. MINE OPERATORS PLAN OUTLINED. WAGE STATEMENT DOUBTED. Testimony of the Workers All in, and Owners Began Their Fight Before Strike Commission. The arguments of the #m»al opera. tors were outlined before the strike commission at: Scranton, Pa., after the mine workers had closed their case, December 17. Former Congress- man Simon P. Wolverton, counsel for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company, said that the large operators would attempt to prove that the United Mine Workers of America are attempting to form a monopoly of the labor supply needed in mining of coal, that, after the set- toment of 1600, there was a concert- ceil effort on the part of the miners restrict the output in order to prevent the producers from accumu- lating a stock of coal to meet emer- gencies, such as floods and strikes; that the rate of wages in the anthra- cite region is actually higher than hat in the soft coal region; that the tem by which coal is weighed at sent is the only system practica- le; and that the miners and laborers <0 not work eight hours, but ordi- narily less than six hours. The inde- rendent operators in- their statement, insist that the miners’ union shall not discriminate against or refuse to work with non-union men, and that the wage question must be subjected 10 an examination of conditions at cach colliery. In regard to the wage question, the statement says: “We think the commission, before taking any action looking to an increase of wages, should carefully consider upon whom such increase must fall. Of courze, any increase in cost of pro- duction ultimately rests upon the con- sumer. There is no authority to tax tr ia CONGRESSIONAL NOTES. LVIl. CONGRESS. Ratified Spanish Treaty. When the bill to admit New Mes- ico, Cklahoma and Arizona as States was called up in the Senate Tuesday Mr. Dillingham, Vermont, concluded his speech in opposition, and it was agreed that there would be no further discussion until the Senate reassem- bles on January 5. A joint resolution wag adopted appropriating $3,000 for the purchase of a bronze bust of the late President McKinley. Mr. Mor- gan, Alabama, asked that his resolu- tion fixing the salaries of isthmian canal commissioners at $5,000 a year he referred to the committee on in- teroceanic canals, which was done. In executive session the Senate rati- fied the treaty of friendship with Spain., Bureau Transferred. The House Tuesday passed the bill transferring from the treasury de- partment to the department of agri: culture the power to establish regu- lations for the suppression of con- tagious diseases among live stock. Mr. Martin, of South Dakota, intro- duced a bill making October 1 the an- niversary of the discovery of Amer- ica, a legal public holiday, to be known as Columbus day. Passed Deficiency Bill. The Senate Wednesday passed the pension appropriation bill, carrying $139,849,000, which had previously passed the House. An urgent defi- ciency bill of $1,140,000, including $500,000 to aid in eradicating the foot and mouth disease among cattle, was also passed. Mr. Burrows, Michigan. resigned from the committee on mili- tary affairs, so that Mr. Alger might have a comlmmiitee appointent. Mr. Depew, New York, introduced a bill providing that emergency currency may be supplied by the treasury to "any National bank with a capital of one class of the poor in order to con- | not less than $50,000 to the extent of tribute to the comfort of another.” "Fhe attorneys for the miners took ex- ception to the wage statements hand- cd to the commission by the Pennsyl- vania Coal Company. The alleged unfairness of the wage statement came to the notice of the commission as a result of its inquiry into the chiid lahor question. Several little girls testified that they worked all night in a silk mill in order to help their fathers along, who were employed in the mines and received poor pay. Everett Warren, who represents the irie Company, which controls the Pennsylvania Coal Company, handed to the commissicn a memorandum showing that one father last year re- ceived about $1,400 for himself and laborers, and that the other father re- ceived $1,660 for himself and labor- ers. The miners placed he two parents on the stand, and they swore that the earnings mentioned was di- vided among from four to six men. In reply, General Manager W. A. May : Company, | of the Pennsylvania Coal said: a record of the individuals in a con- tract or the number. It only keeps tiie names of the man in whose name the place is run. It can be possible that in that place there are more men than the company has any ance of, but that is entirely outside its province. The company, he said, does not pay the laborer, is only pays the man in whose name the place ap- penrs.” ~ AT THE NATIONAL CAPITOL. In the Senate, speaking on isthmian canal, Mr. Morzan mildly criticised Attorney General Knox. The pcwers asked President Roose- velt to arbitrate the Venezuelan dis- pute, and he suggested The& Hague tribunal. Congressman Burton defended riv- ers and harbors committee from at- tacks following opposition to im- provement of Qhio river. The war department announced that Chaffee will succeed Young as com- mander cf the army after the latter retires, he to succeed Miles. The secretary of the navy has con- tracted with the Bethlehem Steel Co. for the manufacture of 12 four-inch rapid-fire guns and mounts complete, at its bid of $5,500 for cach gun and mount. While on his way to the Whitc House Postmaster General Paync suffered an attack of acute indiges- tion. He was taken to his hotel and {wo physicians were summoned, who afforded him relief. General Tasker H. Bliss, who was sent to Havana to aid Minister Squires in drafting a reciprocity treaty between ihe United States and Cuba, has delivered to Secretary Hay he treaty signed in Havana. The Italian ambassador informed Secretary Hay that Italy had joined Great Britain and Germany in the operations against Venezuela. He! requested that Mr. Bowen assume charge of the [Italian interests in Venezuela. The President sent to the Senate the reciprocity treaty recently nego tiated between the United States and Cuba. The treaty was received by the Senate in executive session and was referred to the committee on for. eign relations without being read. The State Department has been notified that the French claim is that France should be privileged to come into the combination and divide Venezuela customs receipts or what: ever other means of revenue might be selected on even terms with other nations. The secretary of state has terminat- ed a famous extradition case by is- suing a warrant to the French au- thorities for the release of l.cuis Ralensa, who is charged with the em- hezzlement of several million francs irem a great French corporation in whose employ he had been. ! The state department has received | from United States Consul Heimrod at Apia, Samoa, a report that on No-/ vember 2 last two supposedly ani) craters. in the volcano of Mangs/ Apia, on the Island of Savaii, “The company does not keen! 50 per cent of the bank's capital. The extra capital is to be supplied only in case of a stringency in the money market. FEulogistic addresses were made in memory of the late Mr. Sew- ell, of New Jersey, and the Senate ad- journed to Monday. Funds for Anti-Trust. The House Wednesday passed the legislative judicial and executive ap- prepriation bill with an amendment appropriating $560,000 to enable the attorney general to prosecute the vio- lators of the Sherman anti-trust law. The bill to prohibit naval bands from competing with civilian bands was defeated by a vote of 50 to 43. Pure Food Bill. Representative Dalzell presided over the House Thursday in the ab- sence of Speaker Henderson. A res- olution was passed calling upon the secretary of state for the facts re. garding the Venezuelan situation oud a statement of its effect upon the { Monrce doctrine. The bill to reduce the tariff on imports from the Philip- | pines to 25 per cent of the Dingley | rates was passed after a motion for free trade with the Philippines had cogniz- | been defeated by a vote of 91 to 122. The pure food bill, to prevent adult eration, misbranding and imitation of foods, beverages, candies, drugs and condiments, was taken up and dis- cussed until the close of the day. Passes Pure Food Bill. The House Friday passed the pure food bill by a vote of 72 to 21. It pro- hibits interstate commerce in any article cf food or any drug that is adulterated or misbranded. Adjourned for Holidays. Both branches c¢f Congress ad- journed on Saturday to January 5, after passing the conference report on the bill to pay the expenses of the coal strike commission. Hyndman Bank Clcsed. Comptroller of the Currency Ridg- ley has closed the National bank of South Pennsylvania, Hyndman, Pa. and has appointed Walter R. Mason, hank examiner, receiver. The fail- ure of the bank is ‘said to Lave been due to losses sustained through loans made to officers and directors, Bloodless Surgery. Dr. Adolf Lorenz, of Viemna, con- ducted his sccond cliric in New York | city at the Polyclinic Medical college and hospital. Two young sufferers from congenital hip dislocaticn were operated on by Dr. Lcrenz. One ‘of the children was suffering from dis- ‘location of both hips. The left hip was reduced in four minutes and the dislocation cof the right hip in eight minutes. Guarding Our Rights. Minister Bowen cables from Cara- cas that the guns of the allied fieet which ‘bombarded Puerto Cabello were directed entirely at the fortifi- cations and not at the town. This statement relieves the affair of the suspicion that it constituted a viola- tion of international law, hecause 25 hours’ notice was not served of the homhardment. : Looted a Bank of $3,000. The bank at Clarence, Jil., was robbed of $3,000 by a gang who cut the telegraph and telephone wires to | prevent an alarm being sent. Citi : zens were awakened by the explosion and chased the robbers, but they es- caped ou a hand car. New Trial for Howard. The court of appeals at Frankfort, Kyj has granted a new trial to James Hodvard, who is under a sentence of litd imprisonment for the murder of Governor William Goebel. f IC LR es EAR It is stated that the earnings of the rnited States Steel Corporation last month were in the neighborhood of $11,000.000, or about $1,200,000 in ex- cess of the amount earned during the / Big Increase in Earnings. T brolife into violent eruptions. ! same per:#? last year. military and: VENEZUELA BLOGKADE DECLARED. GRACE ALLOWED. Germany and Great Britain Formally Announce the Closing of Ports to All Shipping. The official proclamation of the blockade of Venezuelan ports was gazetted in England and became offi- cially effective December 20, 1902. follows: “Foreign Office, Dec. 20, 1902.—It is hereby notified that as the United States of Venezuela rave fail- ed to comply with the demands of his majesty’s government, a blockade by his majesty’s naval forces of the ports of Ia @Guayra, Carenero, Guanta, Cumana and <Carupano and the mouths of the Orinoco is declared, and such blockade wiill be effectively maintained from and after the 20th of December, subject to the allowance of the following days of grace: For ves- sels sailing before the date of this notification from West Indian ports and ports on the East coast of the continent of America, 10 days for steamers and 20 days for sailing ves- sels. From all other ports, 20 days for steamers and 40 days for sailing vessels. For vessels lying in the ports now declared to be blockaded, 15 days. Vessels which attempt to violate the blockade will render them- selves liable to all measures authoriz- ed by law of nations and by the re- spective treaties between his majesty and the different neutral powers. The foreign office says the blockade will not be relaxed until the powers enforcing their claimg agree on a method for the arbitration of their respective cases and Venezuela shows a disposition to act sincerely. Stress is laid on the difficulty in view of the diversity of the claims in deciding on a method of presentation and on the prolixity of the negotiations which will be involved before a settlement is in sight. It is not definitely decid- ed whether separate cases can be embodied in one document should the projected arbitration take definite shape. The German government at Berlin December 20 published a de- cree emhodying the conditions of the blockade of Germany’s portion of the Venezuelan coast. It was practically identical with that issued by Great Britain, and referred especially to the ports to Porto Cabello and Maritabo. MURDERED FOR MONEY. Michigan Farmer's Wife Killed While Alone—Laborer Arrested. Mrs. Robert Garrison, a middle- aged woman, wife of a farmer near Bedford, Barry county, Michigan, was murdered, and John Brantlinger, who has been employed on a neighboring farm to the Garrisons, since last fail, was arrested at Battle Creek, charged with being Mrs. Garrison’s murderer. Mr. Garrison, the woman’s husband, a short time ago sold his farm for $1,400, and it is supposed that rob- bhery was the primal cause of the murder. BIG STEEL MERGER. U. S. Steel Corporation Takes Over the Union Company. The deal merging the Union Steel Company and its recently acquired Sharon Steel Company properties, with the United States Steel Corpora- tion has been concluded. Judge E. H. Gary, chairman of the executive committee wf the United States Steel Cerperation, announced officially that the ccmpany had been taken over, and that it would be paid for by a bond issue of $45,000,000, the Honds to be issued against the properties of the new companies and guaran- teed Ly the parent corporation, both for principle and interest. WAS INSURED FOR $340,000. Death of a Louisville Man May Have Been an Accident. R. C. Whayne, who was found dead at I.ouisville, Ky., in the vicinity of Jacob Park, with a gunshot wound in his breast, carried life insurance of $340,000, and had applications pend- ing for $50,000 more. Coroner Kelly says the case will require exhaustive investigation. *- Near Whayne’s body, Lut on the opposite side of a wire fence, was a shotgun with one bar- rel empty and the other loaded and cocked. His friends and family de- clare his death was due to an acci- dent, and that the gun was discharged while he was climbing through the fence. There is no suspicion of mur- der, but he may have committee sui- cide, as he was a sufferer from rheu- matism. . PARENTS TO BLAME. Inspector Claims That Per- jury Was Committed. Factory Factory Inspector Campbell at Har- rishurg, Pa., has received a report from Deputy Factory Inspector E. W. Bishop, whom he sent to Scranton to ascertain if the girl employes of the silk mill told the truth when they testified before the coal strike com- nuission that they were under 13 vears of age, and yet were allowed to work. Mr. Bishop reports that he secured the certificates sworn to’ by the parents of these girls before the children were allowed to work, all showed that the parents repre- sented their age to be over the legal limit. Big Increase in Capital. Indianapolis, Lebanon The and Frankfort Traction Company filed no- tice with the secretary of slate changing its name to the Indianapolis and Northwestern Traction Company, and increasing its capital from $2:i.- 000 to $2,500,000. The capital may be increased to $3,000,000. Five Crows Is Dead. Five Crows, a noted Umatilla In- dian chief. has been found dead near Athena Oregon. and | LATEST NEWS NOTES. An attorney of Canton, O., sued a barber for $200 damages for an inar- tistic hair-cut. Secretary Shaw told Chicago busi- ness men new currency law is abso- lutely safe. . The New York board of aldermen voted $250,000 to buy coal for tne poor of the city. Scott Bishop, colored, was Ilynck- ed at Marbury, Ala. for the murder of Wade Hicks, : General S. B. M. Young was chief speaker at «Cleveland chamber of commerce banquet. A great snowstorm occurred in the West, trains being stalled and busi- ness interfered with. United States army and favy offi cers said to be implicated in smug- gling goods to Porto Rico. Dr. Harper announced Christmas gift of $1,000,000 from John D. Rocke- feller to Chicago university. Five children were killed and their mother badly hurt by explosion of acetylene gas at Port Lee, N. J. Thomas Tobin was convicted in New York of murder in the first de- gree for killing James B. Craft. Interstate commerce commission has started an inquiry into causes of recent increases in freight rates. Lieutenant Marburg Johnston, of the navy, was sent to Caracas to as- sist United States Minister Bowen. Italy ordered her minister, Signor Riva, to leave Caracas, Venezuela, and go on board the cruiser Giovanni Bausan. President Roosevelt hag signed the commission of A. B. Anderson as United States district jndge for In- diana. Sixty persons were hurt by the broken section of a freight train strik- Ine a street car at Weehawken, . J. The steamer Silvertown, laying the telegraph cable from San Francisco to Honolulu, is making eight knots an hour. Comptroller Ridgely told New York State Bankers’ association that the law makes it too difficult to retire bank notes. Admiral Higginson, with four bat- tleships, will spend holidays at Trini- dad, within easy reach of Venezuela trouble zone. The United States government has for the second time used arbitra- tion upon England and Germany in Venezuelan dispute. United States Steel Corporation has arranged for heavy increased production in Marquette range or property; Minnescta’s output. Imports of raw silk from Japan, valued at $5,000,000, have passed through Ogdensburg, N. Y. coming from San Francisco by way of Can- ada. } Mathias H. Utzler, pleaded guilty at Hastings, Mich., "to murdering Mrs. Robert Garrison and was sen- tenced to solitary confinement for life. A government official, marine corps officer and