isaaemsBmmmmmmm WwmmifwMEninfmirimrT yf--ir,r f?f THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, TUESDAY. MARCH 15. 1892. ESTABLISHED FEBKUART. 8, 1846 Vol. 47. So. 37. Entered at rittsburg Postoffice Jtovember, 1S97, as second-class matter. Business Office Corner Smithfield and Diamond Streets. News Rooms and Publishing House 7S and 80 Diamond Street, in New Dispatch Building.' KA.STEBN' ADVEnTISIJirs OFFICE. KOOM T8. TRIBUNE BUILDING. NE'SV YOKK. where com plete flies of THE DISPATCH can always be found. Foreign advertisers appreciate the convenience. Home advertisers and friends of THE DISPATCH, while In New York, are also made welcome. S7IE DISPATCH is rcpularlp on ta'eatBrenlnnrt, I Union Sqttare, .Veto Fori, and J7 Jb de 1'Opfra. Paris, Jrance. tchrre anyone icfio has been disap pointed at a hold new stand can obtain . TERMS OF THK DISPATCiL rOPTAGE ritFF. J" THE UKTTCD STATES. DAILY DiTATCIt, One Tear 3 8 00 Daily Dispatch. Icr Quarter ICO Daily DisrTcii. One Month 70 Daily Difpaicii. Including Suiday. 1 year.. 10 CO Daily Disfatcii. Including Sunday, Sm'ths. I 50 Daily Dispatch. Including banday, 1 m'th. S3 St-XDAY DISPATCH, tine Year ISO Weekly Dispatch. One Year 13 Tut Dailyispatcii Is dclli erea by carriers at If cents per week, or. Including Sunday Edition, at Jf cents per week. . riTTSBDnG. TUESDAY, MARCH 15. TWELVE PAGES T1X VTION" AND TtOKK. Many of our readers may be inclined to criticise some of the details of Mr. Edward Atkinson's article on "Taxation and Work," published elsewhere. The classi fication of the distribution of production under the head of "rents, profits, interest, salaries, earnings, wages, stealings and taxes," is quite liable to evoke dissent, viewed in the light of scientific classifica tion. But Mr. Atkinson's main position, that taxation is an appropriation of a por tion of the products of industry or work for the use of the public, and that the monev raised by it is therefore a trust fund, is indisputable. ' Mr. Atkinson's computation in this issue is that the23, 000,000 workers in this nation produce an average of 1600 each, meas ured in money value, or a total of 513, 800,000,000. The division cf the pro ductive force in the various occupations occupies a considerable portion of his cur rent article, while a future one will show the measure of national taxes in terms of work. As the national expenditures are about one-twenty-sixth of the whole pro duction, it is possible to anticipate from the figures Mr. Atkinson has already given that the national taxes appropriate an aver age of eleven and a half days' work from each worker in the year. This is, of course, based on the supposition that his data are correct. Add to this the proportion of State, municipal and county taxation, which Mr. Atkinson estimates to be about equal to national 'taxation, and it appears that the average worker must labor nearly four weeks out of the year to pay the total of taxation which is drawn from industry. There could hardly be a more forcible way of showing the public duty of keep ing down public expenditures to reasona ble limits. FOOLISH RErOBMEE'. "SVhen will the officious people, who set themselves up as the reformers of the world, realize that instead of the end justifying the means the employment of doubtful methods is hurtful to any good cause, and tends strongly to hinder the progress of true improvement? "We ask this question after a perusal of the revela tion of the deceptive tactics of the people in Philadelphia, as printed elsewhere, who desire to restiict and lesson liquor-selling facilities. Thoughtful citizens cannot fail to be antagonized by systems of arithmetic which are both fallacious and meretricious. The scheme is so played out that it could not fail of detection, and one is obliged to suppose that folly rather than knavery was the incentive of the performance. The people who couple the names of Law and Order with such ridiculous and fraudulent actions do more than anyone else to retard the enlightenment and im provement of the community. True re forms can only be secured -by honest means, and it is high time that this plati tude should form the basis -of effort GENCKAIi ALGER'S CASE. General ft. A. Alger has given publica tion to the complete documents with re gard to his leaving his command in the Shenandoah Valley, in the fall of 1864,about which a good deal of comment has been made. The facts are, first, that early in August, 18G4, General (then Colonel) Alger sent in his resignation on account of private reasons, which was ordered ac cepted by President Lincoln. Learning of the probability of an active campaign lie did not presentthe resignation at the War Department, but went to the Shenan doah Valley with his regiment On August 28 he was pronounced by a surgeon unfit for duty, and left the regi ment, sending in the application for leave of absence by the surgeon. This applica tion was disapproved by General Custer, but the notice of its disapproval did not reach General Alger, who had gone to Washington. The unfavorable reports of Generals Custer, Menit and Torbert, and the recommendation that he be dismissed for absence without leave, were forwarded to Washington with the indorsement by General Sheridan: "I have always con sidered Colonel Alger a good officer, but cannot excuse his conduct or withhold my approval of the recommendation of his immediate officers." But in the mean time Alger had renewed his resignation, and the papers were returned by the War Department with the statement that Colonel Alger had already been honor ably discharged. These are the full facts in the case. They indicate that there was a lack of form in Colonel Alger's absence for the period of three weeks, but explain how he could have been under the misapprehen sion that his leave of absence had been granted. While this irregularity may be exaggerated by General Alger's enemies, it is fully offset by the indorsements and testimonials of Generals Custer, Sheridan and Meade for Colonel Alger's promotion on account of his services in the field. By reason of these recommendations he was brevetted Brigadier General and Major General after the close of the war. This gives a full view of the entire mat ter impartially stated. The general opin ion will be that those who unearthed it have made the discovery of a mare'a nest THE LAST INFORMATION. The much mooted question, as . to whether the Chief of the Depart ment of Public Safety in Allegheny was to be prosecuted under the charges that have been made against him, was settled yesterday by the filing of formal informations. Tie charges will therefore be subject to the test of legal evidence and the case will necessarily proceed to the result, either of vindication or conviction. In