10 DUTIES CUT 20 TO 40 PER CENT. 8enate Pane the Bill Adopted by the House at the Extraordinary 8esslon. Ry a voto of 67 to 18 tho Sonnto pastt-d tho bill previously passed by tho House to carry Into effort the rec iprocity ttvn:y with Cuba. Tho treaty provliles for a reduction of 20 per cent from tho rati of duty under the Ding ley law on all Cubnn articles lmiorte(l Into the United State, and a varying reduction of from 20 to 40 per cent from the established Cuban duty on articles imp:vrtid Into Cuba from the United States. The Srnntc' ngrrrd to the lloure tvsolniton for a holiday re cess from lVivtnbor 1!) to January 4. The vote on thn reciprocity bill was aa fc.'lnw"; Yeas Aldrlrh, Alger, Alloc, Al!l son, Aflkcny. Union, Hall, Bevel'ldgo, Blackburn, Rurn-hnm, Burrows, Bur ton, Cinpp. Clark (Wyoming), Clay, Oovkrvll, Oullom, Ip:-w, Dillingham, P.illlvcr. Drydrn, F.lklm,. Fairbanks, Fomkrr, Foster ( Washington), Frye, Fulton, Gnllingcr, Gormnn, Hale, Hnnna. Hnnshmugh, Heyburn, Hoar, Hopkins. Kean, Lodno, lxmg, Mc Comas, MeCivary, McCtimber, Mitch rll, Ni-l-'.on, Overman, Penrose, Per kins. Piatt (Connecticut), Plntt (New York), Proctor, Qunrlcs. Scott, Sim mons, Smeot. Spooner, Stewart, Stono, Wet more 57. Noes Palley. Bard, Rate, Berry, Can mark, Culberson. Panivl, Dubois, Fo.'ter (La.), McKnory. McLaurln, Mallory, Martin. Nrwlnnds. PHtm, Taliaferro. Teller. Tillman IS. Pairs worn announced as follows: Hawley, with Clark, of Montana; Mil lard, with Clark, of Arkansas; Kearns, with Gibson; Warren, with Money; Quay, with Morgan, and Kltt redge. with Patterson. The Denrorrnts who voted for the bill were Rnron, Blackburn, Clay, Cockrell, Gorman, Overman and Stone. The only Republican who voted against it was Hard, of California. THREE BURNED TO DEATH. Mother and Two Children Met Death in Burning House. Overcome by tho flames which were destroying thvlr home In Johnstown, Pa., Mrs. James Cronby and heir two children, James and Grace, fell dlrect Iv in the nath of tho Are. and were burned to dv-ath. Totally unconscious j Df the horrible end of his family, Jas. j Crosby, the husband and father, was I lonted calmly in St. Columbia's Oath e'ir. church. The flames were discovered about 6 oelork. Mrs. CroFby and hw oldest laughter had arisen to prepare the naming meal. It was while seated at :ho breakfast table that they discov red the interior of the kitchen was blaze. The mother rushed to the lecond floor of the house to awaken 3ie younger members of the family. Jhe was not seen afterward. The lames by that time were bursting orlh from every side of the house. There wore three bedrooms on the lecond floor and the son, James Cros by, occupied the middle one. Grace ras In the rear room. Although the spectators attempted o rescue the mother and children, tothlng could bo done. Members of tie Cambria fire company found the rurned and blackened bodies of the infortunato woman and her children io badly disfigured that recognition ras Impossible-. People attracted to lie fire probably saved the life of the rtdest Crosby girl by refusing to al ow her to re-enter- the house to march for her mother. RULINGS ON 8PANISH CLAIMS. Senate Furnished with Those Made by Treaty Board. In response to the resolution of the Senate of December 9, the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission sent to the Senate copies of the announcements made on November 24, 1902, and April 28, 1903, of the principles governing Its decisions, which were reaffirmed on December 5, 1903, In connection with the various opinions then filed. The commission also transmitted copies of the various opinions of the commission. The main propositions of the commission were that the Uni ted States will now be held liable to Ks own citizens only for acta for which Spain would have been liable to those citizens if the United States had not released the claims and assumed the obligations of Spain, and further, that Spain, except In special cases, was not liable for damages done by the Insur gents or for damages done by Spanish troops in their attempts to suppress the insurrection.. LariLS of Friars Bought. An agreement has been reached by Gov. Taft and the friars for tho settle ment of the friar land question. The pope has given his approval and the approval of the war department Is awaited. The settlement provides for the purchase of 4i3,000 acres, com prising all the agricultural lands and holdings of the friars, with the excep tion of 12.000 acres. Including a farm near Manila, which has been sold to a railroad company, and one sugar plan tation. The price agreed upon is $7. 250,000. The friars originally asked $16,000,000. Gov. Taft offered them $0,000,000. Exploration In Southern Ice. Tho steamer Scotia, which left tho Clyde November 3, 1902, for tho Ant arctic regions with members of the Scottish Antarctic Association on board, baa arrived tit Buenos Ay res, Argentina, from the Antarctic regions. Ehe will remain a week, after which she will return to the Falkland Is lands, whore six members of tfmj expe dition will remain In charge of tho metoorokilcal watlon. The. expedi tion reached latitude 70.25 south. . BUTLER APPEALS FOR AID. Condition of Fever Stricken Town Stated by Committee. The general n?llef and executive committees, of Butler, Pa., In joint ssflon Issued tho following state ment and appeal to tho American public: Wo wish to advise the people of the United Stnt.es In regard to the epidemic of typhoid fever In Butler. Tho number of typhoid fever raws In November. 1.123; the number of deaths from other causes, 23; new caws of typhoid fever up to Decem ber 13, 114; total number of cases of typhoid fever to December 13, 1.2"4; tual nun:lor of deaths from typhoid fever, 61; total number of deaths from other causes. 41. Tho population of Butler and Lyndors, adjoining. Is 18, 000. A conservative estimate of those dependent upon dally wag.-a Is 14.000. Wc have no means of ascertaining ex pected rases of typhoid fever exempt v ports by ward committees, which for the past week have nvcragd 12 new cans a day. The nature of re lief work thus far consists In furnish ing nurse? and hospital supplies ami providing for all temporal wants where the hroad-wlnnnrs or any other needy or deserving persons have bevn strlrkvn with tho dlsense. Our town has been prosperous and wo have a fair number of well to-do citizens who have contributed gernnously to the ro ll"f fund. Tims far the recent addi tion of largo manufacturing Interests In tho town and the consequent Influx of largo foreign population, represent ing various nntlr.nalltlt-s. aud who are only moderate wage earners, have r..-. essarlly caused tho dralt tun do upon the generosity of our citizens. $100,000 FOR A PAUPER. Former Expert Telegraph Operator Wat In the Poor House. Honry H. Cook, formerly of Plant vllle, Conn,, then of Omaha, and now an Inmate of the poor house at Col vlllo, Wash., has JiiRt fallen heir to a fortune of $100,000 and has been lo cated through the efforts of the Union Pacific olnclals. Many years ago Cook was one of the best lmivn telegraph operators In the world, but was disabled by "oper ator's paralysis," and finally drifted Into the Washington poor house. Some time since his uncle. Andrew Cook, of Plantvllle, Conn., wrote to the Union Pacific Railroad Company asking for Information of Henry, saying he wished to leave his fortune to him. The Union Pa ific sent circulars to every telegraph cflloe In the country nnd located Cook In Colvllle (Wash.) Poor house, where he has bevn for 10 years. TRADES UNION FINED. First Penalty Ever La'd Upon a Labor Organization. Judge Holdon, of Chicago, fined Franklin union. No. 4, Press Feedois, $1,000 for contempt of court In vio lating an Injunction restraining the union from Interfering with the busi ness or emplr yes of 10 printing firms members of the Chicago Typothetae. This Is the first time that court has fined a union as a corporation, and an appeal was taken. The Judge. In rendering his decision, said the union had assaulted and terrorized women and Intimidated families, and that murders had resulted fiom its attacks on Innocent persons seeking work under contracts satisfactory to them selves and their employers. FEARED EXPOSURE. Cashier Kills Himself Before Books Were Examined. After greeting a bank examiner who had come unannounced to examine his accounts, Asa C. Busnnell, cash ier of the Yalo National bank, In New Haven, Conn., went into the basement of the bank and Bhot him self, death ensuing soon after, at Grace hospital. A statement given out by Edwin S. Greeley, president of the bank, and by John T. Manson, the vice president, said that an Inves tigation of the books Indicated that the cashier was Indebted to the bank for between $12,000 and $15,000. Boston Goes Democratic. Mayor Patrick Collins, Democrat, was re-electe.1 by 26.565 plurality, the largest ever given a mayoralty candi date In the history of Boston. Tho board of aldermen next year will be solely Democratic and that party will have a large majority In the Common council. The city favored licensed liq uor celling by a large majority. The election was notable for Republican apathy, the vote for the candidate for mayor, George H. Swallow, falling off more than 33 per cent from that given the party candidate two years ago, while it ran nearly 20 per cent behind tho vote of Gov. Bates last month. The vote was: Collins, 08, Sol; Swal low, 22,286. Double Murder Over 6 Cents. A quarrel over the sum of 6 rents, the charge for a pool and billiard game, resulted In the murder of two persons In tho Italian quaiiter of Philadelphia. The dead are Mary Matza, aged 40, and Antonio Lenta, aged 23. The man who did the kill ing is Nicholas Myo, aged 40 years. He Is under arrest. When Myo and Lesta became In volved In a dispute over the payment fjr a ganvo of pool, Mayo drew a re volver and wiled Lesta. Mrs, Matza, who owned the place, upbraided Myo, whose only reply was two Ehots from his revolver. Many Made Homeless. Between 75 and 100 people were iiendeied homeless and driven out Into tho cold, with nothing but their night clothes, by a fir which destroy ed the planing mill and lumber yard of the Bennett Lumber and Manufac turing Company at Mlllvale, Allegheny county, Pa., and partially destroyed a dozen houses adjoining the burned mill property. The Asiatic squadron, under com runmt of Rear Admiral Evans, has ar rived at Honolulu. 1 NORTHERN SECIIIIES IM. ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES BRIEF. Maintains That Consolidation Was In 1 tended to Defeat, and Hat De stroyed All Competition. The brief of tho government In tho caso of tho Northern Securities Co, and others vs. tho United States on appeal from the decision of the Cir cuit Court of the United States for the District of Minnesota, was filed In the United States Supremo Couit Mon day. The document was prepared by Attorney General Knox, and Assistant Attorney General Day, and covers ISO printed pages. After showing how a majority of the stocks of tho Great Northern & North ern Pacific were acquired by the se curities company, tho ntto;ney general says: "Tho final result of these transac tions was that one and tho same set of mrn Mr. Hill and Mr. Morgan and their associates being the ruling spir its among them acting together un der a charter agreement and through the ngency or a corporate organiza tion, became vested with absolute power of control over two parallel and competing systems of Interstate railway. "In place of the two distinct sets of stockholders with rival and compet ing Interests, namely, the stockhold ers of the Great Northern and North ern Pacific, there has been substi tuted (by means of Interchange of stocks described) tho one set of stockholders with common and non competitive interests, namely the stockholders of tho securities com pany. "They have a common Interest In both; thvy receive their dividends from a fund created by pooling the earnings of both. A more effective method for combining competition be tween rival and naturally competing business corporations It would hard ly be possible to conceive." , Tho questions of law growing out of tho statement of facts are present ed as follows: "First Has a combination been ac complished by means of the Securi ties Co. in violntion of Section 13 of an act of Congress, approved July 2, 1890, entitled 'An act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful re straints and monopolies,' hereafter called the anti-trust act?" "Second Have the defendants mo nopolized or attempted to monopolize any part of the Interstate or foreign commerce of the United States, in violation of Section 2 of the anti-trust act?" "Third Was the relief granted by the Circuit Court authorized by law?" The government maintains that each of these que. thins should be an swered In the affirmative. AGAINST REED 8MOOT. Mass Meeting at the National Capital Urges Action. A public meeting, called by the In terdenominational Congress of Wom en of Washington for the purpose of piotestlng against Heed Smoot re tabling his seat In the 8nate, was held here In the Metropolitan Metho dist Episcopal Church. Bishop Sat terlee of the Protestant Episcopal church presided and addresses were made by him and a number of women prominently Identified with the move. ment. The following resolutions were adopted: Resolved, That tho congregation hero assembled does most earnestly protest against Apostle Smoot retain ing his seat in our national Senate. Resolved, That wo call upon all loyal and patriotic men and women of every State to send protests to the Senators from their States and urge upon such citizens immediate and prompt action. Japanese Marines Landed. The