Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 7 Dec 1887, p. 3

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TT.T.TWfUW MB. HALDEMAN, publisher of ike Louisville Courier-Journal, lately di­ rected his pastor, by telegraph to draw npon him for the fall amount of the church's indebtedness. IT is said that Senator Ingalls, of Kansas, is writing a novel of Washing­ ton life. It will be somewhat satirical in tone, and various noted men will fig­ ure in it onder assumed names. MBS. CLEVELAND Bhook hands with 8,000 working girls during her recep­ tion at Bridgeport, Conn. She wore a dark straw bonnet trimmed with brown, a dark-brown tailor-made traveling suit, with elosely-fitting jacket of similar texture and color and bound with wide- braid. COD-LIVER oil is now taken into the system with maccaroons and taffy. A single maccaroon or a square of taffy is made to contain a tablespoonful of oil, but so completely disguised that chil­ dren eagerly swallow the sweets with­ out suspicion, while their elders grate­ fully commend this most successful ex­ periment in the interest of medicine. A RESIDENT of one of the prohibition counties of Georgia sent to Atlanta for • jog of whisky, to be delivered C. O. D. The firm replied that the money must accompany all orders for whisky from "dry" counties, as debts of that character could not be collected. The return mail brought the money and this: 4;^,* * Since man to man is so unjust. Hi bard to tell what man to trust* - •«. several years past hun^eltf of couples have been married in a house on the western borders of Warren County, Pennsylvania, under the im­ pression that they had gone into Ohio and might thus evade the license law. The county commissioners declare that the house is in Pennsylvania, and that the couples must be married over again if they wish to be legally united in the bonds of matrimony. A STORY is told of the late Bev. Will­ iam Drury, Vicar of Braddan, Isle of Man, to the effect that he was once on the rocks with a picnic party, when a sea bird known as a "diver" was seen on the water some little distance from the shore. The Vicar, who was then about 60 years of age, said, "Watch me catch that bird," and in a moment, without taking off any of his clothes, he rushed to the edge of the rocks and made a quick dive into the water. The bird dived too, but the Vicar caught it under the water and brought it ashore alive to the party. CALIFORNIA has some big orchards, and the largest is in the Suisun Valley, and is owned by A. T. Hatch, President of the California Fruit Union." Mr. Hatch has 200 acres in pair trees, 130 in peaches, 70 in apricots, 10 in neo- tarines, 210 in almonds, 40 in cherries, 100 in plums and prunes; besides 40 acres of currants and gooseberries, and hundreds of lemon and orange trees. Of these acres, 300 bore fruit this season to the amount of 2,090 tons, which brought the owner $100,000. He calculates that when the whole orchard is in full bearing it will pro­ duce 8,000 tons of fruit, worth $400,000. A NEW YORK photographer poses the mouths of his female patrons before the oamera by making them say some word over several times while the pic­ ture is being taken. He has different words for different kinds of mouths. When a pleasant, bland, and serene mouth is wanted he makes the woman say "bosom." If Bha wants a haughty and distinguished attitude' of month •he says "brush.* "Flip" makes a large mouth look small and "cabbage" enlarges the mouth. An air Of inter­ esting melancholy is caused by the pronunciation of "kerchunk," and for an expression of sweetness and resig­ nation "s'cat" is the word. to ParliamMt itaMi Ma own district without opprisitiMi. Ho is one o the numerous Englishmen of whom the London Spectator complains. He has become more Irish than the Irish themselves. MB. O'BRIEN, the home-rule Irish editor, is confined in a cell six feet by eight, is fed on bread and water, and is denied the consolation of saeing the prison chaplain. This does not seem to be enough for his jailers. They in­ sist that he shall wear prison garb, exercise with murderers and cutthroats, and do all the other menial and degrad­ ing work which malefactors are con­ demned to do. And all tliis because he advised some Irish tenants to resist the payment of rack-rents to alien land­ lords and enconraged others to resist evictions from holdings in which the law of the land now holds that they have an equity. Mr. O'Briui is stoutly resisting the attempt of the Tories to punish persons convicted of political offenses as if they were burglars, murderers, and highwaymen^ &> fax he has succeeded. r A CONSTANTINOPLE correspondent writes as follows with reference to a remarkable centenarian, who had been a friend of Robespierre: "Constanti­ nople has just lost its oldest inhabitant in the person of M. Dimitrios Antippa, who died on the 10th inst, at the ex­ traordinary age of 115. He really counted as a figure in history, though few who knew him and respected him as a modest yet influential merchant were aware how eventful had been the early part of his long life. He was born in 1772, at Cephalonia, his parents being engaged in commerce at Con­ stantinople. 'Here he remained until he was 15, when, yielding to the per­ suasion of the attache at the French Embassy--M. Chenier, brother of the famous poet and a great friend of the family--Antippa pere resolved to send his son to Paris, the center of thought and learning, where he might complete his education in the best way. The boy saw the French Capital during its most awful revolutionary period. He witnessed all the ghastly soenes of the Reign of Terror. He knew Murat, Danton, Robespierre personally. As s Greek he could frequent both Giron­ dist and Montaguard society; and was intimate, now with Camilla Desmouline and Barnave, now with Tallien and St. Just In Mme. Tallien's salon he danced the Carmagnole and sang "Ca ira." He was a friend of poor Andre Chenier, and saw him die. He also was present at the murder of Marie Antoinette on the scaffold. In fact, he witnessed the guillotine destroy all its most famous victims. When the storm had passed, in the calm time which sucoeeded it, young Antippa returned to his parental home at Constantinople, and started life as a merchant AT the recent eclipse of the sun the Chinese authorities, in accordance with the usage of the Empire, orderel the Buddhist and Tavist priests to recite their incantations to reseue the sun from being devoured. It was at the time of the festivities over the Emper­ or's birthday, when all officials were re­ quired to wear embroidered robes, but it is also the law that during an eclipse officials who participate in the ceremonies must Wear ordinary gar­ ments until the sun is rescued. An edict had to be got from the Emperor to settle it. He ordered the official? to ignore his birthday and attend to ' tho sun, so they all wore ordinary robes. THK Nantes Museum,- which is (me of the richest departmental museums in France, has just acquired a small casket of no little historical interest--namely: that in which the heart of Anne of Brittany, Queen of France and Nararre, was placed at her death. The casket, which is of massive gold, is made in the shape of a heart, and inside the fil­ agree work on the outside are nina fleur-de-lis and nine trefoil flowers, with the following motto: "Cuevr de vertus ome dignement covronne." The casket is attributed to Jean Per- red, painter in ordinary to the King, who was ordered by Francis to paint the Queen's portrait when die died at Blois in 1514. JASPER DOUGLAS PYNE, the Irish member of Parliament who has shut himself up in a castle from which he harangues land-league audiences, is an Englishman by birth and is the only Englishman in the Parnellite party. His father was a Church of Engird clergyman. He is a tenant of the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Hartington's father, and is described as a tall, dark, diatinguished-looking man with a pronounoed English MM*1 Ha is a THERE is a popular belief through­ out England that only three farthings were struck in all Queen Anne's reign. Two of these farthings are supposed tc be in the hands of the British Govern­ ment, but the third is still in circula­ tion and of fabulous value to the lucky man who secures it Now the truth is that there was no less than eight different coinings of the Queen Anne^s farthing, and, as far from being rare, it is worth absolutely nothing to the collector; but this fact although pub­ lished again and a?ain, is powerless to destroy its reputation. Now and then a poor countryman finds one in his po« session, and believes his fortune made until he is rudely undeceived when he tries to sell his treasure. Once a York­ shire laborer walked all the way tc London, with his wife tramping wearily by his side, solely in order to secure the highest possible bidder for the mysterious farthing which was to buy him a farm of his own. Once a shop- boy spied such a coin in his master's till, and, unable to resist the teqopti* tion, he stole it, leaving another in its place. For weeks the foolish lad went about dreaming o! his good fortune, until his desire for riches overcame hit prudence, and he rashly offered the prize for sale. Explanation followed, and his master learning of the transac­ tion at once had the boy arrested. Now, although his intentions were dis­ honest, the latter had really stolen nothing, for the farthing he put in the till was quite as good as the one he took out ; but the fame of the Queen Anne coin proved his undoing. The jury could not be brought to look upon it as a common bit of money, i^prth only its face value, and the unfortunate apprentice was actually found guilty of robbery and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, being thus pun­ ished not for the wrong he did, but for the wrong he meant to da Four Money-Making Role*. Rothschild commonly ascribed his early success, in a great degree, to the following rules: First--I combined three profits, 1 made tb& manufacturer my customer, and the one I bought of my customer-- that is: I supplied the manufacturer with raw material and dyes, on each oi which I made a profit, and took his manufactured goods, which I sold at a profit Second--Make a bargain at one* Be an off-hand man. Third--Never have anything to d# with an unlucky man or place. I have seen many clever' men who had not shoes to their feet. I never act with them; their advice sounds very well, but fate is against them. They .cannot get on themselves; how can they do good to me? Fourth--Be cautious and bold. It requires a great deal of boldness and 8 great deal of caution to make a great fortune; and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it THE present rate of telegraphy be­ tween London and Dublin is variously estimated as being from four hundred and fifty to five hundred words a minute. - IT would not b9 a "muddy stream of politics" if good citizens would lend a hand and help to keep it clean. to Its OWM» gft •adSaata] InSaa CEUft Lite Tribune.] "I bite to live in a new oountry," mid Jones, "where there is no law." "Yer bat yer," chimed in Thompson. "Law is the only thing that keeps us out of everlasting chaos." "Yes, indeed," said a legal gentleman present "It is the bulwark of the poor man's liberty--the shield which the strong arm of justice throws over to the weak--the solace and the balm of the unfortunata and wronged--the "O, stop Vsr," remarked a man with one eye. "I won't have it that way. Law is a bo6S invention for rascals of all grades. Give me a country where there is no law and I can take care of myself every time. Now, for instance, when I lived in Ohio I got a dose of law that '-I will never forget. I was in partnership with a man named Butler, and one morning we found our cashier missing with $3,- 000. He had dragged the safe and put out Well, I started after him and caught him in Chicago, where he was splurging around on the money. I got him arrested and there was an examin­ ation. Well, all the facts were brought out, and the defence moved that the case be dismissed, as tho proseoution did not make out a case in the name of the firm, and that if &ere was a firm the copartnership had not been shown by any evidence before the court To my astonishment the court said the plea was O. K. and dismissed the case. Before I could realize what was up the thief had walked off. Well, I followed him to St Louis, and there 1 tackled him again, I sent for my partner, and we made a complete ease, going for him in the name of the Commonwealth and Smith, Butler & Co. Well, the lawyer for the defence claimed that the money, being taken from a private drawer in the safe, was my money exclusively, and that my partner had nothing to do with it; that the case should be prose­ cuted by me individually and not by the firm. The old bloke who sat on the bench wiped his spectacles, grunted around awhile and dismissed the case. Away goes the man again. Then I got another hitch on him and tried to con­ vict him of theft, but the court held that he should be charged with em­ bezzlement Some years after I tack­ led him again, and they let him go. Statutes of limitation, you sec. Well, I concluded to give it up, and I did. "But about four years afterward I was down in Colorado and a man pointed to another and said: 'That fel­ low has just made $100,000 in a mining swindle.' I looked and it was my old cashier. I followed him to the hotel and nailed him in his room with the money. Now I Bays, 'Billy do you recognize your old boss?' and of course he did. Says I,'Bill, I want that $3,- 000 you stole from me, with the inter­ est and all legal and traveling ex­ penses.' *Ah, do you?' says he; 'didn't tho courts decide that ' "'Curse the courts,' says I, putting a six-shooter, a foot long under his nose. 'This is the sort of legal document that I'm travelin' on now. This is the com­ plaint, warrant, indictment, judge, jury, verdict, and sentence all combined. When they speak they talk straight to the point of your mug, you bloody lar­ ceny thief. This jury of which I am foreman, is liable to be discharged at any moment. No technicality or stat­ ute of limitation here, and a stay of proceedings won't last over four seconds. I want $10,000 to square my bill or I'll blow yfuir 1)1MM tiiaino out.' Well, he passed over the money right away, and said he hoped there'd be no hard feelings. Now, there's some Colorado law for you, and it's the kind for me. Eh, boys?"-and the crowd with one accord concurred in the cheapness and efficacy of the plan by which a man could carry his court on his hip instead of appealing to the blind goddess in Chicago and St Lonis. Millionaire Hearst. One of the most successful mining men on the Pacific Coa?t is George Hearst, United States Senator from California. Hearst is a plain old Mis- sourian, of small education, and no polish of manners. He has spent most of his life in rough mining camps. Upon mines and quartz mining his judgment is almost infallible. Since tiien he has touched nothing which did not turn into gold. Heownes the rich­ est mine in Montana; he has valuable mines in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Mexicot When he began to appear as a power, Haggin and Tevis invited him to be­ come an associate with them. Thus he has acquired large interests in Cali­ fornia lands. He is a man slow of speech and of action. He hesitates over a decision, but he can be rapid when the occasion calls for prompt action. Thus he had been negotiating for a large Mexican ranch just over the border, which had been allowed to go to ruin because it was on the trail that Geronimo always used on one of his periodical 'raids. Hearst got early in­ telligence of the capture of the Apache chief, and secured tho land at about 20 cents an acre. For $200 he ob­ tained a body of rich land that is worth to-day several millions. Many amusing stories are related of Hearst's peculiarities, but with all his oddities he 4cH*mauds respect for his honesty and his loyalty to friends, two traits not conspicuous among mining millionaires. His generosity to the Democratic party in California led to -his elevation to the Senate. He has strong political ambition, but his ad- vissrs have usually been badly selected. Thus, when he was placed in nomina­ tion for Governor of California he made a speech so full of learnel words and floral rhetoric that every one knew it had been written for him. It fell flat, and Gen. Stoneman secured the nomi­ nation. But after the result was an­ nounced Hearst came forward and in simple, plain language declared that he would work for the candidate sin­ cerely and faithfully. His speech was the event of the convention, and some one of the audience called out: "Uncle George, if you had talked that way be­ fore the vote, yon would have got that nomination!" Senator Hearst's wealth is estimated at $15,000,000, and his income $80,000 a month. He has just made a present to his only son of a newspaper in San Francisco. The young man has a strong taste for journalism, and an almost un­ exampled opportunity for gratifying it --George H. Fitch, in the Cosmopoli­ tan. Land Speculation in California. "Please talk about land speculations in the West." * "TheV amuse us old settlers very much. "Your 'one-lunged* immigrants from the East come out and buy land for $1,500 to $2,000 per acre, expecting to live on raising oranges and pome­ granates in the land where these fruits are iudige mus. Our people hava bnea and in Los Angeles wa tare the most absurd land speculation feasible. They have staked out town lots in Los Angeles sufficient for the population of London, Paris, and Vienna to starve in."--Interview with Frank Pixley. The Old Fendal About fifty years before the discovery: of America the feudal barons had be- i come a disgrace to every country in Europe. On one side they were con­ spiring against their kings, and on the other side oppressing the commercial class, which was coming forward and: getting competence and knowledge. These ignorant barons, like the Rus­ sian nobility of the present day, re­ sented any attempt on their kings either to curb their own power or to emanci­ pate the people. So the various mon- archs made up their minds to destroy the castle if possible, or at any rate to curb tho most fractious of the nobles. There had been 146 castles built in a single region in England alone, and it may be supposed, therefore, that over the three kingdoms there was not less than 200 or 300 of these almost impreg­ nable fortresses to which the thieving barons could retire and live on their provisions for an indefinite period, trusting to disorder to call the king off and make him dependent upon them. James L, who lived abreast of Henry VIII., of England, who conquered France, had been treacherously seized by the English, and was only released after years by paying a great ransom. When cams home from France, which was then also English, he set about disciplining his barons in the fiercest style. "Let God grant me life," said he, "and there shall not be a spot in my dominions where the key shall not keep the castle and the furze bush the cow." In a little while he arrested the regent and his son and twenty-six barons and threw them into prison, and executed four of the chief of them on the Hedding Hill at Stir­ ling, the oldest being 80 years of age. He then caught 300 wild Highlanders and had them all executed. The barons had a way of fighting at the King's table with each other, and in their parliaments throwing glore3 down and defying each other to mortal com­ bat The King's amusement was to make one of these who had been chal­ lenged chop off the hand of the one who challenged him. Nobles who did horrible crimes to their poor people were pulled at the tail of a horse to the gallows and hanged. Finally, however, the nobles surrounded the King at Perth, in a monastery, and, though he concealed himself in the vault of his wife's apartment, they pur­ sued him there in cowardly numbers. He was unarmed, and strangled the first tw<f men who got down to him, though they gashed him with their daggers and swords. At last one ruffian struck the King down with his sword, and then the half-strangled fellows got up and put an end to htm. The chief murderer and his associatej were exe­ cuted after being tortured. The son of this King, James H., con­ tinued the work of putting the barons down, and in Edinburgh castle, where he had invited tho chiefs of the Douglas clan, two of them were seize I at his table and carried to the back part of the castle and beheaded.--Oath. Granulated Ejelid'. "What is granulation of the eyelids? What are its cause, symptoms, and cure? Ts it tho cause of movable liues over the sight?" are questions that are jin ftskjvl TKoka tjo mnQeotion between disease and the lines tioned. The latter are of little impor­ tance. Most people may see tbem on looking steadily at a white wall or a cloud. They are supposed to be shad­ ows of objects within the eye--parts of its structure--thrown on the retina, and thence projected, greatly enlarged, into space. They trouble short-sighted people more than others, but they do not indicate disease. Granulated lids are a form of "con- jnnctivities," au inflammation of the mucous membrane which lines the lids and front of the eyeballs, called the conjunctiva. There are four varieties of "conjunc- tivities." With two of them we have, at present, nothing to do. The infan­ tile, which is due to contagiou, and may speedily result in blindness if not promptly treated, and the diphtheritic, which occurs mainly in feeble and ill- fed children, and which is a serious dis­ ease, but, thus far, it is not known to have appeared in this country, though German immigration may at any time bring it here. Tho other two varieties are the "sim­ ple" and the "contagious." The simple is generally due either to some irri­ tating substance getting lodged under the lid or to exposure to cold. In the first case the trouble subsides on the removal of the offending cause. In the second, a simple wash, which should be prescribed by a physician, with rest for the eyes and protection from dust and sun, will soom remove inflammation. By neglect and aggravation from sur­ roundings it may run into the conta­ gious. In the simple form the secre­ tion is only muoous, but if it passes into the contagious the secretion becomes purulent As a general thing, the contagious form is due to contagion from a similar case, or from some other foul secretions in the blood. A single infected child at school may give it to many of his mates. Cases of blindness have so re­ sulted. A towel used in common W often imparted it One should never wipe with another's towel- The granulations are minute, swol­ len protuberances under the lid, some­ times quite fine, sometimes large enough to give the lid a puffed look. They strongly incline to become puru­ lent, and thus contagious. They are mpst common among children living in badly ventilated rooms. In both Bimple and contagious "con- junctivities" the main reliance is on as­ tringent washes, but for the treatment of a contagious case the physician should be promptly called. No one suffering from it should be allowed to attend school.--Companion. How He was Fooled. "No, sir; IH not give you a cent, you are a useless tramp, and I was so badly deceived yesterday that I'll never give money to a beggar again," roared old Bloatem, the banker, when a poor fel­ low approached him for a dime. "What, you deceived?" asked an as­ tonished friend. "I thought you were a man that no one could fooL" "But I was fooled, and I don't forget it A miserable bummer struck me yesterday for 10 cents to get a cocktail with. I gave it to him, sir, for I al­ ways encourage those beggars to drink themselves to death. And what do you think, sir; I caught the thief two min­ utes later in a coffee saloon eating mut­ ton stew, sir, and on my money, sir. Ugh! Ill not be fooled again that way."--San Francisco Post. Th* Most Healthful IM Exciting of All Cold-Waathar Amusements. '* ?*ietieil Snggsstiom M M»w to Construct Slide. Tie Game or fiacqnefs, and Haw * *»lajed w Racquet-Court. [SPBCIAL CHICAGO CORBESPONDXKCX.] Winter is now fairly upon as, and around the shipping and receiving doors ef the big sporting-goods establishments of Chicago are piled great stacks--not of base-ball bats, masks, balls, gloves, and other para­ phernalia of the diamond, but of tobog­ gans, bob-sleds, gymnasium apparatus, cases of ice and roller skates, eases of warm and brilliantly hued Canadian wool blankets, for manufacture in­ to toboggan costumes, piles of 6nowsboes and crates of racquet bats, and all other appliances neoessary to in and out door winter sports. If the weather is favorable throughout the Northwest this winter, the indications are that winter sports will be more gener­ ally indulged in this year than ever before. Among outdoor sports, tobogganing and ice skating wilt of course take the prefer­ ence. . The manager of the Chicago house of Spalding & Bras., who probably handle the largest number of toboggans and ice skates of any sporting goods house In the country, remarked to an inquirer the other day that where their house alone sold over 8,500 toboggans last year and material for nearly 3,000 cos­ tumes, they expected that the demand this year would be almost double these figures. Inquiries are being received daily as to the cost of toboggans and toboggan outfits, and the coat of erecting slides. From present indications it is safe to say that the coming holidays will find one or more slides in operation in every populous town in the Northwest. It is an easy mat­ ter for thirty or forty young people to get together, form a club, and contrib­ ute $10 or $15 apiece toward the construction of a slide and the purchase of a score of star toboggans. Judging from the manner in which the young people of Chicago have gene into the sport already, they expect to receive their full share of fun for the expense in­ curred. And why not? An excellent arti­ ficial slide can be erected for from $250 to $350, and the lumber can always be con­ verted to other uses after the season closes, or can be stored away for construction when another season begins. Where natural slides exist, this expense of course need not be incurred. Twenty toboggans will cost $100 more, and costumes can be purchased or made at home with such expense as the owner can afford. "When this has been done the sport to be enjoyed upon the torch-lighted and ice-sheeted run ways, or by the rays of a full moon when a Bcose or more of roBy-cheeked nnd brilliantly costumed couples are out for a slide in tho crisp, cold air, can only be fully under­ stood when participated in. Of course a regulation toboggan costume is not really necessary to the enjoyment of this pastime of the Canadians, but when a tobogganist of either eex is properly costumed they can enjoy the sport with much more zest and satisfaction. Then, tco, it is the brilliant colors of the costumes that add so much to the life and beauty of the scene when a slide is in fall blast. Through the courtesy of a large spotting goods house Li this city the other day the writer saw some of the most beau­ tiful shades of Canadian toboggan blankets ever shipped into this country for the pur­ pose. The combinations of oolor were beautiful, and the leaning will this year .ho mnro ft»n mat tn hrilliant rnlM and combination colors. For genuemen tne costume consists UBtially of a blouse with a frock which covers the hips and buttons tightly down the front, knee breeches, warm woolen stockings and moc­ casins, the head being covered by a toque of the ssme brilliant hue as the sash, which is wrapped around the waist, the tasseled end falling over the left hip. For ladies the costume consist^ of a long cloak but­ toning down the fr^nt, and confined by a sash like that worn .w her escort, mocca­ sins, and a toque. Every article of these costumes is fashioned from the woolen blankets referred to, and is made with as much skill in cut and finish as the art of the tailor can command. As to the work of putting up a elide, the method of construction is very cheap, simple and strong, but care should be taken that the braces and floor beams and posts are thoroughly well Bpiked together. By boarding up around the posts of the lower £art of the level part of the platform, a irge room will be afforded, at a slight ad­ ditional cost, which may be kept warm, if desired, and afford a means of shelter or a place for refreshments, as well as to afford a place for the club to store their articles under lock and key. In ordinarily favora­ ble localities the cost ought not to exceed $250, which is a liberal estimate. The slide built upon the ice during the carnival in Burlington in the winter of 1885-8G cost the sum of $175, complete. At a cost of $250 a club of fifty members, subscribing $5 each, would do the work. And then, by selling special-privilege badges or tickets to visitors not members of the club at a fixed price on certain days, the ordinary running expenses could be met without further assessment of members. These practical suggestions are given for the ben­ efit of such of our readers who have con­ templated entering into the sport this winter. Another form of winter sport which Chi- cagoans have taken hold of in earnest this season is that of racquets, and when one has participated in a single game they be­ come, as a rule, enthusiastic admirers of it. A month ago Capt. Anson, the big cap­ tain of the Chicago ball club, assumed the management of the only racquet court there was in the city at that time. It stands on Michigan avenue, and is easily accessi­ ble by club men, Board of Trade men, and the wealthy young bloods of the city who have become regular frequenters of the court'since it opened. Many readers will ask, "What is racquet?" for the game has never been very exten­ sively played in this country. It is similar U> the old game of hand-ball, only that he ball is smaller and harder than a hand­ ball, and is struck with a bat something like a tennis racquet, but longer handled. The game is played in an inclosed court, the regulation court being about thirty-five feet long, twenty feet wide, and twenty-two feet high; the walls and floors of solid sement, and the whole lighted by a ikylight in the ceiling. The rules of hand- sail apply to the game of racquet, and no ixercise that a young man or woman can indulge in is more beneficial in every way. Of course it is not necessary to construct a regulation court to enjoy the game. A ipacious loft of any kind, with the walls solidly boarded or plastered and lighted from above, would answer admirably, the anly expense necessary being the pur- ;hase of the racquets and a box of >alls, with, perhaps, a flannel or worst- id gymnasium shirt and a pair ,f rubber-soled exercising shoes. These can be found at any sporting goods louse. In Chicago the game is rapidly aking the place of many other athletic mstimes. It is great work to get into in.son's court and throw one's self into a profuse perspiration through the active vork necessitated by the character of the jlay. Then to strip off, stand under a ihower, and afterward have a strong-armed tttendant rub one down until your muscles 'eel firm and vigorous, and your skin is red rith the chfiang gives an exilaraiing and lealthful effect not allowed by any other neans. Racquet is a great sport--at least io say all who have indulged in it Becratuy tear's tiie Adjustment of Rafl- G-ranta. More Than Twenty-one Million Acres of Indemnity Lands Reclaimem^- ^ x - *£-• • -• * t : .? Cne of th® moat Important featurea of Secre­ tary Lamar's annnal report is tne portion relaft* InK to tin adjustments of railroad tand graats. Be say*: •Shortly after my appointment to the position 1 now have the honor to hold, and as I became uomewliat familiar with the public land sys­ tem, its organisation, and tbe workings there­ of, I became moie and more impressed with the fact that tbe public domain was being diverted from its legitimate purpose and converted to objeota, tho inevitable effect of which was re* pugnant to the entire theory on which the land system was based. Apart from tbe methods of illegal appropriation of the publie domain, effected through the varversion of the several laws for aoqniriug title thereto, X beoame convinced that the administration of the con­ gressional grants to wagon and rail roads hf* ?iven rise to enormous abuses. Congress had not only made grants which in some instances exceeded in extent the area of half a dosea of the largest and most populous States of the Union, but in addition provided that any losses of lands within the granted limits should he satisfied by selections of lands within other and adjoining limits, thus nearly doubling the area of the original grant. "Under these acts the Land Department had withdrawn from public appropriation not only the granted limits as required by law, but also the lands within the indemnity limits, at the request of the grantee companies. Thus enor­ mous quantities of the public lands were held in reservation to await the convenience of the respective corporations in tho COUP true tion of their roads, the selections of their lands, and the uncertain adjustments of the grants by the department. *1 do not for a moment mean to question the wisdom of aiding in the construction of rail­ roads. That policy was at the time a wise one, hut in the light of experience it may well be asaed whether it would not have been wiser to have aided these great enterprises otherwise than by grants of the pnblio domain. Though much has been wrought, certain it is that the legislation by which these vast territories passed undor the dominion of railroad com­ panies gave an incurable wound to the home­ stead scheme before that scheme had a fair opportunity for displaying its beneficial effects. "This land-grant legislation was certainly not tn harmony with the theory of a distribution of tbe public domain among the people, and gave np to capitalists as a basis for traffic and specu­ lation and gigantio financial schemes what was by the original policy of the Government de­ signed to be homos for au industrious and thrifty people, the abodes of domestic happiness, ana virtue, and patriotism. Notwithstanding these indemnity withdrawals wero made ex­ clusively for tho interests of the companies, few of them, if any, constructed their roads within the time proscribed in the granting act as an express condition on which the grant was made. Maps of •probable," -general," "desig­ nated," and "definite" routes of said roads were filed with rapidity in the department, and with­ drawals thereunder asked and almoet invaria­ bly granted, until the public land, States and Territories, was gridironed over with railroad, granted and indemnity, limits; and in many instances the limits of one road overlapping and conflicting with other roads in the most bewildering manner, so that the Bottler seeking a home could scarcely find a desirable location that was not claimed by some one--or, perhaps, two or three--of the many roads to which grants of land had been made by Congress. "Nor was this all, Though the desired tract might not be apparently covored by a railroad location, the settler would hardly select it be­ fore the agents of the corporations would set up a claim to it, or to the right to oocupy or de­ nude it under tho right-of-way and construction privileges conferred by the granting act. Thus tho settler, ignorant of his legal rights, and with no one to advise him with respect to either the law or the faots, would for the sake of peaee and home readily consent to purchase the lard from tbe company. In tliU way these cotpors- tions, In addition to the lands granted to toe in, have claimod, sold and received the price of a groat deal of other land to which they had neither legal nor moral right, nor the shadow of either. "Tho oonfi-.sion, hardship and Iimpositions praotioed upon the settlers were greatly in­ creased by tbe bold scheme of tho corporation agents where withdrawals were made of lands to which the legal title of the coiupacies had not attached, and which afterward remained in the same condition for years through the failure of Congress to make the uocessary appropri­ ations for the surveys. "Years have elapsed sinoe many of the grants have been made, and other years sinoe the others fragmentary portions only, and others again none at all; bnt the withdrawals of the lands were no less effective as a barrier against the settlers in the one case than in the other. it mattered not wbat might be hia equities ac­ quired by years of toil upon what he believed to be a part of the national domain. It was de­ clared by the highest judicial tribunal, as ex­ pounded by the highest law officers of the executive, that a withdrawal ones made hy competent authority was legal and effective to vxclude all from intrusion within ita limits. "One suoh case, where hardship and injustice were about to be inflicted under the law, came und'-r your observation. Guilford Miller set­ tled upon lands after selected nnd claim d by the Northern Pacific Kailroad Company to bj within the withdrawal for indemnity pm poses, gome doubt a> ising as to the legality of that withdrawal, the case was referred by this de­ partment to the Attorney-General for his opin­ ion on the question of law. That officer held that the withdrawal was legal, and that during its existence Miller could acquire no right or title to the t> aot claimed by him aod on which he liTed, While recognizing the corruptness of the law you S iw the injustice of the case BO far as the individual settler was affected, and that hundreds of others were similarly situated who might and who would bo affected; and you di­ rected that suoh grants should be BO adminis­ tered by this department as, if possible, to pro­ tect these settlers from such injustice, stating your belief that this can be done under the provision which declares that these selections shall be made under the direction of the (Secre­ tary of the Interior." "After years of waiting Congress had failed to empower the department to make the neces­ sary aurvevb whereby some of tbe grants might be adjusted and no immediate prospeet of such surveys was in sight. But a law was passed March 3, 1887 [24 States, £66', whereby the Sec­ retary of the Interior waa 'directed to im­ mediately adjust each of the railroad land grants made by Congress to aid in the con­ struction of railroads.' "With an earnest dealre to obey the mandate of Congress to give to the corporations their every right under the laws, and at the same time to follow the directions given by you to see that ample protection should be extended to Bottlers and those seeking to make settlement on the public lands (a mat­ ter which had been so long and so utterly overshadowed), I entered upon m most careful consideration of the whole sub­ ject of the hiBtory and law relating to land grants, and concluded that if the department was clothed with authority to make indemnity withdrawals, as had been done in so many in­ stances, the exercise of that authority was a matter entirely within sound discretion and not a matter of legal obligation in any respect; that the same sound discretion, which in the interest of the companies justified eald with­ drawals, now demanded peremptorily in the public interest a speedy revocation of the same; and that the most effective way of ex­ pediting an adjustment of the land grants, and doing exact justice to the companies, guarding and promoting the interests of the settlers also, wag tj permit the public to enter into competition with the companies to the selec­ tion of lands heretofore withdrawn for inds"B- nity purposes. "Accordingly, on May 83.1887, with your ap­ proval, rules were laid upon the different com­ panies for whose benefit withdrawals had been made to show cause by a certain day why said withdrawals should not be-revoked. 6oA of the companies failed to show cause.; others filed answers assenting to the reyooation, aa they had received satisfaction of the grant either in full or as far as possible; others assented on condition that lands covered by selections al­ ready made should be excepted from the order of revocation, and other companies objected to the order of revocation as illegal and a violation of chartered rights. Briefs were filed and oral arguments accorded to the counsel of suoh com­ panies 8 desired to be heard, all of which were. fully and carefully considered, as was due to the importance of the questions and magni­ tude of the interests involved, and on Aug. 19, 1887, my views were fully expressed in S deci­ sion rendered in the case of the Atlantic A Pa­ cific railroad company, whicn, by answer and argument, raised nearly all the objections that were presente I in part only by a number of other companies. I send herewith a copy of the whole text of that opinion, in which these objections were answered seriatim. "Two days later the orders Withdrawing tne lands within tbe indemnity limits and reserv­ ing the same from settlement were revokedL and the lamia restored to the pufelic domain and to settlement--firt-t, in the cases of two compa­ nies which had not answer* d ; second, in those which answered and assented ; and third, in the cases of tho companies which set up defenaes coming w.thin the rulings in the foregoing opinion. "In the congressional grants to the following railroad companies: The Hastings & Dakota, the St. Paul & Northern Pacific, the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba, the St. Paul & Sioux City, the Sioux Citv and St. Paul nnd the Winona & St. Peter, it is provided that n( on filing the mat s designating the loutee of said roads and branches it shall oe the duty of the secretary of the interior to withdraw from market tbe lands embraced within the provi- sions of the act making the trant In conse­ quence of this provision these roads were ouiitted from the orders of restoration. of LiiriMbt* lî jpit of the Hyidwtiiot, County, soldi MM cetfito in while returning han ja ft* train m* bed ef $1,325. -- neighbor. - * The tssehers <*f JSaak St formed an nssochrthm, with dent T. F. MoDonongh C. B. Carroll Seeretugr. Mi--i. Zittle, and Snllivan, and Mi--as and Hickson were appointed • to make arrangements for entertaining' Connty Teachers' Association, which in East St. Lonis tbe second December. --The other day as Mr. Stansfteld Bald* win, of Jacksonville, was hanling wood iMt .': found a blood-red owl about the sin of. half-grown chicken. The day being bilBjHft he captured the bird and pnt it into kjkr,- pocket, intending to bring it to Sr. to be mounted, bat unfortunately it caped. Mr. Baldwin says it was the onl|| owl of the kind he had ever seen and b* regarded it as a great curiosity* ;• --There is trouble brewing betwsib &MM barbed-wire manufacturers at Joliet tadf Washburn Sb Moen over tho failure oi the latter to stop the unlicensed urers of barbed-wire at St. Louis, or St. Louis. The licensed pay to Washburn A Moen a royalty of IS cents a hundred pounds, and demand Washburn & Moen carry out their of protection. They are now saying ̂ • they have a million doUars for defense, not once cent for tribute. ~ t ̂ --Senator M. B. Thompson died sud?,,, ;̂ denly of heart-disease at his residence U r b a n e , a g e d 5 4 . H e s e r v e d t h r e e y e a i i ' l in the Twenty-fifth Illinois Volunteers, ̂ and was later a Captain in the One Hun*- '* V dred and Fifty-fourth Illinois Regiment* ̂ He was elected in 1868 Prosecuting Attar* 1; v ney for the Sixteenth Judicial District, and *' in 1872 was elected State's Attorney tot ' i: '<• Champaign County. In 1884 he was ' V elected State Senator by the Bepublican* - of the Thirtieth District. He had been m prominent lawyer and politician In ̂ State since 1856. --In 1872, shortly after the present to*r<€ ' ? g o v e r n i n g S h e r i f f f e e s w e n t i n t o e f f e c t , 5 v James Hughes became Sheriff of St. ClSif f County. One of the requirements of tib# ' * v law was that Sheriffs should make monthly - reports to the Board Of Supervisors of aB^" ̂ fees collected. Acting under the advice o{ ;/v:' counsel, Sheriff Hughes disobeyed the law*, and tbe county brought suit for $10.000^<' the amount of fees collected by him, ob- taining judgment for the same. Befort: • V the full amount had been paid over Hughe* died and the heirs appealed the case, bu| ̂ .. were decided against. Two payments have s i n c e b e e n m a d e , o n e o f $ 3 , 0 0 0 a n d a n * . | other of $•4,300. Recently the case was,.. \ finally settled by a payment of $350, mak%^ |̂ ing a total of $7,650, the attorneys for th« county being satisfied that the judgment " " for $10,000 was excessive, and about $2,40ft more than it should have been. The has been hanging in the oonrta for than ten yean. --The Saloon-keepers,an< who have lately brought th< _ « lawless acts, have at last hand by fifteen citizens of' country, who have formed a Law and 0«w rier League and raised.a fund of $300 ttf* s"' aid-in the work of prosecuting offendeMb:i#|;\||̂ ; ̂ Little regard was given to the law, and OSk several occasions riots have barely beta , ; » avoided. Henry Campbell, one of the vio* t A •" lators, is now in jail at Springfield, and will. <* ;< ';f. be taken oare of by Government officials^ ^ J while a half-dozen more of those who wei*" ̂ ':'X BO fortunate as to escape the United State* - T '£v officials have been placed under bonds to . *: "̂ || their appearance at tbe next term of courit t ̂ in Douglas and Piatt Counties. Still oth- j' r * ere have decamped. The charges upon- , ̂ which the men are held are selling whislqp? to minors and habituals, inciting riot, and ̂ " , other misdemeanors. Atwood is a wnstt i jgi town situated on the west line of Dougls. and adjoining Piatt County, and has been ̂ noted for some months past on account lawlessness, but the Law and Order Leag«#g^H has the sympathy and support of all ' abiding citizens, and the fair name it ovsî m.. , possessed shall be redeemed. The flnen , s \ brought about by the prosecution of vio-. : lators under direction of the Law and Or*, . •*, der League amounted to more than $80 •: , the first week, and there are others . .to t follow. . * --Col. A. C. Babcock, of Canton, ha*: ' ̂ achieved a comfortable fortune and has of ;,'j late been concerned with the Senator Parwf , j well-"Ab" Taylor syndicate in building th* ' '4- Texas State House. He is oner of the "reg-» t ̂ ulars"at the Grand Pacific, Chicago, whicUfi# ̂ 'v~ is almost as much a home to him as Can** "1 w ton. Another well-known character aboof .̂ ' •' the hotel is Dr. Osgood, who gives time nowadays to practical joking and nta^°-~-'? terial enjoyment than to the practice ol, 'Ck medicine. Both these gentlemen are smalt- - of stature, and, despite their gray hairs, A 4 lively as any youngsters* There is constant!, rivalry between them as to who is the small* est, and either could ride a Shetland pony. without dragging his feet. Becently Colt •- Babcock was going to take his daughters -" the game dinner at Mr. Drake's hostelry, but had no dress suit. Osgood offered at loan of the latter, which fitted the Colonel perfectly. As. ihe latter sat at table his daughters and CoL Taylor and other friends, looking ss fine esafiddle in tit# ̂ doctor's dress suit, a boy came in with % M ̂ •mm message. The document was labeled. port ant," and the Colonel opened it viflt̂ some eagerness and more embarrassment, It proved to be a letter from Dr. Osgood ̂ . ̂ in which the latter set forth that he ha<| ,<t. iuat had a very important business call tQr / ̂ New York end mu>t leave in twenty ininutss. The dress suit he had loaned tk* " -v% Colonel was, he said, the property of hî ̂ negro sertant, who of course accompanied • him to New York and would of eoutse nee<S - "*•' his suit. Tbe situation was a delicate onef. . and he regretted extremely to thus em* r b air ass the Colonel, but he would of course appreciate the importance of sending th« clothes at once by the messenger. H# would suggest that the Colonel slip under­ neath the table, disrobe, and hand the anil: to the messenger. Then hia daughter otmld wrap him in a napkin, lay him on a chafe* and smuggle him out unpereeivad when t)M least was over. CoL BabeoekiittBtlMtee for a chance to get even.

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