&2SP
W.sU'HUi.sKJE
" ?4".:- ,..-
ssssEL'1'
I t
L !
r
fe
.
' fi MATGHLESS PROGRAMME OF READING
I ' ' TO-MOPf S DISPflTGH.
EK' The best writers of the day
iR are contributors.
HIGH CLASS AND BRIGHT.
Here are some of the features offered
AN AUSTRIAN HEALTH FACTORY
Ity Mark Twaiu.
ART OF ROME AND FLORENCE
By Murat HaUsead.
THE INTER-CONTINENTAL RtTLW.V'i
3Y tram: o. carpenter.
A DAVS SIGHT-SF.EING IN JAPAN
BT LAFCADIO HEARN.
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CRIMEA
BT EM1LE ZOLA.
MONKET TALK IN A FHONOGRAPH
BT R. X- GAR5ER.
A TALK ON IH7MAN VIVISECTION
BT ROBERT J. BCRDETTE.
IROBLKM OF STERILIZnn MILK
BT FRAICES TISHEU WOOD.
RUSSIAN STYLES FOR srRING
BT ADA BACHE-COXE.
LINCOLN ON RECONSTRUCTION
BT COLONEL A. K. M'CLTJRE.
A Splendid Installment of Mark
Twain's Story "The American
Claimant," With a Synopsis of
Earlier Chapters. A Photograph
of Homestead's Wild Man and
Other Interesting Illustrations. A
Story Tor Young People. A Pane
for Women. And Best of All, a
Complete and Reliable News
paper. TEE BEST 15 NOT TOO GOOD.
Time Spent in Reading the Issue
To-Morrow Will Bo Well Spent.
I STAl'.I.IHED FEBHUAUY S.
1F4G
Vol. 4. No. UA. mtTI at rittsbnrg Postoffice
I cvember. 1SS7. s second-class matter.
business Office Corner Smithfield
and Diamond Streets.
News Rooms and Publishing House
7S and So Diamond Street, in
New Dispatch Building.
rTn, nvp.irnsiN'; oFFirE. hoomts.
iiunrxn nrn-niXR. ntwyork. wherecom-
1 iclc file- of THE nisPATCHcao alwavshe fovml.
F.in-ifii advertisers appreciate the convenience,
limnr advertisers arc! fr.rn.1s of THE DISPATCH,
wlilte iu Nni York, are also made w eicume.
SHE DISI'A 7C.ll U Ttyvlfrlv m tale at Brentinn't.
: Cnfrtn bqnare, lev: Vor&.ant 17 Ave aefOpa.
ffn. France, irhere nnyon icho has Ixen ziap-r-W7iti
it ti half I we,- stand can rJttsiin it.
TERMS OF THE DISPATCH.
TiSTAGF TT.FT IN" TBE EXITED STATES.
rAUT Dispatch. One Year , ft 01
DailtDisvatci. Per Quarter ICO
Dailv Dispatch. One Mouth 70
Hail's DisiMTcn. Including "-und-iy. 1 veir.. 10 01
Dailt Dispatch, including Mmrtay, 3 m'ths. 1 50
Daili HisrATrn, lncIi.dir.R'-unday. lm'ta.. !0
s-uvdat Di-patch. One Yar. rM
A i:lklt Dispatch. One Year. 1 55
Thl Daily Dispatch is delivered by carriers at
21 vi uts p r eek, or. Including bunday Edition, at
It cei.tspcr wetV.
PITTSKUKG. SVTCRDAY. FEBRUARY 6.
TWELVEPAGES
THE CITY ESTIMATES.
Drcnssion of the tax question by a cor
respondent in anothpr column brings out a
point in regard to the comparison of Pitts
burg taxes with those of other cities which
the chiefs of departments might perti
nently have considered before presenting
their estimates for the current year. Tax
pajers in this city have been anything but
mean or parsimonious in their provisions
for an active and efficient city govern
ment. They have stood, with little objec
tion, a steady progression of expenses be
yond the increase of population. They
have made all reasonable allowance for
the increased cost which came necessarily
from the opening up of new sections of
the city for residence; for the supplying of
water, of fire and police protection, and
for the purchase and maintenance of park
property. In view of the almost unani
mous expression so far against swelling
the appropriations for '92 by more than
half a million of dollars above the appro
priations for '01, the powers that be at
City Hall must see that there is a place at
which it is opportune to stop the loading
process and take the bearings of the situa
tion intelligently.
Of course the plea can be made that the
present kick comes almost wholly from
property-owners, and that it is the judg
ment of the voters who elect Councilmen
that must determine thiugs, whether they
be pr perty-owners or not. But if a tax
rate be made which is oppressive to property-owners
it will before the year is out
affect all clashes. One of the incidental
results will be that extravagance will bo
superseded eventually by such drastic re
trenchment as will not permit even of the
appropriations required for such a govern
ment as the city ought to have. When the
pendulum swings it is always to the other
extreme.
If the chiefs of the departments aro
wise they will withdraw their estimates
and cut them down to last year's limit,
wiiich was in itself highly liberal.
Whether they do or not the question is
now the only one before the voters at the
coming election; and unless the ground is
taken that the city's tax rate has no rela
tion to its continued prosperity, there can
Ik: but one decision upon it, and that flat
against the proposals of the City Hall of
cials. If the estimates are not cut down as in
dicated, the chiefs of departments will
find their mistake when it is too late to re
treat with grace from an untenable posi
tion. A DECISIVE RESORT.
The first of the criminal prosecutions
growing out of the municipal muddles in
Allegheny City terminated yesterday by
the conviction of Market Clerk Hastings
on all four counts of the indictment
against him. So far the results of the late
ventilation of Northside city affairs by the
reform clement in Councils have home de
cided results.
To predict the outcome of the two more
important prosecutions pending from Alle
gheny would be improper. But it is per
tinent to say that the course adopted by
the Xorthside people in bringing cases of
alleged official misconduct into the Crinn-
Hie BippftQ.
nal Court'is working1 well. "No betterway
of reaching exact knowledge as to the
state of affairs and securing punishment,
in case guilt is proved, can be devised.
There has been ground lately for Jeers
at the once superior Nbr'hside munici
pality which would havo nothing to do
with Pittsburg for fear of the crookedness
of our municipal politics. But if Alle
gheny maintains the practice of imparti
ally prosecuting all prima facie cases of
official corruption, she will maintain her
position.
THE EFFECTIVE REPARATION.
The Chilean courts have gone far toward
making good the pledge of the Chilean
Government for reparation by sentencing
three of the rioters for terms varying from
nearly five months up to nearly three
years. In this action there is a fan- degree
of fulfillment of the often repeated decla
ration of the Chilean administration that
the guilty parties would be punished.
Of course, this punishment does not
cover the case of a large share of the
rioters; but it is worth while to remember
that it goes further in the direction of
punishment than the United States has
ever been able to do. Owing to the divis
ion of jurisdiction in our system the United
States Government has never been able to
punish a single rioter for infractions of in
ternational rights, while the Chilean sen
tences are imposed within four months of
the offense. It is also clear that there is
far more protection in the example afforded
by Chile than in the kind of reparation
made by the United States in such cases.
For a government to hand over some
thousands of dollars indemnity has not the
slightest deterring influence on the next
mob. For it to send a murderous rioter to
prison for three years may check the mob
spirit somewhat although in both coun
tries it is likely that severer measures will
be necessary before such outbreaks of
ignorance, brutality and prejudice are en
tirely suppressed.