another person were arrested, accused of smuggling liquors into Porto Rico on govern- ment steamers. J. D. O’Haire, one of the locators of the Portland mine at Creek, Col, has filed a suit at Col- orado Springs to recover $3,000,000 frcm the company. I.ouis Stern, a note broker, was ar- rested in Chicago, Ill.,, while, it is as- serted, he was attempting to dispose cf alleged forged commercial paper amounting to $7,500. The last steamer from New York which will reach Europe before Christmas, the St. “Paul, has sailed with $460,615 in money orders pay- able in 15 European countries, Beef packers in suit in Chicago deny that the United States has juris- diction against them under the inter- state commerce law fer discrimina- tion in rates or because of a com- bine. General Manager G. L. Potter, of the Baltimore and Ohio road, an- nounced the appointment of "M. L. Byers, engineer of maintenance of way, as assistant to the general man- ager. City Marshal R. W. Coulter ana Justice A. E. Musgrave, at Farming- ton, Ta., were fatally wounded by Geo, Stillwell, a deputy fish commissioner, who was afterward shot to death by a posse. The French authorities are con- vinced that the death of Mrs. Ellen Gore was accidental and have decid- ed to drop the * case against De Riydzewski, in whose rcoms in Paris she was shot. The funeral of Mrs. U. S. Grant oc- curred in Washington, at which the President attended; the body was placed in the Grant sarcophagus, in New York, by the side of her hus- band’s remains. A British ‘cruiser captured a Vene- zuelan blockade runner laden with German goods, and another British cruiser captured two schocners be- . longing to a French citizen, but flying | the Venezuelan flag. ! Express Messenger Colson was ' killed and Mail Clerks Kelly and : Riggs severely hurt by the fall of a i train on the Alabama Great Southern | railroad through a trestle 70 miles | south of Birmingham. Ala. Governor , Savage, of Nebraska, ! gave Daly Lawrence, aged 10 years, a | Christmas present in the shape of a pardon for her father, who is serving { a three years’ sentence in the State | penitentiary for embezzlement. | Louise K. Eames, claiming to be "the only child of the late Lester H. | Eames, of Ottawa, Ill., has asked ‘a | Chicago court to nullify an agree- i ment by which she accepted $10,000 | to relinquisi her claim on his $1,000, i 000 estate. The Superior Board of Health of Mexico City, Mexico, has sent a com- mission to study the mysterious dis- ease which has so much alarmed the people of the Pacific port city of Mazatlan. Cripple’ [HE FLEET NEAR STORM CENTER PLAN GF ADMIRAL DEWEY Fighting Vesscls Have Been Assigned to Various Places on the Conti- nent—Plan Approved. The navy department has contrib- uted the most important develop- ments in the Venezuelan situation in the form of a cablegram from Ad- iral Dewey announcing the proposed itinerary of the vessels of his fleet during the Christmas holidays. The plan provides for no undue concen- tration of ships along the Vene- zuelan coast, and so prudenly and advisedly have its details been drawn up that Secretary Moody cabled to the Admiral the department's ap- proval of his orders. This will set at rest the rumors that the United States contemplates complicating the Venezuelan situation by dispatching a large naval force to La Guaira as an offset to the allied fleet. Admiral Dewey's cablegram, dated San Juan, is to this effect: “Proposed itinerary of vessels for Christmas holidays: “Kearsarge, Alabama, Massachu- setts, Iowa, Scorpion, to Trinidad; Illincis, Indiana, Hist, to St. Thomas; Texas to Pointe-a-Pitre; Chicago, Newark, Eagle, to Chicago; San Fiancisco, Albany, Wasp, to Mayaguez; Cincinnati, Atlanta, Prai- rie, tugs, torpedo boats, to San Juan; Culgoa, to Mayaguez and San Juan; Olympia, Nashvilla and Machias, to St. Kitts; Detroit, to Antigua; May- flower and Vixén, to Puerto Rican waters and vicinity, and Dolphin to Antigua and vicinity.” In reply Sec- retary Moody sent the following ca- blegram: “Carry out proposed itin- erary. Merry Christmas.” According to the approved plans, the principal fighting ships of Admiral Dewey's fleet will rendezvous at the Isiand of Trinidad, right off the coast of Vene- zuela, and at St. Thomas. Rear Ad- miral Higginson, commanding the North Atlantic squadron, will have command of the battleship fleet at Trinidad in his flagship Kearsarge, with Rear Admiral Sumner com- manding the South Atlantic squadron on his flagship Iowa as second ib command. The fleet at St. Thomas, which includes two battleships, will be under the command of Rear Ad- miral Crowninshield, commanding the European squadron, on his flag: ship Illinois. The fleet of cruisers and smaller vessels which will anchor at St. Kitts will be in command of Rear Acémiral Coghlan, commanding the Caribbean division, on’his flag: ship Olympia. Admiral Dewey will retain the converted cruiser May: flower as hig flagship, and will spend most of the ten days’ holiday at San Juan. It is stated at the navy de- partment that the delay in. the de- parture of the battleship Wisconsin from San Francisco for the Puget Sound naval station at Bremerton, Washington, where she is to be fitted out for service on the Asiatic sta- tion, was in ‘order to await the ar- rival of her new commander, Captain B. H. McCalla, who was ordered from Washington for that duty. CAPITAL $5,000,000. Company Promises Great Develop- ment of the North Daketa. Great development of North Da- kota's coal fields is promised by the Dakota Fuel Company recently or- ganized under the laws of New Jer- sey and capitalized at $5,000,000. A combination of all the coal iuterests in North Dakota, with ' the possible exception of the Washburn mine at Wilton, is planned. Among those in- terested are Harriman, cf the New York Central, and Curtis, cf the Na- tional Paper Ccmpany. MARCONI SUCCEEDS. Sends Wireless Message From Cape Breton to England. William Marconi sent the following dispatch from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, to New York: “I beg to inform you that I have established wireless tele- graph communications between Cape Breton, Canada, and Cornwall, Eng- Jand, with complete success. Inaug- uratory messages, including one from the governor general of Canada to King Edward VII, have already been transmitted and forwarded to the Kings of England and Italy. ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING. Running in Immigrants Afflicted With Contagious Diseases. Thomas Nehas, a merchant of Mon- ongahela, Pa. and a Syrian named Elysies Tcceec, were arrested at Niagara Falls by Immigration Inspec- tor O’Brien while attempting to eross from Canada, and Nehas held for:the action of the United States granil jury on a charge of smuggling into this country foreigners afflicted with a contagious disease. United States Commissioner Pound found that Ee- ceec is suffering from trachoma, a malignant disease of the eyes, and ordered him to be denorted. Limit for Office-Holders. Senator Scott, of West Virginia, introduced a bill in Congress amen:- ing the civil service law to provide that all persons employed in ‘he classified service shall serve six vears and shall be eligible to another six-year term only. Will Pay in Silver. Unofficial advices have reached Washington that China intends to pay the next installment of the “Boxer® indemnity in silver, being driven to this course by the fact that all of her revenues are payable in silver and the great internal - financial strain makes it impossible to obtain gold, italy Sends Another Warship. The Italian cruiser Agordat has been ordered to proceed at once for Venezuela. i ENGINE HIT TRAIN. Flyer Couldn’t Be Stopped in Time to Prevent Collision in Cali- fornia —Eighteen Dead. As a result of a rear-end collision between the Stockton flyer and the “Owl” train on the Souther Pacific at Byron, California, 18 deaths have been recorded, and there are fears that the total will soon reach 20. Most of the wounded passengers, who were too severely injured to be taken to their homes, were taken to the Southern Pacific hospital at San Francisco, and on the way to that place five victims died. Twenty-four persons are injured. Edward Joyce, fireman of the Stockton flyer, in a statement explaining the collision, said: “We saw the flagman’s light ahead cf us and put on the brakes at once. They seemed, to work well enough, but we could not stop in time to avoid smashing into the rear of the ‘Owl’ train. The engine went right through the cars.” Ten persons were killed cutright and the others succumbed to their injuries. Thir- teen of the dead have been identified as follows: Elizabeth IL. Smith, Fresno, Cal.; larence D. Oluffs, Fresno; Miss Birdie Elliott, San Francisco; Mabel Vezey, Modesto, Cal.; George Sessins, Oakland, Cal.; Charles Ownes, Fresno; Miss Myers, Fresno; Rcbhert Rennick, San Fran- cisco; Len Irwin, Oakland; Tung Tia Gong, a Chinese girl, of San Fran- cisco; Richard Post, Fowler, Cal.; Mina Magowa, a Japanese girl; and Mr. IL. Temple, GCakland. The unidentified dead include one white man, evidently a sailcr; two Chinese, one Japanese woman and a Japanese child. The dead were taken to Mar- tinez and an inquest was held. Most of the corpses were terribly mutil- ated. This made the work of identi- fication quite difficult. The injured were taken to Oakland. Most of them are reported recovering, and no fur- ther casualties are anticipated. New Mining Town. A syndicate of Penngylvanians has bought for $1 an acre 6,000 acres of land in Cumberland county, Tenn., that is underlaid by two veins of high-grade coal, each over six feet deep. The syndicate bought for the purpose of establishing a mining town. Ingleside School Partially Burned. Ingleside school, a fashionable sem- inary for young women, at New Mil- ford, Conn., was partially destroyed by a fire of unknown origin, and caused damage estimated at $40,000. The servants were the only persons there, the students being away on their Christmas vacations. Mail Car Burned. A carload of mail for the West on the New York ‘Central train that left New York at 8:45 Sunday morning was burned between Peekskill and Highland. Only 20 or 30 out of 800 pouches were saved. CABLE FLASHES. A semi-official announcement from Rome places the Italian against Venezuela at $2,000,000. ; General Nord, having been ac- claimed president of Haiti by the army, tock possession of the national palace at Port Au Prince, Decem- her 18. : The Times in London, England, published a poem by Rudyard Kip- ling, which is a strong protest against the Anglo-German agreement with re- gard to Venezuela. Advices of a semi-official character have heen received that the Colom- bhian army officers at Panama and Colon are steadily but quietly making ready for an invasion of Nicaragua to seize canal routes. Fresident Castra has given Herbert W. Bowen, United States minister at Caracas, plenary power to effect a settlement on behalf of Venezuela with Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The Dutch cruiser De Runtjen, which it was purposed to send from The Hague to the West Indies, has heen ordered to proceed to Vene- zuela to protect Dutch interests there. The budget statement of Italy for 1901-02 shows a surplus of $6,500,000 afler an expenditure of $3,400,000 on railroads, $2,000,000 on the China ex- pedition and placing $2,800,000 in the cinking fund. The American commercial cham- ber, now forming in Berlin, Germany, is modeled after like institutions in London and Paris. Its main purpese will be the exploitation of American trade in the German-speaking ecoun- tries. ] The German government has not vet replied to President Castro’s offer of arbitration in Venezuela, being still in correspondence with - the British government on the subject. It is intimated that Germany’s reply is not likely to be ready for some days. General Botha writes from Holland that he, General Dewet and General Delarey propose to visit the United States after they have conferred with Chamberlain in South Africa. He says nobody in the United States is authorized to collect money tor the Boers. The city of Andijan, Russian Tur- kestan, a community of 30,000 inhabi- tants, was totally destroyed by am earthquake. It is not yet known how many lives were lost. Shocks wore felt in New Marguelan and the sur- rounding villages, and the railway at Andijan was destroyed for a consid. erable distance. News received from Sjemsi, China, states that Tung-Fu-Siang, the exiled Chinese commander whose execution was demanded by the powers, but who was supposed to be protected by the Dowager Empress, is mobilizing ir Kan Su 10,000 well-equipped troops for the purpose of extermination of foreigners in the provinces of Shen Si and Kan Su and the seizura of San Fu. i claims ~ fam a) N -e OU A 5O- If you endars ¥ to the F Dept., 9 20 inche: fect bea sold for . Itisd between FITSper neesafter NerveRe: Dr.R.H. The n fellow w Mrs. Wi teething, tion,alla; The h easily fla 3 by local diseased way toe tutional inflamed the Bust flamed y fect hea: Deafnes mation . stored to be destr are caus inflame We wi cago of cannot b culars se Sold hb Hall's Takin, census forty ha Patri hand o Kan. i damage its em; workin; a loud, manner to be 1 by caus positio: a grea would given manne such a ‘Move ; hands Ex. once, a almost Twer 000 ho 324,000. In G of all t
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers