ggBHtBa THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1892. Hje Bigpafclj. ESTABLISHED FEBRUARY 1S5. Vol. 74. No. 312-Entereo. at Pittsburg Postoffice J.OTCjater, 3fc", as second-class matter. BUSINESS OFFICE, Cor. Smithfield and Diamond Streets. KewB Booms and Publishing House, 78 and 80 Dlafeoud Street, Sew Dispatch Building. EASTERN ADVERTISING OFFICE. ROOM Tfi, TRIBDXr. BUILDING. NEW YORK, -where complete ales or THE DISPATCH can always be iound. STir DISPATCH Is on sale at LUOIKQ HOTELS throughout the United States, andat Brentano's, 5 Union Squaw, New York, and 17 Avenue do 1' Opera. Parte France. TERMS OF THE DISPATCH. rOPTAGK FKKF. IX' THE UX1TKD STATES. yiATLY DisPATCir. One Year. S S 00 DAILY DisrATcn. Tlirec Jlonths .. 2 CO DA1I.tDiPATCiI. One .Month 70 Daily 1isi-atcii, Including Sunday. 1 year.. 10 00 DAILY DisrATCll, lncliidlngSunday.Sm'ths. 2M Daily Dispatch, Including bunday. 1 month 90 EckdayDisfa CH. One Year 150 Weekly Dispatch, One Year. 1 S Thl Daily- Dispatch 1 delivered by carriers at 3!cmtsperweek. or, including Sunday Edition, at ;i cents pern cek. efmittances should only be m Ann r.Y CHECK. MONEY OUDEl OR REGlbTEKED LETTER. rOi'TAGE Sunday IsMie and all triple number copies, ic: single and double number copies, lc. PITTSBURG. MONDAY, DEC. 13. 1SK. TWELVE PAGES NOT YET CREDIBLE. The Homestead trouble continues to produce sensations, the last and one of the most sensational bein! the publication of an aliened plot to poison the non-union men employed during the trouble in the Carnegie mills. At present the allegations do not rise above the rank of unverified rumors, and, until supported by definite and more responsible assertions, are not entitled to any degree of credence. It is difficult to believe that any number of men could deliberately enter upon a Ecbeme of wholesale and cowardly murder as this story relates. The other violent acts in that tragedy are explicable by the excitement under which the population of Homestead labored. For the sake of humanity it is to be hoped that the alle gations with regard to this poisoning plot are without foundation. If the assertions are backed up by any prima facie evidence, of course the matter should be fully probed anil exact justice done. Should anyone be conclusively ehown to have engaged in such a diaboli cal plot the severest penalties of the law will be no more than the crime merits. A KE3IAKKABLE KULLNG. The United States courts at present seem to be quite busy with the task of reducing to a minimum the legislation which has been extracted from Congress to check corporate abuses. The decis ons by which the inter-State commerce act has been reduced to a nullity have been duly commented on. A later ruling is that of the Western district judge who has just held that the Sherman actagainst combinations does not apply to railroad combinations. Considering that the railroad combina tions are among the most powerful of their kind, with the greatest power for in jury and the least justification for their existence, and that they were declared to be violations of the United States law by a previous statute, this is a somewhat re markable excuse of the judicial discrimin ation. It is not surprising that the Attor ney General should order the case taken to the Supreme Court That means of determining whether so singular a decision shall stand as the law is about the least that could be done by an Attorney Gen eral, who did not wish to avow himself as a supporter of corporate abuses. What the Supreme Court says on this point is one of the things on which Tom Marshall's the Kentuckian Marshall famous saying as to the limitations of Divine omniscience will apply. But it is worth while to note the fact that, while the corporations have not been very active in popular elections or very successful with legislatures for some years past, they have laid low with signs of fortifying their last citadel. The appointment of judges since the time when the Granger decisions struck the corporations in a heap has been a field that the people have not paid much attention to. But the cor porations have; and they have not only done that, but they have judiciously created vacancies by drawing independent Judges off the bench with big salaries as regularly paid counsel. This may not only furnish a theory to explain the recent de cisions, but- serve to quality any very sanguine expectations from the appeal to the Supreme Court It may some time dawn on the public that if these questions are to be settled in accordance with the public interests there will have to be the most watchful care on the selection of Judges, legislators and executive officers alike for the space of a generation or two. THE "WIDTH OF TIKES. A movement recently made by the Su pervisors of Queens county, New York, with regard to the width of tires to be used on the newly macadamized thorough fares illustrates at once a step necessary to the preservation of good roads and the in domitable conservatism which objects to it The rule prescribed was a width of four inches for tfres bearing loads of 4,000 pounds or over, and of three inches for loads of 2,000 to 4,000 pounds. As this permits the tires to exert on the roads a crushing force of 300 to 400 pounds per square inch, it is plainly a very moderate requirement But the farmers could not see it in that light They at once re quested a reduction to three and two and a half inches, on the plea that the greater width would not permit their wheels to run in the car tracks in Kew York City. The excuse is a very slight one, as the horse power expended on roads outside the city is many times more than the saving between running a wagon on car tracks and on a city pavement It is a demonstrated fact that with narrow tires under heavy loads the roads are soon cut up into ruts, while with wide tires the roads are made even better by the roller like action of the wheels. The actual saving to the farmer by the wider tires Is so clearly shown by experience that they are adopted in England and on the Conti nent as a matter of course. The opposi tion to them in this country is really an exhibition of provincial ignorance. The same idea has s practical applica tion to Pittsburg. Our pavements are unnecessarily strained by the transporta tion of enormous loads on too narrow tires. Cases are known of loads of 30,000 pounds hauled over our pavements on tires of three Inches or less. Such loads have been known to actually plow up the pavements when the ground was soft, and undoubtedly Increase the wear and tear when there is no actual disturbance. But on tires of eight inches to a foot the action of suffh a load would be that ot a roller and instead of demoralizing a pave ment it would make It more solid. It is time for this country to give to such questions as these intelligent and un prejudiced discussion, instead of judging them by., previous and really Ignorant customs. The road convention at Indian apolis, by advocating reform in the width of tires, has taken a step in the right direction. A CONVINCING DEMONSTBATIOX. The second of the special articles on the ship canal project, published elsewhere, reduces to a demonstration two points which The Dispatch has steadily insisted upon as crucial and conclusive.