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THE PITTSBURG .DISPATCH - .TUESDAY NOVEMBER-. :.17,.f 1891rf
p-
ESTABLISnKD FEBRUARY 8. IMS.
Vol. 4. No, 33. vnterea at nttsbnrg Postofflcs,
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FHTSBUKG. TUESDAY, NOV. 17, 1891.
TWELVE PAGES
NEEDS ONLY ZEAL AND LIBERALITY.
If Pittsburg does not put her best foot
foremost for the Republican National Con
vention, it will be from a strange under
aluingof her own advantages, combined
with a singular want of perception of the
best opportunity she has had for years.
The great city whose push and prestige
would as usual have jostled all competit
ors out of the race Chicago has form
ally declined to compete this 3-ear. San
Francisco is the most ostentatious entry,
offering free transportation for delegates
' and a fund of 550,000 for entertainment
But San Francisco is out of the question"
by reason of distance. There should be no
compulsion upon delegates to devote three
weeks of their time to nominating a ticket
That is what a trip to San Francisco and
back, with a week thrown in for the con
vention, wouldmean. The scenery en route
is beautiful; the California wines and
fruits are worthily famous, and the
climate at certain seasons quite as "glori
ous" as the poets and orators of the Slope
are wont to assert but if the delegates all
over the country are tc be limited to the
class whom it will suit to give three
weeks' time to the nominating business,
this exclusion of all others will neither be
popular nor a good precedent
With Chicago out voluntarily, and San
Francisco out by the logic of circum
stances, there are only Cincinnati, Sfe
Louis, Minneapolis and Omaha to con
sider. The two former cities have had
their share of political courtesy and con
sideration in times past They have not
been lucky in the fate Which befell the
tickets nominated there; and they are not
a? well prepared to move the crowds of
visitors as Pittsburg h, with its unap
proached rapid transi; systems. As for
Minneapolis and Omaha there is no sens
in dragging the great majority of the dele
sates, who will come from the New Eng
land, Middle and Southern States, on a
three days' journey when Pittsburg is
within twelve to twenty-four hours' reach
of them.
Such are some of the practical ar
guments presenting themselves for Pitts
burg. The sentimental one of this being
the birthplace of the party will count for
something, also ana about all that re
mains is for the people of this town to
guarantee a bigger f nnd than any other
point for the entertainment of the dele
gates. San Francisco offers $50,000 but
a the newspapers of Pittsburg alone offer
about 510,000 as their own contribution,
the hotels and merchants and manufac
turers and great special interests, such as
the railroads, coal, coke and petroleum,
should readily put the figure up to $100,
030. The advantages to the city of having
50,000 to 75,000 active strangers from all
parts of the country see its development
and the splendid opportunities it offers
for new capital and brains will far exceed
any sum it can be called on to contribute
for the securing of the convention. The
movement is, therefore, one of real im
portance, and should be forwarded with
the utmost zeal and liberality.
A POSSIBLE DILEMMA.
The rumor that Italy lias taken advan
tage of the strained relations between the
United States and Chile to renew her de
mand for apology and indemnity for the
New Orleans mob murders may be a mere
locrfcach, but it arouses interesting specu
lation as to the logical dilemma in which
such a demand would place the Adminis
tration. How would the State Department deal
with a double diplomatic situation of this
tort? Would it be possible to make an in
ternational issue out of a sailors' riot at
"Valparaiso while declaring that the organ
ized mob at New Orleans was without in
ternational significance? Can we claim
that the Chilean Government is responsi
ble for the former fight, and at the same
time assert that our Government has no
responsibility for the acts of the New Or
leans lynchers? The fact that consistency
is not usually deemed an essential quality
in diplomacy has been clearly recognized,
but it seems rather difficult for a diploma
tist at the same time to set up one theory
of international law for the United States
and another for Chile.
Not to speak of the ultimate difficulties
which might arise if the United States had
the navies of Italy and Chile to deal with
at the same time, the logical complication
presented by this report justifies the hope
that Italy will generously spare us this di
lemma, or that the Administration will
take the earliest steps to straighten out the
Chilean muddle.
MTCCKSSIX'L CO-OPERATION.
The discussion of co-opeiat'on is gener
ally limited by the assertion that industrial
co-operation, or the organization of work
ingmen to carry on a manufacturing enter
prise, is sure of failure. This rather dog
matic view is based on the belief that
intelligent' and consistent direction of the
enterprise cannot be secured unless the
head is principally interested in its success.
For that reason profit-sharing which leaves
the management under such a head has
received a more general indorsement
This view is not entirely unfounded,
although it is worth while to notice that it
presents as valid an objection to industrial
enterprises in corporate form as to co-operative
organization. But there are some
very striking Instances to prove that the
rule is not universal. In England working
men have given much attention to co-operation,
and a remarkable example of its
success is presented in the opening of the
mammoth boot and shoe factory at
Leicester. This factory covers six acres,
the buildings and machinery cost $250,000,
with a capacity of 50,000 pairs of boots
per week, and it has a working capital of
31,000,000, which has been created by the
earnings and enterprise of co-operating
workmen.
It is evident that only a few such suc
cesses as this are needed to shake the
dogma .that workingmen cannot organize
to be their own employers. It may remain
the case that the organization will require
the most careful guarding against negli
gence or dishonesty in this direction; but
the fact that such success is within the
reach of co-operation when properly organ
ized is an important one. The effect on
labor problems is readily perceived. An
Eastern journal says with reference to it
that "the capitalist per se disappears by
absorption into the workingman," but
another way of stating the same thing is
that the unattached or floating working
man disappears by becoming a small
capitalist and his own employer.
Certainly every such establishment as
the one at Leicester is an incitement to
the pursuit of the co-operative experi
ment in the hope of producing a complete
solution of the labor problem.
THE BRAZILIAN CONTKST.
The efforts of the representatives of
Fonseca, and the organs of Brazilian ab
solutism in' the United States, to suppress
the uprising against usurpation so far as
publication of it is concerned meets with an
insuperable obstacle in the obstancy of the
Nationalists, who keep on capturing towns
and extending their opposition to the dic
tatorship. The advices from Buenos Ayres, which
is the nearest large city to Rio Grande do
Sul, give tolerably authentic information
that the Nationalists have taken Porto
Allegro, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul,
and are practically in complete possession
of that populous and important State.
The provisional organization of this move
ment is taking steps to extend it to other
States, while Fonseca is concentrating all
his forces to suppress it
In the geographical division of the
movement, as well as in its political
aspects, this closely parallels the Chilean
struggle. The Southern provinces, being
those where the more temperate climate
produces a more active and independent
social development than in the more trop
ical regions, takes the leadership in forci
bly opposing the usurpations of a military
dictator. Whether the same success will
attend the Brazilian contestants against
absolutism as the Chileans won is only to
be determined by the issue of the conflict
But those who believe in the maintenance
of representative institutions will be glad
to recognize that a gallant stand is being
made for that cause in Southern Brazil
TRUE AND FALSE CHIVALRY.
The latest demonstration of "Southron
chivalry," a common fisticuff fight in a
stable between two scented scions of
bluest-blooded Blue Grass aristocratic
families one of them a son of Congress
man Breckenridge who adjourned for
the purpose in their dress suits from the
Governor' reception ball at Lexington,
will suggest to the average Kentuckian or
Southron gentleman of the old school a
most lamentable degeneracy from the
"duel under the code" in the days "befoh
the wah, sir, when, by 'gad, we did things
differently, by 'gad." To the average
Northern why not Northron gentleman
it will merely suggest that after all per
haps the best form of chivalry is that
which begins far enough back to obviate
the giving of offense.
ONLY ONE "WAY.
We have received, with a request for
careful perusal, a pamphlet written by
Rev. Samuel W. Dike, Secretary of the
JSationai Divorce Keiorm .League, on
"Uniform Legislation for Marriage and
Divorce." It sets forth, what has long
been recognized in these columns, the
necessity for uniformity, discusses at
length the obstacles in the way of Con
stitutional amendment which will bring
the subject within the purview of national
legislation, and concludes by setting forth
thte direction which the effort has taken,
namely, the appointment of State com
missions to confer with a view to securing
uniform State legislation.
We can go with the National Divorce
Reform League to the extent of regard
ing this plan as a proper one for securing
adequate study of the question, and agita
tion of its importance; but as for the hope
of securing uniformity in the marriage
and divorce legislation by separate State
action, it is a futile dream. There always
will be a wide diversity of opinion as to
what should be the legislation on these
subjects; but all will agree as to the scan
dal and public injury of a system under
which a couple may be legally married in
one State and living in violation of the
Commandment in another, or by which a
man divorced in one State may commit
bigamy by marrying elsewhere. But so
long as the subject is left to independent
State action the different social conditions
of the various States will be reflected in
the different legislation which produces
these incongruities.
The Divorce Reform League is worthy
of encouragement in its effort to study
and improve upon present conditions; but
it should understand that there is but one
way of securing uniformity of legislation,
and that is to put the subject on which
uniform ity is desired in the control of a
single legislative power.
KEEPING UP THE MISSTATEMENTS.
The persistence with which misrepre
sentations are circulated concerning the
inter-State commerce law, and especially
concerning the status of the Canadian
railroads under it, has been noted hereto
fore. But the presentation of a champion
example of the sort appears in the New
York Telegram with an iteration of the
misstatements worth noticing as a legal
phenomenon.
The article in the Telegram starts out
with the assertion that "Canadian rail
roads can make wiat rates they please to
the detriment of American lines which
must conform to the law," which is at
once characterized as an "unjust and ab
surd discrimination in favor of foreign
roads." Anyone who takes the trouble
to inform himself on the subject could
learn that the first section of the law in
question makes all its provisions apply to
the Canadian railroads doing business in
the United States equally with United
States lines, and that the effect of that
sectioiu has been affirmed by a ruling of
the inter-State Commerce Commission.
In view of that fact the repetition through
the article of assertions concerning the
"superior rights" of the Canadian rail
roads, and allowing them "privileges
which are not accorded to our own rail
roads," is shown to be purely an effort of
the imagination. It.is of a piece with the
assertion credited by the Telegram to the
president of an important railroad that
"the interstate law was intended for the
protection of American railroads," the
tact being that its entire purpose was the
protection of the American people against
the greed and misuse of corporate power.
It is the fact that the Canadian railroads
which transport freight to and from any
portion of the United States stand before
the inter-State Commerce Law on exactly
equal terms with the railroads of the
United States. The railroad president
already referredto is quoted as acknowl
edging that violations of the law are fre
quent among the railroa'ds of thistiountry.
"Yet," he says, "there is no means of
reaching the great and supreme offender
of all the Canadian railroad." This is
another triumph of imagination over facts.
There Tire exactly the same means of
reaching the offender in one case as in the
other, namely, by the penalties of fine and
damages provided in the law for both.
When those who affirm this inequality are
pinned down to an exact statement they
trytomake it good by asserting that on that
portion of the Canadian roads' traffic
arising and terminating in Canada they
are not subject to the restrictions of the
long-and short-haul clause. But in "that
respect they are on an equality not only
before the law, but in actual fact with "the
trunk lines of H19 United States which
have the same exemption on their traffic
within States having no such enactment
The real trouble between the roads of
the United States and those of Canada is
that the latter are carrying the products of
the Northwest more cheaply than our
trunk lines are willing to do. This makes
the object of , the corporations, in continu
ing the palpable mistatements concerning
the law, plain enough. But what is the
purpose of the esteemed Telegram in mis
informing its readers concerning the law?
A SILVER ANOMALY.
Mr. David A. Wells, in a recent article,
takes occasion te'present a humorous view
of the stock of silver held.in the Treasury.
It now amounts to $400,000,000. If erected
in a column one foot in diameter it would
reach above the highest mountain in the
world, being sixand a half miles in height
To move it by wagon would take a train
of 5,500 two-horse teams, or if carried by
hand it would enlist the services of 220,000
men, while one person who undertook to
count it dollar by dollar, would have a job
for eleven years.
These aids to realizing the magnitude
of the Treasury stock of silver are
given especial significance by a recent
assertion of Secretary Foster. So long
as the outstanding silver certificates
were represented to be redeemable in-this
silver, it had an obvious function, although
it contained the danger of possible return
to the silverJiasis. But now we have the
statement of the Secretary of the Treasury
that the certificates, though based on this
silver, are, by the pledge of the Govern
ment, to be redeemed in gold. In that case,
it appears that this immense stock of silver
is absolutely without use, except that of
using the Treasury funds to take the sur
plus silver out of the market Moreover,
we are confronted with the inquiry, first,
as to what is the Treasury.reserve of gold,
by which these certificates are to be re
deemed, and, second, as to what resources
the Treasury'will be able to call up, say
ten years hence, when the silver stock has
increased to nearly a thousand millions,
and fhe other cash resources of the Govern
ment have been used in accumulating it
The entire range of monetary history
contains, nothing more remarkable than
this example of an immense stock of silver
heaped up as an alleged basis for a note
circulation, which the head of the Treasury
now declares is not to be redeemed by this
silver, but by a gold reserve that, so far
as public knowledge extends, is non
existent Compliments are extended by the New
York TForfa to the distinguished editor of
tire Herald to the effect that "Mr. Bennett is
to be congratulated, upon the organization
of his great establishment which permits
him to manage it, if he so elects, from the
four quarters ofthe globe." The practice of
editing from the remote sections of the
earth has more than one exponent in New
York without exactly producing a vindica
tion; but the ubiquity which enables Mr.
Bennett to manage his paper from the four
quarters at once may be the explanation for
some of the editorial outbreaks of that
journal, which have heretofore been sup
posed to be due to the fact that Sir. Bennett
had been dining.
"How to Feed a Railway" is the title of
a new publication, -which ought to convey
valuable instruction to the corporation
managers -who have heretofore shown that
their ideas of feeding were confined to an al
most unlimited watering of the stock.
As.The Dispatch indicated, it was the
typographical error which did its wotk on
those iron ore statistics. Our esteemed cotem
porary, the Philadelphia Record, explains
that it should have said there was a decrease
of 50 cents per ton in the cost of mining
and 95 cents per ton in the value of ore at
the mines, instead of giving these figures as
percentages. This very radical difference
makes It quite evident how the richer veins
of the new regions should permit this de
crease concurrently with an increase in the
wages of miners.
The question of war at present is not
whether there will be war in Europe or a
naval contest in America, but whether there
will be a desolating, Internecine conflict be
tween the baseball organizations.
The agitation of the Poor Farm question
is bringing to the. surface numerous evi
dences that plenty of suitable land can be had
for prices much less than the recommended
$350 tract. Considering that Controller Mor
row estimates a probable deficiency In the
Treasury af the end of the fiscal year of
about $500,000, it would seem that a diversion
of some ofthe surplus proceeds from thesale
of the old farm to the relief of the taxpayers
would be more timely than throwing it
away on nn unwise and indefensible real
estate venture.'
It is singular that Uncle Jerry, in deal
ing w ith the recusant Massachusetts people,
omitted to warh'them that he may yet be
roused to eive them the worst assortment of
weathe'r he' has got in stock.
Dn. Hamilton Griffin, on whom the
the fierce sunlight of publicity throws its
glare less freqnenly than heretofore, has
permitted himself to he Interviewed in
Louisville, and assures the publfc that Mrs.
Navarro is happy; that she has no intention
of returning to the stage, and that she is not
writing a book. As Mrs. Navarro has no en
emies the news that she is not writing a hook
will be received with satisfaction that com
pensates for any disappointment over the
fact that she will not resume her profession.
"When we remember that free coinage
solves the problem of what newly married
couples shall do with their duplicate silver
presents" the - political strength of that
measure explains itself.
The people of New York built a big ac
queduet for thgir city a year or two ago,
but they omitted to provide for n constant
supply of water to fill it. The long-suffering
tax payer may bo induced by the ptesent
scarcity to put'up enough money to enable
the political contractors to construct a
water supply in proportion to the magni
tude ofthe tunnel.
The eclipse of the moon attracted some
attention where it could De observed, but it
was transient and evanescent compared
with the obscuration of the recent tiger
hunt in New York City.
Our navy .is larger than it was. but, with
business flrt in Brazil Bering Sea, Chile,
China nnd Hawaii, its employment seems to
have increased iu in'oie than due proportion
If we build more ships shall we feel the ne
cessity of watching the North Sea the Brit
ish Channel, Cronstadt, the Dardanelles,
Gibraltar and the Suez Canal?
The bitterest stab yet given is in the re
port that thoso arrests the other day were
not of Chicago Anarohists, but of Chicago
editors. The assertion that the police conld
not tell the difference between the two
leaves open a topic for debate whether it
was most severe on the police or the editors.
The German war department has re
solved that the German soldiers shall eat
American corn and rye mixed in the same
loaf. Corn is rapidly demonstrating its
claim to royal honors.
Tjie discovery by The Dispatch of one
man, who will let the city have a Poor Farm
at less than he will sell the land to anyone
else, is a Krateful compensation for the pre
vailing determination of the rest of the
county that the city must pay 75 per cent
more than the price for private purchasers.
The Conservative programme is a strong
bid-for the support of the labor element an d
the conciliation of the Irish in any way that
can be done without swallowing the Liberal
programme whole.
A Cotemporary remarks that an
American corn-meal agent could nnd a large
demand in the hungry parts of Russia at the
present time. True; but thov Russian sov
eminent is not either paying for corn or
allowing the charity of the outside world to
relieve the distress of its subjects.
The victorious pig of America is extend
ing its conquests. Austro-Hungary now
proposes to recognize his. supremacy.
BNAP SHOTS IN SEASON.
It doesn't spoil the barrel organ to knock
a few staves out of it.
People above suspicion must, of course,
stand very high.
Baedsley has conclusively demonstra
ted that a man can keep a secret.
Wheu bank stock
bound to he a run on it.
is watered there's
Before she left the dry goods store
The merchant smiled in glee;
But you can bet her hubby swore
When those goods came C. O. D.
Postal clerks who can handle males old
enough to vote just suit Harrison. ,
The Anarchists say it will take 20,000
years to reform the world. It shouldn't take
20 minutes to reform the Anarchists.
The early bird is now apt to catch a cold.
Doctors are the ones who can afford to
smile every time they see men drinking each
other's health.
Those who imagine they are close to the
throne of grace because they sit in the front
pews will some day And out their mistake.
The Salvation Army fanatics that carry
guns are hound to go over to the enemy
sooner or later.
Once she was true, but now, alack!
She's given me the cold, cold shoulder
Because I bought no sealskin sacque
To keep her back from growing colder.
All watches stop, but all are not stop
watches.
The tired actor smiles when the curtain
drops, and so do a good many in the audi
ence. Mascagni, the new composer, is a bak
er's son and is well bred.
It does seem strange that poor farms fetch
more money than good ones.
EEBTIKENT PERSONALITIES.
Mrs. Potjltney Bigelow has a million
in her own right, but she writes stories and
takes pay for them, just the same.
Prince George, second son of the Prince
of Wales, Is ill with the suteric fever, but
his physician says he is in no danger.
Scalchi and Patti don't speak nowa
days. Scalchi even goes so far as to say she
won't sing on the same stage ns Patti.
Hon, Dice; Oglesby, of Hlinois, says he
has had enough of politics. Three times
Governor of a State ought to satisfy any
body. Rev. Hosea Wise has been preaching
against vice in Illinois for 50 years, and he is
still a vigorous opponent of his satauic
majesty.
Willard, the actor, pronounces his
name with the accent an both syllables.
Since he is coining money lor his manager,
no one objects.
Robert Hoe, Jr., of printing press
fame, has a penchant for old and curious en
gravings. He has already collected $500,000
worth, hut he can afford it.
Some of the American ladies could well
follow the example sec by Lady Arthur Bus
sell. She has built and donated swimming
baths to the village in Surrey, England,
where she resides.
V. K. Vanderbilt pays a physician
$10,000 for taking a six weeks' trip with him.
It is to be presumed that the physician will
take extra good care of his patient. He will
if ho knows a good thing when he sees it.
AFTER THE CONVENTION.
If Cincinnati wants the Republican Na
tional Convention she must give a bond
that the gas supply will not fail. N. Y. Press.
San Francisco is working for both nation
al conventions next year. It is supposed to
be competing with the City of Mexico as the
only other place of equal inconveniences.
St. Louis Republic.
The Republican National Committee
should understand that there should be no
toadying to Tammanv by locating the
National nominating convention in New
York City. Chicago Inter Ocean.
New York wants both of the national
Presidental conventions. She wanted the
World's Fair, but didn't get it- Her younger
rivals are better "hustlers" when it comes
to grabbing for the plums. New Haven
News.
Chicago has the earth now, why should
she insist upon the wire fence. She has her
hands full with the AVorld's Fair and the
decent thing under the circumstances is for
hertogetoutof Omaha's way for the Repub
lican National Convention. OmaJia Bee.
The claims which Cincinnati makes for
the honor of having the next Republican
National Convention are naturally rein
forced by the splendid vote which the city
gave to the Republican candidates and the
noteworthy victory of Major McKinley in
Ohio. Chicago is not so Importunate as
usual, but Minneapolis, with the aid of St.
Paul, is making a vigorous effort to secure
the convention Boston Journal.
Ik a political point of view the metropolis
is the place of all places for the national
gathering of the Bepublican party. ,Her
newspapers are not only national but inter
national In their eirculation and influence,
and the Democratic ones are, under their
new policy, distinguished for the absolute
fairness and fullness of their reports of
political gatherings iriospectlvo of party.
New York is the place. No argument
worth considering can be urged against It.
N. Y. Recorder.
Honest Banking Profitable.
Chicago Journal.
Honest banking Is one of the most profit
able business enterprises of the 'day. The
stock of the well-managed banks of the
country Is from 200 to 500 per cent, or more,
above par. There is enough in the business
honestly conducted to satisfy any ordinary
desire for business profits, the accumulation
of which constitutes wealth.
7"
PLANT CANNIBALS.
The Devil's Snure found in .Nicaragua It
Lives on the Blood or Any Animal That
Gets Into Its Clutches, and Never Snffers
From Dyspepsia.
Some years ago a striking story was pub
lished in .France describing a wonderful
flesh-eating plant discovered bv a creat bot
anist. If we remember rightly the story
lecounted how a certain collector discov
ered a plant of the flytrap species of so gi
gantic a size that it could consume huge
masses of raw meat. Just as the fly-catching
plant snaps up a fly and draws nutri
ment from the fly's dead body, says a writer
in the London Spectator, ?o this one fed itself
on tho legs of mutton and sirloins of beef
which were thrown into its ravening maw.
The botanist in tho story, for some reason,
possibly fear of having his plant destroyed
as dangerous to public safety, keeps tho ex
istence of the plant a secret and preservesit
in a loeked-up conservatory. Hi' wiie.'how
ever, who is made miserable by his absorp
tion of mind ho think- of nothing but how
to feed and improve his wonderful and fas
cinating plant-idetermines to follow him.
This she does, accompanied by an old school
friend of tiie.husband.
When the pair reach the inner conserva
tory they see, to their honor, the infatuated
botani st tossing bleeding joints of raw meat
Into the huge jaws of a giant flytrap. They
are at first petrified with horror. At last,
however, the wife throws herself into the
arms of her husband and Implores him to
give up dwelling upon the horrible carniv
orous monstrosity which he has discovered
and reared. Unfortunately, hosrever, the
wife in appealing to her husband goes too
close to the plant. Its huge tentacles sur
round her and then nroceed to draff her In,
and the two stupifled men see the plant be
gin to devour Its victim. Fortunately, how
ever, the friend catches sight ot an ax lying
near, and seizing this he strikes at the root
of the plant. A few frenzied blows do tho
necessary work, and the flesh-eating plant
tumbles to the giound and releases from its
clutches the terrified woman. The botanist,
however, cannot survive his most chorished
discovery, and with the exclamation, "You
have killed my plant!" he falls back dead.
It Is a Vegetable Octopus.
The story is good enough as a story, but if
we are to believe an article said In the iJe
view of Reviews to 'be taken from Lucifer vie
say "said" advisedly, because we have
looked in the October Lucifer and can find
no such article, and therefore presnme there
must he some mistake it is only another in
stance of fiction being prophetic, and antici
pating scientific discovery. According to
the article quoted by Mr. Stead, there has
been discovered in Nicaragua a flesh-eating,
or rather, man-eating plant, which for
horror is qnite the equal of the novelist's
imagination. This plant Is found, it is as
serted, in Nicaragua, and is called by the
natives "the devil's snaie." In form it is a
kiud of vegetable octopus, or devil fish, and
is able to drain the blood of-nny living thing
which comes within its clutches. We givu
the story with all reserve, but it must be ad
mitted to be circumstantial enough in all its
details to be possible. It appears that Mr.
Dunstan, a naturalist, has lately returned
from Cential America, where he spent two
years in the study of the plants and animals
of those regions. In one of the swamps
which surround the itreat Nicaragua Lake,
he discovered the singular growth of which
we are writhur. "He was engaged in hunt
ing for botanical and entomological speci
mens when he'heard his dog cry out, as if in
agony, lrom a distance. Running to the spot
whence the animal's cries came, Mr. Duncan
found him envolODed in a rjerlect network
of what seemed to be a fine, rope-like tissue
of roots and fibers.
A Dog Captured by Its Arms.
"Tho plant or vine seemed composed en
tirely of bare, inteilacing stems, resembling,
more than anything else, the brances of the
weeping willow denuded of Its foliage, hut
of a dark, neaily black hue, and covered
with a thick, viscid gum that exuded from
the pores." Drawing his knife, Mr. Dunstan
attempted to cut the poor beast free; but it
was with tho very greatest difficulty thnt he
managed to sever the fleshy muscular fibers
of the plant. When the dog was extricated
from the coils of the plant, Mr. Dustan saw,
to his horror and amazement, that tho dog's
body was bloodstained, "while the skin ap
peared to have been actually sucked or
puckered in spots," and the animal stag
gered as if from exhaustion. "In cutting
tho vine, the twigs curled like living, sinu
ous fingers about Mr. Dunstan's hand, and
ic requited no slight force to free the mem
ber f-om its clinging ginsp, which left the
flesh red and blistered. The gum exuding
tiom the vine was of a grayish-dark tinse,
remarkably adhesive, ana of a disagreeable
animal odor, powerlul and nauseating to in
hale." The natives, we are told, showed
the greatest hotror of the plant, which, as
we have noted above, they call the "devil's
snare," and they recounted to the natural
ists many stories of its death-dealing pow
ers. -
Plants of a Similar Nature.
The neighborhood inhabited by that Ama
zonian tribe who by the use of some seciet
can leduce a human corpse to a tenth of Its
original size, and so produce a perfectly pro
portioned miniatuie mnmmyof the dead
man, would have been a good locality in
which to "place" the tale of the cannibal
plant. Again, Nicaragua is within the
tropics, and plant life there is therefore
specially gross and vigorous. Besides, there
isno inherent impossibility in the idea of a
flesh-eating plant. It is merely a question
as to whether evolution has or has not hap
pened to develop tho fly-eating plant on a
sufficiently large enough scale to do what is
related of the vampire vino.
No one who has seen the ugly snap which
that tiny vegetable crab, Venus' Jly-trap,
gives when tho hairs inside its mouth are
tickled Dy tue unman nnger 111 tue way tnat
a fly would tickle them by walking, can
doubt lor a moment that tne development
ora plant capable of eating or sucking the
blood of a man, Is only a matter of degree.
Even in England, there are plants which act
on a small scale exactly the part asserted to
be played by the vampire vine lorexample,
Lathitea squamaria, the toothwort, "a pale
chlorophyl-Iess p.irasite found in British
woods?' Theie are known to be several
bundled dicotyledons which, in someway or
other, catch and live on animal food. From
such a basis the evolution of a giant and
man-eating dicotyledon is within the bounds
01 possibility.
Experimytlng Wiih Their Digestion.
We cannot help hoping very much that
the story of tho vampire vine willturn out
to be true, for if it does, tho botanists will
be able to try some curious experiments as
to how these vegetables which are half
animals, digest, and whether their move
ments can property be regarded as muscular
movements. It is true that Darwin admin
istered extremely homeopathic doses ( OOOiOS
of a milligramme) of nitrate of ammonia to
a sundew, and found the plant responded to
the drug exhibited: but it Aould be far
easier to conduct experiments on a larger
plant. Even as it is, we know that the
insect eating plants secrete not only an
acid, but a "poptonising ferment" for the
purposes of digestion. They also feed, like
animals, "nn substances at a high chemical
level." More than 150 years ago, Linhieus
noted that the Lapps "used the buttcrwort
for curdling, milk, a pronerty due to a
rennet-like ferment which the plant lias in
addition to the dieesMve or peptic." Again,
we are told that Dr. Bnrdon Sanderson has
"detected electric currents similar to those
observed in the neuro-mucuiar activity of
animals." The borderland between animal
and plant life occupied Dy the insect-eaters
is. indeed, one of the most curious and In
teresting fields of biological study; and it a
plant as large as the vampire vine could be
obtained to experiment with, discoveries of
enormous Importance to science might very
likely be made. The vampire vine wo'uld
doiibtle-s stand a srain ot calomel after a
heavy meat meal without damage or annoy
ance. Individualism Fostered.
Boston Transcript.2
The Australian method fosters individual
ism. It enables every citizen to voters he
pleases, and for the candidates he believes
will best serye the public, without anyone to
molest or make him afraid. It imparts a
new dignity to voting. Of course it proceeds
upon the supposition, as 00 our institutions
generally, that our election machinery has
been conflded'to honest men. But it takes
a step in advanceof oldmcthodsbyprevent
ing corrupt officials from intrenching them
selves so firmly that they canuot be reache J.
by tho popular voice. It renders ballot
stuffing an impossibility.
Bellamy's Colony Fails.
Detroit Journal.
The California Bellamy colony has gone
all to pieces. The honest members have
been starved ont by the rascals and aro now
under arrest for stealing sweet potatoes in
order to keep themselves alive. No com
munity, scheme unless Inspired by leliglous
motive like the Moravians, Shakers, Mor
mons, Mennonites and tho like, has ever
attained enduring success.
TALK: OP THE TIMES.
The Chicago Anarchists are again demand
ing public attention. Columbus Journal.
They will probably get more than they
want. This is a bad season lor them.
The Sandwich Islands would be a valuable
addition to Uncle Sam's domain. Cncacro
Tubune. They aie a little too farnwayand
there are a few questions to consider before
the annexation can take place.
It's bad enough to hlto off more than you
can chew, bnt it's worse to try to chew it
Detroit FreeJ-ess. That Is what is the matter
with the caliimityitps. They bit off more
than they could chew and now they are
chewing the cud of reflection.
The British colonies of Central America
now seek leciprocity with tbo United States.
Tho whole continent apparontlv wants
reciprocity. St. Louis Glolie Democrat. The
United States stands ready to enter into
commercial treaties. The doors are open.
The long and tireless chase after the train
robbers has begun. Detectives say they
have a clew to the villains. Cliicago Globe.
So long as the detectives have a clew, the
robbers are safe. Clews are strange things,
generally leading everywhere save in the
right direction.
Every part of the country pays tribute to
this Insatiate monstor (the Louisiana Lot
tery), and eveiy State is interested in Its ex
termination, but how tobnng it about Is a
very knotty question. Buffalo Courier. The
simplest means would be for each part of
the country to stop paying the tribute.
President Diaz, of Mexico, gives Instruc
tions to his army to kill no more men until
it is ascertained whether or not they are
Teally guilty of what thev are suspected.
This is a good Idea. Fort Worth Gazette. It
would have been more satisfactory, though,
if the orders had been given out before the
alleged insurrect ionists had all been killed.
THE SATE IS SET.
Next Summer Fixed as the Time forthe
Great European War.
Chicago Trlbune.l
All signs indicate the probability of a great
J European war next summer. France and
Russia upon the one hand and Germany,
Australia, and Italy upon the other ire plac
ing themselves upon an active war footing
by concentrations of troops on their fron
tiers, by reinforcements of their fighting
strength, by frequent maneuvers and move
ments of their armies, and by laying In
enormous supplies of provisions far more
indeed than would be necessary If there
were no prospect of war. Speaking ofthe
massing of troops, a correspondent of the
New York tfimef calls attention to the fact
that there are over 6C0.000 men in position
between Odessa and the Pruth and Warsaw,
nnd that since the first of August 300,000
Bnssian troops have been thrown into South
western Russia, the entire force pievious to
that date having been posted In Eastern
Knssia. Such colossal movements as these
roea war if they mean anything.
The nationsare expecting war. The peo
ple talk of war ai if It were sure to come. In
the Baltic provinces the old antagonism be
tween Russians and Germans grows more
bitter every day. Bloody encounters fre
quently occur between the students of these
respective nations. They share the enmity
which exists between the Emperor and the
Czar. There is no sympathy and can be
none between these rulers, for they repre
sent national sentiments us far apart as the
earth and the sun. Twice the Czar has
passed through Gormany lately withoutpay
ing his respects to the Emperor, thus show
ing a degree of personal antagonism which
in itself is sufficient cause for outbreak be
fore long. Such a strain as this, which Is
shared by the people, cannot long continue
without ruptuie.
AST IK TRAIN BOBBING.
Unnecessary Violence repreoated by Mem
bers ofthe Profeesion. ,
Philadelphia Inquirer.
There arg various methods of stopping the
train; but the simplest, quietest, most merci
ful and, on the whole, preferable one ia to
hang out a red lantern. This avoids the
labor incident to ditching the train, takes
less time and does not endanger tho lives ot
nothing for hnman life; butit is still scarcely I
professional to take it without occasion, and I
besides if one happens to be arrested, asfwill
occur sometimes, It Is better to be "sent op"
for a few yeai s for robbery than to be hanged
for murder. When train robbing becomes a
fine art, unnecessary violenco in conducting
it will be deprecated by the profession.
By careful planning beforehand and a
systematic arrangement of work, it Is esti
mated that a train can be stopped, the ex
press car broken open and the safes trans
terred to a wason oy six men In from 20 to
30 minutes; dining which time, if tho sched
ule lm been properly studied, there need bo
little danger of interruption by other trains.
A slight disarrangement of tho locomotive
will insure its further detention for an hour
or moic, and in the meantime the band can
escape with their booty to a rendezvous
previously arranged after which there is
nqthing to be done but to open the safes,
divide their contents and keep out of prison.
The last is a contingency that must be
faced, hut it never deterred hank burglars,
mul train robbers will be equally readv to
take the risk. In this way train robbing
can be made a fine art, and the indications
are that unless something is done to nip the
glowing industry in the bud it will soon de
velop Into something of the kind.
ALUMINUM FOE WAS.
The German Government Purchasing It in
Large Quantities.
Cleveland Leader.
The German Government is .buying great
quantities of aluminum in this country to
be ued in making cups, linings for knap
sacks, and in other ways employed for light
ening the load which common soldiers must
carry in a campaign. It is such attention to
details which make the German military es
tablishmant the finest in tho world. After
tho Franco-Prussian War It was said that
the splendid triumph of tho German arms
had been won largely by tho "goose step" In
which lecruits are drilled until they acquire I
m-eat nower nnd endnrance in marchin?,
nnd it is probable that the rank and file of
the German army is now better able to
carry heavy knapsacks through long and
arduous campaigns than any other troops iu
the world.
This, however, does not by any means
cqnstitute a reason, in the estimation of the
Imperial Government, why any German
soldier should be weighed down with one
unnecessary ounce, and hence the German
army is to profit by the lightness of the
metal which is not used to anything like the
extent that it should be, simply because the
inertia of habit is so dimcult to overcome.
In -many respects the naiser's Government
is voi y conservative, but when the welfare
and efficiency of the army are concerned no
pushing American business man could be
mote alert and li-ady to make use of every
improvement.
Canada's Awkward Position.
Detroit Evening News.
Some little figures are scaring the conser
vatives ot Canada to-day. They are reading
of the progress of negotiations for reciproc
ity in trade between the United States and
the British West Indies, nnd tho little fig
ures that scare aro those which represent
$I,49t,0C0 worth of Canadian products
shipped to the British West Indies by Can
ada in 1883-90. If those figures should be
ttiped "out it would strain the back of the
national policy another notch to appease
the losing province with railroads and
other subsidies. Things are getting mora
awkward with every tick of the clock for
the present Canadian Government.
Where Was the Brpom?
St. Paal Pioneer Press.
The London papers having discovered that
the "Democrats made n clean sweep of the
State of'Philadelphia," wo would like to
know where they left the broom. It would
be funny to unearth the sources of American
news as published over there.
A Heap of Difference.
Chicago Times.
Sometimes there's a heap of difference
between what the minister is preaching in
the pulpit and what the congregation i$
thinking in the pews.
Just Begun to Come Back.
Chicago Inter-Ocean. I
Nearly $26,000,000 of American gold has
found its "way back from Europe to Uncle
Sam's money boxes, and It has only begun to
come.
r.iTRTnrs rnNnpusATinxs "
Missouri has 108,100,000 bushels of
corn.
In Kansas sunflower stalks are being
nsed for fuel. '
Washington now has newspapers in all
its counties except one.
The only fish that never sleep are
salmon, pike and goldfish. '
The French Minister of "War is about
to establish three acrostic stations in the
Alps.
In the Solomon Islands the market
quotation on a "good quality" wife is 10,000
cocoannts.
The Glasgow magistrates have been
' fining cyclists 30s each for riding at night
without lamps.
The, slowest thing on earth, an ox teas;
has run away and killed a Tennessee family.
Wonders never cease.
Official statistics show that Colorado
has over 20,000 square miles or coal, and tha
product of 1S90 was 3,000,000 tons.
A fir tree ten feet in diameter has
been discovered In Washington. Its lower
limbs are 200 feet from the ground.
Barnesville, O., has a cow which has
presented its owner with triplets. It is' con-"
sidered qnite an unusual occurrence.
A woman of Thibet who chooses to re
main single and to earn her own living is re
regarded as an object of scorn and derision.
It is the lament of an Oxford county
(Me.) village that there are only three young
men in town town eligible for social pur
poses. The New Year book of the 'Congrega
tional Church reports 4,817 churches, with
606,8J2'members, and 613 810 in the Snnday
schools. . .. ,
Five Indians from, Indian Territory
passed through Reno, Nev., the other day
on their way to Walker Lake, in search of
the "Great Messiah."
A lump of coal weighing a ton has been
sent to Denver from Rock Spring's, Wyo., a3
an advertisement. One lump broken up
there last week filled seven cars. ,
There are yet a few beaver along the
Umatilla River to remind old-timers of the
days when this little animal frequented
Oregon streams in large numbers.
The population of Kome has decreased
nearly 30,000 (durlng the past four years"
The hand-organ industry in thi3 country
has increased perceptibly during that pe
riod. Santa Catalina, a small island off the
coast of Southern California, has become a
great summer resort. The waters are so
clear in its harbor that fish can be seen W
feet below the surface.
A firm of chemists in Birmingham
place upon all poisons sold by them direc
tions as tb the antidote which should be ap
plied in cases where the poisons are taken
accidentally or intentionally by human be
ings. "
The palace and even the bedchamber of
the young King of Serviawere recently in
vaded by a huge monkey, which had es
caped from a menagerie and had climbed in
a window while His Majesty's bed was being
mad;. t
While the Penitentiary Commissioners
were.in session at the Santa Fe (N. Mex.)
orison three prisoners with "wooden re
volvers," wrapped with tin-foil, held up the
guard, and succeeded la escaping in a car
riage which was in front of the building.
A Saco Qle.) man whose home had
been haunted by weird, mysterious sounds
at night for a fortnight or so, at last opened
the unused parlor stove and found therein a
poor little pigeon wasted away almost to a
skeleton. The mystery now Is, how the pig
eon get there?
Flounders and other bottom fishes fre
quently fall a prey to the appetite of the
lobsters, and sometimes they will nimbly
capture small minnows as the latter go
swimming by. They dig clams out of the
mud or sand and crush the shells of mussels
with their claws, devouring the soft parts.
A Delaware cobbler gave his wife a cer
tain sum ot , money each week for her per
sonal use. He never inquired what she did
with it, bnt, after 39 years of wedded life.the
wife died, and in the drawer or an antique
table the husband found a bag containing;
gold, also a roll or grecnDacks, amounting in
all to $10,000.
Some few years ago the Paris picture
dealer Ferrett bought a picthrejor 10 francs'
In a rag and bone shop. He soon discovered
that it was a portrait by Jordaen, and he got
rid or It for 1,500 francs, to the late M
Rothan, the diplomatist. The picture
which is in Jordaen's best manner last year
fetched 53,000 francs.
Who would believe that any one could
make money out of cigar ends? Yet tbo
business of gathering them Is so lucrative
that the Russian Philanthropic Society haa
organized a regular system In St. Peters
burg of collectimr these trifles, and dispos
ing of them for the benefit of the poor. Up
wards of $1,500 was realized in the month of
July. As to what is the ultimate destina
tion of this, refuse matter it would be some
what hazardous to decide.
The Emperor of Germany is fond of.
poetry, but does not like plagiarism. A
Prof. Herman Thorn, of Berlin, rocently
dedicated to His Majesty a hymn of labor, so
full of beautiful sentiments that it was
greatly admired, and the professor was lib
erally rewarded by the Emperor and other
members of the royal family. But upon the
discovery being .made that the poem had
been stolen bodily from an old book of
poetry, Thorn was arrested and sent to jail.
Anatomists classify animals by their
teeth more accurately than in any other'
way, and the jaws of the small lemur, which
connects the anthropoid apes, like the chim
panzee and goiilla, with beasts not so high
In the scale of creation, are pi ovide d witn a
dentition so astonishingly human like that
one might well imagine the teeth to bo actn
allv those of a miniature man. Molars and
incisors are shaped and placed in exactly
the same way, and the canines, two In tha
upper Jaw and two in the lower, correspond
perfectly with the human type.
BAZAB BUZZINGS.
"I nicked that vase up in Home.
The
armor I picked up In Paris."
' 'I expected 10 Dim a 101 01 nice inings nere. 1 oar
brother told me last winter, when I asked after
your health, that you were picking up all tne
time." ,
"Why did that Frenchman demand, your
blood, anyhow?
"Oh, I was Joking with him. I said that Inas
much as Sedan was responsible for the overthrow
of the French Empire, the rrcsldental chair
should be a Sedan-chair. He got awfully hot,"
If every one would think of me
As mr boy does', I wis
To all the world I'd seem to be
The greatest man there Is.
"I know what I'm going to give pa this
Chrltn.as," said Arabella.
"What, my dear?" asked her mother.
A nice woolen comforter. It will be lovely t
wear when Ned comes to take me tobogganing."
"Mamma, I want- some water in a bowL
I am going to christen my doll."
"No, little dear. That would be trifling with a
sacrea subject."
Then give me some wax to waxclnate herwl b,
She's old enough now to have something done to
her."
After the barn is rifled,
When stolen Is the horse.
Why do we lock tne potal?
To save the door, of course.
"I suppose the baby is a delicate pink
eh, Bronsonr"
"No. He'sa robust Teller," rcpUedthe proud,
and slcepyv father. ;-
A joke is very like a nut . -' '.
Ictatethlsasafjct "...
Since none can tell if it is good
Until it has been cracked.
".Timmie. do you know when
'your
sister's birthday Is?" asked Chappie.
ft Ynn mean was. don't you?
She had'lt
thirty years ago," returned Jiinmie.
- The man who lives upon his brain,- ?
ISv wit earns all his bread, .
Ne'er finds It lu the least way vain
To tand upon his head.
Willie (scared) Now we've milked
the cow, what'U we do? Pop 'II be awrul mad.'
Jlmmie (equal to the occasion) We'll drive her
down to tRe pond and fill her up with water.
I always know when autumn's hero
Oh. baneful time of life!
For then fur-dealers' cards appear
Addns.ed unto my wife.
"Do you ever weary of .your beautiful
borne here In town, 3Irs. DeCashlv?"
Never, Mrs. Bronson. What with our tubman
homo at Lenot, our winter home at Ashevllle, our
summer cottage at Newport, and the spring in
London, I hardly have a chance to grow tired of
IU"