this case, as in the others arising from the Allegheny disclosures, The Dis patch can only repeat that the course of bringing the charges under the action of an authoritative court is the only proper one. If the official has been guilty of the offenses charged, tho public welfare re quires his conviction and punishment , If the charges are untrue, his own interest will best be served by his vindication in a court of justice. Wherever charges of official misconduct or corruption reach a definite and prima facie form, the courts are the proper place for either their proof or disproof. MCNICIPAL EXPANSES COMPARED. The comparison of municipal expend itures of other cities with those of Pitts burg, published in The Dispatch, con tained one significant point not brought out as prominently as it deserved. That is the rate of public expenditure, or taxation, in proportion to population in other cities as compared to Pittsburg. The statistics of but three cities were given Irl that article on a basis which permits the com parison to total public expenditures with those of Pittsburg. These were Buffalo, Detroit and Cincinnati. It is interesting to learn that the municipal expenditures of Buffalo are S15.40 per capita; of Detroit $10.40, and of Cincinnati $15.50; while the rate of expenditure fixed by the recently enacted appropriation ordinance of Pitts burg is $20.80 per capita. Returns from other cities do not permit the comparison of total expenditures, but give the basis for a comparison of the total tax levy by millagc. This leaves room for variations which may make the comparison inexact; but as 40 per cent of the total ap propriations in Pittsburg comes from sources outside the tax levy it is fair to conclude that other cities generally will not derive a less proportion of their reve nue from their millagc. The comparison shows us that Chicago levies $5,000,000 by millage, which on her population of 1,100, 000 is less than $5 per capita; Philadelphia levies by a rate of 8.5 mills on $735,008,000, a per capita of about $5.50; Milwaukee levies $12.35 per capita; Minneapolis $16.25, and Newark $11.77. Two of these cities exceed Pittsburg's levy of S12 per capita; but the question whether their other forms of taxation are equal to ours renders the comparison doubtful. It is certainly a matter of interest to Pittsburgers that our tax levy in proportion to population is more than double that of either Philadel phia or Chicago. These comparisons, together with those previously made on present taxation with that of previous years, sufficiently estab lish The Disi'ATcn's position that city ex penditures hive grown beyond a reason able limit. When the people appreciate the fact sufficiently to correct it at the polls, the rapid growth of appropriations will be reversed and not until then. PROUKEiSlVE CAPITALISTS. One of the most marked tendencies of the day is the realization by capitalists that union is strength. Co-operation has made, and continues to make, more prog ress among the giants of finance than in any other department of life, unless it be that of the unification of the interests of labor. That the formation of immense corporations is frequently contrary to the common welfare of the race, it is impos sible to deny. Where the end sought by the massing together of vast sums of money is a strength which shall be able to cripple competition, and secure monop oly, the movement is directly hostile to public interests. But the formation of the "Transatlantic Mortgage and Securities Trust, Limited," reported in our special dispatches this morning, while it marks an epoch from the immensity of its scope, would seem to be innocuous because its efforts will be diverse and distributed, and not concentrated to secure despotism in any particular industry. There are several features in the under taking which mark it as different from most recent investments of English capital in bulk in this country. The high stand ing in the financial world of the backers on both sides of the Atlantic points to a sound business basis for the investment The international nature of the Trust shows that it is not an attempt of diamond to cut diamond, and that moneyed English men have learnt the necessity of utilizing American knowledge of American affairs. The vastness of the combination, .the variety of its efforts and the ubiquity of its interests will make it the subject of much interested attention. If there should be any attempt to act against the law by the creation of monopolies, recent events warrant the assumption that the law will know what to do and will hesitate less than it has done in the past. A NEGATIVE ROAD BILL. The vitality of the -agitation for good roads is demonstrated by the fact that the New York Legis'ature has a bill before it for facilitating that work. It is satisfactory that the necessity of work of this sort is recognized; but otherwise the bill is a very good example of what legislation of tliis, sort ought not to be. The whole work of building State roads is to be placed in the hands of a commis sion which will have the pleasure of spending $10,'000,000 if the. people vote in favor of a loan of that amount The only check in the action of this commission is the professional advice of the State Engi neer. The part which local communities are to have in the work, which should be largely their own, is to appeal to the Supreme Court if the line of road selected by the commission does not suit them. The State roads are to be built to con nect county seats and places of greater importance, which, as these points are usually connected with each other by railroads, is very nearly what is not wanted. The measure of negative quali ties is suggested by the fact that the sum maries of the bill contain no intimation of a standard of excellence or durability re quired on the roads to be constructed un der this act Until a more complete un derstanding of the needs of the road question is attained than is revealed by this act, it would be better to continue the public discussion and postpone legislative action. A WEAK VINDICATION. Our esteemed cotemporary, the Phila delphia Record, displays a decided disposi tion to lean its advocacy of the Reading deal on a very frail foundation when it refers to the late action of the New Jersey Legislature as a vindication of that com bination. It might just as well have as serted that the deal would be vindicated by the Pennsylvania Legislature after the right people had been seen. New Jersey legislation has for several years past been notoriously at the service of every monopoly in need of it It hate furnished broad gauge charters for the ex press purpose of offering a haven for Trusts that had been declared illegal by courts where the public rights of the people are held of some value, and has furnished to order almost all kinds of special legislation called for by railway corporations. We believe that'the revenue derived by the State for thus playing the. valet to the combinations amounts to some thousands of dollars per year; but what the revenue to the politicians who run the Legislature we would not undertake to say. As the passage of this bill was marked by the same vote of a solid cohort as in the big grabs recently passed in New York, we may rest assured the owners of the .New Jersey Legislature are not op crating their well disciplined forces In the interest of the combinations merely for the fun of the thing. 