1881-05-12; Saline Observer

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SALINE, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN, MAY 12, 1881.
VOL. L-NO, 26.
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Important Intelligence from All Parts
The TJ. S. Senate.
Oirthe 3d the unfinished busine3?, being the
resolution, for the election ot officers, came
up, and Mc. Davis (W."V'a.) took the floor and
made a speech on the Virginia debt question.
At'tera short debate, participated in by other
Senators^ an adjournment for tbe day was effected.
Ai*r;ER the Senate had assembled on the 4th
"Mr. pkvves moved to go into executive session.
Indoihg- so he repudiated the idea that he and
bis associu.te3 we.e giving up the fight over
the Senate; offices,.which be considered, in its
scope a.id""character, as presenting a Question
of gretit importance to the future welfare of
thfe ' Government, involving, as it dirl, the
rigbtbtthe majority to rule. Mr. Pendleton
askEea.thtft the motion be withdrawn for a few
moments'to give him au opportunity to reply
to the rem:iris, but Mr. Dawes courteously 'recused. The motion was then adopted
un«nlmiiusly. In executive ses3iou the
Seriafe confirmed, without objection, thenoni-
ina ions of ttobert R. Hitt (111.; for Assistant
Secretaryof State; Hiram Pries (Towa) for
Commissioner of Indian Affairs: A.M. Jones
(Iii.) for United States Marshal at Chicago;
Sanford ArHu'cTsem. (Wis.! for Associate Judge
of the Supreme Court of Dakota; Joseph O.
Jones for -Postmaster at Terre Haute, Ind.,
and W. N. Crafg for Postmaster at Albany, N.
Y. .,-3"he othemominations on the table were
referred to committees, and the Chinese treaties; were ta ten up. After discussing them for
sometime, the doors were re-opened and the
Senate adjourned.
As* executive session was. held Immediately
afigj, the reading of the journal on the Sth,
and a large "amount of business was transacted*. The Chinese treaties were both ratified,
and also the extradition treaty with the United
'States of Colombia, tbe Consular Convention
with. ifidy, the convention with Morocco xe-
specting; the taxation prerogatives, of the
Moorish,"Government, and the treaty with
Japan relative to shipwrecks. Final action
wastakgn on eigaty-fournominatic'us. Among
the confirmations were the following: Colonel
Lionel A.. She don for Governor of New
Mexico; Edward S. Meyer, Attorney for the
Northern District of Ohio; Henry Pink, United
States Marshal for the Eastern (Milwaukee)
District"of "Wisconsin: Thomas Wilson ("Washing'onr, Consul at Ghent, Belgium: AVilliam
"Water Phelps (N- J.), Minister to Austria. A
message was received from the i'resident
withdrawinir the following nominations to
Federal offices in New York State; Stewart
L. Woodford fev United States Attorney for
the Southern District: Asa W. Tenney. United
States Attorney for the Eastern District; Lewis
P. Payne, United States Marshalforthe Southern District; Clinton D. McDougall, United
States Marshal for the Northern District, and
John Tyler. Collector of Customs for the District of Buffalo.
Ox the 6th Mr. Dawes made an attempt to
secure action on the resolution for the elec
tion of Senate officers, but the Democratic
Senators resumed their tactics of alternating
motions to go into executive session .and to
adjourn, until Mr. Dawes gaveup the fight for
the day, and. upon his motion,-an executive
session was, held.. When the doors were reopened an, adjournment to the 9th was effected.
Domestic
Miss Fasst J. Blaxchett,. of New York,
a young lady twenty-four years of asre, recently died from the effects of lead poisoning,
caused by the U3e of cosmetics.
It is announced that Miss Ella Ludwigj of
Canaan, Pa., wjio had suffered for years irom
an apparently incurable hip disease, was recently made able to walk by the combined
prayers of ber friends at her bedside, on a
day fixed by a lady in Connecticut.
. It was stated on the 3d that in every part
of Northern Dakota seeding bad been in
active progress ior the previous ten days, and
the acreage was the largest ever sown in the*
new Northwest.
Ox the 3d the Oklahoma invaders, to the
number of eighty-six, met at Wichita, Kan.,
and Captain Payne announced that the recent judicial decision was fatal to their attempt to find homes in Indian Territory.
Ox the 3d Professor Chandler reported to
the New York Board of Health that oleomargarine is superior in all respects to the poorer grades of dairy butter: that there s nothing objectionable in its material or manufacture, and that there s no need of legislation
to protect public health.
Petroleum has been discovered in the vicinity of Honesd de, Pa.
PkoR ~R, U. Pipek, of Chicago, testified before the "Whittaker court-martial on the 4th-
By the use of magnified photographs he
claimed to show that the note of warning
could" not have been written on a piece of
paj.er torn from the sheet on which "Whittaker had written a letter to his mother, and
he testified that the two pieces could never
have been joined together, because they were
of different chemical compos.tion. He further declared that If the note of warning had
been rubbed over so as to erase previous pencil marks, the blue lines would have been injured, and he gave a practical demonstration
of this fact.
"'.Eighti'-poxib t'housasd immigrants arrived in Chicago during A rii, and were distributed in different directions.
Mischievous boys at Kingston, N. Y.,
have lately driven a Chinese laundrvmau to
Insanity by continuous tricks.
The recent appointment of a negro on the
police force of Auburn, N. Y., caused the immediate resignation of the Chief and one
patrolman.
Two MEK were recently killed and seven
injured at Littleton, N. H., by the-fall of a
building which had been raised up by jack-
screws.
Ix consequence of the death of her two
sons Mrs. Delancey, of Shenandoah, Pa., was
rendered insane, and, on the 4th, deluged
herself with coal-oil and set herself on fire.
Though her flesh was charred to the bone, it
is stated that she uttered no cry of suffering.
Tke indications of an outbreak among the
Utes have been deemed by# the military authorities sufficiently serious to cause the dispatch of six cavalry companies from the contiguous forts to White Ktver.
ANewYokk dispatch of the 5th says the
"World's Fair project in that city was virtually a failure, and would soon be entirely abandoned.
Neaklt five thousand immigrants landed
at Caste Garden, N. Y.,.on the 5th.
Five directors of the defunct First National Bmk of Newark, N. J., have been indicted
for conspiracy and aiding in the falsification
of the books and reports of the bank.
Osontz, the famous homestead once owned by Jay Cooke, was sold at auction on the
5th for $113,500.
Mr. McConnellt, of Quincy, Mass.,
whose chiid was bitten by a dog belonging to
Deborah "Weston, and perished in the agonies
of bydrophob'a, brought suit for $25,000, and
was awarded $1,200.
As the result of a conference between
President Garfield, the Secretary of "War and
Generals Sherman and Sheridan, an order
was prepared on the 6th restoring the Military D.visions to the same status as before
the order of December 18," 1880, which created
the D.vision of the Gulf. By ihe new order
General Schofleld is placed on waiting orders,
Viet "full pay. The .territory formerly embraced in the Division of the Gulf its restored
to the Divis on of the Missouri, which will
remain under command of Lteutenant-Gen-
eral Sheridan. The Divisions^ of the Atlantic
and Pacific remain unchanged, under command respectively of General Hancock and
General "McDowell.
Tse American Medical Association, at it*
recent session in New York, amended the
code of ethics to prevent the teaching of students who intend to practice the irregular
system of medicine.
Jacob Beesos & Co,, one of the heaviest
grain-dealing firms in Detroit, made an assignment on the 6th. for the benefit of their
creditors. Liab lities reported at J35,000;
assets, §12,000.
The aggregate amount of six-per-cent.
bonds received at the Treasury Department
in Washington up to the 7th for continuance
at three and a-half per cent, was f 102,185,7)0.
The steamer City of Tokio arrived at San
Francisco on the 8th from Hong Kong, having on board 1,040 Chinese immigrants.
A coal-shaft in Osage County, Kansas,
caught fire on the 7th from a furnace in the
air shaft. Twenty-two rwen were at work at
the time, but fifteen of them were rescued.
The remaining seven, with three others who
had gone to their assistance, were taken out
dead.
Personal and Political.
While passing through Baltimore on the
4th "Rev. Henry "Ward Beecher was served
with a summons to answer the suit Of the
Western Maryland Agricultural Society for
damages by his .failure to keep his engagement to deliver the annual address at its
fair two years ago.
Sara Bernhardt and party sailed from
New York on the 4th for France.
Dr. John Both, the famous rifle shot, died
recently at Oakland, Cal.   „       •
President Gakmeld on the 4th nominated
Elliot C. Jewett, of Missouri, to be Superintendent of the new Assay Office at St. Louis.
Considerable excitement "was caused in
Washington on the 5th by the withdrawal by
the President of the nominations of Stewart
L. Woodford, Asa W. Tenney, Lewis F.
Payne, Clinton D. McDougall and John Tyler
to Federal offices in the State of New York,
it being understood that these withdrawals
were made as a retaliation upon Senator
Conkling for his well-known opposition to
the nomination of Jud*e Robertson.
It was stated on the 5th that United States
Senator Dawes had telegraphed to a New England paper denying that he, or any committee of which he was a member, had advised
the President to withdraw the nomination of
Judge .Robertson, or recommended to him or
to the caucus that action on the nomination
be postponed until another session.
The Civil-Service Reform Association held
its annual meeting at New York on the Sth,
George Wiliam Curtis presiding. The report showed that $3,219 had been spent in the
cause, and over two hundred addresses had
been delivered in its advocacy. The following officers were electedfor the ensuing year:
President, George William Curtis; Vice-
Presidents, Benjamin H. Bristow, Howard
Potter, Oswald Ottendorfer, General George
B. McClellan, John Jay, Robert B. Minturn,
George B. Butler.
President Garfield on the5th nominated'
George P. Pomeroj-, of New Jerse3r, for-Secretary of the American Legation at Paris. 0
Ansell Briggs, the first Governor of Iowa,
died on the Sth, at Omaha, Neb., where he
had resided for sometime; he was seventy-
five years of age. Randolph Strickland, who
represented the Sixth Michigan District in
Congress iu the session of 186S-'70, also died
on the same day, at Detroit, aged fifty-eight.
An Associa'cd Press telegram from Washington on the 6th states that President Garfield, while, a few days before, talking with
"a few trusted friends about the fight again, t
Robertson, expressed a dateimination to defend himself if the Republican Senators banded together in support of Conkling, and made
the remark that every Senator who should
thus enter into combination against him
would require a letter of introduction to
him for the remainder of his term.
The President then said", further, that
he would not permit Conkling to confirm the
New York nominations w-hich pleased him,
and leave the ones which displeased him
without action." The dis atch also says it
appeared that Mr. Conkling had intended
and arranged to confirm all the New York
nominations except Robertson on the Sth,
and would have succeeded but for the withdrawal. Mr. Conkling had not surrendered,
but would continue the fight.
The United States Grand Jury at Deer
Lodge, Montana, has indict-d ten Mormons
for unlawfully voting for Delegate to Congress, and four of the offenders were arrested
by a Deputy Marshal on the 6th.
William R. Carson, Joseph Funk and
Joseph Blackman were arrested at Philadelphia on the 6th, on the charge of having committed frauds on the United States Government by executing worthless bonds for "star-
route" contractors. Warrants for the arrest
of two other persons on the same charge
were also out.
At Poughkeepsie, N. Y., on the 7th Matthew Vassar and his father, John Guy Vassal-, formally presented a new and handsome
building, known as the Vassar Home for Old
Men, and other property with it, all of the
valuft of $50,000, to the trustees of the institution, and added §30,000 as an endowment fund.
Foreign.
On the 2d Vigel, a Vienna boot-maker,
killed his wife and four children and cut
them in pieces.
A desperate battle recently took place at
Prisrend, where 6,000 Albanians attacked the
Turks. The latter were successful. The
comb.ned loss of life was 1,800.
The British sloop-of-war Doterel was recently blown upTn the Straits of Magellan,
and out of lot} persons onboard, all but eleven
perished.
A London dispatch of the 3d says that
Maspero, the Egyptian explorer, had recently opened more of the Sakkararyrarnids, and
claimed to have discovered texts which upset
the Masonic theory of the religious belief in
the days of the Kings of the fifth dynasty.
A St. Teteksbukg dispatch of the 3d says
that 12,000 Russian prisoners were on the
point of starting for Siberia.
At a banquet in Montreal, Canada, on the
3d a member of Parliament named Course!!
expressed the hope that Canada would send
-a regiment to the Yorkville Centennial celebration. *
The commercial treaty governing ^the relations of France and England will expire by
limitation in November.
On the 3d a committee of the International
Monetary Conference at Paris adopte.l lists of
questions to be submitted as a basis for discussion.
The, Grand Jury at London on the 4th reindicted If err Most, editor of the Freilieit, for
inciting assassination.
According to a Parts dispatch of the 4th a
-deleg-tte of the Revolutionary Committee had
stated to the Czar the demands of the Nihilists and had been rewarded by arrest
It is stated that the peasants of the Baltic
proymces of Russia demand absolute ownership of the lands now field on lease.
The British House of Commons passed a
resolution on the 4th in favor of abolishing
distress for rent of agricultural lands.
At a Land-League meeting in London on
the nisrht of the 5th, after a stormy discussion,
aresoluion to abstain from voting on the
second reading of the Land bill and to leave
the House when a division was called was
adopted by a vote of 17 to 12. Parnell threatened to resign the leadership unless it was
passed. It was stated that Sullivan had written a letter declining longer to acknowledge
Parnell's authority.
On the- 4th a Land-League manifesto appeared in London, signed by Justin McCarthy, urging Irishmen to evict their landlords
as they themselves had been evicted, and to
wreak vengeance at the polls on apostates
from liberalism.
In the International Monetary Conference
on the 5,h the delegates from nine countries
stated the views of tkeir respective Governments. .
Mr. Forster, Chief Secretary for Ireland,
stated in ihe British House of Commons on
the Sth that he had receive 1 no information
of the reported roasting of a bailiff, and did
not believe the story.
An engine on the Canada Southern Railroad recently took the Vanderbilt party a
distance of 229 miles in 235 minutes, excluding stops.
The preliminary inquiry into the death of
the late Sultan Abdul Aziz was concluded on
the Sth, and twenty persons were committed
for trial for complicity in the murder. It is
said that Mahmoud Pasha and Noury Pasha
canfessed their guilt, and justified their
crime on the ground Of necossities of state.
Among the other persons supposed to be implicated are Midhat Pasha, Mehemet Ruchdi
Pasha, Suleiman Pasha and the ex-Sultan
Murad.
The police of Paris have forbidden a meet,
ing arranged by Rochefort and others to protest against the execution of Hessy Helf-
mann..
It is announced tnat public executions will
hereafter be discontinued in Russia.
On the 6th Cork and Kilkenny were proclaimed under the provisions of the Arms
act, as also portions of Kings and Queens
Counties.
The Governor of the Mexican State of
Arispe has asked the co-operation of Governor Fremont, of Arizona, in rooting up
the band of horse-thieves operating on the
border.
The Mexican Chamber of Deputies has, by
a unanimous vote, given its approval to Eads'
Ship-Railway contract.
A ukase was published at St. Petersburg
on the 8th lessening the rent to which peasants are l;able for lands from 30 to 65 per
cent. This applias to thirteen Northern
Governments. There are other measures of
amelioration for ths South.
It is stated that recent experiments over
the cable between Dover and Calais have
demonstrated that the Atlantic cables can be
used for telephonic purposes as easiry as
short land wires. A patent for an electo-
phone has been taken out in Paris.
The mother of the late Emperor of China,
the ruling spirit of the Court of Pekin, died
recently.
The Orangemen of Montreal lately erected
in Mount Royal Cemetery a monument to
Hackett, who was killed in the riots three
years ago, and put thereon an inscription
that "he met his death at the hands of au infuriated Irish Catholic mob." The trustees
of the cemetery, all of whom are Protestants,
asked that the words be erased, and caused
it to be done after the refusal of the Orange
Committee.
Three farmers living near Roscommon,
Ireland, were arrested o.n the 8th under the
Coercion act and taken to Galway.
The German Reichstag has defeated a bill
imposing a tax on persons exempt from military service.
It is stated that the Marquis ot Salisbury
has been definitely selected to lead the Conservative party in the British Hou^e of Lords.
A mad dog running wild in the streets at
Spring Hill, N. S., on the 7th, bit seven children, three men and one woman before being
shot. It was feared most of the victims
would.die.'
The Czar of Russia ha3 informed a Senate
officer that hereafter his sanction wi'l be required for its laws only where they are of exceptional importance.
XATER NEWS.
The riverct St. Louis fell thirteen inches
on the 8th, and as much more bn the 9th.
The upper i art of the levee along the business front of the river was above the water,
and shipping facilities were- increased and
improved. In East St. Louis there was an
equally improved condition of things.
Up to the 9th six-per-cent. bonds to the
amount of about Sl40,0U0,000 had been received at the Treasury Department in Washington for continuance at three and a-half
per cent., leaving only about §50,0u0,000 of
six-per-cent's to be accounted for.
A Paris dispatch of the 9th says letters received from Algiers state that the remnant*
of Colonel Fiatters' Sahara expedition were
finally driven to take refuge in a cave, where
they were without food and were compelled
to resort to cannibalism. Fifteen were eaten,
Including a sub-officer named Pobequin.
In tlie United States Senate on the 9th
Mr. Kellogg offered a resolution, which was
laid over under the rules, calling for the
names of all clerks or employes in the several departments of the Government, together with the date of their appointment,
the State to which each is" charged, and the
person on whose recommendation each was
appointed. An executive session was held
and several minor appointments were confirmed. An adverse report was made on the
nomination of Stanley Matthews for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
The first case of sunstroke for 1831 occurred on the 9th at Erie, Pa., where Mrs.
Culhare received fatal injuries.
Henri- Arbuckle, the fifth man charged
with complicity in the "star-route" conspiracy, surrendered to the United States
Marshal at Philadelphia on the 9th,. waited
a hearing, and was held in §5,000 bail.
President Garfield on the 9th withdrew
the nomination of W. A. M. Grier, of
Pennsylvan a, to be Third Assistant Post-'
master-General, Grier having declined the
position.
The Republican United States Senators
held another caucus on the 9th, at which a
general discussion occurred on the situation
of affairs. Much of the time was consumed
In debating the policy of continuing the fight
for th e election of Gorham and RJddleberger.
Some Senators opposed the policy of renewing the contest, and several who are warm
friends of the President are said to have declared that they would not again join in the
fight for Gorham and Riddleberger; that
new and more acceptable nominations
would have to be made to induce them to resume their former stand. Mr. Conkling
made a speech of over an hour, stating his
objections to Robertson; admitting that Arthur and Piatt carried his ultimatum to the
President, and appealing to the Republicans
to sustain him. He dwelt more particularly
on what lie called the " President's usurpa*
tion and invasion of the Senate's rights and
privileges," and said: "If the Senate did
not maintain its rights, they would be taken
from that body."
Singular Result of an Earthquake.
A curious result seems to have followed a
recent earthquake at Bucharest. The soil of
Bucharest is a rich, black, porous, vegetable
mold, very springy under pressure, and carriages passing in the streets cause a strong vibration in the adjacent houses. Ihe Grand
Hotel boulevard, however, was an exception
to this general rule, and in the rooms facing
the principal street on which there is a heavy
trallic, no sensible effect was felt from parsing
vehicles. During 'the recent earthquake the
windows and • crockery in less massively
constructed build ngs rattled very sensibly,
whereas there was no audible sound in- the
hotel. Since the earthquake shock, however, this state of things ha3 changed entirely, and every vehicle passing the hotel
causes vibration in the whole building. The
singular part of this change is that the effect
produced by the vehicle is the same as that
accompanying the earth juake. It is not a jar
as previously produced in other buildings, but
a sawing motion similar to that felt in the late
shock. This movement is so g eat as to cause
pictures to sway backward and forward on
the walls. The hotel is one of brick, covered
outside with mastic, which would show at
onoe any crack in the walls. However, there
is aot a crack in it. Hence it is thought this
change in thesolidity of thestruoture appears
to be due to some eject produced in the earth
underneath tbe building by the shock of carth«
quake.
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A Touching Incident of the Frontier.
The miner, Anderson, of whose death in
Summit notice was made last week, had a
romantic trip from Summit to Del Norte.
Fourteen men drew the body lashed to a sled
to the top of the divide, and eight men came
on from the divide to the toll-gate with the
corpse. From the toll-gate to Del Norte the
trip was male in wagons. Here is an Incident
of frontier life well worth pondering upon by
our Eastern readers. AVe reprint it from the
Prospector as nn instance of that unfaJing
f riendstSp which exists in the breasts of men
whose exteriors maybe rough, but whose humanity would impel them to wade through
flames to pay the last tribute of respect to a
fellow man. Picture the procession wading
up the snow-clad mountain, silently drawing
the body upon a rude vehicle. Above timber-
line, where silence reigns supreme, the
cold almost unendurable, those friends, stalwart, arood and true, puisue their toilsome
way over the snow crust, to be rewarded only
by the consciousness that the remains of their
comrade shall find Christian sepulture in dedicated ground. Some account of this kind act
will, doubtless, go across the sea and reach,
pe/iaps, some cottage in Sweden, where the
old parents shall read the letter, and, amid
their blinding tears, thank God that in far ofl!
America the body of their son, whose soul
went out of this world from the loneliness of
a cabin—for Anderson died suddenly, with no
one near—was cared for and.deeently buried.
So may it be with all of us, and not, as in many
cases in those rugged mountains, where the
all ingulllng avalanche sweeps the miner to
sudden death, and an unknown and unknowa*
ble tomb.—Lake City {Col.) World.
liuilrOiul   Accidents.
The Railroad Gazette of a recent date has a
record of the rail oad accidents occurring
during last March. There were in all. 113 at'ci*
dents whereby thirly-eight persons were killed
and 17" injured. Sixteen accidents caused the
death of one or more persons: twenty-live
caused injury but not death, leaving seventy-
two, or UU.7 per cent, of the whole number, in
which no injury to persons is recorded. As
compared with March, lSSO, there was an increase of forty-eight accidents, of twenty-nine
in the number killed and of 14-tinthat injured.
The first quarter of the year contrasts with
the first quarter of 1833 as follows:
1881.
Accidents. Killed. Injured.
January    223 KO ISi
Itbruary....    149 27 £53
March.      113 38 177
Total  485 95 6ia
18S0.
.dee'den's. Killed. Injured.
January     62 11 50
February     64 36 49
March *     65 9 33
Total    191 30 132
For the year ending with March the record
is as follows:
Accidents. Killed. Injured.
April...   71 11 45*
May  46 30 107
June    56    •     15 77
July  78 31 100
August.....  113 49 214
September..   124 15 54
Octobor  120 69 137
November  145 40 165
December   135 29 141
January.  223 30 182
February.  149 27 253
March..  313 38 177
Totals * 1,373 374 1,653
Same months 1879-80....   839 173 626
Same months 1878-79....   831 216 849
The Situation in Russia.
A correspondent at St. Petersburg says:
" It would be difficult to exaggerate the gravity of the situation in Russ a at'the present
moment. Never before was the need of a
steady hand at the helm so deeply and so universally felt. It required nothing less than
the tragedy of the l';lh of March td open men's
eyes to the fact that the reform which the revolutionists endeavored to wring from tb» Government by deeds of bloodshed can uot and
must not be long delayed. Inthe matter of
intelligence the women of Russia are far superior to the men. If they ventured to formulate their desires, they could repeat the demands contained in the last proclamation of
the famous Executive Committee. It Is surprising to see how much there is in common
between Russian intelligence and the revolutionary party. The distinction between them
lies not in the end, but in the means. The
very absence cf that freedom which some-demand, and all desire, leaves the Russian reformer no choice but silence or sedition. No
one who has traveled through Russia lately
can have failed to mark the difference between the peasant of the past and th± peasaut
of the present. -Servile politeness ha3
given place to Independence, rude and
sometimes brutal. When the old
man bows to the passing stranger the youth
goes on his way with a sullen stare. The latter has a dangerous knowledge of his rights
and wrongs, which makes him in many cases a
willing listener to the insidious counsels of
revolutionary propagandists. Go where you
will, from the White Sea to "the Black Sea,
from the Danube to the Amoor, peasants are
awakening from the death-like slumber of
centuries. The spring-time of National life is
dawning. Trees still look withered and doad,
the winrer snow still whitens the ground, tho
chilly sleet rustles through the branches, but
the sap is rising, and leaves, blossoms and
fruit will soon spring forth. What sort of
crop it will be depends mainly on decisions
that must shortly bo taken. Meantime the
Emperor lives in retirement at Gatschina,
and sees no ono but Prince "Varisutaoff Doaho-
koff. People speak in official circles of moral
abdication, and shake their heads when they
speak of the future. It may be, however, that
erelong we shall have a manifesto of some
Bort and an indication of the policy to be pursued. At present there is none, and Russia is
without a Government."
—Two crows have built a nest in one
of the two line plane trees in the center
of the city of London, inside the archway in St. Paul's churchyard. The
plane trees in question are remarkable
as the home each night of from 5,000 tc
6,000 of the London sparrows.
Agonies of Siberian Exile.
The Booski Courier of Moscow, publishes the following intelligence from
Yenesaisk, a town in mid-Siberia:
" 4 Again political exiles are arriving,'
is the word in every one's mouth.
Nine have just arrived; of these six
were exiled, from Moscow by Count Al-
bedinsky, and are under orders to proceed further inland. For the moment
they are exposed to our murderous
climate. 'We have no mercy to expect
—we are forgotten,' they say to the
people. Having lost all hope of returning to Russia they are in a most
despondent state. Only yesterday a
girl named Patrooesa attemxjted the
third time to commit suicide by eating
lucifer matches. She wa3 saved by a
pi'ompt application of remedies; but
will rescue always be at hand? We
Siberians have seen many exil?^ during
our life, but we have never seen such
grief, such tears, such hopelessness, as
presented by these nine exiles who do
not know their crime, who do not know
how long they are exiled for and where
their destination lies, and who must not
write a word In their letters about their
condition. A common convict" knows
what he is transported for; his term of
imprisonment is told him by his goaoler.
These wretched political prisoners
know nothing. They are left in dark
anxiety and despair.
"These are not the only sufferers.
From Kirensk writes a political prisoner:
We are nine here—all exiles; one of our
number has just been sent away. His
wife Mdme. Belieff, remains in hospital
mad. The exile of her husband fur ther
into the wilds of Siberia drove her out
of mind.' From another place, a political exile writes: 'The arrival of a
fresh exile from Russia to-day has completely unhinged me. I work as a
smith, receiving a shilling a day.
When I earn nothing I live on potatoes
and onions. When I work inthe field
I often think of the luxurious days of
my childhood , when I had. no thought
of labor.' At Balagansk an exile* who
was once secretary to the Odessa Corporation, keeps himself from starvation
by carrying about water; at so much
the bucket. HiswifeisatEkaterinoslaff,
and his children are scattered about
Russia. 'Everywhere at Balagansk,'
one writes, 'may be seen anguish, and
what is worse, almost actual starvation.
At Popitch the exiles have no money to
live on. At Belsk there is a student
glad to earn fifteen shillings a month.
At Verknoyarsk twelve exiles live huddled together in a tent. These are
often without food.' "
1 New Departure in School-Teaching.
An interesting experiment has been
in progress since last September in the
public schools of Gait, Ontario. The
younger children in the Central School,
to the number of about two hundred,
are kept at their studies but half the
time, the remaining hours are spent in
play under the direction of a teacher.
The programme in brief is as follows:
The half time children are divided into
two sections. For the first hour and a
half one of these pursues the regular
studies, while the other is engaged in
play. Intermission follows, and then
until noon the section which was studying in the early morning is transferred
to the play-rooms, and the section
which has had recreation takes up the
school work proper. The afternoon is
spent alternately in a similar manner.
The "play teacher," who has charge of
the children, guides them in their
amusements, and in a multitude of ways
incidentally imparts instruction, while
attention is paid to physical exercise.
The scheme appears to be a union of
the kindergarten with the class-room.
Its advocates claim that under it fully
as much progress is made by the children as b}r the present method; that
school is rendered more attractive and
attendance, instead of being irksome,
becomes a pleasure; that it is better for
the health of the children, and that, by
keeping them in the school-room, it
obviates the objection which many parents have to-half-day work in schools.
It is, moreover,, economical, as the
play teacher can readily look after
twice as many pupils as a regular instructor can. In the Central. School at
Gait, two teachers were dispensed with
but in the opinion of the promoters one
of these can be employed with profit.
Thus far the experiment, although conducted under some disadvantage, has
produced satisfactory results. It is certainly an attractive plan.
 — m   m '»	
Kansas Oysters.
Considering the present price of native oysters—practically prohibitive to
all but wealthy lovers of the succulent
bivalve—the intelligence, reaching us
from America, that a gigantic oyster
bed has recently been discovered in the
State of Kansas should be tidings of
great joy. It is loo cruel that the hopes
aroused by such glad news should be
blighted by the crushing announcement
that the molluscan repository in question contains nothing but shells. There
is some consolation, however, in the
fact that these shells are of such extraordinary dimensions that the oysters
they assuredly contained at some remote epoch of this globe's history must
have been somewhat difficult to tackle
as comestible, even if there were giants
in those days. In dealing with an oyster
shell sevenfeet by four, the prehistoric
man must have pried it open with a
^crowbar of the period, and extracted its
toothsome contents with an antediluvian
hay-fork. Let the modem gourmet picture to his mind's eye a Whitstable native weighing eleven stone, and he will
be enabled to grasp, approximately, the
idea of the Kansas ovster, as it nourished aft unknown number of centuries
ago. When the resting place of this
(mighty bivalve came to light the other
day, many shells of the size above mentioned were found strewn about, some
entire, some broken, as if by undue violence in the opening of them. Perhaps
a colossal ancestor of our degenerate
race, while enjoying a solitary surfeit of
Kansas oysters, was disturbed by a
deluge or "an earthquake, and tied from
that antique sea-shore, leaving naught
but the shells behind to amaze his puny
descendants of the ten thousandth generation.—London Telegraph.
 .        m  »  m     •—' ■—
—Everybody is looking around for
summer quarters; even the fly has begun to put on his specks.
SCHOOL AND CHURCH.
, —Yale College funds are now $1,830,-
000.
—A new church, with no creed, has
been formed at Willimantic, Conn., of
which the Rev. J. L. Barlow is pastor.
—The Congregational Church at Holbrook, Mass., has been seeking a pastor
for nine years, listening during that
time to sermons by 240 candidates.
—The pecuniary position of curates
in the Church of England has improved
very much of late years, and in many
parishes the curate, if unmarried, will
often be a richer man than his rector.
—At» a recent meeting of the New
York Methodist Conference a candidate
for the ministry admitted that he used
tobacco, and when asked the disciplinary question, "Will you give it up?"
answered, "I can't." He was, nevertheless, admitted.
—"Protestants and Catholics of Hop-
kinston," says the Boston Journal,
" united in giving a silver tea service to
a Methodist preacher who was about
to leave for Boston. The presentation
speech was made in the Town "Hall by
the Catholic priest."
—The University of Cambridge, England, has decided, by a vote of 398 to
32, to admit women to its honor examinations on equal terms with men. They
are to be published in the regular class
lists and receive official certificates of the
rank and honors attained.
—Says the Advance: " A pastor leads
as many prayer-meetings in a year as
he preaches sermons. He is expected
to influence as many Sabbath-schools as
church congregations. Which department in any theological seminary is it
which has ever seemed to recognize
this fact by the due prominence given
to it in its course of instruction.
—The Rampatam Theological Seminary is a Baptist institution, where
native Hindoos are educated for the
Baptist ministry. The Calcutta Times
says that about 150 young men are now
students in this establishment. A number of these young men are married.
Having to spend so much of their time
in studies that they have no leisure
hours in which to earn money to live
on, their wives help them to make a
living. In a few cases the wives also
pursue the theological studies, keeping
pace with their husbands in a thoroughly creditable manner.
—From a report submitted to the
Methodist Conference sitting in Brooklyn, N. Y., it appears that seventy-five
of the churches within the Conference
limits pay their pastors $ 1,000 or more
a year, 145 pay less than §1,000 and
more than §500, while twenty-five pay
$500 or less—some of them much less.
The fact came out early in the proceedings that one preacher received, all
told, for his year's work $150. The
committee reporting this state of things
recommended the taking of collections
in all the churches forthe benefit of the
preachers whose churches cannot, or at
any rate do not pay them living wages.
A Bostonian's Curious Will.
PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS.
—A fan is indispensable to a woman
who can no longer blush.—Springfield
Bepublican.
—A man finds himself in bad company when he is beside himself.—Boston Transcript.
—The poet who wrote the poem, "O,
for a thousand tongues," was a bachelor
at the " time, most probaDly.—Fulton
Times.
—The six weeks following the widower's marriage is now styled the oleo-
gargarine honeymoon. — Philadelphia
Chronicle.
—"Keep cool and you command
everybody," remarked St. Just. He
stood in with an ice factory.—JSew Orleans Picayune.
—A Michigan chiropodist offers to
chirop with any man for $100 a side. If
beaten he will acknowledge the corn.—
Louisville Journal.
—The spring poet has tied his throat
np in red flannel, simply remarking:
"This is the verse weather I ever
kno wed.'' —New Haven Begister.
—Suicide by starvation is so popular
now that a Philadelphia man is going
to try it. He will board at a New York
hotel and refuse to fee the Waiters.—
Philadelphia News. '
—A boy will wear his teeth out by
chewing a copper-bottomed stick of
rock candy, and then growl because, his
ma doesn't bake soft enough for him.—
Williamsport Breakfast Table.
—A muscular Turk of Stamboul
Tried to pull out the tail of a mule.
The cornoner's ju-
Kv the body did view,
And brought in the verdict" Darnphool!"
—Chicago Tribune.
—" But, my deah fellah," said the
newly-arrived Englishman to the Galveston hack-driver who had called him
"Colonel," "but, my deah fellah, I
don't belong to the army, yer know."
** That don't make any difference; here
in Galveston we call almost every loafer
and dead-beat Colonel or Major. Have
a kerridge, General?"—Galveston News.
—The newest thing in gentlemen's
clothing is silk pocket liniugs, which
serve two purposes. They answer for
a lining and also take the place of a silk
pocket handkerchief. A great decid-
eratum, certainly; but what the spring
poet and other impecuuious sons of
Adam most need is a garment that will
serve the treble purpose of shirt, coat
and pantaloons, and cost only the price
of shirt alone—Norristown Herald.
A $10,000 Package Lost and Found.
This morning a stranger, who afterwards proved to be a gentleman from
Washington, got off street-car No.
14 at Eighth and Broad Streets. Some
time afterward he remembered that he
had left a bundle on the seat, and hastily getting into the carriage caught the
car at the end of the line and asked the
driver for the bundle. He was told that
a man in the car had claimed it and,
gotten off with it. The driver described
the party and told the gentleman the [
direction he had gone, whereupon the
gentleman followed and caught the man
with tlie bundle. When accosted the *
party first said the bundle was his own. j
but upon being threatened with arrest
he gave it up. The gentleman after
getting back the package remarked,
"That package is worth $10,000."--
Bichmond (Ya.J State.
___ - •^—!— i
The Eben Wright will is the sopial. ^
sensation in Boston.   Eben Wright wasr*";'
a very wealthy old bachelor, who. had     ;
inherited a good deal of money, which. „J ,-
he had more than doubled by his own""" j *
business success.    He was not an amia-r,„ j
ble man; neither Was he fond of his relations.    He had favorites outside Of ~*~fc
them, but they were not many.. -i-One, oJ.is\Z
hi3 neighbors at his seaside country resort was Gen. Charles  A. Whittier,  a
Boston broker,   Mr. Wright took *a fan-" |
cy to him and to .his family.    They are* t-U
among the most respected of our Boston^""],
people.   Mr. Wright was fond of visit-**E'-
ing tbem and having them visit him.  ■; j-
Mrs. Whittier was kind to the old gen-    ^
tleman,  and a pleasant friendship ex-     j
isted between them.   He probably confided in her more than any one else.
This Spring he went to Florida in a poor "-*
state of health.   He grew worse there,*" 5 *i3
and, his case becoming critical, he telg- :; t_
graphed to Mrs. Whittier that he should,. i
like to see her.    She started at once for  "V
the South, and took With her ;a Boston" :*P
physician, whom, it is said, she engaged'-'-C-
at the rate of $100 per day.- Mr. "Wright: J ji
did not live long after she Teached.hinii . i;
When he died it was found that he had     !"
made a will soon after her arrival, in
Which, after bequeathing $200,000  or^ ;
$300,000 in legacies, he had given her!".,
the entire balance of his fortune, amount-1
ing to probably $1,500,000:   Such •au*"»- ;:
immense bequest, as. youmay suppose, it,
has astonished every one.* .Itis- a stu> »,-£..
pendous result from an old man's fan- Jl
cy.   Mr. Wright's own relatives have """'j'.
been cut off with very little. Tw& of his ^'-y
sisters   have  but  $1,000   each.   .The    |.
proceedings seems to have been a freaky j;
Of a man with unamiable as wellassym-   ],
pathetic impulses.   No very great pe-    |
cuniary hardship grows out of the will"- ^
in most cases, as Mr. Wright's relations >4'
are generally well off in the world. > I   -^
hear, however, that this is not the fact
*
as regards one of his sisters.   On the"
4
other hand, neither does Mrs. Whittier*-':':*
need the money.   Herhusbandis avery;.*}
bold and successful operator in stocks,-- ° t
and is said to have made $300,000 in the    '
last year.   He is a partner" of Mr. Henry
L. Higginson, who I told; you last week
.had guaranteed so much money to the
new musical enterprise in Boston.   The 14
general inquiry how is as to whether -the^   |
will is to stand or be contested.   No-.../,
body knows anything on the subject.    '<
Mr. Wright's relations are entirely re?f   ;
ticent.   One rumor is to the effect that ,£q
Gen. Whittier decided  that  he would* j
not receive the money.   Another, and al
more probable one> is that he is in ne-; «;
gotiation  with the  relations, and has
made propositions   to yield up to thenl    1
$1,000,000 and accept the rest.   He is . ;
to sail Saturday in company with one of
Mr. Wright's nephews, which looks like
a good understanding here. Mr. Wright    ;
was, it is said, in au unhappy frame of     '
mind  toward  almost every one in iis     j
last days   in a   Southern  hotel;   but
whether there  is enough  in this andin   .]
his   eccentric will to prove him of uh-   * ■
sound mind is the point to be; settled.^
—Boston Cor., Hartford Courant,    ^...,..,.. ?J
The Passion for Arctic Exploration, *
Lieutenant Robert M/" Berry, who hai-
been serving on the Jeannette. Reliefi;*:
Board as junior member and Jleeorderi >:
is now ordered to the comni'tnd of "the
relief ship,  the Mary and Helen.   .'He-
was on the Tigre3s in search of the miss- -.
ing members* of the Polaris crew,, and "*
has a passion for* Arctic "explorations'. -
So,  alas!  had Lieutenant De Long, „te?
whom the writer once said at table, in'
the month before he sailed in command''*"•
of the Jeannette:    "How can yon leave Al
your charming wife and little daughter •»/,
to go on such alongand doubtful cruise?
Let some "bachelor officer go* in.- "your1
place."     "And let the old bachelors vg
have all the glory of enterpri?e?"^h^V"
said,  half reproachfully,  to which his   \
wife added quickly,   "And .T, too, am'   •
enthusiastic for my husband to go.   I
would not deter him for anything." The'"
thought of that beautiful lady and cliildV  -
from whom.the infatuated explorer tore. ■*
himself away, ii harrowing to one who -, j
saw them daily and knew what a per-  "
feet home circle it was.     He"was:nneV
grained  and   brilliant—a    handsome,;.*/
dashing officer; she a lady of intelli-  *,
gence and culture,  the daughter of a
captain in the merchant service.    They ^
are remembered with kindly interest at,
their hotel here, the EbbittHouse, where „„.
also Lieutenant Berry had his Washing- --
ton quarters.   The latter is a. bachelor, ?
fortunately;  he is six feet two inches.   >
high,  of fine  physique and powerful
frame, remarkably cool, and is said to
have great thoughtfulness in the care of- -r>
those under him.     He is about thirty- .
five years old, was  born in Kentucky,
entered the Naval  Academy ,in 1S62, -
graduated in 1S66,   has served in ihevr
South and North Atlantic Station, on
the European Station*, has been oh duty
at the Torpedo Station, and wa^'execus!*?
tive officer of the training ship Saratoga^
for the last three years, from which duty«-
he was detached when  ordered  as a'*."
member of the Jeannette Relief5 Board;
— Washington BepuMican.        ..       - t;
■ ■* * »■         *
Texas Stage Robbers Outwitted^ &-'-S
Col. L. Caldwell reports that whenit^,
was known that the robbers hadl stop-^
ped  the  coach, money and valuables J*
changed  positions.      Judgs  Leisering
shoved his fine watch and chain into his
boot;  Capt. Millet jerked off his watch -»
and chain and threw   them  into  the,-
brush, and then cut a slit with his penT,n-
knife in the lining of the coach and put,
$600 in greenbacks out of the way, all3
being done before the robbers could .get" "*
the passengers out of the stage.     Capt.
Millett wore a fine diamond pin up hear
his   collar-button,' which,   w"eafihgx f"'a1*'
heavy beard and holding his head do writhe thieves failed to discover. . Thea-ob-^
bers abused and cursed the passengers ;
for  being so poor and penniless; /ahrl^
kept them standing with their hands'*^*!
for two hours.     Col. Caldwell savs the
robbers obtained but a few dollafs"*from.
the passengers.—Corpus ClirUti ("JH'&sjJo
Free Press. .,•.-'*? :c
■» < »—■ -
—The new Governor of Cahdahar^-
Muhanvid Hashim  Khan, is a loutish-?/
looking youth of nineteen.   Shamsuddin.*:.
KhanjTihe^e facto  Governors,is"anin^
telligent man of forty-five. "^
—The singer is better;than mosftMol^l
tals. He is happy when he find§jhig-*
cake in do.   Si?—-Lowell Courier,     * " "
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