- The first is that the growth of traffic through the economy of the canal would make that enterprise repay its cost, In one form or another, in a very short term of years. The second is that the increase in the higher and more finished products will fully repay the railways for the loss of the lower and primary freights to bo carried on the canals. Both these prints are established pon clusively from the experience of Europe. The first is the more vital to the public, as the prejudice of the railway interests against the project is so fixed that they can only be convinced of the second by actual experience. But the fact that the canal would repay its cost from tolls if they were charged, and if not that it would pay for itself many times over in the immense increase of traffic, is one of the utmost magnitude. Those who read the article, as everyone interested in the growth of Pitts burg should, will find this point doubly established there. It has been the universal experience with canals in Europe serving a less important traffic than Pittsburg would furnish; and the figures based on the present actual traffic of Pittsburg, without any allowance for its growth, show that the tolls on the canal would yield interest, sinking fund and cost of maintenance, with a margin of $200,000 per annum and a saving 52,103,000 on the cost of Pittsburg's oro alone. In the face of a possible readjustment of tariffs it is Pittsburg's first duty to de velop all projects which will reduce he cost of manufacture. This project Is the most comprehensive in its results of any that can be brought forward. The mere instinct of self-preservation should induce Pittsburg to employ all its energies in urging the canal to a speedy realization. ALLEGING TOO MUCH. The explanation purporting to come from the English Home Office, with re gard to its refusal of a pardon for Mrs. Maybrick, is of that remirkable character that reflects more severely upon that office than upon Mrs. Maybrick. It consists of an allegation that the Home Office was in possession of evidence more clearly estab lishing Mrs. Maybrick's guilt, but with held it from the trial, as it did not wish to see the capital penalty inflicted. This assertion in view of tho facts leaves the principles of action that govern the British executive in a very remarkable light. Mrs. Maybrick was put on trial on a charge of poisoning her husband. It is one of the first principles of Anglo-Saxon law that the executive in such cases is only interested in having all the facts brought out and full justice be done. Yet we are told that the English Heme De partment convicts itself of having with held testimony in order to gratify its pri vate wishes. On the evidence that was presented, however, Mrs! May brick was convicted and sentenced to death. Following this we have the as tounding fact that tho Home Office, with evidence before it more severe on the prisoner than any that was given in open court, interfered with the sentence and commuted it to life imprisonment The remarkable contraction of what would usually be deemed the result of criminal evidence suggests that If Mrs. Maybrick's friends could produce more evidence against her the Home Office would at once grant her -a free pardon. THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD. The habit of borrowing trouble is com mon to mankind; but we are sorry to see it pushed to so extreme a form as that manifested In a recent issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. Tha able journal is agitating its soul over the sempiternal question of what will be the fate of the world a thousand years hence. A great many people have occupied their con lectural powers with this problem. But we have not recently seen anyone so thoroughly convinced that in the year 2892 this poor old globe will be in a destitute, forlorn and frozen condition as is our esteemed cotemporary of the Golden Gate. The argument of the Chronicle is that as we are rapidly using up the stock of coal and chopping down the forests of the world the time must come when those species of fuel will become exha usted. Bum up the world's stock of fuel, and the cooking of food and the making of iron must stop, which sad result is emphasized by the assertion that in the same time the supply of iron ore will be exhausted. Moreover, the disappearance of the forests is regarded by our despondent cotem porary as carrying with it a general dimi nution of the supply of water. So that, all told, our descendants of a thousand years hence will have a very hard time of it All of which is borrowing trouble on a group of assumptions which are far from demonstrated. The first is that the World's stock flf its present fuel Is known'and limited. The opposite is the case. The limitations of the coal and iron beds of the world are known over about a quarter of the earth's surface, while the possibili ties of new fuels from articles now left to waste are daily hinted at Beyond that it leaves entirely out of the estimate the ad vance of knowledge as to new methods of producing heat and. power. The calcula tions of Walthus have, been entirely con founded by theincrcased power of the earth to sustain population under the steam and Iron age. Who shall say that succeeding generations will not make even greater advances in discovering and developing new forms of heat and power, hints of which arc already given in electricity, If not in the mere questionable etherie vibra tions of Keeley? We do not need to in dorse that alleged discovery to recognize the possibility that future generations may show advances in the methods of extract ing the earth's sustenance far more marked than that of the present century over the dark ages. Finally our Californian cotemporary may illuminate Us darkened view .with this consolatory thought: If the time ever arrives when the earth's powers are ex hausted, and it cannot sustain as great a population as at present, It will come gradually, and will be accompanied by an equally gradual diminution of population. No single generation will ever be over whelmed by a discovery of the disaster. But we will hazard the prophecy that the earth ten centuries from now will contain quite as ample a supply of food, fuel and. life as that bounteous globe now furnishes to the children of men. The fat&ihat the people of Camden, N. J., are roundly condemning Jay Gould for leaving to his sister, who lives in that pltice, three lots of ground, two houses, $23,000 in money and a. lifo income in addition of $2,000 annually Is made the subject of news by the Philadelphia Timet, air. Gould never did pay very ir.nch respeot to popular opinion, and under all the circumstances the indig nation of the Camden people Is not likely to worry him much. Thk Congressional investigation of the Beading combination has amassed the usual pile of testimony. It now remains to be seen wbother the record will bo broken by doing anything to break up tho combina tion. A Massachusetts court has decided that a man must pay his fare on a railroad car even if be does not find a seat. U'his would be important were It not lor the fact that the railroad corporations decided that point long ago, and have enforced the de cision with much more effectiveness than is accorded to tho decision of the courts which the corporations do not like. WnH coal famines following close upon the heels of blizzards out West tho People's party will have to hustle itself to stop that sort of thing, or change its name to one made famous by slang. New York City is wrough) up over the discover that Boston's famous Tewkesbury Almshouse has bcon shipping paupers to tho metropolis merely to get rid of thorn. The plan of disposing ot the destitute by passing them on to other places is regarded in New York as highly reprehensible when they come to New York. President Cleveland's next friends keep on assuring us that there will be no extra -session. Which does not at all diminish the howl of the tiger for that sop to his appetite. The debate and so-called scientific exper iments as to whether noise will produce ram ought to be rendered unnecessary by the fact, which seems to have escaped atten tion, that the period of the recent Pi-esl-dental campaign was an exceptionally dry season. There seems to be a promise of some non-partisan legislation this session in tho fact that Mr. Oates has already Introduced a rule relating to the passage of a uniform bankruptcy bill. The Kansas blizzard has occupied a prominent position in the papers of the East for the past lew days. But its commendable quality of exhausting its force before it reaches this' end of tho country has saved us from closer acquaintance with it. The prophets of a bard and early winter are obliged' to lean very hard on the cold waves of this pleasant Docember weather for an approximation of verification. It is reported that the gas companies of Brooklyn, have entered upon a rate-cntting war. This promises profit to the ntibHc for a time only. When gas companies fall out the old proverb works until a combination is formed and no longer. P0IXTS ABOUT PEKS0XS. "General Devhencefokth" is what they are beginning to call liitn down in Texas. Oliver. Wendell Holmes will be in vited to write the ode for the opening of the World's Fair. Mr. Mttechison, the man responsible for the political disgiaco of Lord Sackvllle West, has a beard like that of Senator Pcffer. Stuart Kobson is not only a.good actor, but a'clevor financier. He knows a good in vestment when h,e sees it, and has the fac ultyof keeping-money once made. Mrs. Emmons Blaine, who is spending part of the rwlnler at Lake wood, N. J., has recently given to the city of Augusta. Me., $10,000 to found a libraty in honor of hor hus band's memory. Cotxde Hamlin, managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, and Miss Lenora Aus tin, daughter of ex-Governor Austin, of Min. uesota, wore married In Now Yolk Satuiday at the Hotel St. Denis. Ernest'Eejtan has left little private fortune to hts family. So much so is this the case that Madame Kenan Intends to sell the library of her deceased husband at the beginning of next year. The Shah of Persia's Ministers disavow nil Initiative and tremble at any executive responsibility. Impcrions, diligent and fairlyjust, the Shah is in his own peison the arbiter of Persia's fortunes. All policy emanates from him. Ho supervise every department with a curiosity that requires to be constantly appeased, and his attention both to foreign and domestio politics is con stant and unremitting. This is the way Ada Behan Is deicribed by her sister, Hattie Uussell: "My sister is several years younger than I am, bnt taller and more robust. She took to the stage five years nfter I did, and on her first appear ance she entered with perfect grace, but after having spoken but half a dozen words sho suddenly became too full for utterance, and succumbed, falling flat on her face. She was immediately pronounced Oy the usually competent judges to be unfit for the stage." Cardinal Lavioerie, who died the other day, complained latterly that years and grief were crowding upon him. and f looke-l forwnrd calmly to the rest which has now come." It was time.be used to say, to be thinking of the quiet corner In his cathedral at Carthage, where his tomb has long been made.- This is the Inscription upon it: : , Here lies He who was Cardinal Lavlgerie, : : AndNrtidnow Is nothing but dust. : Pray ror him. "Only "the date or my death is wanting," he told a visitor with a smile, "1 can't well fix that." "" . The Uuplacated Senators. PhlUdelphlaBulletin. ' .Tbe problem which Is now agitating the Democratic mind Is how to bring Cleveland and Hill -together face to face. Tho New Tork Senator, refuses to be "placated:" he has purposely avoided Cleveland's presence both-befbre and since the election, and each of the great men declines to make any over tures to tbe'other. . airs. Lease and Her Klvals. Kansas City Gazette. Mrs. lease will not, she says, refuse the Senatorial plum if it is offered her. W know of at least two other men who are in the same boat. FEARS NO RIVAL. -I'm an enterprising lltllt I get there every time, Youjust . cau bet.. I can set a boy moat crazj, I can make htm weac and lazy. From my tireless grasp I ne'er will Let him get In my pretty little wrapper i I'm i pet. Of the dandy dndea that get Within , my " net. Soon I draw out all their mind -Alienate them from mankind. O, no-xival in the business Have met! ,' . . -PMtadelphta CaU. THE BEST WAY TO TEACH. WRITTEN FOB THE DISPATCH.! No permanent advance in morals was ever gained by a campaign of negation. No man over became genuinely virtuous by the argument of the stick. Yes; I remember what Solomon said about sparing the rod. Solomon was right. We cannot get along without some application of the roi. But no amount of rod, if there is nothing but rod, will ever work effective reformation. It is not enough to forbid the bad: there must also be persuasion of the good. It Is not enough to drive the bad out; the good mast be brought in. And it Is al ways true that tbe best way to drive the bad out and to keep it out, is by tbe expulsive Influence of the good. It used to be thought tnat the only way to manage- a school was to thrash all the big boys every day. The teacher needed strength of arm as well as strength of mind. College athletics fitted yodng men to take charge of district schools. Tho thud or the ruler p unctuatcd the monotonous di awl of the recitations. It used to bo thought that the only way to govern a State was to cut off tho heads of a score or two of eminent offenders every year; and that the boat way to lessen crime was to hang all criminals. Those who were not hanged -should bo whipped, or thum b-screwed or otherwise tortured. Even in religion the most effect tive lessons in orih oaox theology were taught, so it was bellejred, by application of burning fazgots. Love a Better Teacher Than Fear. But we are wiser than our fathers. The best way to teach is to make the les sons, entertaining, so that tho boys and girls will not learn from fear of the lash but from love of the lesson. It makes a great difference whether the impulsion that drives tho scholars on comes from the teachororfrom themselves. The purpose of the school is to got the scholars to de slro to learn. And this holds true in all kinds of government. The best way to do crease crime is to rerorm tbe people who commit crime, and make them into decent citizens. And that leformation will be made effectual not by any reign of terror, not by raids nor jails, but by the providing of new ideals, by the opening of new oppor tunities, by the conversion of the individ ual soul. One of the secrets of tho great difference between the upper and lower strata of so ciety, between the rich and tho poor, be tween tbe saints and the sinners, Detween the houses of righteousness and happiness, and the houses of disorder, is to be found in a difference of opportunity. Tbe respecta ble people have bad a chance: tho other people have had no chance. If the environ ments had been reversed, and the virtuous had been born and bred like the vicious.and the vicious had been brought up in cloan houses like the virtuous, who dares say what reversals would not havo appeared in character! A great majority of the people whose lives are but a long game of hide-and-seek with the policeman owe their hard lot to lack of decent opportunity. They liavo never had a chance. And the ideal of reformation is to give these people not more law.out more chance; not to emphasize what is bad in them, but to cultivate what is good. If the city would spend in efforts for elevation half what it spent in efforts for detection and detention twlco the good would be accomplished. What wo want is not stouter colls but cleaner streets, not prisons but picture gal leries, not more criminal legislation but' more sanitary regulation. Make the city, p.von in its poorest neighborhoods, a decent place to live in. That will do more to.de croase crime than a whole army of police men. Higher Levels of Thought Needed. It is along this line, I think, that we must look for adequate solutions of a good many haid probloms. Tho labor trouble, for instance, is not to bo adjusted by per fecting legal machinery to suppress strikes, but by getting at what is right and reasona ble and Justin the complaints of labor and omphnslzlng that. 'Indeed, in this case, the heart of tho problem lies deeper still. We must first learn that the chief end of man is not the acquliingof money. We must get rid of covetousnesi. We must se tour selves to thinking along higher levels and accounting the' various prizes of life at truer valuations There is a good deal of discussion Just now about the keeping of Sunday. The Colum bian Exposition has set us all to considering that grayo question. It will be well, it seems to me, to apply to this matter that ti ise prin ciple which works so excellentb' elsewhere. Let us not try to get Sunday kept aright by forbidding people to keop it In wrong ways, but rather by persuadlnz them to keep it In right ways. Our best plan will be to accent the profitable uses of that day of rest. Mr. Henry Phipps has sent to me from Knebworth House a copy of this year's an nual report of the Sunday Society, together with several pamphlets relating to Its works. They are more progressive than we are over in England. We may as well confess it. It is true that they hold with obstlnato conservatism to compartment coaches and luggage labels, and other small matters in which we have made improvements. But their cities are better governed than ours. They are a great deal nearer to all that is true in socialism than we are. They will have equal suffrage sooner than wo will. And here Is the Sunday Society. A great many of our good people will still consider it necessary to hold. up their hands against the Sunday Society. Yet in England it has upon its roll some of the best names in the land. Dean Stanley was its mat .President. Bishops are among its advocates. English ideas of Sunday Observance. The purpose of the Sunday Society is to further the right observance of the first day of the week. And since this is so large nn aim, and opens into so wido a field, one chief object has been singled out for accom plishment and only one. The Sunday So ciety is tint organized to persuade people to hear sermons or say prayers, nor to spend a portion of the good day In the reading of good books, nor even to get good people to consecrate that day as a weekly festival of good deeds. These, matters It Is content to leavo with the Christian Church. Its mem bers aro Interested, I doubt not, in getting these excellent purposes accomplished, but they recognize the fact that he who tries to do everything does nothing. The purpose of the Sunday Society is "to obtain the opening of museums, art galler ies, libraries and gardens on Sunday." How much better it is to open good doors than oven to close bad ones. And how much wiser to go on and try to make Sunday pleasant and profitable, rather than stand by with a long and frowning lace and abuse peoplo who are abusing Sunday! What shall we do on Sunday! That is what we want to Know. We are commercial travel ers and young men in boarding houses and at hotel 8, and young women working in offices and people withont homes. Wbat shall we do on SundayT Suppose we go to church; that will not fill up all the day. How shall we spend tbe afternoon! A Question That Must Be Answered. "We must be taken just as we are. We are not saints. We are not greatly inter ested in services or sermons. But we are not wholly given over to the devil, either. There Is a great deal or good in us. What are you going to do for us on the Christian holiday? Tbe question must be answered. If tho Church is not ready, to make answer, tho persuasive devil will. There Is no lack of places for us to go not very profitable places, some of them. What can you good people offer us on your side to offset these manifold temptations. Tho Sunday Society says libraries, art galleries, museums, gar dens get them all open. If It is true that the great need of most peoplo Is a chance, let us make Sunday the great day of oppor tunity. Open all tbe doors which lead Into good places. Have music In tho parks and In tbe churches. Try the Christianizing in fluences of books and flowers. Make the day a delight. That is what Bishop Pottor, of New York, says ought to -be done at Chicago. He is right. The World's Fair has its Sunday uses. Education Is a part o. religion. If these great gates are shut on Sund.iy there will be tenfold occupation for tuoso swing lag doors thai lead past the lights and pict ures and tbe mirrors and the tinkling glasses Into the vestibule of hell. What the Modern Sunday Needs. And what is true of Sunday in Chicago is true also, in a lesser measure, or Sunday here in Pittsburg. I takolt that Sunday, like tbe old Sabbath, was made for man. It was intended to minister to the best inter ests of the race. All that is good ror tho up lifting or character has a place In it. The modern Sunday needs enrichment and ex pansion. It is too narrow, conventional, In sists too much that we shall all be made good in the same way. What we need Is to emphasize all tbe best usesoyt. That wilt some day eliminate its baser uses. lam glad to see that tbe Archbishop of Canterbury has this idea in regard to the Sunday paper. He recognizes tho fact that the thing to do is nottoaouse the Sunday paper, but to Improve it. Nothing was ever bettered by abuse. Tbe Sunday paper Is one day to be one of the most helpful features or the Christian Sunday. Somo good blind people win see that presently. Tbe Archbishop of Canterbury has already made up his mind to it. And he has Juse begun tho publication or a s cries or sermons in a Sunday paper, an example which Is to be followed immediately by a dozen bishops. Good for tho bishops! That, it seems to me, Is sensible Christianity. GLOOM AT THE WHITE HOUSE. No Social Events Anticipated In Washing ton Until After March 4. Washisqtos, Deo. 11. ojpeefat Until after tho 4th or March society at the capital will be in a condition or gloom at tho White House. Though there is a deal of informal visiting between Sirs. Mcgcn and Mrs. Rus sell Harrison and their lrionds, all of the formal and brilliant social events usual at this season of tbe year will be omitted. Tho great New Year's Day reception, n hen diplo mats, tho arm', tbe navy, and all the dig nitaries of tho Government appear in state, will bo omitted for the first time in long years. All of the state dinners and tho Con gtcssional and other receptions will be omitted. Following in the wake of their chief, tbe Cabinet ministers will not re ceive foimally on the New Year, and it is probable tbe diplomats and tbe army and navy will not havo an opportunity to ex hibit their uniforms and plumes and decorations at alL The new administration will make itsgraud entree during the Lenten season, and wbilo it fasts society will have onportunity to prepare for a brilliant 'in auguration'' of a now social regime which will efface all marks or the death and gloom that have surrounded the progress or the present administration almost from the be ginning, the first and worst catastrophe be ing the borriblo death by fire of tho wife and daughter of beeretary Tracy. Three deaths have occurred in the family of beere tary Blaine, and other Cabinet officers have suffered the loss of some near relatives. Within a lew weeks of each other Mr. Hur rlsou ana her father havo died in tbe Execu tive Mansion. It is doubtful if any formeradmlnlstration exhibits such a recordor human dissolution. Whatever may be said of the political change, it must bo admitted tnat "society" heaves a deop aspiration or hope and relief at tbe prospect of the change, the conspicu ous figure in nhich will be Mrs. Cleveland, than whom no finer personality ever graced tbe residence of tho President. SHE .QUELLED A MTjnHY. Mrs. Annio E. Wilson fteslgns as a Customs Inspector. New Youk, Dec. 11. Mrs. Annie E. Wilson, who has been a matron at the Barge Office and Ellis Island ever since the Federal authorities took charge of immigration mat ters at this port, mid who bad been a Cus toms Inspector since 1877, lias tendered her resignation to take effect on January L Mrs. Wilson is the woman who, when her husband died at sea, on the ship which be commanded, and the crew mutlned, seized a levolver, drove the sailors back to their posts and brought the vessel safely into port. For this she was highly commendod and well rewarded by the ship's owners and the consignees of a valuable cargo. PARKflURST AND.PAEKHURSTISM". Dr. Pareudrst is too smart a man to stay down long. Syracuse Courier. Such men as Parkhnrst are a disgrace not only to the ministry but to humanity. Sac ramento Bee. New York's now word Parkhnrstism socms to be very nearly synonymous with extortion. Boston Globe. There seems to be a general impression that even if Dr. Parkhurst's fingers be tarred his Character cannot be blackened. New York liecoi dcr. It is fitting that the soft answer that turneth away wrath should come from Su perintendent Byrnes in tho controversy be tween him and Dr. Parkhurst. Jiew York Commercial Advertiser. Luckilt for tho credts of humanity, tho public authorities in every city except Pittsburg havo denounced tbe inhumanity of these "crusades" and refused to aid in them. Chicago Globe. Between them Dr. Parkhnrst and Super intendent Byrnes seem to succeed in telling n good many unpleasant truths about New York City in general and each other in par ticular. Cleveland Leader. perhaps while Dr. Parkhnrst and Inspec tor Byrnes are conducting their newspaper controversy the divekeepers of New York may' have a long enough rest from the dou ble blackmailing they have been enduring to got money enough ahead to quit tho town. Chicago Mail. Oh, Parkhurst, Parkhurst, talk about something fit for decent ears, or dry up ! Wo have had enough of tho stench you carry about. You can't smoke the devil out that way, neither can yo". purity a pool by stir ring up the filth at tho bottom. Let it settle out or sight, since yon can't remove it, and nt least the water above will be pure. Wheeling Mejisler. Sufeeujtesdekt Btrses was unfortunato in his accusations against Dr. Parkhurst for assailing the police. The same day bo do fended the New York pollco against Park hurst's charges, one of his men was lound guilty on a charge similar to that of the preacher. At another time Superintendent Byrnes' righteous indignation would have made a stronger appeal to the people. Chicago Tribune. Cleveland at His Blrthplaoa. Newark, N. J., Dec. 1L The citizens or Coldwell, wbich Is the birthplace of Grover Cleveland, are making extensive prep arations to entertain tho President-elect when he visits Cald well as be has promsed to do before his inauguration. The old house in which Mr. Clevoland wa born will be profusely deco rated and brilliantly illuminated. It Ought to Be a BarL Boston Herald. 1 Mr. Cleveland has just Invested in a big waste basket, but it may bo doubted if-its capacity will be fouud to be equal to tho occasion. Lantern Oil In Quest in Paris. Buffalo Enquirer. Diogenes would die of overwork it he were calculating among French politicians at the present tlmo. lic'll Be Besnrrectcd. Brooklyn StsndariMJulon.J Emin Pasha is repotted dead again. Tally, 69. An Effect of the Landslide. New York World. The price of brooms is advancing. Will this affect tho frequency of tbe clean sweepT DEATIIS IIERE AND ELSEWHERE. James S. McCauler, Turtle Creek. James S.JIcCauley died at noon Saturday at the borne or his rather, Isiac McCaulcy, or Turtle Creek. Ills death resulted from a rail on Thanks giving Day. In which his bead waa Injured. He was unmarried. -t5 years old, ana nst well-known In rallmad circles', having been an employe of the Pennsvlvanla Company rrom boyhood, up to the time of the riots in 1577. Subsequently he was a pusscnger conductor on ihe Ptttsuurg and Lake Erie Hallrnad, and In the big wreck at Wampum, lalrt89, he wa badly lojureil. A suit against Ihe company for S5.0CU resulted In n compromise, the company paring him hnir that amount. For 111 ree "rears past he baa been in Ugdcn, Utah, and only returned three months ago. Obituary Notes. abbe Benedictine Surra, who was well known In America, died of paeumoula la Home. OUR RECONSTRUCTED NAVY. Secretary Elkins Submits Bis Keport He Bays We Not Only Equal but Surpass the World-Not Especia ly New Ships, but New Inventions the Causo The Delays in Armor Plate Annoying. "Washington, Dec 1L The Secretary of the Navy, in his annual report, sets forth tho fact that when the present administra tion came in March I, 18S3, besides old and obsolete wooden ships only three modern war vessels were in camtntsslon. During the administration 19 new vessels, with an aggro i rate tonnage or &l,833 tons, mounting two 12-lnch, six 10-lncb, 18 8 lnon and 83 6 incb guns, all or whlcb, with tho exception or five or the earliest, have been manurac tnred In this country. Three new stoel tugs also have beon constructed and pat in ser vice There are in process or construction IS new vessels certain to bo completed, should the arms be delivered, within the next year, or an aggregato tonnage ot 93,497 tons and mounting altogether 12 13-lnch, six 12-lnch, 10 10-lncb, 20 S-Inob, 32 6-Inch, 3J3lnch ana 3t 4-incb arms, all of which have been or are to bo manufactured in this country. Development during the past four years has not been confined to ships alone. At the beginning of this administration, says tbo Secretary, the naval establishment was entirely destitute of certain elements or ef ficiency. But progress is noted by which the United States has emerged from its condi tion of helplessness at sea, and by the em ployment or Its own resources has distanced Its most experienced competitors. This marks an epoch in the naval development not only or this country, but or tho world Delay bat Better Armor Plate. Delays in the delivery of armor plate have caused the dates or tho final comple tion of armored vessels under construction to be somewhat later than at first contem plated. The only compensation for this de lay is found in the superior quality of the armor that has been recently developed. In connection with tbo development of nickel steel lor armor, tno department has undertaken a series ot experiments in tbe application of this material to other pur poses, the construction or which promisor no less important results that those already attained. It expectations now formed are roalized. it will not be long beforo nickel steel will be extensively used, both in ship frames and marine engines, with marked improvement, both in strength of parts and reduction of weight; while its non-corrodn-ble qualities, already partly demonstrated, point to the probability t, at it may ulti mately present a solution for tho harrassing problem of preserving submerged plating of ships. Coming down to a detailed statement as to armor tests, the beeretary tells of work ac complished; of tbe tremendous test to wnlch Harvey nickel steel armor plato was sub jected in November, 1S91, which resulted In improved methods Doing Introduced in tbo manufacture by the Harvey process, and the final test made July 20 last. It has beon demonstrated that tbe United States in tho reconstruction oMts now navv, which ten vears ago had no existence, even on paper, is enabled to place upon each and all of its armored vessels material tbo like of which the world had not up to this time seen; and, while vast sums have been spent plating tbo sides of foreign men of war with Inferior material this country will employ for the purpose an armor which not only is lar more ofllclcnt, but which represents unquestionably, having refer ence to dimensions and plates thus far tested, the highest development of modern sclcnco and a development reached by its own independent efforts. Following our example, tbo English Government rour weeks ago held a trial or new American armor, and It is clearrrom hlhly successlul results that the United Stntss, instead or being the lust In the race in tbe construc tion or vessels or war or or borrowing best ideas from abroad, has set an example in this respect which other maritime nations will speedily follow. The Contractors Making Slow Progress. With regard to armor plate contracts, the Secretary says neither the Buthteliem nor Carnegie companies are making such prog ress at present as the department could de sire, but both are increasing their outpnt from month to month and the department Is now preparing to advortise for proposals for tho remainder or tbe armor reqqired to completo vessels now authorized. When these plants are ablo to turn out, as will shortly be the case, a full quantity of armor required by contract, the aggregato supply will still amount to only 9.C0O tons per annum, or not more than enough for tho construction or three battle ships. To pro vide armor lor eight such ships, in addition to those now authorized, would require three years after the fulfillment of tho pres ent contract,' with works running at full capacity. In reference to ordnance of the navy, tno Sccrotary makes an extended reference to developments promising greatly improved results, and which points have heretofore been covered in tiie-n dispatches in the re port of tbe Clilot or the Bnreau of Ordnance. Comment is also made at length on tbe ordnance report as to powder, the manu facture of high explosives and projectiles, all showing progress of the most satisfuctory nature. With regard to torpedoes, with the Howoll torpedo not gone much beyond the stage or hope with wbich thn de partment entered upon contract for 113 manuiacmro lour yours ngu, yufc luaft trials are giving great promise. The Naval Policy or the Future. "With regard to the increase of the navy the Secretary says another year of experi ence, or discussion and or criticism, both at home and nbrnad, confirms tbo department in views adopted in tbe annual report of 1SS9 as to the policy of construction the navy should pursue.' He deprecates tbe construe tion of any more vessels of tbe monitor type, elaborating arguments against their usefulness and, quoting from the report of Chairman Horbert, of the House Committee on Naval Affairs, pays: "Onr true naval policy for the future is to construct here after, principally, ir not entirely, only flrst- class ,cruisers and first-class Dattle snips with their accessories." The Secretary speaks with much satis faction of the act to "enconrago American ship building," under which the City of Paris nnd City of New York are admitted to American registry and nnder terms by which several of tbo fli.est liners nro to be built here: nnd earnestly recommends that the same principle, whloh is now embodied in the bill to grant American register to the stoamsbip China, ot the Pacific Mail Com pany, may be carried out, not only in this, but in all similar cases, by means of which American owners of foreign bnllt steam ships, whose hi'th qualities are such as to make them desirable ot acquisition, may bo permitted to obtain American register upon the condition that vessels of equal size and tonnage shall be ordered to be built in tbe United States. With reference to unprotected cruisers or the second class of rrom 4.000 to 5,000 tons displacement tbe Department docs not jeeommand any present increase or num ber. These vessel, to attain tbe high speed required, must necessarily sacrifice coal en durance and have tbererore a very re stricted fphero or uselulness ror cruising purposes in times of war. They answer sat isfactorily the limited demand lor flagships upon regular stations in time of" peace, bnt it is not upon these vessels the United States would place reliance In case of nn attack from a mari time power. No'-ls it desirable to add to the number of heavily armed gun boats of tbe Yorktown type. Torpedo Boats Recommended. The Secretary alio reneys a recommenda tion previously made for the building or torpedo boats, and submits a table showing the vusttnerease or such craft in the service of other navies. He says: "We should liave at least 30 such boats constructed in tbe im mediate future. The aggrossive policy of foreign nations continues, and tbls country, whether it will or not, will soon be forced into a position where it cannot disregard measures which lorra a standing menace to its prosperity and security. On tbe isthmus our commerce is engaged in a desperate fl'ht to maintain its foothold. In the ,South Pacific reDeated annexations and firntectorates are exiuuuiug power sua nflnehce of maritime states of the Old World. Subsidized lines of fast steamers are completing a circle ot maritime com munication on the eastern and western coasts of the Dominion of Canada, and fort resscs dally increasing in strength are sur rounding our coast npon south and east. Under the-e circumstances it Is imperative to the welfare of this country that tbe policy or naval reconstruction so successfully carried on in tbe past sbonld suffer no in terruption in the future; that vast numbers or skilled artisans who have Deen trained in its workshops, and those or private manu facturers concerned in its operations, should not be thrown out of employment; that the work, whoso cblet difficulties bavo now been overcome, should not be suffered to lan gnlsh when every day shows Improve ment, both in economy and dispatch, and that with only two vessels remaining on tbe stocks, as will shortly be the case, some further additions should be made by Con gross at tho present session. .. CURIOUS CONDENSATIONS. Boston has one Chinese voter. Celery coffee is a new concoction. The Suez canal cost $1,000,000,000. London has two aluminum yachts. An Oil City baby was born with two teeth. A dozen different beers are made io Borneo. HarrisbuTg complains about adulterated buckwheat. Solomon is said to have collected tho Proverbs at SO. The first book printed by machinery wat produced in 1317. The Germans were the first to use gun powder for blasting. The Supreme Court of Mississippi fcu decided that alcohol 13 not a beverage. The latest teat in jugglery is to exhibi a man climbing a rope wmcli is, apparently, lasieued to nothing. Canals, not railways, have cut the larg est figure In works of transportation under execution during l&fi Immigration is not increasing. Nearly 220,000 ruoio people settled iu tuii country ten years agu ihuu last year. Candy nowadays vies with flowers as a current coin of polite society. It is largely used In acknowledgment of brief hospital!