The President recognizes the deficiency
of our system in his recommendation that
the United States Courts shall have juris
diction over offences committed against
treaty obligations. Such a measure should
be adopted in order that the Government
may in future be able to assert that a reas
onable measure of justice will be done in
case of such offences against the law of
nations.
A TEMPORARY BACKSET.
A dampening effect on the gayety of
politics will surely ensue when it is learned
that the ambition of our jovial friend
Colonel Andrew Stewart to participate in
legislating for the nation has been balked
by the negative of the House Committee
on Elections. The precedents of former
Congresses which are likely to obtain with
Democratic as well as Republican majori
ties make the report of this committee
practically decisive. In addition, the fact
that two Republican members of the com
mittee voted to seat Craig, creates a toler
ably stronc presumption that he has the
best of the joke by presenting the strong
est case.
Colonel Stewart, who inherits the cog
nomen as well as the Christian name of
"Tariff Andy" from the Congressional
Stewart, is thus enforced to postpone his
desire to prove that ability as well as
fealty to the cause of protection runs in
the blood. But there are compensations.
While Colonel Stewart may not be able to
enliven the Uongreisional Etcord with his
humor, he can remain at his home in the
beautiful amphitheater of Ohio Pyle aud
enjoy life there in his wonted style un
vexed by calls of the House or the task of
hunting up appointments for patriotic
citizens of his district He can also re
flect with his wonted philosophy on large
compensations that the future has in store
for the man who can afford to wait till the
time when cross public opinion does not
set in motion a land slide against the cham
pions of protection.
GIVE iGAN HIS DU.
The anti-Egan newspapers are in the
same need as the organs of the late blood
and thunder party of a little instruction
as to the value of giving some attention to
the facts. This need is exhibited by their
rush to accuse Egan of dereliction of duty
in failing-to inform his Government of the
fact that Chile had granted a safe conduct
to the refugees who had taken asylum at
his legation.
There are grave grounds for challenging
Mr. Egan's conduct, but this is not one of
them. A comparison of existing docu
ments will show that in his communica
tion to Senor Matta, he enlarged on the
features of Secretary Wharton's note con
cerning the Valparaiso riot which were
calculated to produce international diffi
culty, and that in cabling Senor Matta's
reply he carefully suppressed the ex
pressions that might have allayed the feel
ing. His faitii in Balmaceda's success
was, to take the mildest view of it, a gross
blunder. The charge that he used his
official position to make his son agent to
press a claim against Chile to the tune of
five and a half million dollars, while not
yet supported by the official documentary
evidence that establishes the other matters
just referred to, is grave enough to call for
investigation. But this charge of failure
to inform the Government of the safe con
duct is like a great deal that has been pub
lished on the other side of the case two
parts of wind and one part of imagination
The most convincing proof to that effect
can be afforded to anyone who will take
the trouble to carry his memory back
scarcely three weeks. At that time the
Chilean Government painstakingly made
it evident to Mr. Egan, Fighting Bob
Evans and the United States at large that
it did not grant any safe conduct to the
refugees. It simply looked the other way
while they went from Santiago to the
Torktown in Valparaiso harbor. It is
asking too much of Mr. Egan to claim that
he should report the granting of safe con
duct which, the Chilean Government tes
tifies, never was granted.
TI1E TORIES' LAST DITCH.
The speech of Lord Salisbury at Exeter
is principally significant as an indirect
recognition of the coming Liberal victory
and au outUne of the, course of the Tories
in that event, which is inspired more by
wrath than by discretion. The Prime
Minister affected to regard the result of
the bye-elections as unimportant, but the
tenor of his speech showed that he re
garded the comiug question to be what the
Tories would do if the Liberals gained
control in the House of Commons. In
that case, he said, the House of Lords
would not be swayed by Liberal threats in
consideration of Irish Home Rule. In
other words the gist of his declaration is
that thn policy indorsed by the English
people would be defeated by that last
refuge of Toryism, the House of Lords.
Beyond the amazing indiscretion "of in
timating on the eve of a general election
that the Tories will not submit to the ex
pressed will of the electors, but will set
up the House of Lords as an obstacle to
it, Lord Salisbury's outline of future Tory
policy at once challenges the inquiry what
a Liberal Ministry would do in response to
such a course. The expressions with re
gard to the abolition of the House of
Lords in England have .been too frank of.
late years not to bring up at once the sug
gestion that this stand would precipitate
the issue. It would be hard to fmaglno
any circumstances more calculated to give
force to the movement for wiping out the
House of Lords than to have-that body
set itself up as an obstaclo to carrying out
the popular decision of an issue over which
England has been agitated for seven years.
The only question would be whether the
time was ripe for such a radical change in
the English constitution; and the ripening
effect"of such a stand would make it far
from a singular result if the hereditary
branch of the British Legislature should
permanently disappear from Its already
nominal position.
But even if the love which Gilbert has
chronicled for "our House of Peers"
should make it appear that the time was
not ripe, the course which Lord Salisbury
hints at would prove no more than a very
temporary obstacle to Home Rule. A
Liberal Ministry, if it found its bill nega
tived by the Lords, would have at its com
mand a resort older than the British Con
stitution, and one which has been fre
quently used to overcome the repugnance
of the hereditary legislators to reform.
That is simply to create enough Liberal
peerages to pass the measure. The Lords
might well hesitate before offering such a
choice to their opponents.
When such a futile threat is made by
the controlling mind in Tory politics, it is
a strong indication that the Tory cause is
hunting a last ditch to die in.
If ew York City is not to be congratu
lated upon its crime preventives while
mail robberies can be accomplished with
the facility displayed in the recent abstrac
tions of pouches on the ferry boats.
The suggestion for the organization of
impartial boards for the purposes ol givinjr
expert evidence, as made by the MedicaT
Hecord, is a wise one. Wherever exoert evi
dence is required, not only in medical cases
but in all disputes where a scientific train
ing carries weight, thtf prebent system of
hiring men to contradict one another is on
tho f aco of it open to serious objections. If
boaids could do instituted whose opinions
would be accepted as final,in nil'rruitters of
expert evidence, the movement in that direc
tion should receive every support.
It is hardly complimentary to the busi
ness intelligence of German manulacturers
that they anould require their Kaiser to per
suade them of the advantages to be gained
by exhibiting at the World's Fair.
Chief Elliot's statement that there
was more suffering among the poor of this
city last month than ever before, and that
the poor are becoming more plentiful, is
matter for serious consideration. A mini
mum amount of poverty is of paramount
importance for the true welfare of a com
munity, and there is a call for earnest effort
to remove causes for such a condition as
that reported.
England's appropriation of 23,000 for
the Woild's Fairls ridiculously small for the
Interests at stake. It is a trilling amount,
too, when the expenses of gastronomic ad
vertising are taken into account.
As evidence that the English press is not
so entirely narrow-minded as it is said to be,
the following quotation from a recent ar
ticle on Cromwell m the London Spectator is
worthy of note: "There is no other name in
the long and splendid history of our race,
unless it be that of Lincoln, which can claim
more respect for wisdom, for true patriot
Ism, for dutitulness in its highest sense."
McKee'S BOCKS citizens are determined
to get all they can from street traction com
panies, and the latter find that the stumb
ling blocks in their way very fully bear out
the name of the borough.
After all a man is judged by the
thoughtful world trom the life he leads and
not exclusively from the condition of the
estate he lea es. A fool who leaves nothing
behind him is spoken of as an improvident
spendthrift. A wise and generons-hearted
philanthropist is only further praised when
his survivors learn that he used his property
to the uttermost.
The verdict in the Hastings trial amounts
to more than the conviction of one man. It
is a warning to those holding public office
that they cannot fail to discharge their du
ties with impunity.
While an international convention on
the monetary system is a movement to be
heartily supported, the opinions of the
European financiers will in a great meas
ure decide the question, and therefore the
visit of the Rothschilds to this country for
the study of silver and its rembnitizaiion is
an event of great importance.
Despite the ill-fated Eider statistics
show that trans-Atlantic travel' is marvel
ouslysafe, and far moie so than railroad
Journeying in this country.
We believe that Mr. Dolge, of Dolge
ville, Heikimer county, X. Y., Is the first em
ployer of labor who has outspokenly given
palpable proof of the benefit of protection
to the workers. He has announced his in
tention to raise his employes' wages 10 per
cent, and says that tho HcKlnley tariff ha
enabled him to do this. '
From speeches made in support of the
Anti-Options bill it is evident that short
sellers are long odds against legitimate
transactions.
The French Government pays us an
unexpected compliment in (tending a dele
gation to investigate and profit by our
methods for the inspection of pork. It may
bj partly due to the recent action of Ger
many in excluding that commodity. What
Germany condemns France must of neces
sity admire.
Hill is beginning to find out that he has
an uphill strngglchnd that he is likely to find
Himself nearer tho bottom than when he
started.
Statistics show that desertions from
our army are decreasing, but they still aver
age 1,500 a year from an army of 23,000. This
shows that the conditions of military
servico for privates are less attractive than
they might be.
Trusts grow and multiply. A litho
graphic combine is the latest, and we'may
soon expect the very stones to cry out.
Members of Congress display more in
clination to profit by tho liberality ot appro
priations for their bodily wants, when bury
ing a deceased colleague, than for singing
his praises when his corpse has bocn dis
posed of.
WIKB WON 3TEAES AGO.
It Wan 'Wagered and Won In Mississippi
Darius th" War.
Washisotox, Feb. 6. Yesterday afternoon
In a quiet home In Washington overlooking
the Capitol, n bottle of wine was opened that
nearly 30 years ago was paid as a wager be
tw ecn two army officers In camp at Corinth,
Miss. The fact that each officer, has a na
tional reputation, and that such a thing Is
not apt to happen again in a thousand years,
makes the story' of this particular bottle of
wine most interesting. Thirteen gentlemen
satdtfwn to a dinner given tooclebrate the
occasibn by General G. M. Dodge. In a long
speech Goueral Bane explained the circum
stances leading to the reunion It was in
18T3 and General Burnslde had Issued an
order suppressing the Chicago Timet for dis
loyal utterances. Tho bet was made between
General Dodge, the speaker, as tp whether
President Lincoln would revoke the order.
The stake was a bottle of green seal, and
was won by General Banc. It had bocn kept
all these years to bo opened in the prcsonoo
of General Dodge. Tho guests tasted It and
spent a pleasant evening in recalling inci
dents of tho days of '63
TtfEURV StSTEM. '
j '
Evils That Make, th? Administration' of
Justice Unsatisfactory Exemption, Ex
cuses and Fines Demoralizing Majority
Verdicts In Civil Cases Working Well in
Scotland.
rwaiTTEif roBTint dispatch, i
There isnothlng more unsatisfactory in
tho administration of Justice than the jury
system in its presont condition. The exist
ent evils are twofold, ono inherent in the
system itself, and the other in its selection,
the solution of which presents one of the
most complicated problems with which
legislators and jurists have to 'deal. We
cannot hope to suggest a proper solution,
but the recognition of the need and the
possibilities of reform Is one step' toward
reformation.
In ancient times it was considered an
honor of the highest character to bo in
cluded in the number or those w ho sat m the
gate adjusting piivato differences oi aveng
ing public wrongs. This office was like a
patent of nobility. It distinguished a man
among his fellows. It was then more
coveted than an honorary office In tho most
popular religious, political, or social organ
izations is now. The office has fallen from
its hih repute. To-day Jury duty is a bm--den
without honorand without recompencc.
Jiany men who like Abou Ben Adhein love
their fellow men and devote their lives to
their service, would deride the idea that
thus also they could serve. Jury duty is to
be shunned regaraless of the methods em
ployed iu securing immunity. There aie
honest and honorable men who lefrain irom
registering and voting to prevent the en
rollment of their names on" tho Jury panel,
and others who are equally esteemed do not
'hesitate to bribe the petty officials to make
false returns of absent or not lound.
Exoinptlon Productive ot Contempt.
In my judgment one of the principal
reasons for the general contempt into which
the jury service has fallen in our city (for I
caunot speak for the country, I do not be
lieve that the tame feeling prevails there) is
the principle of exemption. For example
the man who performs a certain military
service is exempt. This is a distinct induce
ment for our young men to join and con
tinue in their regiment. For such service
they should be reu arded, but other and bet
ter methods might be devised. They devote
ten times as much time in escaping as in
serving. But the result is an unmitisrated
evil. It creates a"favored class, which of it-J
Dcu uiiiixs iiiejury mill uisitjjmie; ibciiuiiis
a heavier burden on thoie who are not ex
empt, and most serious to contemplate, it
withdraws irom this noble institution, the
palladium of the people's liberties, its most
active and intelligent citizens. Exemp
tions are generally secured by.Amencans.
The lesult is that the jury box is largely oc
cupied by those who are loreign
born, and it speaks volumes in
its and their favor, that notwith
standing this there is generally so little
cause of complaint. Nevertheless an in
stance that wo recall can be reproduced in
the experience or many practicing lanyers.
A German sued an eminent American physi
cian, and the jury impanncled comprised
cue American and 11 foieigners. When the
cause was submitted, the Amei lean was for
the defendant, but yielded his convictions
to tho exigencies of a w edding feast. Nor is
it uncommon in criminal cases for the
Judge to condemn tho verdict as a miscar
riage of justice, and in civil cases to direct
tho voidict to be set aside before the Jury
leave the box: as an eminent Judge in Penn
sylvania said, "It takes IS men to steal a
man's farm in this State." Tills failure Is
due not to prejudice or corruption, hut to
me met mat tuoir collective wisaom ana in
telligence was not equal to the emergency.
These men had boen seleeted from a cla8
that had not been educated or trained suffi
ciently to lea-son t6 a pioper conclusion in a
complicated case.
Fines and Excuses Demoralizing.
The inferior quality of our juries is due
also to the system ot tines and excuses. In
genuity is racked to invent excuses, and
when the roll is called at the beginning of a
term and the clerk announces that those
who have excuses will present themselves,
Invariably the majority press forward and
pour into the Judge's ear the most pathetic
tales imaginable. One, I remember, in his
working smock told of a wife and family de
pending on him for support, and that bis em
ployer said he would discharge him if he
were absent. On interrogation he confessed
his employer was bis father. Others mako a
mathematical calculation that jury service
will occupy so much time, which is worth to
them so many dollars, ana therefore it will
be to them a substantial financial gain to at
tend to business aud pay the fine. In this
favored land industry, intelligence; and in
tegiityieap rich lewards, and tl)e men dis
playing these qualities are the men who ate
lined.
