The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

cFtciirv 3£?UiutUalct I VAN SLYKE, Editor and Publisher. ILLINOIS. * »•* «te better than any other race. , PEOPLE eat 23 per cent, more bread *\rhen the weather is eold than when it * is mild. -• . A POLANDER woman living at Bala- .unanca one day laat weok picked and ^marketed over twenty quarts of black- 1 > "berries, and iu tbe afternoon gave birth ito triplets. " MRS. MCGILL, of Salt Lake City, horse thieves," rensxrtod with oompieta unanimity. . ~ IHRAKD from an old oomradc of Gen­ eral Lew Wallace, who lived for many years in the same town with him in In- , | diana, some points in the career of that now distinguished author, writes a oor- • THE Cliineae endure chnu^e at dim- respondent. VI was a member of the military company of which Wallace wan Captain before the war," said my informant. "General Simon Bolivar Bnckt.er ;wa« at that time Captain of the Louisville Grays, a Kentucky or­ ganization just across the river from u?. I remember the oompauies camp­ ing together in 1858 or 1851), when Wal­ lace and Buckner sat up night after eight discussing the probabilities of war between the (sections. Buckner a cockerel • was P05^'6 that thore would be wax ' and that the South would be invaded. Wa'lace did not believe there would be any war and ridiculed the idea of inva tdon. He used to tell Buckner that so many persons in the North were op­ posed to war and invasion of the South that any army rai-ed for that purpose would be checked before it reachet1 the Ohio river. He changed his mind aboni, that later and led the invaders himself." •went to market and bought ior her Sunday dinner. She itdcropa nugget of virgin <she sold for $5. found in j that ALLIANCE § FARMERS. : -- THEIR DELATION WITH GREEN­ BACK CRANKS. A LARGE chestnut tree, niea«nnng ^eighteen feet in circumference' at the ^base, was struck by lightning in Mr. •I^Mercier's pasture field, near Irederick, 3Mo., and split in the center from top to bottqp. There was no storm at the . time, i; . • • •• THE price of a good-looking female » slave in the United States of Colombia j is $100. They are usually excellent cooks, and many of them are expert in •diving to the bottom of the streams in the gold districts and bringing up a gourd full of gold-beariug sand. JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY'S first friend in the United State* was Horace Oreeley. Penniless, i without acquain­ tances, seeking only employment, O'Reilly carried to the great editor one of his poems, '"The Amber Whale," a ballad of extraordinary power and beauty. It was printed and paid for, and from this beginning started a career rich in promise and performance. GHOULISH relic hunters have suc­ ceeded in getting small pieces of Kemm- ler. which they exhibit in bottles. Why euch a filthy and horrible outrage on decency should have been permitted is not known. Kemmler more than set­ tled his debt with society when he was broiled alive. The relic hunter has no more right to a piece of the dead mur­ derer's flesh than he would have to chop ofif a toe or finger from the body of the late John Jacob Astor. IT is cited as a remarkable fact that not an island has riten or sunk from sight in the Pacific Ocean for thirty - four years, and geologists say that na­ ture is resting for a starling movement in real estate in that quarter. An En­ glish geologist predicts that within fifty years a convulsion of nature will sink the whole of New Zealand fifty feet be­ low the surface of th(Tsea, and advises the inhabitants to make early prepara­ tions to pack up and swim out. HERE is a story about Stanley that has never seen print. On his last iec- xttre «wnr ni nWTmnm j-wre 'jr nitaries at Amherst wrote to him ex­ pressing the hope that while in Amherst Stanley would be his guest. He was pained and puzzled at receiving from A WESTERN savings bank has adopted a plan which is new in this country,but is in use in the postal savings system in Europe, for gathering little savings and bringing the advantages of the bank within easy reach of everybody. Agencies are selected in various parts of the city, such as drug stores, gro­ ceries and other reputable places, where adhesive labels of different denomina­ tions and colors, resembling postage stamps, will be sold. Cards corres­ ponding in color with the labels will be furnished upon which the depositor will affix lhe labels as they are furnished until the twenty spaces on the cards are filled. For instance, suppose that a depositor determines to save 5 cents a week. He is furnished with a card cor­ responding in color to the 5 cent labels. He purchases the label weekly at the nearest agency and affixes it to the card. When the card is full it is worth $1, and is theu sent to the savings batik for deposit, when the amount is entered upon the usual deposit book. Labels will be for various convenient denomin­ ations, making the cards when filled oven amounts, a3 $1, $'2, $3, and so on. It is expected that the agents will do the work as a labor of love and public benefit, though small commissions may be paid. This system brings the sav­ ings bank to the people who need it most. (h* T1«t Money Ptoplo n«»e HTrooped Down Upon the Alliance Convention* All Over tbe Country, and ln»l»te<l on Diall­ ing DP» MR AS <>f Tlielr OUF DMMBM, Simply Warmed Over. [Chicago Tribune. | At the meeting of. the Farmers' Na­ tional congress at Council Bluffs last week a platform was adopted according to which the following things are to be "de­ manded" of congress: They demand the unlimited coinage of silver, the abolition of the national hanking laws, the refusal of our national govern­ ment to extend the charters of national banks now in existence, and the issuance of full legal tender treasury notes in lieu of national bank notes in sufficient volume to meet the business demands of the country and the constantly Increasing demand, of trade. These "demands*' are to be found in the platform of every Farmers' allianee which has held a state or county con­ vention. They prove that the long­ haired, wild-voiced greenback flat cranks who were disturbing the peace of the country some years ago, but who for a while back had no chance to air their views, have swooped down on the farmers, have taken advantage of their ignorance of political economy, and have become their financial guides-^- blind leaders Of the blind, bound to fall in the ditch together. So the national banks'must go. Why? Because they issue notes. 'The amount of their circulation is diminishing stead­ ily, and it will soon disappear if they are left alone, and other forms of cur­ rency will take its place. A bill is be­ fore- congress authorizing the national " banks to reduce their -circulation to a small sum--leaving only enough to re­ tain their characters. Very few of the banks desire to have circulating notes, as there is no longer any profit in them. Why then do the alliances want to destroy those solvent and useful institutions? Is it because the farmers have lost by these banks? Not by their notes certainly, for nobopy has ever lost a dollar in that way. Is it because they have lost money deposited in them? The percentage of failures of such banks has been small, and the loss of depositors smaller still. No other bank system was ever so safe and secure. Nor do farmers as a class put their money in such insti­ tutions. They are more apt to place it in the little local concerns, which are smashing and sticking their farmer de­ positors all the time Is it because the business relations be­ tween the national banks and the farm­ ers liave been unpleasant? Not at all. They have had no quarrel. Yet the alli­ ance people want these banks abolished. Can there be any other reason for it than a wish to hurt those merchants and man­ ufacturers whom these, institutions ac­ comodate and who do not complatn of them? If the a.lli.aneca have, their. way and somo of the democratic senators have been getting a little tariff information at enormous public expense. Mr. McPher- son has learned a little, for example. On Friday last he made an able argument on the wool question, based on the fact that in 1867 there ware 42.000.000 sheep in the United States, and only 42.599,079 in 1889. It was with considerable diffi­ culty that ho could be convinced that lie was 18,000.000 out of the way in his figures* but ho was finally obliged to admit his error, though It did destroy his argument. This kind of ed­ ucation has beeu going on in the senate every day, but It is expensive business for the public. Otherwise the democrats have gone over exactly the same ground they covered at the last session. Mr. Vest and Mr. Mcpherson made the same arguments and largely word for word on the salt question last week that they made at the last session, and Mr. Carlisle went over the same ground on the wool question. THE candying of fruit, whole or cat, is carried on at Genoa and westward along the French Riviera, as well as in Spain and Portugal; but Leghorn may be said to occupy the first place in Italy, and perhaps on the Mediterra­ nean in the preparation of candied cit­ ron and orange-peel. The citron is brought for the purpose from Corsica, Sicily, Calabria and other southern provinces of Italy, as well as from Tunis.,. Trineii »nd Morqjjco^and the eanTfled "mwrtW'tir~Eur}?itfmf, Germany and North America. The Corsican citrons are the best; then fol­ low those of Southern Italy, the Afri­ can fruit taking the third place. The Mr. Stanley's secretary a cuyt reply to j Q ea used neftrly aU come from the ii . *. it. . i 41 AArl hAVA ° * . the effect that the gentleman need have no fear, as Mr. Stanley was always a gentleman. The lecturer did not ac­ cept the invitation, and later it came out that the gentleman's invitation to 44be mv guest while in Amherst had been read "bo V6)°y quiet while in Am­ herst." And the worst of it was, that Mr. Stanley's reading of the blind chirography was the natural and ordi­ nary one. THE increase in population in some of the Western States iu the past de­ cade was phenomenal. Minnesota and Nebraska increased 600,000 each. The population of Colorado is estimated at 400,000. It was 193,327 in 1880. thus showing that it has doubled during the past ten years. Washington will probably show a population of 350,000. In 1880 the territory had 75,110 in­ habitants, so that the population has more than quadrupled since the census of that year. It is now considered a settled fact that Illinois will take Ohio's place as the third State in point of population. The enormous increase in Chicago--nearly 600,000 in ten years- has contributed greatly to this result. islands of Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily. Every requisite to the industry comes from abroad. Egypt furnishes the sugar, England the fuel and distant provinces of Italy the wood for the boxes in which the product is exported. The Province of Leghorn contributes nothing but the labor. ADVENTURERS have an advantage j over the rest of the world which women detect at once; they are always amus­ ing. The prosaic virtues of a good hus­ band and father, and of honorable workers will sometimes lie like a pall on the dinner party and the festive scene, while the adventurer, who is not incumbered by much moral baggage, can afford to be light, witty, and salient. The truth is, that cultivated American women spend much of their time in be- 80 ing bored. The adventurer amuses them. A famous Western belle said ahe wished to have a graceful good for- nothiog. Fate was kind to her; she married a bogus Lord who had two other wives living. But she always said that he was the most enchanting man she ever met. A Practical Joke, Three brother officers were traveling from Umritser to Lahore, where thej had been playing polo during the after­ noon. One of them, tired after the game, fell asleep on one of the seats. His railway ticket, which was sticking a little out of his pocket, was prompt!} annexed by one of the others and trans­ ferred to his own pocket. When near1 ing Lahore his brother officers awokf the sleeping youth, saying: "Now, then, old man! Get tip! Here we are!" Tt was still broad daylight and foi some reason or other tbe train waf pulled up some little way outside the station. "All tickets ready, please!" shouted the ticket collector. J Two of our friends promptly found I theirs, ready for the ticket collectoi when he should make lii3 appearance. The third searched his pockets bul | could find no ticket. "Good gracious! where is my ticket?" he said; "I know I had one right enough when I started; you fellows saw me get it, didn't you?" he asked. "Yes, you had it right enough," they said; "where on earth can you have put it?" "I don't know," he replied in despera­ tion. "You'll pay the fare," said the others, consolingly; "it's not much." "But I haven't a cent with me," he returned; " will you fellows lend me AD- THERE is but one opinion among Western farmers regarding the horse thief. Though they may differ widely on politics and many other questions they are unanimous in believing that the man who ste&ls a horse is the vilest of criminals and should be lynched on sight. This unanimity of sentiment has led the farmers of Kansas and Missouri to organize for the protection of their horseflesh and the summary punishment of horse thieves. They have formed an anti-horse thief association, and in­ tend to make Kansas and Missouri un­ comfortably warm States for the pur- loiner of horses. The organization is already in a very flourishing condition. It held a pictric near Atchison recently, which was attended by over 2,000 mem­ bers, and at which a big dinner was oon- jumed and the principle, "l>«ath to ;*?•>." ' 'Wi,, Both said they were as high and dry as he was in regard to money. "Tickets, please!" said the collector at last quite close, to the carriage. "What the dickens shall I do-?" said tbe ticketless one. "Oh, get under tbe seat," said the others; "quick! quick! man! here he comes!" Under the seat like a shot went the man without a ticket! When the ticket collector came to tbe door three tickets were handed up. "You have given me three tickets, sir," he said; "but I see only two gentle­ men ; where is the third ?" "Oh! he's under the seat," they said with the greatest nonchalance, as if it were an ordinary every-dav affair. "Under the seat!" echoed the ticket collector, in a tone of surprise, "what is he doing there?" "Oh! he always travels under the peat,'" they said; "he prefers it!"-- London Tid-Bits. The Store Went Out. Mistress (during a heated term)-- Get dinner to-day on the gasoline stove, Bridget. Bridget--Plaze, mum, I did thry, but the stove went out. --- Mistress--Try again, then. Bridget--Yis, mum, but it's not come back yit. ft wint out t'rough th' roof. --New York Weekly. Mi damage causelessly their city neighbors by knocking out the national banks what will they put in their place? Will they allow the commercial and bu iness classes to be consulted or will the alliance farmers regulate the busi ness of those classes to suit themselves? Why they restore the bad old state bank systems, with their rotten, fluctuating currency and their lack of security for depositors or note-holders, or must every man he his own banker and keep his moncy\jnjaJi' r oc k buried in the garden or in a stocking shoved up the chimney? Then all -the alliance resolutions de maud unlimited coinage of silver and any quantity more of greenbacks in order to inflate the currency to a high people. What would happen actually if this prayer of the agriculturist wer granted and the currency were to bn swelled up with silver and paper till it equalled the greenbackers' notions of the '•business needs of the country?" The prices of all manufactured arti­ cles where there was no great surplus made would risew > The clothing, leather'wear, household furniture, the farm implements--plows, reapers, mow­ ers, wagons--iron utensils, glassware, etc., bought/by the man on the farm would cost him much more. The infla­ tion of the currency would inflate the price of all city-made goods and wares. But with the products of the soil it would be otherwise. The foreign prices would still rule their selling value. Wheat, corn, oats, flour, pork, beef, butter, lard, cheese -- in short, all surpluses for which this country could not furnish a home fliarket--would continue low in price--no higher than the foreign market which bought the su pi uses would (rive-- because the farmer can dispose of those surpluses abroad only, and the prices he gets for them, regulated as they are by competition with the world, determine the price of all the crop he sells at home. Thus the inflation of the currency will not benefit his products, whose price is fixed beyond the ocean and outside the sphere of inflation, but will render the cost of the goods he buys much higher than before. Thus currency inflation would damage every western farmer. Ilence it is seen that if the inflation of eilver and greenbacks were made the granger would not benefit thereby. He would get no more for his products, while he would have to pay dearer on account of the inflation for all the things he got in exchange for his stuff. The measure which he thinks would be-^lic making of him would cut his throat, while the city people would not sutfer from it, for they would get more farm articles in exchange for their wares. The manufacturer would be sheltered from evil effects, for as a general thing he has not used the full measure of his tariff protection--has sold goods lwlow tariff price--but with an inflation of the currency he would take advantage of every inch of that tariff wall and charge up to the top of it. What is the matter of Alio allianee people that they camiot use their own common sense and their own reasoning powers? Why do they pick out as their guides demagogue jack lawyers on the one hand and long-haired fiat cranks on the other, who are leading them straight to the deepest depths of folly? If they brush away these bats and screech-owls that are flying about them and do their own thinking they may make blunders-- all men do--but they will not be guilty of this supreme and howling folly of de­ manding that congress do something the necessary effect of which would be to make thrir condition far worse than it is now. , AN EDUCATIONAL EFFORT. [Sioux City Daily Times.] A keen Washington correspondent ob­ serves that the democratic filibustering on the tariff has simply resulted in lum­ bering up the Congressional Jiccord with over 3,000,000 words of a so-called de­ bate, and the consumption of two months' time at an enormous expense to the peo­ ple. Not a single vote has been changed in the ^senate. Mr. Plumb has stated that iu his speeches. Mr. Vest has said the same thing. The bill has not been altered in one impor­ tant particular. It is precisely what the finance committee made it. No amendment has been added ex­ cepting with its consent. Then where, it is asked, is the gain to offset the enor­ mous loss? "Oh," Mr. Gorman says, "it has had an educational effect." Yes, REPUBLICAN FARMER'S VICE. ^Alexandria, S. D., Herald ] Farmers, I wish to give you a little square talk about the republican party. If you are an independent don't shrug our shoulders and go t hrough this at a rate which would kick dust into the eyes a comet. Now, I wish to state what on have before been told many times, iz: that farmers have taken a hand in politics. Not the fine Italian hand of the banker or contractor, "but the strong, . steady hand of right. The alliance is instituted in twenty- five states and thirty states have granges of Patrons of Husbandry. In the southern states the alliance is very strong and iu striving to control state and congressional offices. In western states there arc also indications that they are desirous of political control and dictation. Why is this so? They have in very many respects a just cause for omplalnt. In the political makeup of tickets they have been neglected or fooled, their interests have not been so keenly looked after as have the interests of other classes. Consequently you seek redress in strictly class politics. The rock on which farmers' move­ ments have always split is the strong partisan element. In their frenzy for justice they allow men to lead them who seek only for self aggrandize­ ment or are but the tools of monopolies; an organized gang of robbers whose deeds would bring the blush' of shame to the cheek of a Missouri train wrecker. A man broken and discouraged by hard work, continual crop failures, the ex­ tortionate demands of the usurer, when forced by dire necessity to apply to him for. money, is no equal match for the subtile mind of the vidian who seeks leadership or control of the fanners' movements. Beware of the partisan feeling; beware of the partisan leaders. They can nearly always be bought and sold. The hand of the farmer is hardened by toil and his brow furrowed by wrong and sorrow. It is no wonder they seek re­ dress by means of an independent party. How "many years did the republican party serve faithfully and well? It has brckslid in the past few years (did you always do right?), but the noble spirit which caused its birth has again awak­ ened and no man, be he rich or poor, shall say, my party lias forsaken mo and I suffer. It is a well known fact that all legislation is a compromise. In the history of our country, you can count on your fingers the bills which have been passed just as they were introduced. Thus the farmer nor any other member of this great national family can or should expect strict class legislation. Class legislation contains a deadly poison, in that laws which en­ tirely favor one certain class, are an ele­ ment detrimental to sum c other. All of wwfwytw cnessr® rcsehiaTtTvesitt ronftress; These rep­ resentatives, as is natural and right, strive for the betterment of their constit­ uents, and they are expected to doctor a bill until its objectionable features are eliminated. However, the farmers have of late been getting the worst of it. They have had no representatives or, worse still, those tliev did have were bought by Wall street or had no back­ bone. Therefore these farmers' move­ ments are no surprise. Knowing that the farmer needs legislation favorable to them, yet I differ from the indepen­ dents in thinking a third party is necessary. Look at the record made by a republican congress this year aud then say whether or not the grand old party is endeavoring to fulfill its pledges. The admistration customs bill has been passed by both brant lies and lias become a law. The same is true of the anti­ trust bill and the battle ship bill. Idaho and Wyoming have been added to the sisterhood of states. The passage of the dependent pension hill fulfills the prom­ ise made to the veterans. The silver bill has been passed and is the solution of one of the most difficult problems the party has had to deal with. The more that measure is scrutinized the clearer it is that it was the wisest possible solution under all circumstances. The senate has passed the tonnage bounty bill and the postal subsidy bill. The house the federal election bill. Is this not a rec­ ord for seven months, and does it not loom up giant-like in comparison to the record of other congresses? Is it not an indication "that the republican party is striving to do right and better the con­ dition of all classes of mankind? Will you desert it now when it most needs your assistance to keep in the straight and narrow way? Never. per ton, which makes the duty manufactured linens less than silks. The McKinley bill pro­ poses to rectify this unjust dis-; crimination in favor of one article of textile manufacture against the other. Under the proposed duty adjustment on linens we have the assurance from prac­ tical Irish manufacturers that they will no longer be able to supply our wants unless they transplant their business to this side of the water, and ii is no secret that some of them have been here for some time with the view of negotiating for good sites oil which to erect linen mills the moment the McKinley bill is passed. It is important for them to se­ cure sights convenient to where the flax grows, and no doubt Minneapolis, Minn., will be chosen as the favored spot for the first linen mill that will be erected under the new regime. But if we are to import flax, to push business at once on a large scale, it is not unlikely that mills will be erected within ten or fifteen miles of New York on the Jersey coast or wherever good soft water can be ob­ tained adapted to retting the flax. This retting process and cutting system have been two great stumbling blocks hitherto toward the establishment of the linen industry,here, and, if we are rightly in­ formed. modern science has discovered a way of retting flax more expeditiously (without in any way injuring the fiber), and with greater economy than is re- required by the old process, and if it is found to work well in practice then wo shall have made a long stride forward. Objections have often been raised against our hot summers and cold winters as im­ pediments to: the successful growth of flax and of gathering it at an opportune season, but Russia is a great flax grow­ ing country, and there in the same lati­ tude heat and cold prevail as intensely as' in the United States. It takes 20,000 looms to produce the linens that are at present consumed in the United States, and yet there arc only 400, or at best 500, looms actually working or making goods of this class in Ireland now. If this trade could bo kept at home it would employ between 30,000 and 40,000 people and be a source of great wealth to our country. The offorts of, the free trade missionaries have lately been es­ pecially directed among the farmers of the - northwest, and it is confidently claimed that the people of the west are against a tariff which they regard as almost wholly for the benefit of the east, ltut by this showing it may be seen that the west will be the great beneficiary of an increased duty on linens. This is the flax growing country, and it is here that the great linen mills of America will be built. WHEAT IS IN DEMAND. AFFAIRS IN ILLIN0I3. LIGHT CROP? IN NEARLY ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. ITEMS GATHERED FROM VARI­ OUS SOURCES. AMERICAN MADE LINEN. | Sioux City Dally Times.] The claims of the free traders of America are generally so astounding in their assurance and effrontery, as to have a paralyzing effect tipou detailed assertion of the truth. It is the aim and design of Cobden club disciples in Amer­ ica to take an obvious fact, and by cool and bold statement to the contrary, at­ tempt to blind the public. The design of the protective system of America is to protect the people in their endeavors to bui«# up manufactures, and to main­ tain the handsome wages which are paid American workmen. The protective system, honestly and judiciously applied, is the greatest boon to workingmen found in the volumes of economic his­ tory. The aim of the Cobden club free trade democrats is to make the opposite appear. In the bitter discussion of various items in the McKinley tariff bill, for instance, the matter of duties on linens has been taken up by democrats, with the cool assertion that an increase of such duty is merely for the benefit of monopolist manufacturers and of the rich who are "clothed in purple and fine linen. The brazen and designing falsity of this position may be shown in a hun­ dred different ways, but in none better than by a review of a communication to a recent number of the Dry Gtxxls Chron­ icle, signed "Flaxman," in which it is shown that the cost of labor in the linen trade of Ireland is about one-third of the whole cost of production. Hence, it needs from 25 to 35 per cent, above the present protective duty on raw material here to enable us to equalize the wages between factory operatives in Ireland and in this country. A duty of $30 per ton on flax is equal to about 25 per cent, dutygm linens, but, as proposed in the bill before congress, 60 per cent, and 05 per cent, is placed on manufactured lin­ ens, in which case we would be able to compete successfully with imported lin­ ens. At present raw silk is admitted free of duty, with 50 per cent, on manu­ factured silks, while flax pays a duty of NOT A FAIR SHAKE. [Salt Lake Tribune.] The Courier-Journal prints the fol­ lowing: If Mexico were to suddenly annex Itself to the United States. Senator Teller's 50,000 miners would starve! It is plain that we must never let Mexico become a part of the United States. Oh. no! We do not wAnt any part of Mexico annexed, but if it were to be wo could manage it. There would be some more land to cultivate; some more mines to open; some great cities to bo built. A contingent of our own miners would go there, establish miners' unions, compel Mexicans to work with pantaloons on, and to send their children to school. There would not any of the money come here. It would all he needed there for improvements. The thrill of a new life would pass through that country, and what was done in California by the ar­ gonauts would be repeated there. Be­ cause the farmer does not want the mon­ grel stock of his shiftless neighbor to break through the fences and mix with his own is not a sign that if he owned the field of his neighbor he could not re­ pair the fences, pick up the stones, plow the field, and make ift * w wtwjut this Mexican pus^* ness. It is one of pure business. The men of Kansas and Texas affect to feel very badly that the laws of the United States prevent them from supplying 50,000 miners in Mexico. Only there are two fatal defects in their program. In the first place they could not supply them if there was no tariff on lead. In the second place, for every dollar they sent there they would lose $10 from the west. The man who would turn out his own son from work in order to hire a Chinaman who would work for one-third the son's wages, would be called a brute. The same principlo governs this Mexican ore business. A nation ought to be like a family; it ought to discriminate in favor of its own people. When it does not it will get left. It will lose caste, and it will lose money. The men of the west have built up a great In­ dustry in lead mining. Tho men who have smelters on the Rio Grande can get lead and pay tho tariff as cheaply as the men who have smelters in the Great liasin. There is no particular reason why the government should give those few smelters the sum of §30 per ton on all ore they can obtain from Mexico. It is not a fair shake to the rest of tho United States. It is not at all fair to the men of the west. The Courier- Journal thinks it is honest in its advo­ cacy of free Mexican ores. Its only trouble is that it is ignorant, and does not understand the question it essays to discuss. THE proprietor of a largo canning fac­ tory in New York, when questioned as to the increased cost which the new duty on tin plate would put upon cans, ex­ plained as follows: "You see, the tariff amounts to but little. On small cans It would make a difference of one and one- fourth cents per dozen. On very large cans, running from ten to twenty pounds, the difference would be five cents a dozen cans." So it seems that the consumer could not fairly he charged on canned goods more than from a little less than one mill to one-third of a cent per can by a retailer to cover the entire can cost of this "robber tax" on tin. "Taking the average size of all cans," continued this packer, "the increased cost under the McKinley bill will be about two and one-fourth cents per dozen." OWE of the letter carriers in Franklin, Pa., says that the idea of having their mail delivered is such a novelty to some of the people along his route that al­ though they probably do not get a letter in a month in actual correspondence, they answer newspaper advertisements and devise various other plans for the purpose of receiving something at every delivery. | ' 1 SPITE of their inconsistency and vari­ ance on other points, haven't you ob­ served that the democratic platforms this year are particularly vehement and altogether unanimous in their abuse of the republican party?' MB. reciprocity plans are no new discovery: neither lias the secretary of state been converted to a new theory. Reciprocity is the result' of natural evo­ lution. It is in direct line with the true protection plan.. UNDER the republican management of Secretary Windom, the government de­ posits in national banks have beeli re­ duced ' from $40,000,000 to less than g-J0,000,000, and bonds bought with the money. -- WHEX hard times come, it is the dealer in luxuries who suffers most: but those who have indulged too extensively in luxuries are a close second. TBE Farmers' alliance has swallowed the democratic party in tho south; The New York Sun say* so Miller* Buying Fr«*ly but In Most fan* Unable to S«cur* Stocks for More tbau Thirty I)*y>-Th« Ovonfffit Broken but Bonking Rains Still Bndly Needed. [Chicago dispatch.] With the exception of the Northwest, little rain, if any, has fallen during the present week either in the corn or win­ ter-wheat belt. While in one sense of tho word the drought has been broken, yet the areas just referred to stand to­ day greatly in need of good, soaking rains, something that they have not yet had. Pastures and meadows are In need of rain. Stubble fields ought to have it to enable farmers to plow and put tho land in good condition for seeding wheat. The oat crop is now all thrashed and secured. Country elevators report the receipts from farmers as exceedingly small. t ^ Taking the winter wheat belt as a whole there has been no time since har­ vest when millers from Texas to Michi­ gan have been as free buyers of winter wheat as during the last ten days. Central Kansas reports that- millers are buying all the wheat they can get; that tho demand for flour is good and that they are pretty well stocked up for tho time being. Potatoes are scarce. Selling now at $1.50 a bushel and will be shipped in from Utah or Colorado. Southern Kansas reports that countrj mills are buying carefully, not stocking up, and generally have enough to last them thirty days. The ground is mostly plowed for the new crop and seeding has commenced, with prospects fo£ a large acreage. Northern Missouri reports that mills have enough wheat to run them for six ty days. Southern Missouri reports that local mills are busy stocking up with wheat. Farmers have not been deliver­ ing much. Mills have sufficient stock on hand for thirty days. Central Missouri reports that millers are buying all the wheat they can get hold of. Stocks of old wheat all gone, and orders for wheat are coming in from Iowa and also from Illinois. In Southern Illinois millers are gener ally buying all the wheat that is offering Farmers, however, have not been selling freely. Millers are generally stocked up with wheat to keep them running from sixty to ninety days. In Central Illinois mills are fairly well supplied with wheat, but few of them havo more than a ninety days' stock There is a steady Southern demand, and some Ohio and Indiana mills are in the market for wheat at St. Louis prices. Southern demand for wheat is an un usual thing at this season of tho year. Potatoes have not shown any improve ment since tho late rains and tho crop will not bo sufficient for home wants. As a rule the millers in Northern Indi ana at present are all buyers of wheat, So far they have no stocks ahead and are grinding their daily receipts. In Southern Indiana millers h?tve been buying wheat freely at $1. The stocks are generally light. There is a good de­ mand from other States both for seed wheat and for grinding. Millers gener­ ally have enough on hand to keep them going for sixty days. Good progress has been made with plowing the ground and seeding will soon commence. Potatoes are practically a failure, j In Northern Ohio, millers are buying wheat at present prices, but there is no great disposition to accumulate a large stock for future use. Eastern wheat dealers are bidding strongly for wheat but without securing very much. Some of the largest mills in Northern Ohio aro carrying stocks of wheat sufficient last them thirty days, but the small, mills havo much less. Tii Southern kbWS have no stock to amount to anything; hence they are buying all the wheat they can get. Farmers aro not selling freely, and will not unless $1 becomes the gen­ eral price. Good progress has been made in plowing for wheat, but the ground has been so dry that more rain would be beneficial. In Southern Michigan millers have been buying considerable wheat within tho last ton days. There has been a good demand for flonr, and many of the mills have sold ahead for a month. Mills are not generally heavily stocked with wheat. The land is dry; neverthe­ less farmers have been plowing, and the prospects point to au increase of acre­ age over last season. All things considered, it has been a ggod week for maturing corn, aud the prospects are now that within ten days a largo proportion of the corn crop will be out of the way of frost. Nebraska reports that tliertf is yet no corn in that State out of the way of frost. Recent rains have improved tho condition of corn in sections where there were fair prospects before the rain; but in a largo portion of the State tho damage done to the crop was too extensive for rains to be of any material benefit. Taking tho State as a whole, the pros­ pects now point to about 40 to 45 per cent, of last year's crop. Tho local price of corn during the past week was 40 cents a bushel. This pricc was based upon Western markets and local feed­ ers. The price has doclined to from 33 to 35 cents, and is getting down to a shipping basis to Eastern markets. There is about 10 per cent, of old corn in farmers' hands. Tho potato crop will bo extremely light, with none to ship out of the State. In Southwestern Iowa no corn is yet out of the way of frost. The recent rains have-had the effect to stop further damage to tho crop caused by the dry weather. The ears will fill out better, but it will not make any more cars or any longer ones. The improvement is more in appearance than anything else. A small percentage of the corn in Cen­ tral Illinois will not be hurt by a light frost. The remainder of tho crop will require from fifteen to twenty days. Southern Illinois reports half a crop to a total failure and farmers are using new corn already for seed. Reports from North Dakota are that wheat that was cut with binders is being thrashed. The quality is poor and the yield light, averaging six to fifteen bushels per acre Rains havo .put tho grounds in good condition for plowing. Few cases are reported where the wheat has turned out much more than one-half as much as was estimated during har­ vest. This is owing to the shrunken con­ dition of the berry and the heads not be­ ing more than half full. The straw was heavy, more so than last year, and this is the reason why so many aro now dis­ appointed in the final outcome. Jt is thought that farmers will be free sellers at present prices, and*heavy re­ ceipts at l)uluth and Minneapolis are looked for In the near future. Reports covering stations on the Mil­ waukee and St. Paul Road through Wis­ consin, Minnesota and Dakota say the spring wheat crop has now been secured in fairly good shape. Tho quality is fully one and one-half to two grades lower than last year. An early and free movement is looked for. Items of Interest. TWENTY MII.MOX acres of tho land of tho United States are held by foreigners. PKOVO, Utah, has a red-hot anarchist. His wife supports .him by taking in washing. Ax Englishman proposes laying deep- sea electric cables by means of subma­ rine boats. Whst Onr Neighbor* Are Dolus--ItattaM o f G e n e r a l a n d L o c a l I n t e r e s t -- , riaces and Dentin -- Accident* and CrinMt --l'orsonal Pointers. CmcAGo Tiin x: All is not smooth sailing in the seas on which the Chfcagt* Drainage Commissioners have embarked. The horizon is clouding in a way that augurs evil, and. while the board may trim its sails and even weather the torm, the members must stand to en- - counter a violent tempest.. It is said by men who have some reputation for re­ liable judgment that the immense proj­ ect can not be carried to a successful fruition at a less cost than $80 0)0.003, an amount that represents 40 i>er cent, of the assessed valuation of the drain­ age district which will have to furnish the sinews of war. Real and personal property in this district, according to the assessors' books, show an aggregate value of s203,CO.),C0J, and if the cost of the enormous sewer approximates S£0,- 000,000, it means nothing m-»re nor less than virtual bankruptcy to the city. DISAITOINTF.II in love. Stewart E. Har­ per, a 13-year-old Chicago .youth, sought refuge in death by swallowing a large dose of "rough on rats." - » Two CHICAGO boys, Of 12 and 13 years respectively, are f'n jail on a charge of highway robbery.^ MICHAEL MCAI.EKXAN-, an old and- wealthy citizen of Peoria, was killed by being run over by all electric street-car. Gov. FIFKR has reappointed S. i*. Bartlett, of Quincy, to the State Board of Fish Commissioners, a p>sition which Mr. Bartlett has held since the organiza­ tion of the commission in 1879. FRANCIS MURPHY, the temperance orator, and Mrs. Rebecca Fisher of Council Bluffs, Iowa, were married last week at the home of the bride's father, in Rock Island. AT Pawnee, Sangamon County, over 100 invitations to the marriage of James W. Lockridge and Miss Millie A. Nuck- alls Were sent. About eighty of the guests had assembled when it was learned that the groom had hired a livery team about the hour for the ceremony and left town alone. The episode has caused a great sensation in the town. THE males over 21 years of age in tho city of Chicago number 4r!9,7B8, while the registered vote is 149,0t6, a difference of £60,682. The bulk of it is constituted of aliens unnaturalized. THE Farmers' State Hank has been organized at Illiopolis. Sangamon Coun­ ty, with a capital of ).0J0. The stock­ holders are the priucii»al farmers of tho vicinity. TIIE war against the Sunday opening of the World's Fair in 1S93 is to be car­ ried on vigorously by the Illinois Stato Sabbath Association and the American Sabbath Union. THE car works at Mount*Vernon were opened last week. Seven hundred men will be employed. . = TnE old settlers of Peoria County, numbering about 5,000, mot on the fair , grounds at Peoria last wook. Among the extremely old men was Josiah Fulton, who landed in Peoria in 1804 and has been there ever since. ,, Anrnrn HOWARD, a traveling insur­ ance agent, killed himself at Springfield.; His father is a well-known minister ai; Greenville, 111. TIIK Grand Lodge off Illinois, Good Templars, was in session at Moline last week. Decatur was chosen as the place of the next meeting. THE case against the County Superin­ tendent of Schools of Sal perjury,,was quashed on the Hoard of Suijervi-w ,.Mr. liAViiev was sworn a not harir Jttrf»rtRV?0:i. THE Supervisors of Fayfitte, and .lasper Counties have reduced the salaries of county officials. Tho reduc­ tions range from 20 to SO por cent. TIIE Springfield Exposition and San­ gamon County Fair was a grand sue-J* cess. The various departments were well filled, and the exhibit of cattle was perhaps the finest that has ever been ^ seen in the State at a county fair. A COMPANY has been incorporated, ^ with a capital of 51,250,000, which pro- | poses to build a World's Fair tower in Chicago. TIIE Census Bureau has announced the populations of the following cities and towns in Illinois, together with the J increase or decrease iu each, during tho £ last decade: Ro-kford 23,589. increase I 10,400: Belvidcre 3.663, increase 912; Sandwich 2.505, increase 153; Sycamore Ji 2,1187. decrease 41: Galena 6,406, increase 45; Elgin 17,429. increase 8.642; Aurora 19.634, increase 7,761; Batavia 3,613, in-^ crease !»74: Dixon 5,140. increase 1,491; Sterling 5.822, increase 735. ; I WKEKI.Y bulletin of tit^ | Weather Crop Bureau: •••'./•. V •?* The temperature and sunshine of the past ? week lias been ab Kit the average through- oat the State. Tho rainfall of the last woek has Ixen below a seasonable average. ]ion<l County--Rain isneeded for pastures arid plowing. ^ Clark--Wheat sowins progressing: corn maturing nicely; pastures in gocd condi-'*;' t ion: peach crop not heavy, but of excellent '•? quaiity: apples poor. l-'ult m--Corn duiug fairly well. lit nry--Corn will make about-half a crop; • pastures will b * short; nure rain ueeded far fall plowing. Hamilton-*-C rn ma'uring fart, but it is not safe from fr.st yet; wh at breaking go-; in? cn. Iroqui lC'or.i doing we'l * :i, Kendall--Corn his ripened vcy fa»tdur-* InK t'.e p; s . week, but uot too fast as it 'a getting about t m > to expe-t frost. Mcllenry--Unuer an !nc e ise of t.'mp. r.i- turo. c< rn is ma'.e a r..pl 1 jriovvih. and pas- t irest-t llimr.ro/iiis. l-'araiers havitu silo* ar? b isv fll in* tiiem; euMlageI'orn was uo« materially Iniured by the late draught. S;in:aincn--C >rn do:ns wvll. S huyler--Fat 10 ~rs maKing good headway . ; with fall work; muihof the plowing don* ^ Ta'.ewell -- Plowing continues, bit th* ground 1* very dry. Morgan--Conditions penvraUy favorable. THK Hoard of Health of >Peoria has ordered the closing of several schools on account of the prevalence of malignant diphtheria. Quarantine officers were appointed and the cases will be isolated.- CUICACO Hcmbl: Since Stuyvesant Fish has been President of the Illinois Central Road the liabilities of the com­ pany have been increased from about ; 935,000.000 in 1884 to nearly $108,000,000 ;: in 1889. While the debt of the corpora- , tion has boon m »re than tripled in five vears_an increase of 210 per cent.--the ? mileage has been increased only 24 per | cent, and the rolling stock on an aver- | age 3S per cent.--locomotives 3* and 1 cars of all sorts 42 per cent. These 5 figures seem -incretliole. but they are the quintessence of official statements, taken from the reports made to tho share- f,' holders. . „ . Ji noE JAMKS H. MATitKxr. of Spring- < field, is dead. He was one of the best- : known citizens of the county, an intimate i^r of Abraham Lincoln. Stephen T. Logan, and others, and enjoyed the distinction : of being at one time the confidant and adviser of Lincoln. Ho had for fourteen years been J udge of Sangamon County. He was a'power in polities for years, and as an orator had few equals. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1848. Judge Matheny was 73 yearn old, and had lived in Sangamon County ; | the greater portion of his life. A NKWSPAI'EH to be run in the inter- <1 eats of the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association Is soon to to* p«Wished aft Vandalia*^ ... ' j $5?