THE SCRAOTON TRIBUNE-THURSDAY. MAY 12. 1898. SPANISH TRAITS OFCHARACTER Description of the Censor and How lie Docs Ills Work. BOMB OF Till ANNOYING DIFPI- cultiks cohuicspondhnts auk comi'i;lli:d to :ni)iui;-tiu: prockss of outtincj hack monky pah) in advancm for tmleghams that nkvku whnt. tub ktkiixal "manana." Trom tho Loudon Telegraph. Why is the once might v empire of Spain reduct.'d to the lust stages f de cay and rapldlv approaching dlssolu tlon? TJib Spaniards aro ftill among tho most noble-minded, sympathetic nnd Intelligent peoples of tin- civilized world; they ure "Nntiire's gentlemen." nnd post-ess an ucsthetle taste capable of a high degree of devolopemeiit nnd n number of noble tiniti anil rare qitni Itles which, under tho guidance of or dinarily competent ruler, should and would entitle them still to occupy n plnco higher than that of Jtnlv In tho helrarchy of nations. Hut ordinar ily honest and competent rulers are not to be had. It Is a case of flod provid ing the food and the devil Mlpplylng the cooks'. Tho administration Is tho ruin of the country and tho people. A Spaniard Is patriotic to such a degree that Iip is eapuble o( suorlllolng his en tire r"nmi', his family, and himself for the cood of his country at a criti cal period of Its history. Tho olllclal, on th. other hand. Is eaten up with egotism and Is not always oven modor nt'ly prompt and capable, For the moment 1 choose a very tame Illustra tionthe administration of the posts and toloRraphH and even here I -'hall confine myself to facts of my own ex perience. There Is but one foreign post daily both wnvH to and trom .Madild. It leaves at 8 p. in.; and u letter eonllded to the letter-bo:: stands no better chance of touching the addressee than does one posted in Constantinople, Kr zeroum, or Treblzond. Indued, the odds ure strongly In favor of the latter. 1 am spending in the light of numerous and slg.vMonnt facts. Of course one may register one's correspondence, and then the letter may imive, or It may not. If it does not. you enjoy the right of demanding compensation; but before you have done w itli petitioning, de manding, visiting, explaining, calling again, etc., you will have worn out more boots, spent more money In pens, Ink nnd paper, and sacrificed more of your time than the damages llxed for ten lost letters would compensate, and you give up the enterprise In despair long before you see the color of the money of the administration. Besides, you ennnot register a letter after 0 p. m . so that from that hour your cor respondence Is practically at an end. If a packet Is sent to you by post, you do not receive It at your house, but are favored with an Invoice instead, which informs you that there Is but one hour of the twenty-four during which you may claim tho packet and wait till you got it. IX TF.LEGRAPHING. ' Hut by far tho most Interesting pro cess is that of telegraphing political mws to a foreign Journal. Here you pU'U original and quaint Ideas as to the "V'uy How Not to Do It," which are bracing and refreshing to Kngllsh speaklng -oplo. First of all, of course, you must get your Information, then vift- your telegram, and, lastly, hand It In. The mere act of forwarding It seems a trltte. Inasmuch as ripaln and Tnu'land are connected by a direct cable. Now It Is extremely dlflicnlt to obtain any Information worth having before I or 1 o'clock In the afternoon; fi r the Spaniards those at lenst who make history are by no means early risers, and the ministerial councils nn.l other state gatherings occur generally between 3 and fi p. in. Yet a telegraphic message to Loudon, handed In at the head olllce at Ma lrld nt 1.30 o'clock In the afternoon, frequently reaches linn Ion at the same hour the next ni'-rning, when it Is absolutely worth less And th direct cable plays but a ri latlvely small pin t In the delay. The 1 loyal Inquisitor, known as tho Censor, is the man mainly responsible for this woeful wast of time. lie is not always nt home, nor Is he, perhaps, always in the humor for censuring anil criticis ing, and the mesaes must wait until he Is disnngared nnd In tho mood. Hut whv should there not be many censors? Flist of all. Indeed, one won ders why there should be any. Spain Is a constitutional country, anil at pres ent It Is governed by the Liberal party, which holds high the banner of free dom nnd fraternity, and makes war upun all the Old World abuses