THE PITTSBURG- DISPATCH, WEDNESDAY, -DECEMBER " 31, 1890.
e Bi&rafdj.
ESTABLISHED FEBRUARY 8, JS46.
Vol.43, o.S -Entered at Pittsburg 1'ostofllce
OTemLcrlJ. lsST, as second-class matter.
Business Office Corner Smithfleld
and Diamond Streets,
News Rooms and Publishing House
75, 77 and 79 Diamond Street.
EASTERN ADVEIMISINO OFFICE. KOOJl II,
TRIbCM. 15U1I.UING. EW l'OKK. where
complete files ol THE DIM'ATCH can always be
found, rorelgn advertisers appreciate the con
TentcnM. Home advertisers and friends or THE
HKI'AICII. while in Jeir lork, are also made
welcome.
TI1E DISPATCH Is regularly on sale at
Erentzno's. S Union Square. Jfew York, and 17
-ire. tie rOpe a, Fct'-is. Fiance, tchere anyone
vJio Jiai been disappointed at a hotel neus
stand can obtain it.
terms or the dispatch.
TOSTAGE TXEE H THE fMTED STATES.
DAILY l)isrjTC, Onclear $8 00
DaILT DirATca, lcr Quarter - 00
Daily UisrATcii. one. Month. ... "0
JIaili Dispatch, including Sunday, l year. 10 00
Daily Dispatch, including bundaY,3in'ths ISO
Duly Dispatch, including fcunday, liu'th 90
M-xdai Dispatch. One ear 550
V, elkly Dispatch, One Year 1 25
The Daily pisrATCH Is delivered by carriers at
Ifcelits per week, or including fcunday edition, at
Zi rents per wteiv.
PITTSBURG. WEDNESDAY, DEC. SI, 1S90.
THE MOST PKOSPEROCs YEAR.
Standing at the last stage of the journey
of 1S90 and looking back at so much of the
road as has been bounded by local industries
and interests, the retrospect offers many
1-ivorable aspects The propulsion of busi
ness to an increase of 5135,000,000 in the
city of Pittsburg alone over the figure of
the previous year, leading all previous
records, is significant of the activities of
this prosperous region. But, more signifi
cant still has been the demonstrated stabil
ity of our industrial and mercantile under
takings through the late period of financial
stringency which was so severely felt else
where. The visible growth of the city during 1S90
has been such as to require no comment. It
is rather iuteiestiug to speculate in how far
it will continue during the twelve months
to come. That a close money market and a
degree of doubt as to the future of the gas
supply will give a temporary check to the
execution of extensive plans, otherwise in
view, is not unlikely. Hut, so long as the
general business of the eountry is on a safe
basis and inexhaustible coal remains in our
hills as fuel ior the workshop of the conti
nent, the course of Pittsburg must inevitably
be progressive with no intervening back
ward step.
Meanwhile, the rate of progress maybe
greatly accelerated by public spirit in the
comniunitr. Between the city which helps
itself through that concerted action of many
which enables the seizure of large oppor
tunities, and the city which is self-satisfied
with such growth merely as results from the
separate undertakings of the individuals who
compose it, ttiere is a wide dilierence. In
the midst ol the satisfaction which must be
ielt oer the exhibit of 1890, it is still due to
say that Pittsburg is yet far behind some
other cities in the development of that co
operative energy which has proven else
where ot immense value. The coming year
promises to furnish channels in which the
co-operating activities of the community
may be felt beneficially for a long time to
come. The problem of additional traffic
facilities has been forced upon this region
for years back by the natural growth of its
business. Whether added means are to be
had through new railroads or a canal to the
lake, no one doubts that they are badly
needed. This seems, indeed, to be the most
Tital want of the city at present. It remains
to be been whether the ample means and re
sources of the vast industrial interests con
centrated here will be able to supply it
either through the medium of local effort
solely, or with the help of legislative coun
tenance and substantial aid.
On the whole, the departing year, 1890.
will take its place as the brightest and most
prosperous so far in the history of the city.
The one to come, if it is to take equal rank,
may, however, call for broader plans and
increased energies from all who are locally
interested.
NEXT YEAR'S EXPENSES.
Chiefs Bigelow and Elliot filed their re
ports yesterday, which completes the munij
cipal reports lor this year. Most interest is
taken in their estimates for neit year's ex
penditures. Chief Elliott will likely get
his appropriation without much discussion
as he asks for but little more than for this
year. Chief Bigelow may meet some op
position. But it is well to consider the
objects for which he wants the in
creased appropriation, before indulging
any criticism. This city has been
growing wonderfully, and Its needs are con
stantly increasing. Not only are there new
streets to be improved and cared for, but
there is a popular demand for improve
ments on the old thoroughfares, and a better
condition of things generally. Part of the
money is wanted for the new park, of which
good citizens are proud, and nearly one
third of the increase is for the purpose of
getting the movement for free bridges to the
Southside started. People are prone to
criticise public expenditures, but if they
will honestly consider the objects ia this
case, the criticism will mostly melt without
expression.
THE INDIAN OUTBREAK.
The conflict between the Indians of Big
Foot's band and the United States soldiers
under Major 'Whiteside which was sin
gularly reported at first as a complete sur
render seems to have inflamed all the dis
contented Indians, including even those who
had previously given injtheir adhesion. The
result will probably be a long and trouble
some outbreak carrying the practical cer
tainty of ravages by the Indians on frontier
farms and an expensive war before the sav
ages are subjusated with partial if not com
plete extermination.
The signs that this trouble has originated
in neglect, if not actual fraud in the treat
ment of the Indians, are reinforced by the
circumstances of this outbreak. The well
known characteristics of Indian warfare
prove that it could not have been intended
by Big Foot's band to attack the troops
when they offered to surrender. The In
dians rarely attack four times their number
unless with some remarkable advantage ot
position, and they never burden themselves
and their squaws when they intend to fight.
But in this case 130 Indians after beginning
to surrender to COO troops, while burdened
by the presence of 250 squaws, suddenly
broke out into a desperate fight. These cir
cumstances, as the dispatches say, made it
an act ot insanity utterly foreign to the cool
calculation shown in the preconcerted acts
of Indian hostility. There is hardly any
room for doubt that with the memory of past
hardships and neglect in their minds, they
concluded while they were being disarmed
that they were going to be starred or im
prisoned, and that they would rather die
r:iiJfcfe4i
fighting than any other way. It is no less
evident that the same leeling inspired the
iresh revolt of the partially reconciled
tribes as soon as the news of the conflict
reached them.
There is no doubt that the Indian is blood
thirsty, savage and treacherous, and when
he commences hostilities there is no course
left but to crush him into subjugation. But
that only makes it more crim
inal when inefficient or corrupt
Government agents fail to fulfil
the agreements which the Government
has undertaken or divert to their own profit
the supplies which should be distributed
.among the wards of the nation. If the hos
tilities continne, every effort must be made
to save the frontier from ratline and murder;
but while that effort is going on the nation
should remember that there is a fearful re
sponsibility for those who have falsified the
faith of the Government and left these sav
ages without supplies enough to keep them
from starvation.
It may be too late to rectily the error in
this case; and our long record of dishonor
and bad faith in dealing with the abor
igines seems likely to be preserved in what
will probably be the closing outbreak of that
disappearing race. But the nation should
have enough moral sense to call for a reckon
ing with the men whose official acts have
produced the bloodshed.
MONEY ON THE OTHER SIDE.
Some remarks on Senator Brice's course
in the last campaign, which are intended to
be laudatory, made by the "Washington cor
respondent of that sometime independent,
but now ultra Democratic paper, the Chi
cago Herald, have aroused the sarcasms of
the equally ultra Republican organ, the
Philadelphia Inquirer. There is decided
food for sarcasm in tbevigoious attempt to
exploit Senator Brice's abilities as a politi
cal leader, which by the statement of his
Democratic admirer, consists of purchasing
political prominence by drawing immense
checks for Campaign funds. There have
been a good many statesmen of the same
order; but the details which are given in
this laudation of Senator. Brice are almost
as frank and refreshing as Colonel Elliot F.
Shcpard's disclosures on the other side of
the house.
According to this eulogy of the organic
stamp, an agreement was made with regard
to the last campaign by Senator Brice,
Oliver Payne and ex-Secretary "Whitney,
three eminent representatives of Democracy
whose statesmanship lies in their hank
accounts. It was to take care of Ohio, if
th Congressional Committee took care of
the rest of the Union." The way in which
that pledge was redeemed is proudly pointed
out by the Democratic journalist to have
consisted of pouring money into the Ohio
campaign. "I happen to know," it is
averred, "that, in the McKinley, district
alone, Brice found it necessary to spend
$50,000. Throughout the State he must
have spent as much more."
The idea that trying to win political
campaigns by sheer weight of money de
notes the highest rank of statesmanship, is
fair food for the sharpest sarcasms of the
Republican press, although we could wish
that the criticisms of our esteemed cotem
porary, the Philadelphia Inquirer, on it
were a little less manifestly of the
pot-and-kettle variety. We seem to
remember that during the Delamater
campaign and more recently, indeed
there was talk of very large campaigu fund's
on the Republican side; but the Inquirer
did not deem it necessary to speak unfavor
ably on that feature of monetary politics.
If it had attacked the idea of buying Re
publican success in Pennsylvania by means
of money, its attack on the same feature in
Brice's campaign would have had farmoie
weight
But it is true that this praise of the use of
money in politics from the Democratic side,
proves that the Democrats who have got into
leadership by means of corporation backing
and superabundant millions, are tarad with
exactly the same stick as the Republicans of
the same order. A very satisfactory com
mentary on the exact value of that sort of
politics is furnished by the fact that the
very State where this trio ot mill
ionaire politician! poured out their
money like water, was the one State
where the Republicans most prominently
held there own. And the district in
which Senator Brice spent 550,000 to defeat
McKinley a sum which carries with it the
clear imputation of a willingness to buy
votes the result was that Major McKinley
actually reduced the normal Democratic
majority of the district by some 1,500 vote.
A very funny attempt to gain credit for
Brice is made in the assertion that "he said
a month before the election that he would
send fourteen Democrats Irom his State in
stead of seven and seven Republicans instead
of fourteen, and he kept bis word to the
letter." The fact is that it was known eight
months before the election that, oa the usual
party vote, there would be this change in
the Ohio delegation by reason of the gerry
mander. Brice's brilliant campaign ex
penditures did not gain a single Congress
man for the Democrats over what was
awarded them by the gerrymander. The fact
that corporation Democracy was supreme in
Ohio prevented that State from feeling the
tidal wave which overflowed the rest of the
country.
Millionaire statesmen are popular in their
own parties because they furnish fatness for
the professional politicians. As long as the
organs continue to denounce the use of
money by their opponents and to praise it on
their own side, the public will be able to
make a very correct estimate of their sin
cerity. TOO MANY SUDDEN DEATHS.
Several features of the Coroner's report
are worthy of careful consideration. In the
first place, this official reports 200 more cases
than last year, an increase in far greater
ratio than that of the population. His rec
ommendation that the overhead wires be
abolished is pertinent in this con
nection, and the railroad cross
ing at grade might well be included as
a producer of coroner's cases. It is instruc
tive to note that while there were 28 cases of
homicide during the year, there were no
judicial hangings, as there have not been
for years. Whether this neglect has any in
fluence on the number of murders or not, it
would still seem proper to mete ont the ex
treme penalty occasionally. What the law
has not none, however, the Belf-murderers
have, no less than 21 persons having com
mitted suicide by hanging during the year.
SUPPRESSED PATENTS.
The appearance in the Eastern newspapers
of intimations that a struggle is impending
between the Western Union Telegraph Com
pany and the Bell Telephone Company, as a
result of the prospective entrance of the
latter into the business of long distance
telephoning, has several interesting phases.
The prospect of a struggle between two
gigantic corporations, each with an im
inenre amount of water in its'stocks that
may be squeezed out by a sharp competition
is one feature. The respective merits of
telegraphy and telerjhoning for the trans
mission of news over long distances is an
other. But as these features can be better
judged, when they take definite shape, the
IBBT Nfcltfi i, .L, .- . '.MIJIM. .v , .' MiMMi&JlMSA, V - . . - .,. . -..., ..'. . iymm
one feature that now deserves public atten
tion is the lrank statement of wflat has been
an open secret foryears.that the competition
between the telegraph and the long distance
telephones has been postponed for years, by
La contract of over ten years ago, in which
the telephone patents were united and the
telephone company bound itself not to enter
into competition with the telegraph com
pany, during the duration of the patents.
Here we are confronted with an anomalous
result of our patent system. The foundation
of our patent laws lies in the" policy of en
couraging invention, in order that the
people may get the benefit of new processes
or ideas stimulated by that legislation. If
thenew inventions are not put into opera
tion the public gets no benefit and the pur
pose.of the patent is defeated. Yet here we
have a case not only of the more common
sort, where the consolidation of patents is
formed to build up a monopoly and prevent
the public irom receiving the benefit of com
petition between the rival patents, but of the
sort which is less well known, where the
control of the patents which render long
distance telephoning possible has been used
to prevent long-distance telephoning from
coming into operation, and thus to defeat
the very purpose for which the patents are
granted.
It would be an instructive subject of in
quiry to learn how many other cases there
are in which the control of patents, of great
importance and convenience, has been used
to prevent the patent from coming into use.
The subject is a new one and has not re
ceived any especial investigation; but if it
were probed, more of this practice might Je
shown than the public at large has any idea
of. It has been a matter which sharp ob
servers have noticed, that where a new
patent would by its economy or superiority
depreciate a large investment of capital in
older processes, the owners of that capital
are likely to be the highest bidders for the
new patent, simply for the purposes of sup
pression. The consequence is that the ex
clusive privilege granted by our patent laws
is sometimes employed to prevent the new
process or article reaching the public so long
as the patent is in force.
Of course such cases are the exceptions;
but when the operation of our patent laws
furnish exceptions which defeat the pur
poses for which patent laws arc enacted, do
not they prove the necessity of an amend
ment? INSTRUCTION IN ROAD BUILDING.
An interesting sign of the way in which
the improvement of highways has taken
hold of the public mind is furnished by the
offer of Lafayette College to give to one rep.
resentatire from each county in the State a
course of free instruction in road building.
When the road question stirs up the colleges
it is certain to have forced itself upon the
minds of the whole people.
But before concluding that a course of
free instruction in road building at Lafay
ette College will put the State in a position
to build roads durably, it is hardly exces
sive caution to ask for some proof that La
fayette College knows so much about build
ing highways that it is qualified to instruct
the rest of the State. Has that educational
institution built any highways which
have defied the erosion and up
heavals of time? If not, what are its
qualifications for the task it offers to
undertake? The theories of road-building
are at the disposal of any man who cares to
invest the few dollars necessary to obtain
the standard books on tha- subject. But
the practical knowledge as to how durable
roads can economically be built with the
various kinds of materials and labor avail
able in different districts, is something that
requires more than the average instruction
afforded in colleges or books.
The most effective instruction in road
building is given by the men who build, as
Mr. Warner of the county workhouse did,
an actual section of solid road from the ma
terials close at hand and at a cost of less
than a dollar per lineal foot
We are pleased to observe that the New
York Tribune, in connection with Mr. Roose
velt's remarks about the Four Hundred, is able
to assure the public that its general ideas con
cerning that class are highly erroneous. It
asserts that the dude of the caricatures and
the ravages of Anglomania are both creations
of the public Imagination. If the esteemed
Tribune can add to this a statement that the
reported purchase, in the marriages of New
York heiresses of decayed Enropean titles is
withontreal existence, wemay yet conclude that
ther. is a little genuine Americanism in the
ranks ot the alleged New York aristocracy,
after all.
Eveky report of Indians surrendering is
followed by accounts ot a serious Dattle. And
every time wo are assured the Indians are
whipped the loss to the rogular army is larger,
and the scene of the battle nearer civilization.
Does this mean that the Indian war is really
opened?
The appearance of that report concerning
the Investigation of the silver bullion syndi
cate, that W. E. Curtis and Secretary Blaine
may be discovered beneath the wood pile is in
teresting. If untrue, It may be taken as a
measure of the desire of the Secretary's ene
mies in Congress and the Cabinet, to stick all
possible knives into him. If true, it leaves no
wonder that one o tho Secretary's friends de
clares himself authorized to say that Mr.
Blaine will under no circumstances accept tho
nomination of 1S92.
The Verestcbagin art exhibition is one
of the treats which the Carnegie building in
Allegheny affords to the community. It also
gives us a foretaste of what Pittsbarg can en
joy when Mr. Carnegie's magnificent gift to
Pittsburg takes material and architectural
shape.
The reports about Vice President Mor
ton's position on the new "previous question"
rnle recall the familiar and proverbial rhyme.
He will and he won't, and no less clearly he'll
be d d whether be does or don't
When Mr. Gould declared that Charles
Francis Adams had managed the Cnlon Pacific
Railroad in a way that set at defiance all the
precedents of railway practice, it was supposed
that he referred to Mr. Adams' pernicious prac
tice of building up the value of the property
without reference to stock manipulations. But
a new detail has been added by an article about
Mr. Adams' private car. It is discovered that
Mr. Adams permitted to be prominently posted
up in that vehicle the motto, "God Hates a
Liar."
1
That new reaper and binder combination
is going to illustrate the way in which it bene
fits the people and does not restrict production
by discharging several thousand employes on
Jannary 1.
1
The Signal Service people have got on
very well with their predictions during the re
cent stormy period. With the exception of that
day last week'wnen the bureau's morning pre
diction was for warmer weather and in the
afternoon threw out the cold wave flag, it has.
correctly foreshadowed the changes of the
weather. As on that day it predicted the both
kinds ot weather, it was bonnd to come right.
But tn that case It made a narrow shave of not
getting on the right side soon enough.
MORE lives have been lost by the crim
inal ingenuity of some NcwYorK economist,
who propped up the fiat roof of a big building
while the nails wcro all cut away from it
An Ohio judge holds that one railroad
may not prevent another being built by occupy
ing the ground with switches and side tracks.
The necessary business of a railroad, he defines'
as the duty it owes the public in the common
carrying of freight and passencers, and he
rules that another railroad may take and
occupy any property not needed, for such use.
This is, no doubt the real spirit of the law. but
it is a truthful interpretation that will make a
good many corporations squeal.
London seems to be getting the fact
forced in upon its densely conservative mind
that it will not do to place too firm a faith in
the fire apparatus ot half a century ago.
IT is painful to observe in an editorial on
"the mature skater's woes" In the Hew York
Morning Journal an assertion that when the
mature skater falls down and tries to cot ut
again "he hooks the toes of his skates together
and falls on his nose." This indicates that the
mature skater in the longitude of New York
must be an antique. In this section the mature
skaters discarded that antediluvian pattern of
skates which are capable ot hooking together
when they were still young.
Possibly when the next Mayor's mes
sage is sent in.dnplicate copies for each branch
of Councils may ensure its reaching both
bodies.
The good advices is given to the Senate by
that ultra Republican organ, the New York
J'ress, to "stop talking and do something" by
passing such measures as the bankruptcy and
copyright bills. But if tho esteemed J'ress
wants our legislators to give measures for
tho public welfare priority over those for par
tisan advantage, it will have to advocate a new
kind of politics.
If the Ohio gas field is petering out, as it
seems to be, even moro decisively than the
Pennsylvania field, it will make it necessary
for the numerous glass factories that have been
located there, to move themselves within a
closer reach of the cheap 'fuel supplied by
Pennsylvania's coal.
WELL KNOWN PEOPLE.
Countess Von Waldersee, formerly an
American lady, presented Minister Phelps re
cently with a colored portrait if General Von
Moltke.
Peof. Walter Balentine. of the Maine
State College, will soon visit Western colleges
to study the various systems ot instruction in
agriculture.
The German Kaiser rises every morning at
7. He takes a cold shower bath, is shaved and
shampooed, and by 7:30 is ready for breakfast
with the Empress.
Genebal Cassius M. Clat, who has been
seriously ill for some time at his home at
White Hall, Ky.. is convalescing. This Is his
first sickness in 40 years.
Fbof. Koch takes a horseback ride at 3
o'clock every afternoon. This is his only means
of exercise, and by 4 o'clock he is back at his
work in tho Hygienic Institute.
M. Julius Stewart, the American artist
leads a happy life abroad. He spends spring
on the Riviera, his summer cruising in his
yacht autumn in his chateau in Normandy and
winter in Paris.
Senator Sfooner is a little man with a big
head. He has made a national repntation in
the Senate within a comparatively short time,
and don't propose to allow himself to be
thrust into tho political refuse heap yet
awhile.
The chief gown worn by tho Austrian Em
press is a straigh , black, plaited skirt with a
bodice like a Swiss peasant's. Over this she
wears a loose jacket, which she changes three
times a day, the material varying with the tem
perature. Brigadier General John Gibbon, now
commanding the Division of the Pacific, and
General S. V. Benct Chio . of Ordnance, will
reach the age limit during the coming year.
General Benet retln'. January 22 and General
Gibbon April 20.
Miss Ray Frank is one of the few Jewesses
who in recent times have preached in a syna
gogue. On the Day of Atonement she spoke at
Spokane Falls, Wash, and so interested her
bearers that they decided to establish a per
manent congregation there.
Mrs. Garfield is said to be overwhelmed
.byher correspondence. Letters come to her
from every part ot the country and upon every
conceivable topic Every communication she
receives is given careful attention, and fre
quently a pleasant letter of some length is sen.
in answer.
Mr. Calber Marshall, R. a., has placed
his resignation in the hands of the President ot
the Royal Academy, and will forthwith join
the ranks of the "retired," Ho is the Nestor
of the Royal Academy, having been elected
associate in 1S44 and full academician in 1852,
18 years before Mr. Hook, who now becomes
the senior member of the academy.
Prince Victor, of Hohenlohe, has com
pleted the plaster cast of the life-size statue of
the Princess of Wales, subscribed for by En
glish ladles. When the marble statue U fin
ished it will be placed in tho Royal College of
Music Prince Victor is said to have succeeded
in producing a striking presentment of the
Princess. She is reproduced in the doctor's cap
and gown belonging to her Dublin musical de
gree. .
IOWA FARMERS.
They Oppose tho Force BUI and Ask Their
Senators to Vote Against It.
Des Moines, Ia., Dec 30. Tho farmers of
Iowa, regardless of party lines, do not take
kindly to tho force bill. Carlisle Alliance Sat
urday passed a resolntion in opposition to it,
and asking the United States Senators from
Iowa to defeat the bill and save the nation's
rights of franchise. This resolution fairly rep
resents the farmers of Iowa.
Erobably Do Not Expect Anything.
BuHalo Express.
It is announced that the New York and Lon
don committees on the Virginia State debt
have definitely agreed on a plan which it is ex
pected the Virginia Legislature will readily
approve. The inference is that the creditors
won't ask a cent The Virginia Legislature
is only about two-thirds as honest as the Ms
hone Legislatures used to be.
Extra Healthful Occupation.
Philadelphia Times.
"I know dual means twice, but what does a
dual life mean?"
"Probably that a French duelist lives twice
as long as other people."
Going toTJegln Over Again.
Philadelphia Times.
Gladstone has entered on his 82d year. In
cidentally it may be noted that he lately pur
chased a second-hand copy of Cobbett's "Ad
vice to Yonng Men."
DEATHS OP A DAY.
Daniel Curran, Centenarian.
rEFECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH. 1
Lima, Dec 30. Daniel Curran, aired 108 years,
died at midnight at his home on North Jackson
street this city. He retained full'possesslon of
all his faculties to the last, and was the oldest
person in Northwestern Ohio, If not in the entire
fjtate. He leaves a brother in Bellelbntc who Is
100 years of age. He was born in Ireland, but had
lived In this country 75 years, and in this city S3
years.
Judge John Mitchell.
Des Moines, 1a Dec. 30. Judge John Mitchell
died at 1 o'clock yesterday, after a brief illness of
typhoid pneumonia. He was born at Claremont
N. H., February 28. 1330, and located In this city
In 1850, where he. has since resided. Ho was a
mcmDer of the Legislature in 1861-62, and Judge of
the Circuit Court 12 years, beginning in 1869. He
filled other offices with fidelity, and was greatly
respected. i
B. B. Brashear.
11. B. Brashear, husband of Julia, and the ven
erable father of Prof. John A. Brashear, died
yesterday 1 ithe 74th year ol his age. Funeral
services will be held at the residence of his son,
George A. Brashear. 3203 Sarah street, Southside,
to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock. Burial at
Brownsville, Thursday, train leaving the Union
depot, this city, at 7:5o o'clock A. jr.
Ex-Judge Simon Wisdcin.
East Liverpool, o., Dec 30. Ex-Judge Simon
Wlsdeln, one of the oldest members or the Colum
biana county bar, died suddenly to-day of heart
disease, at his home in New Lisbon. He was a
prominent Mason, and at one time represented
this district In the State Senate.
Rev. J. It Walker.
Adrian, Mien., Dec. 30. Kev. J. B. "Walter,
Secretary of the Board of Ministerial Education
of the Methodist Protestant Church, and well
known throughout the denomination, Is dead.
SNAP SHOTS IN SEASON.
When you hear of a person dying from over
work make some inquiries about his behavior
during leisure hours.
This is the season for looking backward. Of
course, you look forward all the while. If you
don't you ought Some one a long while ago
said that the people who have no history are
happy. Well, if this is true Pittsburg should
be haopy. Nothing wonderful has been crowded
into its history the past 12 months. No sorrows
or sadness, no startling crimes or casualties
have helped to make the year historic red
paged, lurid. But all the same, It has pros
pered and progressed in a deliberate, perma
nent, pleasant matter-of-fact way. Fortune
has smiled sweetly on .this speck on the
map of a great nation. The average
memory can paint the dark side of
tho fading picture Of course, many have
.fallen beneath the sha-p scythe swung by dis
ease and time, but the harvest was not above
the average. The elements have been
gentle fire, flood and gale have come and
gone, but neither the gaps made nor the
wreckage left were unsightly nor monumental.
But in the upward and onward line the city
is full of memory marks fine fingerboards
along the road of the vanishing year. " Tho
old cronies who delight in conning over the
story of tho past who figure out cycles by the
world's calamities, who date a new era with a
disaster, who punctuate periods with a blotch
of blood or an epidemic, are surely at sea this
time. They n ill have to date their memories with
tho figures chiseled by willing hands on the"
polished block3 occupying the place of honor
on the facades reared by Commerce, from the
driving of a spike in a bright strip of steel,
from the razing of a landmark and the rearing
of a business mart, from the disappear
ance of a bare spot and the appearance of a
happy cluster of homes from the Is, not from
the Was, from the joys, not from the sorrows.
Happy, indeed, the people who can count their
woes on the fingers of ono hand and cover a
broad tablet with the proceeds of prosperity.
May tho coming be bright as the going year.
After you marry don't forget your best
Little Bat, the scout who found Big Foot's
band, should be credited with a home run.
Iryou are prepared for the unexpected it
never happens.
The Exposition gasser has sand, at all
events.
If you want to find a warm wave go to the
Gnlf stream.
Marriage means self-denial, and self-denial
means happiness.
In hot weather most of us aro victims of the
sweating system.
The Chicago plan of breaking banks by run
ning into them with guns and tagging the
boodle is bound to create a panic wherever tried.
Take Things Easy.
If tho winter winds feel raw,
And it's breszr.
Or if a baleful thaw
Makes you sneezy.
Don't worry, fuss or bustle,
Don't fly around and hustle,
Take it easy.
If you run with all your might
Breath gets wheezy.
If you think that life's a fight
You're uneasy.
Don't sigh or borrow sorrow
From the region of To-morrow,
Take it easy.
The opera glass is a friend of realism.
We cannot marry a sister, you know, and
possibly this is the reason why some Pitts
burgers object to mating with Allegheny.
When Ere made the first bad play she was
hissed.
The Standard has gobbled all the tank ships.
It has got most of the earth and it is after the
water now.
Policemen are frequently cornered, thanks
to rapid transit and business bustle.
Practice on tho One.
Soon he who slings a rapid pen
Will frequently be caught
Swearing o'er his ledger when
He makes another naught
The ripest fruit falls first and spoils soonest
New Year's Day will be about nine and a
quarter hours long, according to the astrono
mers. The callers will doubtless measure it by
the regulation twenty.four standard.
Courtroom doors are frequently opened to
admit guilt.
The longest straw carries the lightest head.
What will a steamship be called when it is
propelled by electricity?
A woman of note Patti.
When there is a run on a snow bank the
snow always makes a deposit
Builders frequently figure on a slate roof.
It is natural for tho girl who misses a dance
to be hopping mad.
The Weather's Fault.
When the sun shines bright
And caves are dripping,
It's a common sight
To see folk slipping.
The boy with new gum boots always hunts
the deepest slush.
A good farm is always furrowed with care.
The Indian war has at last reached the shoot
ing and scalping stage. The slaying has opened
with the sleighing.
Grain has beards, but the honest farmers
who raise them are the ones who get shaved.
Talk love to your wife once in a while. It
recalls old times and pleases your best friend.
Before liberty is guara ateed tho laws must
be rigidly enforced.
The young man proposes and tho young maid
or the old man disposes.
When the hen accomplishes its object it
makes such a f us3v about It that it is forced to
lay another egg. Some people act just like
the hen.
If happiness conld be bartered the world
would be filled with people seeking it
Jealousy has sharpened more knives and
pulled more triggers than honor, ana with
deadlier effect
When January ends you will see more day
light The days will be fifty rr.inutes longer.
The more you try to hide your faults the
more people talk about them.
THE tramp will hunt lodging but not work,
Willie Winkle.
A HOVEL WILL,
Several Pages of a Bank Ledger Offered for
Probate In the Court.
v Baltimore, Dec 30. In the Orphans' Court
to-day C. C. Schriver, President of tho Metro
politan Savings Bank, offered for probate as
the last will and testament of Rebecca Powell
two pages cnt from the bank ledger containing
an entrv in favor of Rebecca Pou ell, deceased,
and Bishop Curtis, of Wilmington.
The entry provided that in the event of the
death of Rebecca Powell all her money then
in the bank should go to Bishop Curtis. At the
hearms to-day the attorney for the bank and
counsel for Bishop Cunls contended for the
probate of the will. This was opposed by
connsel for the brother and sister ot Rebecca
Powell. The Court refused to probate the will
and granted time for the filing of a caveat
Rebecca Powell was a colored woman.
Punishment Fits the Crime.
New York EvcuIur World. 3
Anybody who will spring spurious lymph on
the market should be filled with' it till he is as
loggy as the frog of Calaveras county. There
are gome frauds too vile for words.
IN SOCIETTS DOMAIN.
A Bound or Festivities Caused byjthe Visit
of the Harvard Boys Concert, Reception
and Banquet Weddings and Other So
ciety Affairs or Yesterday.
The advent of the Harvard Glee, Banjo and
Mandolin Clubs in Pittsburg caused a decided
ripple among the fashionable circles and the
previous organization of a Harvard Club com
posed of about 20 of the most prominent gen
tlemen of the city, graduates of that conserva
tive university. The President of the new clnb
is Mr. John H. Ricketson. and the Sec
retary G. Blair Painter. These gen
tlemen, with Henry Chalfant, eonstitnted
a committee for the reception and
entertainment of the strangers who visited the
city under the most flattering auspices, and
were, by Messrs. Painterand Chalfant, escorted
from the depot to the Dnquesne Club House,
and later in the evening to Carnegie Hall,
where they gave a thoroughly enjoyable con
cert. The audience was strictly a carriage assenfb
lage, and while evening dress did not prevail to
the exclusion of handsome street costumes, it
predominated and bonnets were in almost every
instance removed.
The "Glees." with L. S. Thompson leader,
opened the programme with "Cannibal Idyl."
"Birdlmg m the Linden Tree." and "Tom, Tom
tho Piper's Son." The Banjo Club under the
leadership of G. L. Osgood, Jr., followed with a
Scotch dance.
A Glee serenade, with the solo by Mr.
Williams, awakened anew the applause that
had greeted the previous members and which
was continued for the college songs, "Catas
trophe," "Mrs. Craigm's Daughter." with Mr.
Wendell for the solo part and "Mulligan's
Corps Cadets."
Ibe Mandolin Club closed the first part of the
programme with "In Old Madrid," and scored
a signal success. R. T. Whitehouse is leader
of tho andoIin Clnb. Part second was com
posed of popular selections hy the three clubs,
and was closed with "Fair Harvard."
An informal reception was given the yonng
gentlemen at the conclusion of the entertain
ment, by the patronesses of the affair, Mrs. J.
W. Chalfant. Mrs. J. H. Ricketson. Mrs. M. W.
Watson, Mrs. A. E. V. Painter, Mrs. C. L.
J itzhugh, Mrs. H. K. Porter, Mrs. M. K. Moor
head. Mrs. V. G. Park, Mrs. George W. Dil
worth. Mrs. Wynn R. Sowell. Mrs. J. B. Oliver
and Mrs. Harry Darlington.
The newly formed Harvard Alumni tendered
their guests a banquet at the Dnquesne Clnb,
for which the spacious dining room was artist
ically decorated. The banqueters numbered
about 70 and the entire time between the close
of the concert and the 3 o'clock train was con
sumed in feasting and toasts. The strangers,
oO in number, departed on the early train for
Washington. D. C, where they givea concert
to-night.
HANDEL'S BEAUTIFUL 0EAT0EI0.
The Messiah Rendered by tho Mozart Club
at Old City Hall.
"That wa3 never sung with more spirit nor
with greater perfection," was the enthusiastic
comment of a well-known music lover as the
members of the Mozart Club finished the
chorus "For Unto Us a Child is Born," at the
concert given last evening at Old City Hall.
The occasion was the rendition of Handol's
masterly and inspiring oratorio, "The Messiah,"
by Pittsburg's successful musical organization
as given at its second concert in this, its thir
teenth season of uninterrupted prosperity and
ever-increasing popularity under the skillful
direction of Prof. James P. McCollum. The
soloists were Mrs. Genevra Johnstone-Bishop,
the celebrated Chicago soprano; Miss Margaret
P. Frazer. whoso beautiful contralto never
fails to win appreciation, Harry B. Brockett
whose reputation as a tenor Is well knonnin
this city and elsewhere, and John A Stronss,
who is the possessor of a bass voice of remark
able quality.
Almost all the space in tho large hall was oc
cupied by representative people of the two
cities and their suDurbs, and from the liberal
manner in which the applause was given each
Eerformance, it may be taken by a privilege
roader than inference that the, renditions of
the intricate and difficult parts of Handel's
great work were satisfactory and beyond the
reach of criticism otherwise than technical.
LITTLE MISSION W0EKEES
Hold an Interesting Meeting in the Smith
field Street M. E. Church.
The Mission bands of the M. E. churches of
the Pittsburg Conference held their annual
convention yesterday in the Smitbfiel i Street
M. E. Chnrch. There are in the Conference 40
societies, with a total membership of about
1,100, and they were well represented at the
meeting. At the morning session, after mnsic
and invocation, reports of the various Secre
taries were heard. During the year the sub
ordinate bands have raised tor the mission
cause SI.794 25. besides sendingmany boxes con--
taimng usciul articles to lorelgn mission fields.
At 12 o'clock intermission was taken for lunch
eon, which was served by the yonng ladies of
the Smithfleld Street Church.
At the afternoon session the exercises were a
continuation of the foreuoon's programme.
Some time was devoted to hearing verbal re
ports of the progress and condition of the
different bands and societies. The rest of the
time was given to music recitations and dia
logues by the children of the different bands.
A QUIET HOME WEDDING.
Mr. James S. Henry and Miss Mary C. Rein
hart Married Last Night
The wedding of Miss Mary C. Reinbart and
Mr. James S. Henry, the well-known newspaper
correspondent occurred last evening. Ic was
a home wedding, and very private, owlngto the
recent death of "the groom's mother. Rev. D.
Jones, of the First M. P. Church, was the
officiating clergyman. The bride is the daugh
ter of the well-known artist, Mr. J. McH. Rein
hart, and is herself of prominent artistic ten
dencies, a member of the School of Design.
The young lady is tall and graceful, a bright
brunette, and of winning manner. The groom
is one of the brightest of tho Washington cor
respondents, and deservedly popular among
members of the newspaper profession.
Many handsome gifts were tendered the
young couple, among them a valuable one from
the groom's fellow correspondents at Washine
ton. Mr. and Mrs. Henry departed on the 8:30
train for the capital.
Miss Maldle Slebenlck Entertains.
One of the delightful sequels to the Harvard
concert was the dancing party given by Miss
Maidie Siebenick. with her aunt Mrs. Joseph
Brown, as chaperon. It was a large and bril
liant assemblage of the younger society people
that graced the home of Miss Siebenick. and.
amid flowers and fragrance, bright lights and
delightful music, danced the hours merrily
away. Refreshments of the most delightful
order were a feature of the elegant little affair.
A Southside Supper and Social.
The members of the Young People's Society
of Christian Endeavor, of the Southside Pres
byterian Church, gave their annual New Year
snpper and social last evening in the church
parlors. The event was a pleasing success in
every respect.
Social Chatter.
The McConnell-Wilson wodding this even
ing. Mrs. C. L. McCutcbeon, of Neville street
gave a euchre party last evening.
The Allegheny Cotillion will dance at the
Monongahela House this evening.
Mrs. Samuel C. Walker, of Ridge avo
nue, gives a "four o'clock" this afternoon.
Mrs. Nathan McDowell, of Fifth avenue,
gave a'very elegant dinner last evening.
The first of the three Sewickley Assembly
balls will be given to-night at Choral Hall.
Miss Flora Dietrich, of the Moorhead
school, was married yesterday to Mr. Kyle.
Miss Gertie Hemphill, of; Sandusky
street, gavo a tiddledy wink party last evening.
A children's party at Mrs. James Red
man's, in Crafton, will be a delightful affair
to-night
The Sloan-Rankin wedding at Braddoctc to.
night will take a nnmber of Pittsburgers up
that way.
The Chalfant reception at the Dnquesne
Clubhouse to-night will probably be the biggest
event of the season.
The second annual snpper will bo given in
the Buena Vista Street M. E. Church to-night
An old-fashioned Methodist watch meeting will
usher the New Year in.
A reception and tea party under the au
spices of St. Malachi's Total Abstinence So
ciety at Lafayette Hall last evening was a suc
cessful and pleasant affair.
The New Year's reception announced to be
given, by Mrs. Judge Over, of Sewickley, is in
stead to bo given by MrsChas. E. Corneliu?, of
that place, in honor of her niece, Miss Mary C.
Over.
The Tuesday Night Euchre Club will meet
this evening at the residence of Miss Elizabeth
Graff, on Beatty street East End. Card play
ing will be dispensed with and games suitable
to New Year's Eve will be Indulged in.
Miss Mary Painter, tho sweet little
daughter of Mrs, Park Faintor, will he hostess
to a dancing party this evening. The music
will be furnished by mandolins. The young
hostess is spending vacation at home from her
school at Pelbani Manor, up the Hddson.-
THE TOPICAL TALKER.
Emulated Lot's Wife.
A colored man was cleaning the snow off a
sign above a store on Wood street yesterday
about mid-day. It was at the second story, and
the porter had only a small ledge to stand upon
while he removed the snow with a long shovel.
Naturally he concentrated his attention on
maintaining his balance and shoveling the
snow. Where the snow went or1 whom it hit
was not his business. Consequently the pedes
trians had some narrow escapes.
Finally a lady, dressed in a costly seal dolman
and crowned with a fashionable fair-weather
bonnet, came along. A shovelful of snow came
down as she was passing, and just grazed her
nose and spattered the front of her sealskin.
Instead or escaping as quickly as possible she
stopped and looked up, and a nice mess of half
melted snow with soot sance hit her fnll in the
face, drenched her shonlders and rained her
bonnet. It was unrighteous and deplorable,
bnt the crowd which speedily collected laughed
at the ruins.
Looking Ahead.
Early the other morning a newly-married
man arrived home in a state of mild inebriation.
His wife beheld his irregular progress uo the
stairs, and was alarmed. She had no acquaint
ance with such phenomena.
George." she said, "wh at is the matter?
You are ill, I know!"
By that time he had reached the landing out
side his bedroom door where his wife stood.
'Shall I send for a doctor, George?" she
asked, as she took him by the arm and steadied
him.
"N-n-no, my d-d-dear. I don' wan' a doctor,
but if," and he waved his hand, "these s-symp-toms
don change may s-s-send f-for a snake
charmer!"
Senator Quay is in good health no matter
what some people may say. A party of Pitts-
burgers visited him yesterday morning at his
homo in Beaver, and I have their word for it
that he Is well and in good spirits. He will be
In Pittsburg to-morrow night ana will go on to
Washington probably on Friday morning.
Among those who visited Senator Quay yes
terday were Chief Brown, of the Department of
Public Safety; U. S. Immigration Commissioner
Layton ana Mr. Dovey, the K. of L. leader. It
is tolerably certain that the general political
situation was discussed, and while the exact
words of Senator Quay cannot be given, it may
bo stated that he thinks the Cloture and Elec
tion bills will both be passed.
Under Cover, So to Speak.
"Mackintosh and boots are a blessing to the
man of narrow means," said a victim of per
petual financial stringency yesterday.
"Why?"
"They cover a multitude of deficiencies in
one's attire," was the reply. "If they could be
worn in summer a man might easily dispense
with the rest of his" clothes. In the winter a
man can wear the shabbiest of clothes, wind a
muffler aronud his throat in lieu of collar and
tie, and with a mackintosh and a pair of boots,
defy the world to say that he is not well dressed.
I invested in a mackintosh solely for economi
cal reasons. My clothes are good enongb for
office use but nothing more; they are not in
shape for public exhibition. I am a victim of
the prevailing' monetary tightness, and I got
the mackintosh and boots to cover defects I
couldn't afford to remedy."
Snow and Sarcasm.
Over in Allegheny the snow lies in great
drifts, and the city apparently is making no at
tempt to clean the streets. A prominent Pitts
burg official remarked to me, as we dodged the
glaciers and crevices on Federal street yester
day, that Pittsburg's policy ot carting away the
snow prevented such a deplorable condition of
the sidewalks in the larger city.
"When all the arrangements are perfected
Pittsburg will not have any trouble with
snow," he continued.
"What do you mean?"
"Simply that Mayor Gourley will not allow it
to snow except in a few streets, may be when
he gets the city into thorough running order."
A Rational Parrot
A parrot of tender years but singular discre
tion has been exhibiting something very like
rational powers to his owners, who are Pitts
burgers. From time to time lately he has been
given small bones to pick for parrots relish
and need a little meat in winter time. After
cleaning every scrap of meat off a bone Poll
wonld make a plaything ol It,' ana so accident
ally one day he dropped it into his drinking
dish, which was half fnll of coffee. The liquid
moistened the bone and the gristle attaching to
it, and this Polly soon discovered. Now, when
ever he gets a bone, bis first operation is to
drop it into the coffee, and there let it soak for
a time. Lately, too, he has taken to trying simi
lar experiments with the pebbles which are
mixed with the sand on the bottom of his cage.
Apparently, he thought the pebbles would be
affected like tho bones, and if a parrot can feel
disgust he surely showed it in his pnzzled air,
when he discovered the pebbles remained a3
hard as ever.
AMERICAN CHEMISTS MEET.
They Hold Their Second General Conven
tion at Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, Dec 30. The second cen
eral meeting of the American Chemical Soci
ety opened here to-day at the University of
Pennsylvania.
A large number of distinguished cbemi3ts
from various parts ot the country were pres
ent. Several interestine papers were read,
among them one by H. A. Weber, of Col am
bus. O., entitled "Note on Certain Reactions
for Tyroxticon."
COAL PEICES UNTOUCHED.
The Sales Agents Meet and Resolve to Re
strict Production.
New York, Dec 30. The coal sales agents
met tn-day, and. after a harnionious disenssion
of the sitnation, decided to restrict production
for the month of January to 2,500,000 tons, but
prices were left unchanged.
Another meeting will be held Jannary 15 to
decide on the policy for the coming year.
Margaret Mather's Engagement
Margaret Mather and her company, including
Mr. Otis Skinner, will be the attraction at the
Bijou next week. On Monday and Tuesday
nights she will present Mr. Young's translation
of Jules Barker's French drama, "Joan ot
Arc." Miss Mather essays the title role. The
piece follows the old legend very closely. We
have Joan as a girl in her village of Damremy,
a victim of the assaults of marauders. The
vision comes to her of the angels commanding
her to go forth and save France, and one of the
esuecially fine effects is in tho third act the
taking of Orleans. The worshipers of eood
music will also not forget that Gounod, the
great composer, wrote the incidental numbers,
of which there are many. The rest of the week
the repertoire will be as follows: Wednesday
matinee and Satnrdav night, "As You Like
It;" Wednesday night Thursday night and
Saturday matinee. "Romeo and Juliet." and
"Leah" Friday. The sale of seats commences
this (Wednesday) morning, as to-morrow is a
holiday. All of the scenery, properties, and
costumes used at the Fifth Avenue Theater in
New Yoric will be used here.
Where the Politicians All Agree.
Washington Post
There is one point on which the politicians all
agree, and that is that the internal strif o is all
confined to the other f arty.
THE OLD YEAR DIES.
The dying old year pallid lies
Upon a bier heaped thick and high
With faded roses and their thorns.
And some weep as they watch him die.
And these are they to whom be gave
Nights of sweet rest and happy morns.
And, though they withered in their time.
The roses with the fewest thorns.
They wep in 1 ear his reign once o'er
Such lovely flowers they'll find more.
And some there are who see him die
With tearless eyes lodging to hear
The joyful bells uud merry shouts
That hill the hapD young New iear.
And these are those who mong his gifts
But little Joy unshaded found.
To whom he never threw a rose
'that sharoest thorns did not surround.
They wait In hope his reign once o'er
Such bitter thorns they'll find no more.
And some with sight Just dimmed, and llpf
That show the coming of a smile,
Look on him with regretful gaze
1 heir bearts untouched by grief the while,
Aud these arc they who or dark clouds
Aud sunshine haTe had cqunl share,
W'ho for each care a gladness found.
And with each thorn a rose most lair.
They are content his reign once o'er,
Ofblm who comes to ask no more.
Margaret Etyngt
CUEI0DS C0HDESSAT10KS. '
There are about 32,000 arrests each year
in Paris, and of those arrests 35 are assassins.
Mr. Sudden is a photographer at Jeffer
son City, Mo., who makes a specialty of instan
taneous pictures.
The cultivation of oysters along New
Hampshire's short coast line is about to he at
tempted by tho Stato Fish Commission.- ,
A Zanesville yonng man has perfected
an electric motor which, when started and the
circuit shut off, will go till it wears out.
It is reported that Edison is now at work
nPn a patent appliance which will make the
hello" girl in the telephone office a useless
luxury.
The snow in Cincinnati had the effect of
burning out the motors of the cars on all the
double trolley electric roads. The single trolley
system is not affected.
The Van Eensselaer's family dining
table, at which Washington, Lafayette and
other dignitaries have dined, is owned in Akron
by descendants of the Rensselaers.
A social innovation in New York City
is the "blue-ribbon invitation" to dinners, indi
cating (by a knot of bine ribbon in the lower
lef t-nand comer) that wine will not be served.
Dr. Bang, of Copenhagen, considers it
probable that a large proportion of tubercular
(scrofulous) affections of the cervical glands
in children owe their infection to tuberculous
milk.
The class yell of the young'ladies of the
freshman class of Colby University 13 stated to
be as follows: "Co-ordination ha, ha, ha, tes
saras kai enenekonta dux f emina lacta. rah.
rah, rah."
Ernest Meyer, a defaulting bookkeeper
of Cincinnati, having escaped from a consta
ble, had the impudence to telephone that fact
to the authorities, after which he left for parts
unknown.
The Pope has ordered the enlargement
of the reading rooms and other improvements
in the Vatican. The new Leonine Library will
JS0?! ready, and in it will be placed about
300,000 books.
The sale of fancy garters for New Year
presents is reported to be heavy in the North
ern and Eastern States. West and South not
heard from, but the fad is likely to spread all
over the Republic.
The most expensive Legislature iu the
world 13 that of France. It costs annually
S-SJ3-600--000- The Spanish Parliament costs
0.000: the Italian, 30,000; the Belgian, 5200,
000; the Portuguese, 8150,000.
A ring which General H. J. Hunt lost
near Fairfax station, Va., during the war was
recently found imbedded In the hoof of a cow
owned by a dairy farmer m that locality, and
was returned to the owner in Washington.
A beggar's journal has been started in
Paris and meets with success. The cost of a
nnmber is 2 cents, and it contains articles on
the best methods of pursuing the business and
advertisements of use to those soliciting
chanty.
A Cincinnati man has been entertain
ing himself by connecting a wire to the tele
phone wire and listening to what passed over
the wire. Friday nieht he got bis line too
close to the light wire, the result was a shock.
He is no longer curious.
James Dick, of Canton, wa3 run down
by an engine; he laid flat on the track and as
the engine backed over him he grasped the ec
centric rod. The engine was stopped and he
was taken out none the worse, save that his
black hair bad turned perfectly white.
Lake View, lit, a new village on
Schoodic Lake, on the line of the Canadian
Pacific, is one of the places that knows how to
appreciate a railroad. June 1, I8S0, it was a
wilderness: now it has a spool factory nearly
finished, a hotel, store and postoffice and sev
eral pretty cottages.
A "wild man of the woods" has been
discovered in the district near Rouen known as
Petit Quevilly. This person lives in the forest
by preference, and enjoys frosty weather, al
though he is in rag3. He receives a pittance
from his mother, which enables him to buy
bread, meat and tobacco.
Certain New York firms have been try
ing good-looking women as bill collectors. So
far the scneme has been unsuccessful. Three
of the women married inside a week, and four
more are engaged, while the balance sympa
thize with the poor fellows who have run into
debt, and have not collected a cent
In speaking of the minute parasites
which are f onnd in the hairy part of a tiger's
foor, a scientist says: "They constitute ono of
the roost wonderful curiosities I know of in tha
animal world. The parasites aro so small as to
be almost invisible to the naked eye, and ye:
each is a perfect counterpart of the tiger."
A large prairie wolf, said to have es
caped from a circus a year ago. was shot by
John McConnell, of Montgomery, N. Y., one
night recently while it was making a meal of
one of his fowls. One morning previous to this
Mr. McConnell discovered the carcasses of 31
fowls, some of which had been partly eaten.
Maine not only sends Europe some of
its best apples bnt is now exporting the perfume
of the rose. In the cargo of the steamer
Parisian that sailed on Friday are nine large
cases of '-wild rose pot poum" made by a
Portland firm, largely of Maine wild roses.
Tbe perf nme is sold in England, Spam, Portu
gal and Australia.
Michael Woods, 35 years old, of Palmer,
Mass., eloped the other day with a 15-year-old
girl, and they were married. Tbe girl's parents
swore ont a warrant against Woods for abduc
tion, and the detective found him in bed smok
ing a pipe while his bride was working in a
mill for 71 cents a day. His romance was
ronnded out by a sentence of eight months in
the house of correction.
The greater part of the original forest in
Maine has been cut over, but people well ac
quainted with the snbject say there is as much
land in trees or in clearings left to grow np to
woods as atany time since the State was settled.
A Dayton farmer is also qnoted as saying that
tho logs which are cut in York county this
winter are better and bigger than those cut 23
years ago, and that there is in tbe county more
acres ot woodland now, mostly small growth,
than there was 30 yews ago.
It is announced that the New York Can
cer Hospital, at Eighth avenue and One Hun
dred and Sixth street, will soon receive an ad
ditional sum amounting to $40,000 from the es
tate of its founder. Mrs. George W. CuIIum.
Mrs. CuIIum was active in the organization of
the hospital about seven years ago. By her
will she left to it her Rincon Hill property in
San Francisco, and some land west of Central
Park, near tbe hospital building. The entire
bequest will amount to about $175,000. The
money previously received has been used to
assist in the erection of bcildings and the pur
chase of their sites.
There are 184 town3 in Maine that re
port no abandoned farms and 313 which have
one or more apiece. The total nnmber of such
farms is given as 3,318 or an average of about
6 per town. The average nnmber per town ia
largest in Oxford and Franklin counties, where
it is 15 and U respectively, and smallest in
Aroostook and Hancock, in each of whicb it is
2. The average in Androscogctn is 8. Tbe total
acreage of these farms is 251,513 or 67 7-10 acra
per farm, and they are valued for taxation at
81.268,769. an average of $1 99 per acre. Tbo
largest acreaee is in Oxford county 11,420,
Somerset coming next with 31,219, Androscog
gin's proportion being 8,033.
OUR STATE WITS.
When reliting a joke, though he he full ot
mirth, i
The relator should try to retain It;
For. no matter bow good. It deprives it of worth
IT the narrator has to explain It.
-Oil City Btiizariti
A household journal says: "The tooth
some mince pie has quite a pedigree." We Knew
there was something In it mighty hard to digest
but never once suspected it was a pedigree.
XorrUlown JJerald.
Jay Gould says "the big head is a terrible
disease." But as long as a man can get his hat
on without a shoe horn carrying several trunk
lines in the crown of It at that be needn't worry
about doctors. Scranton Republican.
If the Indians are now dancing they are
doubtless doing so to keep themselves warm.
Chambersbxtra Repository.
"It's absurd to talk of the McKinley, bill
raislngtbe prices of dress goods."
"Wed, itdocs!" j-;
"Not at all. I notice that ladies' evening
dresses at least are as low as ever." PMlattetpMa
Times. 1
One of the geologists who are to meet to- ;
day In Washington Is to read a paper on "Fossil
Plants," and some persons will expect him to In
clude a few remarks aboav a famous unmotorabla
motor. FtiiladetpMa Ledger.
A Chinaman who died recently at Port
land. Ore., left an estate valued at 13)0,000. This
(act will serve to dissipate the popular fallacy
that boiled shirts ara unpopular In that rcxiou. I
rnilactclpMa Frist.
The servant girl in New. York who
thought she could soar tried It- She dldi't" J0f a
, .1 -DhtlnAMlnMn rait. ' -
UBh OUO 13 OV4V. ,.M.q.,.- wwa
2 i