- Out of 14 applicants, at Grand Eapids, for admission to the Uuited states Army, ten were rejected on account of Dhvslcai delects. A young woman who advertises to mash a fly witu her foot on an eight-loot ceiling is traveling through the great kickmg state of .Kansas. It was the vogue at one time in Venice to gild tho rolls of bread and the oysters on. tho supper table. The candles were also coated null gold. The largest monolith ever cut in this country waa quarried out of granite in Mis souri and transported to the East on a spe cially prepared train. Tests of California roses show them to possess 'J0 per cent more of the volatile oil than the French roses, which means tha development ofa new industry for Califor- Probably the finest body of men as re gards mental and physical qualifications combined tbat are doing police duty In auy couutry on eartu aro ibe Worlu's Pair guards. --The art of paper making has reached the point where It is posaibla to cut down a, growing tree and convert it into paper suit able lor printing purposes within the shore space of ii hours. If the sun gave forth sounds loud enough to roach tbe earth, snch sounds, in stead of reaching us in the space or aDout eight minutes, as tbe light does, would only anlvo altera period or nearly 11 years. From experiments made by English scientists it appears that camphor and ox ygenated water are the most energotic ex citants of growth, not only as regards "enn luation but as affecting tbe vigor of plants. A typographical errorin Harper's Maja ztne exhibits Charles Dudley Warner as a, horrible infidel. He Is niado to say that "tho great mass ot Christian literature is no longer believed." For "Christian" read "Christmas.'' A Paraellite badge, to be worn by sap porters of the Parnelllto faction and "ail who wish to do so," lias been dovised. It is made in soiid gold and in solid sliver, and tho announcement sjys it can be had upon application." One of the famous curiosities of the Mammoth Cave is Echo Biver, a body of water estimated to be some three-fourths of a mile in length, and fiom 20 to 200 icet iu breadth. Its depth at ordinary times is irum 10 to 40 feet. The common daphne grown in flower gardens is one of the most deadly poisons known to the botanist. Three or four of the berries will kill a man as quickly as strychnine, and one has been known to kill a culld in half an hour. When the achoolhonse of the Galla gher district, in Mason Valley, Nov., was opened alter the summer vacation it was lound that bees were In possession of the desks, and it Is claimed tbat about 300 pounus or honey were-taken from them. At the Chicago University every stu dent is compelled to take physical exercise at least one hour each day. Their instruc tor. Mr. Stagg, makes them go through a cortain amount or work in football uractico, because he regards it ad the very finest opeu air exercise. The fastest time ever made on au Ameri can railroad has again been broken. This tlmo by a 123,800-pound engine (without the tender, naving driving wheels or &,40O pounds, wnlch made two miles, Tuesday, on tbe New Jersey Central ltailroad lit 175 sec onds, or at tbe rato of 97 miles per hour. Drawing room salts jars are shown at tbo silversmiths as untqno Christmas gifts. They are or glass, and are of good size with sail ver screwtop. They are filled with aro matic salts, and stand on the parlor table, to bo occasionally opened to fill tho room with their pungent'eontents, alter which the cover Is tightly replaced. The seal used by the Treasury Depart ment to-day Is precisely the same as that of tbe Continental Treasury, bearing the same legend, emblems, etc. It was prepared some time between 1778 and 1782, hut it is not known by whom it was designed. The legend (Thenur Amer. Septcnt Sigll) is translated "Seal of tbe Treasury ot North America." A model Paris workingman's bedstead is made so that it can be taken down and put up again In half a mlnnte. By a carious combination of springs, tbe bed can be in stantaneously surrounded with curtains, a washstnnd wheeled insid, and the occu pant can go through his or ber toilet with out being Been. By another spring the bed is turned into a canopy suited for invalids, who have no need to stir to perform tbe transformation. A dentist of Athens, Gs., has at his of fice a curiosity in the way of oysters and an tiflclal teeth. Tbe teeth had evidently been lost by someone on board a ship or some one bad been drowned. The oysters bad formed around tbe teeth and the formation is perfect. A dredging boat near Moore head City found the shell with the teeth at. taehed, nnd tho man wno found them sold them lor $20. The Smithsonian Institute Is now seeking to purchase them, and offers a good price. Tramps in Cumberland county, 3Ie., have a regular schome of getting a living at tbe various poorbouscs. For instance, they will go to the Deering house, got sapper and night's lodging, and breakfast ir willing to saw the wood lequired, then will spend the day loafing round in the, woods, go to West brook ut night and repeat the performance indefinitely, cnoosing a new town each night. The Portland T.anscript says one town in Cumberland county thus provided supper. lodging and breakfast for over 300 tramps In one year recently: in other word it supported one tramp for nearly a year. OIUGrNALAND JOCOSE. E'er days gre,r 8hort Bnd n'5bts Stew ch Tbe lee man gloated o'er his mil: But now he's sad. demure and meek. For no leavea Ice but twice a week. BAD, BUT TEUE. "Say, Jimmy, Santy CUusmutt be a non union man," aald the child of a Homestead striker. "WbTf" 'Cause dad aaya that he won't eome to oar bouse this year." HE WAS rLATTO. "Here' the present I bought for year brother," said Mrs. Stringer, as he exhibited a silver-mounted calendar for 1303. "The present." said Mr. Stringer, "Why I would call that tbe future." A JOLLT. "What kind of a steer are you trying to give me.'" said tbe sled to the fellow as they ran Into the fence. JT3T DISIET. She is not popular with tha men, Bnt It lsbcr fault; She's guilty, too. or a erlmemost great, Bue should cilia halt: For unless sbe does she'll single tay. , She should remember that. j And when she to tbe theater goes I Take off her mammoth bat, " CaiCX.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers