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!THE PITTSBURG- DISPATCH; MONDAY, -DECEMBER 21, 1891
B$mfrj.
ESTABLISHED FEBBUAUT 8,
1846
Vol. 48. No. 37. Entered at Pittsburg rostofllce
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riTTPr.L'KO. MONDAY. DIX. SI, ISM.
TWELVE PAGES
A rOUCIBLK WAKM"G.
Senator Plumb's sudden death yesterday
is typical at once of an erroneous natural
characteristic and a political vice. A man
of immense energy and striking physical
vitjor, he had eiven himself up to the work
surrounding his position uutil his brain
gave out. He had warnings that he was
tasking himself to a degree which no
strength could resist, but confidence of liis
strength, and his ambition to do all that a
Senator of the United States could be
called upon to do, kept him at his work
until the end came suddenly and deci
sively. Of course, when confronted with a case
like this, wc recognize that the aims to be
secured by such efforts are not worth the
sacrifice. "Where a great aim was to be
sccompiUhed the peril to health and life
may be justified. If Senator Plumb had
been in the position of Lincoln or Stanton
dining the war, his death would have had
the noble character of a soldier who dies
at his post. But men like Plumb, Man
ning and Vi11dom had not sufficient reason
for the overwork which caused their deaths.
Wo can all see. after the fact, that this is
true: but the Americ : characteristics are
su"h that mm will keep on working them
selves to udden deit."i in the absorption
of iheir aim.".
Another lesson must not be overlooked
in Senator Plumb's case. The report of
his death, in describing the labors which
caused it, says: "He looked after the in
terests of his constituents." This is very
well understood to mean that he sought
appointments for them, and devoted a
large share of his energies to the passace
of bills in which they were interested.
Here we have an explanation or' the over
work. A man of Senator Plumb's vigor
could probably have borne the labor at
tendant on lecislation of a national char
acter. But when in addition I13 under
took the work of looking after offices,
pushing private bills, and doing all the
errands the political system imposes on
the men who are designated by the Con
stitution to simply legislate, the strain
was more than human strength could
stand.
Tiie warning of Senator Plumb's death
is a. very strong one asainst the American
error of overwork, and is especially forci
ble against the political vice of turnine
national legislators into patronage-clerks
and private claim attorneys without fee.
TKK NKWEST PARTY.
The formation of a new party is an
rff 01 1 which always 1ms charms, but has
not been very successful of late, excepting
the case of the Farmers Alliance. Seven
gentlemen of Boston are, however, using
the mails for the work of forming a new
party by circular letters, the platform of
the party being a gold basis for currency,
a tariff for revenue only and the abolition
of the spoils system. The original feature
of the plan is the system of classif ying the
principles of the members by numerals
which signify their adhesion to certain of
eight different declarations. Thus E. M
Farnsworth, 245S, asserts that he is a
former Democrat, joins the Xew Party
with enthusiasm, would support Grover
Cleveland without a Democratic nomina
tion, and will circulate the documents of
the new organization. The idea is novel,
but hardlv likely to woo many voters from
their subjection to Republican or Demo
cratic organization merely to be classified
as a numeral in four figures. This Xew
Party may be selec:, but it is not likely to
beeffecthe.
SENATOK MIIXEK'S PROFESSIONS.
The position taken by ex-Senator War
ner Miller, as President of the Xiearasua
Canal Company, in his speech to the New
York Chamber of Commerce, would, if
fully maintained in good faith, relieve that
enterprise from th character of an enor
mous job. Miller there declared that the
company does not ask the aid of the
United States, as proposed in the Presi
dent's message; and expressed his belief
that the enterprise can be carried through
by private capital. On that basis Mr.
Miller is wholly justified in bringing his
scheme to the consideration of New York
capitalists on its merits.
This is a verbai f ulflliment of the pledge
given when a charter was secured from
Congress that no financial aid should be
desired from the United States. The Nica
ragua Canal people are to be credited with
a little more than tho ordinary tenderness
respecting pledges in the profession of im
partiality as to whether the proposed loan
passes Congress or not Perhaps that at
titude is stimulated by the conviction that
the proposed measure will have the
slightest possible chance of passing
the lower branch of the present Con
gress. But so long as the disavowal
confines itself to the form in which
Miller puts it an abstract asser
tion that the canal .company does
ask what the President is represented as
urging upon it the people will regard
such a iulfillment of the pledge as keep
ing the word of promise to the car but
breaking It to the sense.
Indeed, it is not censorious to suspect the
canal company's disavowal of asking for
the loan, to be of the same generic rank of
Quay's disavowal that he is a candidate
lor the Pennsylvania Senatorship. The
Nicaragua people may not formally ask
for the indorsement of the Government;
but it is hardly credible that the adminis
tration would be so anxious to have them
enjoy the Government credit to the tune
of 5100,000,000 on a job estimated by the ! effete, cumbrous and purely formal Elec
oi '.- : " T. O.V." 15. -"t vS ert t"-'l C"'I- r-. I- - ! e T'Ts''iit rnd
.ais-, w i- .; W.'-v--i.A ;..! ' ii i i iilllliWii hffiWilarf- tti ifPifMwlmrfVitWm1r1nlf TlilMMMwrtyMlMWMirTiif tiT'
measures were taken to ensure that the
Government shall not omit to press the
loan on the company. The fortunes ot
Tho fortunes
corruption are not showered so spontane
ously as to urge the profits of a 535,000,000
rake from the public treasury on people
who do not stretch out their hands for it;
nor do the gentlemen who vote for such
jobs in Congress confer such enormous
wealth unless very active and judicious
work is exerted to secure their votes.
MTc do not believe the Nicaragua Canal
Company will set that $100,000,000 job in
any event. But wi- tin assure Mr. Miller
and his associates that they certainly will
not get it without energetically pulling
the wires for it
PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION.
The correspondence between the Xew
York Tax Reform Association and Rt.
Rev. John J. Kcane, of tho Catholic Uni
versity, published elsewhere, is instructive
The New York Association presents the
Henry George theory of taxation with a
number of propositions well enough in the
abstract, but which might, if tried, be
found very difficult of application. The
auswer of the cleiical gentleman indorses
some of the principles in the abstract, but
points out the qualifications and difficul
ties which practically make it necessary
for the Govprnmenf to do the best it can.
The trouble with all these propositions
to raise public revenue by direct taxation,
especially as they generally take the form
of a single, tax, is that no single interest
would yield the necessary revenue. The
single-taxers have urged the taxation of
rental values with the declaration that this
would eliminate the speculative value
from laud. But they have never been able
to refute the fact, pointed out in The
Dispatch some time ago, that when the
speculative value is taken out of land, ana
all the additions to its value made by
human labor and expenditure are ex
empted, as they propose, there will not be
enough value left in it to support a decent
township government Rev. Fr. Keane
refers to the good policy of taxing not the
agents of products but their net proceeds.
This looks toward the taxation of profits
or income an ideal tax in the abstract.
But the practical difficulty is intimated in
the further rule that taxation should not
invite fraud or perjury.
The rules laid down bv the correspond
ents on both sides are very good in the ab
stract and should be applied as far as cir
cumstances permit, except those which
contradict each other. Thus the Tax Re
form Association holds that the agents of
production should not be taxed, and then
proceeds to the dictum that land should
bear the main burden of taxation. But
land is an agent of production in the real
sense, as it will produce if worked by
human labor and intelligence, and not
otherwise. To tax idle land and disused
machinery might be a wise discrimination
in the abstract, but? how much revenue
would it yield?
To thes ideas, which systems of taxa
tion will do well to apply so far as prac
ticable, The DisrATCH will add some
others which may be hinted at in Rector
Keane's letter, but- whose importance de
mand a specific statement They are per
haps just as hard to apply practically as
the rules laid down in the correspondence,
but they are also as well worth bearing in
mind.
Taxation should, so far as possible, be
levied so as to make the burden on the
subjects of taxation the least It should
place its weight on certain classes or
relieve others so as to create taxed and un
taxed classes. It should not make the
products of a taxed industry compete with
the products of an untaxed industry.
Finally, an ideal, but so far impracticable,
scheme of taxation would seek to encour
age the distribution of wealth among the
masses and discourage the accumulation
of great estates.
A HIGH TIME FOR CONGRF.SS.
There is a decidedly Chicagoan magnifi
cence in the proposition to take the whole
of Corgress on a visit to Chicago to view
the progress of the World's Fair enter
prise, and, inter pocula, or, to use the ver
nacular translation, "between drinks," to
settle the question of that 55,000,000 loan
or gift Concessional committees have
frequently enjoyed junkets of less broad
gauge dimensions, and railroad corpora
tions desirous of legislative favors have
been known to give State Legislatures
very enjoyable trips. But this is the first
time it has been proposed to take the Con
gress of the United States into camp.
There would be a wide appreciation of
Chicago determination to cut a wide swath
in this matter if the 55,000,000 appropria
tion did not loom up in the background,
and of the intimation that Congress though
enjoying a free blowout must not be a
deadhead in the enterprise. If that loan
business were settled before the excursion
then the main drawback to the affair would
be the natural disability of the national
lawmakers to attend to business for some
days after the junket was over.
AN AATIQBATED IUEA.
Senator Turpie's recent though rather
reiterated speech in favor of electing
United States Senators by direct vote of
the people has been commented upon wilh
a degree of favor, that indicates the trend
of popular opinion in that direction.
There is nothing in the Senator's speech
which differs materially from the argu
ments in behalf of that change heard at
intervals for years. The new feature is
the growth of sentiment toward accept
ing it
The important phase of the change is
that it would be a formal reversal of the
theory of the United States Constitution.
That theory has been clearly avowed for
years. It contemplates one branch of the
Legislature elected by the peoplo for short
terms, and which is distinctively the pop
ular branch. It then sets up another,
elected for longer terms, and removed
from the fluctuations of popular opinion
by being elected by the State Legislatures.
Finally, it tries to remove the Presidency
from direct reliance on the popular vote by
vesting it in an Electoral College, the mem
bers of which were expected to exercise
a free choice. The theory of the Electoral
College has been abandoned long ago, but
the other part of that theory with regard
to the Senate has more life to-day.
The proposition, therefore, is to displace
the last remaining fragment of the origi
nal idea by removing some of the co
ordinate branches of the Government
from direct dependence on the popular
vote. As the separation, even in the case
of the Senate, is more theoretical than
practical, the change will have to be con
sidered mainly a .question of time. The
dynamic force of popular institutions
brings Senatorships as well as Presidenc
sooner or later down to the expressed will
of the people. The change might prove
an unexpected benefit in relieving State
Legislatures from the complications and
dominations that grow out of their duty
of electing Senators.
But if this old theory of the Constitution
is to be abandoned, the formal change
should not omit a clause abolishing the
Vice President to be elected in theory, as
( well as in fact, by the popular vote.
The political correspondents who are
making much of the industry of Senator
Kyle in applying to the leaders of both
parties for committee appointments fail to
note that it proves Senator Kyle to be about
as active a politician as the older Sonators.
The discovery that diamonds are brought
to the earth in meteors is thought by scien
tists to contain a suggestion as to tire tray
In which the first germs of organic
life were brought to this globe; "and
so," says a commentator, wo may
have advanced one step nearer the
solution of the question to which the wisest
brains have given so much thought for
aires." Instead of this w have only re
moved the solution one step further away.
For if life came to this earth on meteors we
are only confronted with the question: How
did lire originate in the worlds whence the
meteors came?
San Francisco's municipal plunderers
have been discharged on a legal technicality,
and tlfc backins of organized political cor
ruption is rather plainly pointed out on tho
assertion that Southern Pacific influence
got them off.
. .
General Algeb has been interviewed
In New York for the purpose of asking the
ppople of the United States the conundrum
why Mr. Blaine should be asked to declare
himself with regard to tho Presidency any
more than General Harrison or Mr. Cleve
land. The conundrum is not so unanswer
able as General Alger seems to think. It is
because no intelligent man has any doubt
whether General Harrison or Mr. Clevel-.nd
will take a nomination if either or both of
them can get it.
A New York policeman charged with
assaultine au old woman says ho only gave
her a push. A policeman's push, together
with his pull, make him a bad man to fall
out with.
The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce is
in the sulks and opposes the participation
of England in the Chicago World's Fair.
Nevertheless there is reason to believe that
as long as John Bull has anything to sell he
will not miss such an opportunity to sell it.
The absence of Liverpool from the Chicago
Exposition will be taken as an avowal that
Liverpool has nothing fit for the American
market.
TnE strata of beautiful weather, sand
wiched with light streaks of moderate cold
snaps, please the public and confound the
predictors of a stormy December.
The grip is evidently no respecter of per
sons. This year it has taken hold of three
Grand Dukes and a hereditary Prince in
Europe, a Speaker of tho Honse, the framers
of two opposing tariff bills and Madame
Modjeska, Fortunately, all the distin
guished sufferers have good prospects for
recovery.
Mr. Joseph Manley's communication
to the supporters of Mr. Blaine is rather too
much In tho line of "You elect Elaine dele
gates and we will do the rest."
The Republican press is following the
lead of the President in attacking Demo
cratic gerrymanders. Quite natural. But
might not press and Piesidont reflect that
they will effect more In the line of abolish
ing the gerrymander abuse by attacking
those perpetrated in their own party?
The League and Association have joined
hands, and the white dove of peace broods
over the situation at a cost of $1CO,000. Ex
pensive dovet
Captain -Hugh Coleman, of New
Yoik, who wants that other warrior. Colonel
Shepard. muzzled for his attacks on Catho
lics, makes a mistake in taking Shepard
seriously. Before Captain Coleman the only
person foolish enough to do that was Shep
ard himself.
PERSONAGES OF PROMINENCE.
President Eliot, of Harvard, is ex
tremely sensitive about the bright red birth
mart on his right check.
One of Mr. Springer's conspicuous char
acteristics Is his invariable habit of wearing
a flower in his buttonhole.
Secretary Foster was reported to be
stronger and brighter yesterday, and may
be able to leave his room this week.
Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland are expected
to visit Mr. nnd Mrs Pembroke Jones in
Wilmington, X. C, during the winter.
George X. Curzon, the new Under Sec
retary for Ireland, is said to bo the best
dressed man in the House of Commons.
Mrs. Barrett, of Newport; Mrs. and
Hits Roberts, of Philadelphia, and the Misses
Jackson and Barker, of Washington, are in
Berlin.
Eugene D'Albert, the pianist, having
obtained a divorce, is about to marry Mme.
Teresa Carreno, the American pianist, who
has also succeeded in securing a decree of
divorce in a suit brought against her second
husband.
The Czarewitch will visit Paris in Febru
ary and will remain in the city ten days,
after which period he will proceed to Lon
don to attend the wedding of the Duke of
Clarence and Avondale and Princess Vic
toria Mary of Teck.
"William Morris, the English poet, who
is deemed a probable successor to LordTen
nyson in the laureateship, is the manager of
a factory for wall paper, has a profltablo
bric-a-brac shop, and owns several shares in
a successful magazine.
Miss Geraldine Morgan, the Ameri
can violinist, will sail for New York from
Berlin on tho North German Lloyd steamer
Elbe. Miss Morgan will make her debut in
America at Carnegie Music Hall, in New
York, shortly after her arrival in that city.
OLD EAKDIIS' HIDDEN PLUND3B
Unearthed by Two Hunters Beneath a Stone
Near Marietta.
MAniETTA, Dec. 20. Special. To-day two
young men named James Kendall and Peter
Boilly, living a few miles above Marietta, on
the Muakingum river, while on a hunting
expedition came upon a large flat stono of
peculiar shape, certain marki on which ex
cited their suspicions. They removed the
stone, disclosing a circle in which was a quan
tity of clothing some old-f.ishioned and
well-rusted aims, and finally a small Iron
knttlc rilled with silver coin. Tho men de
cline to make public the amount of money
found further than to say that is will boa
very comlortable sum for each of them
when divided.
It is supposed the plunder was concealed
where it was found by members of the noto
rious Stover gang that infested that part of
the country years aso. and who committed
many crimes, nnd that this particular cache
was but one of many others. Parties are be
ing organized to search for bnried treasures'.
THE LOTTERY MUDDLE.
The Louisiana lottery muddle has reached
that stage where splits are being played as
winners. Washington Post.
Tuk enteritis wedge of the lottery influ
ence has already split a great party in one
State. iV. 1 Commercial Advertiser,
LoTTEar and anti-lottery aro the gon
falons down in Louisiana. Republicans and
Democrats are nowhere. Boston Herald.
The Louisiana lottery may do some cood
yet. It appears to have split the Demo
cratic party of that State 'from neck to
heels. Boston J'etes.
Wrm tho Louisiana Democracy split in
two on the lottery question, it is not easy to
foretell just who, at the next election, will
win '-tho cnpital'prize." Boston Globe.
The lotteryites are ahead In Louisiana, of
course, and will dictate the Democratic nom
inations. That is to say, tho old story of
Democratic affiliation with fraud and scan
dal is to bo repeated. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
The lottery campaign in Louisiana has
opened with a flourish of trumpets and a
disrupted convention. It Is thought that
the usual heavy odds against a lottery
ticket winning do not apply In politics.
f"7 f-rvo Tin C-
&k - 'i&e&&ge2&!&r '- v --"
THE MISTAKES OP CHARITY.
JWHiriJlN FOB THE DISrATCH.5
An honest beggaris the hundredth man.
That is to say he is the exception. Tho other
09 are frauds and rascals. Even this esti
mate is probably too generous. The chances
are that out Of the next hundred peoplo who
come into our offices, or . who knock at our
doors, with petitions lor help, not a single
one will bo deservine of a penny.
This is the result of some experience In
endeavoring to help the poor. I have no
doubt that it will accord perfectly with
tho experience of nearly every other man
in Pittsburg who has given assistance to
out-door petitioners and has taken pains to
follow the matter up, and.see just in what
way the assistance assisted. In a good many
instances the assistance assists that great
institution of our Christian civilization, tho
saloon. Moro of the dimes get into the
pockets or the barkeeper than into tho
pockets of the butcher and the baker added
together.
Indeed, this whole business of giving to
people who ask is nothing but disappoint
ment, deceit nnd encouragoment to vaza
bonds. Itomrhttobo stonned. The truth
is, that no good man or woman in Pittsburg
should give a penny, or a piece of bread, or
an old shoe to any unknown beggar. The
giving is simply so much of an addition to
the misery of the world. The giver thinks
to givo a blessing and, perhaps, to get one
for himself. He may get one, possibly; for
blessings are not hindered let us hope by
Ignorance or foolishness. But he may be
absolutely sure that he Is not giving one.
He is distributing malediction. He is walk
ing over the down-trodden. He is hindering
the cause of the poor. Every bit of alms
given at an office desk or at a kitchen door
in this city ought to bo given with accom
paniment of bell, book and candle. It Is
only another (and more effective) kind of
curse.
IIow Charity Goes Astray.
And yet what are we going to do? "We
want to help the poor. We arc sorry for the
pitiable people who tell these pitiable
stories. This poor woman, whose husband
was killed on the railroad, who has seven
children, the oldest only 10 years old, and
fonr of them down with scarlet fever, and
whose landlord is going to set her and these
sick children out into the middle of tho
street this afternoon unless she gets $7 to
pay her back rent we want to minister to
this sad case. What shall we do? We hand
out $7. Tho acting Is pretty good. It Is, in
deed, so real that we mUtake it for actnul
life. But $7 is a good deal to pay for it. -We
can see Modjeska cheaper than that.
One of the best men who ever lived in
Pittsburg did a great deal of harm every
morning of his life by his conscientious
patronage of that sort of private theatricals.
He held a morning audience every day, to
which came everybody who ws.ntad help.
And he heard their stories and helped them.
That is, he believed he helped them. He
gave them money and grocery and coal or
ders. In real truth, ho pauperized them.
He paid them for telling lies. He increased
just so much the worthless part of the popu
lation of the citv.
There was a little set of pictures in one of
the illustrated papers some time ago that
showed just how this giving business works.
A man coines around a corner and encount
ers a blind beggar; hedropsapennylnto the
outstretched hat. The next moraine, round
ing the same corner, there is the same blind
bcegarand his brother, also blind. Unhappy
family! Twopennies. The next morning a
lame cousin is added to the expectant com
pany. Alr.s! alas! three pennies. And soon.
The good man simply induces knavery. He
does his daily sum in the arithmetic of pau
perization. A man in London who gave a
daily dole of bread to tho poor of his neigh
borhood had to be stopped by the poliee.
He was demoralizing the whole community.
GUing Not Helping.
Of course there is the New Testament,
and the Sermon on the Mount, and all that.
But, dearly beloved brethren, the kind of
giving that is enjoined there Is synonymous
with helping. The JIaster, wo may be quite
sure, never gave to anybody when He knew
that the giving would be harmful. It is our
Christian duty not to give to people, but to
help people. It is our Christian duty not to
give at nil, when giving doe not mean up
lifting, bettering, really helping. I would
say then that the Sermon on tho Mount, in
its spirit, in its actual meaning, forbids all
indiscriminate distribution of alms over
office desks and out of kitchen doors. And
by "indiscriminate," I do not mean only tho
giving which does not stop to investigate,
but all giving which is done on the decision
even of what n man thinks is his accurate
judgment, which is based on tho seeming
truth of the beggar's story or on the seem
ing honesty of the beggar's face. Because
nil that sort of Judgment is utterly fallacious.
Somo of the most pious looking men in Alle
gheny county are in the penitentiary. You
cannot tell. You absolutely cannot tell.
The only good plan for anybody who wants
to be really helpful, is simply to say "no" to
every applicant, without exception.
How to Reach the Deserving Poor.
That, however, ought not to be the end
of it. It may be that this beggar is that
mythical person, the hundredth man. It
may be that four of thechildten have the
scarlet fever, and that the cold-blooded
lanalord will do something quite inhuman,
if he lacks his seven dollars. In that case,
what? Why, two things either of them.
Docs this applicant belong to any church?
If yes; then the church is the place to go to.
The parson is tho person who can intelli
gently judge. Every church has its alms
fund. Every church desires to look after
its own poor, and is, in most cases, quite
able to do it. People who want to help tho
deserving poor can get at thoso of them who
belong to the churches by contributing to
the charity funds of the parishes with which
they are connected.
But this beggar is not connected with any
Pittsburg parish. He never Is. He belongs,
like Thoieau, to the Church of the Sunday
Walkers. The only church roof that he ever
sees the inside of, is the great roof of the
sky. What then? Why, we have here In
town nn organization that is meant to meet
exactly that emergency. It is intended to
reach all the out-ol-the-o.hurch people, and it
does it magnificently. I mean the Associa
tion for the Improvement of the Poor. It
has tho whole city districted. It has its vis
itor in every district, whose business it is to
look up any name entrusted to her, and to
learn the real facts that belong behind that
name. This society Issues investigation
tickets. Any poor person who comes to any
of the offices of this socloty, brinsinc one of
tnese tickets will be looked up immediately
and cared for to the full extent of his needs.
No worthy beggar ever went away from the
offices of this society unhelpcd. Not only are
the poor who are thus brought to the notice
of the association helped at once, if they
ought to bo helped, but they are kept In
sight, visited, their needs looked after, their
children taken to some Sunday school, their
condition brought to the notice of some
pastor of the religious body of their choice.
1 ho Safest and Best Plan.
Now, with this organized city charity
In existence here, the only really kind, help
ful. Christian, right or safe way of dealing
with unknown petitioners for alms is to say:
"My friend, I havo money deposited for just
this purpose with the Association for the
Improvement of the Poor. They are in
structed by me to look up such people as
you are, nnd to give them exactly what thoy
need. Here is one of the tickets of this so
ciety. The nearest office is on such-and-such
a street. Go there, and they will.give
you all yon need." There ought to be some
of these tickets in every office and in every
benevolent household in this city.
Of course, you must make application for
the tickets, with an inclosure of money.
Take, say, one-half of what 3-ougivo for
charity in the course of six months in tho
usual pernicious way, and send it to the
superintendent of this society, Mrs. Lippln
cott, 7G Sixth avenue, una ask for investiga
tion tickets. This is the ouly possible way
in this city, under onr present conditions, to
give to tho unknown poor, in the spirit
either of good citizenship or or good Chris
tianity. Hands Off tha Tariff.
New York Recorder.!
If the Democratic majority In the House
of Representatives is wise It will keep its
hands off the tariff. It Is full of political
ilvnimifn.
-Naj.
A TAXATION C0HUNDE1TM.
State Officials Puzzled Over the Meaning of
the Word Manufacture. ,
HAnaiSBcaaDec. 20. Sprcial. The Audi
tor General has submitted to the Attorney
General a number of tax cases which in
volves the loaal interpretation of the word
"manufacture," and are of importance to
nearly every large manu'acturing concern
in the State. Under an act of 1830 the tax of
three mills on the capital stock of corpora
tions is not collectible from thoso concerns
organized for and exclusively engaged in
manufacturing. A number of corporations
have claimed exemption under this net,
among them the Pittsburg Bridge Company.
This concern purchases the iron, steel and
wood used In the bridges they build, simply
performing the work of construction. The
Auditor General wants to know if "manu
facturing" nnd "constructing" are synony
mousterms. If so, tho company is' exempt;
if not, it must pay the tax. Another case is
that of the Delaware KtverDoek and ship
building Company. This concern builds
docks ana ships and repairs vessels. The
State offlci-ils hold that repairing a boat
surely,, cannot come under the head of
"manufacturing."
Other cases In which still more money is
Involved arc those of iron manufacturers
who operato their own coal mines, coke
ovens and lime quarries, and producers of
refined oil who leaso or buy oil lands and
drill wolls thereon. Tho question In these
cases turns upon whether tno mining of coal
and lime is "manufacturing" as specified in
the act, and whether the ownership of oil
lanis is necessary to the manufacture of le
flned oil. Under a Supreme Court ruling it
has been decided that mining is not manu
facturing, although it has not been clearly
established that this ruling would apply to
the mining of coal, etc., for the solo purpose,
and by the same concern, for the manufac
ture of iron.
Another difficulty confronting the State,
in case the questions should be decided
against the taxpayers, is that the act gives
no procedure which maybe taken to deter
mine what portion of a corporation's capital
stock is invested in mining operations and
what In the manufacturing. The corpora
tions might determine thlsquestion for them;
selves, but thoy may not caie to givo the in
formation to the Sta'te.
A BAD YBAB FOB FIEES.
Minions of Dollars' Worth of Property Con
sumed, bnt Losses All Paid.
HARniSBUBO, Dec. 20. Special. State In
surance CommissionerLuperestimntes from
statistics In his department that this has
been a very unfortunate year Tor fire in
surance companies. The total fire losses in
the United States last year footed up about
$SO,000,OCO, but lor the ten months of this
year it has reached over $125 000,000, and is
still burning at the rate ot $4,000,000 a week.
The heavy losses are not attributed to defi
ciencies in fire departmenss, but simply to
luck, for the most disastrous conflagrations
occurred in St. Louis and Louisville, where
the fire departments ate fully up to the
times.
The effect of these heavy losses has been
to drive several insurance companies out of
the business. Tho companies in Pennsyl
vania have stood their losses well, nnd, with
one or two exceptions, settled all claims
promptly. This Is largely due to tho fact
that most of the companies In this State arc
on a firm financial footing, and partly be
cause Pennsylvania's losses this year have
not been so proportionately great as in other
parts of the country.
HAIB THAT TEAILS.
A Mexican Woman Who Has the Lon
rest
Growth In the World.
Saitta Tomes, Tex, Dec. 20. Mercedes
Lopez, a Mexican woman living just across
the river from this place. ha9 an extraordi
nary head of hair, probably the longest In
the world. Sho Is about five feet In height,
and when she stands erect her hair trails on
tli pi ground four feet and eight inches.
When sho sits down and draws her locks
about her thevhide her entire person so
heavily that it is like thick clothing.
The present growth on her head is onlv a
little over five years old. for It gives her
such bad headaches that she is compelled to
cut it frequently. Every month she sells
large quantities of it to a hair dealer. She is
the wife of a common sheep herder, and is
herself ignorant, but her tresses are the
beautiful black hair of the old Castilian
women.
johx woiVr x.XHiurr.
No one can blame China for taking no part
in the World's Fair China is not in it.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
The Chinese Government gave us civil ser
vice reform, but they do not propose to give
us an exhibit at the World's Fair. Neio York
Press.
China's official declination to take part in
the Chicago fair shows that Caucasians have
no monopoly on national self-respect.
Cleveland Press.
It may be a little hard on the World's Fair,
ljut wo cannot help admiring the spunk of
China in refusing to participate in the Expo
sition on account of our anti-Chinese laws.
Indianapolis Sentinel.
NoBODTcan blame China for standing on
her dignity in this matter. It is a pitv, too,
for the Chinese exhibit at the Philadelphia
Centennial was a verv interesting one.
Louisville Commercial.
The Chinese Government refuses to make
an exhibit at the World's Fair. Visitors
who are interested in the principal industry
of China will have to visit the opium joints
in Chicago. Milwaukee Sentinel.
TnE Government of the Celestials has sent
word that If its people are not good enough
to land here they are not good enough to
make an exhibit. The Chinese evidently
have a long memory. JTUicaukee Ifews.
PICTURES TAKEN FE0H WALLS.
Richard Iansflell Will Use Only Newspa
pers Hernfter for Advertising.
Washington, Dec. 20. Richard JIansfield
has issued instructions to his manager to
discontinue the use of lithographs and
printing of all kinds for use in windows and
walls, and to confine all advertising exclu
sively to the newspaners. He is firmly con
vinced that this is the only proper nay to
reach all classes of theater goers.
"The influence and tiemendous power of
the press as an advertising medium Is mak
ing itself, felt moro and more every day,
both in business and theatrical circles. A
man who does not read the newspapers
never attends the theater," savs Mr. Mans
field. It Pleases the Shoppers.
Toledo Blade.
Christmas shoppers are well pleased with
McKinley prices. Never before were arti
cles as cheap as they are now.
DEATHS DEER AND ELSEW1IERE.
William Hennessey.
"William Hennessey, who was buried in
Scrauton Thursday, was one of the oldest minors
in the Lackan anna Valley, and was at onetime
the roost prominent figure among that class of
workmen. Daring the "long strike" of lR79-81he
was President of tne Tamons Miners' Association,
and Ills management of it atralrs did much toward
making that memorable struggle lictwccn raiiitil
and labor a peaceable and busliifs6-Iikcone. He
hId several public offices In Hyde Park, and Is
gratcfullv remembered brail ensues for his heroic
conduct during the terrible smallpox epidemic thai
pn vailed In ?.cranton and vlcluity some years ao.
A larjre pot house wss built on West Mountain,
and Hennessey volunteered to take charge of it
and nurse the victims of the scourge, although he
hid neier had the disease hlmsclt. lie rein tlued
for weeks in the p-st house, and there are scores of
people in the alley to-day who were Inmates In
theliospltil. who declare that they owe their lives
to his careful nursing. He passed through his ter
rible ordeal s ifely. escaping the contagion. He
died at Forest city, and was about 70 years old.
Dr. J. Howard Tracy.
Dr. J. Howard Tracy, a native of Hones
dale.. Pa.. Is dead at his home In Escanaba Mich.,
aged 47 years. He was a graduate of tlicEipon
College, the Chicago Medical College, the New
York College of Physicians and Surgeons and the
medical department of the University or New
1 ojk. He went to Germany In 1370 and was as
sistant surgeon In the German army during the
Franco-l'russian war. After the war he devoted
a veartostiidylnGennanv. and, returning to this
conntrv, settled in l'ond du Lac. and nl)equently
In Kscsnaba. He was the only son of .Mrs. Clarissa
T. Tracy, of the faculty of Iilpon College.
Obituary Notes.
REV. FATnEU DOWD. pastor of St. Patrick's
Church, one of the most prominent mcinbersor the
Irish priesthood In the Province of Quebec, dlcdat
Montreal Saturday.
William L. Dunglisox. of South Bethlehem,
Pa . died Friday night, aged 59 years. From 1S70
to 18S5 he Mas cashier orE. P. Wllber &Co.'sBank
at t-outh Bethlehem. For tl.e past eight years lie
has been engaged In the Insurance business.
Kev. Feudekick Hincklet, a well-known
Unitarian clergyman, died Friday in Sprlntleld,
Mass.. aged 71. He was born In Boston and began
fireachlng years ago. He had served pastorates
u Washington, Newburg, Trenton, Hartlord
mKve-nl v astern rltles.
A TARIFF STORY.
Eli Pekkins (Melville D. Landon)
sends th'efollowidir interesting narrative of
the effects of the McKInley bill to the New
York 6'ii.-
I want to tell our little children a story
About chicory. I suppose you don't know
what chicory is. Well, it is a vegotnble like
a parsnip, which the French and Germans
have been raising, drring, browning, grind
ing and using, instead of coffee. We have
been sending out about $8,003,000 to Germany
every year for this little article. It tastes
like coffee, is good, wholesome food, bnt it
has no nerve stimulant like coffee. Children
can drink chicory as they can milk.
To get to the story: When they were put
ting the tariff on different things last year
and got down to "C" they came right on to
chicory.
"What's chicory?" asked Major McKinley.
No one was able to tell anything about it
except that we paid Europe $S,0D0,000 every
year to get what was used.
"Wel, what3baH we do. with it?" asked
several Congressmen.
"Why, if we can't raise it." said McKinley,
"and the people want it, -we will let raw
chiefcory come in free, but we will pntji pro
tective tariff on manufactured chickory.
We will try and brimt the manufactories co
America if wo can't raiso the stuff." So the
tariff went on to manufactured chickory.
And So They Hustled.
Suddenly I noticed a great stir among
the chickory importers.
"Why, this McKinley bill has raised the
dickens," they said. "We can't import
ground chickory any more from France and
Germany. We must make it here."
So vhey wrote and telegraphed the foreign
chickory manufacturers that they must
hurry np and bring their cnickory factories
over here. And Rnre enough there was a
stampede from Europe, anil ch'ckory fac
tories began to go up In Jersey City, Ho
boken. WilH.irnsburgh, Newark and Brook
lyn. Then Philadelphia and Detroit started
chickory factories, till we Inn H factories
nnd B00 chickory makersat work in America.
xncygot tneir raw cuicKory irom r ranee
nnd Germany, where it is grown with verv
cheap labor. This worked well in New York,
but out In Detroit they said:
"Wo arc too far away. We must raise
our own chicory."
So they got cliicory seeds from German v
and pat in a small crop in Michigan last
spring. The farmers made more money
than thev made out of wheat. It set them
crazr. Every one wanted to raibo more of
it. Well, this fall the Detroit factory is
doubling its capacity, and all the farmers
are getting seed through the factory nnd
Jerry Rusk and preparing to plant chicery
nex : year.
And They Tickled the Earth.
Xowjudge of my surprise when I saw five
acres of chickory away out in O'Neill, Neb.,
the other day. A Belzlan by the name of
Bozzlcman had it. He was drying it and
browning it for the Omaha and St. Louls(
market.
AVhcnlaslced him how he, came to raiso
cliicory, he said: ,
"Why, my brother raises it in Belgium.,
and when the McKinley bill passed he rushed
seed over to me and told.mo to put In five
acres, which I did. He Is on his way here
now to see about It."
What will be the result of all this chicory
excitement? Whv, alter paving out to
France and Germany over $70,000,000 for
ohicory we are finally going to make It here,
at home, and save our money keep it in
this country.
Tho history of this Industry and how we
got it is like that of a dozen other industries
which have come through this wise tariff
measure.
One verv funny thing came out of this
tariff on chicory. When Baron Babant, an
extensive chicory raiser In Franco, heard of
It, he thought the tariff was on r.iw chicory,
as it ought to be, and will probably be If the
next Congress is as wise as the last one, and
he came over here to raise it. But when he
found there was no tariff on the raw roots In
the States he went to Canada, saw Sir John
Macdonald and said:
"If Canada will put a tariff on Taw chicoTy
I will plant four miles square in Manitoba."
"Then we'll do it," said Sir John; and he
did.
And There's Millions In It.
last spring I visted Baron Babant's
4,000 acre chicory farm in Whitewood, Mani
toba, on the Canadian Pacific. Ho proposes
to supply all Canada with chicory and send
his surplus raw chicory over to be manu
factured in the United States without pay
ng any duty. His fall crop is now coming
to Detroit to be manufactured.
It is funny about the price of chicory,-too.
It used to sell for 12 cents per pound whole
sale. Competition brought it down to 10
cents, then to Scents, then to 6 cents, then to
4 cents, and no .7 it is offered wholesale at 3J
cents. Our retail grocers are keeping the,
news from the people and still selling chicory
at 12 cents per pound, when they could sell
it nt 5 cents.
By and by.ir we get a tariff on raw chicory,
every farmer can raise a substitute which
will improve his coffee. One-half chicory
gives a delightful flavor to coffee. Good
coffee costs 30 cents a pound. It is one of
the burdens or our fanners and mechanics
to buy it, for we all drink coffee. But soon
chicorv wiilbo oneot our own crops and
$3,000,000 will be saved to our country every
year.
Putting in chicory, flax, beet sugar and
raising more sheep for wool, will reduce
the acreage for wheat, and with the present
tariff of 25 cents aeainst Canadian wheat.
rye, oats and barley, we will next year con
sume our surplus wheat, and then wheat
will go to SI a bushel in Dakota, farm lands
will go up, the farmer will again, after 15
years of low price, be on top and all
tbiough the wise protection put around us
by the McKinley bill.
NATITBAL YEAST DISCOVBED.
A Fermenting Substance Bettor Than the
Kephlr of the Caucasus.
San Francisco, Dec. 20. A species of yeast,
closely resembling the kephir found in tho
regions of the Caucasus Mountains, has been
discovered in California. Like, the kophir,
this American product causes alcoholic fer
mentation of milk, affording a beverase that
Is pronounced refreshing and delightful.
Many Canadian housekeepers always have
on hand this saccharomycite in a jar half
filled with sweetened waterand the ferment
product, known as California bees' beer, is
drawn and used as a tonic. The kephir
grains ferment dextrose as well as lactose,
and it is the dextrose or crape surrar fer
ment product that has been used mostly in
this conntrv.
In Germany and Russia tho milk fer
mented by kephir grains has become popu
lar ns a drink, and an enterprising firm has
recently opened a factory where the fer
ment will he manulacturcd for the beverage-loving
Germans. The American kephir,
in the process of fermenting milk, does not
cause the milk to sour, in the ordinary
sense. The mixture is acid, but no coagula
tion takes place. The ordinarv beer veast
has not the property of fermenting sneet
milk, althomrh it doesnroduco alcoholic fcr-
mentation In sourmilk. It also inverts cane
sugar, another point of difference uetween
tho beer yeast and kephir, the latter having
the power to fermont dextroso and h-ctose,
but not saccharose.
MBSPKIXGER'S PROGRAMME.
Ma. SrniKOEn guesses there will be a nnm
ber of changes in the McKinley law. The
President und the Senate may ask Mr.
Springer to guess again. Washington Post.
SrniNGER is an expo.subvcntionist first, an
"ituni-at-a-time" tariff reformer next. As
subventions and reduced taxes do not go to
gether. Springer need not be studied in the
second t olc. He will never play it to win.
Clexe'and Press.
The difference between the tariff policy
of Mr. Springerand that of Mr. Mills is that
Mr. Springer believes in taking the tariff
wall down stone by stone and Mr. Mills be
lieves in butting his brains out against it.
Springfield negisler.
Sfrinqeb would be a safer man than Mills
to put at the head of the Ways and Means
Committee in this exigency, but his promo
tion over Mills' head J ust now would further
anger tho latter's followers, and produce
something like u split in the party. SI. Louis
Globe- Democrat.
Mb. Spbisqeu's views on the tariff policy to
be pursued in Congress are sound. He ad
vocates an effort to put certain necessities
on the free list and opposes the introduction
of a general bill which could not pass, but
would furnish ammunition to the 'enemy.
Mirmingham Age-Herald.
Mb. SrnisaEB has the right idea of hand
ling the tariff this w.nter. No general law
can bo passedanyway, and so the Democrats
should endeavor to got rcleif along lines
where the sharpest necossity exists. Give
tho common people free salt, free lumber,
free fence wire, free binding twine, free cot
ton ties and free wool. Sioux Cttu Tribune.
CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS.
California has a snake with two headf,
and it is not poisonous either.
In China slips of mulberry batk serve
as money in the interior towns.
The Burmese, Karens, Hangere and
Ghans use lead and silver in bullion for cur
rency. A Kentucky paper tells of seven ears
of corn each weighing a pound that grew on
one stalk.
The number of mail trains leaving and
arriving at Chicago every day is 219, which
is equalled hy no other city.
Chicago has -a frontage of 22 miles on
LakeMIchlgnn'anda navigable frontagVbn
Chicago river of aDout Similes.
A Maine girl has the faculty, when
blindfolded, or taking a photograph and
accurately describing the person or object
portrayed thereon.
A Michigan man writes a postal card
every day to the President and the Com
missioner of Pensions reminding them that
12 years ago he applied for a pension .and
has not yet received it.
Tea is highly esteemed in nearly every
ancient Asiatic city near the sea, and was at
one time nsed as a royal gift from the Chi
nese monarch and great merchants to the
potentates of the East.
fw j ,
There isasort of cactus consumed in
great quantities by the Arizona Indians,
the seeds of which pass through the body
undigested. The latter are collected, washed,
roasted, ground and eaten, being considered
a great dish.
A pointer is so called because of Its
habit sof stopping and pointing at game with
its nose, while the setter gets its name from
alike habit, excepting that it crouches in
stead of standing when pointing under sim
ilar circumstances.
Dalmatian, or coach, dogs are said to
have been first bred in Dalmatin, Dut it is by
the last quoted name that they are best
known. This arises from the fact of tneir
being kept in stables and are nearly always
seen running after carriages.
Some of our shy wood birds avoid hu
man habitations in their wanderings, but
the wisest go where gunpowder Js dear and
pass the winter In the swamp forests of
Yucatan, or even farther South, in the path
less woods of Guiana and Eastern Brazil.
When Currier Downing, of Ripley,
Mo., left homo 75 years ago he planted an
acorn in the douryard. When he returned
the other day he found that his acorn had
produced an oak tree nine feet in circum
ference, with branches extending 40 feet.
The Hawaiian Islands were discovered
by Gajtano, a Spanish navigator. In 1543 The
independence of these islands was recog
nized by the United States in 1820, and moro
formally in 1843; by Belgium in 1844, and by
England and France later in the same year.
Indians are fond of the larvtc of many
Insects, and tney do not despise sings as an
article of food. Roasted crickets are n fav
orite diet with them, particularly in Cali
fornia and Utah. Grasshoppers furnish
many tribes with a large part of their sub
sistence. In June, ISC'?, the amount of gold coin
and bullion in the United States Treasury
was only $75,000,000; in 1889 It had risen to
over $."00,000,000. In the various national
banks it stood at $3,000,000; it has risen to $S0.
000,000. In silver there is a still more remark
able increase. .
The migratory birds of the Eastern
States have a curious habit of following es
tablished routes of travel. Countless thou
sands of water birds, for Instance, cross the
Mexican border near the mouth of the Kio
Grande, probablv to avoid the broad sand
wastes that skirt tho upper river valley.
In the interior towns of Northern China
slips of the bark of the mulberry treer bear
ing the Imperial "chop" and a stamp which
denotes their worth have long been used as
we use bank notes. Marco Polo found this
kind of money there in his time, and they
still have an extensive local circulation.
During the period of 20 years, from
1867 to 18S6, inclusive, there were granted In
the United States 32S.716 decrees for divorce.
The number in 1S67 was 9,937. The increase
during tho 20 years was steady and rapid.the
number for the last year of the period being
25 535, an increase of nearly 157 per Cent in
the 20 years.
A flame, before it falls into one of the
three recognized classes of Parsee "sacred
flres in India, has to undergo certain cere
monials corresponding to the dignity of the
order to which it is destined to-belong.
Thus, only a thirtieth part roughly of the
expenditure and religious recitation wonld
be required to consecrate a Dadgan flre
than when a Behenun flre is to be installed.
As soon as a Chinese girl is betrothed
she is placed in different relations to the
world generally. She is no longer allowed
such freedom as hitherto, although that
may have been little enough. She cannot
go anywhere, because it would be Incon
venient she might be seen by some mem
ber of the family into which she is to marry
than which it is hardly possiDlo to think
anything more horrible.
On several occasions pipes of peace and
other symbolic missives have been received
hy the President of the United States from
various tribes of Indians. The Jlo'quls or
New Mexico once sent him a small quantity
of wild honey wrapped in the inner husk of
an ear of corn. He was requested to take a
niece of the husk, chew it and spit it out
upon the ground in order that the country
might have rain.
A full-grown Greenland whale yields
about a ton or whalebone- The-whaling
vessels usually bring it in pieces or 10 or 12
blades each, but sometimes, if the voyage
is lomr, the sailors have time to strip off
each blade and divest it of its hairs. In pre
paring them for ue the blades aro cleaned
and softened by boiling fornbout two hours;
while still hot thev are fixed in large wood
en vises and shaved into the required sizes.
The most ancient fire at present in India
is at tho secluded village or Oodwada, near
Bulsar, and the Parsess make It a point to
repair to the Behe'am flre there in large
numbers during the months that are
specially allotted to the presiding genlns or
Arc. It was consecrated about 12 centuries
azo by the ancestors or tho presont Parscos
in commemoration ot the voyage they had
in their emigration from Persia to India.
The priests vowed to institute tho flie in
the event of their ships landing them in
safety on Indian soil. The fire is fed at five
stated times during each 24 hours with
sandal wood, benzoin and quantities of
other odorous materials, as well as with very
dry fuel.
OME S3IAIX SMILES.
"Winterbloom I
want you to see my
babies.
atherstone Alt right.
I should like to very
much. When shall I come.
Winterbloom Come around abont 1 o'clock In
the morning. They are liveliest then Harper's
L hiiztir.
France has pate de foi gras,
Plum pudding has John Unll.
lnle careless Pat keeps sleek and fat
"When potato bins are full.
We covet not their dainties.
And connt them little loss
When on Thankglvlng we taste high living.
Dressed ith cranberry sauce.
-.V. T.Bmld.
Tomrlik I suppose you were very lonely
the month your- ife spent at her mother's.
HojackOluno. She left the parrot at home.
Judge.
Soberly Tour wife, sir, seems to be a
person of very lucid speech.
Sagcman Yes, her speech is so perpetually
Ioos-td that I often pray for Its abatement. Boston
Courier.
Client "What makes yon so certain that
you will be able to break the will?
Lawyer (In a whisper I drew it. X. I". Herald.
Her pink, little fingers are pricked and
scarrcil.
Yet. I love to see them fly.
I know they would never have been so marred.
If the needle could use Its eye.
And I love to watch her delicate frowns.
As she strikes an awkward hem;
For Rose is a girl who can make her gowns
There are girU whose gowns make thenit
-Puck.
Cobble I understand that you lost tha
steamer for Knrope.
Stone Yes. My wife had to go back Tor an
other hairpin. Vtoak Heview.
"De bestcs t'iug," old Uncle said,
' 'Dat Santy does fnr me
Is ter lebe de 'possnm hangin
On de out-doors Christmas tree." .
WasMnjton Star ,
"Charley, I wonder what would be a nice''
present to give papa for Christmas?" asked Clara.
"Give hhn a pair of padded slippers, "inggetUd
Charley, gloomily. Texas Siftlnsi. ,
J