of des potism, conservatism, etc. Yet, for nil that, there Is a censure nay, such a Btrlit i ensure as has been unknown In llussia since the days of Nicholas I., and Is imrnllclcd only in tho Turkish empire of todav. A mere word, to whuh the censor reasonably or unrea sonably objects, Is enough to ruin a telegram of a thousand words to which he assents. Thus 1 forwarded n most Important message yesterday, which with tho utmost dlllicultv I was en abled to hand In nt 3 p. m. The fncts It contained dealt with the resolutions adopted by the cabinet council. At the end there was one short sentence to the effect that, according to a rumor eur lent In Journalistic circles of tha capi tal. It was expected that the Hpuultdi olllcers would meet In the I'uertu del Sol that evening and walk home In silence by way of a patriotic demon stration. This wns absolutely true. The rumor was current ver where. I hent off tho message at 3 p. m. sharp, and mentioned the time in the t( legram. Shortly after 1 o'clock next morning I received a communication fi"in the chief of the telegiaph to th.- ff . t that, owing to the sentence nlimtt the pro jected manifestation, lie had detained my message, but that If, on rellectlon, 1 considered that I could modify that particular passage the telegram would be duly sent on! After ten hours had elapsed, and the news had become utterly worthless! SPANISH CF.HKMONY. Tho Spanish ceremonies which ac company the handing In of a telegram would be amusing were they not so ilksoino and tlmc-kllllng. You ap proach a little window In the one olllce In I ho city, nnd, when your turn comes, hand In your message. Tho clerk counts the words a couple of times over, ndds up the result of each page, refers to a written tnrlff and finds out what the cost Is In francs. Then lie take another slip of paper, finds out whnt the ratu of exchange Is at the moment, nnd reduces the francs to Spanish pesetas. Finally, he rends out the result say 579 pesetas, 33 cen times. You engrave these figures In your memory, and, leaving tho hall, go out to another window In a passage outside, and there await oiir turn, re pcutlnc always the number r.07.3." until the cloth asKS you what you want. Then you explain that you are come to puichaxe Spanish stamps for tho rum of 597 pesetas. .'!". centimes, nnd you take out a note for 1 000 pesetas. The passage is dark on the brightest day, and you accept the stamps and your change In a spirit of true reli gious faith, for you see not even darkly as In a glass. When you return to the Inner sanctuary and help to make queue, awaiting your turn again the chalices are that you find yourself short of stamp". In consequence of a mlstape on the part of tho clerk out side. This happened twice to to me, but I um bound to sav the Individual dl-'covorcd and rcctilled his error, so that my only loss wns of about thlrty lle minutes more. Hut the most curious thing of all Is the process of recovering your money. If the telegram be suppressed. There Is no way of obtaining it speedily. You must wait. Messages of mine to the value of several hundred pesetas were stopped, and 1 called at the olllce for the money. In Kussln, (Jermaiiy, Tur key, Austria everywhere. In fact the money uald Is refunded at once. Hut nut so in Spain. Here yon have to make various pilgrimages, from post to pil lar, interviewing olllclals, dignitaries, clerks, porters. All shake their heads, shrug their shouldcis, purse their lips and assuro you that tho government allows them no special funds for the purpose. "Yes, but If you do not for ward my message, for which I paid you In advance, you have no right to keep niv money." "Oh, no! of course not. We are not to blame, you know. You had better see our chief. He Is very busy now, but If you call tomor row, I am sure you can seo him. I spent four days Journeying from chief to subordinate, and from subordinate to chief, and at last I received tho fol lowing satisfactory promise: If you will write a petition to the chief of the telegraph, asking that the money lie refunded you for tho suppressed mes sages, he will deal with it In due time." "What Is due time?" 1 ventured to In quire. "Well, wo cannot promise any thing," said my Informant, Senor Fores:, "except that, when the funds allow it. you shall havu your money back." "Hut could you, perhaps, say approxi mately when?" He could nut, but an other olllclal could, and did "Any time between two and four months!'' Such Is a specimen a tame, hum drum specimen of the methods of pro cedure In the Constitutional Kingdom of Spain, under tho most Liberal of Liberal governments, In the cultured capital of Madrid. What takes place In tho provinces and what took place In Cuba wp cannot ntllrm with cer tainty, but here the old proverb un doubtedly holds good: "If they do these things In a green tree, whnt shall be done In the dry?" Spain has truly fallen upon evil days. run ci.oiiv or i.mmativi:. COST OF WAR IN MODERN TIAIES Enormus Outlay ol Men nnd Money as Shown In Hit Records. t'Nrt.n sam has sim:nt bkvkn nit,- LION DOLLARS AND LOST NHAHLY 3.0011,000 MKN-ACTFAL FIGURES FItOM ALL TUB WAltS. INCLUDING! TIIF. HKVOLUTION-COMPAIUSONS WITH TIIOSK OF OTtlKIt COtTN TIUF.9 IN MODtniN TIMKS-LONO AND SHOUT SKS8ION8 OF CON-(IIIKSS. tJtllllllllllllllllllUIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllUIllIIUIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISIEIIlIIIIIHItlllllllllllllMiHj 5 JONAS LONG'S SONS. THE GREAT STORE. THE GREAT STORE. JONAS LONQ'S SONS. Uj 0 (0 s C5 MILK CRUST When our baby boy waa three months old, be had tho milk crust very badly on liU head, o that all tho hair raiuo out, anil Itched so bad. ue made It lileyl by scratching It. I pot a cake of Coticuka Soai and a box of l'c n cuba. (ointment). I applied tho Ccnrciix and put a thin rap on his head, ami it fore t had uttd half it lax It vas tntirtUi rum), and bit hair commenced to grow out 'nicely. reU.24&8. Mrs. Iiajft)I.MEa, Ashland, Or. Concci Himni'ir. pp.il with Irrwittblf forct t tiothi.,nutt. tail ill hiving Ib.c.r.of chlldr.D. To now Ih.tmnjl. pplieitlon will .Jjid initial relief. pwmlt ml Hi linn, ind point la iptcdr run In Iht moil tortarlDf.tnd dtlflgurlnf of Ikln ind icilp diieliei, with Iom of hair, ind not lo tin tnimli to liilta your duly. Bi.nrforSicii.Toini.iib lUnm.ndniir lot 'I l WD Motrins In wirm buh with Ccirika botr, nd a llofl uiolstlng with Cmicnm, tmliil of i tin curtl. fold iBrouthout tho world. I'urrit I) O. Coir-., Polo ropi'i UmIou. uw to Curo llib'i Bllu Uuwimi, (:. What It Meant lor Admiral Dewey nt Manila. New Yoik Commercial-Advertiser. It is the delight of a true sea lighter to get out of reach of yrders nnd to smash th" ir.cmy with a free hand. This is the wny Nelson won victories and undying glory. Trafalgar was straight work and matter of course, and ni- f.ime had so grown by then that the llritlsh navy was embodied In his poison and the admiralty were his staft. Hut the lung pursuit of tho l'roiith licet cut him off from superiors and put him out of reach of dispatches before tho battle of the Nile, and left him fiie to take risks which would lwve terrllled either St. Vincent or tho admiralty. That splendid success em boldentd him. and ut Copenhagen Judic ial blindness pi evented his seeing the admiral's signal t.i retreat till he had Mnashed the Hanish ships. In this day of omnipresent cables and omniscient naval strategy boards a sea (iKhter Mddoni enjoys the delight and glory of initiative, even utter ho has won the fame that Nelson took to Tra falgar. It Is sheer luck when a sub ordinate can tight away from unlets and win glory with his own mind as well as his own hand. That was Dew ey's luck. It gave him the opportunity of Immortality and he grasped It splen didly. Cables gave him general orders and unlimited credit to buy coal and supplies, and tho department sent him n shipload of ammunition. The rest was for him, and he did It with a skill and dash and thoroughness that make one regret the old days of Initiative nt sea. Fiotn the duy Dewey loft Hong Kong he was as Independent of con trol und as dependent on his own re sources ns was Mngellan on his first approach to the Philippines. They who feared the modern system would mako naval olllcers dependent may well marvel at the result. This gentle habitue of tho Washington clubs blazed across the l'aclllc lll.,.u viking reincarnate. Ho fell upon Manila as Drake fell upon Panama. His font seems all dash nnd valor, but there was just that nice mixture of Judg ment in It which wins success. His preparation was complete. Ho lenrned all he could about the enemy and then went at him. U(f took every risk pie vlslon could not avoid. With tho best pilots lie could get, he steamed over mines and by forts, ns If parading on a summer sea, nnd wont straight to the ships It wus his business to sink. That done, ho gavo nttention to the town, which lils by now, no matter how; he win report In due time. Nobody cures much what Dewey's orders were or how closely hn followed them. He has dune his appointed work, and ho has given a most Inspiring Dictum of a sea-fighter doing it In traditional fashion. Wo must make the most of this. It will bo seen more rarely as tho whole world cumow more In touch. .Indgpil by llor (Jaib. "I sco tho scientists huvo figured out there nro "OO.ooo.ooij people, in tho world who aro only partially dressed." "Well, well! Then tho society girl Is not one of tho 400 hut aim of tho "OO.WJ, 000, Isn't she?" Olnclnnutl Hmiulrer. 1 I'linntlco. "I stopped In at tho revival incotln'. They wanted mo to give up drlnkl'i', swenrln', gainblln' und shoolln'." "Voa; I hcerd thoy wuz down on all sorts of amusements." Puck. From the (llobe-I)emocrat. On tho daybreak of a struggle In which, for the first time In over a half ciititury, tho United States has been lined up ns a whole against an oppos ing foe, It Is Interesting to glance back to tho American conlllcts, and as well to some of tho more Important wars of tho century now closing. Thero has licon a general Impression, erroneous, to be rure, that Undo Sam's battle month Is April nnd that ho hua always begun his scraps with his neighbor during the month of showers. This Is not a fact, although the Hevolutlon started April 21. 1S31, und the rebellion April IS. ISGl, although really the first blood shed was In the streets of Balti more when the 6th Massachusetts en countered the mob April 10, while en route from the Hub to tho capital. Some comparison of the number of men and the cost of those various struggles serve to show the growth of the coun try. The revolution cost In round num bers, according to the best estimate obtainable. J133.19S.703, and In this Btvuuglcwhlch lasted within eight days of eight years, there were employed, during the whole time, 291,701 men, divided us follows: Hogulars, 130,711; militia and volunteers, 164.0S0. No nc cmate figures, an to the number of men lust, can bo obtained. The first battle was at Lexington nnd Concord, and the c essatlon of hostilities came April 11, 17S3. The next time that your Uncle Samu el had occasion to call upon his boys to show the stuff they were made of, came In 1S12, wur being declared by the president Juno 18 of that year. While there hnd been no battles fought pre vious to tho declaration of hostilities, yet nrent llrltnln had angered the young nation by Insisting on ItB claim ed right to impress Into the llritlsh navy former subjects of Great llrltnln, wherever found. This war closed mi Feb. 17, ISt.. Thoio were engaged In tho strife it total force of 471.CJ2 men, of whom only about 85,000 were regular soldiers and stamen, the rest being volunteers. This war of nearly three yeuis cost In round numbers JI07.159, 000. Tho next could hardly be called a war, although It Is designated In his- i S tory as the Jllack Hawk war. There is no data preserved by which an accu rate estimate could be given either as to tho cost of the number of men en gaged. The war lasted a little over a year, beginning In April, 1S31, and end ing Sept. 30, 1S32. The Seminole war Is hardly worth the name of more than a series of scrimmages. It was fifteen years after tho out break with the ISlack Hawk Indians that the Ainu lean eagle ngaln became war-like and plumed itself for battle. President Polk notllled congress. In May, lSlfi, that less than a month be t'oie a. small detachment of United States troopn had been captured by tho Mexicans. Congress nt once declared war, and authorized tho president to raise an army of 50,000 men and to spend $10,000,000. From the best rec ords obtainable In tho war department. It Is shown that tho United States put Into the field an army of 30,031 regulars and 73,770 volunteeis. This war, which ended in 181.'., cost about $100,000,000. The great struggle, which came In 1KC1-03, was the most expenslvo the country ever saw, both from Its cost In priceless human life and In the money spenc. Reckoned as a whole, tho country spent for this war no less than $7,400,000,000, of which the North expended $3,110,000,000, and the devoted people of tho South tho balance In up holding a hopeless cause. It Is esti mated that, during the whole of the war, Uncle Sam's boys numbered alto gether 2.018 2C0 men, but the number of men which tho South put Into the field could only be estimated, at best. Tho losses sustained by the armies In the war of the rebellion have been stated ns high as fioo.000 men, but ex Deputy Commissioner of Patents Hell states that tl'ls Is greatly exaggerated, as the best ligures obtainable show the total losses did not exceed 101,500. In citing Instances of exaggeintlon ho said It wns claimed that nt Gettysburg something like 10.000 mpn wero lost, whll". as a matter of fact. In that three days' light the union forces had killed 2S3I men and tho Confederates 3500 men. The battle of the Wilderness, accord ing to this authority, had much great er fatalities, as tho union loss then wns .V.07 nnd tho Confederate loss about 2000. Thus It can be Been that Uncle Sam altogether has spent for wars $7,742.352,7011, and has put into tho field In various ways a total of 2.9S6,lfiS men, nrme-d and teiulpped for lighting, not counting the Indian affairs. OTHKU MODI3HN WA11S. Tho cost to other nations of Impor tant wars has not been as largo nti this. Tho Franco-Prussian war was waged nt a cost to Franco of nbout $3,100,000,000, and tho number of killed, wounded nnd Muk amounted to G3'.12l men. Clermany's expense wns much less, ns the war cost her but JC00.000, 000, and the number of killed was C0, 000. The Husso-Turklsh war w.-.s compar atively a cheap affair, costing but $123, (10'i.OOcj. with a total number killed and disabled, as gleaned from senil-oillclal sources, 250,000 men. Much more ex pensive In money wus the war between Prussia and Austria, which cost $330, Oi'O.OOO nnd a loss of llfo of 15,000. Tho Servo-llulgarian war cost $170,000,000, with no approximate estimate of the number of men lost. The Afghanistan war $18,250,000, and the African war about $S,770,000, none of them appreci ating in cost and fatnlltles to tho civil w ar. It mnv not bo umlss to schedulo the wars of tho century beginning with fiur own trouble with llrltuln In 1312, tho Grecian war of 1P20-21, the French. Helglnii and Poland revolts of 1S30, the Hrltlsh-Chlnese opium war of 1840-42, when Ilrltaln went to war because Sin, Hie ereut mogul of China, demanded the right of tho Chinese to seize opium from tho subjects of Great Ilrltaln without pay, tho Mexican war of 1S4, tho Afghanistan wars of 1S46-79 and 1SS0, tho French revolution of 1S18, the OrlmH'an war.the Italian trouble of 1859, tho scrap between Prussia and Austria against Denmark In 1SC4, the Husso Turklsh war of 1S75 and the almost S 0) s - 5 0 5 (0 5 ? g s 0 B "J s 3 0 5 " Not $75.00 J1 J 1 . But 17.9 For a HighGrade Bicycle. i1 i i i s ! ' 0 . : 8 0) 0 Hi A UJ a: 0 (0 h. hi o: 0 Ul a: FULLY GUARANTEED. WELL-KNOWN manufacturer of very high-grade bicycles came to us the other day with a proposition to take a certain quantity of wheels in exchange for cash, which he badly needed. Knew that he dealt in big lots that if the goods were up to the high standard required by us, we would be prompt customers. The wheels WERE ALL right we knew that by their name and worth and the reputation of their maker. He offered them to us at an absurdly little price conditionally that his name should not be revealed nor the name of the wheel. We accepted his terms, and . Just 100 Will Be Sold Saturday, flay 14th, at 9 O'clock. Not a wheel will be sold before that hour that our big trading public from far and near may have an equal chance at this great bargain. The specifica tions call for every requirement in an up-to-date high-grade wheel. No need going into details over a point on which you can satisfy yourself by examination before buying. s 0 s 5 2 0 3 CO 5 (0 a (3 3 3 0 3 -J s o 3 3 0 Models for Ladies and flen. Is the Price. Three Colors of Enamel, Jo n a s Lon gfs ons o 0 CO 0 s 0) (I) 0 s (f) " a 3 3 H 3 3 ni b 0 3 3 3, H a1 0) S H 3 0 3 3 m a c a 0 5 b 3 (0 3 r- 5 0 5 0 3 CO 3 co i 0 5 3 THE GREAT STORE. JONAS LONG'S SONS. KViEsiiiiiiiiiiciniigiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiEiiaiiiiEiiiiiiiiiiBiiGiBiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiictiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisiiiir JONAS LONG'S SONS. THE QREAT STORE. rnntmual wtvr.i of Spain with her col onies and at honu. War, unfortunately, means battle, and battles mean death, and a com parison of the number killed un Injured In the wars of the century would seem to show that, with all tho Im proveBiejit in arms, the death list has not greatly Increased. Aside from liettysburg, Antlotam and Metz, the principal losses In tho leading battles have been as follows: Jena, 1S0C Prussian loss, 21,000 out of 105,000; French loss, 18,000 out of 00,000. Ilattle of Kylnn. 1S07 Russian loss, 25,000 out of 73,000 engnged; French loss, 30,000 out of 83,000 engaged. Wagram, 1S09 Austrian loss, 25,000 nut of 100,000; French loss, 23,000, with the same number engaged. Aspern, May 21-22, 1S09 Napoleon's first defeat. The Ivittlo Corporal lost 35.000 out of an army of 70,000, while the Austrian! lost 20,000 out of a force of SO.000, Napoleon's loss being ejulte 50 per cent, of his anny. Horodius-Moscow French lost 50,000 out of 132,000, and the llussinns 43,000 out of 123,000. Konlggrntz, ISfiS End of the Prusso Austrlnn wnr. About 400.000 men wore engaged altogether, and In this battle Austria lost 40,000, while Piussla lost but one-quarter as many. The battle of I.elpslg was fearfully fatal to French arms, as out of 100,000 men they lost fully (10,000, while the allies lost but 42,000 out of an army of 2SS.000. At Waterloo, last fateful act in the real drama of Napoleon's life, the French lost 30,000 out of a splendid army of 73,000, very nearly ono-linlf, while the loss to the allies was but 23,000 out of R3.000. This was tho most destructive of any nppearlng on tho record, ns the loss on both sides was over 33 per cent At Pedan, before the terrible fire of the German guns. 30,000 Frenchmen out of an army of 150,000 were killed, while the German loss In killed and wounded was but 8, lull, and this out of an army of 230,000. THK GALLANT AUMSTHONG. It Is more than interesting to recnll the fact that America owes Its suc cess In tho battle of New Orleans not ubuie to General Jackson's bravery, behind the cotton bales at tho ('resent city, but to a little lnslgnltlcnnt naval engagement which took place In the very waters near which America's squadron was hovering. Karly In 1812 Lord Castlereagh, then Premier, con ceived the brilliant scheme of making a conquest of Louisiana, and by so do ing grab all the territory west of tho Mississippi river. His plan was to make a feint at Washington and Ualttmore with the lleet under Admiral Cochran. thus drawing the nttention of the govern ment, and then to withdraw that lleet and have It combine with the transports and fleet under Commodore I.loyd, both of which had been direct ed to rendezvous nt Negrll Hay, Jamai ca, The demonstration against Wash ington and llultlmore wns a success, as was shown by the burning of the cap! tol and the hurried moving. btween tw days of the go eminent headquar ters to York. Pa. After this Admiral Cochran withdrew his ships in good order to tha AVest Indies. Arriving there with his lleet, he found the pri vate urmed brig Gen. Armstrong. Cochran had In his lleet 130 guns, while the Armstrong boasted but seven. Three engagements took place within twenty-four hours, in which tho llrit lsh lost 210 killed nnd 140 wounded, while the Armstrong, which waa prue tically destroyed, had but two killed and peven wnunded. Such great dam age, however, had the Armstrong's guns lnltktcd on tho British fleet that sixteen days were required to put the lleet in readiness to sail. This gave General Jackson time enough to reach Now Orleans, and he arrived only four dnys before the famous engagement to throw up the hasty embankments and to drive Lord Pakcnham and his army forever from United States soil. One brig agnlnst'a lleet, but It was enough. SESSIONS OF CONGRKSS. There bus been a mistaken impres sion in many minds as to tho probabil ity of a very long session of congress, rendered necessary by the war. hut history shows that tho opposite Is like ly to be tru It Is hardly necessary to take Into account the sessions dur ing the war of the revolution, for con greus was then a great deal like a peripatetic photographer's car, not long for nnv one place, but after the revolution some of the shortest sessions ever held were those during the wars. The Twelfth congress was in session during the wnr of IS12. It met Nov. 1, 1SU, and June is, 1112, passed a decla ration of war and vet adjourned July C, 1M2. The t'ccoiid session of this con gress which met Nov. 2, 1812, expired by limitation March 2, 1813. It wan found necessary to call the congress to gether In extraordinary session May 24, 1S13, but even then a long session does not seem to have been necessary, for adjournment wns had Aug. 2, after a resslon of only Feventy-one days. The other sesslot.s of this congress were shorter than ordinary, although a spe cial session was summoned Sept. 19, 1MI, and held until the close of the wnr, or. rather fifteen davs after tho close, namely, March 3, 1815, when It expired by limitation. Leaving out the Indian troubles the next war congress was tho twenty ninth, which nssemhled Pce. 7, 1SI3, and closed Aug. 10. 1S45. Tho session lahted 233 days, but this was not a long time for the long session of con gress, as the Twenty-eighth congress. In time of peaie, lasted nearly 300 days for the long session; tho Thirtieth af ter tho war, was over 231 days, and tho Thirty-first W'i days, nnd this In a war that lasted nearly two years. There have been many statements made as to tho length of congress, tho Thirty-seventh nnd Thirty-eighth ex tending from 1S61 to 1803. As a matter of fact, the shortest session ever held v.a that after the lieglnnlng of the war of the rebellion. President Lin coln bummoncd congress to meet July 4, 1SP1. It met on that date. and. af ter thirty days In session, adjourned Aug. 4, 1861. Throo sessions were held eif this congress, and all three amount ed to a smaller number of days than half the congressional term. The Thirty-eighth congress, which met In De cember, 1863, and continued to the end of the wnr, was In session during the two terms, hut 299 days. Since that tlmo thero have been but three con gresses which held In session u smaller number of duys, while the Fiftieth con- gress was in session 412 days; the Forty-sixth. M3 days; the Fifty-first, 3;i7 days, and tho others averaging all the way from 329 to 347. It should ho remembered that tho number of days takes in ull the time spent by tho con gressmen and includes both sessions of each congrestj. Based on this historical punt, tho prediction is made by the mathematicians in both house nnd sen ate that June 15, at least, will roe the 'congressmen und senators out of Washington. f -H-H- -M- -M- -M- 4M""r -M- -f-f 4-M- ft -M-M- -t-M-t OUR WAR WITH SPAIN RIGHTEOUS.. Bishop Whitaker, of Pennsylvania, on the Duty of Citizens at the Present Time. Philadelphia, May 11.-Tho annual convention of the Protettant Episcopal diocese of Pennsylvania began here yesterday. The feature of tho opening proceedings was tho address of Ulshop Ozl W. Whlttaker, In which ho jus tified the war with Spain. In spea;ting of the duty of churchmen and citi zens he said: "1'nder tho Intluence of a constraining desire for peace, a desire which is strong In tho heart of every good nnd wise man, thero aro thoso who are asking whether the end we are seeking might not huvo been obtained without resort to war. If congress hud been more del'birutc In Its uctlon nnd more conciliatory In its utterances, If the president had been left free to secure the continuance of peace by diplomacy, might ho not have brought the awful suffering in Cuba to an end without the firing of a gun? Devout ly as I wish this might have been, I do not believe it could have been. Wo had to deal with a power whose methods have discredited her in the realms of truth and Justice, a power which has never llfte-d Its heel from the neck of a subjugated peoplo until compelled by force. The course of events during the paHt three years has tended steadily toward the situation at which wo have now arrived." Quoting President McKlnley's statement of April II. that the only hope of relief from a condition that could no longer be cnduicd was tho en forced pacification of Cuba, Ulshop Whlttaker said: "Tho only way to enforce this humune and righteous determination was by tho forco of arms, and that means war. it is suld that Spain has offered to arbitrate) the destruction of tho Maine. Hut that destruction, atrocious ns It was, was not the Impending motlvo of tho war. Wnr would have come, thomjh perhaps not so soon, bud tho Maine remained undisturbed. It Is said that Sptln hns declared an armistice, flut who that has read tho history of Spanish diplomacy can bellovo that the Spanish army would ever have been withdrawn from Cuba so long as tho L'nltcd States was seeking to effect Its removal by diplomatic methods alone? "lielng a just cause. It Is our duty to bustnln It with nil the weight ot our Influence, and to bo helpful to tho prosldcnt nnd to congress In every possi ble way, to rise above party prejudice and ,il! 1 nrthun nr-isures and meth ods, and to encourage thoso upon whom th s ' r .-:ujusllilllty of con ducting tb" war Is placed to carry It forward with utmost vigor and dis patch, that It may be brought to a ipeedy and honorul le end. It Is our duty to pray for the president and his advisers, for our scr.utp and house of rep resentatives, for our army and navy, for eVery admiral and soldier and marine In the rank ur.d file, and the humblest cjuI payser, that every man may do his duty In tho fear of God." 1 -i 4 -f -f -f -t- -Mi-H-i-H iUODLKN HKA HATTLU. Likely to Hu Trouble. "ilnw, ulr't a man and his boy two persons?" "Certiuinly, Willie. Why do yon ask such a question us that?" " 'Cnuce I bet Hob Hicks my knife agin his bug of marbles that It's right to suy 'Dombey & Son ure a very Interest ing book' nn' If ho doesn't puy It I'm u goln' to lick lm! Chlcugo Tribune. An Ugitinpla Which Shows That HrniiiH Vet Utile. From tho Chicago Inter-Ocean. On the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 1(1, 1S94. u fleet of eleven Japanese men-of-war, accompanied by torepdo bouts, attacked fourteen Chinese Ironclads mid cruisers, also accompanied by tor pedo boats. The battle of tho Yalu began at a little after 1 o'clock and lasted until C. This was not a battle, us has been Ignorantly said, between "the old Junks of the Chinese navy and tho well equipped und modern lleet of Japan." It wns a fight betw. e armured and protected ships and ere ers, with rapld-ilro guns, and nil equipments of modern science, contending forces were nut very evenly balanced, though tho Chliu hud an advantage, not only In tl number of ships, but also In n great preponderance of armament nnd arm or In their two best vessels, the Chen Yuen nnd the Ting-Yuen. Kach of these ships had a displacement of 7,430 tons, armor from eight to four teen Inches thick nn the side, and twelve Inches barbette. Kach carried two twelve-Inch guns, two five nnd i.ine-tenths inch guns, and eight inn chlnei guns. Contrary to the frequent nssertlon of the uninformed that one serious concussion of shot must be fatal to a modern Ironclad, tho Chen-Yuen showed 120 shot holes In her Hides at the time of her retreat, and tho Ting Yuen, though leaking so badly as to bo three feet down by the head, kept alloat. The Chlh-Yuen, a Chinese ves sel of heavy armament, with a speed accorded tho honor of lending the Chl of eighteen und one-half knots, wus nese van; she was struck 200 times beforo she went down. She cnrrled three eight and three-tenths Inch guns, two six-Inch, eight ulx-pouuders, and two three-pounders. Tho King-Yuen, which rushed to her relief, went down beforo accomplishing her purpose, struck by a torpedo, ns the Chlnepo ay, or by u shot, as the Japanese as sert. Her armor was from flvo and one-half to nlno and one-half Indies thick. She carried four heavy puna and seven mnchlno guns. These wero fair examples of the Chinese lleet which, after a live hours' engagement and the loss of four vessels bv sink ing, conflagration, or running aground, was nble to retreat to Port Arthur, where It was bottled up by tho Japa nese and mado of no effect until the cessation of hostilities. Not a single Japanese ship was sunk, though the flagship Matushlma, steel clad, and with one twelve-Inch turret, one twelve nnd eight-tenths Inch rapid tiring and eight machine guns, wns no badly crippled as to be sent homo for repairs. Two other Japanese ships suffered considerably, but yet wero ro garded as seaworthy enough to remain With the fleet. Here, then, we have a battle between two fleets of modern type. It is true that In neither of them wero vessels equal In speed, displacement, armor, or armament to some of those that nro likely soon to engage In strife. Hut they were representative vessels of their class, and their class Is that which Is most numerous In every navy, The lesson of the conflict Is that mod ern naval wnrfare Is neither so de structlve nor so purely mechunlcnl as certain wiseacres would have us be llev'e. Seamanship nnd courage still count In lighting at sea. Another Solemn Truth. "They say it Is unlucky to get engaged " during Lent." ' " "I know If, but sometimes If you don't catch a man when he's feeling depressed nnd penitent you won't get him at all. Chlcugo Record,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers