REPUBLICAN NEWS-ITEM &i£ JOHN B. ENGLISH, Prop. LAPORTE ' PA. Cocked hats may become aa numer ous as the fusty ones. Where there's a will there Is gener ally a way to try to break it. Few Manchus resign, but recent re ports Indicate that a good many of them die. The common towel Is to be abolish ed. Little by little mankind Is be coming sanitary. Let us hope the Wright brothers have really Invented a fool proof air ■hip. It Is greatly needed. Music Is to be established In the barnyard, for It makes cows give more milk and hens lay more eggs. The Wilkesbarre man who was a millionaire for a day had togo away from home to act well blB part- One does not know whether to con demn or praise the Paris opera strik ers. It all depends on the opera. They find gold In chickens' crops In Manitoba, thus offering another oppor tunity for somebody to boost the price of eggs. A Montana court has decided that •one Chinaman constitutes a laundry. But what If he were In the chop suey business T According to one professor the earth ■will cease Its revolutions In 5231. if you don't believe It figure It out to suit yourself. Telephone connection between Eng land and the continent is maintained by six cables, and the number will coon be doubled. Brides are wanted In western Wash ington state. Here Is where the sup ply cf leap year can connect nicely with the demand. The nursery and seed men convey a reassurance that spring is coming by •ending out a bunch of finely Illus trated catalogues. Everybody will be as well satisfied If the weather man, for a little while at least, refrains from giving us any more mean temperature. A Kansas City court refuses to grant a man a divorce from his mall 'irder wife. Then why doesn't he send Co Reno for a mail-order divorce! One girl married a baseball player because he made so many home runs. All players who make home runs do not at once run home, however. The girls of a high school In Penn sylvania are widely praised because that hair device known as the "rat" has been prohibited among them. If reports of robins seen during the zero weather were not mistakes on the part of the observers, they were mistakes on the part of the robins. A Minnesota professor says "race aulcide Is a peril to posterity." We could hardly expect It to give our an cestors whooping cough and measles. English girls must promise to obey lu order to make the wedding cere mony binding, but the breaking of the promise does not Invalidate anything. Few men would have been reckless enough, a hundred yearß ago, to make the prediction that an American hen would ever win the world's egg championship. One large railroad has ordered that Its pencil sharpeners ba discarded. We accept this as another Indication that the world Is growing better. Princess Pat succeeded in slipping Into New York unnoticed. Some of the ladies who employ press agents will wonder why she should have wished to do so. The ex-autocrats get off with fat purses. Abdul Hamid got his 800 wives. Manual his 125,000 a year, and the Infant Emperor Pu-Yl Is to have §6,500,000 annually. "Gee whiz! I'm glad I'm freef" ex claimed a woman when she had se cured a divorce In New York the other day. The man was probably too hap py to be able to say anything. But why should the French or any other astronenr-trs feel "worried" over what may be happening to Saturn's rings? So far as this earth Is con cerned, Saturn never has been any thing but distant and unsociable. The millionaire for a day In Wllkea ■barre, Pa., got a great deal of adver tising for his money, and he may de cide togo on the vaudeville stage. Saturn Is having trouble with Its lings, but as they are not wedding Tings the people who follow divorce •candals need not prick up their ears The National Association nf Icf Cream Manufacturers reports *hat w> consumed $200,000,000 worth of tha delicacy last year. The young swulu are quite prepared to believe it. ROOSEVELT IS A CANDIDATE In Letter to Seven Governors Says He Will Run. IS IN FIGHT TO A FINISH Issues Statement After Urgent Re quest That He Declare Hi 6 Atti tude as to Candidacy for the Presidency. New York. —"I will accept the nomi nation for President if it is tendered to me," Col. Roosevelt tells the seven Governors who asked him a fortnight ago to be frank about it as soon as convenient. Col. Roosevelt's announcement of his candidacy for the Presidency was given out in printed form at the Out look office, Beyond the letter of the seven Governors who urged the Colonel to become a candidate and his reply an nouncing his readiness to do so there was no other statement or any ex planation further than that the Col onel, who is in Boston, had directed that it be given out as advance proof of an announcement in the Outlook. This is the letter: "GENTLEMEN: I deeply appreci ate your letter and I realize to the full the heavy responsibility it puts upon me, expressing as it does the carefully considered convictions of the men elected by popular vote to stand as the heads of government in their sev eral States. "I absolutely agree with you that this matter is not one to be decided with any reference to the personal preferences or interests of any man. but purely from the standpoint of the interests of the people as a whole. I will accept the nomination for Presi dent if It is tendered to me and 1 will adhere to this decision until the con vention has expressed its preference. One of the chief principles for which I have stood and for which I now stand, and which 1 have always en deavored and 1 always shall endeavor to reduce to action, is the genuine rule of the people, and therefore I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express their preference as to who shall be the nominee of the Republican Presidential convention. Very truly yours. "THEODORE ROOSEVELT. "New York, February 24. "The Hon. William E. Glasscock. Gov ernor of the State of West Virginia, Charleston, W. Va. "The lion. Chester H. Aldrich, Gov ernor of the State of Nebraska, Lin coln, Neb. "The Hon. Robert P. P.ass, Governor of the State of New Hampshire, Con cord, N. H. "The Hon. Joseph M. Carey, Governor of the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne, Wyo. "The Hon. Chase S. Osborn, Governor of the State of Michigan, Lansing, Mich. "The Hon. W. R. Stubbs, Governor of the State of Kansas, Topeka Kan. "The Hon. Herbert S. Hadley, Gover nor of the State of Missouri, Jeffer son. Mo." While Col. Roosevelt's letter is ad dressed to only seven Governors, sev en others have expressed themselves in favor of his candidacy. The Gov ernors favorable to him, but whose names do not appear in the letter of Col. Roosevelt, are Eberhart of Minne sota. Oddie of Nevada. Hooper of Tennessee, McGovern of Wisconsin. Vessey of South Dakota. Hay of Wash ington and Johnson of California. All of these men are understood to be candidates for renomlnation. POLICE SEIZE MILL WAIFS. Refuse to Let Children of Lawrence Strikers Leave. Lawrence, Mass.—A violent clash between the police authorities and wo men who wanted to assert what they had been told was their civil rights, took place here. The Strike Commit tee of the Industrial Workers of the World had arranged to send forty chil dren to Philadelphia, and Capt. J. J. Sullivan of the Police Department do cided that the children should not go. Both sides went the limit of their pow er and the police prevailed. Not one child got on the train. Many of them were taken to Police Headquarters in stead. Judge Mahoney ordered them to the municipal home to be cared for Fifty arrests were made, mr / of them of women who had fought the police savagely. The rioters were quickly dispersed by a squad of Infantry and a troop of cavalry. Parents of the children seized by the police made demand upon the au thorities for the return of their little ones, and Acting City Marshal Sulli van gave his permission for their re lease. BRYAN NOT IN THE RACE. Bets at Rest Report That He May Be a Candidate. Denver. —William J. Bryan, In a speech here, definitely set at rest re ports that he might be induced again to make the race for the Presidency. In concluding his address Mr. Bryan said: "I am satisfied that some one else can poll more votes than myself, but I am ready to enter upon a cam paign on behalf of a true Democrat with even more vigor than that with which I have fought for myself." NEXT! (Coprrighu UUI ' 1 Government's Investigation of the High Price of Food. FOLKE E. BRANDT WINS HiS APPEAL IN COURT Justice Gerard Says Sentence of Sciff's Servant Was Illegal—Criti cises Judge Rosalsky. New York.—Supreme Court Justice Gerard sustained the writ of habeas corpus In the case of Foike E. Brandt and ordered a new trial for Brandt on the ground that Judge Rosalsky erred iu accepting Brandt's plea of guilty of burglary in the first degree when the prisoner, upon being examined, denied that he was guilty of that crime. Justice Gerard said the thirty-year sentence had beeu given illegally by Judge Kosalsky, as the evidence be fore the Judge showed clearly that notwithstanding Brandt had pleaded guilty to burglary in the lirst degree in entering the Schiff home the prisoner had not committed that crime, and therefore Rosalsky should have reject ed the plea Gerard said it was the duty of Kosalsky to protect the prison er as well as the public. Therefore he set aside the thirty-year sentence and remanded Brandt to the custody of District Attorney Whitman to be tried again, either on the burglary or the assault indictment now pending, should the District Attorney deem it advisable. Attorney General Carmody, in along opinion submitted to theGovernor, con tended that while Brandt may have been guilty of a crime, there was no evidence in support of conviction for burglary, first degree Brandt, he ».\ys, is not the important factor in the case. That factor, he declared was: "Will the forms ordained by the constitution for ascertaining guilt be observed?" Albany.—After a long conference with Mr. iiand, his special commis sioner in the Brandt case. Governor Dix announced that there would be no further proceedings by him or his rep resentative in the case unless and un til the Gerard habeas corpus decision had been set aside. MINISTER OSPINA RECALLED. Colombia Orders Him Home For In sult to Knox. Bogota, Colombia. —General Pedro Nel Ospina, Colombian minister to the United States, was recalled from Washington by the government. This action followed the receipt by the government of the substance of the letter sent by the Colombian min ister to the American secretary of state protesting against Knox's pro posed visit to Colombia on his Central American tour. The name of General tispina's successor has not been an nounced. ' PEDRO W. OSPINA. Washington.—The recall of Senor Ospina as the Colombian minister to Washington, which was announced in press dispatches from Gogota, occa- I ress dispatches from Bogota, occa- Department. SHIPPERS DEMAND REFUND. Spokane Files $2,000,000 Claim on Ground of Excessive Rates. Washington.—The shippers of kane, Wash., have applied to the In terstate Commerce Commission for a refund of $2,000,000 from the railroads. This action comes as a sequel to th« commisson's decision in the rate case, that freight charges to and from Spo kane were unreasonable. The complaint against the railroads covers the excessive charge exacted during: the years 1910 and 1911. FATAL WRECK BLOCKS HOOSAC TUNNEL TRAFFIC Boston Express Hits Freight but En gineer Saves Passengers—Four Traimen Are Killed. North Adams, Mass. —Four train men were killed and Hoosac tunnel was choked with burning debris as the result of the collision of an east bound Boston and Maine express train and a string of freight cars. The list of dead as made public by railroad officials, follows: DAVIS, LUTHEK, Greenfield, appren tice on electric engine. GREGG, HENRY, Scotia, N. Y., assist ant engineer. KEMP, REUBEN, 31, North Adams, flagman attached to freight train. SIMONDS, ARCHIBALD L. 50, Wil liamstown, engineer of electric lo comotive on passenger train. Many of the occupants of the coach es were badly shaken up, but there were no serious injuries. With the exception of the electric locomotive the passenger train was not damaged, but fifteen freight cars were burned in the tunnel and the heat has caused large rocks to fall from the roof. About 4:30 in the afternoon a watch man at the eastern portal of the tun nel noticed smoke pouring out and realized a train was afire. He went into the tunnel to investigate, but was only able to penetrate far enough to see that there had been a collision. The watchman notified railroad offi cials and the local flre department sent Chief Montgomery with forty men. They were taken on flat cars into the tunnel, but the smoke and heat were so intense that they were unable to get near the wreck. The freight train, consisting of thir ty-two cars, for some reason yet to be learned came to a standstill in the tunnel. Brakeman Kent was ordered back with a red lantern. Engineer Si monds of the passenger train saw Kent's danger signal and slowed down to let Kemp jump aboard the electric locomotive. The passenger train was proceeding slowly ahead, apparently under control, when from some un known cause the electric locomotive gathered headway and crashed into the freight. There was a brilliant dis play of electric fireworks and the wreckage was ignited. The engineer of the regular engine on the express train saw that the only hope of saving his passengers from death by suffocation was to get away from the spot at once, and he immedi ately started to back away. It was not until nearly 7 o'clock that the train finally emerged into the open air, having been held up west of the main airsliaft awaiting orders. Shortly before midnight a gang ol wreckers went into the tunnel and at tempted to reach the burning debris They had got to within about three hundred feet when a car of oil hurst into flames. There were a. number of heavy explosions, and smoke, denser than ever, spread through the tunnel. JERSEY SENATORS~ACCUSED. Order for Investigation Follows Com mittee Hearing. Trenton, N. J. —Charges of attempt ed extortion of $5,000 in connection with two bills now before the Legisla ture were made by Oscar F. Ostby, general manager of the Commercial Acetylene Gas Company, of New York, nt a hearing on the measures before the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Ostby's charges involved Senator Richard F. Fitzherbert. A committee was empow ered to conduct an investigation. Former Attorney-General Robert H. McCarter presented to the Supreme Court affidavits upon which he based an application for a rule requiring State Senator William C. Gebhardt to show cause why he should not be dis barred. The affidavits allege unprofes sional conduct in trying to influence the selection of grand and petit juries. HELD AS TRAIN BANDIT. Baltimore & Ohio Brakeman Had Loot Taken from Passengers. Keyser, West Va. —F. A. Becker was arrested charged with holding up the Baltimore & Ohio Express. He is a freight brakeman on the road. He lives at this place, and was overtaken at Forty Mile Station, nine miles from Piedmont, by Lieut. Kenney of ths Baltimore & Ohio police. Becker was searched and money and watches taken from the passen gers were found upon him. GIRL CONFESSES KILLING BABIES Young Mother Says She Poison ed Eight in Brooklyn Nursery. PUT OXALIC ACID IN MILK But She Insists that She Did Not Wish the Little Ones to Die —Wanted to Worry the Nurses by "Making the Babies Sick." Brooklyn.—At the end of two hours, during which she had sat with tense lips and challenging eyes while detec tives questioned her concerning the deaths by poison of eight infants in the Brooklyn Nursery and Infants' Hospi tal, on Herkimer street, Winifred An kers, maid-of-all-work in the institu tion, said: 'I did it." Until the words passed her lips her inquisitors said she had buffi c-rt theio completely. They were about to end) the ordeal when a suggestion inspired by a demonstration of mother love In. the neglected, pasty-faced unmarried woman of twenty-four, as she coddled her baby boy, prompted Lieut. John McKirby to say: "Winifred, unless you talk more freely we will have to take your baby from you and place him in another in stitution." The woman leaped from her chair as if stirred by a galvanic shock, clutched her baby 'to her bosom and screamed: "You can't!" The scream ended swiftly in a sob, terminating with the plea: "You mustn't, you mustn't! He is my life, this boy. Yes, I did it! I will tell you." The detectives remained silent, awaiting her recovery from hysteria. "I did it Saturday night," she began. "F did not. mean to kill the children. I wanted to get even with the nurses who had pestered me. About mid night, when all was quiet, I went into the kitchen, where the bottles of milk and lime water were. They'd been prepared for the children. I poured two or three drops of acid in each bot tle. All I wanted to do was to make the children sick, and that would make trouble for the nurses. That is all. I didn't want to have the babies die. Good God! I've got one of my own, haven't I?" She fell to sobbing and the detec tives did not press her further. She was not even placed under formal ar rest. The police, the hospital authorities and Coroner's Physician Wuest be lieve the woman is demented. KNOX ON HIS WAY. Leaves on Cruiser Washington for Momentous Trip. Key West, Fla. —Secretary of State Philander C. Knox embarked on the U. S. S. Washington here on his offi cial tour of the Cental American nnd Carribbean republics. The Washing ton got under way at once for Colon, Panarra. When Mr. Knox stepped upon the deck of the Washington he was given a salute of nineteen guns. Commander It. M. Hush's, command ing the Washington, received the sec retary and his party, aud in a ,e the in troductions. With Mr. Knox were Mrs. Knox, his two sons, Hugh and Philander C., Jr., and their wives, W. T. S. Doyle, chief of the Latin-American division of the Stat- 3 Department, and Leslie Coombs, confidential clerk to Mr. Knox. Hugh Knox is private secretary to his father. Lieut. Commander J. L. Stitcht of the Washington has been designat ed naval aide to the secretary of state for the trip. COMPROMISE IN OKLAHOMA. Delegates Instructed to Divide Be tween Wilson and Clark. Oklahoma City, Okla. —Oklahoma's Democratc State Convention, which began with all indications pointing to a bitter fac«onal light, ended in a poli tical love feast, the selection of a split delegation to the Baltimore conven tion and the election of Roger Gal berath, of Tulsa, uncommitted as to his preference for Presidential nomi nees, as national committeeman. The delegates are instructed to di vide the Oklahoma vote so long as Clark and Wilson are before the con vention and with the withdrawal of either to centre in the candidate re maining. PAINTED CHECK MAN JAILED. Carles! Sentenced to 12 Years and 11 Months in Sing Sing. New York. —Charles Carlesi. reput ed to be the leader of a gang of paint ed check men, whose operations have caused the loss of more than half a million dollars to banks throughout the country and long suspected by Deputy Police Commissioner Dougher ty, was sentenced to twelve years by Judge Rosalsky. MUST FAVOR LOWEST RATES. Commerce Board Rules on Transfer of Shipment by Roade. Washington.—The Interstate Com merce Commission in a decision hand ed down held that where more than one route is available for forwarding a shipment it is the duty of the car rier in the absence of routing instruc tions, to forward it by the route taking Iho lowest rate. The ruling, it is said, will apply to a large number of shipment* annually EXPRESS PROFITS STARTLEBOAHQ Starting With Nothing, American Has Earned $598,158,930. DIVIDENDS WERE $43,500,000 Bill for National Ownarahlp of Ex preaa, Telegraph and Telephone Lines now Befora Congrasa— Nothing Invaatad. "Washington. The American Ex press Co. has received $598,158,0:10 from its patronß since 1863, when It was organized, according to figure* presented by the cornpimy'a represen | tatlves to the Interstate Commerce | Commission. Statistics introduced In ! evidence showed that the company began business practically without »i cent of actual money, but down to June 30 1911, ha« disbursed as tiivi, dends to shareholders, the sum of $43,500,000. The company's net In come from its investments purchased from earnings has been $25,000,000. According to the figures the total Investment of the company at th« present time is $10,339,843, Included in which la real property of the value of $5,320,367 and this Includes th«» building of the American Express Co. in New York city. The gross recelpta of the company are approximately $40,000,000 per annum. It developed during the hearing that since 1870 the stockholders of th<# company have not contributed a single, penny for the purchase of equipment or anything else and since that date have drawn dividends on the com pounding of earnings. There has been no actual contribu tion by shareholders aince organiia tion and all extensions have been mude from surplus dividends and aside from approximately $5,000,000 of orig inal capitalization in 1868, all the pro perty of the American Express Co., has come out of its own profits. Mr. Bradley, the company's vic«v president, was unable to explain satis factorily why the express conipani»» made so many overcharges. In the case of one company ithas been shown, that it made 3,000 overcharges in on» day and collected in one year $57,000 a* overcharges. Commissioner Lane stated that he> had on one occasion sent a package to himself from another city to Wash ington, prepaid the charges, beat the package to Washington, and then had it presented to him with a demand for payment a second time. Government ownership of express, telegraph and telephone companies was proposed in a bill introduced in the House by Representative Sabbath of Illinois, a Democrat. The bill di rects the Interstate Commerce Com mission to investigate the valuation of express, telephone and telegraph com panies and directs the President to take steps to secure the properties of the companies for government owner ship. The bill proposes that the Post office Department administer thn con cerns. TWELVE DEATHS IN WEST. : Storm Develops Into Tornadoes Over Missouri Valley. Chicago.—Twelve lives were lost in the widespread snow and sleet storm which raged throughout the entir® country from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast, and which assumed its worse proportions over the Mis souri Valley,sweeping far totheSouth weat, developing into tornadoes and damaging much property in Arkansas and Mississippi. Reports from the West, particularly Kansas, Nebraska, lowa, New Mexi co, Colorado and Missouri, show the storm resulted in the worst traffic con ditions of the winter. LAWRENCE MILL STRIKE PROBE. Taft Orders Attorney-General to Look Into Child Question. Washington.-—President Taft eonfer- I red with Attorney-Cieneral Wicker j sham and Representative Victor Ber ger of Milwaukee, Socialist, on the Lawrence. Mats., mill strike. Berger went to the White House with a de mand for an investigation of the action of the Lawrence city officials and po lice in forcibly preventing the strikers from sending their children to other cities, and was told by the President that an investigation would be insti tuted at once. After Mr. Taft had gon» over the strike situation as outlined by Berger, he instructed Mr. Wicker sham to look up the federal questions involved and decide whether the De partment of Justice is2justified in inter vening, and what is to be done. It Is expected that government in vestigators will probe the entire situ ation. Congresa is also prepared to act quickly. 4^ 5 ARRESTS IN TAXI HOLDUP. Three Men and Two Women Hald for Bank Messenger Robbery. New York. —Three men and two wo men were held at police headquarters In connection with the robbery of $25,- 000 from t4l ; o messengers of tbe Eaat River National Bank In Trinity Plar« on Feb. 15. The men, one of whom is Gene Montoni, the driver of the taxi cab who was released in tho polico court for lack of evidence, are charg ed with assault and robbery. The wo« men are held as witnesses.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers