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"" WMIEY'S HIST MB." E*tra Session of the Fifty-Fifty Congress Convenes. / BRIEF IW RECOMMENDATIONS Session Culled to l>cul With Delictts I and Prevent Same lu Future by j Fussing >\ Turill' Bill. I * Washington, March 15.?The ettraordinnry session of the Fifty-fifth Congress was opened l?y reading the President s proclamation convening it. Sixtyeight Senators answered to the roll-call, and the galleries were filled to overflowing. All*. W A Horrin r*f li nnanu Wrto sworn iii us successor to Mr. Peffcr. After appointment of a committee to notify the Presidhntaud the House that the Semite was ready to begin its duties, a recess was taken until 2 p. m. Assistuut Secretary Pruden announced and presented the mcsHago, which was read hy the clerk, as follows: To the Congress of the United States: It egret ting the necessity which lias required me to eull you together, I feel that your assembling in extraordinary session is indispensible, because of the condition in which we find tlio revenues of the government. It is conceded that its cui rent expenditures are greater than its receipts, aud that Buch a condition lins existed for now more than four years. With unlimited means at our command, wo are presenting the remarkable spectacle of increasing our public debt by borrowing money to meet tho ordinary outlays incident upon au economical and prudent administration of the government. Au examination of tlio Hubject discloses tlliu fm>l i?i HViirv /lulnil ""'I I"""'" evitubly to the eoucluHiou thut tho revenue that allows it is unjustitiablo ami should be corrected. We lind by the reports of tho Secretary of the Treasury that the revenues for the liseal year ending Juno 80, 1802, from all sources were $485,808,200.22, and the expenditures for all purposes were $41 5,008,800.5ti. leaving au excess of receipts over expenditures of $9,914,458.00. During that fiscal year $40,570,407. PS were paid upon tho public debt, which had been reduced from March 1, 1889, $2.>9,070,890, and the annual interest charges decreased $11,084,570.(10. The receipts of the government from all sources during tho fiscal year ending June 80, 1898, amounted to $401,710,501 and its expenditures to $459,874,887, showing an excess of receipts over expenditures of $2,841,074. cilice that time the receipts of no fiscal year, and but with few exceptions of no more of any fiscal year, have exceeded the expenditures. The receipts of tho government from all sources, during tho fiscal year ending June 80, 1894, were $872,8* ?2,498 and its expenditures $442 ,005,758, leaving u deficit, the first since the resumption of specie payments, of $09,808,200. Notwithstanding there was a decrease of $10,709,128, in the ordinary expenses of the government as compared with the previous jiscul its income was stili not sufficient to provide for its daily necessities and the gold reserve in the Treasury for tho redemption of greenbacks was drawn upon to meet them, ilut this did not suffice, ami tho government then resorted to louus to replenish tho TAcprvP j 11 February, 1894, $50,000,000 iu bonds were issued, and in November following a second issue of $50,000,000 was deemed necessary. The sum of $117,171,795 was realized by the sales of these bonds, but the reserve was steadily decreased until, on February 8, 189ft, a third saleof $02,81ft,400 in bonds for $50,119,244 was announced to Congress: The receipts of tho government for the fiscal year ending .Juno 80, 1895, were $890,878,20:1 and tho expenditures $488,178,420, showing a deficit of $42,80ft,938. A further loan of $100,000,000 was negotiated by the government in February, 1890, tho sale netting $111,100,210 and swelling tho aggregate of bonds issued within three years to $808,815,400. For tho fiscal year ending dune 80, 1890, the revenues oftho government from i.ll sources amounted to $409,475,408, while its expenditures were $481,078,054. or an excess of expenditures over receipts of $85,208,245. In other words, tho total receipts for th*j three fiscal years ending Juno 80. 1890, were insufficient by $137,811,720 to meet tho total expenditures. Nor has this condition since improved. For tho first half of tho present fiscal year, the receipts of the government, exclusive of postal reve nues were $157,507,808, and its expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $195,410,000, or an excess of expenditures over receipts of $87,902,390. In ,1 miliary of this year the receipts, exclusive of postal revenues, were $24,810,994 and the expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $80,209,889 a deficit of $5,592,895 for the month, in February of this year tho receipts, exelusive of postal revenues, xzoro $24,- , 400,997 and the expenditures exclusive of postal service, $28,796,008, a deficit of $4,895,059, or a total deficiency of 3IMU nUI "iHII for tl.n tkro,, .......... .....1 V.v>/J WW . | -.VI# 4W vuv IUICU J cut D Mint eight months ending March 1 Hi, 18117. Not only are we without u surplus in the Treasury, but with an increase in the public debt there has been a corresponding increase in the annual iutoront ' charge from $22,HUH,883 in 18112, the lowest of any 3'ear since lstl2, to $34,- 1 387,2117 in 1811(1, or an increase of $11,- ' 4113,414. It may ho urged that even if the revenue of the government hail been sufficient to meet all its ordinary expenses during the past three years, ' the gold reserve would havo still been insufficient to meet the demands upon it, but bo that as it may it is clearly manifest, without denying or continuing the correctness of such a conclusion that the debt would luivo been decreased in at least the amount of tho deficiency? and business confidence iin- ! lneasurabl v strom/l hciicrl tliroiielunif the country. ( onyress should promptly eorroct tho existim; conditions. Ample revenue:* must l>c supplied not only for tho ordinary expenses of the government, Imt for the prompt payment of liberal pen sions and the liquidation of the principal and interest of 1 he public debt. In raising revenues, duties should ho bo levied upon foreign products as to pre serve the home market; so as to protect our own producers; to revive and increase manufactures; to relieve and encourage agriculture; iucreaso our domestic auu foreign commerce; to aid uud develop mining and building, and to render to labor in every field of useful occupation the liberal wages and adequate rewards to which skill and industry are justly entitled. The necessity of a tariff law which shall provide ample revenue, need not be further urged. The imperative demand of the hour is the prompt onactraentof such a me isuro and to this object I earnestly recommend that Congress shall make every endeavor. Hofore other business is liuiisuciod. let us first provide sufficient revenue to faithfully administer the government without the contracting of further debt, or the continued disturbance of our finances. iiiflied ! U'w AT,.T.'nit i'resident of the United States. The message occupied the undivided attention of the Senators and of the audience in the galleries, but no demonstration followed its conclusion. COTTON FAJIMINU. flo'? Two to Four Bnlos Per Acre Are Made on Very Poor hand. Wo havo not the slightest desire to assist in any manner in bringing about an inoreaee in tho number of bales annually raised throughout the Snnny South in general nor in Mississippi in particular, but wo do dosiro that Southern farmers everywhere should roalizo the fact that tho same 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 bales that aro now raised annually may be just as easily, just an surely and far moro economically and profitably raised on ono-fourtli tho area it is to-day, leaving the other three-fourths to bo put in provision crops, fruits or grass. Wo havo had tho good fortune to seo and walk over many Georgia farms?farms, too, that woro worn out and wasliod away many years ago?that are now mado to produce from on* to four b?Ua of cotton per acre. This condition of things is made possible and actually brought about by the 'intensive" system of culture and liberal yet economical fertilization. Ah i ?n.r 1 v in f ho now woo r ??a weather will possible admit of, tho old cotton stalks are "knocked," or cut, tbo roots aro then plowed up with straight shovel; green cotton seed aro then strewn in this shovel furrow at tho rate of ton to twelve bushels per acre; two lialf-shovel furrows are next thrown on tho seed to prevent the loss of ammonia; in a fow weeks this small bed is opened with a long, nnrrow scooter and '200 to 300 pouuds of some good commercial fertilizer distributed in this furrow ; phosphate and potash being all sufficient, the cotton seed furnishing the necessary nitrogcu ; the land is then bedded out and out with straight shovel and is now ready for tho reception of tho seed. Under this plan, persistently followed, Georgia farmers have succeeded in so increasing tho fertility of the soil that with n slight increase in amount of fertilizer used and a favorablo season four bales per aero havo rowarded their efforts. A good heavy cow-pea stubble turned under will be found to bo fully as beneficial to tho coming cotton crop as the cotton seed; either one will supply all tho nitrogen needed; but in the absence of a cow-pea stubble, the cotton seed should by no means bo neglected. Stable manure may bo used instead of either of above, but tho fact should bo kept in mind that all three of above nro "nitrogenous" fertilizers, and are used mainly for the amount of nitrogen they contain ; and either one,or all three need tho addition of phosphates and potash in liberal quantities (seventy-five pouuds of Ma rmte oi 1'otunli or '<()() pounds of Kainii, with '200 pounds of Acid Phosphate) ]>er aero in order to mnko a coin plot o fertilizer that shall ho at ouco properly halaucod and duly proportioned. If tho peas have been properly fertilized (with '200 to 000 pounds Acid Phosphate and '200 to 1100 poundsof Kainit), which they always should bo when tho object in raising them is that may be turned under as fertilizer, it would bo hardly necessary to apply any eddi tional fertilizer directly to tho cotton. Georgia larmerB break their lands deep (eight to ten or even twolvo inches) once about every thrco years; they say it does not pay to break thora deep any oftener. In this deep breaking, the land is broken with a twohorso turning plow, plowing about ono inch deeper than tho surfaco soil, thus gradually doepening tho soil. No crops nro planted hero at all without fortilizcr beiug applied, and in tho sandier portions of the Stato tho farmers socm to be unanimous in the declaration that "Potash is tho oloment that is most needed" and that "any fortilizor that does not contain as much as four per cont. of it is not worth applying." Cotton hero is planted in four foot rows, barred off with half-shovels and cultivated tho entire season "with cotton scrapes"?i. e. "heel-swoops." Burgess. M Tornbiu 'I'Iic Ambassadors Named. The President lias sent to the Senate [lie following nominations to lie uml>us<udors o\traonlina.y and plenipotentiu v of the United States: dolin Hay, >f the District of Colnmliia, to (treat i'rituin, and Horace I'orter, of New idrk, to iVaiiee; Henry White, of iiiiode Island, to lie secretary of tlie mliai sy of the United States in (treat i tritain. <'levelami's Ducli limit Over. A'dispatch from Norfolk, Va., savs: " I lie government iij;l:t hotlse tender ? ii> et, with ex-I'resiilent Cleveland lie1 -ot v on 1 loan I. npne-ire I here at a id' i Id from Currituck Sound. The late ('. .leroine Cnry, of Milwaukee, ilirci led ll,at his body should lie burned, that the ashes should be us*"l to nourish a certain rosebush, nnd ilia' the blossoms should be distribute'! Ullioim bis friends. His wishes were carried out, and \erses conimemoratini? the event were w ritten by ICben IS. t("\ford. ST. LOUIS* COSTLY FIRK. i A Great Dry Goods House Burned. Loss $750,000. Firo broke out iu the fourth floor c' the building occupied by the Ely Walker Dry Goods company, southwest corner of Eighth street and Washington avenue, 8t. Louis, Mo., Monday evening. The fire department was badly hampered, and it was 15 minutes after the first engine arrived before a stream of water was playing. A maze of overhead wires had to be cut awav, ami the street was jammed with the cars of four lines of the Washington avenue trucks. Within half an hour the fire shot up the elevator shaft and ..11 a. a 'im.O mi iiic ui'i'ui iiuuin ui'uu.r. xuu building is seven stories high, and every floor is tilled with merchandise. Fireman Smith of Engine Co. 18 fell from the third floor through to tho basement and was fatally injured. Mark barton, a porter, was overcome with smoke and was revived with difficulty. The east wall fell first carrying down Pipeman Gtituwull of the No. 8 hose tower, Towerman Jerry Mahan and I Lineman McCauu. Gutuwall'was instantly killed and MeCann badly injured. Malum clung to tho tower and was thrown through a second story window across tho streot, receiving severe cuts. Sections of the wall fell at short intervals for half an hour. A revised list, of the killed and injured is as follows: Killed: George Gutuwall, fireman. Injured: Towerman Jerry Mahan, cut and bruised; Lineman Luke MoCann, cut and bruised; Lee Smith, fireman, fatally injured; Mark Harton, porter, badly shocked; Mrs. Anna ltice, trampled on and badly injured; Jerry Cahau, hand cut. \V. II. Whipple, insurance adjuster, estimates tho loss on stock at $700,000, as some of the stock was saved. The Scott, Force and Goodbar Hat Company occip y the west half of the block. I>nmago to tticir ?took Uy water and smoke $10,000. Loss on building -will1 be $100,000; insured. A Fatal Whirlwind. A whirlwind visited the town of Mingo Junction, O., Saturday night, doing considerable damage and attended with fatal results. Tho wind lifted up the iron roof of the east house, which collapsed, the tall brick Avails, which were hold by log chains, falling in. Frank liobson and Larry Fahey Avere caught under the falling Avails. A force of men avus put to work to rescue them and Fahey Avas taken out dead. Frank liobson, aged and single. Avas so seriously crushed that he died three hours afterward. John Weikas, a Hungarian, Avas struck by falling timbers and bricks and badly crushed. 31 Isslssippl Sulterers. The valley of the loAver Mississippi is a vast inland sea. Death, desolation and distress is spreading from as far north as Bird's Point, Mo., to the country below Helena, Ark. ThoheaA-y rainfall of the past fortnight in tho valley and the subsequent floods aie tho immeiate cause of tho frightful swelling in tho Mississippi in tho vicity of Cairo and south of there. The break in the levee near Xodena, Ark., Saturday has Avrought havoc in Mississippi county, which is virtually at the mercy of the raging torrent. Many persons are thought to have perished in tho vicinity. Twenty-live negroes are reported drowned in Bushy Bayou. Three Murderers Lynched. A special from Ocala, Fla., states that three negroes, named Ed Holmes, TJ... AT; I Tim Oilmnva f till .u ur ? iiuii i' mi vuiiiiv;tc| w ci u lynched at Blue Springs Station, southeast of that place, at :t o'clock Monday morning, l>y an armed mob of over 400 men. Thev confessed the murder of Postmaster .T. M. Barfield and his e erk. J. K. 1 urner, at .Tulletta. The murder was a cold-blood oue, the ne{jro.es shooting the two men for the purpose of robbery. Another negro implicated in it n am Ad Otis Miller, is reported to have been caught and served in tlio same way. Cashier Kills Himself*. R. Ij. Lawrence, cashier for a merchant named Stephenson, at Elberton, (5a . committed suicide in the Kimball House, Atlanta, (5a., Monday. Stephenson says that so far as ho knows Lawrence's accounts aro all right. Receiver Appointed. The Wilmington, Newborn <fc Norfolk Railroad was placed by Judge Simonton, of the Circuit Court of the United States, at Charleston, Monday, in the hands of a receiver, on application of John D. Rellamy, of Wilmington, attorney for the State Trust Company, of New York, trustee of tho mortgage bondholders. II. A. Whiting was named as receiver. The mortgage debt of the company is about one aiul a quarter millions. Will Hold Over. Postmaster General Gary has made an announcement of interest to Pemo ratie postmasters whoso terms expire n various dates under the new administration Ho says ho has decided to adhere to the four-year tenure of office policy for postmasters, except incases v here such officials should be removed for cause. Three Men Killed. l ive horses on the track ditched the northbound Missouri Pacific passenger train near Kttuwattia, Ivans,, Monday, and the engineer and firemen were killed, T. Meadow, of Atchison, Kalis., a travelling salesman for the Sims (Irocery Company, was I>udlv scalded >d had his leg crushed. Jlo d>ed later. iisii at Halt Imore's < 'nsfoili House. t he rush to get goods out of bond at in timore's custom house before the new tarilV bill becomes a law and inei eases the duties thereon began Monday. The receipts wereS47,71:1, Nearly dl of tlm v ithdrawals consisted of to1 acofe MS, SIMS Wilis A Very Serious Situation Along the Mississippi River. NOTHING IN SIGHT BUT WATER. Storms and Cyclones Add Terror to the Situation?One Hundred Miles of Country Under Water. Memphis, Tenn., March 10.?A further liulf-inch riso in the Mississippi means the devastation of property and probably n loss of life uuequaled in tlio flood history of this section. The riso is threatened, becauso rain is still fall ing. Seventeen persons are rei>orted drowned below Curruthersville, Mo. A stretcli of land over 100 miles long, from a point 70 miles north of Memphis to a point 00 miles south of the Tennessee metropolis, is submerged, in places to a depth of 10 feet. The fertile valleys of Tennessee and Arkansas are completely inundated and inauj- lives have been lost and stock drowned. Fencings and dwellings have been swept away, and the inhabitants are destitute and homeless, left to starve or drown by tko remorselessly rising tide, lteports from tributary streams show rains and rapidly rising rivers all of which will help to swell the rising waters. The Hoods now partake of the nature of a deluge. As far as the eve can seo nothing but water meets the gaze. Hix hundred peoplo were rescued yesterday on the Arkansas side of the river and taken to Memphis, but there are flooded districts which relief lsoats eau .not reach the stricken ones. On island 80, one hundred sufferers and considerable live stock were rescued by thp steamer Itasca. Neither man nor beast had tasted food for 24 hours. Human beings and helpless brutes are huddled together awaiting assistance ull along the Iron Mountain and Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf tracks. Five hundred people were forced to flee from the floods in Dyer and Obion counties, Teun. OVER 100 HOUSES DAMAGED. 11 rn r v ' ? x/ui iun, ia., iuurcu is>.?.special telegrams, received this morning, stale that northern Texas was swept by a windstorm last night, that at times developed the proportions of a cyclone. The worst damage reported so far, occurred at Denton, where over 100 houses were struck by the btorm and all more or less damaged. It is believed that the storm in the vicinity of Denton has caused damage to the extent of 3100,000. DROWNED BY UPSETTINO ? 'DUO Ol*T. " Gavin Ark., March 0.?For many miles the country is flooded, and the water is up on the iron Mountain track. Hundreds of hands are trying to keep it hack with dirt bags. At every station the negroes are gathering, waiting to be taken away. Many get 011 the trains and are carried w ithout pay. The list of fatalities is said to be long and probably never will be known. Several lives have been lost by the upsetting of a "dug out," and many more fatalities are reported. A mountain of household goods is piled up at every stotion. Whites and negroes beg for help from every train crew. I I ouses along the roads are submerged to the roofs, and cattle are standing in the fields with only their heads above the water. THE MOST SERIOVS SINCE 1882. New Orleans, March It).?A special to the States from Vicksburg, Miss., says the river situation for the next thirty days promises to be more than serious. There is a higher stage at t'uiro and Helena, the two main points of observation, than since 188(1, and bv their reported rain falls in the past twenty-four hours, both will score extreme high water marks. The pressure is going to be excessive all along the levee lines. It will first appear between Helena and the mouth of the Arkansas. On that reach, levees have been put in front of the White river basin since the last high water, and the etl'ect of this is now to be tested. From there down tho levees have been raised and enlarged greatly and ought to hold unless tho flood is prolonged. Altogether, it is the most serious situation Tor the delta sinco 1882. A dispatch from Anniston, Ala., says a strong wind storm did great dniuago iu this section, but no loss of lifo is reported. At Jackson, Miss., and vicinity the storm did great damage to property, but no loss of lifo is reported at this time. All telegraph wires are down. A dispatch from Memphis, Tenn., of March 18, says: Tho work of rescuing the people in tho flooded district is be ing carried on night and day and this morning "noil a nd/.eu steamers brought to Memphis over 1,000 refugees. The steamboat men tell some harrowing stories of sutiering and death. One woman who was rescued from an lndiun mound, 15 miles west of here, held in her arms a dead infant that had perished from cold and hunger. Another family of four wliou rescued, related that two small children were drowned in sight of their helpless parents. islands Nos. 40, ;i(i and H4 in the Mississippi river are completely submerged and the inhabitants to the number of ubout ti(K) have abandoned their homes, ltnin began to fall here yesterday afternoon and at noon today there lias been no cessation of the downpour. The river now marks M. w. The levees are I sutnuiiig ino Hiram laucii nutter tlinu was expected, but ft break is liable to occur at any moment. For Military Service. About 700 Greeks, it is reported, sailed from New York Friday to their native country to be enrolled and equipped for military service in licr behalf in tlio event she engages in an early war, which is among the probabilities. Kcfiised to Fight Cornett. After the big pugilistic light at ('arson, \e\., l itzsimuions refused to fight t 'orbtt aguin, and ('orbett said lie \\ oitld puneli l ity.'s bead on sight, and the latter replied: "Jf you do L will kill you." | FIFTY-FIFTH CONURESS. Report of the Proceedings from Day to Day. SENATE. Monday.?The extraordinary session of the Fifty-fifth Congress was oj>oned by reading the President's proclamation convening it. Sixty-eight Senators answered to roll-call, and the galleries were tilled to overflowing. Mr. W. A. Harris, of KansaH, was sworn in as successor to Mr. Peffer. After appointment of a committee to notify tho President and the Houso that the Senate was ready to begin its duties, a recess was taken until 2 p. in. At this session the President's message was road and referred to committee, and on motion of Mr. Allison, Republican, of Iowa, the Senato at :t:Ur> p. 111. adjourned until tomorrow at noon. Tuesday.?Many bills were introduced and referred, among them bills from Mr, Allen, Populist, of Nebraska, directing the foreclosure of the government lien on the Union Pacific Railroad; to prevent over-capitalization of companies doing an inter-State carrying trade; to prevent professional lobbying; to preserve the purity of national legislation, and to increase the circulating medium. A bill to facilitate the construction, working and maintenance of telegraphic communication between the United States, tho Hawaiian Islands, Japan and Australia, WflH illfrHilllPOil TVfp PKon/lliiv Alan a bill to provide for the twelfth ami subsequent censuses. A bill for a government telegraph was introduced by Mr. Kyle, Populist, of Soutu Dakota, nud 0110 to amend the immigration laws by Mr. Lodge, Republican, of Massachusetts. A now Nicaraguau Canal bill was introduced by Mr. Morgan, Democrat, of Alabuma. Also a bill to create a board of trustees of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Roilroad Companies to fund their bonded indebtedness, bankruptcy bills were introduced by Senators Hoar, Republican, of Massachusetts, and Nelson, Republican, of Minnesota. Altogether there were 438 "ills introduced and referred, most of them coming over from the last Congress. After a short executive session, at which today's nominations were referred, the Senate at half past 3 adjourned till Thursday next. Thchsdav.?After a two day's recess the Senate re-assembled and a large number of bills, mostof them survivors of the last Congress, were introduced and referred. (Jear, (Rep.) of Iowa, from the committee on Pacific railroads, reported tue bill, which was pending last session, for the adjustment of the government debt through a commission, to consist of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney-General. It was placed on the calendar. The constitutional amendment for the populer election of United States Senators was introduced and will be debated Monday. At tho close of the morning business the Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive business?the arbitration treaty. Morgan mado a speech against it. A long debate is in prospect. Friday.?The calendar of business in the Senate this morning contained only lour items: J he notice hy Mr. Turpio (Dem.) of Indiana, of his intention to address the Senate in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment to make United States Senators eleetivo by the people. The amendment itself, which is on the table, and the two Pacific Railroad bills which were reported i Thursday. The number of bills introduced in the Senate since Monday last, up to this morning was 7?>s. Mr. Butler, Populist, of North Carolina, to establish a postal telegraph system; and one bv Mr. Chandler, Republican, of New Hampshire, as to first and second-class mail matter, t)n motion of Davis, (Rep.) of Minnesota, acting chairman of the committee on foreign relntions, the Senate at 12:50 p. 111. proceeded to executive business, and at 4 p. m. adjourned until Monday. The Senate confirmed the following nominations: Charles U. Gordon, postmaster at Chicago; John Hay, of the District of Columbia, ambassador to Great Britain; Horace Porter, of New York, ambassador to France; Henry White, of Rhode Island, secretary of embassy at Loudon; Perry S. Heath, of Indiana, to be First Assistant Postmaster General. HOUSK. Monday?'The opening of the Fifty v ... ^..IIUUKIUIUIJT nc.-<niuu was witnessed in tlie House today by an immense corwd. Alexander McDowell,_elerk of the last House, called the House to order, "i'lio election of Speaker was then proceeded with, the result being: For Mr. Heed, 100: for Mr. Bailey, 114; for Mr. Bell, 21; for Mr. Newlands, of Nevada, 1. The President's message was read and referred, on motion of Mr. Dingley, to the committee on ways and means. Mr. Dingley then introduced his tariff bill, which was also referred to the committee on ways and means. Permission was given to the committee on ways and means to sit during the session of the House and to have all necessary printing done, and then, at 4 p. in., the Houso udjonrned until Thursday next. TiirnsDAY.?'The Speaker laid before the House the recommendations of the Postmaster General for an appropriation of $200,000 to be immediately, available, to enable the government to defray the necessary expenses of the postal congress which will assemble in Washington in May next. The Department finds itself in the emhurrassing position of having the congress on its hands, and with no means to provide for its reception and entertainment. Henderson (Hep.), of Ohio, stated tlio committee on ways and means would not be ready to report until Friday, therefore he moved that the house adjourn until then. This was agreed on without division, and at 12:1(5 the House was declared adjourned by S-veakor I\ced. Fkipay. The first executive day o* the House of the Fifty tilth t'ongresa gave every indication of an unusually lively session. IMngley, from the coinlnittee on ways ami means, returned the tarilV lull with the recommendation that it do tiftss, which, with the ae* eonipan>inir report, was phi *ed on the ealendar, and the general debate will hogin Monday and end Thursday. The vote on the passage of the sundry ei\il hill was: Yeas, 157; nays, 7:t. The Republicans only voted for it, all | others against it. The reading of tho general dolicieney hill was eoinpleted at 8:10 o'clock, but its third reading (by title) was ordareil without a division, and the bill was then passed?181 to 89. One minute later the House adjourned. The Democratic members of the ways and means committee havtt ? authorized Mr. Bailey, of Texas, to prepare the minority rejxlrt on the tariff bill. It will be laid befose the House on Monday next. NEWS ITEMS CONDENSED. Southern Pencil Pointers. Fire in the mailing room of the Richmond, (Va.,) Dispatch caused damage to the auiouut of $2,000. Col. A. E. Buck, the Georgia Republican leader, according to tho Atlanta Constitution, is to get tlje Japaueso mission with $12,000 a year salary. John I). Smith, a negro preacher, was shot dead at Scottsboro, Ala. He was charged with outraging the wife of a white farmer. Mr. 1). A. Tompkins, a leading manufacturer of Charlotto, N. C.. contributes to last week'H Manufacturers' Record an article in advocacy of groater flexibility in banking methods. Fletcher Kennedy, a prominent young man of Clayton, Ala., committed suicide by taking some drug. He left a letter stating ho was out of emploj'ment and could get nothing to do. The report that Governor Bradley, of Kentucky, had respited Walling, one of Pearl Bryan's murderers, is not true. In the trinl of the mayor and chief of police of Knoxville, Tenn., for their part iu the recent riot they were acquitted. The building occupied by the Western Union 'telegraph Company, at Charlotte, N. O., was gutted by fire Sunday morning. Loss, The annual meeting of the grand, lodge of Independent order of Odd Fellows of the State of Florida, met in Jacksonville Monday. At Sheffield, Ala., on Sunday eleven hundred bales of cotton were burned and the damage io placed at ooo, most of which is covered by insurance. T The compress was destroyed, it being the largest in northern Alabama. At Jackson, Miss., A. A. McKenzie was nrrnigned on the charge of passing counterfeit silver dollars, and. in default of 8^00 bond, Commissioner. Moseley ordered him to jail to await Federal Court in May. Governor Jones, of Arkansas, has de-. Pl/lllll /! 1UUI1A O /loll ' wv?v\* w inouu u van xui au UAua oxjnoxxsxi, of tho legislature. He said the appro-' priution bills have not been passed and' be has no funds with which to run the State government for tho next two years. At Houston, Texas, Walter Hughes was shot dead in attempting to kidnap, a daughter of Frank Dunn, a wealthy resident of that city. The purpose of tho would-be-kidnupper was to keep' the girl in captivity ojul demand $40,000 ransom for restoring her to her parents. A washout on a branch line of rail, way extending from Shel'moundTeuu., to tho convict mining camp at. Cole City, (Ja., caused the wreck of a switch engine and tho death of the engineer, J. T. Stewart. The fireman, by name of Cogle, received internal injuries that will prove fatul. -? ? AU About the North. Representative Lambert charges gross corruption in the Iowa Legislature. The Si>euker of the House has resigned, and demands an investigation. The Pacific Loan and Homestead Association, of Chicago, has gone under, the stockholders charging that the secretary of tho concern got away with ftoui) /UU1 uv/u. Engineer Monroe Hay and Fireman John Cody were killed in a railroad wreck near Danville, 111. Chicago (111.) plumbers havo demanded an increase of twenty-five cents a day, and if refused will strike.' The Phonix Savings Hank of Phenir, It. I., suspended payment and refused deposits for the first time in its history. William E. Harding, sporting writer for the New York Daily News, died of pneumonia. He was about 55 yea* ? old and was born in Canada. The sugar refinery at Williamsburg, N. Y., belonging to the American Sugar Helming company, after a shut down of over live months, has opened with a force of nearly 500 men. The firm of Wliithman & Keith of Hrockton, Mass., shut down their shoo factory Tuesday afternoon, summarily discharging its 250 employes. Humors that a strike would occur in u few da3*s was tho cause of the lockout. Unemployed men and women to the number of several hundred held a mass meeting in Chicago, at which they launched a "declaration of independ- ., euce" against "King Plutocracy." Clias. Z. Lincoln, of Albany, N. Y.t Governor black's legal adviser, has completed the preparation of the two anti-trust bills which are intended to carry out the recommendations of the T AVAnr Ifiitd ir?v/xo4ir?a*itii? n/vrn?ni4 4no AJUAV/ n uuov iu i wuiiuiiii^o, At Fort Wayne, Tnd., W. E. Coleriek, a prominent young lawyer, and his fiancee took carDolio acid, lie was found dead and she iu an unconscious condition in the hall of her home. Miscellaneous. The Australian steamer Oceanic, from Sydney to Melborne, was robbed of 825,000 in gold. The Crown Prince of Japan is dead. The Railway Mail Sorvice Mutual and Benevolent Association met in Sun Francisco. Judge Brown of the United States Circuit Court declined to take bail in the case of Turkish Consul iasigi, who is wanted in Boston on a cliurge of embozzlement, but gruuted a motion to place him in the custody of the United States District Court. The family of ('onsul-Oetiernl T.eo will return to the t'nited States within two weeks. This is thought to he preparatory to a change in the consulship. The iron ore abundantly found in iho eastern pert of Orange County. Florida, is to tie tested. If it works successfully another source of wealth is in store Cor the people of that section. .