1 The combination should complete its record by getting a judicial decision from that light of the bench and New Jersey politics, Hugg, of Gloucester, sanctioning the combination. Hugg's indorsement would be just as convincing as the New Jersey Legislature's, and might come con siderably cheaper. While there i,s a strong demand- for the exclusion of the Chinese laborer, as the only effective means of depriving selfish, em ployers of his cheap eervtce3, common jnstice demands that a Chinaman who has established commercial Interests In this country1 should be allowed to attend to them, and not be deprived of Ills right to go and come at bis pleasure. For this reason the recent decision of tho United States Supreme Court, In the caso of Lew Ow Bew, cannot fail to slvo the satisfaction which always.at tend Its rulings. Ojte main use of Presidenjal aspiration Is to ufford recreative matter for discussion among tho hardworking Scnatois during their well-earned leisure moments. Gathf.h wisdom where ye may, and Judge It apart from the heresies held by those who occasionally give utterance to it. Cleveland 1s hopelessly astray on tho tariff question, but lew truer word3 have been written than some of his to the Honorable E. S. Brajganen; candidacy for the Presi dentn'r office. Many men in whose bonnet the hoe Is now loudly buzzing would do well to realize that their "candidacy for the place is not something to bo won by personal stiile and active self-assertion." OvERrnoDDGTioic has caused a glut in tho iron market, but still armor plates can not keep pace with the Government de mands. This it food for thought. TnEKE can be no doubt that American citizenship has in the past been obtained under circumstances disgraceful alike to the persons applying for and the officials grant ing the same. But while there is reason to believe there is room for more restrictions of a useful nature, tho chief end to be sought is tbestrict and unflinching administration of law, rather than new legislation which may be evaded in the same slipshod fashion. The force of habit is well shown by the perpetiial alarmist tumors iTs to Blaine's health, notwithstanding his withdrawal from the Prebidental contest. "What fools these mortals be!" The paper which lays claim to the leadership of the English press publishes a letter purport ing to convey the expression of American feeling toward England in most belligerent language, and its authorship is traced to the precocity of a yOuth of 15 years. The Times, of Txmdon, has lang lost its reputation for reliability, and this should make it the laughing stock of nations. General Alger has spared no effort to clear his military record, but he preserves a very ominous silence on the subject of that Diamond match monopoly. Captaix Felix McCtjbley and Lieu tenant McKintosh will In future avoid break waters In their anxiety to make short cuts. The United States war ship Alliance is not particularly valuable, and if its back De broken there will bnt be the more demand for efficient cruisers. It is pleasant to hear .that there was no backwardness in the timeiy ueip given uy me ui msn sauors. Kaiser Wilhelm talks much of adopt ing "ii on measures." They would appear to be necessary to upport his brazen utter ances. Men whose ingenuity is devoted to the discovery of methods for the evasion of the Baker ballot law show their desire for poli tical purity in a strange way by publishing their discoveries for the benefit of anyone who cares to make use of them. For autocratic utterance', sublime in their self-centered vanity, Kaiser Wilhelm has a formidable rival in John L. Sullivan. The War Department cannot do better than thoroughly investigate the charges against Captain Bourke. So long as they remain unrefuted they cast reproach upon tho officer himself and through him on the military service. Sand should never be mixed with sugar except In the matrimonial market, wheie it is permissible to blend sweetness and grit. ' The Law and Order spies in Philadelphia are worrying illegal liquor sellers instead of newsagents. The exposure oftheirmethods elsewhere in this issuo, however, will not elevate them in public opinion abovo their brethren here. It is eminently appropriate that Fred Douglass should have the management of Honolulu's interests at tho World's'Fair. Claus Spreckels stands alone in op position to the Sugar Trust in this country. By his independent action ho best serves his own interests, and demonstrates his faith in monopoly's lack, of omnipotence. "Birds of a feather flock together," and there is still plenty of room in the Allegheny county Jail. The publication of President Harrison's speeches should contain a few of the occa sions on which ho has failed to live up to his strong pre-Presidental utterances on Civil Service reform: The proper way to speak of the millen nium is to say that It lsa good time coming. Senator Hill Is not using a private car for his Southern tour, bnt he did not hesi tate to order a special locomotive for his speeches when they were In danger of being left. A live wire js so called because it is fre quently tho cause of sudden death. NoinnrGould more clearly indicate the German Emperor's attitude toward hi sub jects than that Inclination to draw his sword in the midst of an insulting mob. According to Tupper appears to mean less in Canada than elsewhere. 'AN JBDICI AGAINST BEABDS. Employes or Two Boston Hotels Obey an Order to Shavo Themselves. ' Bostoit, March It An air of hairless solemnity prevades tho Parker House and Young's Hotel. J. Beed Wipple, proprietor of both houses, yesterday had bis mustache shaved off, and then issued a ukase, which was sent out to all employes of his hotels this morning. The result was that after 10 o'clock Chore was not a waiter in either house bad a mustache or beard. The handsome barkeeper in the basement of the Parker, whose mnstache bad been the chief orna ment of that room, feels that his dearest pos session is gone, while Fred Purmont, the clerk, Is soon to lose the decoration which has only been brought to Us present high state of beauty by years of cultivation and attention. 'Well Done, Franklin Baptists. Frahkliw, Pa., March 11 The Baptist Church of Franklin, 'or which Bev. Dr. Clarence A. Aumi is pastor, raised yester- day"$4SS.e7 fr the Russian famine suf ferers.' LIVE WASHINGTON WAIFS. . A Chinese Merchant Wins a Case In the Supreme Conrl Ben Butler Also a Win nerProposed Change of the Natural ization Laws Charges Against Uncle Sam's Soldiers. Washington, March 14. Lou Ow Bew can remain inhe United States. The United States Supreme Court so ruled, to-day, in an opinion Tendered by Chief Justice Fuller, which directed tho judgment of the United States Circuit Court for the Northern district of California affirmed by the newly created Circuit Court or Appeals for the Pacific cir cuit, ordering that Lou Ow Bew be deported from the United States and returned to China bo reversed.' Lou Ow Bewis a Chinese merchant of Portland, Ore, who went to China on a visit, and when he returned to San Francisco was 1 efused permission to re main in the United States because he had failed to secure the certificate of Identifica tion required by the sixth section of the Chinese restriction act to be obtained from the Chinese Government by merchants and others coming to the' United States. The United States Courts in California affirming the legality of the Collector's action, Lou Ow Bew brought the'mattcr here on habeas corpus proceedings. The Court, in its opin ion, after speaking of the rights and obliga tions which persons assume by reason of domicile in a foreign country, says it is of opinion that it was not intended that com mercial domicile should be forfeited by temporal? absence at tho domicile of origin, nor that resident merchants should be sub jected to loss of rights guaranteed by treaty ir they failed to produco from the domicile of origin that evidence which residence in the domicile of choice may have rendered it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. As Lou Ow Bow is unlawfully restrained of his lib citv, tho Court directed the lower court to reverse its judgment and discharge him from custody. On October 1, 1886, the postoffice at Chad ron. Neb., was raised from the fourth class, at $1,000, to the Presidental class at $1,3. William Wilson, tho postmaster, was not commissioned by tho President until Jan uary 25, 18S7. Tho postmaster claims he was entitled to pay at the Increased rate from the date the office was raised in grade, while the Treasury accounting officers maintained that the incieased compensation ran only Irom the date of Wilson's commission by the President. The Court of Claims decided in favor of Wilson, for $193, and the Supreme Court to-day affirmed tuat decision. General Benjamin F. Butler to-day won the appeal which he took from tho de cision ot the Circuit Court of the United States Tor the Eastern district of Massachu setts, affirming a Judgment for $15,000 and in terest Horn 1S7H, obtained against him in one of the Massachusetts courts by the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Representative Oates, from the Judiciary Committee of the House, to-day submitted the report to accompany the bill to change the naturalization laws. It recites the shameful and Illegal manner in which aliens have been naturalized in many parts of this country, and declares that Congress should make laws to amply protect the states against the citizenation of criminals, paupers, anarchists and aliens. The name American cltizenjtays the report.in closing, should be esteemed as that of a Roman when Home was mistress of the woild. Such prido can never be lelt by our foreign-born citi zens until the piocess of conferring this great boon upon him is attended with great solemnity and scrutinized more closely than at present. General Schofield said to-day that the War Department will undoubtedly in vestigate the charges prefeired by certain Mexican residents of Texas against Captain John C. Boutke, Third Cavalry, growing out of his conduct of the campaign against the Garza revolutionists. The allegations against Captain Bourke are that he allowed bis troops to commit depredations on the ranches of certain Mexicans along the Rio Grande because of a suspicion that they were conniving at the escape of the revolu tionists. It also appears that certain Mexi cans who visited San Antonio to complain of Captain Bourke's acts wore arrested by the civil authorities, but were subsequently re leased on bonds. The project for a. deep water channel through the connecting waters of the Great Lakes has practically received the approval of the majority of the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors, which is framing the regular river and hurbor bill. The amount of the appropriation has not yet been fixed. A hill was to-day introduced in the Senate, by Senator Allison, to compel rail roads to equip their cars with automatic couplets within a certain time. The bill makes it unlawful for any railroads to use cars not so equipped, and imposes fines for violations of the act. It further provides that the standard coupler shall be decided by a letter ballot of all tho railroads, sent to the Inter-State Commerce Commission by July 2 next. The votes shall be based upon the number of ireight cars owned by each line, and the type ot coupler receiving CO per cent or more of the entile vote shall he tho standard type of coupler. If the roads Jail to establish a standard type, then the type shall be that known as the Master Car Build ers' type. The confirmations by the' Senate to-day were as follows: Judges of Probate in Utah Isaac Button, In Uintah county; James McGarry, Beaver county; Daniel Page. Iron county; C C Veille, Millard county; Lars P. Edholm, Morgan county. W. A. Kelly, of Oiegon, Commissioner for the District of 'Alaska. The House Committee on Reform in the Civil Service to-day agreed to report favor ably, with immaterial modifications, Mr. Andrew's bill to exclude political influence in the employment of laboters under tho authority of the United States. TnivSenate Committee on the Judiciary to-day leported to tho Senate all of tho judicial nominations, including tho nomina tion of Judge Woods, of Indiana, with the recommendation that they be confirmed. Chairman Hoar was present at the commit tee meeting for the first time in soveral weeks, and himself presented the roport. The nominations of the ciicuit judges were not considered bv the Senate in executive session, to-day. Under the rules they went over for a day without action. They will probably bo called np to-morrow, unless something unforeseen occurs. FAY0EITES OP FAME. Prof. Arthur Fairbanks, who has been called from Dartmouth to Yale, Is to be an instructor In the Divinity School. Dr. Edward Everett Hale is one of these pamphlet collectors. Ho keeps them in a series of baskets suspended by rope and pulley from the beams iu the celling of his study. The late Henry Doyle, Director General of tho National Gallery of Iieland, was one of those rare connoisseurs who know a good painting when they scoit, regardless of the name before the pinxit. M. DE LiESSeps, though in comparatively good physical health, has become so en feebled in mind that he hardly recognizes his oldest' friends, and is quite Incapable of sustaining a conversation. G. P. A. Healt, the portrait painter, is passing his time while In Chicago at a family hotel, where he appears in the corridors clad in a loose-fitting suit oT black, and wearing steel-rimmed spectacles. Prince CHlMAY.the well-known Belgian Minister of Foieign Affairs, intends to re sign his place, it is said, at the end of the present session of Parliament. He has been at the head of the Belgian Ministry for many years. PEOF. Story, the Chicago spelling re former, whose cause Senator Cullom is cham pioning, thinks that though it will be diffi cult for most people to acquire the now system the next generation will have no trouble about it. - 1 The Rev. J. Sanders Reed, 'who 'went to the Pacific coast in December, 1889, from Trinity Church, Newark, Ni J., to take charge of Trinity, San Francisco, during the first year or his Incumbency, raised the in come over $10,000. Secretary Noble and Senator Hiscock resemble each other to a marked degree. Mr. Noble holds himself very straight and is prim, to a nicety In the matter f dress, while Mr. HUcock slouches about In a listless fashion, .wears negligee necktie 3 and a half- bAtoned vest. OUR MAIL POUCH. The Smoke Nuisance Downtown. To the Editor of The Dispatch: ' The other day I was waiting in an office on the eighth floor of a certain bffllding down town and idly looking out of the window at the roofs below. My attention was drawn to a smoke stack on a business block a square away. The stack began emitting black smoke, steadily increasing in volume until it burst forth in great rolling clouds, 'swelling and changing into grotesque, horri ble forms and seemed like some great giant menacing the buildings below. Fascinated, I watched the ever changing specter for five minutes, when the smoke began to lessen in volume and gradually disappeared, leaving tho stack an innocent looking black pipe. I turned.-und in the same square was another stack going through the same oper ation, its great clouds of smoke, inky black, settling down upon the buildings beneath. It snbslded in its turn, but upon the build ing next to it was another ambitions stack which eagerly contributed Its share of smoke In precisely the same manner. These last two stacks seemed to have en tered into some arrangement, formed a smoke trust perhaps, for during the houI watched, which was, by the way, from 11 A. v. to 12, one or the other of them was emit ting smoke in dense volumes all the time. In the same square I counted six or more stacks and chimneys working in this inter mittent manner all the time, having some thing like ten minutes' action and then ten minutes of repose. While there maybe grave objections to the use of smoke consumers in tho manu factuie of Iron, as was pointed out In tho meeting of the Engineers Seclety last month, there can scarcely be such objections in the case of such fires as have been re ferrd to above, for the smoke was from the boilers in large business blocks. It would seem apparent to anyone that if all tbe uuoiucita uiuvtu ui tne city were couipeiieu, to use some smoke consuming device, not only would there be a great saving in fuel to the consumers, but moro than that, a great stride in the abatement of tho smoke nuisancn would be taken, for these stacks, being in the heart of the citv, are so situated that their smoke has full effect upon the at mosphere and buildings, whereas the stacks of iron mills are for the most part removed to some out-lying suburb, wheie the smoke does not have the effect it would at close quarters. The importance of having the stacks of all business blocks smokeless is hardly real ized, because one naturally thinks the smoke from them is comparatively trifling. But if anyone doubts let him go to the top of some high building, use his eyes and be con vinced. S. PITT3BDBO, Pa., March 14. HIS HESVE IS HIS FOSTTJBE. How a Bear Speculator Cleared a Million on Short Wheat. Chicago Inter-Ocean.3 Ed Pardrldge, the bear speculator, Is with out doubt the heaviest trader on the short side that the world has ever seen. He is a porsistent bear on wheat and has stayed on that side when all the rest of the speulators wet-o bullish and waiting to scare him into covering his shorts. There have been times of lato when it required nerve and money to stand short, but iie bad both, and has been nearer right on the speculative situation than any other trader, and at the same time has bet his monev freely. There have been times when his line ran up into the millions, when an advance of 1 cent would mean the loss "of a fortune. The sit uation has been such, however,that by hold ing on things came his way and he got out all right. The wheat market has suffered of late by the belief that there is too mbch wheat in the country. This opinion was greatly in creased by the publication of the Govern ment crop report on Thursday showing re serves in faimers' hands on March 1 of 171. 000,010 bnshels. a quantity never before ap proached but once, in 18S4, when Un reached 169,000,000 bushels. Oflate the local bulls have gradually let go their holdings,v having lost all the money they cared to. The only large holders of wheat now are said to be the foreigners, and they are beginning to show demoralization, and the unloading enables Mr. Pardrldge to cover his shorts at a big profit. Every day the past week, since the price of wheat commenced to decline, Pard lidge has lost heavily, but on the bleaks he bought. On Thursday he took in several million bushels. H" admitted yesterday that he had bought 2,000,000 bushels on Fri day and as much more esterday. "I am gradually reducing my line," he said, "and have made n great lcllIHg." "You must have made over$7C0.000 oflate." "I hayo made a great-deal of money, more. tnan at nny otner time in my me. 1 guess the profits will be more and I think wheat will go lower still unless there is damage tb the crop by cold weather." PATH'S TEOUBLE WITH SCALCHI Due to a Little Misunderstanding, the Two Had While In Mexico. New York, March 14. Special. Madame Scalchi uas not well this morning and could not be seen, but Signor Lolli, her husband, assured callers that no quatiel had ever oc curred between his wife and Patti; that Madame Scalchi had the most unbounded admiration for Patti, and the last time they sang together they parted the best of friends and that Madame Scalhi was as greatly sur prised as any one when Messrs. Abbey and Grau offeied to pay her for the supplement ary season without availing themselves of her services for which a contract was signed. "My wife." said Signor Lolli, "refused to tako her s,ilary without singing. She feels very badly that any mUnndei standing should exist. For the sake of Messr. Abbey and Grau, with whom she is on the best of terms, and out of consideration for her womanly dignity, she absolutely refuses to tell the reason for her contract being broken. It my wife felt that she bad in any way done a thing to offend Patti she would be the first to apologize The little aflalrwhichis the alleged reason given by Patti for not wishing my wife to sing with her, occurred in Mexico, and since then they have sung, nnd, as I said, parted good friends and my wife was utterly ignor ant of the fact that Patti entertained any 111 feeling toward her till I was told it by the management last week. It seems the last night thuy sang together in Mexico "thoy wero called before tho curtain several times, and Madame Patti says that in hand ing a bouquet to her Madame Scalchi scratched her arm. That is all there is is about it." Senor Lolli said that Madame Scalchi had several important concert engagements and that they should lemaiu in this country till the middle of May. , SWIFTS NEWLT FOUND COMET. It Looks Much Like' a Blnrred Star of the Fifth Magnitude. .San Fkaucisco, March 14. E. E. Barnard, of Lick Observatory, makes the following report on Swift's new comet: "I observed the comet on the mornings of March 8, 9 and 10, and liave'care fully measured Its position among the stars. To the naked eyo it ap pears like a blurred star of fifth or sixth magnitude without any tail. As it is pass ing now through a singularly bleak region of sky, to" the east of the milk dipper in Sagittarius. It can be easily identified. "Just now it is not known whether tho comet will become brighter or not. If it has not yet leached its perihelion we may ex pect it to be a conspicuous object in the morning sky after the withdrawal of the moon in tho latter part of the month. A small telescope shows a faint tail to it; with a large telescope the comet is round and bright, with a rather small, insignificant nncleus of the eleventh magnitude. It is visible'to the naked eye more from Its large size than from any special brightness." SO WOMEN NEED APPLY. The Philadelphia Methodist Conference Says They Cannot Be Delegates. Philadelphia, March 14. A vote was taken without discussion on the question of ad mitting women to the general conference at to-day's session or the Philadelphia .Metho dist Episcopal Conference", which resulted in the defeat of the proposition to admit them by a vote of 101 yeas to 106 nays, many or the ministers not voting. Resolutions commending the work or Captain B, IL Pratt, of the Indian school at Carlisle, were offeied, nith a protest against unfair discrimination against him by Con gressional action as a great injustice to a laithful public servant and well calculated to excite alarm In the minds of all who hope to see the principles of the separation of Church and State maintained. The resolu tions were unanimously adopted by a rising vote. A Pertinent Inquiry. Toledo Blade. A Judge in Pittsburg has decided that the saleofSnnday newspapers is not a work of necessity. The publishers do not intend to give them away, and if It be not a necessity to sell them how else can the readers get themt An appeal to the Supreme Court will ha fnVan aa ft rirtrflf Via w nvu ouvutw wv A CROWDED HOUSE Greets the German Court Musician! Re publican America Likes Their Muslo and Is Not Loath to Say So A Few Monday Doings of Interest. Old City Hall was almost soul inspir ing last night; for so large an audience as Messrs. Alfred and Helnricli Grunfeld attracted there is but an occasional event In these days. Only a few vacant seats were discernible1 in the rear of the hall and even those could have been filled by tDe numerous lingerers about the door. The notable brothers, who appeared here for the first time, were greeted warmly, and, as the evening passed on, with Increasing enthusiasm. The pro gramme opened with a Beethoven sonata, op. 69, ror the piano and cello in four movements, thus Introducing the two mu sicians at the same time to the Pittsburg public, and otherwise giving them an oppor tunity to display a quite remarkable versa tility. After the opening number, which made an agreeable impression, at once win ning the favor or the audience, the suc ceeding three numbers employed the powers or tho pianist, Alfred Grunfeld. These three numbers lengthened themselves Into nine selections from themes of the com posers, Beethoven, Wagner, Liszt, in collab oration, Moliquc, Moszkowski, Schumann and one of the player's own compositions a most delightful series of Hungarian dances. Then Helnricli Grunfeld made his bow in solo in one of bis brother's composi tions, a romanze, followed by Baceherinl's charming "Menuetto." , Tho last was lis tened to with supreme attention.and proved to be probably the most generally well re ceived piece of the evening. Mr. Grunfeld had so won his way into tho approbation of the mnsical taste of tho andience.that even a third selection, this time Popper's "bits" did not suffice, and an imperative recall brought forth the mnsiclan, bowing and smiling, with his cello to respond to an en core. The concluding number was devoted to tne piano, Mr. Alfred Grunfeld presenting two compositions or his own a serenade in B major and a minuetto, ending with a fan tasie written by him on motives from "Lohengrin" and "Tannhau3er." TnE "Woman's Christian Temperance Al liance has secured General D. IL Hastings for a lecture on the Johnstown flood at the Old City Hall on Friday evening. It is a subject with which he is yerv familiar and one which he can make very "interesting. A large delegation of Johnstown people Is ex pected to be present, and a number of those who gave timeandmoneyfor the relief ortho sufferer? will occupy seats on tho platform. General Hastings gives his services free to the alliance, which will devote the proceeds of the lectnre toward sending men to Keeley ror treatment. The society has already sent ten men there, and all the cases are re ported to be progressing satisfactorily. Rev. Mary Lathhop, President of the Michigan State W. C; T. U deliverod her flrstMectme in this vicinity In tho Wllkins bnrg Presbyterian Church last evening. There was a good attendance, though it probably would have been larger had not a mistaken" impression gone abroad that the speaker t as to be heard on Monday evening in Emory Church. Mrs. Lathropl: a large, fine-looking woman, with a pleasant race and a sweet and powerful voice. She is perfectly at her ease on the platform, and drives her sentences home with tne assurance and vigor of one who believes herself to hold an unassailable position in the matter under discussion. The subject or her address was "Divine Government." She referred to the osophy as the first government of the world, and traced the customs or the people from the time when man was in direct intercourse with God, to the present, when monarchies pievail and democracy threatens. Before the lecture Mrs. Lathrop, in conversation, said of the License Court that "it is only a result or a great crime intrenched In government." Mrs. Lathrop Is known in W. C. T. IT. circles as the Daniel Webster or the temperance reform, in compliment to her fluency and clearness as a speaker. Tim lecture was un der the auspices of the Wilkinsburg W. c. T. U., and was de'ivcred free, the ladles of WllklnsDurg defraying all expenses. Mrs. Lathrop will lecture in the Emory M. E. Cbnrch this evening. The delayed meeting of the "Wilkinv burg Chautauqua Circle will be held this evening at the residence of Mr. Walter Keat ing, Rebecca street. Mrs. Lathrop's lecture was given the first place on Monday evon lng and the meeting" postponed until to night. A lecture, "The Uses of Ugliness," .will be. delivered next Mondny evening in the Wilkinsbnrg Presbyterian' Church by the Rev. Mr. Miller. "Handy Asdy," a comedy, is to be given on Thursday evening St. Patrick's Day In the Wilkinsburr Oppra House for the benefit of St. James' R. C. Church. A DISTRICT meeting of the Allegheny county W. C. T. U. was held In the Smitli fleld Street Jit E. Church yesterday after noon to complete arrangements for the lecture of Lady Henry Somerset at Old City Hall next Thursday evening. The meeting was called to order with Mrs. Brice lathe chair. It was decided to ex ten d invitations to the following persons to occupy seats on the platform: Rev. Messrs. Havs. McCrory, Turner, Hill and Locke, Mrs. Hill. Mrs. Malr, the officers of the.W. C. T. U. and the May ors of Pittsburg and Allegheny. The fol lowing committees were appointed: Hotel Committee, Mrs. -Grimm and 3Irs. Ravnor; Finance Committee, Mrs. Cadiz, Mrs." Gra ham. Mrs. Morrison, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Foster and Mrs. Harris. Mrs. Boster was appointed Cnalrman of a Committee on Collections. Ladv Henry Somerset will arrive in the city on Thursday morning. The Presbyterian Union cf Pittsburg and Allegheny will give a reception to its membership and their Iriends on next 3Ion- day evening at the Hotel Kenmawr. During the early part of the evening, which will be devoted to tbe literary phase or ecclesiastical matters, the themes under discussion are announced to be "Incidents or Presbyterinnism in Western Pennsvlvania," and "The Out look or Prcsbyterianlsm in This locality." The speakers will be notable Presbyterian clergymen or this part or the State, includ ing President Dr. Moffat, of Washington and Jefferson College, Dr. Cowan, Dr. Mc Clelland and Dr. Gibson. The evening will close with a reception and dinner. The Sisters of Charity at Seton Hall, Greensburg, have issued invitations for an afternoon with their pupils on St. Joseph's Day, Saturday, March 19. MRS. J. H. IiTGHTNER will give a chil dren's festival in Lightner'aHallon Wednes day evening. , TALK OP THE TIMES. Is there such a thing as a boom microbe? Washington Star. Yes; and it is multiplying, itself very rapidly. It is much pleasanter to read, about the blizzard of this year than it was to experi ence that or-vrour years ago. yew York World. That's what tho people think, but thej- have to take comfort in reading that It is colder somewhere else. The Chicago City Council seems to have lost tho art or feeling ashamed of itself. Chicago Kern. This an art that all Councils seem to lose very readily. Boston's running expenses for the Inst nine months amounted to nearly $21,000,000. Boston News. Boston comes high, but it would be simply impossible to carry on this country without Boston. "Will Candidate Hill declare himself on sli ver and other things on Mccklenbnrg Declaration day down in North Carolina? J'omona Timet. Not unless some one can hypnotize him. He is not given to making rash assertions. - ' The trouble with the dark horse is that he is frequently um-overed too early in tho gamer-Washington Post. None of them this year have had any covers to tako off, and none or them aro traveling toward the White House, incognito. ' .The British lion seems to be laboring un der the impression that somebody is trying to twist his tail. Boston Herald. It Is a case of perturbed conscience, probably. Central Methodists for Prohibition. York, March 14. At the Central Pennsyl vania Methodists' Hpiscopal Conference to day, the report of the Prohibition Commit tee on Sunday observance was presented. It requests tbe closing or tho Chicago Col umbian Exhibition Sunday, and aUo pro tests against tbe sale of Intoxicating liquor on the Exposition grounds. It favors pro hibition generally, and Invokes the aid and support of tho conference In its behalf. Bishop Andrews was presiding and sug gested an amendment favoring the entire abolition or tbe liquor traffic, which, on mo tion- was aaopreo. CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS. The kaj'ak of the Arctic region is the most seaworthy small boat In existence. The" tusks of the walrus and seahorse form bnt a small part of the world's ivory product. The name of the Postmaster General of Slam is Lomdetch Phra Chon Nong Ya Thor Shah Fa Bahaumangsi Swanguvusga Kooma Araph Bhaunbbaddaroongasee Vavadey. Captain Baker, an engineer in the Britisn service, published a book in 1877 which clearly proved, to his mind at least, that the end or tbe world would come on September 20, 1878. A "Washington man has mounted a strange shaped deer head. It is said to be a cross between a cariboo and a blacktail. It presents a novel appearance, being different from the ordinary deer head. Portland, Ore., used to be quite a center for collecting furs, but year by year, as the country is settled up, the fur-bearing ani mals grow more scarce and the amount of furs marketed here become less. A Marion county, la., physician is the owner of a remarkable human monstrosity, a male child, IS inches long, weighing nine and one-half pounds, its head the perfect counterpart of that of some gigantic serpent. In 18S9 a man walking along Crescent Beach, Block Island, discovered the hip bones of some gigantic species of extinct animal. The combined weight or the two bones (generally speaking, the sacrum is called a single bone), was nearly S0O pounds. The hydraulic railroad now daily operated in Paris consists of fonr carriages, or car, each having a .capacity of 23 passen gers. The train runs as smoothly as a boat on water. There are no wheels.no steam, no electricity. Apparently everything moves of own accord. In a cave in the Pantheon the guide, by striking the flaps of his coat, makes a noise equal to that pipduced by firing a 12-pound cannon. In the cave oCSmellln, near Viborg, Finland, a stone thrown down a certain abyss makes a reverberating echo which sounds like the dying wait of some wild animal. The coldest region-in the United States lies along the northern border of Minne sota, between the sontbern point or the Lake or the Woods and tho Dakota bor der. "Tho temperature along that line often falls as low as 50 degrees below zero. In 1S73 the instruments at Pembina registered from 5G to 60 below. William Miller, the founder of Seventh Day Adventist faith, figured on tbe prophe cies or Daniel and John until he finally decided that tbe world wonld cone to an end iu 1S43. Some or his followers had even selected the day upon which the great event would occur, going so far as to make "ascen sion robes" for the occasion. There are about 6,000 varieties of post age stamps now used by the different nations of the world. Tne mnseum of the Berlin postoffice alone contains a collection of be tween 4,000 and 5,0',0 different specimens of these llttlo colored pasters. Half of this number are European stamps, the remainder divided between AmericaAsia, Africa and Australia. A section of roadway under the gate leading to the departure platform of the St. Pancras terminus, London, has for some years past been paved with India rubber, and many people must have been pleas antly surprised at the deadening of sound when passing over it on wheels and at the grateful elasticity to the tread when travers ing it on foot. One of the hottest regions in the United States is along the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Arizonia. At Bagdad, in that Territory, the thermometer has been known to stand as high as HO in tho shade lor days in succession. The ticket agent at Bagdad says that he has seen the mercury standing at 123 bn the cool side of the depot building at midnight. In many countries of the world, most especially in England, France and Ger many, not only tho peasants, but the mid dle classes and the nobles believe that bees are enrionsly and mysterionrly connected with the weal or woe or tho human family in general. It is a common saying in all the English shires that bees do not "do well' when tbe red coats are engaged in wars abroad. A "good eater" may require a3 many as 30 ears to carry luggage for the inner man sufficient to last his lifetime, but what those people1 would require who are always hungry, nnd" whose stomachs are, to all in tents and purposes, bottomless pits, the statistician is unable to indicate further than by pointing out that not only special engines, but probably special lines, would have to be built on which their "special" trains might run at will. If one potato would produce, when planted, only a crop of ten potatoes, in ten years the total product of this one potato would be equal to 10.000,000,030, which would be sufficient to restock the whole world with the seed. The real value of that single potato, then, would be such that it would be better that the city of Sew York or Chicago (Philadelphia never) should be totally blotted off of the face of the world than that one tuber should be lost to mankind. The Victoria Colonist says there arrived in town five young men who are all sons of Northern Indian chiefo. Three of them are skilled Jewelers, and all have with them large stocks of native trinkets, costly and otherwise. They have brought down, in ad dition to their ordinary goods, a new style of Indian ring, which recently seemed to be tho cause of a great deal of curiosity and ad miration among their friends on tho reserva tion. The innovation consists of a plaited circle of silver and bear skin. A Detroit man has a novel walking cane that represents the workof odd hours every day for six weeks. It is made or old postage stamps or various denominations and six nationalities United States. Canadian, Eng lish, French, German and Italian. It took 5 014 stamps to make the cane. The face value or tne stamps was $100. Tho surface of the cane, when the stumps were all on, was filed smooth and finished until it glazed. A heavy gold knob completes one or the hand tomcat and most unique canes ever seen In Detroit. LIGHT nUaiOKESQUES. She (despairingly) My family was al ways economical, and I am a living example. He (sympatlieilc)-Iudeed! How so? v She I was born on Christmas day, and my birth dav and Christmas presents have been always com bined. Ilarper's Baiar. I'm glad it is Lent, for there's no meat to buy. And I have a chance to pile np some wealth; Since Christmas on the rent lam shy. And to move would not agree with my health. Somerset Sews, "My father's an Odd Fellow I" boasted a little boy. "My father's a Free Mason!" replied the other; "an that's higher, for the hod fellows wait on tho masons." Smith, Gray'& Co.'t Monthly. "Miss Bullion is very mercurial," re marked Harlow as she passed them by. "I should say so," answered BlDgham. "A reg ular thermometer. In the summer time she was as pleasant to me as could be when I met her In the mountains, and now In the city she passes me by as thoogh she were rrozen." Harper's Bazar. She loved him "just a little" so she said And with that little he was well content; For In her gently heaving breast he read. With quickened, lover's eye. how much she meant By ust a little." If Dido smiled to see iEneas go; If sweet Griselda was a scolding shrew; If Juliet hated her dear Borneo; IfThlsbe was a flirt ab. tnen, he knew She loved him Just a little! -Puci. She Henry, yon are a perfect bear to day. Henry "So. you are mistaken, my dear. I was a bear all last week, but I've been a boll ever since tho market took that tarn on Monday. Washing ton Star. "What do yon think of your little sister, Osgoodson2" Inquired hU father. She may Improve upon a more extended as qnalntance.T' replied the little Boston boy, re garding the new infant critically, "but at present she seems absurdly crude and Immature." Chicago Tribune. It is said that the meek shall inherit the earth; If they do It will be at some far away timet Mayhap by codicil they've been cut oa And of the lexacy won' t get a dime. New Tort Herald. Literary Lodger (to new servant) Oh, you are the new servant, and what might your name be? ( Servant Anner, sir. ' 'Anna or Hannabr ' 'Taln't nilther. sir; It's Anner with tw haltcue."-aKW Soling,