The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, September 02, 1891, Image 2
6
DROPPED TO DEATH.
rr? i x_ nr _ 1. _ mi..!.
j. ITU At'ruiiauis inane iiieu
Last Ascent in Balloons.
& Man Drowned and a Woman
Falls 500 Feet.
Prince De Ive, otherwise known as James
Buckingham, made a balloon ascent from
Lake View Point, on Onondaga Lake, N. Y.,
a few days since. De Ive was to drop from
a parachute into the water after performing
some feats while hanging to the parachute
ring.
The ascent was made in the afternoon,
and was the first of a propose! series to take
Elaco during the week. The others will not
e made, for De Ive fell to his death. He
was drowned, and his body has not yet been
recovered from the forty-foot deep water in
which it went down.
Special trains carried crowds to the place
of the ascension and three lines of boats carried
other throngs thither until 7000 peoDlo
had assembled about Lake View Point. De
lve made tne ascent in nis oauoou just oefore
sunset, as he has made hundreds of
other ascents.
His h3bit is to go about 1000 feet into the
air in the talloon, and then jump with the
parachute, to which he clings until within
?00 or 300 feet of the ground, when he drops.
The parachute as a rule floats away some
distance in the breeze, landing where it will
do no harm.
The fatal ascent was made with the usual
Ieatures, and the thousands of people on tho
lake shore craned their necks, watching the
rising balloon and then the falling parachute.
When Buckingham let go the ring to which
he had been clinging the excitement of the
onlookers reached its height. Buckingham
dropped into the water about fifty feet off
shore, and where the depth is about forty
feet.
The parachute dropped directly after him
in the same line, ana just as Buckingham
came to the surface the Heavy metal ring of
the parachute fell over his shoulders and
carried his head down into the water, while
his le^rs were kicking above the surface.
Not fifty feet from him was a boat with
two finndred passengers, and tho accounts
8&y that not one of therr. made a move to
t,h? Hrnwriinir mail.
?fe sank soon after the parachute had fallen
on him and never came to the surface
again.
A Woman's Frightful Fall.
One ol the attractions at Coney Island, a
Cincinnati resorts was a baloon ascension by
Miss Annie Harkess, whose home is in Terra
Haute, Ind. T e young woman had acquired
some distinction as an areonaut and
had made a number of daring
parachute descents from the balloons.
A large crowd of pleasure seekers
thronzed the grounds to witness the ascension.
At the appointed time the young
woman came forward and stepped into
the car. The ropes were loosened at onco
and the balloon rose rapidly. At an elevation
of about 500 feet tne parachute was let
go. Tho parachute slowly began to unfold.
Suddenly there was a dreadful hush, like the
silence of death. The parachute bad closed,
an J with its human burden was falling with
frightful velocity. The young woman was
dashed to death, falling upon the turnpike,
mrr n r i non TTTftnr Ti
l tLJti JjADUH WUIWjLJ,
London has 500,000 factory hands.
Copenhagen has 15,030 union men.
Spain polled 250,000 votes for labor candidates.
The Journeymen Tailors' Union has 11,000
members.
New York railroaders have a building
and loan association.
Sixteen labor papers have been excluded
from the German mails.
The first trades union of women in Belgium
is an organization of women tobacco
workers in Antwerp.
Ten thocsand men are employed repairing
the Chinese palace. The carvers struck
and got ?5 a day and three meals.
England's representatives in the Labor
Congress at Brussels will bs trade unionist?,
and will form about oae-t!iird of the Congress.
In many of the agricultural districts of
the United States it is difficult to get first
class help, although the wa^es range from
$18 to *40 a month.
Statistics show that for unskilled labor
women are paid at least one-third less than
men for the same work. For skilled labor
they are paid much more than men.
Women in Australia, according to evidence
given before the Workshops and Factories
Commission, are generally paid at
least one-third leas than men for the same
work.
Three years ago Austria had 103 labor
organizations with 12,000 members, and
eleven labor papers with 15,400 subscribers;
it has now 209 labor organizations with 47,00i)
members, and forty-one labor papers
with 127,850 subscribers.
The four children of Jean Culina, who
was seut to prison for six years for alleged
U15U^{tUUU IU i lUb av X'UUl 1XJIC3, I iauvc, vn
May 1, have been adopted by the National
Executive Committee of the French Labor
party. They will be cared for and educated
at the expense of the organization.
About thirty local and central labor
unions were represented at the recent convention
of the Massachusetts State Labor
Federation. During the past year three
unions were disbanded, while twelve have
been organized. The Legislative Committee
reported that several bills proposed by them
had been adopted by the Legislature,"among
which the abolition of the fine system,
amendment? to the "Weekly Payment act,
nine hours for county employes, restricting
child work, regulating the sweating system,
raising school age to fifteen, appointing woxneu
factory inspectors, and tenement house
statistics.
BLOODY WOEK IN CHILI,
Hundreds of People Killed tn
Pisagua?The Governor's Fate.
James Knox, a native of Chili, whose father
was English, h? s just reached San Francisco
from Pisagua, Chili. He had been working
for years on the nitrate docks at that place,
but recently was discharged with 5000 other
men, mostly miners. He was an eye-witnes3
to the capture of the city by Balmaceda's
troops end the ferocious punishment indicted
on ad who opposed the Dictator. Governor
Valenzula, who had he?n driven from the
city by the insurgents, returned with Balcnaceca's
soldiers and wreaked his vengence on
those who had conspired against him. Executions
became so common that they excited
no notice. Although people were
starving in the streets none dared complain
of the Governor's action in lacking up grain.
Twenty miners came in one day from the
mountains, and when they failed to get supplies
attacked the Governor's house with cobblestones.
He ordered the troops to fire on
the mob, and twenty-five persons, mostly
women and children, were killed.
Finally the city was bombarded by the
inMir~ents. Out of 300 troops only twenty
were alive when the firing ceaseJ, and the
losses among the inhabitants were terrible.
The cruel Valenzula was made a prisoner and
taken on board a war vessel which steamed
out of the harbor. When it returned the
Governor was missing, but it was reported
that he had been cast overboard as food for
the sharks.
AMERICA'S CHANCE.
She Mav Control the Grain Market
U'Kurope Has Bad Weather.
A London dispatch says that rye has risen
sight shillings in Amsterdam, and both there
?nd in Berlin it is decidedly cearer than
wheat. On an average Germany import
8,500,000 quarters from Russia; Holland, 1,000,000
quarters; Italy, 500,000quarters, and
Norway and Sweden, 1,500,000 quarters. Nc
country can supply th.s loss. America is
tble to supply only 1,000,000 quarters,
therefore the loss must b? replaced by
wheat.
Much now depends upon the next fort
night's weather in Europe, and America
may be in a position to control the mar
tec.
THE NEWS EPITOMIZED.
Eastern and Middle States.
The prica of rye has advanced heavily it
' the New York Produce Exchange.
Eighteen* persons were hurt, severa
seriously, by a collision bet ween an express
and freight train at Egg Harbor City, N. J
Many notable people attended the funera
- t t-> tf t 11 ci _,i
oi dames nusseu ajowcii hi. nuiaiu vui
lege, Boston. The city bells were tolled a;
the body was borne to Mt. Auburn Cerne
tery.
The Centennial of Vermont's admission to
I the Union was celebrated by tha dedication
of the monument in commemoration oi tae
| revo.utionary battle of Bennington. The
I city of that name was a complete mass of
! bunting and flags, and President Harrison
and many other prominent people too<c part
in the exercises.
"Wheat jumped up thirteen csnts a bushel
in two days in the New York mar.cet. causing
great excitement on tua Produce Exj
change.
| Mr. J. Briggs, a farmer at Danbury,
Conn., was riding u >on a mowing-machine,
when one wheel of the machine struck a
stone and he was thrown off. The horses
ran away and he was drawn into the knives
and fatally mutilated, both arms being cut
off below the elbow.
Leonard Weaver, forty-two years old,
ana Johu Shuster, thirty-seven years old,
were drowned in a deep cess-pool at Pittsburg.
The upward turn in the price of wheat on
the New York Produce Exchange was followed
by quite a fall in quotations. More
than 21,00u,000 bushels were bought and sold
in one day.
Jesse Pomeroy, the notorious boy murderer,
was discovered at work on the oars of
his ceil with a case knife which had been
' notched so as to make a very good saw.
Pomeroy is serving a solitary life sentence in
Massacuusetts.
President Harrison on his way from
j Cape May to attend the centennial exercises
at Bennington, Vt., made short addresses at
Kingston, New burg, and Albany, N. Y.
Charles Lawrence, ex-Assistant Cashier
of the broken Keystone Bant, of Philadelphia,
found guilty of conspiracy and making
false entries, has been sant to prison for
seven years.
South and West.
Miss Clyde Ragland,daughter of Squire
J. P. Ragland, a wealthy farmer of Louisville,
Ky., was thrown irom a horse, and,
her feet catching in the stirrup, she was
kicked to death.
Two men were instantly killed, a third
was fatally injured and two others were
badly hurt by an explosion in a powder fac!
tory at Kellogg, W. Va.
Congressman John R. ga5tble,of South
Dakota, is dead. He was born in Alabama,
N. Y., in 1840.
The price of December wheat rose eight
cents a bushel, amid much excitement, on
the Chicago Board of Trade. Rye also advanced
eight cents and corn three cents a
bushel
.1 l. Bay has been arrested at Little
Hock, Ark., on a warrant sworn out by
I State Treasurer Morrill, charging him with
j the larceny ot ?100,000 State scrip.
| Many cattle were killed during a heavy
i storm in the vicinity of Sumner. 111.
| After the recent rise in the price of grain
in the Chicago markets there came a big
I break, and the gain was more than lost.
1 While bathing in the Red River near
Grand Forks, N. D., the Rev. William T.
Currie, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal
Church, Miss Ruth Currie. his daughter,
aged thirteen, and Mrs. Dora Van Kirk,
were all drowned.
Michael Ahern', of Murray, Iowa, shot his
fourteen-year-old daughter for interfering
in a quarrel between father and mother.
| Farmers have established a shot-gun
I quarantine over the "Blue Bottoms" District,
near Independence, Mo., where there
! are twentv-five cases of smallpox.
i A fire at Waco, Texas, destroyed a dry,
goods and a house furnishing establishment,
| causing a total loss of $250,003.
Three young lady artists were drowned
by the upsetting cf a boat in the Ohio
River opposite Cincinnati.
"Washington.
The President has appointed Charles W.
Erdmao, of Louisville, as Consul to Colon.
Dr. Rolaxd H. Falkxer, of the University
of Pennsylvania, has been asked by the
Senate Committee on Finance to assume tht
direction of its coming important investiga
tion into the effect of the McKinley tariff
upon wages and the cost of living.
About 600 clerks have been dismissed
from the Census Office.
Commissioner Roosevelt, of the CivL
Service Commission, after investigating the
n..? ? ih. n<nil
j wLittl ^O 1/UCiU IUO piVViOtV/US U. IUO V/4TU MWvice
law relating to political assessments
were being tiolated by persons in the official
service of the United States at Baltimore,
and that tbe influence of Federal officers in
that city was also being unlawfully used to
control a primary election, declares the
charge sustained and recommends that
twenty-five Governmental employes whom
he names be dismissed the service.
The War Department has determined to
appoint a Board of army officers to select a
site for the western terminus of the Hennepin
Canal. General Pope will be Chairman.
William 0. Thomas, of Tennessee, has
i been aonointed United States Consul at
Bahia, Brazil.
Foreign.
The Moscow police have received secret
orders which mean the expulsion of every
Jew from the district within two months.
Heavy rains have caused the overflow of
rivers in Lancashire and Yorkshire, England,
closing all the factories and suspending
railroad communication.
Doorowsky, the explorer, has telegraphed
from De Brazzaville, West Africa, that the
French expedition to Lake Tobad under Paul
Crawfel is a failure.
Members of the Haytien Cabinet resigned
after they had been censured for corruption
and incapacity by the Chamber of Deputies.
Ten-thousand miners in Welsh tin and
on mines went on strike.
Services were held in Westminster Abbey
by Canon Farrar in memory of J a root Russell
Lowell.
The International Socialist Workmen's
Congress was opened in Brussels.
The Central American Republics are tak:ng
much interest in the Chicago Fair.
Eighty Haytians were drowned by the
fall of the St. Marc stone bridge near lor' au
Prince.
President Balmaceda, of Chili, has isnied
a proclamation calling for an -increase
n the army to <>0,000 men.
At a German Cab'net Council it was
esolved not to raduca the duties on corn.
The British Bank of Australia, at Melxnirne,
has suspandel with liabilities of
5800,000.
Hailstorms in the Moael and Sarre Val?
eys of Germany have caused damag? to t&e
:rops to the extent of $25J,000.
Owi.no to the alarming extent to which
'.he midland provinces of Italy are being dejopulated
by emigration. th3 Italian Minis:er
of the Interior will introduce a bill in the
Jhambers at the next session restricting
1 fmigrat.oa.
A HORSE'S VALUE,
Farmers' Alliance People Want Ax"tell
Taxed at $105,000.
The County Board of Terre Haute, Ind.,
has valued the great stallion Axtell at $500,
and a committee from the Farmers' Alliance
will visit Indianapolis to ask ttw
, State Board of Tax Commissioners to rai;e
ihe figure. Many mem bers of the Alliance
' want the horse taxed at $105,000, the
t amount paid for him, claiming that farm
land is assessed for its full value. Othen
will be content with $75,000. The A.llianc(
i leaders aver that they can prove that the
stallion is earning an enormous dividend
! yearly, and that duninsj the last year alone
the profits were nearly $50,000.
! It is said that Mr. I jams, one of the owiy
ers of the horse, has made a threat to move
Axtell away from Vigo County in case a
, high assessment is made, and this fact, th<
Alliance alleges, deterred the local boarc
J from making a proper assessment.
~: VERMONT'S CENTENNIAL.
1 Dedicating a Battle Monnment
| jj*? at Bennington.
1 Many Noted People Participate \
3 in the Ceremonies,
The centennial observance of the admission
of Vermont into the Union and the dedication
of the battle monument, held in
historic Bennington the other day, was the
most notable and successful celebration that
ever occurred in the Green Mountain State.
The celebration was sigualized by the presence
at Bennington of President Harrison
and members of his Cabinet, Senators and
Congressmen, and the Governors of Massachusetts
and New Hampshire, and many
prominent men from other States. There were
also in attendance military and civic organizations
from sister States, who came to join
in this dual celebration. The day was a
charming one, and many thousand visitors
participated in the ceremonies and exercises
of the day. The decorations were lavish in
the extreme, flags and bunting being displayed
on every building.
BENNINGTON'S BATTLE MONUMENT.
Early in the morning Colonel >V. Seward
Webb, accompanied by a mounted Grand
Army post escorted President Harrison
from Gen. McCullough's house to the Soldiers'
Home, -where Governor -Page and
all the living ex-Governors of the
State were waiting to greet him.
The President alighted from his
carriage, and was escorted into the house,
where he remained a short time while he
was introduced to the distinguished guests.
He then resumed his place in the carriage,
which, with the other vehicles, took their
places in the line.
At 9 o'clock the guns of Fuller's Battery
boomed the signal for the formation of divisions.
The column, except carrriages,formed
on the parade ground, and was slow in
getting into position, so that it was 10:30
before the processibn moved, with the Putnam
Phalanx of Hartford in the position of
honor as escort to the President, with
a score of carriages following, containing
the distinguished guests. The
camp grounds, where the Soldiers'
Home is situated and where the Vermont
I National Guard had been in camp for sev
| eral days, was filled with people when tho [
| procession moved. The President doffed his
hat in salute to every manifestation of applause,
and to keep the fierce rays of the sun
from his head Colonel Webb held an umbrella
over him.
The column moved through North, Gage,
Safford, and Main streets to the reviewing
stand. Here a short halt was made. The
column then passed in review beforo President
Harrison, and continued its march
through Main street and Monument
avenue to the massive and lotty
pillar which commemorates the battle
of Bennington. Here the first division,
except batteries, was massed on the
west side of the monument; the second and
third divisions, except carriages, on the east
side. The batteries then took positions and
fired a national salute of twenty-one
guns. Meantime the President and
party, the orator of the day, the i
Hon. Edward J. Pbelps, Governor Page,
and other distinguished speakers and
guests, with the representatives of the press,
bad taken their places on the platform at the
base of the monument. Around and about
the open spaces were black with the multitudes
gathered from many States to witness
the ceremony of the dedication.
When all were in their placss, an l auiet
hod hpen secured, the Hon. Wheelock G.
Veaeay, ex-Commander-in-Chief of tho G. j
A. R.. aivauced to the front of the platform
and delivered the introductory address. The
Rev. Charles Parkhurst, D.D.. of Boston,
editor of Zion's Herald, then offered prayer,
and Governor C. S. Page delivered the
address of welcome. Tnen ex-Governor
B. F. Prescott, o." New Hampshire, Vre.s dent
of the Bennington Battle Monument
Association, was received with enthusiasm
as he stepped forward to transfer the monument,
the result of the association's many
years of effort, to the care and keeping of
the State. Governor Page accepted the
noble offering in a brief speech. Music
followed, and tho President of the day,
General Veazay, came forward leading the
orator of the day, the Hon. Edward J.
Phelpsi A roar "of applause greeted their
appearance, and when the last murmur had
died away Mr. Pnelps delivered a long oration.
At the conclusion of Mr. Phelps's oration,
President of the Day Veazey introduced
President Harrison, who arose a raid prolonged
cheers and made a brief address.
It was lata in the afternoon when the
President finished, and the literary exercises,
long to be remembered in the annals
of the Green Mountain State, wero brought
to a close with music and the benediction.
The divisions then re-formed in proper
order, with the carriages of each
division in its rear, and marched
through Monument avenue, Main and North
streets, to Camp Vermont, whers the troops
and other organizations were dismissed. The
escorts and carriages proceeded to the large
tent near the Soldiers' Home, where the banquet
was served, over 3000 people sitting
down to the table.
ai iuc uau^ucw tu biic aiuciuuuu iu out?
large tent on the grounds of the Soldiers'
Home more than 35'JO persons sat at the
table?, and 2000 more stood in the
aisles * Speeches were made by
President Harrison, Governor Russell, of
Massachusetts; Governor Tuttle, of New
Hampshire; General 0. O. Howard, General
Russel A. Alger, Secretary Proctor, Attorney-General
Miller, General Alex. H. Webb,
of New York; ex-Governor Rice, of Massachusetts,
and others.
A fine display of fireworks, witnessed by
great crowds of people, was given on the
grounds of the Soldiers' Home in the evening.
A notable feature of the display was c
grand historical pageant of fire pictures,
representing heroic scenes in Vermont's past
history.
After leaving the banquet the President
was driven to the home of General McCullough,
in Horth Bennington, where he was
entertained at dinner. He spent the nigbt
there, and left at 9 a. m. the next day for
Mount McGregor.
Description ot the Monument.
The Bennington Battle Monument stands
on a commanding site 283 feet above the
Walloomsac River. This river flows through
the village of Bennington. The foundation
of the monument is the solid rock
of the mountain, on the top of
which was the Benningcon of the
Revolution. The structure is an obelisk
built of solid stone and faced
with Sandy Hill dolomite. The height
from the base to the top of the capstone, is
801 feet ten and a half inches. Tne monument
at the base is thirty-seven feet four
inches by thirty-seven feet four incnes, running
to a point at the top. Tha walls arj
thick at the base, but decrease gradually
i to a thickness of two feet at the apex.
, The outside stone is inlaid with "stretohi
ers und headers." The inside walls |
\ rise to the height of two hundred feet, after
t which the stones extend through the wall.
5 Inside the walls are left in the rough
, rock; outside the stone is rough finished,
> and at the right angle corners with the
I shaft and also at tne windows and other
, openings the stone is 'finished in quarterinch
draft lines of arris. This gives
the structure a finished and artistic appeari
ance. The lookout room is 188 feet above
k the foundation, and is reached by an iron
i ! staircase. This room is marked on the out1
side by two entablatures encircling the monu1
ment. From this lookout the battlefield
,
la plainly visible seven miles away.
The first room in the monument
contains four tablets three
of them inscribed respectively to the States
of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
The fourth is blank. The outlook
room contains four historic granite tablets,
placed there by the Vermont Historical Society,
the Masonic Fraternity, which laid the
corner stone in 18S7, the Order of Odd Fellows
and the Grand Army of the Republic.
LATER NEWS.
The Pennsylvania Republican Convention
nfc FTnrr-iohitr/r Tinmin?.fc?ri Don oral
David M. Gregg for Auditor General, and
Captain John W. Morrison for Treasurer.
The steamship Teutonic, of the White
Star line, arrived at New York from
Queenstown, having made the voyage in
five days, sixteen hours and thirty-two minutes,
breaking the record held by the Majestic
since August 5.
The fortieth meeting of the American Association
Tor the Advancement of Science has
been held in Washington.
Martinique, in th9 West Indies group,
has been devastated by a hurricane. Every
vessel in the harbor at Fort de France was
destroyed. Many lives were lost.
Ten men were killed and forty injured by
the fall of a scaffold at Nordenhamm. In the
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg.
Ten thousand well armed Chilian insurgents
are to leave Caldera in transports and
war ships to land at San Antonio Bay or engage
the forts at Valparaiso.
Marciano Medina, a peon of the village
of Lomos de Zamora in Colombia, has been
arrested for killing ten o? his children and
three grandchildren. The old man's confession
tells with great detail the various
ways in Which he murdered each one of the
thirteen infants from 1839 to 1S91. Ha
killed them all when they were less than Ave
months old.
THE WORLD'S GRAIN.
Conditions Which Promise to Enrich
the A merican Farmer.
If the American farmer knows how to
seize the opportunity, says a cable dispatch
.rom Paris to the New York Herald, his
money bags will this year be filled to bursting.
Rarely has an opportunity more
golden been within his grasp than is held
forth by the condition of the crops in Europe.
This was the impression received by
a Herald correspondent from a conversation
with United States Senator "William D.
Washburn, of Minnesota, who has during
an extended tour in Europe collected valuable
information from strictly reliable
sources regarding the condition of the
crops.
Senator Washburn said the prospect was
there would this year be a surplus of two
million bushels of wheat in the States. To
all appearances Europe would want every
grain of it. After a trip to the
North Cape, I went from Stockholm
to St. Petersburg, through Russia
to Moscow, with the view of ascertaining
by personal observation and inquiry the
real condition of the crops of wheat, rye and
small grain in Russia. They are, if not absolutely
a failure, the very next thing to it;
in fact, they are so short the Government
has been obliged to take steps to prevent ex*
portation.
"That this is a grave condition of thing3 i*
evident from the fact that the Muscovite is
+V?1% ViaWfrtf flninor onrfhitlT ii n HI thft
UUU AU UUC UBWlW Wl> U?J ? ? ? ?
trouble is right on him. The ukase just
published forbidding the exportation of rye
i3 a mere measure for self-protection, even
of self-preservation. There is absolutely no
ground for the statement made by the Berlin
press that hostility to Germany was the
raison d'etre of the ukase.
"Owing to the ukase great anxiety prevails
in Norway and Sweden, which depenJ
for their bread upon the rye from Russia.
Norway and Sweden will have to import
wheat from the 3 rates. From Russia
I went to Buda-Pestb, which is the
largest milling centre in the world fitter
Minneapolis; then to Vienna. All the authorities
I consulted were unanimous in estimating
the crops of Austria-Hungary at
thirty per cent, less this year than
last. In Germany the shortage is
less; it probably will not exceed 15 per cent.
With respect to Prance I have not yet been
able to obtain reliable official information,
but I understand it will be safe to say that
this country will have to import aDout half
its consumption.
"I don't tnink the short crops of Europe
will result in any great 'corner' in the States,
but I believe it will create a tendency
among farmers to hold their crops.
Yn mr mind it will not be DOSSibld
io organize such a general plan of campaign
as was suggested in the wheat circulars sent
out by the Farmers' Alliance people, but the
effect of those circulars will undoubtedly be
to teach growers not to pile their wheat on
the market as they have hitherto done.
' Is there any chance of a bread famine?"
"Well, the crops in the States were never
so large as this year, especially in wheat,
and I think we can take care of the rest of
the world. Of course the rest of the world
will have to pay for it."
EAIN MADE TO ORDEB.
Further Experiments in Texas Prove
Successful.
General Dyrenforth's rain producers, who
wer<? sent to Texas by the United States
Department of Agriculture to Eea if they
could not draw some moisture from a cloudless
sky, have made some very successful
experiments on the N?1bou
Morris ranch, about twenty-five miles northwest
of Midland. They sent off a large balloon
filled with hydrogen gas, and when it
was at an altitude or one and one-quarter
miles they exploded it by an electric wire, A
fow minnt?s PtppwAril thfiv exnloded a ereat
quantity of rendrock powder over about
two miles of ground, and also a quantity of
dynamite attached to the tails of kites flying
1000 feet high. The result was that it began
to rain immediately, and at every explosion
the rainfall perceptibly increased. It continued
raining for over four hours.
Next day they exploded some more kites
and powder and brought on another shower.
People from all over the Western country
gathered to see the rain made to order, and
the farmers took a tremendous interest in
the work of the expedition.
FOREIGN EMIGRATION.
Journeytngs of the United States
Commissioners Abroad.
The Commissioners appointed by the United
States Government to visit the countries
of Europe for the purpose of investigating
questions pertaining to the influx of emigrants
from Europe into AmericaJJave been
spending a few days in Berlin. They were
introduced to various Government officers
by Minister Phelps, and they gathered
much information about emigration from
Germany.
The Commissioners have left Berlin for
Russia, where they will stay for five weeks.
After concluding their work there, they will
return to Germany, and will visit Hamburg
and Bremen, which are the points of departure
of a large number of emigrants bound
for the United States.
DEAD SIDE* BY SIDE,
Husband and Wife Ask Tbat Death
May Not Separate Them.
Eugene H. Bonnicl: and his young wife
were found dead in bed In their house at
Denver, Col. They had taken morphine in
large quantities. This note was found;
'Tlease bury us sidn by side. Don't separate
us. (Signed) Grace and Geve."
Bonnick was a mnmber of the firm of
Bonnick & Co., tinners, and was a young
man of more than ordinary business
qualifications. It is said that family
troubles were the cause of the double suicide.
RAILWAY- DISAStflL
A Paris Express Runs Into a
Swiss Excursion Train.
Fourteen Persons Killed and
Many More Injured,
The people of Switzerland have hardly re
covered from the railroad scare caused bj
the disaster at Moencheri3tein in June, by
which more than ISO persons on an excursion
train lost their lives and about 300 were
injured, when they have been again
startled by another wholesale loss
of life from a railroad accident.
This last disaster has occurred on the
Jura-Simplon Railroad lines near the village
of Zollikofen, not far from Berne, end resulted
in the death of fourteen persons and
the serious injury of twenty-four others.
The victims were all Swiss peasants.
A special train, carrying a large number
of pleasure seekers from the country, was on
its way to Berne, the passengers intending
to take part in the fetes in progress there
and elsewhere throughout Switzerland.
The train was stopped at Zollikofen in
order to enable it to be shunted into a
siding, so as to let the Paris express pass
it. By some gross negligence, apparently,
upon the part of the railroad officials, the
Paris train, loaded with foreign travelers,
was not warned to look out
for the excursion train while passing Zollikofen,
and the result was that the express
dashed into the special train. Luckily, the
engineer of the express had caught sight
of the excursion train in time to put down
the brakes, so the damage done and the loss
of life were not so great as they
might have been. As it was, the
engine of the express almost entirely demolished
the empty guards' van e, the rear
of the excursion train, and then crashed into
the rear passenger car, wrecking it and
causing considerable loss of life.
The recent holiday traffic has thrown unusually
heavy burdens upon all the railroads
centering in Berne. The excursion train
was partly composed of baggage vaus, temintn
noMftn crar
^UXQIUJ WUfCilAU *UIA/
carriages. The line was blocked by
other excursion trains in advance, and another
excursion was coupled to the Paris express.
A curve in the line prevented the
engineer of the express from seeing the
danger ahead, but the passengers of the excursion
train heard the express approaching,
and many jumped out, all the occupants of
the open goods wagons escaping in this way
almost unhurt.
A special train carrying wrecking appliances,
doctors and nurses from the hospitals,
together with a detachment of engineers^
was sent to the scene of the accident.
Surgical operations resulting in the loss
of limbs were necessary to save
. the lives of most of the twenty-four persons
seriously injured. Thirty other passengers
received more or less severe wounds or
bruises. All the passengers on the Paris express
escaped with only slight bruises.
The bodies of the dead were carried to the
waiting-room of the railroad station at Zollikofen,
and were there laid in rows while
awaiting identification. Many of the dead
were so terribly mutilated as to be practically
beyond recognition.
The injured were attended to by the relief
corps sent to the scene from Berne. Those
of the injured who were in a condition to
be removed have been taken to the hospitals
in Berne; others are being nursed near the
scene of the disaster.
MRS. JAMES ?, POLK DEAD.
The "Wife of the Tenth President Dies
at Her Home in Nashville.
Mrs. James K. Polk, wife of the tenth
President of the United Steitss, died a few
mornings ago in Nashville, Tenn. She was
in good health until few days previous,
when, on returning from a short drive, was
i._1 1J 1? 411
WUSWL1 bUUUClilj' OUD > ?13 OlgUI//-DO?CU j
years old. The bells in the city were tolled
throughout the afternoon.
Mrs. Polk was born September 4, 1803, at
Murfreesboro. She was married to Mr. Polk
when still in her teens, and had lived continuously
in Nashvile except wnenin Washington,
during the Congressional career of
her distinguished husband, and while mistress
of the White House. For the past fifty
years she had lived iu seclusion
President Polk left a very large estate at
the time of his death, which was kept to*
gether until the Civil War, when nearly
fiverything was destroyed or lost. Mrs.
Polk's income kept dwindling until
a half dozen years ago, when she
found herself nearly penniless. A
bill was then introduced in Congress to grant
to the widow of President Lincoln a pension
of $5000 a year. It lacked one vote in the Senate
to secure its passage. That was the vote
of Senator Howell E. Jackson, of Tennessee.
He offered to vote for the bill provided it
was so amended as to give annual pensions
of $5000 to Mrs. Polk and to the widow of
President Tyler, as well as to Mrs. Lincoln,
and the bill became a law. Since that time
Mrs. Polk had lived on this pension.
President Polk left one of the queerest
wills that was ever lett by an inteliigent
man. Everything was given to his wife,
and at her death was to be transferred
"to the most deserving member of the
family bearing me name 01 rum.,
the decision to be made by the State
Legislature. The nearest relative until
recently was State Treasurer Polk, of Tennessee,
to whom it was supposed the
estate would eo. It will be remembered
that a few years ago he became
a defaulter to a large amount and
fled the country, Anally dying in Mexico.
His dishonesty cut him and his family off,
and just how the matter will be settled is
now a mystery. There are no other deserving
members of the family bearin? the
name of Polk, and now that Mrs Polk is
dead the courts will have to decide the
matter.
JACKSONVILLE'S BIG FIRE.
An Area of Abont Ten Blocks Swept
by the Flames.
Af. 10. t w flpo hrnlfB nnfc in the rear of
B. D. Knight & Co.'s crockery and glassware
store, which opens out on Forsythe
street, in Jacksonville, Fla. In ten minutes
the entire building was an immense blaze.
The partition wall between that and
Hubbard & Co.'s big block adjoining the
corner of Main and Forsythe streets was
broken through, and soon the entire two
bloek3 were one huge mass of ruins. The
firemen fought bravely, but were fighting
against fearful oads. For six hours
this fierce contest wa3 kept up, during
which time the Hubbard Block, Tremont
Hotel, Burbridge's Seaiinole Block, the
Freedman's Bank Block, Smith's two elegant
blocks on Forsythe and Main, Convent
of St. Joseph's, McMurray & Baker's
large carriage manufactory, the Piaisance,
Chelsea, and Tilton Hotels, and
other fine business blocks, with forty dwellings
were burned to the ground. The loss
will foot upward of $1,000,000, with insurance
of about 2650.000. At 1:39 a. m. a heavy
discharge of dynamite in one of the burning
stores destroyed all the glass in the stores
in half a mile radius, many persons being
seriously injured by flying glass.
The burned district covers about ten
blocks in area, six long and two wide, embracing
some of the finest blocks and best
dwellings in the citj*. A heavy wind was the
cause of the fire spreading so. The city
looked desolate at night, many families
camping out in the park, as the weather was
warm and they had not had time to engage
new quarters. This is the heaviest blow in
this hue the Jacksonville people have ever
sustained.
Major R. Hurst, of the Kansas Live
Stock Commission, says he thinks it is a conservative
estimate to say that the people of
Kansas will sell within the next year *100,000,000
worth of stock and farm products
raised this year?that is, that that much of
Kansas grain and stock will go outside of
the State, besides what is used by the people
of the State themselves.
A tree near Maiiistee, Mich., thirty-six
feet in circumference, twelve feet in diameter
and 175 feet high, will be blasted with
dynamite, as there is no saw that will cut it
and no mill that can cut it into boards.
Charles Kittleberoer, of San Fri?n.
cisco, was laid to rest a few days since in f
coffin which was given to him four yean
as birthday present.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
A waterproof paper has lately been Invented
that will even stand boiling.
A simple remedy for hiccoughs is a
lump of sugar saturated with vinegar.
It is said that the ear is the most useful
organ for the identification of crim-.
inals.
A tailor says that few men have
Arprilr halonnnrl cVir\i11 rlaM fKa a 1 _
v? vuiwuv/wu ouuuiugioj vug ii^uu ??most
invariably being lower than the
left.
Modified opinm smoking is suggested
by a prominent medical periodical as a
valuable palliative in pulmonary tuberculosis.
Natural gas experts from Pittsburg,
Penn., are on their way to Brazil to
prospect for natural gas and petroleum
for the Government of that country.
Stoneham, Me., is a rich field for
mineralogists. Garnet3 are found in
abundance, and tourmalines are not
scarce. One stone recently found there
sold for 870U.
The tomato has been traced back to
the sixteenth century, and although it
is mentioned since then by several
writers, it did not become a marketable
edible till 1829.
At Freiberg, Saxony, lightning struck
three times one of the mines, and the
third time it knocked senseless several
miners working 360 metres deep under
the surface of the earth.
A Leipsic scientist has demonstrated
by facts and figures, which most people
have always believed, that colds are
j-kf+AriAt* r>a i?rrlif Kir thnao tcVia wpon fVinm.
UllCUWl uau^uv KfJ VUWW liuw ** ??? VUWMA
selves up and avoid the severity of the
weather than by those who dare to brave
the elements.
Recent experience in cold storage
shows that different articles of food require
different degrees of temperature for
their preservation, varying from thirtythree
degrees Fahrenheit for eggs to from
fifteen degrees to twenty-six degrees for
poultry and various kinds of game.
Ornithologists tell us that when feeding
the stride of the ostrich is from
twenty to twenty-two inches; when
walking but not feeding, twenty-six inches;
and when terrified, from eleven
and a half to fourteen feet, or at the
rate of about twenty-five miles aa
hour.
Chalk, manganese and graphite have
been found in Coffee County, Tenn. The
chalk is equal to white crayon for writing
on a blackboard, and the black
graphite writes on a paper equal to a
soft black lead pencil. The other miaeial
is a hard black substance, much resembling
in weight, color and pores,
black manganese
Artesian well-boring is a new Industry
in the Republic of Nicaragua. The
usefulness of these wells cannot be calculated.
Everv vear thousands of cattle
die for want of water. Agriculturists in
general, and coffee-planters especially,
suffer much for this necessary. Only
very few coffee planters have water
sufficient to wash their berries, and
washed coffee brings always from three to
four cents more in the market than unwashed.
The great mechanical possibilities in
the way of electrical development are
being prosecuted with zeal all over the
world, since it is realized that this
power is the most easily transferred of
all A crucial test is now being made
at Frankfort-on-the-Main,where arrangements
are made for transferring 300
horse power from the Neckar. The system
i3 also being operated on a smaller
scale in many places in Switzerland. The
French have planned works at Havre for
utilizing the ebb and How of the tide to
work turbine wheels to generate power
for dynamos to supply Paris with light.
Hoir the Arabs Eat Locusts.
A correspondent in Algiers writes:
One fine morning on rising we found the
locusts with us. I cannot better compare
the sight than to a fall of snow; the
snowflakes were locusts buzzing about in
the bright sunlight I will not repeat
the old exaggeration that the sun was
darkened. They were, however, disagreeably
numerous, invading your room3
if the windows happened to be open,
and flickering you in the face and drop*
ping down your neck while out walking.
The children amuse themselves with
catching them, attaching a string to their
legs, and are very delighted with these
playthings. Others weave them into long
* 3- fT,L- ? * <\?a m.wn r\roif?Q 1
^Sn&lIU9? X LIU aig muiv ^/*MV
Taking off the head, legs and wings they
boil them with salt, and then regale
themselves to their hearts' content.
The mail steamers coming from France
have had their decks covered inches thick
as far out at sea as forty miles. Stringent
regulations are now enforced in the town
and district of Algiers, such as the coving
up of all sources of water supply,
wells and reservoirs, as an epidemic is
feared in case the locusts fall into the
water. In the meantime the municipality
pay twenty cents per sack of fifty
pounds for all locusts gathered. The
outlook is certainly not promising, all
kinds of food and vegetables having
risen in price. We hope, however, for
the best, and trust the threatened danger
will be mitigated, if not altogether
averted.?Commercial Adoerttier.
The Ice Cure for Fevers.
Two years ago, or thereabouts, a
writer in the A'orth American fiecieio
called attention bo the therapeutic valuu
of refrigeration, and ventured the prediction
that climatic fevers would bo
successfully treated in artificially cooled
hospitals. It seems that the prediction
has been verified by experiment. According
to the Havana papers a physician
of Santiagj de Cuba has been treating,
and with invariable success, yellow
fever patients in a "camara polar" (polar
chamber), i. e., in an apartment whose
temperature is kept by artificial means at
about fifty degrees Farcnheit. With
our ice machines everywhere it would be
very easy to provide such a hospital in
in this country when need requires.?
Picayune.
1 A Novelty iii Stern-Wheel Steamers.
The Crocidile, a stern-wheel steamer
recently built in England to carry the
mails up the Pungwe River, in South
Africa, is fitted with a unique device for
use when the vessel runs upon a bank.
The wheel and engine arc mounted upon
a pivot at the stern in such a way that
the wheel can be swung to either side of
the steamer and worked in that position
as well as when astern. Should the
steamer climb upon a bank the wheel
can be shifted to either side that offers
deep water, and the vessel may thus be
pulled off.?Philadelphia Record.
i
Lamprey Eels as Stoao Masons.
Among the most remarkable of thft
stone-masons or builders are the lamprey
eels. Of all fishes they would hardly be
accorded any especial intelligence, and
certainly they are repellant creatures, the
long snake-like holies, the curious
sucker-like mouth being features far from
attractive. Yet the lampreys show not a
little intelligence in their work, and
among fishes are most remarkable aft
"stone-toters." When the breeding
time arrives the eels apparently decide to
form a community, all the individuals
working for the common good. If we
watch them carefully we shall see that
they are searching for stones and pebbles.)
Many go upstream, and when a pebble
of suitable size is found fasten their sucking
mouth to it, and lifting it, go struggling
down the current to the site selected,
where it is dropped. IntheSaco
River, near its mouth, a remarkable
tower of this kind can be seen, where'
the fishes have undoubtedly been working
for seveial years. This mound is
fifteen or twenty feet in length, partly
arched or bent, so that it resembles the
beginning of a dam. Some of the stones
are as large as half a brick; so heavy, in
fact, that was it not known how they
were transported it would be considered
impossible for a fish to have carried them;
but the act has been observed. When
the transportation of a large atone becomes
necessary two eels combine forces,
fastening their sucker-like mouths to the
object, and wriggling vigorously thus
lifting it from the bottom and aided by
the current, a&d with many stops and
rests, Dearing it down to the nest where
it is dropped. Scores of eels may be seen
thus employed. Some work singly,
others by twos, all engaged in pilling ap
the castle that is to be the home for their
little ones. With so many workers we
may well expect the stone fortress to
grow rapidly, and in succeeding years to.
attain a large size. Finally, after days
of "stone toting," the nest io considered
ready. Now the eels may be seen
about it in numbers, and soon the eggs
are deposited, being washed into the interstices
of the pile and there finding
protection from sly and predatory flshe?
that prowl about in search of such tidbits.
When the eggs hatch and the young
eels appear there is still another surprise,'
The close observer might well be misled, i
as when the little ones appear to tat*
possession of the fortress, they do not resemble
the parents, and for a long time
were considered separate and distinct'
fishes, and callcd amorcites. For three
years they are singular little creatures,'
the mouth toothless and surrounded by;
little feelers, even the eyes that are minute
Kw?infr onirflrwl ftTCr with & lavcr Of skill.
Finally the young lampreys assume theH
form of their parents, and are ready toH
begin castle building themselves. H
The nests of lampreys differ to somaH
extent in different localities. Thus some H
have been seen to dig holes and deposit H
their egg beneath stones or in various H
nooks and corners, illustrating the factH
that among the very lowest animals weH
find evidence not only of intelligence^H
but an exhibition of care for the youngH
that calls to mind many animals muchH
higher in the scale of life.?St. Louit ifc-H
Grim Joke of a Prince. H
Russian newspapers are telling aH
curious story, the scene of which is laidfl
in the little city of Artynj, Caucasia.?
Prince David Kertischaffs, who resided?
there fell sick and died, according tofl
the testimony and certificates of his phy-fl
eicians. B
Preparations were made for a mostH
gorgeous funeral. The Prince, dressedH
in the brilliant uniform of the Caucasian?
troops, was laid in state in an open cofiin.H
During the progress of the ceremonies,?
while the priest was bestowing upon himH
the "kiss of farewell," the Prince aud-H
denly sat up in his coffin and cried outjH
"How dare you bury me without myH
orders?" RE
The church was at once the scene olfl
wild panic, the large crowd which hadH
gathered at the funeral rushing from theH
place in mau uuurucr, uaupu^
less women and children under their feet.H
Just why the Prince had indulged inH
this eccentricity is not related, but it iflH
said that on leaving the coffin he gaveH
orders for a grand feast in his palace,anc^B
so gorged himself in his delight at havin^H
tricked his friends that he died for goo(fl
and all three days afterwards. Iu thiJB
case there wa3 no resurrection.?
Francitco Examiner. H
A Very Peculiar Casualty. H
The National Car and Locomotiv^A
Builder says- "A few days ago a verj^B
peculiar casualty occurred on a road liH
Northern Illinois. While a train wa^l
passing over a piece of double track
walnut log, twelve feet long and niue^H
teen inches across the butt, fell from
car and rolled over onto the secom^l
track, where it remained in a lengthwis^B
position, and midway between the rails^f
A ninet?en-inch freight engine cam^J
along shortly after on the track obMj
scructed by the log, and the pilot struc^f
it fair on the end. It split the log froir^H
one end to the other, and threw one-hal^^
to one side of the tram ana me
half on the other side. The train wa^B
not delayed by the occurrence, an<^|
there was no damage done to the engin^B
or pilot. The split was in a windin^B
shape on account of the grain of the log^B
and was just about as it would be spli^J
by wedges. This may seem to som^B
railroad men as incredible, but we hav^B
the information from a railway oificia^B
who saw the log immediately after i^H
was split. HE
Cinderella's Slippers. n
A dramatic critic in a desultoryj&n^B
versation the other night said fie won^B
dered why Cinderella wore glass slip^^H
pers; he never saw anyone dance in glas^H
slippers, and he didn't believe any on^B
could dance in glas3 slippers. Hi
One man suggested that it was a fair^H
tale. Another man made every on^D
tired by talking of malleable glass. H^B
remarked that he once saw a Pittsbur^B
lady in a glass gown?he should hav^B
been ashamed to mention it anyway. HH
The manager, a distinguished Gallici^H
?he onco went to school with Tartar^H
at Taraseon?said she never did weaflB
glass slippers. ^B
"You see," he explained, "Cinderell^B
was indebted to a translator's mistak^B
lor her uncomfortable pumps. This d^H
lightful extravaganza was origination
Frcnch, and the man who Englished
didn't know his business. The Frenc^H
words are 'pantoufles de vair'?fur sli^H
pers. Now the word for glass is verr^B
and the English chump got 'em mix^H
Hp."? GMcaffo Tribune. _MR