state depaitment has received the following cablegram from United States Minister Allen, dated Seoul, Korea, December 13: "Japanese forces landed at Mokphe, a point on the west coast of Korea, 200 miles south of Chemulpo, to protect Japan ese subject from Korean rioters. This has no slgniflcnce, as trouble Is purely local." BUSINE8S BRIEFS. The failure of the Gross ft Strauss Co., dealers In ladles' garments and furnishings, Boston, was announced. Liabilities are estimated at $150,000. United States steel earnings for the current quarter are estimated as low as $16,000,000. It is again reported that a cut In steel rails frora $28 to $26 will soon take place, Panhandle directors have declared a dividend of lVs per cent on the oom man stock, payable February 15 to stock of record on February 5, and a dividend of 2 per cent on the preferred stock, payable January 15 to stock of record on January 5. Total stocks of all kinds of gitiln In I all positions in Chicago are now 12. 756.000 bushels, of which 5,354,iiOO bushels are of wheat. 3.21)4.000 bush I els are of corn, and 3,121,000 bushels oats. The total Is 7,489,000 buauDls 1 more than shown In tho official visi ble, nearly 150 per cent more. Directors -of the General Electrlo Company declared the regular quar terly dividend of 2 per cent. The Hocking Valley Railway Com pany has declared thie regular semi annual dividend of 2 por cent on its preferred stock and V,i on the com mon, payable January 18. Postal Clerks 8ntenced. - Columbus Ellsworth- Upton and Charles W. McGregor, former clerks In the postofflce department at Wash ington, who were found guilty of pos tal frauds, were sentenced by Judge Morris to sorve two years in the Maryland penitentiary and to pay a .fine of $1,000 each. The counsel for both defendants gave notice of appeal. MILLIONS STOLEN. Big Shortage Found In Chicago City Accounts. A shortage of $5,000,000 In the spec ial assessment bureau of the munici pal government of Chicago has been uncovered by expert accountants who audited tho books. Coupled with this big deficit are charge of mlsappio priatlon of funds and of criminal mis management for 32 years. While it Is known that much of this big sum which should have gone to the tax payers of Chicago In rebates for Im provements has been Illegally trans ferred during former years to the credit of other tnunielpn! government al departments which had exhausted their appropriations, It Is also known that a sum totaling up In the millions nas been stolen. Hundreds of thousands more went to members of the city hall clique, even after the rebate frauds had been Illegally transferred to the credit de partments. That was In the days before civil service. Thoic is $1,000, 0U0 duo Clileng citizens In rebates on sp'-clnl assessments made for lm- provment8. It was found that $15,- 925 In rebates hnve been twice paid out, doublo payments having been made on rebate warrants calling for this cum. POSTAL FRAUDS Prosecutions Are Barred by Statute of Limitations. Tho report of Charles J. Bonaparte and Holmes Conrad cn the charges made by S. W. Tulloch, former cash ier of the Washington ipostofllce, against the administration of the of fice, says that as prosecutions' are barred by the statute of limitations they speak from a legal standpoint. They say: The tendency to evade answering thosu charges evinced tiy those reply ing to the Postmaster Generals re quest for such answers Is Illustrated very forcibly by the chargos against Perry S. Heath, formvr First Assist ant Postmaster General, which have been made public and his answer to them. We consider that answer al together Insufficient, and no less un satisfactory In substance than In form." The report says the revision of Postmaster Wlllett's accounts la suf ficient to show that Mr. Heath's offi cial record Is not so clear as to defy suspicion. TELEGRAPHIC BREVITIES. Tho Tuscarawas river at Coshocton, O., Is frozen over for the first time In years. Rich gold fields are said to have been discovered In the Congo Free State. Spain will not participate In the St. I.ouls exposition, which was decided at a Cabinet council. Ixiretta McCani'on, aged 9. died at East Liverpool, O., from burns re ceived while playing about a bonfire. The United States Steel Corpora tion has seemed a large order for rails for a railroad In Arabia at about $23 a ton. The women's board of managers of the St. Louis exposition elected Mrs. Daniel Manning, of Albany, N. Y., president. The Warren (O.) Masonic lodge has purchased the Graham-Nash block for $2o,i)iii) and will remodel the structure for lodge purposes. Irishmen In the United tSates aro to be appealed to for funds for a mon ument at Ennlscortley to tho memory of the rebels of 1798. The Norwegian Authors' Associa tion has passed a resolution In favor of concluding a copyright agreement with the United States. At Valley City, N. D., tho mill and elevator of the Russell-Mlllor Milling Company were burned, with a loss of $75,000, partly Insured. The transport Sherman arrived at San Francisco frora Manila with the Thirteenth Infantry and two com panies of army engineers. About 4.000 Jews at Klshlneff, Rus- , 8. are asking for aid to emigrate to Argentina or to Canada. They want tracts of land to establish colonies. A telegram from Varuoe reports that the steamer Orion has been de stroyed toy Are. and that three of the crew and three passengers perished. Hug.h Jones, of Sharon. Pa., who was In the Youngstown (O.) hospital with a broken neck, will be discharged on Christmas day and pronounced cured. A conference at Manchester, Eng land of Lancashire cotton pplnners sent a messago to the cotton manu facturers of the United States and Europe suggesting short time in the mills. At Upper SandtiBky the jniy In the trial of Phillip Nagel, charged with the murder of his friend, William Wade, returned a verdict of murder In the firBt degree without recom mending mercy. Charles Rain. Sheriff of Cherokee county, Kan., was held up and robbed In the depot at Baxter Springs, Kan., by Clarence Cunningham, an escaped prisoner from the Columbia (Mo.) Jail after he had placed Cunningham under arrest. A call has been Issued for the an rual meeting of the United Mine Workers of tlw JlasBlIlon district to be held In Trades and Labor assembly i hall in Masslllon next Monday, at which time officers will be elected for the ensuing year. Engineer Knox was killed when the locomotive of the Chicago-Denver lim ited train on the Burlington road jumped the track near Malvern, Pa. Passengers were thrown Into a panic, but escaped with bruises. The will of the late Cardinal Hor pero y Esplnosa contains tho extra ordinary bequoBt of $10,000 to the first Spanish general landing In United States territory with an army suffi ciently strong to avenge the defeats of Cuba and th Philippines," The legacy Is to remain deposited In the bank of Spain. STUDENTS PLR1SH III FLAMES. FRENCH COLLEGE BURNED. Panlc-Strlcken Pupils Leap from Up per Stories and Are 8erk ously Injured. Fonr p?rsons are known to have been killed and perhaps 30 others in jured, 12 of them fatally, In a fire which consumed tho Central Tennes see college f;r young negro women at Nashxlllo, Tenn., a department of Walden university. It Is possible that the ruins may contain the bodies of other victims. The property loss Is estimated at $25,000. The known dead are: Stella Addi son, Port Gibson, Miss; Mattle Lee Moore, Huntsvlllo, Ala.; Sal Me Dado, Hopktnsvllle, Ky.; Nannie Johnson, Hnttiesbnrg, Miss. Fatally Injured: Eleanor Moore (white), prereptross), Chicago; Iady 11. Knox, Greenville, Miss; Mlnnlo Alston, Covington, Tenn.; Bertha Monford, Chicago; Lula Terry, Mc Mlnnvllle, Tenn.; Lula Mlllen, Cov ington, Tenn.; Ernestine McClenry, Fernnndla, Fla.; Leona Miller, St Louis; Knnnlo Harris, Maysvlllt;, Ky.; Nannlo Hcoze, Clnrksvlllo, Miss.; Vic toria Miller, Anchorago, Ky.; One Student, not Identified. Fire broke out about 11 o'clock In tho top of tho building, which was four stories high, and without fire escapes. It was occupied by about 60 students, who wero asleep when tho alarm was given. The wildest panlo ensuvd, tho women and girls rushing screaming to tho windows, from which they Jumped In droves, the dead and Injured lying In heaps where they fell, to be fallen upon by those following them from the flaming windows. Every ambulance In the city was soon on the scene, and tho Injured were bur rled to hospitals. 8IQNS OF INVASION. Colombian Troops Found Encamped Near the Isthmus. Marines will be rushed to the Gulf of Darien by Rear Admiral Coghlan to thwart any attempted Invasion of Panama by BOO Colombian troops which Capt. Turner of the Atlanta found encamped between Tomate and Tar-ana island. A similar movement will be made by Rear Admiral Glass toward San Miguel bay, on the south ern coast of the Isthmus, to prevent possible attack from that direction by a larger forco reported to be operat ing In thnt direction. Orders to this end wore sent to tho Isthmus from the war department and are the nntnral complement of the re cent landing trom tho Dixie of 400 ma Vln8 now encamped at Empire and of a battalion from tho Prairie now en camped at Cargona. The fleet in Isthmian waters will soon be strengthened by the addition of the cruiser Olympla which left Nor folk for Colon to-day and will relieve the Mayflower as flagship of Rear Ad miral Coghlan. The force of Colombians, which was taken from Cartagena recently and landed near the mouth of the Atrato river, has been discovered. The Uni ted States cruiser Atlanta discovered a schooner In the gulf of Darlen and on overhauling her. found that she was carrying a battalion of Colomliln soldiers to Join the others already there. An officer of the Atlanta land ed and had a talk with Gen. Ortiz, who commands tho Colombians. Ortiz pro tested In writing against the presence of the Atlanta In Colombian waters and demanded that she leave. The cruiser came to Colon where Comman der Turner made a report of the affair to Admiral Coghlan. 8tole Charity Funds. The Salvation army corps placed kettles on tripods In the business streets of Sharon, Pa., where money was contributed by the generous pub lic. The funds thus collected were to be used In giving the il children of the city a Christmas d stole two of the kettle Thieves fd the mon- ey they contained. 30,000 Men -V AH the coke operators of the Con nellsville and Lower, Connllsvllle re gions are following , the epmple of the H. C. Frkk Company, (and have posted notices of a wage iredoctlun. The scale Is the same as flat posted by the Frlck Company. In 11 the re duction will affect 30.000 mrn In tho Connellsvllle and liwer Connellsvllle regions and the Westmoreland coke district Used a Bottle on Suitor. Walter KugenskI, of Wilkesbarre, Pa., asked Anthony Balsork for per mission to marry his daughter and was so badly injured that he is in a dangerous condition. He has been In love for some time. To-day he summoned courage to ask the old gen tleman. Balsock promptly seized a bottle and battered the suitor's head. Balsock was arrested. Bank Merger Falls. The failure of the merger of the Fnrinera netv-.slt N'.itlonal Hank and ! the Colonial Trust Company; of Pitts- !)irrg, waj officially confirmed. The! lomclals of the Farmers Donoslt Bank prt to each of its stockholders a c'.r - I rular letter In which they state that the non-compliance of the Colr.n.lal Trust Company with the agreement renders It null and void and the agree ment is ended by Its own conditions. Thirteen Prisoners Escape. A sensational Jail break occurred at Tombstone, Ariz., and 13 prison ers escaped by sawing the jail bars and breaking through the Ja.. walls. Two of the prisoners, Bert Alverd and W. L. Stills, wero held as the prin cipals In tho Cochese train hold-up In this county a year ago. The form er was under sentence of two years In the penitentiary and the latter had six Indictments hanging over him on the samo charges. The other escaped prisoners are Mexicans, hold for petty REVIEW OF TRADE. More Confident Feeling in Iron and Steel Holiday Trade Very Large. R. O. Dun ft Co.'s "Weekly Review of Trado" says: Business Is decided ly better than at any recent date, and tho Improvement is not confined to activity In holiday goods. Continued low temporatunj not only stimulates retail solos, hut Joblers aro receiv ing supplementary orders for season- aiblo goods, and collections are more prompt. Railway tonnage Is heavy, and several manufacturing branches are starting Idle machinery. Confl- denre Is Increasing In the iron and steel Industry, and the feeling Is be coming more general that prices will not bo materially lower, except possi bly In some departments that have not yet participated In the readjust ment. It Is encouraging to find some Improvement in demand for pig Iron, although no extensive tonnage Is ex pected to be taken until 1904. Tho steel markets have been In a stuto of uncertainly during tho past week, ow ing to the numerous meetings In pro gress for the settlement of price lists and wage scales. Most producers In sisted thnt new business would not bo aoneleratod by further concessions, yet outside mills were offering bet ter terms, notably in tho case of bil lets. Structural material Is gradually reviving, contracts for new bridges and buildings coming forwa-d, and much construction work Is scheduled (or early in the spring. Failures this week numbered 329 In tho United States, against 267 last year, and in Canada 20, compared with 16 a year ago. Rradstreet's will say: Wheat, In eluding flour, exports for the week ending December 17 aggregate 3,363 035 bushels, against 4,599,330 last week, and 3,256.037 this week last year. For 24 weeks of the cereal year they aggregate 80,882,804 bushels, against 122.158(1535 In 1902. Corn ex ports for the week aggregate 637,857 bushels, agalnrtt 659,025 last week, and 1,326,141 a year ago. For 21 weeks they aggregate 26,899,368 bush els, against 6,662344 in 1902. BLOW AT RELIGIOUS ORDERS. French Deputy Prepares a Bill to Stop Church Schools. Premier Combes has communicated to the council of ministers the text of a (bill forbidding all teaching by the religious orders In France even those now actually authorized. The bill pro vides for the dissolution, accompanied by the sequestration of property, of such congregations as exist solely for the purpose of teaching and tho par tial sequestration of the property of thoso congregations which, in audition to teaching, also -conduct hospitals for the indigent- Five years are allowed for tho com plete carrying out of the proposed law the adoption of which will entail the closing of 1.299 schools for boys. 2,195 school buildings where girls are taught and all the schools conducted by the Christian brothers. Tho bill also pro vides for the enlargement of tho public schools conducted by the state. It Is estimated that the complete operation of the premier's plan will xost tho state $3,000,000. WAGE REDUCTIONS. Cut Will Affect 150,000 Employes of Steel Corporation. The Presidents of the subsidiary companies of the strel corporation have notified their employes of the wage reductions to go into effect Jan uary 1. . They will range frora 5 to 20 per cent, and will affoct all men where union agreements are not nec essary. In cases of unions, agree ments are expected to be made which will reduce wages uniformly. This reduction will affect about 150.000 workmen In the various grades of the subsidiary companies. The remaining 10 per cent of employes are members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel ft Tin Workers, whose wage schedule runs to July 1, 1904. BODIES OF CAPTIVES EATEN. Mad Mullah's Followers Said to Have Taken to Cannibalism. Advices from Somallland, East Af rica, say that the Mad Mullah's camp followers have taken to cannibalism owing to a shortage of supplies. The body of a captivo recently executed by the Mullah was Immediately car ried off and eaten. The feast was prtlclpated In by women, whom the Mullah subsequently ordered execut ed. These were In turn cooked and eaten by their late comrades. According to deserters, the Mullah Is not suffering from an actual scar city of food, but is husbanding his re sources and restricting the distribu tion of food strictly to the fighting men, leaving the camp followers to shift for themselves. Lost on Race Track. W, A. McKowan, secretary of the re gents of the California State univer sity, confessed to President Wheeler that he was a defaulter to the amount of $20,000 and possibly more. Most of of the money was lost at the race track. Dr. Hale Chosen for Chaplain The Republican Senators in caucus ! decided upon Rev. Edward Everett ' Hale. D. D.. of Boston, for chaplain I of the Senate, beginning January 1, He Is a Congregationallsf. and Is now 83 years old. For years he was pas tor of the famous South chnrch, in Boston Cashier Kills Himself. Harry W. Mayne, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants bank at Linn Grove, la., shot himself through tho heart. It Is believed that Mayne had been speculating on the Chicago board of trade. Officials of the banl. which la a private Institution, claim that the deposits, amounting to $100 0i)d, were controlled by the First Na tlonal bank of Storm Lake. The doors of the bank were not opened, Mayne left a widow and five children, Diversion of Rottrnlree, Only the other day I beard from one of my boys of two ways In which men have sought to save their reason when long In the dark cells for punishment. They are, I believe, much practiced and well known In prison. One Is to tnkc a pin Into the punishment cell with you. Then yon divert tho weary hours In thnt pitch darkness by throw ing It up In the air nnd when It falls you hunt for It on hands and knees, and thus give yourself nn occupation. Rut, alnsl tho officer niny know of this hunt for the pin nnd take It from you, so perhaps the other practice li more sure to keep thn brain from mad ness. That Is tho spelling of words backward, t bnvo at the present time In our Hope Jnll a man who ran spell nythlng just ns quickly In that fashion as In the ordinary way.snd when asked why he taught himself vhat semeed to bo such a useless accomplishment, he answered: "I saved myself from In sanity by It." The greatest blessing to the man In prison Is work. I had the opportunity of witnessing the'cvnel evils of enforced Idleness at tho time all work was tnken from the men In State Trlson In New York through labor ngltntlon. Mrs. Maud Booth, lu Leslie's Monthly. t'nltcfl Stated Alirnntt. If you could only know what the United States Is called abroad you might Join a society for the preserva tion of geographical names In theli original purity. There 1 neither ren son nor excuse for calling us "Statl Unltl." In Italian; "Estados Cnldo." In Spanish; "Etnts Unls," In French) "Verelnigte Rtaaten." In Germnn, etc The whole world should cnll us the United States In plain Amorlcnnese. But wc are guilty of Anglicising thl names of foreign countries. Why should wc say "Spnln," when thl nnme of the country Is "Espanar Why "Sweden," when It Is "Scverlge?" Why "Hungnry," when It Is correctly "Mngyararszag?" Why "Italy," In. stead of "Italia?" Why "Prussia," In stead of "Preussen?" Why "Tus cany," rather than "Toscano?" Why "Turkey," Instead of "Osmanll Vllale tl?" Why "Japan," Instead of "Nip pon?" nnd so forth. New York Press. Ort Poinlhllltlns of tho ratnre. Egypt Is not as large ns New Mexico, It Is even more arid, and yet, along ltt only river, the Nile, 5,000.000 acres ar under cultivation, and this area Is be lng greatly augmented by the complo tlon of the great dam at Assouan, built bv the British Government. Along tbf Rio Grande, the Nile of New Mexico, only 250,000 acres arc under cnltlva' tlon, counting In the Irrlgnted land along the tributary to the Rio Grande, or only one-twenty-llfth of the ares under cultivation along the Nile. Thil will give an Idea of the magnitude of the possible deve lopment of New Mexl co by tho building of storage reser voirs. There Is no reason In the world why New Mexico should not eventual ly support a population of 10,000,000 people. Santa Fc New Mexlctin. Animals anil Second Bight. It Is a common belief that many an imals see ghosts and future events. Kerner declares thnt they are endowed with second sight. This faculty ll thought to be especially strong In dogf and horses. Storks are known tc have foreseen the burning of houses on which they have been wont to build their nests nnd to have aban doned them, taking up their abode on other buildings or on trees In the vi cinity. No sooner had tho anticipated conflagration taken place and a new house been erected on the same slti than they returned and built their nests as before. Slate Kdneatlnn. The great State universities make thl acquiring of an education possible tc any boy or girl who has sufficient am bltlon to apply It. They meet the de mands of the co-operative socialists. Excluding the charges for technical and professional departments, Indiana and Kansas universities require no fees. In Missouri there is an "en trance, laboratory nnd Incidental fe of $3." Michigan, besides matricula tion and diploma fees. Imposes an In cidental fee of $30 a year; Wisconsia an Incidental fee of $20; Illinois, $24. and Iowa, $23. A New Saccharine Plant. A report from Germany Is to tbe eft feet tbat plant has recently been found In South America with containi considerable quantity of saccharin matter, is not fermentable and pos sesses an unusually strong saccharin taste. Tbe celebrated chemist, Ber tonl, considers this plant of great val ue from an Industrial point of view on account of Its natural sugar proper ties, which are of high percentage, and the sugar obtained from the plant ll said to be from twenty to thirty timet ai sweet as ordinary cane or beet su gar. Dogs In England. Every dog In England has to pay an annual tax, which amounts to seven shillings and six pence a year. Free from this tax are, however, all dogs of less than six months of age, as well as shepherd aud butcher's dogs. Ac cording to olliclal returns, there were last year 1,871,019 dogs lu Euglund paying this tax, which means a total revenue for tho Government of about $3,300,000. The city of London aloue bad 153.307 tax-paying dogs. The Hygiene of Perfumes. Perfumes are iiot selected for their hygienic value, but such they huve. Doctors tell us that a handkerchief may 'je mado antiseptic by the use of perfume. The action of the spirit of the scent and the essential oils can de stroy the gonna. Lavender Is sup. posed to soothe the nerves, that Is why the bed linen Is lavender scented. Jus. mine Induces nerve exhaustion and de pression. Don't use strong scent; use delicate, clean perfumes only. .. ..
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers