurance heretofore and recently given
that Germany seeks no exclusive control in
Samoa." If the State Department cannot
state the position of the United States on
international questions, without getting
authority from Congress, it is plain that
Mr. Bayard must have been authorized to
take the positive ground stated in the above
quotation. Having taken that ground Mr.
Bayard must have been authorized to pro
test against its violation if he had back
bone enough. It would have been fortun
ate for his public reputation if he had re
mained in the Senate.
The budding lawyers who do not have the
fear of the law as posted up on signs at the
Court House, against expectorating on the
floor, may justify themselves on the ground
that they expect to rate as first-class law
yers. But they may also plead that some of
the signs about the Conrt House are uncon
stitutional. That one on the railing outside,
that "only bums roost here," is in point.
There is nothing in the Constitution war
ranting the reservation of the Court House
sidewalks for the exclusive use of the un
savory and unshaven class named.
The announcement that western rates to
and from Pittsburg will be raised in order
to permit the Pennsylvania Company to
make some profits, might have a more con
vincing foundation if it were shown when
the rates on the ore and iron traffic went
down.
"I AM not come to destroy," is the Scrip
tnral assurance which Colonel Shepard
mounted at the head of his journal on Sat
urday. This will be a comforting assurance
to the Southerners, who have been informed
that the religions journalist was going to
subject them to fire and sword. But it will
be disheartening to the rest of the country
as taking away the hope that if the worst
came to the worst with Germany, we could
turn Colonel Shepard loose on the North
Germans.
The proposal in Congress to appropriate
$220,000 in aid of the cause of irrigation will
command the support of the statesman and
earn the indorsement of the Governors of
North and South Carolina unless they
should find out that it is proposed to use
water.
It IS startling to be informed, as we are
by a Western cotemporary, that "Emperor
Frederick's minions are evidently looking
for trouble with the United States." If we
wished to revenge our injuries upon these
same "minions" a very good way to do it
would be to demonstrate to the Emperor
William that they acknowledge allegiance
to his dead father. People who do that sort
of thing in Germany are developing a ten
dency to get into prison.
The election on the prohibition amend
ment is affected by the usual phenomenon
which precedes our popular expressions of
will. Bach side is already figuring out that
it will win, which is necessarily a natural
impossibility.
It is rather interesting to find that the
woman who shot an opposing lawyer in
court at Chicago last year, is now repre
sented by expert testimony as having been
temporarily insane, and therefore entitled
to be set free; while the victim of the shoot
ing has been sent to an asylum without any
trial, from the effects of his injuries. This
would strike the mind in the light of a
stupendous joke if it were not quite so se
rious. Now IS the time for statesmen who have
no chance of getting into the Cabinet to an
nounce that they would not take a position.
The acidity of sour grapes has its utility
now just as much as iu'the days of JEsop.
It ought to occasion a little sober thought
on the part of Christendom to observe that
"the holy mission of introducing civiliza
tion," which was the recent description ot
Bismarck's colonial policy, results both at
Zanzibar and Samoa in the bombardment
of inoffensive villages by the German ves
sels. This is calculated to raise an inquiry
among the savages whether civilization is
any improvement on barbarism.
Secretary Whitney writes a more
warlike letter than Secretary Bayard; but
the nation is likely to perceive that the
naval shot strikes our State Department
harder than it does anything else.
ROMANCE is not all that it is cracked up
to be, if we are to accept the following de
claration by the Minneapolis Tribune: "An
elopement is idiocy, nothing else." The
earnest testimony thus borne smacks of per
sonal experience. Is it possible that the co
temporary which fulminated that attack on
Mrs. Cleveland has found out that romance
in matrimony is a hollow mockery.
The formation of a combination among
the New York ice companies, representing
5,000,000 of capital, indicates a determin
ation next summer to freeze out the public
at the highest market rates.
The declaration of the New York Herald
that President Harrison ought to give Mr.
Whitelaw Eeid a place in the Cabinet can
hardly obtain a less response than a sugges
tion in the Tribune that Mr. James Gordon
Bennett should have command of the United
States navy. This exchange of courtesies
being complete, politics can go forward as
usual.
The New York tie-up is evidently degen
erating into a New York tear-up.
The announcement is now made that
John M. Thurston, of Nebraska, will not
take a nlace in the Cabinet because he can
not afford it Taken in connection with all
the circumstances this may be taken to
really mean that he will not be in the Cab
net because President Harrison cannot af
ford it
PDBLIC PEOPLE PARAGRAPHED.
Two grandsons of Abd-el-Kaderhave arrived
in Paris from Damascus to study.
The Chinese Minister at Washington has set
out for Havana with fire of his suite.
The Duke of Newcastle fell downstairs in
bab)hood, and has ever since been a confirmed
cripple.
Mns. Joseph Chamberlain is making
many friends at Birmingham, England. Her
simplicity and cleverness are equally ad
mired. Mr. Bright'S place at Rochdale, "one Ash,"
is named for a place similarly called at Mony-
ash. Derbyshire. An ancestor of Mr. Bright
was a flax-spinner at Monyash.
Mme. Path was jealous in Paris of De
Kcszke, the handsome tenor, who sang with
her. He was received with marked enthusiasm.
Patti says that it is foolish for a woman to ap
pear before Parisiennes accompanied by a
good-looking man.
In a few months the King of Spain will cele
brate his third birthday in a style befitting his
exalted babyhood. The nonsense that is written
abont this rojal todler is astonishing. It is
stated'as a remarkable fact that his manner is
simple and natural and that ho appears to have
no high opinion of himself and his heritage.
It is even remarked that be says "Ah goo"
with almost a plebian intonation and that be
shows a most democratic fondness for lump
sugar.
Count Herbert Bismarck Is obtaining
an unenviable reputation for boorishness. At
the recent Imperial banquet in Vienna, it is
said, he ate so gluttonously that he had no
time for conversation with his neighbor, the
Prince of Uohenlohe. At Pcstb. while visit
ing a Hungarian Club, he stirred up much
ill-feeling by tactless remarks regarding Aus
trian politics. He is ambitious to be consid
ered "a chip of the old block," but he has
more of his father's brusqueness than of his
ability.
ALL LETTERS TO BE DEL1TERED.
No More Notices of Detention to be Sent
When Postngo Is Unpnid.
Washington, January 29. The Postmaster
General to-day issued the following order :
"Section 525, of the postal laws and regula
tions. Is hereby modified by adding the follow
ing paragraphs: At any letter-carrier post
office, when matter is deposited addressed to
persons within the delivery of such office,
whose street and number are known or readily
ascertained by the postmaster, and upon which
the postage is Inadvertently wholly unpaid or
paid less than the amount required by law
the sender being unknown the notice of de
tention (form 1613), shall not be sent but such
matter shall be presented at the addressee by
the carrier, and the deficient postage col
lected on delivery, by means of postage stamps
affixed to the letter or parcel. If th addressee
refuses to pay the postage and receive the let
ter or parcel, it shall be sent to the Dead Letter
Office, as other refused matter."
Does the Greater Include tbe Lessf
From the New York Trlbane.J
To Grammarian: You have lost your wager
tbe greater does not always include the less.
The best man at a Montana wedding, not long
ago, ran off with the bride while tbe groom was
in tbe chancel presenting the clergyman with
his fee. That painful Incident proves, you will
observe, that a best man does not necessarily
conform to as high an ethical standard as a
good man.
Allison Injudicious.
From the Chleaeo Mews.
Senator Allison, who is popularly supposed
to bo struggling desperately to keep out of the
next Cabinet bas been injudicious enough to
go to Indianapolis to talk the matter over with
General Harrison. As the latter is an expert
fisherman, he may yet catch the coylowan.
Already the gentleman from Dubuque has be
gun to play with the bait.
THE TOPICAL TALKER.
A Number of Small Straws on tho Current!
or n Great City.
It is true that under certain circumstances
Postmaster Larkin will go Into the iron busi
ness, as The Dispatch stated recently, bnt it
Is also true that at present ho expects to
administer the Pittsburg postoffice till the end
of his term in January, 1890. Mr. Larkin has
taken the defeat of his party very gracefully,
and it is easy to believe that he will not be
sorry to get out of a position that entails a
great deal of hard work and anxiety.
It must be very satisfactory to Mr. Larkin to
feel that this community, overwhelmingly Re.
DUblican as It Is, in a general way has approved
his administration. Even to-day thepostoffico
force contains 50 per cent ot the Republicans
whom Mr. Larkin found there when he came
into office, and the service of the mails in this
city has been greatly Improved. Altogether
Mr. Larkin has abundant reason to feel con
tented and at peace with mankind, and the
newspaper men who have made requisitions
upon his time and patience in season and out
of season aro not the least hearty in wishing
him all sorts of luck in the days to come.
V
There are more costly, if not always more
valuable, pictures In the stores devoted to this
line of artistic commerce, or commercial art.
in this city to-day than ever before. Outside
of the phenomenon, which only conclusively
proves the existence of a demand for expen
sive works of art in the city, there are number
less signs in the homes of most of our citizens
of a healthy growth in taste in decorative mat
ters. Thero are fewer hideous lithographs and
chromos on the walls, fewer cheap and ill
shapen plaster casts, rainbow-hucd vases,
shocking embroideries and garish fans, feath
ers and frippery on the mantels.
The growth of healthy taste in art is as un
mistakable as it is delightful to behold.
The greatest piece of fiction current to-day:
Passengers will please remain seated till the
train comes to a full stop at tho station!
It perhaDS is a trifle dangerous to tell a story
which a banker assured me yesterday was trne,
but it points an unique moral.
In a Cincinnati bank there is at present a
colored man who holds a clerical position in
volving no little responsibility. Ho bad been a
janitor until recently, and bis promotion oc
curred in this wise: One morning the president
of the bank came suddenly and unannounced
into bis private office and found this colored
man voraciously reading some of his the
banker's private correspondence. The banker
was surprised and angry, and inquired of the
janitor: "Do you like writing letters as well as
you do reading them?"
The janitor replied calmly, at the same time
leaving the bank president's chair: "Yes, I do."
The president was so taken with the candor
and accomplishments of the janitor, that when
the next vacancy in tbe clerical force occurred
he gave it to him. He had been a very bad
janitor, and this fact a" the banker says,
weighed heavily in his favor when the hour of
promotion came. He is a success as a clerk.
V
A gentleman in a barber shop almost
fainted when the colored artist asked him
casually: "Would you advance the capital to
me to open a dancing school for young colored
ladies and gentlemen t"
The gentleman said he hadn't any money to
spare just then, and the barber went on: "You
may think I'm jokin', bnt I ain't. There's a
powerful number of cullored gentlemen and
ladies in tbls here town as can't dance but
wants to, and Fm goin' to open a dancin'
school."
Yesterday I heard that the tonsorial artist
had found the capitalist for his enterprise, and
already bad a score or more of pupils, who are
required to pay in advance.
COACHES FOR DEAD MEN.
Peculiar Railvrnr Carriages to bo Sent to
Sooth America.,
Pnrr.ADEi.pniA, January 29. The Brill Car
Works, at Thirty-first and Chestnut streets,
have just finished three street cars designed
to transport tho dead in Buenos Ayres. The
cars are unique in construction and are the
first of the kind made in this country. They
aro first second and third class, the first being
designed to carry tho body of a wealthy indi
vidual, the last the corpse of a pauper. The
first-class car is very handsome. The body is a
rich black toned with purple, with passion
flowers painted on the sides. The windows are
of French plate glass. The seats, folding up
against the sides.are upholstered in black plush
and the window curtains are black cloth
trimmod with gold bullion.
In the forward end of the car is an altar, with
silver cross and candelabra, whilo on either
side tbe altar are cathedral purple-stained glass
windows. The interior of the car is finished in
white and gold. Tbe metal work is nickel
plated and handsome in design. On tho top
nine larce sable plumes are placed. The other
cars are much simpler and plainer in design,
and the third-class car has merely a row of
shelves for the coffins. These cars are intended
to run on the street-car tracks in Buenos Ayres
and will be switched off on a side track nearest
the house of the dead person. The body is car
ried on a bier to the car, placed inside, the
mourners seat themselves around, horses are
attached and the car proceeds on its way to the
cemetery.
This custom is adopted in tho City of Mexico
and in some cities of Central America. The
only parallel among northern nations is tbe
dead train which leaves the Gard du Nord in
Paris at 5 o'clock every morning, carrying the
bodies of paupers and unrecognized persons of
the Morgue.
A DETERMINED KICK.
Ono Bond Which Will Not Sign the Agree
inent ns it Stands.
Chicago, January 29. A bomb was exploded
to-day by the Chicago, Burlington and North
ern at the meeting of tho Western railway
presidents. The original demand of this road
that tbe agreement be so amended as to allow
it to meet competition bylines outside of the
association had been complied with, and the
amendment was supposed to cover all objec
tions. Bnt Vice President Harris, of the Bur
lington and Northern, now declares that be
will sign the agreement only on condition that
it is signed by the "Soo." the Duinth, South
Shore and Atlantic, the St. Paul and Duluth
and the Eastern Minnesota roads.
These lines are competitors forNorthwestern
traffic via Mackinaw City, and have never been
thought of by the other roads as necessary to
tbe proposed treaty. The agreement in its
amended form was adopted by all the roads
represented, with the exception of the Bur
lington and Northern, which declined to vote.
A committee was appointed to obtain the
signatures of those that were not represented,
and an adjonrnment was taken until to-morrow.
Tbe agreement docs not become opera
tive nntil signed by all the roads on the
original list
New York's Thieves' Meanness.
From the New York World.!
For some weeks recently the New York
thieves have held the palm for boldness, and
now they are away ahead in the matter of
meanness also. This was exemplified by the
confidence man who not only stole from a
newly made friend, whose room he shared at
the Sturtevant House, his watch, money and
other valuables, but also his trousers, thus ren
dering him a helpless prisoner until he could
establish credit
Our Aggressive Foreign Policy.
From the New York 'World.J
Who says that our foreign policy is not ag
gressiveT Was not Lord Sackville dismissed?
Did not Admiral Luce pop champagne corks in
the barbor of Port-au-Prince T Did not Presi
dent Cleveland ask for power to retaliate on Can
ada? Is not tbe State Department trying to
find out where Samoa is and what the trouble
there is about? What more can be expected?
DEATHS OP A DAY.
Sheldon Nobles.
Bpedal Telegram to the Dispatch.
CiJJTON, Janaary . Sheldon Nobles, Presi
dent of the McElnley Club and senior member of
tbe Iron foundry Arm of Nobles & Sherlock, died
suddenly at bit borne here this afternoon or in
digestion. Mr. Nobles was In apparently the best
of health and only 33 years old. Mr. Nobles was
prominent In local and State Eepabllcan politics.
A. Stewart Davis.
Special TelecTam to Tbe Dispatch.
Meadville, January 29. A. Stewart Davis, one
of the oldest members of the Crawford county bar,
died early this morning at hl home In this city.
Deceased was born a few miles cast of Meadville,
June 14,-1820, and In early life was a school teacher.
He served one term as Bolster and Becorder, and
was Commissioners' Clerk several years. Mr.Davls
was always a Democrat. He had amassed quite a
fortune, and his widow and two daughters are left
In comfortable circumstances.
DEMOCRATIC SENATORS PROTEST.
They
Object to tho Republicans Hanging
Up Cleveland's Nominations.
Washin QTON, January 29. The Democratic
Senators were in caucus for an hour this morn
ing trying to arrange a scheme for an order of
business during the remainder of the session.
It was decided that Senator Harris, who pre
sided over the caucus, should confer with Sen
ator Sherman, representing the Republican
Senators, and endeavor to secure a favorable
place for such measures as the Democratic
Senators held to be of superior importance.
There was also some talk about the condition
of nominations. Different Senators related
their experience in the effort to secure reports
from Committees on Nominations, now hung
up, and much dissatisfaction and indignation
was expressed, but no formal action was taken.
It was said in caucus that there are about 100
nominations, which have been maije in the
regular course of executive business, awaiting
action by the Senate. Although no such pur
pose has been proclaimed by the Republican
Senators, tbe belief was expressed by Senators
on tho Democratic side that it is the intention
of the Republican Senators to delay action on
the greater part of these nominations until
after the 4th of March in order that the
vacancies thus arising may bo filled by General
Harnson. Such a course of procedure, it was
stated, would be entirely unusual, and a con
trast was drawn between the action of tbe
Senate just before President Cleveland came
in with tbe condition of things to-day to show
that the course believed to have been decided
UDon by the Republicans is a departure from
established principles. To establish their posi
tion, Senators said that when President Cleve
land camo into office there were only between
30 and 10 nominations unacted upon, and Presi
dent Cleveland himself signed the commissions
of lour nersons conflrmeduy the Senate prior
to his in'ausnration, while there are now nearly
100 nominations hung np.
t is the purpose of tho Democratic Senator,
If possible, to comnel the Republicans to define
their position in this matter and state whether
or not they intend to confirm President Cleve
land's appointees. It was suggested that a
formal protest should be inado against any
policy of hanging up nominations, but Demo
cratic members of the Senate generally were of
the opinion that the Republican Senators
would do as they pleased in the matter, and
that nothing would be gained by such a course.
A POIJiT BREEZE SOCIAL EYENT.
Tho Marriage of Miss Helen E. Hirers and
Mr. William H. Allen.
Tbe marriage of Miss Helen E. Myers,
daughter of Mrs. Helen M. Myers, of Point
Breeze, East Eud, and Mr. William Allen, of
Edgewood, last evening at 6 was one of the
pleasant social events of East End society.
Tbe wedding was a quiet one, only the imme
diate friends of the bride and groom being
present.
Rev. Dr. Robinson, President of the Western
Theological Seminary, performed tbe cere
mony and Caterer Kennedy had charge of the
dining room. A short reception was then held
and Mr. and Mrs. Allen left on an evening
train on a short tour, after which they will re
side in this city.
A PLEASANT EVENT IN ALLEGHENY.
Tbo Reception and Tea Given by Mrs. J. R.
Reed and Sirs. Charles L- Lyon.
Allegheny society people were given a rare
treat yesterday as the guests of Mrs. James R.
Reed, of Fayette street, and her daughter, Mrs.
Charles L. Lyon, the occasion being one of
those happy combinations so popular this sea
son as a 5 o'clock tea and a reception in one.
From 4 until 6 tbe carriages came and went
with their fair occupants, while within, the
scene evinced that the occasion was not in vain
as a means of social enjoyment.
Another Enst End Bride Claimed.
A happy little event occurred at the home of
Mr. Caleb Martin, General Yardmastcr of the
East Liberty Stock Yards, Lincoln avenue,
East End, last evening, tho occasion being the
marriage of his daughter. Miss Ella Martin, to
Mr. Robert Carson, with J. W. Arrott in
surance agent Rev. C. V. Wilson, of Emory
M. E. Church, performed tho ceremony. After
a short tour the couple will reside in tbe East
End.
SEEKING SUNKEN MILLIONS.
Abundance of British Gold In tho Waters
of Hell Gate.
New York, January 29. Treasurer Seeker
George W. Thomas, of Hackettstown, N. J., is
jubilantl over the decision rendered by the
Court of Errors and Appeals, by which he will
be allowed to continue seeking for tho sunken
treasure of 1,800,000 which lies in tho waters
of Hell Gate. The case, which has becu be
fore the courts sine e 18S4, was that of J. C.
Hartshorn, of Providence, against Georce Wl
Thomas. It was instituted to compel Thomas
to pay back or make an accounting of SG1.000,
which had been turned over to him for the
purpose of rescuing from the watery depths of
Hell Gate about $5,000,000 in gold which is sup
posed to have been aboard the English Irigate
Hussar, which was wrecked on Pot Rock No
vember 25. 1760. The money was sent from En
gland for the pay of the men in tho English
navy, who had not received any money from
the Government for three years. The ill-fated
frigate at the time of the disaster was bound
for Newport, R. I., with 150 men on board, in
cluding a number of American prisoners.
Georgo W. Thomas, the defendant in tbe
present suit, began operations m 1879, having
received permission from the Government to
go on with the work. He obtained various
sums of money from his friends for conducting
the work until 1881, when those who advanced
the money secured the annulment of the Gov
ernment permission for its continuance. Tbe
Supreme Court has now given a decision set
ting aside the verdict of the lower court
Work on the sunken treasure will be com
menced again by Mr. Thomas in the spring.
CINCINNATI'S PRIDE.
The New Building Erected by tho Chamber
ol Commerce.
Cincinnati, January 29. To-day the mem
bers of the Chamber of Coinmerco closed their
transactions in the present quarters, prepara
tory to removal to their new palace at tho
southwest corner of Fourth and Vine streets.
It is the first structuro tbe chamber has ever
owned, and the members regard it with pride
as the handsomest specimen of architecture
for such a purpose in tbe country. It is built
of gray granite, after a desien by the late H.
H. Richardson. The site occupies 100 feet on
Fourth street, by 150 on Baker street The ag
gregate cost of the building is $625,000. Count
ing the site at its value the whole property is
est' mated at 51,000,000.
The exchange hall is on the second floor from
the Fourth street entrance, is 50 feet in height
and 136x66 feet, exclusive of the lobby, which
is 33x23 feet It is lighted by high arched win
dows at each end on the east side. On the same
floor and on the floor above are commodious
rooms for committees, and the upper and lower
portions of the building arc lor offices and
storerooms. Tho interior finish is substantial
and elegant.
A promenade concert to-night revealed its
proportions for the first time to members and
their ladies. The opening exercises are set for
to-morrow. General E. F Nojes. is tue princi
pal orator. A great many guests are here from
all parts of the United States.
BUSINESS ALWAYS BOOMING.
Continued Increase In the Receipts of the
Largest Postoffjipes.
Washington, January 29. Advanced re
turns from the cities of the largest postoffices
in the country show that their gross postal
revenue for the quarter ended December 31,
ISSS.was $5,691.092 an increase of 9 percent
over the receipts of tbe corresponding quarter
of the last fiscal year. For tbe quarter ended
September SO. 1SS3, tho receipts of these offices
aggregated $4,899,701 an increase of 9.3 per
cent on the business of the same quarter of tho
previous year.
At this rate of increase tbe gross revenue
of tbe Postoffice Department, including money
order receipts, for the whore of the current fis
cal year will be $58,410,802, which is nearly
$1,000,000 in excess of the department's previous
estimates.
Tho Hmllng Tell Outdone.
From the New York World. J
Tbe Hading veil is only a suggestion of what
Parisiennes can do in tbat line when they re
ally wish to be sensational. The newest thing
in French veils is one which" the wearer can un
tie, pnll out the stiingandraise the tulle to dis
play her mouth and cbin. Just how far the
veil can be employed as a combination fly-trap,
baseball mask, and impenetrable disguise with
sliding attachments remains to be seen. There
may come a time when you will have to drop a
nickel in the slot of a fashionable veil to find
out who is wearing it
He Will Have Company.
From the Chicago News.!
Tbe pale January moon is no paler than the
cheek of the officeholder who knows that ha
and the crocuses will be out in the cold to
gether next March. '
THIEVES' CANDLES.
The Dreadful Superstition That Still Exists
in Some Parts of tbe World Fetlehlsm
Is Part of a Criminal's Creed Tbe Sup.
. posed Power of Witches a Terror to
Them.
From the London Standard.!
The dreadful tale of murder and superstition
which reached us from our Vienna correspon
dent a few dajs since is one of those gruesome
stories which, like the mummy at the Egyptian
feast serve to damp the self-complacency of
tbe optimists who believe that they live in the
best of all possible worlds. Briefly told, four
peasants in the South Russian Government of
Kursk murdered a girl, In order to make candles
of her body. This bare statement of the case
might seem almost incredible, even to those
who are aware what hideous depths of super
stition underlie the placid exterior of tbe
seemingly simple-minded Moutik. Every now
and again this bursts out in tbe massacre
of some wretched creature believed to be
a witch, or in deeds scarcely less horrible.
Unfortunately, however, the facts aro incon
testable. The murder was committed, and tbe
candles made, with the object of rendering the
perpetrators invisible during a robbery thev in
tended committing, this being tho current be
lief held regarding the efficacy of such horrible
lights. However, it so bappencd tbat, instead
of playing tbe part of the mediaeval fernseed,
the candles only served to make the thieves
more conspicuous, tbe result being that they
were caught, and confessed tbe whole affair.
As tbe murderers have been sentenced to com
paratively short terms of imprisonment, it is
not impossible that they may yet live to repeat
a crime, and try once more an incantation, tbe
ill-success of which they no doubt attribute to
some error in the formula. To the folk-lorist
the trial affords a curious insight into some of
tho most terrible of the superstitions which
still linger in Europe in spite of IS centuries of
Christianity, 300 years of the printing press and
the general advance in education.
Tho Corpse Candle.
In reality, we know little about tho strange
thoughts which agitate the minds of the crim
inal classes. Their creeds are legends. Most
of them are the children and the grandchildren
of thieves, who have been brought up from
their youth in the deepest ignorance, and who,
constantly at war with society, seek the aid of
those powers of darkness, in the dread efficacy
of which they have an nnsbaken confidence.
However, though tbe English superstitions re
garding "corpse candles" and tho omens they
supply are endless, especially among tbe Corn
ish miners, the one touching the power of a
candle made from a dead man's body to enable
anyone to walk invisible is not now generally
held. Yet at one time it seems to have been
very generally believed, and, doubtless, in some
remote parts of the country, or in sometbieves'
dea in London, it still forms part and parcel of
tbe mystic code by which the lives of those
crediting it are regulated.
It is, indeed, pointedly referred to by the
famous John Aubrey, tbe English antiquary,
whose curious manuscript, entitled the "Re
main es of Gentilisme and Judaisme," lay so
long unprinted in the British Museum, a per
fect mine for every hewer In the inexhaustible
quarry of old wbrld superstitions. Mentioning
in this work an incantation wnicn two or tnree
"subtile merchants" had tried in tbe garden of
a friend of his, with tbe object of rendering
a child invisible, Aubrey tells us that it brought
to bis recollection "a story that was generally
believed when I was a Schooleboy, before tbe
Civil Warres." This was, that "thieves, when
they broke open a house, would putt a candle
into a dead man's hand, and then the people in
tho chamber would not awake." "There is,"
bo adds, "such kind of story somewhere
among the majical writers," This is evi
dently only a variant of tbe South Russian
superstition, which, it is manifest, is not yet
extinct. Nor is it at all certain that Aubrey
himself the author of a History of Surrey,
and one of the earliest Fellows of tbe Royal
Society was wholly free from a belief in it.
At all event, he quotes twice, indeed with
evident satisfaction, another receipt for invisi
bility: "Take on Midsummer night, at 12, when
all tbe planets are above tbe earth, a serpent
and kill him, and skinne bim, and dry it in the
shade, and bring it to a powder. Hold it in
your band, and you will be invisible." This,
it would appear, was preferable to fern seed,
which, apart from the fact tbat it had to be
gathered under circumstances which made
success almost impossible, bad, by Shake
speare's time, begun to fall into evil repute,
The Superstition General.
But, according to Dr. Bloch, the candle su
perstition is still firmly enshrined among the
tenets of thieves all over the Continent of
Europe, in the German criminal codes of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the
"Theresiana" for example and also in statutes
of a more recent date, there are express penal
ties against a crime, the motive of which was
the making of "deibslichter" or "schlafslich
ter" that is, "thieves' candles," or "sleep-producing
candles," one of the idea.3 being not
only that such a light enabled the person carry
ing it to be unseen by his victim, but as in the
"schoole-boy" story of Aubrey, that it will also
throw the victim into the deepest slumber.
Quite a literature has grown up around this
superstition, mainly owing to the fact it has
within the last few centuries repeatedly
brought forward in connection with German,
Austrian and Russian trials. Lallement,
Loefler, Thiele, and a host of other writers on
German jurisprudence and folk-lore referto it.
During the trials of the Odenwald and West
phalian robbers, in the years 1812 and 1841,
respectively, it played an important part, and
in 1810 it came out, during tbe trial ot tbe no
torious German thief, Theodor Unger, who was
executed at Madgeburg in 1810, tbat a regular
"fabnk" bad been established by the criminal
classes for the manufacture of these weird im
plements of their trade. Again, as late as 1876,
something was heard of them at Biala. in Gali
cia, and still more recently, during the investi
gation of a murder case at Zeszow, in tbe same
province, the Public Prosecutor referred to the
"Schlafslichter." Unfortunately, however,
this official, either through ignorance which is
not common among bis class or out of preju
dicewhich is not quite so rare named on
them as forming part of the Jewish ritual in
Galicia. This insinuation, intended to pander
to tbe "Judenbetze," was almost immediately
shown to be devoid of the slightest basis of
truth; and now the South Russian case, which
happened among Orthodox peasants, clearly
demonstrates tbat it is not a tenet of any par
ticular faith. In fact it is believed, though
widespread among tbe European thieves, to lie
more prevalent among those of Germany than
any other country.
A Difficult Stndy.
But as we have already said, it is hard to get
at tbe beliefs of the criminal classes. They
ooze out now and again. Those holding tena
ciously by them have a firm belief that they
are in possession of valuable secrets, and it 13
scarcely likely that they will voluntarily reveal
them to honest folk, whose sympathies with
them must be limited, and still less U the
police, who are very correctly regarded as their
natural enemies. The Old Bailey lawyer, how
ever, or the Police Magistrate, or the Intelli
gent constable, who would make it his business
to investigate them when opportunity offered,
could not only present the world with much
curious and even valuable information, but
also put the law into posses-sion of a corpus of
the ideas of tho predatory tribes of the country,
which might save much trouble to one side,
and some injustice to the other. Fetishism of
the rudest type, and what tho mycologists
have learned to call "animism," is part
and parcel of the robber's creed. A
"habit and repute" thief has always in
his pocket, or somewhere about his person, a
bit of coal, or chalk, or a "lucky stone," or an
amulet of some sort on which he relies for
safety in his hour of peril. Omens he firmly
trusts in. Divination is regularly practiced by
bim, as the occasional quarrels over tbe Bible
and Key, and the Sieve and Shears, testify.
Tho supposed power ot witches and wizards
make many of them live in terror, and pay
blackmail, and although they Kill lio almost
without a motive, the ingenuity with which the
.e il.nnnnil n.m!n,l ...111 tnfln AVQfla lLicc
most depraved criminal will trvto evade "kiss
ing the book," performing tho rite with his
thumb instead, is a curious instance of what
maybe termed perverted religious instincts.
As for the fear of the evil eye, it is affirmed
tbat most of the foreign tbieves of London
dread more being brought before a particular
magistrate who has the reputation of being
endowed with that fatal gift, than of being
summarily sentenced by any other whose
judicial glare is less severe.
LARD COMPOUND.
That Is the Latest Name for tho Mysteri
ous Western Product.
Chicago, January 29. The leading lard re
finers of Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kan
sas City, Omaha and a number of other points,
it was learned to-day, have recently conferred
together with tbe result that all are now and
have been for some time past branding their
product "Lard compound." Instead of "Re
fined lard," as before.
Thrs tends to do away with the criticism and
objections that tbe article has had to contend
tend with, and it is claimed should satisfy all
opposition.
Tbe State Department Looks Stamped.
From the Chicago News.:
Secretary Whitney, it appears, has asked
Secretary Bayard whether bis sailors are to
stand around with their hands in their pockets
at Samoa or whether they may be permitted to
do a little fighting inapinch. Secretary Bayard
hasn't replied as yet It really looks as if the
State Department were up a stump.
METROPOLITAN HELAKGE.
Rather Modest for Fred Grant.
TlilW YOBK BUREAU SFECUiS.1
NEW Yore, January 29. Colonel Fred
Grant ackn6wledged to-day that he would
like to be Minister to China on a salary of $12,
000 a year. He says be always has been deeply
interested in the big possibilities of Chinese
market for American trade, and wonld now
like nothing better than to help boost Ameri
can merchants into Chinese favor. Colonel
Grant also claims an acquaintance with several
manderins, and knows a thing or two about the
Yamen. Many noble Chinamen in Pekin, he
thinks, are exceptionally fond of the Grant
family. Nevertheless, Colonel Grant says he
will neither pull wires nor roll logs in order to
get the Chinese mission.
Piling Up tbe Testimony.
Manypa;es more were added to-day to the
vast accumulation of testimony in the Stewart
will case. The documents of the suit are al
ready so bulky that they have to be carried
into court in big chests, and are quite Incom
prehensible to all save the lawyers who made
them. To-day, like yesterday, was passed In
learning what Frank S. O3borne, a Chicago
lawyer and relative of Mrs. Stewart by mar
riage, knew about Judge Hilton's relations to
the Stewart family. Mr. Osborne swore that
he and his wife hadn't discussed Judge Hil
ton's relations to Mrs. Stewart more than 40
times in the last ten years. Judge Hilton's
counsel nagged at Mr. Osborne till he got
thoroughly mad and was very saucy toElihu
Root and ex-Surrogate Rollins. Ex-Judge
Choate told Mr. Root and Mr. Rollins that
their criticisms of Mr. Osborne were impudent
and indecent. Then all the big lawyers In the
case fell to quarreling and accusing each other
of all sorts of legal tricks which big lawyers
are supposed to know nothing about. For
about ten minutes the court was in a hubbnb.
The Surrogate then patched np a temporary
peace, and the court went to work again,piling
up testimony.
Hlppolytc's Present Policy.
The steamship Oranje Nassau, which left
Fort-au-Prlnce on January 22, arrived hero to
day. She didn't bring the expected $50,000 In
demnity for the owners of the Haytien Repub
lic. Her captain says that Legitime is spending
all the money he can squeeze out of his black
subjects in a final effort to down Hlppolyte.
Just before the Oranje Nassau sailed, Legl
time's gunboat the Belize, seized and imprssed
some 600 men who were loitering around the
wharves at Port-au-Prince. These men will be
sent to St Mark's, to help fight Hlppolyte.
Hippolyte's present policy is to remain Inactive
while Legitime spends his money and alienates
his friends by trying to raise more. Hlppolyte
also thinks he is increasing his popularity by re
fraining from bloodshed. Legitime purposes,
however, to crush the rebels at St. Mark's
within a few days, by simultaneous attacks by
land and sea.
Might be a Worse Fellow.
Dr. Francis Tumblety, suspected in London
of being "Jack the Ripper," is trying to con
vince the people here that be is not such a bad
fellow after alt Yesterday he told the news
papers how popular be was with women, and to
prove it showed poetry which was dedicated to
him by a duchess. To-day he announces that
he has letters which were written to him long
ago, when he was a specialist in nervous dis
eases, by such men as Abraham Lincoln,
Horace Greeley, Profs. F. B. Morse and Will
iams and Guion. These letters all speak very
highly of Dr. Tumblety as a gentleman and
physician.
Fighting Over Funeral Bills.
Mrs. John Higgins and her brother-in-law
are at legal odds over the funeral expenses of
the late John Higgins. Mrs. Higgfns gave her
brother-in-law $600 to pay for the funeral. She
swore in court to-day that the funeral cost
only $160, and that her brother-in-law refused
to pay her back the surplus 5110. Brother-in-law
Higgins swore just as hard that the funeral
cost $713, and that Mrs. Higgins owed bim $113.
During the tnal to-day, the plate from the late
Higgins' coffin, several dried-up floral pieces
bearing the inscription: "My Husband," and a
vast quantity of undertakers' bills were put in
evidence.
Remains a Mystery.
Captain Lewis, f ormcrly.of the British steam
ship Stephen D. Horton, arrived here on the
steamship Advance, from Pernambuco, to-day.
The Horton was burned at sea, 19 days out
from Calcutta, on last December 27. The cap
tain, his wife and several seamen, got away from
her in a lifeboat and five days later landed at
Pernambuco. All of them refused to talk of
the loss of the Horton. Everything connected
with the burning of the vessel has remained a
complete mystery. To-day Captain Lewis, and
even tbe officers of the Advance, would answer
no questions concerning the wreck.
Toasts toTilden's Memory.
The Harlem Democratic Club is makinggTeat
preparations forthe Samuel J. Tilden memorial
banquet on February 9. Prominent Democrats
from all parts of the Union have been invited
to attend it Toasts to Tilden's memory will be
answered by Henry Watterson, ex-Governor
Hoadley, John E. Russell, Roger A. Pryor,
Charles A. Dana, Simon Sterne, Colonel Fel
lows and other warborses of tho Democratic
party.
HEW WAY TO COLLECT BILLS.
A Photographer Tries It, and a Libel Salt
Is the Result.
Long Branch, January 29. Photographer
J. E. Hunter, ot Long Branch, has been held
in $300 bail to await tbe action of the next
grand jury. Mr. Hunter was arrested about
two weeks ago for libeling Postmaster Ben
nett's deceased son, William H. Bennett.
Mr. Bennett gave the photographer an order
for his son's picture abont two months ago.
The picture was to cost $15, and was to be satis
factorily executed, in due time tbe picture
was finished and delivered to Mr. Bennett, but
as there were some alterations to be made on
it the picture was returned to Mr. Hunter with
instructions to have the changes made. Mr.
Bennett refused to pay for the picture when he
first received it, and when he returned it to Mr.
Hunter tbe latter placed it in his show win
dow, and placed a card on it bearing tbe words
"Sugar Bennett for sale to pay the bill of Post
master Bennett." "Sugar" was a name given
to the younger Bennett to distinguish him
from two other William Bennetts at Long
Branch.
Mr. Bonnett requested the photographer to
remove the picture from tbe window, and when
tbe latter relused to do so Mr. Bennett bad bira
arrested. Testimony was offered at tne hear
ing which showed that Mr. Hunter, while in
business in New York City before he came to
Long Branch, had pursued the same course to
collect a bill. The photographer was successful
in this case, and tbe man paid the sum asked
by Hunter for the removal of tbe picture. The
sympathy of the Long Branchers Is about
equally divided in tbe case.
THE MOST DRUNKEN COUNTRY.
Steps Tnken In Belgian! to Restrict tbe Sale
of Liquor.
From the New York Tribune.
Belgium still holds its own as the most
drunken country of Europe. On an average
each man, woman and child consumes yearly
210 quarts of beer and 13 quarts of spirits. It
may be that Bavarians drink mote beer than
tbat and Russians more spirits, but taking both
together the Belgian record is unrivalled. The
Government is at last aroused to a sense of the
evils of the situation, and some restrictive laws
are to be put in force. The right to collect by
legal process debts incurred in drinking houses
has been abolished; it is forbidden to sell drink
to persons under 16 years of ace, and to sell
anyone liquor nntil he is drunk is made a
crime. The effect of these laws will be looked
for with Interest. It can scarcely fail to be for
good.
Tbe Snntn Fe's Pecnllnr Financiering.
From the New York Herald. J
Railroad bookkeeping is proverbially in
tricate. In some Instances of which we have heard
even an expert accountant would find it diffi
cult to determnie whether a given item was an
asset or a liability.
One thing, however. Is set forth in the incom
plete abstract furnished by the company
namely, that it disbursed as "dividends" last
year more than $1,500,000 that it did not earn.
Controller Trenholm Resigns.
Washington. January 29. Colonel W. L.
Trenholm, Controller of tbe Currency, to
day tendered his resignation to the President
to take effect at his pleasure.
CtfKIODS C03DEHSATMS.
Over 70,000,000 pairs of suspenders were
made in tbe United States last year.
At Brattleboro, Vt., last week, a farmer
was ploughing, while ten miles back in the
country people were sleighing.
At a recent book sale in Boston a pam
phlet entitled "Captivity in Canada." and pub
lished by the Rev. John Norton in Llr.brougnt
$303.
The viola played upon by Nathan
Franko at a recent symphony society concert
in New York was a Gaspara dl Salo made in
1612 and recently sold for $3,500.
A curious crop is a harvest of 4,000
sponges. It was obtained by an Austrian savant
as the result of an experiment of literally
sowing small parts of living sponges in a soil
favorable to their production.
A jug of cider 32 years old was un
earthed in Camden the other day, and of the
20 men who got a swallow or two of tbe smooth
and deceitful liquid IS were made drunk within
ten minutes.
B. H. Tierney, of Ludlow, Vt., went
fishing through the Ice for pickerel in Tyson
Pond, and was amply repaid for hfs trouble.
Ho caught one whopping fellow that weighed
22 pounds and was 4 feet long.
Old Mrs. Baker, ot Cairo, took a new
departure on her 64th birthday. She ate as
orange, a fig and a date for the first time fn her
life, but concluded not to try a glass ot lemon
aue lor tear it migm do uangerous.
Testimony has just been given before)
the grand jury at Russellville, Ky., that a.
farmer recently had an old ox be was drivinz
stick fast in the mud, whereupon he skinned
tbe animal alive, and, taking tbe hide, left tbe
poor brute to die in lingering agony.
A party of San Bernardino, Cal., hun
ters who went for a day's sport bad very hard
luck until they hired a small boy to play tbe
harmonica for them. As soon as the music
began the canyon swarmed with rabbits, and
tbe hunters loaded themselves down with
game.
They live long down on the island of
Nantucket Of the 73 who died there in 1SS3,
five were lnfants;the average of the ages of the
71 is a little over 68 years, 42 were 70 or over, 23
were 80 or over, 12 had passed the 85 mark, three
saw COrears or more, and one, woman, died at
tbe age of 97 years and 25 days.
O. C. Brown, of Duluth, Minn., re
cently unearthed a genuine freak in thesbapa
of a mammoth cochin rooster, which has four
distinct wings, two In their natural places and
one at the knee-joint of each leg. The bird
weighs about 16 pounds. Is alive and well and
nses all four wings when flying. An offer of
$250, made by a Chicago party, was refused,
and the bird will be exhibited throughout tho
country.
A curious discovery has been made ia
Washington regarding a patrol box on Samson
street: It seems tbat a police officer slept at
the station house and used the patrol box as a
kitchen and eating house. It was littered with
an oil stove and a necessary array ot pots and
pans. The walls and sides of the improvised
kitchen were soaked with grease, hile the
floor was covered with scraps of bread, meat,
cheese, etc
Zinc, placed upon the fire in a stove or
grate, is said to operate as an effective ex
tinguisher of chimney fires. According to this
representation, when a fire starts inside a chim
ney, from whatever cause, a piece of thin sheet
zinc, about 4 inches square, is to be put into
the stove or grate connecting with the chim
ney. The zinc fuses and liberates aciduons
fumes, which, passing up tbe flue, are said to
almost instantly put out whatever fire there
maybe.
The last delay allowed foreign residents
in Paris for complying with the decree requir
ing them to register at the Prefecture ot V0V.0
has expired. Of the 180,000 or2KV00 forn.gnc-3
believed to be living in Pans 170,262 have made
the necessary declaration of residence. Of
these. 2.302 are Americans, 7,683 English. 26.109
Germans, 13.712 Belgians, 25,144 Sw.ss. 8,433
Russians, 5,758 Austrians, 2.763 Spaniards and
24,178 Italians. Forty-nme differejt nationali
ties are representedthe list including natives
of even such distant countries as Dahomey,
Paraguay, Persia, Slam and Nubia.
At Point Lobos, near San Francisco,
there is suspended out in the waters of the
Pacific a big wooden pendulum, so arranged
that a surface ot 6 feet by 12 is exposed to tho
waves. The action of the waves causes tho
pendulum to swing, and tbe swinging of the
big pendulum works a huge pnmp, which raises
the sea water to a height of 140 feet. It is pro
posed to conduct this water to San Francisco
and use it for running turbine wheels and other
motors, driving cable cars, supplying salt water
baths, sprinkling tho streets and flushing
sewers.
The baggage transportation system of
this country is one of the railroad features that
elicit especial wonder and admiration from
foreigners. Its efficiency in general is illus
trated by a report just submitted for the past
year by tbe general baggage department of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. It handled
775,057 nieces of bagzage, and, notwithstanding
the innumerable complications incident to the
shipping of baggage, not a single article was
lost. Also, during the same period, $878 40 in
money and 4,809 articles were found on the
trains and turned in to the general baggage
office by the train hands. Subsequently tbe
owners of $743 74 of the money and of abont
half the articles were found and allowed to re
claim their goods.
The Vesuvius, according to the Scien
tific American, has only been exceeded in
speed by the following small vessels: A twin
screw torpedo boat, built for the Italian Gov
ernment by Yarrow S: Co., with a displacement
ot only 100 tons; length, 140 feet; beam, 14 feet;
with which a trial speed of 25 knots was at
tained (the developed horse-power not being
given). The Courier, a French torpedo boat
built by Thornycroft. of about 150 tons dis
placement; length. 147 feet; beam. 14J feet;
draueht, 5 feet; which in a trial developed 1,550
1. h.-p., or 16 horse-power to a ton of displace
ment; attained a speed of 26 knots per Dour.
And also a small torpedo boat for the Dutch
Government for which a speed of 27 knots per
hour is claimed,
That a good dog is the best sort of a
watchman is shown by the following story: Mr.
James L. Callart, whose bouse is some distance
east of the New Haven Railroad station at
Darien, Conn., retired early the other evening
in confidence that a largo shepherd dog of his
shut in the kitchen would take care of things
as usual while he slept. Soon after midnight
a man crawled stealthily UDto the kitchen
window, and with a diamond cut a circle five
inches in diameter 011 one of the panes. He
then applied a circular piece of muscibged
leather to tho glass and with a string made fast
to its center gave a sndden jerk, removing that
portion of the glass. The noise awoke tbe dog,
which waitod till the man reached through the
holo to shove the door bolt, and tben grabbed
the intruding arm. A terrible tussle followed,
tbe man struggling to release himselr, the dog
forcing his teeth further into the arm, making
his hold more secure. The result was the sash
yielded and fell, the faithful animal leaped
outsiae, grabbed the visitor by the throat, tear
ing the flesh, and following' the arm down to
the hand, laid tne bones bare in several places.
The victim finally escaped, but with less cloth
ing on than he had before the encounter.
BITS OF WIT.
An apple trust should be sound at the
core.
Orderly sages always file their wise
saws.
Men who have horse sense, know when to
say neigh.
The homelier a man is the more beauty ha
wants in a wife.
Bad habits keep people from attending
church; In other words, poor clothes.
There can never be any objection to a cigar
manufacturer puffing his own goods.
The man who wears a diamond ring on his
finger is the man who points with pride.
Marriage would be more frequently a suc
cess If fewer men and women were failures.
Most of tbe Americans who settle in
Canada forget to settle here before they go there.
The man who dances pays the piper, and
so does the man who is obliged to hire a plumber
these days.
The young man knows all about his sweet
heart's disposition we suppose when hecalls upon
her and finds her oat.
"When a wife tells her tipsy husbind to
come straight upstairs to bed, she asks him to do
something Impossible.
Young Husband Are the proceedings
anyway lively at your cooking school, Jennie?
Young Wife There was quite a stir to-day.
Y.H.-lndeed?
Y. VT Yes, we cooked porridge.
Consolation. Recently Bereaved Widow
I'm afraid I'll be but poor company for you to
day, Mrs. Jones. It will be better for you to go
borne, and leave me alone with my sorrow.
Caller I saw some lovely mourning styles as I
came up tbe street.
K.B. W. Illd youf Sit down, my dear, andmake
yourself comfortable. It Is so pleasant, when one
is In tbe midst of a great sorrow, to have some one
call to tea the news.
All from the Bolton Couritr.
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