In 1831 Spain exacted from Cuba taxes amounting to §26,000,000. The Germans havo dealt English commercial prestige in Russia a severe blow. England spent $600,000 licking tho King of Asliantee, and then charged him §BOO,OOO for tho fun. The Michigan Supremo Court lias decided that it is no libel ior a critio to dissect and ridicule a book, so tho merry work can go on. A leading New York publisher has • announced that ho will no longer pub li-h books of verso. "Poetry," ho says tersely, "does not pay in this era." Canada is proposing to mako a law against American Sunday papers which interfere with tho circulation of tho Canadian Monday papers. Canada papers are not allowed to publish a Sunday edition. The Brooklyn Eagle has discovered that it costs more to fire the twelve inch gun at Sandy Hook. N. J., than it does to pay, clothe and feed for a whole year tho soldier who fires it. Tho expense is §561.70. Baron de Zuy'en, President oi the Auto-Mobilo Company, of Paris, says that tho horse has got to go. Horse less carriages, wagons and trucks are rapidly driving him ofi" tho streets o. Paris, and soon there will bo small room left for him in the world. A French paper devoted to the building trades has invited architects to send it their opinions on the sub ject of "ilia best way to accommodate bicycles in private houses." The Paris Figaro adds: "Doubtless we shall soon Fee advertisements of houses to let or for sale with 'excellent stab ling for several bicycles.' " A representative of the Moscow (Russia) Cotton Exehango lias just made a trip through tho Southern States, negotiating with cotton deal ers for tho purchase of raw materials, lie says that Russia has liceu buying Egyptian cotton, hut owing to the in creasing prices they h:c ■ been led to investigate the cotton ■. this country. He says that the quaib v of American cotton is much b-i tc- Uau he antici pated and the price lower. Thcro are moro rumors that Great Britain, to plcaso France, will evacu ate Egypt. When Great Britain gets ready to evacuate India it will evacu ate Egypt, and not before. The closei Russia creeps to Constantinople the tighter grows tho Rrilish grip upon tho Suez Canal nud neighboring Africa. In tho opinion of the Washington Star, John Bull will not surrender what he has seized and now possesses, and what is, moreover, of vital im portance to him—even to pieast France. Tho New York Journal soys: Tho old and romantic Spanish Don, in doublet and hose, disdains mathe matics entirely. And yet thcro is a humorous side even to enumeration. Up to dato the war in Cuba has cost him §50,000,000, and the estimates for the second year are §75,000,000. Dar ing tho first yoar ho lost 406 soldiers in contiict and 0172 by yellow fever, and to-day Cuban insurrection is in better shape than it was a year ago, To complicate this prodigious and hopeless task by incidentally whip ping tho United States, at tho nuno rate, transfers Cervantes to Yankee- I'am and recalls Byron's remark that "ho had laughed Spain's chivalry away." The year 1806 is likely to he nclablo as tho beginning of a new era of r. - feareli an 1 discovery in tho ton h :1 field of light. Several weeks a. > n German profes or in Wurzburg i versify, while experimenting w h tin "cathode rays" from a Crooke's tub •, happens:! to hold his hand over a pho tographic sensitive plate exposed to the rays, when, to his astonishment, i.e found that an indistinct image of the bonesof Ins hand had been let on the plate, lie was not searching for such n result; in fact, he was and is still in vestigating an entirely different sub ject. Ho found tbat. by the cathodo lavs, or X rays us ho prefers to call them, in default of exact knowled;-) <.f their origin, ho was ablo to photo, graph a coin inside a leather purse, in u wooden box or through several books. Ho announced these facts to to the world, nud thu result hat been to arouse tho most intense intere-i everywhere. Scientists who have the fuoilities within reach are themselves experimenting with 'he now light, while the great mass of | opto who must take tho discovery second hmi 1 are awaiting further developments with impatience. ; WORSE THAN DEATH _ HOW CAPTURED CUBAN REBELS ARE PUNISHED. i 'terrible Tortures that Await Luck* li'hs Insurgents iu Spanish Prisons ! -Shackled and Walled Up in Damp I Dungeons and Left to ltot and Die. Cells Arc Living Tombs, j Tho desperation of the Cubans who i are lighting Spain for the liberty of ! their island excites wonder at tiin ?• i in the American mind, and soiue are inclined to tiling them 100 bloodthirsty in their system of warfare. It is true, very little quarter is given tle Span ish soldiery in any of the conflicts where the insurgents havo tho upper hand, but there is a good, substantial reason for this Seeming heartlessness. The soldiers of the insurgent army know that a fate blacker than death will he tlieir allotment if they fail. Tho kingdom of Spain lias never displayed a gentle lmnd to its enemies Dark >...' •'. WI• ' t I f\ -'T r- \ ■ a-lav \ , ' .. I ! IX K< ITT IOX IN A SPANISH PJUSON. echoes of tin* inquisition permeate its treatment of malefactors, for as such the Cuban insurgents are rega The prison system of Spain is more barbarous to-day than that of oitliei Turkey or ltussia, and that is saying . a good deal. For more than a thousand years the ' Spaniards havo made a study of tor t lure, and tho long aeeinnuhiiion of knowledge I.ended from one genera tion to another, and elaborated on by each, makes their prisons the worst on earth. There are nun forgotten and unnamed rotting away in the Spa ills i i duygeons to-day, under conditions more horrible than that pictured by Dickens in his Tale of Two Cities, in the character of the old doctor confin ed in tho Hastile for twonty-livo year.;. Men who took part in tho previous Cu ba n rebellion, nearly a generation ago. . may still be living in the dungeons Thirty years hence some of the m. who are now lighting so valiantly in 5 Cuba may be rotting away in ihes.nnr pest holes, it is this prospect which • makes them desperate and bloodthii. , ty. and eager to accept a thousand risks to shake off the torture which 1 awaits them. i Fach week batches of Cuban m. I poets arc forwarded Spain. T<> Iu a . suspect is equivalent to being guilty. and those who go will, in all prnhnbil ' ity, never return. If a wealthy pin lit er is suspected of furnishing financial ; aid to the insurgents lie is pounced up oil and shipped off. Infinitely bet.tot would have been his fate if he had , joined tho insurgent, army and bet n killed on the Held of battle. Tho ordi nary suspect is not executed, but if h. be proved guilty of treason tho gar rote will speedily end bis troubles. Tho garroto is the otflcial form of cap : Air'" f /if SU - A . ..... r-j. ? -8- \ Op i * , r ■ ft >:> L ri -- -— '—l ■ ( : * IN \ m NO r.o.x. ital punishment in Spain. Nearly all of the death sentences ate executed in tin- i'ra.lcr.i de bi Ysidro, in .Madrid. Ail executions are public, and are us ually l:e!d early in ih. morning. Tin criminal is always mounted upon the back ola tiny Spanish donkey and goes to the ; ico of execution iii a pro co-Mou wiii- !i coiisi- ts of citizens, pri -is and soldiers. Prior to leaving the j; isoii in which the condemned ha*, been (oiiflii sl. ma1 ! sion. My name is Unhurt:, but 1 inw ■ ! yet heard myself referred .a - "Hob." - or -Mr." So 1 mail ever achieves a real suece. s in H polities who lias not that peculiar I i- mil with th" pi pic ih ii pronqc ; them to refer to him by a nickname or V in some familiar way. Webster was II always *T.! ick Dan;" i.e. an. "Ulaek Jack:" .lack,:-n was "Old Hiekery" and ••AndyLincoln was "Abu" or "Um-te 1 Abe." It is not a question of dignity. ' T here i-' 110 more dignlfl d man than c> rres'nleiil lfftrri-i n. and yet no one speaks of him by Ids title. He is al " wa.is refpiTt'rt lo as "Ben." 1 went 1 through my district after serving one term in Congress, and 1 could tlud no e\ idenee that any one had (?ver dtibia v ernor without a ni< .kname. and 1 km w 1 I could not hope to break the record. ' Washington Siar. Hon He Learned the News. ! Smiator Stephen I*. Klkins. of M est : Virginia, tells an interesting story i-,,',ah].v. Toll hi,a ,o In llio mallor rosi until 10-nion'ow.' Sho ilolivoreil llio nit- -:iuo, but roiurn od shorlly to >ay that tho man insisit d on talking to urn. 1 wont to the nl - li wns the telegraph operator, and 1 i i o llio- S.U'O ho was iryin.x m li'iin-aalt lo mo was: 'V, lion .shall 1 ■ml you my shoos? Johnson It. ram . don.' Then 1 know thai I had I l iaison to 1111 tho shoos of that w ,rthy , irontloman." A fc'eiintor's Call for Water. | When a Senator wauls a drink of water ho wants ii badly, ilr. (ioor. j was talkto.a the other day and stoppi i hi his oh loin; oniuirfli to hurl a i oinuiiiml at on -oi ihe pagi "li.rins nio some waior hero." Ho was lalkiio; about Kl'ass -ooils. I ami llio suhji- 1 must havo l-oon a dry , one, lorhofin-on i-asi- i-ould i each lii.n , the Sena lor shouted at another: i "i Jivi* mo a little wall r here!" I'y this lime tho italli-rlos. as well a. llio pam's. h-arued that the Si-iiafi-!- 1 from .Mississippi wn.. atliirst. SI ill Hi i patio did uot appear. 'I lieu, 111 disnora tlon, the Senator ilnvw out his int.; I la a nmst pleading maniior, and o-. claimed: > "Is there any water about here an: ■ whore?" < This outburst united forth a hurst of j i In tighter from the Senate and gallon'. 1 Tile s mil tor joined in tin- laugh ldm : j -in a few minutes. This ■i 1 I . (pionch his thirst, for he didn't touch j • his glass or water for ilv,- minutes after ' it reached hint. -Washington Time.,. PERILS OF SPRING IN THE WEST. PIMM; is the most perilous sea- HI of lUe year in the far West **•— mi.l is always attended with great - of lii'o ail properly, fierce hli:.- zanis •>w i•.■ {i across llic great plains of , i.:c Dakota-. Wyoming and Colorado, marking llieii* course with the frozen ' car. ;u> -s of thousands of caitlo. The bli/.zard give.-; but a brief warn ing •. j; s coining. Only those close to shell t may jiope to escape its fury,' 1 ho cowboy on the distant range reads' the sign in the sky. notes the action of ■. the cattle, and prepares lo battle for his life, t'saaily a snowfall precedes the Mi/.zard. fie snow Is line and light ( and dry. The atmosphere is calm and , '■old, tiie leniperaturo being below the freezing point, but there is a feeling of j oppn -.'iveness in the air. The sky is dull ;ad leaden. Ilrute instinct is : quicker to discover these signs of the | approaching blizzard than the int dll- • geiice of man. The cattle begin to * gather for protection. lir.t in small' bunches which meet and mingle until they have grown to the proportions of I ah. rd. Animals that liflve strayed oil' j ah,ne are at true tod 10 the cons antly ; iffc is j a body, and ; hey a. proacli the common center from alii larts • f the r tug \ Not a breath of air j has yet disturbed the m-wly fallen snow, hut the sk.v is growing darker, and nolwitl; landing the coldness the air semes I.envy and produces a sult'o catin alien. Snd ; iil.v the leaden hue fades i'nen the sk; : it grows bla.ck in an hist* lit. The )\ r, cry falls to zero within a < w moniei;: and . uiitinnes to sink toward i he bulb of i he thermotnetcr. The cold j is bitter and keenly penctiv. \ ing. i it j ii: pew er : > chill and kill will he wd clo; or together. Presently 11 ere com •ia low moa i ing sound from th north: ii grows! shriller until it re iiibles a wail: ii ' i - ami .-w alls into a how! and tlmn a shriek, as the great cunmils of ah j frm.i iiattire's cold storage • v. * v;> \\ i: h cyclonic fury over the tre d plain.. : The air is thick with lii:c, cold snows j the cowboy and bin pony are o 1)11 ! •' j ate 1 from the vi on and tie- herd is but j a mas • of Incomplete and shadow} Im'iris. i hi* bli/.gaid i.xs : in. The buffalo ciiat of the cowboy dues not colli lo afl'-"'! htm any 1 ' to:* pr.u :i o : m jf p Vi . iV ~f dn-m: th.- • wind linds Ms way into irv-.-ry oj sms and peiici rau s 11 th !; cm .. r ; a . i liougll ii were a sir .c. 1i i , :n • • -mien!:!rii.v bliii e I by t - I • • . -' ! snow. and i here i . -i -o in.: :; .. . ...i ; ia his face a.- if a ma. s of ehlilod nee ! !h -• w re 1,--dnr hur! • ! into it • o-.h i ; .Jill. His iii• time lit is for -Licj• r, out whitimr w.l la- go ." The; •• arc n • : ■ ay eardi: al painls of Jao coin da . hhirlh, c;ish south and west av all one now . I'licre i not Id. -g hu; a w\ irliiig. swirling, blimiii.g mass oi : o\V aid I lie shriek oi 'he tempest. He cauirot trust to his ] will come momentary lulls when t! • rider may tako bis hearings, bti i- due I. - can make much headway in wl I 1. t hinlis i !he right dliv.-ii,,,! die bll' ,ji'! .1 is again i:; u; lain aud ; often the skillful guiding' of his pon.v wdl V? suit in travcling in a circle. Tn • rd. with tin :-.us instinct up P'-rnmsi in the pony, turns tail n th stern! and d il'ts v. ith it. h'ia? h-.di, - " ' • •! d. Old •!• ! ; 111,. arc s ">:i I!!• !; with snow ami there is a constant snuggle for a pin near the center el' the bunch, whore the ; auro a ading animals impart warmth and serve to break the paw erfid force of the wind, Ii is a cmtlcst in which the gnmg 'M .r ihr surviv ors and the we ik. •: peri h. If the biizzard la: ts but a few hours all may escape: if l'or dny.% then only the hardy animals will be left. Fol lowing in the path of the blizzard tlm I rider will emue upon the dead carcas - es of the animal.-- singly, in twos, and smooth. • a many a (1 n will fall and perish toge'lier. The In ;iv; iiiaw tl: - often foll"\v fasr upon t! blizzard frequently • causes as heavy *le; s m cattle as the bliz vird it If. i'li c,i i tic m '!x the low laud i • wt. i'lit re tlicy tlnd that the tcritie wind has swept away the no . The gr;; s tinge ig nine luxu riant than on the range, but with each hour of si: Mhlnc tin ir looting buooines more and m . insecure and tltey sink decpi'i' and deeper Into the soft iniro of the marshy ground. Those that Save been weak nod either through lasiiii. or the rigors of tho storm are It :1 fast. In tin'spring every nmraliy • . crliole Is ch s !y wat *hed by tho cat lleip, ;i and thousands of cattle are res cued. 'lMit.se place* that arc hot v. nich ed are thick!, strewn with carcasses, and in the summer and fall look llko bojieya I'; I s. NO CHANCTTO CHEAT. Comiuctorrt to Carry "Keigistcr nuil Face Collector," The nickel in-t he slot machine is about to enter a new tield in lietroif. It is to assist street car conductors in their work, and is called a "register and fare collector." It is a niekei plated contrivance which will hang around the conductor's neck. Fingers that i' h for Illegitimate coin will not touch tlie fares. The com!w ;or will present his machine in the passenger's face in hold-up fashion, ai d the pas senger will trail, in* bis 5-eont piece from Ills pocket to the machine. The coin will rattle down into its depths until a little bell will jingle. This v. d inform the passen. r that Ins faro is recorded in due and proper .form. He will • h down assiii; d that it will reach the coffers of tli • company instead of the pocket of the ccaduotor. The con ductor will be ordered to linger neither llie coin nor the tick* . T : y pr -s di rectly from the hand of the pntseong'T 'C; .■ | !: ' ,T Ycy.;!, /" v 'ch. x:C:'k Vv': V:V iY. r u . - Mv ev-:) , ■ -uJ sivrtrr. i" ads t ic-'o a lilies i I but th" oliic. rs of th - a,patty a: . tire I them il is fur the |>u'-t' : * ; " of curing .. • ■■ . ... i era*.; - N. d.ouo (•;: \\ \ ca. in 10..- a-s frmu j both these sour • • . "v-id - the machine wlti !i the : Dcindt company K to confer upon all its conductors, the mail who calls out ' 1 ■. d" will he '■ • h : do\ n hii an .o;: * : de\ Ice. T,. •, . ihe ch.'lli e be.\. | built on the j>! .of the dime banks, ! v.-'edi Wi'i'e j ap iiia r a few .\ars ago. Tl i is merely a .e x ivaiu eto get out of the ditlicaliy c: iii vi eg into the pock r after change. The company has been Investig.iiiug all sorts and man ners *{ ci uriva c* - t d'-inay klepli • a oil the part of tie-conductor, but the rcgi . is tlie invention regarded as ilie safest, however irksome it may be for the conduct or to wear it. TIMOTHY E. BYRNES, Who is* to fh Bei-Kuant-at-A > iusi of t he Kcpiiblican Netionnl Convention. Timothy F. I'ynies, who will be ser *. a i.i-ai artcs of tlie K publican mi tiona I convention at St. Mods, i: a pr.t" iicing attorney of Miniicajielis. and a managing jioiiti' ian of wide CXJK ri cnce and neknowlcd red tact. This ex k vf ilk; Ayy\ .' - j. i •' v l sv k f I. ; . s s ' , -• ' TlMouiv i:. uvn> t jm rlcnoe and tad he gained not < nly in tho inner sanctuary of the Nliuue sotH tetuplo of b' Muiblicain. in, but in posts of a national s<- pc. When Wiii inm Wimloin was in the cabinet Mr. llryims was aiipointcil cl-erk ef the Treasury Department. There he made many friends among the I aders of his party. H • added to ' • rc • ita'ioii by sue • fill work ill ramie., fun d dur ing bis term as -retaky • f tin Na tional League of Republican (Mill is.. Mr. I;*\ m ■ and.!, d. ' lark son have always been close friends, and bis appoint ment is lai-"iy due Jo tlie lowan's friendship. A woman who new r marries misses the granted, ojiportuuity of l *r lii'i* to be a mai 'yr. COL. R. W. THOMPSON I NOW LIVING QUIETLY AT TERRE HAUTE, IND, he Once Feircturv of the Navy Paas- j JUL-. ITIA Declining Days in a Tran- j quit Iloiiii I'lnuucd hy Himwclf ami WiV Nearly llalf n Century Ago, Four Fin re and Seven. In I >-|y U.v'-.i 111 homo :iI TcriV Ilnuto. ! 'I . {'nl. Richard \Y. Thompson Is oil "'.vin. I well •;!rnetl rest. alter half a '•••ittiiiy of important judicial, leglsla- J ti\c ami administrative duties. At the aue J %. W. THOMPSON. i n .'id ,tears younger, his iutelleet is strong as e\< r. and the eiear appro- j ! -• ■•HI. the sterling eluiraeler that i 'i'. ■ him an i aipnrl anl figure in Con ml in ii.e Presidential Cabinet , •''ir: g viia] ja i iods of tin- nation's his- < ; n-y. nsaniiv i themselves powerfully 1 v.'h ii !:.• is called upon to express his I sentiments on questions of thu day. • ' ght rp in tli" vicinity of such men j : i a '• •• :). Madison and Monroe, tli" of Adams. Jackson, Webster. cla\ and ( alhoun. the intimate friend 1 "• !:!••■: : sin snen and orators, his \ ommorics embrace tiie inosi interest- j phas.i s of national politics, and all | , 'sc..,- :( a nice; a Oilier men in various ' !' •id in public life have aeeuniu- j ' ! 'Hc i - of dollars. Col. Thonip- ' "i is far from being wealthy, as rich j men ire rated, and tlie competency It" i v.a., derived from sources wjiol l.\ cjiarale from polilies. •he \e ita.ilili ex-Secretary of the j " v i-nm near <'ulpcpcr. \ a„ in IN' < f mrained Anuniean stock, ami ; ihroii iieut his life his habits of; •• h. his ! 'pi I a lily, ! ; culture and j • •'1 • i ;• • i.iivr been 1 hose of the ; Hed. w red Southerner. Twen yi.i. later, at the Christmas' • • s 'ii. i e (el l for Ihe West ami set- ; i ! at K •dfcid. Ind.. as a \ ouilg law- j In 1 *-• ! - h" !!> hy 1 *!•; -Mont Hayes was nearly ' ■ill tho time serving tin; people in a j judicial capacity. During (ho war IK- J was provost marshal of his district ami \ ilril 1"*1 four regiments an official cu- j m-miiy fraught with danger in thai par I lieubir district. v.herc ihat somewhat i f.st nts and deadly association, Urn j Kit M< i,l the Cnldi'ii Circle, ware a | strong pr. scut social feature. It was j i; his til st term in Congress, in INII. j i! ti 'ci. Thompson mot Abraham Lin coin, the acquaintance grow into a ; i ri.-: dsi p which emlurcd until the ! death of Lincoln. When the latter was j President he urge,! Col. Thompson to j i;ij a - a! en the bench of tin- Court ' of Claims. The ex-Congressman /. rahms support on ' tump. As a Presidential elector, i isi his viii" for the first President 1 111 the name. Nearly lifty-six years j M .erward his support materially aided i i!m grandson in securing the nominn-j . a and elect ion.