There is some excuse, or rather has been ,
for such conduct in the methods pursued by
some of our judges who never excused tho
jurois who were in attendance from remain
ing in the couit room while a case was on
trial. I have been told of a Judge who had
such inordinate vanity that lie always de
sired a crowded couit room, and never dis
missed J urors or suitors. It a businessman
were impaneled Id such a couit he might
excusamy pay ills fine.
All tho factors above mentioned militate
asainst the securing ot the best mental re
sults iu the composition of the Jury, said
with the possibility of verdicts that are
travesties on justice. It isa winnowing pro
cess by which Intelligence and experience
lue eliminated. The wheat is rejected and
the chaff retained.
Majority Rule in Civil Cases.
The second matter deserving consider
ation lclates to the jury itself. The unL
versa! requisite of the veidict of the jury iS
the English system is unanimity. All Jurists
agiee that this is essential in criminal trials.
It is better that 99 guilty men should escape
than that one innocent peison should be
condemned, and therefore if one Juror con
scientiously believes that the accused is In
nocent or that the evidence of guilt is incon
clusive and fails to estublisli guilt, it is
proner that theie should be no conviction.
But In civil cases a strong sentiment exists
and is increasing, that Judgment should be
enteicd on the verdict of a majority. The
experiment has ((been tried with excellent
results in Scotland. At first tho" jury must
be unanimous; it within a certain time such
agreement cannot be reacheu then the ver
dict of 11 may be accepted; a little longer
time, then the verdict of ten, and a still
longer time the verdict of nine. In
view of the public expense of a trial it
is an experiment worth trying in thii com
munity It often happens that an obstinate,
unreasoning Juror will glory in preventing
a verdict. If in such a case he knew that
his mullshness only snbjected his associates
to a brief Incarceration m the Jury loom, and
that then they could render a verdict with
out his concurrence, he might listen more
tractably to the arguments and reasonings
ofhisfellows. AJuroronce informed mo with
the satisfaction of a virtuous aud applaud
ing conscience, that in avcertalu case the
first thing he did on entering the jury room
wa.s to take out his penknive and stick it
into the wooden benches. The others at
tracted by this strange pioceedlng inqulied
its meaning, to which he replied that he was
seal ching for the softest place to sleep, for
he had determined to stay there all night
before he would agree to a verdict for one
side. Ills obstinacy rather than his argu
ments were rewarded with a verdict for the
Bide he favored.
Too Many Cases Given to Juries.
TllEKEis still another evil iu the system.
Wo submit too many cases to the verdict of
the jury. In actions on contract, wheie the
damages aro liquidated and the amount is
either undisputed or is tho result of a" math
ematical calculation, tho trial should be
submitted to a judge. Tho determination of
men of sound learning, unbiased judgment
and ripe experience must in such case be
more satisfactory than the haphazard de
terminations of men inexperienced in other
business tnau their on n, untrained in col
lating or analyzing evidence and swayed
often unconsciously by passion, prejudice or
favoritism. In such cases the lights of Jury
trial could readily be protected by provid
ing that in cases of necessity the issues of
fact arising therein might be determined by
a jury and presented to the judge for his In
formation and guidance.
As we advance in civilization the law be
comes more refined and difficult, the cases
more complicated and its application and
determination requires higher training. Our
Juries have not kept pace with these de
mands. We cannot dispense with them, we
must improve them, una to do it most effi
ciently wo mu3t make its service honorable
and restrict its use to cases peculiarly Its
province. Hoi. Wit. H. Ansoux.
New York Citt.
Y. M. C. A. Men In Council.
GRiEKBBrnra. Feb. 5. Special The Young
Men's Christian Association Is In session
here with about 60 delegates present. The
programme for the two days' meetings em
braces many topics for discussion. At to
morrow's meeting M. W. Callander, of Pitts
burg, will tell of the association's woik
among railroad men.
AMaJtmBYrCOWrtJflCTIOHS. ' l
Natural Laws and the Multiplication Table
Enough to Satisfy Everybody.
To the Editor of the Dispatch
Ignorance is both dangerous and ex
pensive. It is dangerous for what it does
when precipitated into a panic, as the long
Hob of historical exreses and frenzies at
tests. It is costly for the reason that it in
evitably invites some kind of an assessor or
tax gatherer, to whom it pays tribute. Care
vfnlly analyzed, It will be found that nearly
all ills are the offspring of Ignorance and
hor twin sister, credulity.
Just now therare indications of another
end of tho world scare, and to the ignorant
it Is nothing that these crazes, have hun
dreds of times taken place and date backinto
the centuries. "Oh, but this time," says Mr.
Credulity, "there is high authority, Planets
will be in conjunction, and Professor So and
So lias calculated that certain prophecies
aro about fulfilled." But some of the great
est ignoiamnses under the sun aro pro
fes'ors. Some or the nan owest minds are
bookish. Some of the moit robust cranks
that tho sun shines on are pedagogues.
Is a mathematical fact liable to change?
Doet the multiplication table tell lies In
some kinds of weather?
One natural law Is as good as another, has
the same potency, the same consistency
and how long is it since these relations of
quantities to each other have been found
guilty or falsehood?
But what have the conjunctions of' the
planets to do with what takes place here on
the earth? Absolutely nothing. Not so
much as a cloud passing over the sky, or the
flight of a butterfly or wasp in the blue em
pj'rean. Why, these conjunctions, like tho eclipses,
exist all tho time, wit-b reference to some
point iu space. What, then, signiflet it if,
onco in a gieat while, they Hue with us?
The line of cranks and fools still seems to
be a pretty long one, because much of edu
cation makes narrow dwarfs. N.
Wampum, Pa., Feb. 5.
A HUGE IKON BCHEME.
New York and Pennsylvania Capitalists to
Build Towns and Railroads, t
Baltimore. Feb. 5. Tho Manufacturers'
Record of this week states that the broadest
plan of development in the South ever un
dertaken.which will involve investments by
New York and Pennsylvania capitalists of
many millions of dollars, has been consum
mated by Alexander A. Arthur, who
founded the English town of Middle
town, Ky.
Tho operations of this company inclndo
the puiehase and development on a very
large scale of extensive coal and Bessemer
iron ore properties in East Tennessee, the
puiehase of furnaces, steel works and
coke ovens, the establishment of two
manufacturing towns and the construction
ot several important railroads in addition to
tho extensive systems now in operation.
The entire capital will be furnished by
Americans, the list of those interested in
clnding many of the mot widely known
and conservative iron and steel men and
financiers in the United states.
PEOPLE OF PROMINENCE.
Senators Gorman and Gibson are great
on gastronomy.
Carl Schtjrz was recently made an
honorary member of a new German society,
the Khinclander, of Chicago.
Charles Francis Adams is in London,
engaged in the ridiculous, and doubtless
disappointing, task of looking up his ances
tors In the archives of the British Museum.
Sir Morell Mackenzie's daughter,
Ethel Mackenzie McKenna, has made an in
teresting name for herself in newspaper
work as a writer of correspondence from
London.
Mr. Graham Kerr, naturalist to the
Pilcomayo expedition into South America
last year, says tho "Gran Chaco" is a region
180,000 square miles in area, forming the
northern portion of the Pampas.
Mr. George W. Childs will attend the
dedication ceremonies of the "Chilas-Drexel
Home for Union Printers," at Colorado
Springs, Col., on May 12, the anniversary of
his birth. This will De Mr. Childs' first visit
to the far west.
Captain W. S Schley, the redoubtable
commander of tho cruiser Baltimore, Is a
man of about t5 years. There are streaks of
gray in his closely cropped "imperial"
beard, but bis hair is brown and he wearalt
combed don n low over a bioad forehead.
King Menelek, of Abyssinia, is culti
vating the friendship of the President of
France. He has just sent a messenger to M.
Carnor, offering him as a present two splen
did Nubian lions which are now'at his court.
The same messenger took a letter from the
King conferring upon President Carnot the
highest decoration of the empire.
DEATHS HERE AND ELSEWHERE.
Prof. T. TV. Orr, McKeesport.
Prof. T. W. Orr, principal ot the South
Park School. McKeesport, died yesterday morning
very suddenly. For the past ten months he had
been aQlcted with neuralgia of the braiu, hut his
enndltlnn was not snch as to cause him to rease
work. He retired Thursday night without com-
plaining. hut abont a half-hour before be aled com
plained to his wife that he could not sleep, arose,
dressed himself, and sat down In a chair, where he
expired. Prof. Orr was considered one of tho
ablest educators in the Slate. After serving eight
Years as superintendent ot the Grove City schools,
lie came to McKeesport last September. He was
38 years or age, and leaves a w lie and three chil
dren. "
Hon. John Hogan.
John Hogan died at noon yesterday in St.
Louis of paralj sis. Few men in the West were
better known than "Honest" John Hogan. He
was a native of Cork. In 183(i Mr. Hogan was
President of the Illinois Board of Public improie
ni'cnU. and while oecunving that position the
board laid out the site or the city of Chicago, and
when the first railroad in Illinois was built lie held
that position. Going to St. Louis he was Post
master Irom 1857 to 1S61 and represented thatcitv
in Congress trom 18fH to 1363, with the distinction
of being the only Democratic Congressman during
these years from the whole country west of the
Mississippi.
Rev. Benjamin St. J. Frey, Editor.
Rev. Benjamin St. J, Frey, D. D., editor
of the Ventral Christian, Advocate, organ of the
3tethodlst Episcopal Church In the West and one
of the leading ministers of that denomination, died
yesterday at St. Louis of erysipelas following an
attack of the grip. In 1847 he entered the ministry,
and after several years pastoral service was elected
Presldentof the Worthiiigton. O.. Female College.
During the war he served as chaplain of the Sixty
third Ohio Infantry. In 18b5 he was placed In
charge or the Methodist book coneern at St Louis
aud conducted its business until he was elected
editor of the Ventral Vhrlstian Advocate In 1872.
Christine C. Ilrash, Antnor.
Christine Chaplin Brush, the wife of Rev.
Alfred H. lfrnsh. pastor of the Dutch Reformed
Church in .New Utrecht, L. I., died Wednesday in
Brooklyn, in the HOth year of her age. Mrs. Brush
wm the daughter of the late Jeremiah Chaplin, of
Boston, and was well known as the writer of "The
Colonel's Opera Cloak" and as a coutrlbutor to
Jhtrpsr'8 Monthly, the Atlantic Montlily, and other
periodical. She tanght drawing lor scvral years
belore her marr.age in the State Normal School la
Massachusetts, ana distinguished herself by water
color painting, especially of wild flowers.
Obituary Notes.
T. W. Inmas, a prominent member of nenry
living's company,
is dead, in London.
He had
been suffering from influenza.
Emanuel Youhg, who for 20 years ha3 had
charge of the Pennsylvania Company's meat and
cattle business in Johnstown, died last night.
HAMILTON GnAT. the oldest postmaster in the
United States, Is dead. He had served as post
master at Gray's Hill, Tenn., since his appoint
ment by PresldentPolk.
Ilox. David Clapton', who has beenAssociate
Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama fur a
numbsr of years. ,dled from pneumonia J esterday
morning at'Montgomery.
ALFRED ARAGO, son of the illustrious Francois
Arajto. died suddenly in Paris Thursday, aged 77,
of congestion of the lungs. He was a brother of
the French Minister to Berne.
Robert M. Whiting, ex-Commodore of the
Brooklyn Yacht Club, and well known lu yachting
circles throughout the country, died Wednesday
night, aged 77 years, of paralysis.
Genebal James F. Robinson, one of the best
knona turfmen In tnc country, died at Lexington,
Ky., yesterday morning, ne had been President
of the Kentucky Turf Association for the past 20
years. He was 60 years old.
A. Clark Fulton, a prominent lawyer and
Chairman of the Republican County Committee, at
York. Pa., was seized with hemorrhage of the
lungs in the Court Houbc there yesterday morn
iug. and died In a few moments.
Eruabdt Mueller, of Honesdale, Pa., who,
as member of Company M, Seventeenth Pennsyl
vania Cavalry, claimed to have ared the first gan
and killed the, first man -"-ho fell at the battle of
Gettysburg, died Monday in the Soldiers' Home
In Milwaukee, He was rormerly a .prosperous
business man of Honesdale.
; V THE;TAX PROBLEM". ' '
Practical Views on the Basis of Taxation
An Important Function Placed In the
Wrong J'landa Valuation and Mlllage
Sere and Elsewhere The Remedy In
the Hands of the People.
To the Editor of The Dispatch:
The continued and almost general fault
finding with tho increased valuation of real
estate under the triennial assessment of the
Board of Assessors is one more example qf
the failure of the taxpayer to take bold of
an existing evil at the right point and at the
right time. It Is bnt a month or two since
we had the spectacle off the city's bonded in
debtedness being increased by a small pro
portion of the qualified voters, the great
majority either abstaining from voting alto
gether or voting against the measure. And
yet there was no alternative at tbat time; it
was eithor vote to extend the Indebtedness
over a number of years, or be swamned by
an increase of taxation in a single year suffi
cient to pay the indebtedness. Had the
opposition which manifested itself at the
time of the election to Increase tho city's
debt, or not, been employed nt the proper
time in the selection or the right men to the
State Legislature, it is not possible that a
bill so evidently framed in tho interest of
the contractor and land speculator, as was
the street act, which was afterward declared
nnconstitnttonal, and left the city with
what threatened to be an Increased debt,
could have become a law.
The Only Equitable Tax Basis.
Now, it needs no argument to prove that
the only equitable and leasonable basis for
the Taxation of real estate is a value ap
proaching as nearly as possible its actual
market vnluo at the time of assessment.
Any other basis or taxation almost inevita
bly puts an unequal share of the burden of
taxes on the smaller property holdcrs.jbe
cause it leaves wide open to the wealthy
and influential owners of large properties
the opportunity of having their assessment
reduced by the employment of the very in
fluence which their position in the com
munity enables them to use. A cash value
basis of taxation is a uniform stnndaid,
Irom which there need be no deviation.
