University of South Carolina Libraries
C“ VOL. I. McCORMICK, S. C„ THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1888. Stdtistifcs show that there afe 182,690 j T'r’tll) | n | 1? pypF f Y\TT7 chdrchcs, 92;000 fMflfsters ? and 19;000;- | IJ^lUilDUi v 1 VjLUit Ju 000 members in the United State! Leading British military authorities say that England's war resources are not sufficient to withstand attack from for eign foes. springs tsro b king tar Gilt F OF MUX ICO. THE <* tfu& aroc nn d The Dakota farmers who have survived the blizzard are happy in the thought | to place in a in muer at once fre#ildcring CRedvd By a YViud, That Deals Hi Death Might aiid Loft. The receflt gtorftj Which swept over Georgia was dipped afwttrtd ffotti place that the fall will atari. '• moisture from the heavy snow give the early wheat a good Mr. Froude, the English historian, in a recent ^ork asserts that the retrogres sion of Jamaica and other British pos sessions in the West Indies" has been so rapid that the Government -*ia .seriously i it to part i;Ao two columns. One of these fcsked to govern these pftcea by eottmis- fdBWffrMi H£ " ' l '"' • 4 I va ley, an; and sensational. From the fatal Visit id Lumber City to the house-smashing in Cal houn was a long distance, but the coun try between was pretty well spotted with smaller wrecks. The storm seems to have blown up ffbm the Gulf, that fruitlul nest of tornadoes, and, upon striking the western border of Georgia, to hai 6 come in collision with something winch cause 1 Sibri. A scientist claims that the bituminous coal field known a* the Pittsburg is practically inexhaustible, according to the exploration. There are 10,000,000 bushels of coal in the barges at Pittsburg ftwiliting transportation as soon as the rivers are navigable to the south and Westward. Tennessi its wi its fata? the state Game Warden Collins, of Connecticut, comes to the defence of owls and hawks by saying that the examination of over 200 specimens of these birds by miscro- scopists proves that they live on small birds, frogs, snakes, mice and grasshop pers. The “small birds” are mostly sparrows, and very few game birds are eaten. There is a marked decrease of mar- •riages in England and Wales. In 1853 the number of persons married was at tho rate of 17.9 per 1,000 of the popula tion. This was the highest rate since 1838. In 1882 the ratio had dropped to 15.5, and from that period there has been a continual decline, last year show ing a ratio as low os 14.1, compared with 14.4 in 1885. Francis La Flescho, of the Omaha tribe, who is employed in the Bureau ol Indian Affairs at Washington, is the brother of .Inshta Theamba, and is three- fourths, not full-blood or even half- breed, Indian. Ia Flesche was edu cated at the mission school of an Indian agency in Nebraska, and was appointed -Jty. Secretary Kirkwood^ to a placi Indian Bureau. He has made an clerk. On several occasions he has as interpreter between his people and government officers, and has also been sent on several missions to his tribe. An example of deterioration in values is shown in the sale of the Great East era for less than $100,009. * The origin nalcoT of the vessel, was three and a half million dollars, but she was a gigan tic failure from the start. The building of this ship, however, was of value in demonstrating that there was a limit in steamships in the direction of size. She has been of use also in the laying of the Atlantic (ablcs. While those who in vested their money in building this ship lost heavily in the venture^ they can console themselves with the fact that their loss was not altogether in vain. Authentic estimates of the peace effect ives stationed in the frontier provinces of Austria, Russia and Germany show that Russia has 815,500 men, with 689 field-guns; Austria, 38,000 men, with ISO field guns; and Germany 98,200 men and 883 field guns. A comparison of the military situation on the Russian side of the frontier with that on the German side, taking the forces within territories of about equal area, shows that the Russians within 119,311 square kilometers b ave 123,275 men, 24,198 horses and 2,711 guns of all kinds, while the Germans, within 119,456 square kilometers, have only 81,714 men, 14,520 horses and 238 guns. The cityof Mexico is madly devoting itself to gorgeous spectacles, in which the central a^ract.on is bull-fighting. Sunday ia tho ehief festival day for this sort of thing, and half a dozen “rings” attract multitides. Saleri, a Spanish bull-fighter, noted in his own country for daring deeds, was impoited by Mex ican enterprise to add zest to the Sab bath circuses. He was “famous” chiefly for that particularly reckless accomplish ment which consists in infuriating the wild beast and then evading its onslaught by nimbly leaping over its head. His first experiment at an introduction of this into the Mexican Sabbath programme resulted in his being gored to death. "the Chattahoochee across Calhoun into e it went careening on action. The other, after in Lumber City, crossed South and Nortfi Carolina, and spent its force on the Atlantic. Con sidering the extent of the disturbance, :he fatalities were very few. The day was the most beautiful one of the Spring. It was perfect Spring day, and wheu the sun went down there was no indication of the storm, which was then hanging over the country, and the people with no thought of the dan gers to which they were to be subjected before another day came, sought their homes. Tho disturbance commenced about half past ten o’clock at night. Then tho lightning began to flash. At first, the flashes were at irregular inter vals and were followed by loud rumbling far away thunder, but. in a short time the lightning became brighter and more rap id, and the thunder louder, more dis tinct and nearer. Finally, the flashes became one continuous flame, and the (hunder kept pace with it. So bright and continuous were the flashes that any portion of the country could be plainly seen almost constantly by-those who were up. Just as the electrical display was most intense, rain began falling. At first it came steadily in large drops, but in a minute a perfect deluge ensued. Then with the rain came the wind; it was in tense/ It moved along only as a cyclone caa move, and with it houses, barns, fences and timber want down. It roared and moaned and went by like a flash. For ten minutes it continued, and then a calm ensued. The wind moved from the west to the ea9t, and went along with a roll and dip, howling, whistling and singing, until everybody was aroused. Its velocity was intense, and houses waved and rocked upon their foundations until people, in many cases, fearing tint their dwelling would go over, ran out Reens & Malone, J. *L Horlan & Co., County Courthouse, Hue Foster, Mrs. E. J. Simmons, E. J. Kicker, M. E. Ellis, Daniel Ellis, T. M. Ellis, Samuel Pullaln, O. N. Stow, A. W. Reeirt, I. M. Ballou, J. M. Neal, Ferguson & Rob ertson, H, F. Ferguson, Mrs. Norcissus, Dr. J. JJ. Malone,N. J. Booz, B. G.Booz. ThfW ^eavs ago there was a half-witted colored girf iiTtlie place who professed to be able to read into the future. She would go up the side of the hill and stay there alone hours at a time. One after- fltterfi she came back very much excited and told Several people that sho had secu a strange fifghtt that something had come to her and tfffd her that Calhoun was to be destroyed by n cyclone, March the 20th, 1888. She was -o ttjrqest, that somebody wrote up the iucideilf, £nd it She missed it only pne the members of his fa mily were seriomly injured. The bacon from Worley’s smoke house was blown two i uiles away. The storm was very severe along the Tennes see river. . SOUTHERN GOSSIP. BOILED DOWN FACTS AND FAN CIES INTERESTINGLY STATED. NO. 25. NATIONAL CAPITAL. CONGRESSIONAL. . the dre cold rain. n e'north side of tier upon the south these tkro hills is n nar- which the business houses is ted. Tho hills are considerably than the little valley, and upon them the greatest destruction to property and the loss of life occurred. The most severe part of the storm—divided just east of tho town and leaving the vale untouched, swept the hills upon either side. On the north side of the road and just upon the top <>f the hill, Rafe How ard, a negro blacksmith, had a house which was struck with full force. Howard and his wife were in one room in bed, and their son, a boy of sixteen years, was in another room. When the wind hit the house it rose and dropped back. Then it rose again and again dropped back. Then the timbers began creaking, and in an instant the roof dropped in, the wails tumbled down and the house was flat upon the ground, completely ruined. Upward was in stantly killed, and his bojy was severely hurt; the wife escaped serious injury. A barn near the residence of Mayor N. A. MorSfc was levelled, also* a two story house built by Mr. Morse dor Dr. Potter of Macorf, who was to occutpy it in April. Calhoun suffered the mo* of any place visited by $he cyclone. About half a minute beford it manifested 1 itself at Cal houn, it struck the residence of Farmer Gaines, about a mile and a half south west of the town. He and! his family were sleeping when the stoifm laid low their house. Tfiey were covered with debris, but were not seriously injured. The first buildgig of my importance that was struck was a saw-mill owned by Z. D. Giay. This! was lcvelecfto the ground. Another important staple has been placed at the mercy of one of the pow erful associations of capitalists known as “trusts.” The Great Sugar Trust, re cently organized on the principle of the Rubber Trust, includes twelve of the nineteen large refineries in the United States—seven in New York, four in Bos ton, and one in St. Louis. Each refin ery has put its entire capital stock into the Trust, taking certificates in payment, and the organization controls millions of capital. The pnrpose is the “regula tion” of the production and price ol sugar. Whenever production is too great for the demand, or whenever theie is a scarcity of raw sugar, certain of the re fineries must shut down, and not start again until the market improve The wreck Baptist chu cously razed ceiling fell a[ the pulpit, to a ndw and. ban complete. The colored ear by, was sinuhltan- c earth. The walls and shed the benches and nth. Hayne^s. hotel, me building, was not much damaged, but was tearfully wi^ndhed and thrown out of position. Th<? Western «£ Atlantic railro.aif agent’s hotme, occupied by Mrs. Willingham as a boVding house for school children, was blowifc to atoms. Near by was (situated a handstVue residence, belonging to N. J Boaz, And rented to a lady. The roof of this Louse was blown off, the chimneys were broken to pieces, and the window blinds blown away. On the corner of the street was a one- story framehouse, occupied by an aged negro woman* named Mary Montgomery and her two grandchildren. This was literally liftecfoff the ground and shaken into fragments, -and the oolorod woman seriously hurt. Mrs. Dyer’s residence was virttedbv thtf Atorm, and demolished. At the time, it was unoccupied. Tom, the truck man at the railway depot, was in his bed and was Uowtn out intto the darknes#, twenty feet Dr inore. fie was severely cut in the head but will re cover. The railway depot felt the fnry of the storm. It is a large, substantial brick building. Every ptrticle of the tin rooting was blown off, and much of the sheathing was unloosed. Heavy boards were sailing through the pr, amd even the thick' brick walls vere broken. The general merchandise store of Hicks & Engrams was destroyed, entailing a loss of nearly $2,000. The Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian churches were badly injured, and altogethfir the injury to property cannot be less Iran $30,000. The following is a partial lit of the suf ferers* M. L. Mathews, Griff & Minis, J. B T. Horrell, Himes & Kirg, J. N. Pat rick, J. B. Johnson, W. M. Hughy, Hicks & Pitts, Mrs. Pitts. G. W. Reed, was published, day. The turpentine works Holland, two 'miles ri' City, were completely still, commissary 'and and shanty being blown away. Whid- don was sleeping in a house with his partner, and they rushed out to save themselves, but had ran only a few steps when the house was blown over on them and crushed them so that they s- emed to hare hardy an unbroken bone left in their bodies, and were filled instantly; all their Clothing was blown from their bodies, except a small fragment of Mr. Whiddon’s under vest. Two other men, sleeping in another house, were also crushed and killed by the house bc- iug blown down upon them. Several other persons were wounded and injured, more or less seriously. There was a lar^e lot of saw logs iu Sugar creek. The storm blew the water out of the creek and turned the raft in a perpendicular position. The village consisted pf twelve or fifteen buildings and two stores, and there is not the rign of a house left. The goods from the stores arc scattered cvcry^- *Where. Bolts of calico and shoes and groceries are to be found scattered in all parts of the storm area. On the railroad side track, before the cyclone came up, there were several cars standing, some'of them heavily loaded with lumber, but in a few moments more they were one hun dred and fifty yards away from the track out in an old field. One of the most re markable things that occurred was the "switch target. It. was twisted off and carried away as if it had been a mere shrub. The turpentine distillery and saw mills were completely destroyed, and the lumber was scattered for one-lialf mile around. There were about 1,000 barrels of turpentine in the building, and these were sent up like rockets in the air, and some of them wero blown a half mile and scattered everywhere. In Lithonia a dozen other buildings were injured, some blown entirely down. The wind traefcj:*^, itfjjff|it|Wnf■ ilfifr Tff! 1 son, and son-in-law wore in a house when it was blown down. Thi timbers fell upon them, and they were all hurt. Boxby’s injuries arc the severest aud it is believed that he will die. His son-in-law’s back was broken. Mrs. Sursin, living mar the town, was struck by a piece of falling timber blown from her house, and badly hurt. West Point, LaGrange, Palmetto, New-nau and Griffin, Pow der Spring, Marietta, Carters- ville, Cave Springs, Rome and Cedar- town did not suffer much. E. B. Hal comb’s bouse, at Ackworth, was blowfi down as well as the Baptist church, at Tallapoosa. The First Baptist church, (colored,) at Gainesville, was blown down, as well as Hood’s brick cotton warehouse at Har mony Grove. Sims’steam mill, at Wash ington, was unroofed, and a colored church in course of construction at that place was destroyed. A freight train from Lula to Athens ran into a tree, which had been blown across the en trance to a cut. The smokestack and whistle of the engine were knocked off. A negro brakeman by the name of Bob Reese was sitting on the top of a box car, when the tree struck him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Talladega, Ala., suffered badly. One of the dormitories of the State University for the deaf, dumb and blind, had its ga ble end blown in, and covering the deaf mutvs with the debris, breaking tlieir beds into splinters without seriously injuring the bo\s. Two miles from Talladega the beauuful iron bridge of the A. & A. R. R., span ning Talladega creek, was piled by the wind into a mass of ruins into the middle of the stream. The storm seems to have divided up iuto sectional cyclones, tak ing various directions, switching, as it wire, from the main body cane which swept northwc which passed o\ er the as have been about twenty and was sweeping above t forty feet, as it carried awa’_ __ the dormitory and other buildings with out touching the shrubbery. Dispatches state that the hurricane passed over East Tennessee. At and near Lenoir’s much damage was done, and several lives los 1 ;. The residence of J. H. Williams, three miles east of Le- hurri- ind Accident* on I.niul nnJ on Set*—New Kntp^-- prlscs—Suicides—R.cfl(aloits» TeiupMMfee nnd Social Matters. From six to twelve jnfthes of snefrw ^e]/ at Sherman, Texas, and buried sp$n/g flowers and fruit tree blossoms. O^ue day the mescury marked 72 degrees and next it went down to 84. an &-Co. ^bankers, of Aberdeen, It is beliefJd the fai!«^5 i^ro^fe^20%000. The, failure affects’ merchants farmers, widows, or phans :ffid a few colored people. News was received at Ralei tik, N. C., of the cl^ath, last Saturday, of Rev. Dr. Matthew T. Yatee, in China. He was the oldest pf the ^prist missionaries, having been in Chirta 42 years./ West Point, Ga., had q/nite a fire, Wliidh started in W. W*>dd% store, causing a damage of £20,000. The losers are J. J. Crawford, drugsfl; Courser, tailor; George N. Craft, po»nf©t)tioner; I. M. 8cott, W. G. Shacfier an<^. Miller & Harris. Tom Powers, colored, wai. run over and killed by the MontgCfme/y & Eufaula, train at Cochran staticfci x Ala,, while walking on the track. Ii^ lattemptingto cross the cattleguard he i/ell across the track, and the train ruD/tover his neck, severing his head from hi |t»body. An epidemic of mcask£t is iaging at Buckingham C. H., Va. Whole families are down with it. One family consisting of a man, h s wife and fourteen children ai*e prostrated, and an old couple, aged Respectively 91 and 87, are down with tup disease. A great m frny have died. .\n attempt was mfcde to wreck; a freijAdit train on the Grcienville & Colom bia lRailroad, near Belt*ftn, 8. C. Engin eer Kflnard was painfully wounded ffbout his faefcin attempting to jump frqfcn his engine. Several attempts ha^e been made to- wreck trains at that jfolnt be fore. There is excitement at Durhaifi, N. C., growing oui of the arrest of a npinber of liquor deuleiV, on the charge of violating the local option law. A New Vork de tective went flhere, and soon goteevidence against a number of them. Attests fol lowed, and tlij defendants were required to give heavy Bonds for their aifpearance at court. Dudley •n Judge buperior court, iu the I\\dUy Bulletin, their edi torial charging tlaat Judge Clears grossly dis>3*iminated between white and colored people in court, a$id was Very abusive in tone. Two more of th«S indicted Bald Knob- bers, at St. Louis,. Mo,, have presented written confessions, to the sheriff. Amos Jones and William Stanley follow John Mathews in the ph}a for mercy, and man age to wesve a stoffy showing their pres ence had a ten^entsy. for a peace gather ing. They accuife. Charles Graves of being responsible,, with Bill Walker, in the atrocious mynjers, while they used every endeavor* to restore order and pre vent bloodshed. Judge John P. Bing died at hiarcsi- dencc in Augusta* Ga. John P. King -wvxs born in Barr<j n county, Kentucky, in April, 1799. His. father’s famtfy moved to Bedford county* Tennessee, when he wws very young. He continued to reside in Tennessee untjl he was about fifteen years old, and thjen went to Georgia, for a short in Columbia county, where he had some relatives, and thenofc to Au gusta, where hfc has resided ever since. He is survived oy his wife and ttwo child ren, the Marchioness Anglesey^ of Paris, formerly Hon. Mrs. Wadehouy, of Eng land, and Henry B. King, of Augusta. ■ ■ . —n i ■ -o EUROPE’S BLIZZARD.. noir’s, was completely swept away, and his wife c riied off in the wreck and killed. The body of Mrs. Williams was found next day in the Tennessee rivir, where it had been blown. A few miles distant, another dwelling was blown down and a young man named Smith was kill ed, and several other members of the family injured. The next residence struck by the storm was that of Geo. W. Hardin. The building was totally de molished, but the family escaped the storm, then crossed a timbered ridge, and tore up every tree by the roots in its track. The homo of James Linginfolter was reduced to kindling wood. Iu it were James R. Smith, who was killed, and a little daughter of Linginfolter, who had a leg broken. The dwellings of William Kmg and John Gideon were blown down. Seven members of the King family were badly injured, nnd two of the Gideons were so seriously hurt that they eannot recover. The house of La fayette Prater was a total wreck, and Jackson Prater was blown over the gar den fence, but escaped wuth slight injuries. The cyclone traveled in a northeasterly direction. A bureau in the Williams house was found half a mile from where the residence stood. At London, Tcnn., the house of George Moses was completely destroyed, and ec;ery member of his family badly hurt. Andrew Wor- Uiy's house "was also carried away, and A Ispavy blizzsrd has raged in the southeast of England, ’fhe storm was slight ill London, and in Spain the storm was very heavy, especially in the north. In the south of Sfmin, fl >ods are d<iing an enormousl damage. The rising of the Tiber, resulting from tho Tecent fall of snow ha^jfloaded the lowfcr quarters of Rome, floods are reported in Russia, c aused bv the m< ItiDg of snow, and sec» tions of the S -uthwcfeterti railway thrc'iti- en to Haiti? are compelled -to go speed. A violent snow st >rai ri x ff ■die.Paris, France. All com- municaiism by rail w ith Lille and Havre was cut off. THEY DECLINED. The engineers on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at Decatur, Ala., re fused to pull a fre : gUt train to which a “Q” car was • attached. The car was then taken out and tamed over to the MenlpbUs & Charleston, whose engineers also reflused to move it. I he Illinois Central engineers at Jackson, Tenn., re fused to pull a train until three Burling ton cars were cut out and side-tracked, which w r as done. At Fulton, Ky., the company was obliged to refuse several Burlington cars from the Chesapeake & Ohio for the same reason. It is generally understood on the line of the Illinois Central South that the engineers will handle no “Q” cars. IMPORTANT, IF TRUE. It is said that at a secret meeting of the Atlanta, Ga., Brotherhood of Locomo tive Engineers, the question of a strike had been discussed, nnd it is believed that if the order comes through the proper channels that the Atlanta brotherhood will strike in support of the engineers on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy rail road. JAY GOULD ARRIVES. The yacht Atalanta, arrived off St. Augustine, Fla., with Jay Gould and party. Gould appears in excellent health. The Atalanta came from Gibraltar and Nassau, stopping at the Ctyoaiy island^ In the Senate, among the bills reported irom committees aud placed on the cal endar were the following: To encourage the holding of a national industrial ex position of the arts, mechanics and pro ducts of the colored race in the United States in 1888 89, and appropriating $400,000 in its aid. Considerable de bate took place on Mr. Blair's movement iu behjdf of Confederate soldiers, Mr. Virginia, appearing to voice of the Southern members "J|^Hpuid : “The Confederate Boldier hai^^Wuly laid down the gautitlet of war, and when he came out of the war he had contempt for but two classes of men engaged iu It—first, those who made apologies; and second, those who de manded them. Questions of great in ternal strife and of great civil conflicts never descended to personalities, but wero governed by great philosophies of human existence. He had no doubt that the Senator from New Hampshire had introduced the bill in a spirit of benevo lence, kindness and generosity, bat it had not been called for by any Confederate, nor had it grown out of the demands of public sentiment.” The Senate thou passed bills to provide for the warehous ing of fruit brandy; for the relief of ironclad builders—the Perines and the McKays; touching the grade of com mander in the navy, and to correct an order in relation to an appointment therein (this was the case of Commander Quackeubmch and caused considerable debate) In the morning hour, tne House resumed consideration tion of the resolution assigning two days lor the transaction of business reported by the committee on labor. Opponents of the resolution, led by Mr. Rogers, of Arkansas, proceeded to obstructive methods to. prevent action. Mr. O’Neill, of Missouri, stated that lie was willing to amend Gate resolution by ttrikjng out the clau^% limiting the time of debate on each measure called up. He would do this, he said, in order to remove the pre text under which the gentlemen were re sorting to filibustering tactics. ^ will tell these gentlemen,” he said, ‘ Hhat you (indicating Mr. Rogers) have talked out this morning hour; that you have accomplished your purpose, and you have simply been the tool that had been used for that purpose.” Mr. Rogers de manded that the -words be taken u'j'urr.hwft rca J'||*..UHU rnflftc eisrga aesK., Mu Cox, New York, move*! that the gen tlemen from Missouri be allowed to pro ceed in order, and the motion being agreed to, Mr. O’Niel resumed the floor amid applause. He said that the duties of members of the committee on labor were very arduous, and that gentlemen on that committee were placed in a very peculiar position, being liable to be de nounced as demagogues and catering to the workingmen whenever they brought in a bill In the interest of labor. As chairman of that committee, he had been obliged to stand here for two days in an e^brt to secure consideration of a num- Ver of important labor bill, aud see the time frittered away by men who, as leaders of the House, should be first to respond to the demands of the working- for the right to be Heard. Among bills of a public character that were passed by the Senute, were the fol lowing: To construct a road to the Na tional cemetery at Corinth, Miss. To settle and adjust the claims of any state for expenses incurred by it in defense of the United States during the War of Re- beilicun. Appropriating $100,000 for the erection in Washington of a monument to/begro soldiers and sailors who gave Vfceir lives for the preservation of the government. To judiciously determine the right of the United States in railroad lands in Florida. There were altogether fifty-five bills passed, a majority Deing pension and private relief bills. Among the former were two pensioning volunteer female nurses during the War, at $25 a month. Mr. Blair, from the committee on civil service and retrenchment, re ported a bill providing (;n appointments to the civil service in certain cases) for the pre’erence of persons who were en gaged in the military or naval service of the so-called Confederate states during the. war of the Rebellion, and who were ■d therein, and were not dishonor- lischarged therefrom In the’ on the motion of Mr. Neal, of fssee, a bill was passed authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tenn. Mr. Anderson, of Iowa, offered a resolu tion for thd appointment of a special com mittee of five members to investigate railroad strikes and to report what legis lation is necessary to prevent such ob struction to commerce and distur bance of the public peace. The reso lution is accompanied by a long preamble reciting that the strike of the locomotive engineers on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy R«ilroad, ri suits Vi an obstruction to interstate commerce and puts in jeopardy public peace. Mr. Wilkins, of Ohio, under instructions from the committee on banking and cur rency, moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill authorizing the Usue of frac tional silver certificates. After a great deal of debate, the bill passed—yeas 178, nays G7. GOSSIP. Col. J. II. Baxter, chief medical pur veyor of the army, has been ordered to Augusta, Ga., on temporary service. Mr. Breckenridge has given notice that when the proper section is reached, he will move to reconsider the vote by which cotton bagging was transferred from the free list to the dutiable class with the ex isting tariff of 1 1-2 cents per yard. Justice Lamar delivered his first opin ion in the supreme court immediately after the decision of the Bell telephone ease. He read the decision iu tho Mis souri river packet company against the Hannibal & St. Joe railroad. The judg ment of the supreme court of Missouri in favor of the railroad was affirmed. The Senate committee; on postofficcs aud postroads ordered unfavorable INTERESTING DOTS ABOUT OUR UNITED STATES> OFFICIALS t»®*sif> About the White Ronte-Army and Nnvy Matters-Our Relations With Otber t ouuu-its and Nations. on the bill to reduce the postage on seeds, cuttings, bulbs, etc., to one cent for every four ounces. The present rate is sixteen cents per pound, while that of Canada is only four cents. The purpose of the bill is to place American seedsmen on an eqttality w ith the Canadians so far as the use of the United States moils are con cerned. The United States Supreme Court ren dered a decision, which is the most im portant in connection with telephone af fairs—that Prof. Alexander Graham Bell is the inventor of the telephone. Chief Justice Waite delivered the i pinion. The chief justice considered carefully the alleged antic pation of Bell’s discovery by Philip Reis. “Reis,” the "chief jus tice said, “discovered how to reproduce musical tones, but he did uo more. He could sing through his apparatus, but he could not talk,and from beginning to end he has conceded this. No one of tne many writers w hoso papers are found in the record, claim more than this for Reis or his discoveries, although his first paper was published in 1861, aud Bell did not appear as working in the same field in scientific research until nearly fifteen years afterward. No advance had been made by the use of what he had con trived or of his method toward the great eod to be accomplished.” KENTUCKY’8 TROUBLE. Her State Treasurer is a Half a Mil'lon Defaulter, and Runs Away. Governor Buckner, of Kentucky, sus pended the treasurer of the state, James W. Tate, who is charged with defalca tion in his office, nnd who has fled from the state. The defaulting official has been treasurer for twenty-one years. He was considered the soul of honor, and the news will prove a tremendous sensation throughout the state. A later dispatch from Frankfort states that an investiga tion imrhediately instituted on the recom mendation of Governor Buckner dis closed a deficit in Tate’s office of $150,- 000, and that the irregularities seem to run back eleven years. The discovery of Tate’s shortage is a result of an examina tion of his books, by an expert account ant. The Governor has placed the treas urer’s office in charge of Auditor Hew- ett and Attorney-General Pardin. In his message to the legislature, Governor Buckner says he has reasons for believing the deficit is large and that an immediate investigation be ordered. In the House a committee was at once appointed and or dered to prosecute the investigation in connection with officers in charge of the office. Pending the investigation the office will be closed. The state has abundant resources at hand. All current expenses, payments, dues, etc., will be met without interruption or delay. Treasurer Tate’s bond is for $300,000. and the shortage is well .covered, was obs r. 5r-vv* when he unusual thing for him. Since he has not been seen aud his whereabouts is unknown. James William Tate was elected Shite Treasurer in 1867, having been nominated by the Democrats. He has been re-elected continuously at each election since, making his tenure of office twenty years on August 81*t last. In the last campaign Tate had no oppo sition for the nomination. Everybody laughed at the idea of opposing “Honest Old Tate.” He received the Democratic nomination for the tenth consecutive time. His majority has always stood among the largest on his ticKet, and merry, honest, joky “Dick” Tate has been one of the most widely known and universally liked men in Kentucky. In addition to being state treasurer, he was commissioner of the sinking fund, and was one of those entrusted with the man agement of the state penitentiary. The exact amount of h s shortage it is not pos sible, as yet, to state, but it is anywhere from $150,000 to $400,000. What has become of the money no one can tell. Tate never speculated nor gambled. He is said to have been an extravagant liver, but year by year the money has dropped out, the shortage seeming to run back a dozen yeara FIRE IN FLORIDA. WORLD AT LARGE. FEN PICTURES PAINTED BY A CORPS OF ABLE ARTISTS. Hazeltiue’s spacious brick block at the foot of Laura street in Jacksonville, Fla., built three yiars ago at a cost of $40,000, was destroy, d by tire. For three hours there was great danger of the fire spriad- ing across L- ura street to the Times- Union building and north to Bay. but the heroic efforts of the firemen and citi zens cheeked the flames. Total lo^s about $180,000; insurance about $80,000. It Was All Real to Him. “No, sir, you can’t possibly realize the devastation wrought by tho rabbits in my country,” said tbe man from Aus tralia, as he addressed a group in the railroad waiting room. “You would scarcely believe some things I could tell you. They will eat nearly eveiything, and what they don’t eat they tramp down and destroy. They find a garden and leave a desert. There is no check ing them—nothing to do but to sit and see everything you have swept away. You can know nothing about it unless you have lived there.” “No, I suppose not,” said tho man with tho large ears. “Must be awful,” >iggested the man with no overcoat. “I can realize it all, though I never saw more than a dozen rabbits in my life,” said tbe tall, solemn-looking man bitterly. “You can?” said the man from Aus- .tralia with a bad gleam in his eye. “Per haps you have had experience with the grasshopper scourge ?” “No, sir; never.” “General failure of crops—famine, then?” “No, nothing connected with agricul ture. ” “Then I must say you can have no oonception of the scenes I have told of, sir.” “But I insist I can,” replied the tall man, with a dark, revengeful scowl. “Those scenes of devastation areas clear to mo as if I lived in their midst. Sir, I am a Methodist minister, and last Thursday I finished laying in my stores for the winter. That very night the do nation party landed in our parlor aud the clash of rapine was heard within our quiet cottage. Huh! wouldst prate to me of rabbits?” And with a hollow, mocking laugh he arose and went over to the ticket office window, aud in a bitter tene asked when the train left for Qghkoaho^yAicGffo What i* Gain* on North, East and Writ anil Acio»« tlic Wnti-r—The Coming En- ropenn gtorin. Crown Prince William, of Germany, is quite s\ck. lhe French government has decided to cashier Gen. Boulanger. The French Clfaralier of Deputies is considering the advisability of authoriz ing a lottery loan of 340,000,000 francs to aid the Panama canal. In cons quence of this movement, Panama canal shares jumped up in pi ice. A collision occurred at Cisco, Cal., be tween two freight trains. Two engines were attached to the trains, and all four of the engines and a number of cars were bad y wrecked. Engineer John Pickens was killed instantly, and several others injured. Violent shocks of earthquakes have continued in the province of Yunnan, China, during the last three weeks, de stroying many towns and an immense amount of shipping at Kien-Chin. The lowest estimate places the number of per sons killed at 400. Emperor Frederick sent his first mes sage to the Prussian Lautag, which was greeted with cheers, all uniting in the cry, “Long live King Frederick l” The phy icians advise outdoor exercise at Wiesbaden. The emperor will probably depart for that place in a fortnight. Ex-Gov. Horace Fairbanks, of Ver mont, died at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York. He ventured out in the blizzard in a close carriage, but, with jiis naturally weak lungs, he caught a cold, which rapidly grew worse, and developed into pneumonia, from which he died. Keely’s secret of the manipulations of his mysterious motor, which he has guarded so securely for many years, in spite of the efforts for disclosure made by dissatisfied stockholders of the Motor Company, is at last to be divulged. Judge Finletter handed down an opinion iu Philadelphia, Pa., in the suit brought by Bennett C. Wilson, who claims to hold an assignment of Keely’s motor in vention, made to him in 1869, which grants an order for the inspection of all the motor machines as made by Keely, and compels him to explain the theories of their workings to Wilson and such ex perts as may be named. LICENSE8 REFUSED The Philadelphia, Pa., license court at present engaged in the examination of applications for liquor licenses under the pew lie nse law, rejected more than fiftv rim CROWDED SOLDIERS’ HOMES. The Number of Inmates Increasing— Absolute Need of Legislation. The annual report of the Board of Managers of the National Home for Dis abled Volunteers has been laid before the United States House. The Presi dent; Gen. Franklin, says barracks at the Northwestern, Southern and West ern branches hoye been erected during the fiscal year, furnishing accommoda tions for about 1,000 men. Every bed in these additional barracks is now in use and in every branch except, perhaps, the Western, men are now using the floor for beds. The average number of inmates present during the last fiscal year was 9,718, an increase in five years of 2,080, or 44 per cent. The number of deaths was 650, which is 61 per cent, more than the death rate of men of the same age in ordinary health. Gen. Franklin says these figures show how great is the general disability of the members of the home and suggests what the fate of the members might have been bad not the fostering care of the National home been tendered them. During the past three years the num ber of those admitted on aocounfc of wounds received in action has materially fallen off, while the number admitted on account of age and disability incurred since the war has increased, so that the annual number of admissions continually increases. The causes of increase will, continue as tbe soldiers grow older, and the membership must increase for an in determinate series of yoars so long as Congress famishes them means. The existing branches are now filled to their utmost capacity, and in the opinion of the Board only one, or at most two, of them should be further enlarged. The report says if it be the intention of Congress to care for all disabled sol diers, entitled to admission to the home under existing law, legislation will-*’ required, either to establish additioi branches, materially enlarge existing branches, encourage the States to estab lish State homes or to make appropria tion for outdoor relief for those soldiers who cannot be admitted to existing branches. Should Congress consider that the present accommodations are sufficient, the maximum number of sol diers, who shall receive the benefits of the homes should be fixed by law. Not If She Knew It. The door bell of the Vanity house ranp- at about eight o’clock the other night, and Mrs. Vanity said, excitedly, to her husband: “There. Charles, I just know that's the furniture van coining with the new bed room set wc bought to-day, and if it is I just won’t receive it, that's all.” “Why not?” asks Mr. Vanity. “Why not?” repeats Mrs. V. “Do you think I’m going to pay $175 for a chamber set and then have it sent out here after dark so none of the neighbors can see it when it isjbrought in? Not if I know myself, I don’t.”—Free Press. Rival Painters. ‘‘Talking about quick work,” said the artist, “I painted a complete landscape scene in three days recently.” “That’s nothing,” replies the scrape- grace. “Nothing? I’d like to see an artist who can beat it.” “I have beaten it. I painted a com plete town in one night.”—Lincoln Journal.