ffistfmi Mgpfrtrti .
PAGES 1 TO 8.
s;
FORTY-FIFTH
PITTSBURG, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 1890 TWELVE PAGES.
v-.
THREE CENTS
c
? T "
u. " "" "" " - """ '
FIRST PART.
m - . -' "-'-"-'
me
(
JkH ABYSS OF FLAME
Eeceives in Its Embrace
Score of Brave Men
a
DASHED DOWN TO DEATH.
Ihe Eoof of a Burning Building Falls
in, Carrying With it
TWENTY. COURAGEOUS FIREMEN,
Whose Bodies Are Buried Beneath the
Blazins: Gains.
JLWPUL SCENES OF PAIS AND DESPAIR
Indianapolis was the scene yesterday of a
frightful calamity. By the falling in of a
burning building a number of firemen were
carried down to destruction. Tbe death roll
is already large and is still growing.
rsrrciAi. TELronjLM to the dispatch.!
Ixr-ZANAPOLis, March 17. Bowen,
Merrill & Co.'s book bouse burned to-day.
It was the largest in the State, with $125,
000 worth of stock. The fire was supposed
to be well under control at 5:30. It was
then that an awful calamity occurred. The
building, with its load of human beings
caved in. Fifteen men tumbled into the
yawn ins abyss. Farts of companies Nos.
3 and 6 were on the roof working
their way down to the fire. No warning
was given. The roof seemed sound and the
walls substantial. Suddenly the walls
yielded. A man threw up his arms and
tank into the seething rnins below. The
gulf widened; another man dropped and
the whole rear roof, with 15 men on it, fell
in. Four men were on the upper floor
under the roof. These were crushed be
neath the grinding timbers, and all were
hurled through the falling floor beneath,
Which gave way beneath the weight ot the
mass.
llarled to Destruction.
The surrounding buildings in the rear
were covered with spectators, and these were
'all witnesses of the awful death. Some of
the 'firemen standing on the walls of the
building jumped and were saved. Specta
tors on the adjoining roof ran for their
lives. The great throng in frout
did sot realize what had happened.
,The front of the building did not
fall, and the ruins in the rear were not vis
ible from the front. Gradually the news
spread. Even the comrades of the firemen
did not know what had happened. One of
the firemen on the ton of the adjoining
building ran to the front of the building
and shouted to those below: "For God's
sake, throw water into the upper windows!
Twenty men are buried there."
Four reporters, standing on the roof of an
adjoining building, saw the walls fall in,
and sprang to the rescue. Ambulances
were telephoned for. At least 15 men,
these four reporters agree, fell in from the
roof. Others were beneath invisible.
A Scene of Awful Horror.
Captain McGinnic, son of General Me
Giunis, and William Reasoncr were in tbe
middle part of the fourth story. They were
in the center of the floor playing the water
on the winding stairway. Part of tbe stair
Tray was burned off and McGiunis walked to
tbe edge of the burned place. At that
instant the crash came without warning.
McGinnli was hurled down to the story be
low. Keasoncr and Brummer rushed through
,the falling timber and flying debris to the
front part of the building, and descending
to the third story were taken down on lad
ders. The scene on the heap of debris im
mediately after the collapse was dreadful be
yond all power of description. The limbs
of men here and there were seen writhing,
while the trunks to which they joined were
buried from sight. A ladder lay across
three men and was weighted down by tons
and tons of brick and timber. Another poor
fellow who was beyond all pain lay close
betide his fellows, a shapeless and mangled
mass.
Futile Attempt! nt Rescue.
The ladder lay across the stomach of an
other, who was screaming with agony. An
other with a broken arm and burned body
Jay next to him. As fast as willing hands
could hurl away the bricks the weight was
removed, but the ladder was too firmly held
to yield. The man with a broken arm was
dragged free and carried away. Under the
ladder, mute but breathing, appeared the
upturned face of a fellow not seen before.
The mortar and dust were cleaned from his
lips, but he was buried so deeply that no
immediate help could come to him. On
nil sides blackened and bleeding faces, dis
torted with agony or dreadful in death,
urged the crowd who had scaled the heap to
assist them to redouble their efforts. The
debris had fallen so that it lay with a val-;ley-shaped
surface and this made the avail
able space for working very small.
The Saddest of AIL
There was no place to deposit the materials
due from the bottom of the valley except to
-throw them upon the sides of the depression
from which they continually rolled down
toward the center again. All the work
of relief was thus carried on with great
difficulty. One by one the men near
est the surface were extricated, but as
the workers went down further they dis
covered new victims and the horror grew
steadily. The forward part of the building
stood high and was burning fiercely. It
threatened every moment to cave in and
bury the brave rescuers, but they gave no
heed to the peril.
On either side tbe walls seemed ready to
fall, bnt there was no time to think of them.
As fast as the men became exhausted others
stood ready and anxious to take their
places, so there was not a moment of delay
in tbe labor ot relief. As the bodies of the
rescued were carried
Out of tbe Ruins
they were met with embraces and tears
of joy, but when tbe still, broken forms
were borne away, motionless and limp, then
the full sadness and horror ot the calamity
came upon the waiting crowd. Twenty-two
men had been removed at 9 o'clock. Nine
were dead.
At 11 o'clock the work of excavating the
ruins irai still In Drogmt. So far ten fire-
men are known to be dead. Their names
are:
GEORGE FATJLKNEB,
ULYSSES GLAZIER,
GEORGE GLENN.
AL HUFFMAN.
ESPEY BTOUMER,
RICHARD LOWKIE.
CHARLES JENKINS, j J .
ANDREW CHERRY, Superintendent of
fire alarm system,
THOMASS. BURKHARDT,
THOMAS A. BLACK.
The injured are:
ANTr ONY VOLZ, pipeman.
LEW RAFERT, fireman.
THOMAS BARRETT, fireman.
A. C. MERCER, captain fire department.
SAMUEL W. NEAL, pipeman.
WEBB ROBINSON, pipeman, slightly hurt
WM. PARTEE, pipeman, internally hurt,
may die.
HEMIY WOODRUFF, pipeman, Daclly hurt,
EBENEEZER LEECH, pipeman, cut and
bruied.
THOMAS TALENTYRE, foreman engine
No. 2, fatally crushed.
WILLIAM LONG, pipeman, slightly hurt.
CHARLES JENKINS, .pipeman, badly
brnied.
WILLIAM HEINSLEY, pipeman, badly
hurt.
JOHN BURKHART, pipeman, badly hurt
about bead.
DECK LOWRIE, pipeman. Is still under the
ruins, as is also WALTER JONES, and It is
supposed both are dead.
Colouel Samuel Merrill, one of the pro
prietors of the burned establishment, was
Colonel of President Harrison's old regi
ment, and was recently made Consul Gen
eral at Calcutta, for which post he intended
leaving next week.
BISMARCK STEPS OUT.
The Iron Chancellor Reported to HnTO
Resigned A Disagreement With the
Emperor the Cnnse Definite
Information Very Hard
to Obtnin.
Berlin, March 17. A report is widely
current this evening that Prince Bismarck
has tendered his resignation to the Em
peror. A dispatch from Berlin to London says
that both Prince Bismarck and Count
Herbert Bismarck have tendered their
resignations and that Emperor William has
accepted the resignation of the Chancellor.
A Berlin correspondent writes to the
Cologne Gazette that he believes that Prince
Bismarck will immediately resign from all
the posts now held by him. A meeting of
the Cabinet, the correspondent says, was
held at 3 o'clock this afternoon, at which
Prince Bismarck presided, to deliberate
upon the position which would arise from
tbe Chancellor's resignation.
A Berlin dispatch to the London JVetrs,
timed midnight, says that all telegrams are
rigorously inspected by the authorities and
are stopped if they go beyond announcing
rumors. The immediate and ostensible
cause of the resignation of Prince Bismarck
is a divergence of opinion between the Chan
cellor and Emperor concerning factory in
spectors. It is reported that the Emperor
has relused to accept Count Herbert Bis
marck's resignation.
IT CANNOT IKTERFERE.
The Supreme Conrt Refuses to Decide tbe
Idnlio I.cslslntlve Muddle.
Washington, March 17. The Supreme
Court of tbe United States to-dav affirmed
the judgments of the Supreme Court of tbe
Territory of Idaho in the cases of J. P.
Clough, President of the Council of the fif
teenth ression of the Legislature of Idaho,
appellant, vs. F. J. Curtis, Secretary of the
Territory; and No. 1134, A. J. Burkhardt,
Speaker ot the House of Representatives,
appellant, vs. C.H. Reed, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives, and F. J. Curtis,
Secretary of the Territory. The appellants
allege that they declared their respective
bodies, the Council and the House
of Representatives, adjourned at mid
night, after a session lasting
CO days, this being the limit to which the
legislative sessions might extend under the
law of Congress. They assert that some
members of each body remained behind and
elected new presiding officers and passed
some 17 acts. By the present proceedings it
is sought to obtain writs of mandamus to
compel the Secretary and Chief Clerk re
spectively to record on the journals ot the
Legislature, the adjournment of the two
bodies as declared by the appellants, to have
the proceedings subsequent to adjournment
expunged from the record, and to strike
from the laws of Idaho tlio acts passed after
an adjournment had been declared because
of the expiration of the U0 days during
which the Legislature was allowed to Hit.
The Idaho Supreme Court denied the appli
cations and this Court affirms those judg
ments. The Court says:
Our government Is divided into Legislative,
Executive and Judicial Departments, and that
the safety of our institutions depends in a con
slilcrable tneasuro upon tnoso various depart
meats being kept separate and upon none of
them infringing upon the others. It is not
ono nf tbe functions of the Court to in
quire into the records of a legislative body
and to determine whether the body assuming
to bo a Legislature is legal or noj. A suit
presenting this question might per
haps arise in some case growing out of an act
passed by the Legislature, but the Court does
not pass in the present case upon how far it
would be Justified in such a suit In inquiring
into the validity of a Legislature, as tbe case
at issue does not require it to do so.
OWNED BI THE VANDEUBILTS.
Tbe South Penn Thought to Havo Passed
Into tbe Itlnffnntcs' Ilanda.
tSrECIAL TELEGRAH TO TQX DISPATCH.!
Philadelphia, March 17. The officers
or the Reading Railroad Company deny that
the purchase of the South Pennsylvania
Railroad in Fulton county was made
for the Reading at sheriffs sale.
The rights acquired by the principal
for whom lawyer George F. Baer acted, are
subject to a mortgage, which is locked up in
the safe of Drexel, Morgan & Co. The
bonds secured by the mortgage are chiefly
owned by the Vanderbilts.
The opinion expressed very generally to
day was that the sale was made and the
property bought in the interest of the Yan
derbilts, who are taking that method of per
fecting their title to the road and clearing
up litigation which has been"pending.
STABBED Bf A WOMAN.
Mysterious and Mardcrons Attnck Upon a
Cincinnati Court Officer.
SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO TlIS DISPATCH.1
Cincinnati, March 17. This morning a
slimly-built, good-looking and well-dressed
woman called at the Police Court room and
inquired for Chief Court Officer John "Whit
taker. The woman was much excited, and
when Whittaker appeared followed him up
stairs iu the judges' room. A few moments
later screams and threats were heard in the
room, and several persons rushed in to find
the officer backed up into a corner, while
the woman was attacking him viciously
with a knife. They were separated and the
woman went away.
Whittaker, who is cut in half a dozen
places, but not dangerouslv, refused to tell
who the woman is or why she attacked him.
Masked Men Attempt to Rob a Store.
Santa Fe, N. M., March 17. Three
masked men attempted to hold up Tenne
baum's store near San Pedro copper mine.
Joseph Giblets, a young man in the store,
yelled for help and was shot six times. He
will die. The assassins, who belong to the
worst gang of desperadoes in the Territory,
fled and have not yet been captured.
CATCHING BIG FISH.
Three New York Officials Arrested
for Receiving Bribes.
WARRANTS ISSUED FOR OTHERS.
The Grand Jury Investigating the Sheriff's
Office.
TAMMANI DEMOCRATS IN A BAD BOX.
Mayor Grant Will
be Allowed to Erplaia Certain
Hatters.
New York's grand jury has returned a
number of indictments against prominent
officials for malfeasance in office. Three
arrests have been made, and more are to
follow. Mayor Grant has been subpoenaed
as a witness.
ISrECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCn.I
New York, March 17. The District
Attorney's office, shortly after noon to-day,
looked just as it did almost everyday in the
spring of 1886, when the grand j ury of that
day was firing hot shot daily into the Alder
men of 1881. As on those exciting days
the anteroom of the District Attorney's
office was overflowing with politicians in
fine raiment whispering mysteriously or
importuning the attaches of tbe office who
bustled in and out, for the very latest in
formation as to indictments and arrests.
The air was blue with the smoke of cigars.
In the troublous times of 1886 tbe ma
jority of the politicians who crowded the
District Attorney's office were County Dem
ocrats and Republicans. To-day the scene
had shifted, and nine out of ten were Tam
many Democrats.
All tbe turmoil was caused by a very brief
and decorous visit that the grand jury paid
to Part 2 of the General Sessions just at noon.
Judge Martine was sitting to finish up a
case of robbery that went over from Friday.
THE GRAND JTJKY DROPS IN.
"When the jury brought in their verdict
about five minutes before noon he was about
to direct the crier to proclaim the adjourn
ment of the court because it was St. Pat
rick's Day, when an attendaut of the grand
jury hastened up to the bench and an
nounced that the grand jury desired to hand
up some indictments. At 12 o'clock the
grand jury filed in, headed by Foreman
J. S. Carson Rhoades. Bowing to the Court,
Foreman Rhoades handed to Clerk Penney
six indictments. After they had retired
Judge Martine signed six warrants and Mr.
Lindsay went to his private room, where six
detective sergeants of Inspector Byrnes'
staff were awaiting him. To each detective
Mr. Lindsay intrusted a warrant, and he
enjoined upon them the necessity for
prompt service.
At 12:25 the outer door of the ante-room of
the District Attorney's office swung open
and Detective Reilly entered. He headed
a procession composed of Deputy Commis
sioner of Public Works Bernard F. Martin,
ex-Senators Grady and Plunkitt, ex-Senator
Gibbs and several lesser political lights.
MARTIN WAS MAD.
Deputy Commissioner Martin was under
arrest and unmistakably in a very bad
humor. His round face" was flushed, his
eyes flashed, and tbe ends of his busby mus
tache were curled to most bellicose -points.
He wore costly clothing, big diamonds,
and a sprig of shamrock on his overcoat
lapel. He bad just quitted tbe presence of
the Senate Committee, after calling the
committee's counsel, ex-Chamberlain Ivins,
an unmitigated scoundrel, when Sergeant
Reilly gathered him in.
Judge Martine said that as Judge Fitz
gerald had fixed bail under the indictments
found against ex-Warden Keating, of Lud
low Street Jail, and Deputy Order ot Ar
rest Clerk McGonigal, he would prefer to
have Judge Fitzgerald act. Mr. Grady
replied that as Judge Fitzgerald was
not in the building, delay and inconvenience
might result. Then he fixed ball at $10,000
ana the procession reformed and returned to
the bail clerk's desk. The bond was pre
pared and signed, ex-Senator Plunkitt be
coming urety for $5,000 and Charles Golden
for $5,000. As soon as his bail bond was
Ccrlected Martin went away accompanied
y Messrs. Grady and Plunkitt.
A SERIOUS CHAltOE.
Bribery, as a felony, is punishable by im
prisonment Ip State prison for ten years and
a fine three times the amount of the alleged
bribe. The indictment charges that in
October, 1887, Martine unlawfully and
feloniously received from Charles G.
Francklyn, formerly the agent ot the
Cunnrd Line in this city, $7C0 as
a bribe for taking Francklyn, who had been
placed in his custody, out of Ludlow street
jail to his counsel's office, his home and
other places. Mr. Francklvn was under
$500,000 bail. The $750 paid for
the services ot Martin and sev
eral of his deputies on seven
days and a half. The payments, it is said,
were made by checks to Mr. Martin's own
order, through Lawyer John Notman, of
Butler, Stillnian & Hubbard. Martin will
be arraigned on Monday to plead to tbe in
dictment. At about 1 o'clock Detective Sergeant
Titus escorted Deputy Sheriff Patrick Fitz
gerald into the District Attorney's office.
He bad made Fitzgerald adaptive to his
bench warrant in the Sheriffs office. Fitz
gerald is a big, farmer-like man, and he was
exceedingly doleful when he learned that
he had been indicted for extortion.
FITZGERALD BREATHED EASIER.
But be smiled again when Lawyer Gold
smith, his counsel, told him that the charge
against him amounted only to a misde
meanor, and that the tariff of bail for misde
meanors was not very high. Tnen Fitzger
ald observed complacently: "I'm glad I'm
only a little fish. I'll get oil with light
bail. Barney Martin is a big fish and he
has to give "$10,000. I'm playing in great
luck, ain't IV"
Judge Martine fixed his bail at $2,000 and
Emanuel Mendelsohn, pawn broker, be
came his surety. Then Fitzgerald but
toned up his rusty-looking overcoat, lighted
a big cigar and strolled out
Tbe indictment against him charges
that he received from Sheriff
Flack on February 15 last, an execution
against one John Olean, under a judgment
for $94 02 in favor of one Moses Fortz, and
that he extorted from Olean's wife $12 50 as
a fee to which he was not entitled.
At 3:30 Detective Gargland Freellmade
his appearance with the third capture of
the day, Philip D. Walsh, a deputy in the
qrder of arrest department of the Sheriffs
office under Mayor Grant and now a custo
dian in the Twister's office. Walsh was
informed that he had the distinction of be
ing jointly indicted with Barney Martin
and that the distinction would cost him $10.
000 in bail.
THE JURY STILL GUNNING.
It was reported that the grand jury had
indicted Deputy Sheriff Sullivan, one of
Sheriff Flack's deputies, for sharing in
Deputy McGonigal's alleged extortion of
$40 from Reporter Nelson Hersh.
An official in the General Sessions build
ing said to-day that the grand jury are not
half through with their task of indicting,
and that to-morrow they will find additional
indictments. There is a strong tendency, too,
he added, toward gunning for bigger
game than has yet been bagged.
Mayor Grant, in his testimony beiore
tbe Senate Committee on Saturday said that
bis deputies, wben he was Sheriff, were not
allowed to handle cases where the amount
involved was over $20,000, for the reason that
their bond was for this amount only. Cases
wherein more than $20,000 was involved,
Mayor Grant added, came under the super
vision of his under sheriff or himself. The
grand jury are said to be of the opinion
that this testimony will enable
them to" lay upon the shoulders of
Mayor Grant himself at least a partial re
sponsibility in such cases, for instance, as
the Francklvn case, where the amount in
volved was $3,000,000.
The grand jury have issued subpoenas for
Mayor Grant, his under sheriff, John B.
Sexton, and a number of his former deputies.
PLEAS FOR MERCY.
The State Pardon Board Asked to Com
mnte Murderer Smith's Dcntb Sen
tence Judcn While's Letter
Cmbcrcer'n Slayer Suing:
for Thrlr Lives.
SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH.
Harrisburg, March 17. In the list of
cases to be considered by the Board of Par
dons to-morrow is that of William H.
Smith, of Pittsburg, whose execution is
fixed for the 9th of April next. Among
those who have written letters to the board
asking for the commutation of the death
penalty to imprisonment for life is Judge
White. He says:
I tried W. H. Smith for tbe murder of his
wife. 1 believe the verdict, in first degree, was
right under the evidence, but I cheerfully and
earnestly unite in asking tbe commutation nf
his sentence to imprisonment for life briefly
for these reasons:
First Ho is a poor, miserable, ignorant
negro, who was infatuated with an unw. rthy
wife, and in his troubled state of mind in
tended to kill her and himself. lie shot himself
twice and desisted from further effort, believ
ing tbo wound in his body would prove fatal.
Second After so many n bite men have es
caped, quite as guilty and more deserving of
the extreme penalty of the law, I don't want to
see this poor negro hung.
Third 1 believe the commutation of his sen
tence will have a good effect in future trials
for murder m this county. All the members of
the jury which convicted the murderer have
signed a petition asking for the favorable con
sideration of bis application on account of the
provocation which existed for the killing of his
worthless wife and the unbalanced condition of
his mind.
P. C. Knox, in asking for commutation,
says: ''It it be true that in a case of un
doubted guilt the previous intellectual and
social position of the culprit is not a pallia
tion but an aggravation of his offense, is it
not conversely true that the power of soften
ing tbe punishment so wisely lodged by the
law with your board, is more properly exer
cised to the advancement of the cause ot
public justice in cases where, as here, tbe
culprit is conspicuous for his lack of quali
fications and advantages.
William C. Moreland, J. O. Brown, Chief
of the Department of Public Safety, Mayor
McCailin, Dr. Franklin, of Beaver, and
Dr. A. Y. Chessrown have also filed letters
with the board in the prisoner's interest.
Mayor McCailin says! "His execution will
be of no example to evil doers and of no ben
efit whatever to the community at large."
The application of the Nicely brothers,
who murdered an old man (TJmberger) in
Somerset, and who are under sentence of
death, will also be heard by the Board of
Pardons to-morrow, as well as many other
interesting cases.
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS MEET.
An Important Conference to be Held To-Day
In Philadelphia.
rer-KCIAI. TILECBAM TO THE DISPATCH.1
PHltADLLPniA, March 17. There will
be a conference of the Democratic leaders.
State and local in this city to-morrow for
the purpose of endeavoring to agree upon
the nomination of candidates for State offices
to be voted for this fall, which will be satis
factory to all elements of the party organ
ization. Those who are expected to be present in
addition to the local leaders are ex-Congressman
William L. Scott, of Erie county,
who is at the Bellevue Hotel; ex
State Senator Robert P. Allen, or
Lycoming county, who is at the
Continental Hotel; T. Kirk White, of York
county, who is at the Girard House, and
ex-United States Senator William A. Wal
luce and Benjamin F. Meyers, of Harris
burg, who are reported as having left
Harrisburg this evening in order to be
present at to-day's conference.
WANT TO KNOW HOW THEY STAND.
Crodttori of tbo Ilnrdor nine Company
niort la New York.
rSPICIAI. TELKOUAM TO TUB DISPATCH.!
New York, March 17. About 20 cred
itors of the Baedcr Glue Company, princi
pally New Yorkers, met in the Astor
House at noon to-day for a conference and
to look into the affairs of tbe wrecked
company. N. P. Rider, of Boston, was
elected chairman of the meeting. By the
unanimous vote of those present it was de
cided to have a committee of three appointed
by the chairman to find out how the
affairs of tbe company stood and to report
at auother general meeting of the creditors
to be held in the Astor House on Tuesday,
April 1. After Mr. Rider had appointed
the committee the meeting adjourned.
PEDDLING IS ILLEGAL
It Carried on In Defiance of Follco Rules
nnd Regulation!.
rsrECIAL TELXOllAJt TO TUX DISPATCn.l
Philadelphia, March 17. The Su
preme Court reaffirmed their decision in re
gard to peddlers to-day when they handed
down an opinion by Judge Williams in
the case ol the Commonwealth against
Gardner and others appealed from the court
of Schuylkill county. Tbe opinion refutes
the argument made that to forbid peddling
is a violation of the bill of rights. The
opinion states:
Our laws relating to peddling are directed,
not against the right of acquisition, bnt the
manner in which some people exercise that
right, and are therefore not in viola
tion of tbe constitutional rights of
the owners of goods, but are a wise exercise
tbe police power as to the manner in which
goods shall be sold. The conviction in the
lower conrt is sustained.
STRIKERS CAUSE A RIOT.
The military Called Upon to Preserve
Pence iu Liverpool.
Liverpool, March 17. The striking
dockmen engaged in a riotous demonstra
tion here to-day. Thirty thousand of them
marched through the streets, and the route
of the procession was the scene of constant
disorder. The magistracy has invoked the
aid of the military to preserve the peace.
Mr. Charles Fenwick, member of Parlia
ment for the Wansbeck division of North
umberland, and a member of the Execu
tive Committee of the Northumberland
Miners' Association, says that the men will
not receive the committee appointed by the
mine owners.
THE WORK OP TRAMPS.
A Livery fctnble nnd Olber Property De
stroyed by Fire nt Norwood, O.
Cincinnati. March 17. A fire at Nor
wood, O., a suburb of Cincinnati destroyed
the livery stable o'f L. G. Joyce, the
blacksmith shop and dwelling bouse of Mr.
Gerdes, and the dwelling of Mr. Littleton.
AH the horses were burned.
The loss on the stable is $10,000; insur
ance $5,000,: on the others, the loss is $10,
000: insurance $2,500.
It is supposed that the fire was caused by
two tramps, wh'o had been refused permis
sion to sleep in the stable. The hostler
narrowly escaped burning to deatl
INSERT THE PfiOBE.
Congressmen Dalzell and Bayne Say
the Emigration Officials
OUGHT TO BE INVESTIGATED.
Laborers Are Admitted While Clergymen
Are Prohibited.
DUTIES OP EXITED STATES CONSULS.
Commissioner
Stephens Liable
5egligesce.
to Prosecution for
The reports of the admission of hundreds
of laborers, under contract, to tbe United
States is causing much talk. Congressmen
Bayne and Dalzell make some pertinent re
marks on this subject.
IFHOM A STAFF COnnESPOSDEKT.I
Washington, March 17. The Secretary
of the Treasury said to-day that he knew
nothing officially of any laxity on the part
of the immigration authorities at Castle
Garden, and had heard nothing except what
bad been published in the newspapers. If
it were true that no one officially qualified
to inspect immigrants was at Castle Garden
for a whole day, when hundreds of immi
grants were being landed, their absence
showed their disregard of the law, and if
charges were made their conduct would be
investigated. A number of members of
Congress were interviewed on tbe subject
by the correspondent of The Dispatch,
but the matter had not been thrust upon
their attention, and they were, not even
aware of the charges that have been pub
lished in the newspapers.
"I know absolutely nothing of the sub
ject," said Hon. John Dalzell this evening.
"I have been so completely occupied with
committee work that I have not even read the
newspapers. Of course, if it is possible for
immigrants who are brought to America un
der contract to evade the law,
SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE
to remedy the abuse, and it would seem that
the officials who are sworn to the enforce
ment of the law, must be guilty of negli
gence, or that they are in some way unquali
fied for their position. If the situation is as
you say it appears to be from the statement
in the press, it is high time for the matter to
be investigated."
"I have been so wholly absorbed with the
wore of the Committee on Ways and
Means," said Colonel Bayne, "that I have
had no time for anything else and am
actually ignorant of the current news, hav
ingbeen in committee almost night and day.
I will say, however, that the law is a good
one and that it should be rigidly enforced.
It was intended to keep out the hordes of
Hungarians nnd Italians who have been
brought over in large numbers, from time to
time, and if it be so well constructed as to
secure the apprehension of clergymen and
professors, it should be competent to arrest
the importation of hundreds of laborers in
one body under contract.
TIME FOE ACTION.
"If the administration of the law ls-lax,
something should be done at once to remedy
I the defect, but it seems to me it is the part
oi persons living in iicw xorK wno nave
opportunity to observe the methods of the
immigrant officials to secure an investiga
tion, if any be warranted."
jw viuuiin ui tuu treasury Arepartment,
who takes a deep interest in social affairs
which the law is intended in some degree to
remedy, said to-day that the law as it stands
is very defective in its provisions for the re
turn of immigrants. It provides that upon
discovery that immigrants coming here
under contract have been landed, they shall
be returned by the vessel in which they
ca me, but if it happen, as is frequently the
case, that the contract is not proven until
the immigrants have been in America tor
some time, there is no provision for the de
tention of the offenders until that vessel, or
another of the same line, makes its appear
ance. Another trouble is the diffii-ulty of
getting direct trace of the contract when the
immigrants land.
I'liEPAKED TO LIE.
"It is customary now for somo one to
board vessels with contracting immigrants
to concn metn in tncir answers to the im
migrant officials at Castle Garden, nnd by
the time they arrive there, alter a passage
ol eight or ten days, they ore prepared to
lie so successfully as to make it next to im
possible to get any substantial proof of con
tract." "One thing," concluded tins official,
"that the Treasury Department authori
ties should do that they have
not done is to impress upon
our representatives abroad to keep a sharp
lookout for agents of American corporations
employing large numbers of laborers, and
also upon the departure at seaports of per
sons emigrating, to discover contracts if pos
sible und notily the authorities here by
cable. It is an astonishing fact that not
withstanding the contract labor law and the
anti-Chinese law, thousands of immigrants
are constantly arriving who are almost cer
tainly under contract, judging from their
conduct after arrival, and the restriction of
Chinese immigration is very slight indeed."
WAKM FOE STEPHENSON.
A dispatch from New York says Uncle
Sam's five-dollar-a-day inspectors, whose
duty it is to see that no contract laborers get
through Castle Garden, say they are going
to make things pretty warm for Emigration
Commissioner Stephenson for his relusal to
stop tbe alleged contract laborers who landed
from the Alter on Saturday evening.
One of the indignant Inspectors said to
day: "The Commissioner has violated
United States statute 5C6, approved October
18, 1888, which says that the Commission
ers of Emigration are requested to aid the
Collector and Immigrant Inspectors ap
pointed by the Secretary of the Treasury in
examining immigrants in order to discover
those forbidden by law to tand. The article
of the statute adds, that if the Commission
ers or their subordinates discover that any
laborers have been imported under contract
they shall turn such immigrant over to the
Collector or to the officers under him."
The Inspector hinted that Mr. Stephen
son might get into the clutches of the Fed
eral authorities here for failing to help the
Government stop contract laborers.
A LITTLE UNPLEASANTNESS
Between Three Senators Leads Two of Them
to Resign From n Committee.
tniOM A STAFF COBRESPOJfDEUT.l
Washington, March 17. The hot words
which recently passed in the Senate between
Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, and
Senators Call, of Florida, and George, of
Mississippi, have resulted in breeding any
thing but good feeling between those gentle
men personally, and to-day Messrs. Call and
George asked to be relieved from service on
the Committee on Immigration, of which
Mr. Chandler is the Chairman. The diffi
culty occurred over some alleged interpola
tions made in the Record by Mr. Call, re
flecting upon Mr. Chandler, and in which
Mr. George got mixed up by defending Mr
Call. The two Southern men don't speaK
to the Senator from New Hampshire nor
recognize him in any way.
As it would be very unpleasant, under
these circumstances, for all three of them to
serye on tbe same committee, and thus be
thrown constantly together, the two South
ern Senators resolved to resign from the
committee, and have asked for some other
nnn: ... mL:. ;ii j 1..-Jl.
thus avoided.
REDUCTION IN 'SUGAR.
The Wnys nnd Means Committee Finally
Rencb nn Agreement.
Washington, March 17. The Repub
lican members of the Ways and Means
Committee have finally reached an agree
ment upon the sugar schedule. They have
agreed to make raw sngar from 16
Dutch standard down dutiable at 35
per cent ad valorem, and refined
sugar above 16 dutiable at 40
per cent ad valorem. This is equivalent to
CO per cent reduction on any grades of sngar
and to more than SO per cent on others. The
reduction will average a cut of above
SO per cent and will reduce the
revenue from $28,000,000 to $25,
000,000. There is no provision made
for the payment of any bounty whatever.
The cut in the sugar duty which will thus
be made is more than two and a half times
that proposed by the Mills bill and the
duty would be collected upon the value and
not upon the pound as heretofore.
The duty given to the refiners is only S
per cent more than that given the raw
sugar men, and 'the classifying of raw
sugar as 16 or below will admit two grades
of merchantable sugar fit for domestic nses.
It is hoped and believed that this will take
away from the refiners the power to raise
the price of sugar to the consumer at will.
I1IPK0T1NG ERIE HARBOR.
Appropriation Asked lor Dredging nnd Re
pairing" Recent Damages.
trROM A STAFF COP.RESrONDEKT.l
Washington, March 17. Captain
Mann, United States Engineer in charge of
the work on Lake Erie, appeared to-day be
fore the River and Harbor Committee of the
House, and made an argument in support of
the recommendations he has made for appro
priations iu iiis uisinct.
With regard to Erie harbor he said that
the sum of $50,000 was necessary for the pur
pose of dredging the harbor out sufficiently
to admit of the entrance of deep draft ves
sels. He went on to say that owing to re
cent heavy storms the breakwater outsid
the harbor had become badly damaged, and
he asked for $73,000 to put it in repair and
to enlarge it.
M'CALLA'S HEARING.
Witnesses Contlnne Pouring Hot Shot Be
fore tbe Court of Inquiry.
New York, March 17. The McCalla
Court of Inquiry was again in session to
day. Sergeant Calkins told of the cutting
down of Walker, as has already been de
tailed, with the charge that salt water was
thrown over Wafker after he had been
struck down instead of before that. At
Stttiu several men "jumped the
ship." One of the men in attempting
to return to the ship was drowned.
The men who returned to the ship were
put in irons in the forecastle. In one in
stance the witness stated that a seaman was
put in a straightjacket and when he (wit
ness) went his rounds again the jacket was
all cut to shreds. The man said, when
asked how it was done, "No American sea
man can be put in a straightjacket in the
American navy." Officers of the ship, the
witness said, had frequently interfered with
him in the discbarge of his duty. He also
described many acts of cruelty on tbe part
of the officers.
Otto Sunblad, "Jack o' the Dust." on the
Enterprise, stated that at Christmas time he
was in irons for five days. Once he broke
his irons and jumped overboard, but was re
captured. Gustavus Scustarvinson, water tender,
told how at St. Petersburg he saw Lieuten
ant Incersoll attempt to knock down two
men with a belaying pin. The men threat
ened with a belaying pin afterward deserted
tbe ship. He ha'd never in his 18 years'
previous experience in the navy seen such
insubordination as on the Enterprise.
WIDOW'S ENTER SUIT
Against tbe Lehigh nnd Wllltesbarro ConI
Company for 9100,000 Dainnges.
WlLKKSBARItE. March 17. The widows
of the victims of the Nottingham mine dis
aster, by which eight men were killed by an
explosion of gas about eight weeks ago, en
tered suit to-day against the Lehigh and
Wllkesbarre Coal Company for damages ag
gregating $100,000. They claim that the acci
dent was due to criminal negligouce on the
part of tbe company in not providing suf
ficient ventilation to prevent the accumu
lation oTgas in the mine.
The disaster was ono of the most appalling
in the history of the anthracite coal fields,
the victims being literally roasted by blaz
ing gas before being taken out Tbe officials
of the company bad made a change in tbe
mine bosses a short time before the accident
and it is claimed that their ignorance of the
workings of the mine caused the explosion.
A COSTLY BIT OP ROAD.
Allentoirn's Threc-.IIIlo Terminal Railway
Which It Took S300.000 to Dulld.
ISFECIAL TELKOKAM TO TlIS DI8PATCII.I
Allentown, March 17. What is with
out doubt one of the greatest events in rail
road circles in tbe history of Allentown, was
written on its pages to-day, the occasion
being the opening of the Allentown
Terminal Railroad. The construction of
the road began in tbe fall of 1888 and it is
the joint pr6perty of the Jersey Central and
the Philadelphia and Reading Rail
roads. By the new line both roads" run to a
commodious union depot within a few min
utes' walk of the center of the city.
The Terminal Railroad is abont three
miles long, but its construction involved an
expenditure of about $200,000. Tne road is
double tracked and the bridges along its
line cost about $200,000.
DIED AT THE AGE OP 150.
Tbe Indian, Known bs Old Gabriel, Gone to
the Hnppr Hunting Grounds.
San Francisco, March 17. The In
dian "Old Gabriel," died at the County
Hospital at Salina yesterday. There is no
record of his birtb, but when the Franciscan
missionaries came to California more than
a century ago Old Gabriel was then a grand
father, and, as far as can be learned by tra
dition, it is believed he was born about the
year 1740, and had reached the age ot ISO
years at the time of his death.
Gabriel never used liquor or tobacco, and
led a peaceable life. He bad children and
grandchildren by the score, but outlived
them all, and no direct descendants survive
him.
WAENEI) TO MOVE.
Another and Grenter lmndsllde Looked for
Near Troy.
Trot, N. Y., March 17. There Is great
danger of another and greater landslide at
the point where Saturday's occurred here,
in which three persons were killed. A new
opening in Warren's Hill has been discov
ered. The bank is 200 feet hi .jh, and i3
cracked for ICO feet in length along its crest.
Should it fall, it will do great daniaze.
Residents in the vicinity have been warned
to move. Some have gone, but others re
main. Prond of the Date's Conduct.
Cadiz, March 17. The Comte de Paris
has telegraphed to the Due d'Orleans as
follows: "I approve and am proud of your
conduct. I regret that I am unable to em
brace you."
UAIUUiCllbS. J-Ulb Will UUUUUULCUIJT t
cranted. and Derhans n. nersnn.nl enconn.
.y
&
MCTO
D1XEY
Charlie Foster Says the South
Makes a Mistake in
ELECTING EEEE TEADEES,
"Which
Prevents Northern Capital
ists From Investing.
SEKATOE BEOWK'S CHEAP LABOR.
Ex-Governor Foster, of Ohio, has returned
from the South, whither he went to seek
suitable investments. He makes a few per
tinent remarks on the tariff, convict labor
and politics.
rSrZCIAL TELEOUAil TO THX DISPATCTI.I
, New York, March 17. Ex-Governor
Charles Foster, of Ohio, was at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel to-day smoking a long South
ern cigar when a reporter met him. He
said that he had just returned from an ex
tended trip South, where he went to investi
gate with a view of investing. In Tennes
see and Georgia, as well as other sections in
the South, he said, tbe country was ricn in
coal and iron lands and it could be de
veloped with a smaller outlay of capital
than if it were in the North. But the most
inteiesting narrative of the ex-Governor
was about Senator Joe Brown's convict labor
in Georgia, near Chattanooga.
He said: "I visited the mining camps
where 800 convicts were at work for Senator
Brown. This labor costs him, on an average,
30 cents a day per capita, a snm so small
that competition is out of the question.
Other laborers would cost $1 25 and $1 50
per day. Nearly alL the convicts were
negroes. Few white people are sent to the
penitentiary in Georgia.
LOTS OP LAW FOE NEGROES.
"If a negro steals a chicken or is charged
with petty larceny of any kind, he is inva
riably tried, convicted and sentenced to
several years' hard labor under the contract
system.
"Were the convicts treated well?"
"Oh, yes; they seemed to be well cared
for. I went among them and saw where
they slept, what they had to eat and the way
they were treated. Of course they were
treated as convicts, kept under lock and
key indeed, subject to strict prison rules
and wore stripes. They were confined at
night in a sort of stockade. Ten hours con
stituted a day's work."
"Would convict labor be popular in the
North?"
"Well, I would like to see the political
party that would attempt such a thins
through its lawmakers. It would mean the
destruction of any party that would even
try to introduce such a system. Every
workingman in the country would vote sol
idly against a party that advocated convict
labor, and Lwould'vote with tbem.
THE WHITES LOVE EASE.
"In the South tbe poor white man does
not take to mining. He does not care for
it,-und prefers a small patch of ground, a
dozen or so of dogs and a donkey or pony to
ride about the neighborhood. If the white
men in Georgia cared anything about the
competition of the convict labor, of course
they could soon stop it."
"Did you talk to the Georgians about
politics In connection with investing in the
South?"
"Yet. I asked them why it was that tbey
elected free trade Democrats to Congress
when their country needed protection so
badly. One man "spoke up quickly, say
ing: 'Senator Joe Brown is not a free
trader.' Well, the Senator may not be a
free trader, but I pointed nut the fact that
the Congressman from their district was an
out-and-out free trader. They argued that
free trade or the tanfThad nothing whatever
to do with politics in the South; It was sim
ply a question of negro. If tbe race prob
lem couid be eliminated, then perhaps the
South would support it.
INVESTORS WANT PROTECTION.
"Then I used this argument: Why not
elect a protection Democrat to Congress?
Let this Congressman first, last and all the
time vote for protection, whether the bulk
ol" his party so voted or not, and on other
questions stand with his party. I do not
see why those people should go against their
own interests. Why, that country is fabu
lously wealthy in undeveloped resources,
and in order to invite capital the people
must elect Congressmen who will stand up
for protection. I would not like to invest
in coal and iron lands in a district where
the Congressman continually supported free
trade measures.
"In Tennessee thesame conditions prevail
as in Georgia in regard to the question of
politics and the tariff. Perhaps a time will
soon come when tbe people will recognize
that they are throwing away their birth
rights by electing free traders to Congress."
ASZLNG FOR A REDUCTION IS TARIFF.
Massachusetts Zl'nnaruciurers Quote Andrew
Carnegie as Favoring Lower Dalles.
tSPEClAI. TKLKOKAK TO TUB DISPATCH. 1
Boston, March 17. Petitioners for s
resolution to Congress for a reduction of, the
duty to 24 per cent ad valorem on pig iron
and scrap iron and scrap steel, and for free
iron ore, coal and coke, were heard to-day
by the Legislative Committee on Federal
Relations. Of the petitioners present 24
were Republicans and 2 were Democrats.
Most of them were pronounced protection
ists, but they were unanimousfor a revision
of the tariff to save the great iron industry
of New England from destrnction.
Andrew Carnegie was quoted as saying
that the desired revision cpuld be made
without injurr to Pennsylvania. Ex-Sena
tor Peleg McFarlin and Horace P. Tobey
firesented carefully-prepared addresses, and
eading men of New England gave testimony
on the same side. The gathering was as
representative as any that conid be found
anywhere of New England iron men. Over
600 signers have been obtained to the peti
tion to Congress, including all the great
establishments of New England.
Colonel Albert Clarke, Secretary of tha
Home Market Club, objected to the resolu
tions because the legislators here cannot
know so much about the broad tariff ques
tion as the Committee on Ways and Means
in Congress.
A PARTIAL VICTORY FOR ST0SE.
Ills Friend Prevent the Election of Dela
mriter Delegates.
rfPT.CIAI. TELZORAM TO TBI DIEPATCH.1
Gettysburg, March 17. There is a
strong sentiment in this county favoring
Stone for Governor. Tbe feeling took sub
stantial form in tbe Republican County
Convention to-day. Tbe Stone men so far
succeeded as to prevent the delegates
elected from being instructed for Dela
mater. The delegates chosen, Messrs. Thorne and
Lower, consequently go uninstructed, and
are not for Deiamater, it is said, and there
is a belief that Stone will get the Adams
county delegation-