And yet, while the almost universal pro
test to the present action of the Boaid of
Assessors is fault-finding misplaced, it is
none tho less indication of an ovll which
docs exist, to-wit, the extravasant increase
in the expenditure ofpubllc money in Pitts
burg by City Councils. Tho s-inie good citi
zens, who now protest so loudly agninst an
increased assessment, leave the most im
portant function in luxation tho fixing of
the millage, the nctual amount of taxes to
be levied in the hands of an irresponsible
committee of Councils, the members of
which if they aro pioperty holders in the
city certainly do not estimate aright the
consequences of the extravagance they en
courage. The result of such a policy is that
an increased valuation is looked upon by
this same committee as one more oppor
tunity for increasing the gross amount of
tax levied instead of an occasion for reduc
ing the millage.
The Tax Rate Here and Elsewhere.
A comparison of the tax rate in the city
of Pittsburg for 1891 will reveal the fact that
outside of any consideration of the return
fiom taxation the actual rate was higher
than in Boston, New York, Cleveland or
Chicago.
It is not using ontside or extravagant fig
ures to say tbat tho total assessed valuation
in the city of Pittsburg, averaging the
county a"nd city assessments in 1891, was CO
per cent of the cash valne. The city rate
was 15 mills, average school rate 2 mills, and
county rate 3 mills, making a total of 20
mills, which on a 60 per cent valuation
would be equivalent to a 12-mill rate on an
actual cash valuation.
In the city of Boston the rato was some
thing over 12 mills on a valuation approxi
mating 80 per cent, or about 10 mills on a
cash valuation.
In New York, Ohio and Illinois real estate
Is taxed for State purposes, wnile in Penn
sylvania It is not, ana yet in the city of New
York the total tax rate for 1891, including
State, county, city and school taxes, was, in
our way of putting it, 19 mills on a 60 per
cent valuation, which on an actual cash val
uation would be equivalent to 11 4-10 mills.
In Cleveland the rate for Stan-, county,
city and school purposes amounted to 28
mills on a 40 per cent valuation, or 11 2-10
mills on an actual cash valuation.
In the city of Chicago, under a peculiar
method of assessment known as "equaliza
tion," real estate is assessed at about 15 per
cent of its actual cash value, which makes
the rate of taxation seem higher than it
really is. In 1891 the total tax rate for State,
county, citv and school purposes, was $6 00
on each J 100 valuation, this being on a 15 per
cent basis would be equivalent to, in our
wavof putting it, a 9 mill rate on an actual
cash valuation.
Pittsburg Getting the Worst of It.
Taking into account that in all the cities
named-the return from taxation in the way
of light, police and fire protection is cer
tainly equal to that supplied in the city of
Pittsburg, and that our park system Is but
In its infancy, while all the cities named
support park systems second to none in the
country considering these facts certainly
return"from taxation is less in Pittsburg
than in cities whose burden of taxation is
less.
I do not know whether It occurs to the
powers who fix taxation In the city or Pitts
burg to what extent the city's pi osperitv is
dependent upon its manufacturing indus
tries. The result of a policv so imprudent
and short-sighted must inevitably be to
drive many concerns to take advantage of
the inducements offered to locate outside
the city. Let me give but one example
and I use it as an example only because I
am acquainted with the facts by reason of
connection with the firm. Here is a concern
employing between 400 and 500 people and
paving in wages weekly between $3,000 and
$4,000. The total taxation on the actual
amount of money invested in their plant
nmouDts annually to between 3 and 5 per
cent, making It Impossible in years of keen
competition for them to do more than nold
their own. And this is but one of many
concerns engaged in like business in the
city, who are bound to Pittsburg only until
such time as natural gas shall fail as a fuel,
when they must surely seek fields for manu
facturing where taxation is not an amount
equal to a reasonable profit on the capituL
invested.
General Apathy Is to Blame.
There is no chapter in the whole history
of republican government in the United
States more calculated to call in question
the advisability of a general suffrage than
the history of municipal administration,
fraught as it Is with so much of stupidity
and corruption. With all tho experience of
Eniopennand English cities behind us, we
insist on beginning at the beginning and
purchasing a dearly-bought experience.
The secret of the whole matter is this, that
politicians thrive in consequence of the
apathy and carelesness of the very citizens
whose interests are largest in tho municipal
corporation.
Outside of Pennsylvania some light does
seem to be breaking in tho disposition of
cities to either own or exercise control over
valuable franchises that are public property.
The city of Baltimore derives a large portion
of its income trom its tax of 9 per cent on
the gross receipts or street rallwavs. A
statute of New York Stato passed in 1886 or
1837 provides that hereafter when It is pro
posed to construct a stieet railway in any of
the cities of the State tl.e Iraurhisc there
for shall be offered at public sale, and bo
sold to the party agreeing to pay to the city
the largest percentace of the gross rnrnints
of the road. These taxes in both cases nru
in addition to tho general corporation tax.
Somo few cities oan street railways, and
many have long since acquired their own
light plants.
Until the citizens who have no other In
terest to serve but that of good government,
which means low taxation, devote their
energy to the election of men who will
really represent them to City Councils, wo
shall have an increasing millage with an In
creased valuation. It is a high honor for
the most respectable citizen to be a member
of the town council in many ot the English
cities, and it should be so In the cities of the
United States. It is certainly opportune
that the publio attention is so generally
called to the .existing stato of affairs at a
time so near the elections to City Councils.
William D. Evans,
100 Diamond street.
Pittsbuko, February 5.
Nine Weeks of Inactivity.
New York Recorder.J
The Democratic House of Representatives,
nine weeks in session.and they have not vet
agreed upon the rules to govern them! Put
Tom 'Reed In the chair.
, Another Reciprocity Proclamation.
Washington, D. C, Feb. 5. The President
has issued his proclamation promulgating a
reciprocity treaty with the British West
India colonies, Trinidad, Windward and
Leeward islands.
What He Is There For.
Chicago Times.
The ex-Governor of Nebraska now sits In
the Executive office aud wonders what he Is
Thayer for.
THE REOPENED' HOUSE.
The Spick Fpan Pittsburg Club Is Shown
to the Admiring Four Hundred of the
Two Cities A Representative Gathering
There Other Affairs.
After beiog in the hands of architects
and decorators almost for a year, the Pitts
burg Club reopened last night, and in honor
of the event, within its doors, there was as
brilliant and large a gathering as ever
marked an event, solely of a social nature.
The usual awning at the club theater
door told tho story of a function
within; for even on this notable oc
casion the iron-bound rule was no tannulled
which forbids a woman, or a man who is
not a member, to cross the "threshold of the
great front door." This was locked and
barred, and remained so all evening. The
house was profusely arranged by John R. &
A. Mnrdoch with flowers, beginning with
the foyer and extending Into the theater, up
the connecting stnirways and throughout
the house proper in the many numerous
appropriate places. An orchestra was
stationed in tho house proper,
and another behind the screened
stage in the elnb theater where the dancing
was carried on. Tho general plan o. the
house has not been much disturbed, except
ing in that part belonging to the domestic
establishment already described in The
Dispatch, but the general effect of the re
furuishment and decoration is that or a
much more elegant and more modern house
than heretofore.
Nine o'clock was the hour mentioned In
the invitations, and as this meant any time
until 12 the full quota of guests was not
present until midnight. About 500 guests
were present, many regrets being leceived.
sentbypeoplo living awav from here and
the many whom the season has plunged in
mourning. A number of the ladies
representing tho receiving committee,
wives of" the officers and governors,
were through this latter canse Kept
away, but, nevertheless, a very full repre
sentation was present. The entire club was
open, the bar connected with the billiard
room being suitably screened off and every
semblance of cloven foot or horn success
fully screened from the eye of the fair con
tingent present. The reception, one of the
most successful In the annals of tno Pitts
burg Club, did not come to a close until 3 or
4 o'clock this morning.
Since Madame Del Sarte's very success
ful causeries at Mrs. Schoonmaker's house,
society is beginning to wonder why home
talent is not sought out and lionized. There
aro many exceedingly clever young men
and women, who are starving intellectually,
nnd having their abilities warped for want
of a eympatlretie atmospheie. It is
certainly a fact that brains is not the
card which alone will introduce a young
person possessing more than ordinary in
telligence to Pittsbnrg drawing rooms, un
less that person be lucky enonsh not to
claim this happy SDOt for his birthplace.
This is a city whos society has always been
remarked lor its generons patronage of
visiting talent, and it would be a delightful
lauiel. indeed, for it to wear, should it,
henceforth, include the clever of Its own
rearing, in lavishing tokens of its love.
TnE members ot the Johnstown Corre
spondents' Association who attended the
dedication of the Conemaugh VnVey Hos
pital on Thursday were charmingly enter
tained by A. J. Haws and H. Y. Haws at their
home on Vine street. Dnrirrg the flood tho
newspapermen were also the guests of Mr.
Haws, in that he was the owner of the
cement "mill and the brick kilns in which
they made their headquarters. The dinner
Thursday evening was the most powerful
argument yet produced to show how the new
Johnstown surpasses the old.
Social Chatter.
The Alumna: Association of the Pennsyl
vania College for Women has chosen for its
patronesses at the the comingbeneflt for the
Helen E. Pelletreau scholarship: MrsXUurles
Lockhart, Mrs. T. M. Jones, Mrs. Oliver Mc
Clintock, Mrs. William H. Daly, Miss S. H.
Killlkelly, Mrs. Ernest Schwartz, Mrs. H. C.
Bughman, Mrs. S. S. Marvin, Mrs. M. N.
Acbeson, Mrs. W. J. Holland and Mrs. WiU
iam Scott. The list is not yet complete.
Judge Kirkpatrick, of Sherman avenne,
will 'give aulte a large dinner party this
evening in honor of his friend Dr. George
Merritt, an eminent medical practitioner of
Cherry Valley, N. Y. Dr. Merritt, while
here, is the irnest or his relative and friend,
Charles W. Robb, Esq., of Nonh avenue.
An evening with Mendelssohn, as inter
preted by Prof. Simeon Bissell's pupils, was
spent last night by a delighted audience at
Curry University Hall. An instructive ad
dress by Prof. Bissell precededa musical pro
gramme, illustrative of the great composer's
genius.
HIS PE0FS3I0BAL SECEET.
An Anecdote That Throws Eight on Sir
Morell Mackenzie's Character.
London, Feb. 5. Sir Morell Mackenzio, the
distinguished physician, whose serious ill
ness with bronchitis was announced a few
days ago, is dead. This announcement
makes it possible for me to make a revela
tion that will exhibit the great physician in
his trne character as shown during the
most trying period of his life. Only a pledge
of honor has restrained me from making
public the facts before.
Only a few weeks before the death 'of the
Emperor Frederick, then still Crown Prince,
while Sir Morell Mackenzie was under the
terrible Are of the German surgeons, a dra
matic incident occurred- A lady who had
access to bis presence at all times entered
his sitting room in the Hotel Victoria one
day. Sir Morell was seated at a table, evi
dently laboring under great excitement.
"You have called at the wrong time," he
said, excitedly; "I am under a terrible
strain."
"Doctor," said the lady bluntly, "you
know the Crown Prince has cancer you
know It."
"Yes," he said, "I know he has cancer"
standing up and clinching his hands "bnt
I have not the right to admit it. Ifl did it
would wrong that poor woman and her
children," indicating the Crown Princess.
"If I were to go to his room and admit that
it was cancer, he would give up and would
not live to be crowned. His widow and
children would have nothing." "But I can
hardly bear this strain much longer," ho
added wearily. He bore-up under the terri
ble strain, however, and theresultis history.
Shonld Cultivate lis Friendship.
Chicago Tribune.
Chile is a plucky little nation. In a good
cause it would be an invincible little nation. J
Uncle Sam should cultivate Its friendsuip
now.
Single Shots Only Allowed.
Washington Post.1
Only single shots will be permitted at the
McEinley target, and Mr. Springer is to boss
the shooting gallery.
Will Soon Be an Extinct Species.
Omaha World Herald.
The street car horse bids fair to Join the
buffalo as an extinct species.
DEATH OF THE OCTOPUS.
It is to be hoped, for the sake of the whole
country no less than ofsLouisian , that the
lottery is really dead. Xew York If'orUL
Perhaps the people of Louisiana will ac
cept the lottery company's professions of a
willingness-togo out of business when its
political friends formally declare againstre
newlng Its charter. Xew YorkSun. -
Thus the lottery men, in tho parlance of
the ring, throw up the sponge. They are
not td bo wholly trusted, and posibly they
are insincere; but tho probability is that
they have really surrendered. iYew York
Commercial Advertiser.
The blot is about to be wiped from the
escutcheon of the Pelican State and the
steadv flow of money from people all over
the Union, millions of it Trom those who
could ill afford to indulge In the practice,
will bo stopped. Ohio Slate Journal.
The apparently definite and final settle
ment ot the loug-agitatcd question of tho
political and moral "degradation" of tho
State of Louisiana is top obvious to call for
extended comment. As it is, or promises to
be, it is simply a case of "All's Well Tbat
Ends Well." New York'Advertiser.
We congratulate tho people of Louisiana
tbat their Stato will soon be cleansed of a
fonl blot and we are pleased to inform tho
thousands in our own State who have been
throwing away their money on the great
Bwindle that they will soon be delivered
from that temptation. Cleveland Plaindealer.
The American press, with the exception
of a few subsidized Louisiana newspapers,
has stood like a stone wall in support of the
anti-lottery law and in defense of the ad
ministration in Its attempt to crnsh tho
giant Louisiana swindling concern, which
has at lasts gone to the wall. Cleveland
Leader. .
' CURIOUS CONDEMNS.
-l A A-JXV Vll
A kind of ash in Sicily has a sap whit
hardens Into crude sugar. r .
Crete, Keb., has a young ladies corn'
band which Is paid to be tho cridal of "ar
male barss band in the State."
Among the Anglo-Saxons the bride w:
led by a matron who wasknowujSs tt
"bride-woman," while the young girls wt
followed in her w.iko were then called, i
they are still,, "bride-maids." ,
In the reign of Richard lit, lk, tl
'dandies of London wore shoe3 wit li toes Iro
one foot to 18 inches in length with the doIi
or "norn" turned up and lastencd to tt
garter by a gold or silver chain.
i Leprosy is increasing at an alarrnir
rate in Spain. From Alcanta it is reporte
that several villages are afflicted with tl
terrible malady. In Benidorm there ai
eight families every member of which is
leper.
The anti-slavery societies of Europe ar
talking of an exhibition at tho Chicago Fa
which they think will help their cause. Tn
proposal Is to show all the instruments use
in the capture, control and guarding of tl.
slaves.
A horse has 40 teeth, a mare only I
(wanting the tusks or so-called wolf teeth
the ox nnd sheep tribes have only 32, want
Ing the eight incisors in the upper jaw) Th
-pig has 44 teeth, the dog ha 42- teeth, an
mankind only 3i .
The following advertisement appearai
recently in a paper: "A stamp collector, th
possessor of a collection of 12,541 "stamp!
wishes to marry a lady who Is an ardent col
lector and the possessor of the hlnn-penn.
stamp of Mauritius Issued in 1847." . Th
stamp the young woman must possess I
worth about S1.000.
Our word "bride" is derived from th
Anglo-Saxon verb "bredan," to cherlsi.
while "groom," or "grom," is an old Dutc.
word, which simply means a young mar
and is qnlte different from the term apnlie
to our equine domestics, which either come
from the Persian "garma" (a keeper c
horses), or else from tho Anglo-Saxon wor
"gunw," (a caretaker or servant).
The mest popular and honored Persia,
poet is the Sheik Maslihed-din, who wrote L
the thirteenth century, and has the highes
distinction as a poet and moralist. Hi
"Place of Roses" is appreciated out' of Pel
sia, and it may be seen in India, printed c
lithographed in cheap form, packed i
chests and sold in hundreds and thousand
for use in the many schools where Persian i
taught.
In 1890 Korth Dakota had 2,615,31
acres sown with wheat, giving a yield t
27.551,611 bushels, or ten bushels and a frac
tion to the acre, and that, in 1831, 2,SS5,5C
aere- were planted with wheat, the -tota
yield being 64,713,323 bushels, an average c
over 22 bushels to an acre. Of other crop
raised in the State tnn fleures are: Oatj
17.871.5S: barley, 5,270,635; flax, 1,214,013, an
rye, 310.067 bushels.
Kbaiifa Abdullah makes a good deal o
gunpowder in his arsenal at Omdnrman. bu
It is inferior in quality to that which come
from Europe, and he is eager to get as mccl
of the imported article as possible. Not .
tew natives south of the Zambesi make
very poor qnality of gunpowdef. havim
plenty of the materials used in its manu
factnre. while the Portuguese have tauh
them'the art of making it.
At Pembina, N. D., the thermomete
stood at 43 below zero one day recently
At Splritwood Lake, in the same region, th
ice is three feet thick, aud in cutting It oi
cold days the saw stnek fast frequently, an
had to be cut out with an ax. The weathi
has been so cold that few people have beei
about the farming districts. The Svkestm
Gazette remarked the other day: "We" com
munlcate once more with tho outside worb
to-day, by means of an auger-hole, made b
the rotary plow through the drifts."
An inexplicable habit in a church a
Valsbolhas at last been explained. Wfcei
tho men went to the altar to receive thi
sacrament and then returned to the body o
the church each made a genuflection in t'l
direction of tho women, always on the sam
spot. No one for a long while ha 1 knowi
why this was done. Lately one of tho wall
was being cleaned, and a picture of th.
Virgin was discovered which had been cov
eredup for 400 years by the whitewash. Tn,
'genuflections originally made to this nicturt
had been continued by the force of habit foi
centuries after it had disappeared.
A carious contrivance by which tho-'
whose kitchens and cellars aro over-stockec
with black beetles can get rid of at least :
considerable portion of them, has recentl
been patented. It consists of a circnia'
casing with inclined sides, ud which the
beetle or other insects can run, and an in
verted saucer-shaped dish on a pivot in th
center of the casing, with a receptacle foi
bait at its upper part. The arrangement i;
such that when a beetle steps up uside of
the casing and over on to the inverted dish
Its weizht will tilt tho dish and cauc the
beetle to fall to the bottom of the trap, thi
dish righting immediately the weight ot the
beetle is removed.
Colonel Gallieni, the French soldiei
who has served his country in Senegal am.
tho Western Soudan, tells an amusing inci
dent that occurred to him while in the fa;
interior. In 1329 Rene Call lie, the Euroncai
traveler who wrote a description of Tim
buctoo, passed through tnat region on hit
way to the famous city. A while- ago Colone
Gallieni was surprised by a bill which was
presented to him by tho chief of an intend
towh. It purported to rem-esent a debi
which Cailliehad incurred. Tho Colonel hac
no doubt the claim was spurious, but ic
order to dispel a "detestable reputation foi
dishonesty," whicn he says Europeans en
joy in that region, he discharged tho obn
gation.
A new arrangement, designed to super
sede chain3 in safety bicycles and obviat;
the annoyance, with which bicyclists-are s
familiar, of loose, and lirt-clogged chain
gearing, has recently been protected. Ac
cording to this invention a toothed wheel is
provided on the hub of tho driving-wheel,
wbich gears Into a circular rack. This rack
is supported by two cranks mounted or
pivots and is oscillated through connecting
lods by a small toothed wheel driven, by t
pinion on the crank shaft. This wheel hap
a pin on Its face which engaies with the
connecting rods and at each revolution
oscillates the rack which acquires a circular
motion by reason of the cranks, and thus
revolves the driving-wheel. The speed at
which the driving-wheel is rotated depends
upon the proportionate number of teeh on
tne racit uuu. uu tuo nuccx nib. nuicu ik
gears.
LIGHT LITTLE LAUGHS. ,
"What are you doing ia, Paris, Dr.
Perkins?"
"Studying eyes. 3Ilss Daisy."
"Ob. how interesting! WhafColor do yonpre
fer?" Harper's Bazar.
It is leap year, my boy, and just' nobody
knows i
How sooa some dear girl may take heart to pro
poe;
So leave em alone, boy. a chase will enhance
The Joy of their efforts to Jump at a ch inte.
Xew York Herald.
Professor In estimating the multitudes
that have Inhabited the earth we are obliged to
consider, of course, both the quick and the- dead.
Student That classification would leave out tne
messenger boys altogether, wouldn't it? ISwfcwi
Cbttrfer.
Old Nick O'Teene (to his young wife)
My first wife was always cold and distant. I Mae
the sweet, confiding way you nestle up to me.
His Young Wife Oil. I don't mind It; I u.ed to
work in a tobacco f ictory I Puck.
I thought I could be happy.
If she'd consent to marriage:
Bui now she rails mo "Pappy."
Makes mejog the baby carriage
There Is a moral to this wall.
Tbat must be plain to all:
But I likven't time to write It,
For I hear the baby suualt. .
Smith, a raj i Co.'s Xmthl-j.
He Mrs. Redd-Clay, allow me to present
to you my friend Mr. Reginald Kobl&son.
bhe (who always tries to say something pleasant)
What an aristocratic first name yoo,Jjar. Mr.
Bobmson.-u!?e.
"What happened 400 years ago thiyear?"
asked Freddie's teacher. -
"Don't know." answered Freddie; "Vm oaf
7 years old." Harper's Tmnsr People. T
"I do not like that gown," he saidVi.
Those sleeves! Why. you'll get lost,?, T
'But, dear." his little wife replied, , -,
"Just think how much it cost." . "
Ctnak Heeieso.
Wealthy Parishioner Doctor, that- ser
mon of yours last Sun lay from the texf,A rieh
man shall hardly enter into the 'alngdoe of
heaven. was a little tough on us fellow .tliat pay
about S3 for eTery sormon wo hear yoa preach.
The Rev. Dr. Fourthly-Yes. but t2vhjkgy dear
lr. of the. Immense comfort there la K that tettier
the fellows tbat can't afford to pay 2Jcen,ti-C-
cago Tribune.
- '
fV.