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V t_ VOL. XII. 25 Dir IN A FIRE It Was in a Sadly Fatal Tenement House. FEARFUL HOLOCAUST OCCURRED A Dcspctalf St ruffle .Mnde bv the Victims. tilt" Mont ot \\ liom Werp Kalians X w York. Sporlal. Twenty-one tree. ree women and a ten-months< !(! l.ahe were burned to death or sufi( en ted in a Are that started early Suuriv morning in the House of All Nat'ens. a five-story tenement at No. 42G F/< \ enth avenue, and whieh the police n;..1 coroner believe to be of incendiary ? -ifiin. ?ou.e nf the peculiar features of the iFv.lrr. in addition to the startling h ; r>f life, are that the fire was prac- , tiixily extinguished in 20 minutes; that t: j- di e could learn of but one. per- ' -on h"ing injured, other than those who los< their lives, and that tiie prop- | city h\"s e ts only $7,000. The dead are n;ostl> Italians. The only perron injured, so far as < ;,n leirncd. is Mnrv -lane (Jtt'.nn IT ye;11*5 old. who was burned about the I'm and hands by leaping from the -i < ..id door 'lro es'tipe to the ground. 1 i several apartments Hallowe'en parlies were- in progrt* s and the guests at th< - addel greatly to the uuniber of in ; sons in the hour" an 1 made the ?ii h ::ad jam to esipe more than it 0 dinorl'.y would have lui n. Although 'fully piovnbd with Are ? vape, fiom in 1 rear, all e :?po lu re was eut of a f?.- minutes 'fir - tp.. fire started i'V i ie hodir: of the dead b.o filing v. eel r I in Urn o;m nln 's leaning to (lie I: ' The live had heen burning for . i. " e minutes 1m for" :t v. a disi overed. . It i ; ! start d in the basement and. I * v. r.vv.ird had attael d the rtnirv..; h atl'i:;; to the apartments. In a ' () anace of til the 11 a tries bad so t (he si airway U: at uxors fio . the bull ling was impossible. The 1 i- e from the third to the tilth floor n .; in ly ilealroye 1. V the windows, front and rear. ' '. ?s of men ;.nJ women were jnni i. 'iinvin,' that a desperate strug- | . t.' t fr < had resulted in the torn- : p'.i ? (I: oh lug of tliese exits to the flro j a: ?. and had heen the eause of a it i of the inmates being surfoeati.y.ag on a lie 1 alongside a window *t t .e rear of the fourth floor, the fire- I i :< a i.-, in 1 the bodies of five mi n. I'a h ! 1 f lu'rhed i'.i one next to hint in * i.-tvor to push hint away in on!or it- _ , to tint Are escape outside. The i i a ; .OS of tho men were distorted. ? :: with rare, some with agony, and i :-i.i insinnn s the nun had gripped ' a i f. a r ro liar I that blool had been - a a md had run over their hands. I <'.a ILo third lloor were found the | - "i of Mauht'i Vingiuorro and her !>..! y. The n other had crawled to tho i a window and had succeeded in | , -ping the sill when she was suf- j l> nu d. In her arms lay the body of i i. . c iiiId. On tlie third lloor in an . 1 i.nirnt were a Hallowe'en party was . ! v* hdd. John O'Toole, one of the ' >. epulis, started to go to the street. | l!> was -4101 by a volume of smoke as I;,- opened the door. He ran to the fire 1 r.irape. followed by all those in the fiat. I with the exception of his mother whose j c tarred body later was found lying at | ih? rnlranec to the apartment. O'Toole : d rho others escaped. Surplus Exhausted. Washington, Special.? A significant j fact noted in the Treasury statomrnt at "the dose of business Saturday. It is thel the receipts and expenditures of t he government f >r the first four months of tho present calendar year ar" practically the same, the surplus la ing fo small ns to he only a fraction >f iho aggregate. One year ago. the surplti? for the same months of the fiscal year was Sid.500.000. Tho total 1 receipts for the fiscal year have been ibout f 190.397.285, and the expendituies S'SO.811.007. leaving a surplus of about $.>V>.000. An analysis of the statement shows that the practical wiping out of the surplus is due not only to a de- i crease of the receipts, hut also to a? in'-reise of expenditures. N'-ws of thj Day. N*i ' .mcvican schooner. Captain C. E. j Williams. arrived in Jacksonville Frl- i day. with Captain Carlson and seven I lneinoers of the ctc\v of the schooner, ! th in, which was abandoned at son on the morning of October 2t5. The Japanese Minisn r to the United S,nt? x denies that the Japanese Consal who is alleged to have promoted the cause of the Filipinos acted with the approval or knowledge of his Government. Viceroy Alexieff was thought tu imvi instigated an article In a Port Arthur newspaper saying that Hussions would remain in Manchuria. The Dampskibsselskahet TQpllus has lost the suit which was recently instituted against it in North Carolina. The Dampskihsselskabet Is not an infernal machine, nor i a the alphabet "pled." It Is simply an inoffensive hoat reeklesssly if not criminally named by its owners. The largest number of women employees in any line of work are In the t nil d States por.tofP.ee department More than one-third of them ore t middle age and some are past si'.iejj They (ill all kinds of posii' i v<many of the rural free dtliv r r u.c r, hc'ng filled by them. FOJ MURDERER A SUICIDE Slayer of His Sister Cuts Mis Own 'I hront in tin- Jail. Allcntown, Pa.. Special.?Thomas Bechtel. who was held awaiting investigation of the murder of his lister. Mabel H. Bechtel. at their home a few days ago. committed suicide Thursday evening in his cell at the central police station. The police cor.si icr this act as a practical acknowledgement of Bechtcl's guilt. Bechtel was in cell No. it, on the right side of the corridor. Several relatives and friends were admitted to him during the afternoon. About I o'clock lie called aecross the corridor to Alfred Eestein. Miss Boeh tel's afllanced lover, who is also hold pending the coroner's inquest: "Hello. Al. are you there " "Yes", answered Eckstein. T3eclitel responded: "I wish you were here with me now, that wo might die together." These were the last words heard 1 from Heohtol. A shert time later Eckstein called llcclitel and got no answer, hut he thought he heard an unusual gurgle. II.?us" Sergeant Frank G. Roth had lieen through the cells only z. short titno before. A quarter past o'clock he entered the eotridor and culTed both men. G t 1 ting no answer from Reehtcl lie looked ' into l is <ill and was appalled to S"e a stream of 1?!o >:1 running over the cell floor. Reehtcl iv.d laid himself on the bench in his ( ell and cut his thr tat with a knife. He was dead when Pound. The knife ia_. near him on the floor. How he got the knife is not known. Tnt< rise excitement prevailed at police j headquarters. Reuse crowds pressed against the windows and doors and filled the r r< ct for half a block each way. The funeral of the murdered girl took pin e Thursday afternoon, the services being held at her late home. A steady stream of people entered tTit house an ! filed past the casket contain it'K tno Doily until the serviees began at 2 o'clock. The sui' iiio or Thomas lhehtel ha'b??n followed by the police officials telling the story of the munlcr of Miss Prehtel as gathered by theni. It starts with last Thursday, when I'eltstein ne- ' eontpnnied Miss Rechtel to Philadelphia. He lofi her there and returned home Weisenhe "g met her in Philadelphia and accompanied her to Allentown. Th?y went to a certain place togrihcr. where they remained until ml Inirhl. Thomas Peehtel heard of this, and being strenuously opposed to WYi.sen berg. he upbraided her in her room upon her return home. lie struck her a powerful blow on the cheek, causing her to fall heavily against a bureau, dead. Members of the family held a council and decided upon the story made public on Tuesday and upon, the disposition of the l? ly and clothing as found. Charh s Tlechtol'x sister's hatchet was used in strik- } ing the blow on the head of the dead ?rii*l to Rive semblance of the assault. Eckstein know nothing of the mur- j der. the police say. Information, charging murder. Ins been lodged against the entire Rechtel family. John and Charles Ecchtel and Eckstein wore committted to jail In default of $.">00 hail each as witnesses. Mrs. IJeclitrl and daughters were allowed to go. no hail being required. At tlie inqu-st several witnesses were heard, hut counsel for the Reehtels refused to allow them to t?sti- i fy on account of the charge of murder against them. Sjo.ooo For Breack of I'roniis*. Grand Rapids. Mich., Special.?Miss Henrietta Adams, of Cascvllle. Mich., was given a verdict of $:'.0,00'< against Robert Stuart Raker, a well-known young society man of this city, for breach of promise. The trial hn.s been i one of the most sensational in the his- > tory of western Michigan. The romance | which led up to Baker's proposing j marriage to the young woman, began j when both were students at Olivet College. Several hundred letters written to Miss Adams by (laker, were read in court, and a number from the young women to the defendant were also introduced as evidence. Raker's letters were, many of them, very sensational and improper. The jury decided that Raker fraudulently made the contra t of marriage with the purpose of seduction, and that he afterwards ratified it With the same purpose. Two Negroes H inged. ...... ivin-, .aict. special.?Jim | Chambers and Lou Shaw, negroes, were hanged here Friday for the murder of Williamson Champion, an other negro in March Inst. Sale Ar rington. an accomplice, turned State's evidence and was released. The hanging was in public, ami the military was used to help preserve order. Knoxville & Ohio Railroad. Knoxville, Tenn.. Special.?The Knoxville & Ohio Railroad Company recorded here Friday a 50-year mortgage for 5.1.000.000. in favor of the North American Trust. Company, of New York. The money is to be used in refunding $2,000,000 worth of first mortgage bonds and In improvements. Peace Sentiment Prevails Pekin. by Cable.?The Chinese :nin Inter at St. Petersburg, telegraphs that while the war party has beer dominant for a long time, lie believe1 a p. ace sentiment is beginning tc prevail. IT MILL, S. C., WEDN GORMAN ENDORSED.! I 1 liis Views On the Pace Question ' Elaborated. JONES SAYS tlE MADE NO MISTAKE | A Vital Question That flust l?e Settled Sooner or Later?The Country Anxious. Washington. Spc-ial. Ex-Senator | James K. Jones, chairman of the Idem- | oorxiir national er.oeuUve committeeo. expressed his approval of the action of Senator Gorman in making the race issue the paramount (pupation in the Maryland campaign. In speaking of j the subject. Mr. Jcuea said: "I think : that Senator Herman and his asso- ! (dates who are Interested in Democra-i tic success in the Maryland camnaien ! made no mistake in Riving prominence j to the race question, as distinguished by attitudes between tin* two parties. Mr. Connan is perfectly right in assuming that ,he rr.ee question ;s one of the m< st important before tlic people of tltis country at this time. It is a vital que tion and must, sooner or ; later, he settled far all time. The j iJrmor'ntic party, tv carding to reports ' which I have received from Democratic ' fiicnds and advisers there, ei rtainly ' has the better hand of the situation tip j to this time. 1 tliink the country at large is anxious for a verdict up u the proposition, and the sooner it is r.ubmittf d to tha whole vote the better, j For the Democrats of Marylun 1 to win next week, will, of ( onrse. give an Impetus to thP matter all over the nation, j ? , - ? .ii ui'i:iar, n will not he 1-Rg in coming forth. The fut-l thai ! tin* question has lt.cn pass. <1 forward in tiio Maryland campaign means. of cours. . tiiat the issue will figure tin (iin.siih rable exteut in tin* national campaign next year. It will certainly lie River, prominence then, when the Republican and Democratic candidal* s are brought before the people for a selection. I believe that the sentiment j of the country is opposed to negro ? domination and that no reasonably j minded person believed in equality be- j twien, or the amalgamation of. the: rat t s. The white man was born to rule, and it shall evi r be tinis. There | ran he no other outcome. I think the j State of Maryland will vindicate the Democrat, policy upen this question. This, in my opinion, will be followed by a general in ior.s meat from the countiy at large. "For Mr. Gorman and his fellow- I Democrats to win in the light in Maryland next week." continued Mr. ' Jones, "will, of course, serve to a 1 l prestige to the probability of the Mary- | land Senator's choice for the Demo- j crrttic presidential candidate next summer. No other logical outcome could j be expected. "At present I do not believe, however in deciding; upon a man for tin nomination. Let us get our national i platform together first. and then choose a man to tit that platform. Mr. t Gorman, it is needless for ino to I is in every way qualified for the office. Yet 1 do not think it wise at this time for Democrats to fix upon a candidate. It should he a case of the best man for* the platform, and no attempt should he made at this early day to arrive .it any conclusion as to a candidate." Senator Jones returned to the city from a \isi tto New York. In discussing the mayoralty situation tluro. he said: "ll looks as though McClellan would win. 1 talked with same of the Democratic leaders of the city, an ! all : appeared eonfident of winning out. The j Tammany organization appears to he j superb. It is rccoganizod that there will he some disaffection in Ilroaklyn. i owing to the repudiation of Hugh McLaughlin by the Tammany people, but from what I could gather the MvOnrren forces there who stick by the Tammany ticket, are in great shape, and the Mclaughlin desertion is being minimized in importance as election day draws near. Krom what I observed of the situation McClclIan certainly appears to he the wiuuer." Tribute to Mrs. I'noth-Tucker. Chicago, Special.?Suvroii'.-ded by 3.000 Salvation Army mourners, who had gathered at Princess Ilink Friday night to pay tribute to the memory of Mrs. Emma Uooth-Tueker. who war. killed in a railroad wreck last Wednesday night. Commander Booth-Tucker, It* a sermon full of pathos, told of the many good deeds performed by the deajl leader. While speaking the husband. grief-stricken and weeping, stood at. th? head of the casket. At the conclusion of the ceremonies the casket, containing the body was removed to the Pennsylvania depot and will be taken to New York. Nut Growers Meet. New Orleans. Special.?The National Association of Nut Growers elected the following officers: President, G. M. Bacon. DcWitt. Ga.; first vice president. Wm. Nelson, New Orleans, second vice president, J. B. Curtis. Orange Heights. Fla.; secretary-treasurer. J. F. Wilson, Georgia. St. Louis was chosen for the next place of meat ing. KSDAV. N') . l.M BECHTEE TRAGEDY. The Mother's Story Believed tc Be Invention. POSSIBLE hi:SILT OF FAMILY ROW. Police I iiul Blood Stains on Walla i>l Her Brother's Room and Also His Bloody <)> era'ls. AlU'iitown. I'a.. Spooial. With I'avid WeisenLorK under $>00 bail, supplied by t'onjtrr. '.mini lvl!m? :m t u iii. I Hcchtcl. her brother, ami an 1 Alfred Eckstein, her acoredite lover, locked up in a? police station cell, the Allentown police are resting in their work on the Mabel 11. Mechtol murder rasa of Tuesday morning;, until Coroner Schlerer's jury meets tomorrow evening. The mystery is still practically i unsolved, except that indications point I to a family row in which Eckstein may ! have figured, as lie admits he was at Miss licchtel's home on Monday evening for an" hour ami a half. Becrar.sc Mrs. Uecht'l hau said her daughter left for a drive on Monday at 0 a. m.. | efforts were irado to trace the girl's movements away from home. Unmors that she was at a road liou.se near tliia city were found to be groundless and the police do not believe the girl was away from hotuo at all on Monday. Iler brothers. Thomas. John and Chan. say tluy di I not si e her on thnt ii:\y and so also says lier sister Martha. Martha usually slept with her widowed mother 'n the second floor, roar n um. Thonir. ; o< v.-pled the tni'hllo room anil John and Charles the front room. In tin latter the police today, on thorough search, found blood stains on the carpet and on the wall paper, and it looked as if viperous efforts hud been n:a ! to wipe them out. Thomas' 1 loody ovi rails v.ere found this aftern i in a m lahhor's yard. In a drawer i : a eh ?t in the thlrrl story was found part of Charles' hatchet, sueh as .slaters use in rdate root, bcius his trade. The reuit inder of the tools were found in another drawer. The break in the handle looks new and fresh. The police this afternoon put the mtire lleciitel family, exi pt the mother under thorouj.h t >'nination. All deny any knowledge of how Mahol eame to her death or who 'plan d her he>dy In the allej way undi r tiie home on Tuesday mosninR. The mother was not called heeaus: of her hystericf l run(iition. Kckstein was Mi.-s Rei htel's accepted i lover, thouyh she also received altea ' ttons from Weisenberj?. ICckstein and the ftirl were to have been married or November but the date war. recently postpone! until Christmas. They ban i frequent quarrels over We'.sen berg a attentions. Eckstein being jealous ?>! bi n. He had expressed threats to fiev- 1 oral persons that he would kill lK?th. It is s rid he occasionally beat Miss He h | tel sevtrely. The Heehtel family sided with Kek stria. Weisenhcrg was not allowed t< ! enter the Reehtel home. Hoiiee Sergeant Kuauss returned to j AHentown from New York today wit) | We'.sen berg. The latter gave a da tailed statement of his movements since Sunday which are corroborated fidly. lie had not seen the girl since Sunday evening, when he met her by appointment o i <me street corner when she had just left Eckstein at the next corner. The police incline to the brief tnat the pirl was not away from home on Monday; that a family row occurred over the girls s>. .tposed duplicity to Eckstein, and her attachment for Weisenberg: that a blow war struck in anger which may have been more severe than was intended, and that the mother's story i? an invention. News Notes. Ti'p run on !* ? r'.t l .mils linn', si!.! to hn nv( v. Twelve sticks of flviiamit \ don^ uj in (wo packages, \vi?!? fuses attached r.l! ir-ndy to light. were found concealed in the lavatory of the inter-urban depot in St'Jtth*. Wash. The e wi re enough of t!i" e-x phis've to have blown up oil tlm bu ill in.*.'.; within a radius of blocks and t:? damage jiropcrty for a distance of ten blocks from the depot. Wm. Fai r. of Tennessee, who was Indicted in Nashville, was arrested In Washington yesterday by the p -stofT.r. Inspectors, on a warrant charging him with using the mails for fraudulent purposes. The Sf.irek of the police for the niur den r of Fagatel Sagouni. president o the Armenian Revolutionary Socicti in I.or.d r.. who was shot an ! killed 1>\ an unknown ro- ri-sin in t? ?? suburb ol Nunhrnd. late .Monday evening, has he.cu futilf up to noon Wednesday. Charged with having be. n member: of a hand of wh'tfc cappers, v.hi h i il'cged to have whipped n< : or an. burned negroes' houst i In Pike county 1 -i < white men huve been arrested a' l.indwood, l.y Failed States authorities. Four perrd" we killed in a v. i e , at. Ilctsca. . itj, If. C., V?"< d:v lay. i,1903. THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION. President Sets Apart l.ast Thursday in November. Washington. Special.? The President Saturday issued his annual Thanksgiving proclamation, in the following terms: My the Pirs':.!?>nt of the United States cf America \ Proclamation: The season is at hand when, according to the custom of or.r people, it falls t upon the Pri - i 1 lit to appoint a day or | prn sc and thank: giving to (Jod. Paring the 1 year the i.ord has ] n< alt hottntifully wifh ns. giving us peace at home end abroad and the | (banco for our citizens to work for I their welfare unhlnder <1 by war. fatn- ! ine or plague. It behooves us n??t only i to rejoice if resit l\ Pri-mito of wHnt Ion. I been given us. 1-ut (i? accept it with a : solemn sense of responsibility. realiz- 1 in? that under heaven it rests with us ' ourselves to show that we are worthy j to use aright what has thus been en- I trusted to our rare-. In no other place and at no either time* has the experiment of government of the people, by the people, for the people, lie eat tireel em so vast n scale as he-re in our oun re-entry in the opening years e>f the twentieth century. Failure would ue>t only he- n un-aelful thing for us. hut a <' 1ea-lfnI thing for all nianklnel. bemuser ; it would nu-an loss eif hope for all who ' bclb-ve in the power and the righteous- i n : v of 1 ih< i ty. Therefore, in thanking God for the mercies rxtondeel tei us ill the past we beseech liini tlint lie may not withhold tinm in the future, and thai our he-arts may he roused tei war ten IfaMlv feir rood and against all the t( te-os eif evil, public and private. We pray f-it- strength. and light, so that in ill? < timing ve ?rs we may with e-h anllnr.-;s. fearlessness and wisdom, do our Allotted work on the earth in such IUOMM r tis to show that we are not altogether unworthy of the- blessings we h.i\ o r< reived. Tb've.fore*. 1 Theodore Roosevelt. Fr; si-1 nt of tin- Uiiit"d States, elo here|i; designate as a day of general thanksgiving Thursday, the IStli of the corning November. and do recommend , that throughout the- land the people < a freun their v.-emte"! occupations and in their several hot nnel places in wcvsirp rcuii't inntiKs unto ai- ; mighty <;? ?! for His manifold mercies. la whereof I linve herouot i f.i I try hand aatl ? rmsed tlto seal at" the , I tii;? .1 St: 1't.> Ik- affixed. Done at the City of Washlngtan, that. 31st day of October, ia the year of our I e.r I one thou. .tn.d, n'n hundred ttti 1 tl roe ami of the independence of tiie I'riitod States the one hundred anil twenty-eighth. T11 KOIH ill! : ROOSKVKI.T. Hv the President: ,1()HN HAY, Secretary of State. Killed in Collision. Indianapolis, 1ml.. Special. ? Fifteen j persons were killed ami over f?0 injured. r;?!ic fatally. Saturday motning hy i a collision between .i special passenger i train on the Rig l?*our Railroad and a fr< ight engin drawing coal ears. The accident happened in the edge of this city. The passenger train ef twelve roaches were carrying 954 persons, nearly all of whom were stud* nts of Purdue Uni versity and their friends, from l.aCeyeite to Indianapolis, for | the annual football game between the | Purdue team and the Indiana University sound for the State championship, which was to have been fought tl Is afternoon, in the {list coach hack of the engine were the Purdue football team, substitute players and managers. Throe players, three assistant coach. trainer and seven substitute players of the University team wore Kiiii'u. arm I'viiy nn>- 01 111c uuifi | persons in the ear were either fatally or seriously Injured. Winston's Tobacco Market. Winston Snlein. Special.?The Winston manufacturers shipped 2,198,097 pounds of tobacco during this month. This is an increase of 04.510 pounds over the same month last year, the shipment for October. 1902, being 2,124.5S7 pounds. The slump rales at the Winston office this month wore as follows: Tobacco. J121.SS5.82; spirits. $5. 782.70; cigars, $06.75. The leaf sales this month amounted to l.174,800 pounds. It brought J08.2N5..17. an average of $5.80 per hundred. While the average Is nrueh less than last year, it is more than the warehousemen had anticipated. It is claimed oy tobacconists generally that the quality of the off. rings Ir. not an good as last year. SU'k- Trouble In St. Louts Indianapolis. Ind.. Special.?It is reportcd here on information received from the national headquarters of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, that between 4.000 and r?,000 inen affiliated with the Structural Building Traders' Alliance and employed at the St. I>ouis Exposition grounds, will strike, in pursuance of un order issued by the officers of the aliance. News In Brief. Alfred Eckstein. David Weisenberg and Thomas Bechtel were arrested in Allentownt Pa.. in connect ion with the murd< r of Mabel Bechtel. Ex-Congressman John E. Russc 11, of Massachusetts, if, dead. Fire destroyed the G'rard Avenue Thealr in Philadelphia. Pour persons w??re kiiled in a railroad wreck near Charlotte, N*. C. I) >v.ie declares that he controls o<>.O'io votes in Chicago. A Washington dispatch stated that the national campaign in lttOd will b ! conduete 1 by President Roosevelt's friends on very conseryvative linos. * 1 VJ ? NO. IN AID OF LEVEES A letter From President Roosevelt is Head TilE CONVENTION AT NEW ORLEANS One of the Host Important (intherings l;ver Held in the Valley of the Mississippi. Now Orleans. Spooial.?Resolved to appeal to tin* Federal government for adequate aid to levee both hanks of the Mississippi river and to ninintjyu such lev? es at maximum grade, t' < by making possible the reclamation and proteelion of the alluvial lands and improving navigation, the largest and most influential levee convention held in the valley convened ht re Tuesday. when President ('has. Scott enllori tlu? Inter state Mississippi River inv provement anil Levee Association to order. The oei asion was otherwise a notaide one. l?y the direct announcement l>y ihe i':< ident of tlie t'niteil Stales of iii svnipailiy with the movement whli^j th convent sou proposes to inaugurate. - delegates r< presented ei; lit or t< a States of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys and im luded (?overnors. Senators, Mentis rs of (ton gress, hii;h railroad oftieials and repres< ntr.tivos of eonunereial ex* chanri? and 1< vep hoards. In calling the convention to order "'resident Seott defended the levee system and urged the constitutionality. the < \pc lien? e and the eotnnter rial and military necessity of government < hnrge of the river. Mayor Cap devllio ami Governor lit ar<1 made add re:-; es of wrlroinr. ('has. Scott, ww made permanent chairman of the convention, and .John \V. ltryunt, of Louisiana, ami W. A Kvernian. of Mississippi, seen tarles. and a eonimitt.ee on resolutions composed of two delegates from null State representing the ten at large were provided for. Hefore the conviiition took ? recess. Chairman I'arker. of the committee on arrangements. read a letter from I'resiu. at Roosevelt which aroused ntiicli < nthiisiasm. The President wrote: "My dear Mr. Parker: Permit me. through yon. t<> express ni> very great interest in the work of the Interstate 1 vee convention. Kxaetly as I have taken :i keen interest in irrigation fi tlie arid regions, so 1 feel tliat the movement for thoroughly protecting tile Mi issippi low lands by levees is one of importance to the whole country. no less than to the people immefll i *11 r? 1 V" in?tii?t?r >?.? ? . 1 wish all sikcoss t<> your convention and shall follow Its codings with close attention. "Sincerely yours. (Sig.i TliKOiiOHE ROOSEVELT \Vh? n the letter had been read. Mur ray F. Smith, of Vioksbtirg, offered the following resolution which was unanimously adopted: "Resolved: That the thanks of the people of the Mississippi valley are hereby tender* d to 1'resident Roosevelt, through this convention, for his manly and patriotic letter, endorsing the improvement of the channel of the Mississippi river and the protection of the vast area of alluvial and fertile territory alone,' its hanks from devastation by floods; thereby eon serving and facitttatingg the vast and growing inter-State commerce already transacted through the medium of great railroad systems b< hind the ie* vees." "It Is requested that those resolutions ho wirvd to the President." The convention took a rocegs until Thursday. At the opening of the night session Judge N. CI. Rlanchard. of Louisiana, spoke, urging government control of the levees. Secretary i f Agriculture Janus Wilson, following Judge Itlanchnrd. was welcomed with great cordiality, lie said the question of government control of tile levees was a new one to him. It int. tested him deeply nn.l the people of the lover valley had his deepest sympathy in pushing it. The Secretary spoke for the new policy the government had adopted, a m.itter of irrigation in the West. He urged the imperative necessity of forest preservation and of dam construction for the dual purposes of adding agriculture and reducing the. volume of water poured through the grt at river. Congressman J. E. Ransdcll. followed Secretary Wilson. A Recommendation. Washington, Special.-?The annual report of Surgeon C.cneral ftixey to the Secretary of the Navy recommends the t"construction of the hospital building h? P< iisacola, Fla. The remodelling and i brgement of the hospital at Norfolk urged. Admiral ltlxey rerommen Is the construction of two hospital ships to cost $1,030,000 each, saying 1h.it, alike gh the first to use them, thin aintry has fallen behind other m ion i*i fiontlng hosrJtal equiomc it e the Spanish war. Referring to c;,: hmirs of Infectious diseases, during ike year, it is recommended thru provisions he made whereby recruits may h?- kept for a period of three weeks before he'ng permitted to Join the nav.d force. %