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WL nrlne or water. But when cut Into short, •lengths, each piece will soon become' saturate^ with manure water; and will rot very easHy. " 7 Uncut stalks when plowed under keep the soil dryr as they hold the furrow Up and make an air space under it, which prevents roots from getting ttrm~ 'hold of the soil. *35uch stalks are some­ times found after a dry season with­ out any change, after lying under the furrow all summer and increasing the injury from drouth.--Colman's Rural World. ILLINOIS INCIDENTS. ONE WAY TO TRAVEL. How BiirSmlth and His "bis Woman® Covered 1,000 Miles. A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS. REPUBLICAN MAJORITY WILL UNDERTAKE REVISION. SOBER OR STARTLING, . FAITH­ FULLY RECORDED.! To Make Some Sort of a jChanjee in the Tarifif is Not So Much a Politi­ cal Issue as a Financial Necessity-- Kevision Will Come. "hf Hospital at £lgin-C)mea to tike State's Rescue--Leaps from j» Mov­ ing Train--Madman in a Rage--Ran Into an Open Switch. t The Hospital at .Elgin.1 Elgin has what is regarded as* one, of the finest and most convenient hpspit.-i Is in the State. The corner stone was laid two years ago, but owing to harp times and lack of funds the work was suspended until last spring. Generous gift;s from the citizens and the enterprise of tt^e Elgin Woman's Club, under whose direction the hospital has been built, have made the completion of the building possible* with The Ups and Downs of Labor. . 70,000 Hande Emplotjad New Bill Needed. As the time draws nearer to the date of the assembling of Congress it be- colBes more evident that the Republi­ can majority in the House will resolute­ ly undertake the work of the revising the tariff, no matter what course may he taken by the Senate or by the Presi­ dent. The country needs a revenue equal to its expenditures, and the Re­ publicans of the House will devise a bill for providing one, leaving it to Woe Pop­ ulists and Democrats in the Senate or the Democratic President to assume the responsibility of rejecting it if they dare. / To make feome sort of revision in the tariff at the earliest opportunity is in fact not so much a political issue as a financial necessity: Since Cleveland entered upon his second term the debt of the nation has been increased by more than $106,000,000. Since the Wil­ son tariff was put into force there has been a deficit in the national revenues every month except one. This condi­ tion of affairs cannot of course be per­ mitted to continue. It is imperative that some remedy for the ill effects of Democratic bungling should be adopt­ ed-as speedily as possible, and fortu­ nately for the country there is a Re­ publican majority in the House to un­ dertake the work. In devising a measure for supplying a greater revenue the Republican branch of Congress will, of course, be true to the protective principle, and the wool industry will be accorded the pro­ tection of which the repeal of the Mc- Ivinley -tariff deprived it It is notable that in the present revival of industry the improvement in different trades has been in proportion to the amount of protection which the Wilson, tariff left them. Wool was placed on the free list and the wool grower is to-day as badly off almost as during the worst period of the depression. A restoration of the duty on wool is, therefore, one of the things the Republicans may be expect­ ed to offer in the way of tariff revision. Will the Populist Senators, who claim to represent the farmers of the West, reject it? Will Cleveland, who, in the White House, represents the Demo­ cratic party, dare to do it? So long as the deficit in the revenue continues, the public debt increases and foreign goods are imported to the injury of American industry, so long will the tariff confront the country as the supreme issue in national affairs. No party can evade an issue that threat­ ens the government with bankruptcy. The Republican party certainly will not evade it. Senator Sherman is reported to have declared in a recent inter­ view: "I have no hesitation in saying that tariff legislation will be one of the first things undertaken by the incoming Congress. It is absolutely imperative." This view is shared by other leaders of the party and by the people. Tariff revision will come. There is reason to believe the Demo­ crats will attempt to make up the de­ ficit by proposing a bill increasing the internal revenues.^ The free traders of course prefer to tax home goods rather than foreign imports. The Senate may possibly be made to sustain such a measure by a combination of Demo­ crats and Populists. If so there will be a conflict between the two branches of Congress, and the issue will be made up for 189G. The free traders may < mock at this as a return to McKinley- ism if they choose. The people know it is true Republicanism and only an­ other name for stalwart Americanism. Those "Increases" in Wages. The wage earners in the woolen mills do not altogether relish those "in­ creases in wages" that the freetraders nave been telling us about. They find mat, though wages have been restored somewhat, there is by no means regular employment for the hands. Here is a case in poin. at the Granite Mills, Pas- coag, R. I.: In 1802 these mills were running full time and with full wages, employing about 280 hands in the manufacture of woolen goods. This was continued un­ til July 22, 1893, when the entire mills were shut down, remaining closed until Sept. 11, when they started again on three-quarter time. From Sept. 23 to Oct. 21 the Granite mills worked two- thirds time; from Oct. 21 to Dec. 2 t^ey worked half time; from Dec. 2 to Jan. 13 they worked two-thirds time; from Jan. 13 to Jan. 31 they worked full time; then they again shut down until Feb. 19, 1894. From this date until March 10 the mills ran two-thirds time at the same rate of pay as the mills were receiving in 1S92. The schedule of wages was restored to that of 1892, but, as the hands were not working full hours, their earnings were consequent­ ly smaller and this point the free trade papers never refer to. The McKinley rate of wages lasted only nineteen days, and on March^; 1S94, the schedule was reduced from 10 to 15 per cent, with full working hours till April 24. Then the mills were stop­ ped for two weeks until May 8, when they started up again on full time at wages from 10 to 15 per cent less than in 1S92. On July 1 wages were restor­ ed from S to 10 per cent in most cases, though some hands were not advanced at all. Congress Must Act. Speaking of the prospects for the woolen trade, the Textile Manufactur­ ers' Journal said: "Xhe true story is to be read in the looms which will be idle in October and November; already announcements are made of the closing of mills--these are merely the beginning. Numbers of manufacturers have not over two to three weeks' work for their dressers; the outlook is bad Indeed." We shall know before1 Congress meets whether or not this prediction unfortu­ nately proves to be true. If so, the majority in Congress must act. Home Market the Best. ~5-~The markets of the world," about whfch so much was said in the last political cainpaMn, seem to be very well 82,891-̂ 80,000 Hands Employed 60,000 Hands Employed 50,000 Hands Employed 1 Less Work and Less Wages, The point to be made, the point which the shrewder Republican journals have made, is not that times are not better than they were, but that they are not nearly so good as they were before the election of Cleveland and the Wilson Congress. That is the standard by which the influence of politics on pres­ ent business conditions is to be judged, and it is one which commends itself to thinking men. Applying that test and where does the Democracy come out? More mills are in operation now than a year and a half ago, but not so many are working as in 1890-91-92. There have been advances in wages, but wages are still below the figures of that time. Fewer hands are, despite the increases, still employed. Is not that enough to condemn the party in power? It is only necessary to tell tlip truth concerning the changes of the last two and one-half years in order .to establish all that Republicans contend for. The facts are known to the people, and it only weakens the legitimate and forci­ ble arguments which are at Republican hands to exaggerate the situation.-- Philadelphia Inquirer. Free Trade, Out of Work. Woolen Mill Prospects. The Wilson law does not afford suffi­ cient protection to the domestic woolen manufacturer. This fact was apparent during the fall season, and it has been made indisputable the present spring season. When the importer can obtain fully 65 per centum of the orders placed on worsted goods by manufacturing clothiers it is indisputable that some­ thing is radically wrong with the tariff laws--.that the domestic manufacturer does not receive the needed protection. It little matters whether he is defraud­ ed of it by an absurd system of duties which permits of gross frauds, or whether the prescribed duty is insuffi­ cient in itself, the fact remains that so far as protection goe3 the existing law does not provide it--Textile Man­ ufacturers' Journal. . „ The Ins and Outs of It. British export trade to the United States is increasing; to other countries it is decreasing. British import trade from the United States is decreasing; from other countries it is increasing. Where Wool Is in Demand. >< ' ; Exports of wool from Australia and New Zealand during the year ending June 30, 1895, amounted to 1,951,890 bales, an increase of 61,733 bales over the shipments of the previous year. A Hard Nut Crack. Green Pood' Methods. ^ The feeding of green food to poultry in summer demands some attentioh, says the Farmers' Home Journal, es­ pecially if the fowls are confined in the yards. It is usually the custom to chop green food to a fine condition and place it where the fowls Can reach it. Such a practice is the best for winter, but in summer it is a saving of labor to use a spade and take a large sod to the fowls. They can thus pick at it to advantage, and will be better satisfied, not ceasing until they have eaten tops, leaves, stems and roots, as well as scratching the earth to pieces. Even clover is given in this manner, and veg­ etables need not be cut if they are ac­ ceptable. One thing connected with feeding green food is that the hens do not bite the grass, but pull; consequent­ ly, when" they receive green food they can. supply themsel ves much more easi­ ly when the sod is given. A stock of clover would simply be pulled about the yard and be eaten with difficulty, but if the earth is attached to the roots the fowls will.easily manage it. A Cheap Silo. Says a writer in the Philadelphia Ledger: "I have a bay in my barn twen­ ty-five by thirty-five feet, with eighteen- foot posts. I cut out of the center of the bay of solid hay a hole fifteen feet deep, which left about seven feet of solid hay on the sides. I also left about two feet of hay in the bottom of the hole. I then set boards all around the inside, as close as I could get them, and nailed them to a board put in crosswise. I then put in my corn whole, as I think it is just as good, and a sav­ ing in the buying of machinery for cutting it. I used a horse fork for un­ loading, and have a man in the hole to lay it straight. I prefer to have it laid lock fashion. Otherwise 1 proceed as others do with regularly built silos. The liaiy taken from the hole I put on top, and if a press is handy, 1 bale what is not used for this." Apples for Cows. Why not feed windfall apples to the cows? Begin by giving a peck per head per day, and increase the quantity un­ til the fruit acts slightly on the bowels. Pulp the apples and serve them with chaff the same as roots. Treat the re­ fuse pears in exactly the same way. Making Hens Lay. I have tried a nurqber of different egg foods that were "sure to make hens lay," and all I can say, writes a corre­ spondent of the Country Gentleman, is that they are not worth the paper they are put in. This from my own experi­ ence, but I will tell you what will make hens lay. That is, if one will go to any feed mill and get bone flour, and give his hens about a tablespoonful to every dozen, he will find that they will begin to lay within two weeks^ or, if they should not lay in that time, give them more bone mixed in the morning feed. This is better, I find, than any "poultry food" that is advertised, because it is sure, and it is not necessary to give them meat of any kind when you give them the bone. Storing Potatoes. Ventilation must differ in degree with the surrounding circumstances. If the potatoes are perfectly clean, sufficient­ ly cool, and in a cool apartment, very little after ventilation is needed; but, on the contrary, if wet and muddy, ac­ cording to the Country Gentleman, oc­ cupying a warm cellar, and with some of them decaying and filling the air with the ottef^fcdecay, then ventilation to carry off #fiis bad air will be impor­ tant in connection with other remedies. The conclusion of the whole matter Is comprised in these five points: 1. Har­ vest the crop as soon as ceased growing. 2. Store the tubers when perfectly clean. 3. Keep them uniformly cool. 4. Never allow freezing air to reach them. 5. Ventilate only to remove, and prevent foul air. Co-operative Cheese-Making. Co-operative cheese making is the rule in the great cheese-producing sec­ tions of central New York. The facto­ ries do not usually buy the milk. They simply take the milk from their pa­ trons and make into cheese for one dol­ lar per 100 pounds of cheese, which covers all expenses at the factory. The patron is entitled to all the cheese will bring above this one cent a pound.' It is easy therefore to tell cach week what the milk will net the farmers by deducting one cent from the price at which the cheese of the factory has sold, and figure on the number of pounds of milk required per pound of cheese. Experimental Pig Feeding. A recent experiment was made on two lots of pigs of the effect of feeding bulky, as compared with more concen­ trated food, during the early growth of the pigs on the general gain in weight, and on the shrinkage of the pigs in dressing. The difference in richness of the rations was brought about by feeding more or less maize meal .in proportion to the skim milk. Those on the narrower rations gained faster and ate less dry matter per pound of grain than those, on the wider rations; but the shrinkage on dressing was the same with both lots. ;-Hi Grape, Bufter. One peck of grapes, one peck of ap­ ples and eight pounds of sugar.. Pick the grapes from the stems and put on to cook in enough water to cover them; when tliey are soft, mash through a sieve, to get out the seeds; then peel and slice the apples, add to the grapes, and cook until the whole is about as thick as apple butter. Stir constantly. Put in giass jars, and it will keep any length of time. Cornstalks. The greatest loss is in the manure pile. The uncut stalks keep dry, be­ cause the outside of the stalk is hard and flinty, so that the manure can only enter the stalk a little^ way. Each of the joints-into' which the stalk is di­ vided is an inseparable barrier to Thorough Harrowing Pays. One of the men, thinking that I set the lever of the spring-tooth harrow so that it pulled too hard for the team, set it up so that it did not harrow so deep by two inches^- About half of an oat piece Was harrowed this way before I noticed it, when the teeth were set back, with injunctions to let the lever alone. After the oats were up about twelve inches I noticed a decided dif­ ference in the two halves, much in fa­ vor of the part that was harrowed the deepest. The shallow half was not so big by three or four inches, and the plants were of a yellow color, while the others were a healthy green. I ac­ count for the difference by the fact that deep harrowing and then a goedroilifig gave the little roots a better chance to get in the soil, and also that the ground would ajjgorb and hold Water better.-- Agriculturist. Getting Grass on Poor Land. If you have a patch of poor land that you wish to get into grass,, seed it to rye this fail, as this grain flourishes better-than wheat on inferior soils. In the spring sow the clover or a mix­ ture of clover and "timothy, and whei^ the frost is out of the ground, and it has settled, go over the field with a smoothing harrow. This will do the rye no harm and will give the grasses such a depth of root that they will not be as easily killed by dry weather as those simply sowed on the top of the ground. Careful seeding In the case of grasses and clovers is just as impor­ tant as with small grains. Chickens in the Garden. I let my chickens in the garden as early as possible in the fall. The quan­ tity of weed seeds which a flock of chickens will destroy Is beyond all cal­ culation. Then they kill grubs, worms and all sorts of insects. The scratching up of the soil, too, says the Massachu­ setts Ploughman, must be somewhat beneficial to the soil. It would pay to ,so divide your garden as to let the hens In a portion of it as early as the middle of August. They will not harm beans, pumpkins and many other vegetables. Pound Prints of Butter. Those who wish to build up. a retail trade in butter should put up the prod uct ill one and two pound packages which will about meet the demands of the average city family. Do not mix two lots of butter in any one package. Be careful not to oversalt. With skill­ ful handling of the churn and a neat market package, there should be little trouble in securing a retail trade in the nearest large town. 8oap Suds for Red Spiders. The best way to get rid of the small red spiders which are sometimes found on the backs of rose leaves, says the Philadelphia Ledger, is to syringe oc­ casionally with the suds of home-made soap. This is also a remedy for mildew. The green worms-which are sometimes found on rose leaves can be remedied by applying with a syringe soap suds in which has been placed a tablespoon ful of kerosene to the gallon. Radishes. The newer sorts of radishes grow to eating size in a very short time if they are planted in the right kind of soil. The bed should be a mixture of sand and rich garden soil, well fertilized and friable enough that a crust will not form after rains. Stick the seeds In, one in a place, and as fast as they are pulled out for use plant others, and by this means keep a supply coming on for the whole season. A Handy Water Dish for Chicks. A good drinking fountain for young chickens may be made from a common, square tin candy box, about two inches deep with an overlapping cover. Sim­ ply cut away the corners of the coyer, so that the chickens can reach through, but not malting the apertures large enough to let the chicks inside, or to dry up the water. Trimming and Cutting Trees. Set trees in the fall; they will then be ready to begin work with the spring. Never put a broken or mangled root in the ground, but cut clean across. In trimming cut always to an outside bud, to give light to the center, otherwise the center will be too heavy and shad­ ed. Manure Produced. In experiments Professor Roberts found that, exclusive of bedding, the manure produced by cows was 81 to 84 pounds per day; by horses at work ten hours a day, 31% to 51 pounds; sheep weighing 140 pounds, 7% pounds; pigs weighing 150 pounds, fed on a narrow, nitrogenous ration, 5 2-10 pounds, and fed on a wide, carbonaceous ration, 1 7-10 pounds. How to Cook Beeta. Put the beets in a hot oven and bake them. They Will require about ten hours, but when the outside is ta£en off they will be found a deep red,and as sweet as sugar. Then put them in a jar with vinegar, some cloves, a small onion and a bay leaf. Cooked in this way they will Keep a week. Nasturtium on Poor Soils. If the soil in your flower garden is not very good, and you want something not very particular regarding the soil in which it grows, try the nasturtium. It will give very gratifying results tfrpoor soil. Strawberries Under q Glass. A writer in the Strawberry Culturist has been testing diffeKent varieties of strawberries for fruiting undet glass, and he finds that the comparatvely new Brandy wine yields the greatest anioun* of good frUit. , Holstein Grades. Holstein grades, on the average, are great milk producers. Breed your best milking cows to the nearest Holstein sire of a heavy milking strain, and you will be able to build up a herd of 3,500- quart cows in tirnft. HOSPITAX A,T KI.GIX. only a small debt remamhisr. The hospital will cost about $25,000 beside the furnish­ ings. Accommodations are afforded for fifty patients. The building is three stories high. On the first floor are the reception rooms, matron's rooms, parlors, and the dining-room.; Here also is the emergency operating rboni, opening on the street. The other two stories are de­ voted to the wards, private rooms, and the operating room for eases requiring spe­ cial attention. An elevator large enough to carry the eots with which the wards are to be supplied <tonneets the three storiek The rooms will be adequately furnished by the cliurdhes and societies of thd city. All the doctors of Elgin give a certain portion of their time to the free beds and the city and county contribute to iheir support. The Woman's Club, however, has the burden of the financial responsibility and provides funds by gifts and various money-making schemes. The whole city is proud of the new hos­ pital, which has all the latest conveni­ ences. Comes to the State's Rescue. The Illinois Central Railroad paid into the treasury Friday $250,000. This is 6 per cent, of its gross earnings for six months. The company has usually de­ layed the payment of this semi-annual until later in the year, and it was owing to the condition of the treasury that the road consented to make an early pay­ ment. With this money and the amount being held until it is needed by the State institutions, the treasury will be kept in good eonditionrsitfitil the tax levy is available. There\\yill be no danger of the much talked of deficit. Leaps from a Moving Train. Saturday morning Arthur Ashbrooke, a convict, escaped from the custody of Sheriff Baxter, in ..Macoupin County, while he was being conveyed to prison. He .is a cripple and was hand-cuffed, but escaped by jumping from a window of the car while the sheriff was reading a newspaper. Sunday i afternoon Sheriff Baxter received a telegram announcing that the man had been eaptured at Ship- man. In view of the fact that the pris oner is badly crippled and was hand cuffed the escape was rather a remark­ able one. Madman in a Rage. Gaius S. Merwin, a Chicago iron mer­ chant, became violently insane Sunday. Sulphur fumes were used by the police to overpower him. He locked himself in a room and terrorized WoOdlawn Park. He was haunted by a delusion that bur­ glars were seeking forob him. He shot at everyone who apprtmched with intent to pacify him. The lives of hundreds were placed in danger by his bullets. State News in Brief. ,. At Moline the grinders and polishers in the Deere plow works' go to work at the old wages. 1 At Centralia the O'Dowd residence was partially destroyed by fire. The insur­ ance of $1,000 will cover the loss. Charles Mag, an Italian mechanic, and John Martin, a cigar-maker, quarreled about a girl at Effingham, and the latter was shot. At Canton the Christian Church people dedicated a new temple costing $10,000. Sam Jones delivered two lectures. The implement house of Collins & Ste­ venson, at Lacon, was feold by the sheriff to satisfy a bank claim of $1,902.27. D. W. Creekmeers, superintendent of public schools at Centralia, has resigned to accept a position wijth a Chicago pub­ lishing house. Ora McNew, a young ruffian of Green­ ville, resisted an officer who was arresting him for disturbing a religious meeting and was fatally shot. The Empire Cordage Company of Champaign sustained a loss of over $100,- 000 by fire Thursday; insurance foots up $90,000. About 200 people were thrown out of work. It is doubtful if the mill will be rebuilt. Mrs. J. Buggie, of Chicago, a poor widow 85 years old, after a long life of hard and patient labor, managed to save $700. Wednesday morning she conclud­ ed she would tal^e the advice of her grand­ son, 18 years old and her only relative, and deposit the money in the bank for safe keeping. She started for the bank and on arriving put her hand in her pocket to see if the money was safe and found it was gone. With a great effort she made her way home and the shock was so great she has not been able to leave her bed since. Alfred Ernst, of Bloomington, was struck and killed by an engine on the Chi­ cago and Alton Road. He was intoxicat­ ed and lay down 011 the tr&ck to sleep. He was 43 years old, a coal-miner, and leaves a wife and two children. The report of the committee op missions of the Elgin Evangelical conference showed contributions during the last four years of $543,774, a decrease of $5-141 from the preceding quadrennium. The associations missionary indebtedness is $100,000. A subscription was started to raise money to help wipe this out, and over $11,000 was quickly pledged. Mrs. Mary Burke for forty years a resi­ dent of Dixon, dropped dead at the din­ ner table of heart disease. Recent liti­ gation over her property rights had pros­ trated her. 6 A man calling himself Dick Whitliiug-, tou arrived at Springfield trundling a wheelbamny and accompanied by a bull­ dog. claiming that he was-on a trip around the world. He left San Francisco April 5, he said, and had walked the entire dis­ tance. His story is that he is to walk around the world, except where he has bodies of water to cross,1 and that if he accomplishes the journey in three years he will win a wager of $10,000. H,e looks * r a v e l - s t a i n e « l a n d w e a r y . „ * ° • j At Decatur John Waterlind, aged 80 years, wjM^IJf®3,hy «w4tcain. David Mandeville, a farmer living near -- -Rock ford, was- robbed o f over$100 by. two masked men. Burglars entered the restaurant of La­ rue & Sliutt, at Ramsey,»bleW 4pen the safe and secured- a small amount of money. > • ' V . . v Miss Sarah Butler, of Rock Island, a stenographer, aged$25, was run down by a Rock Island and Pacific train and her skull fractured. Jerman Tice, aged 03, a wealthy farmer near Greenyiew, died fn6m injuries re­ ceived by being struck by a train in cross­ ing a railroad crossing near his home in a wagon. - - v W. Vfi Moore, postmaster at Roanoke, disappeared some days ago. The postal inspector'finds him short in his accounts $1,300. • He was a prominent business man and old resident. At Molin,e important changes are be­ ing made in the Government water-power wall by which power will be supplied for electricity to operate all the factories in Rock Island, Moline and Davenport. At Greenville Constable Philip Stout shot and mortally wounded Archie Mc­ New While attempting to arrest him for disturbing religious worship. Stout was arrested and placed under $1,000 bonds. At Mount Carmel the corrugated iron building known as the Standard and occupied by the Interstate Fertilizer Com­ pany and all the machinery and product were burned- The loss is about $10,000. All the public schools of Chicago Heights were closed last week on account of the prevalence of diphtheria. Several deaths have Occurred, and there are a large number of cases at the present time. At Hey worth fire destroyed J. L. Hum­ phrey's grain elevator and electric light plant and a dozen business houses and residences on,the West side of town, in­ volving a loss of $40,000. Among the losers are II. Robb, drugs; McComb & Johnson, groceries, and the Van Ord- strand Bank. The Cassell-Garside Manufacturing Company confessed judgment at Peoria for $9,801 in favor of the Bank of Com­ merce. The concern is a large one, and its officers say they hope to resume as soon as they can make arrangements with some minor creditors who have been crowding them. Gov. Altgeld called before him the seven newly .appointed State Inspectors of Coal Mines and gave them an extensive lecture 011 the policy he wishes them- to pursue in the execution of the mining laws. The most important portion of tho address was as follows: "The mining laws of this State were enacted for the protection of the weak and poor; the ope­ rator, who is strong, can take care of him­ self." Josie Richter, aged 12 years, living with her parents near Lacon, went 011 an er­ rand Wednesday night and disappeared as mysteriously as if the earth had swal­ lowed her. The alarm was soon given at Sparland. The town turned out in search of the missing child, but they found no trace of her. The hills and ravines in the neighborhood for miles around have been traversed, with no avail, and the parents are frantic with grief. An attempt was made Sunday night to wreck the St. Louis passenger train on the Chicago, Feoria and St. Louis Rail­ road, at Union Switch, a secluded spot between Forest and Manito. The switch had been tampered with and the engine and three cars were derailed and badly damaged, but no one was injured. This is tho third attempt to wreck a passenger train at this point within the last few- weeks, and the railroad officials are de­ termined to ferret out the guilty parties, whose purpose is believed to have been robbery. Gustavo Menkhausen, who is serving a life term in the Southern Illinois peniten­ tiary for wife murder, has brought suit in the St. Clair County Court against the Supreme Lodge Knights and Ladies of Honor to recover $1,000, the amount of the life insurance policy held by him for his wife. Menkhausen was convicted of poisoning his wife and wTas sentenced to die. Gov. Altgeld commuted his sen­ tence to a life term in prison. The main motive advanced by the State to secure Menkhausen's conviction was his desire, for the.insurancc money. The Governor and Auditor of Public Accounts, in accordance with law, fixed the rate of the annual tax levy for State purposes at 52 cents on each $100. Of this 13 cents is for school and 39 cents for general taxes. This will give $1,083,145 in the school fund and $3,249,435 in the general fund, making a total of $4,332,- 580. A11 allowance is made of $250,000 for insolvencies, removals, commissions, etc. The levy last year was 31 cents per $100. This is the largest levy evlr made in the State, except for the year 1887, when it was 53 cents. The building of the Lomax Fence Com­ pany, at Lomax, was blown to atoms. John Holmes and James White were killed. The fence works was a new en­ terprise, started and owned by Holmes & Coleman, and had been operating but a few days. Visitors yere shown about the mill shortly before. At 4 o'clock the mill was wiped from the face of the earth by an explosion in the boiler-room, which completely wrecked the large frame and iron structure. So severe was the explo­ sion that iron bars and pipes Were scat­ tered all over the little village and bricks were hurled through windows a block away. Ex-Sheriff H. S. Sisk and City Marshal D. C. Bratton, of Metropolis, have had!a weary chase after Oscar G. Slack, aliasj H. T. Floyd, charged with extracting $2,-J 300 from the Pacific Express Company's' safe at Weatherford, Texas, in June, 1890. A month after the theft young Slack was arrested and confessed, telling the officers where the unspent part of the amount was buried. Slack was left in charge of his brother, a business man in Weatherford, while the officers searched for and found the money.. The officers left for Texas Tuesday afternoon with their prisoner. John Peter Simon, of Galesburg, who wasa-ecently arrested for burglaries com­ mitted in a dozen different cities, has en­ tered a plea of guilty to seven different counts and was sentenced to the Joliet penitentiary. The south-bound pasenger train on the, St. Louis, Chicago and St. Paul Railroad, while going at a high rat® of speed be­ tween Granite City and Madison Thurs­ day morning,'Vail into an open switch and collided with a number of freight cars. Sidney Long, engineer, was killed, and two men hurt. None of the passengers or others on the train were injured. The 2-year-old child of Mrs. George Richards, of Ford County, was pulled in­ to the hog pen, and was devoured before the eyes of the mother, who, attracted by the child's screams, ran to the spot, but too late to render any assistance, though she caught an arm of the child, which the hogs then severed from the body. At Carlinvflle the jury in the trial of Jack Frost. Ebb Bryant and Bernard Reinagel, alias Ben Myers, for the mur­ der of Frank Holmes, the Chicago and Altob engineer, on May! 1, returned a ver­ dict of guilty. All three were sentenced to the penitentiary for life. On the first; ballot the jury stood five for hanging and S8T0U fox aiif« seateiic.a. j ' - '•».< 1 A little, faded old wo^oian, an ordi­ nary huckster's cart filled with what evidently included all the household effects of the party, a healthy-looking, bareheaded girl, seated astride the ef­ fects In question, and a black cat drew a curious crowd to the corner of Twelfth and Grand avenue. Kansas City, recently. The woman was clad in plainest cal­ ico, her feet were bare and her head was "protected by. a hideous sunbon- net She had rented the front of the cart on the curbstone and said she was waiting for the appeara&ce of her "ole man, who was hunting table salt." The child stared stolidly at the gather­ ing crowd and thoughtfully pulled the cat's tail, to which the outraged feline made an indignant protest A patrolman came up and , made the crowd move on, the woman ejaculating volubly: - ; "It jes' makes me 'shamed t* hev peo­ ple git 'round me so. 'Pears ez if th'ey bed nawthin' else t' do. I ain't doin* nawthln' 'cept restin' up a bit till my ole man comes." "• -S , Here the old man turned up and or­ dered his little caravan to'mhrch. The little woQian, who is not oryr four feet six in height, picked up the'handle bar of the cart and trotted off down the street, her bare feet pattering on the- hard pavement. Her husband, a great, strapping six-footer, slouched on be­ hind. / ". , ' To a Kansas City Times reporter the husband claimed the name of Bill Smith, and said he and "Marthy," his "ole woman," were members of,, the Cherokee tribe of Indians. "Marthy, she's part Irish and part Dutch an' part Cherokee, an' I dunno what the kid is," he said. "We's from Abbyville, Virginny, now, an' Marthy an' me hev footed it all th* way. We come through Wes' Virginny an' Kaintuck an' Injianny an' Illinoy ' an' cross Missoury. We's goin' t* the nation by way of Coffeyville, Kan. Did Marthy pull that truck all the way? Of course she did. Who' else'd do hit?" "Marthy" has dragged the "cart near­ ly 1,100 miles, and has 350 more to go before her long overland journey is ended. Cable Car Repartee. The cable car was crowded, and when a passenger boarded it he was nearly T upset by the sudden starting of the grip car and trod 011 the toe of a man stand­ ing at the rear end. "I beg your pardon," he said, very politely; but the man of the hurt toe scowled and in an undertone uttered curses. The innocent offender again apolo­ gized. "Yes, but that doesn'^ help my toe any;" and he growled some more in an undertone. -a. Near-by passengers began to smile. "I begged your pardon, didn't I?" said the other man. "Yes, but my toe hurts just the same," was the reply in an ugly tone. Then the other man's dander rose, and in very forcible language he said: "Now, look here, I accidentally stepped on your foot and I apologized for it If you say another word about it 1*11 give you this instead of my foot (show- lng his doubled-up fist), and it will land right in your face." The warning was not taken, says the Washington Star, for he continued to talk about the clumsiness of some peo­ ple." Suddenly the passengers were electrified by seeing a fist shoot out, and the growler lay in tbe street as the car passed ou. Nobody said anything, but some thought it wasn't wise to talk too much. k , .5.--^ \V | Grim Jesting. Deathbed jokes are generally not au­ thentic. The celebrated one attributed to Tom Hood, for instance--that he pro­ tested against blaming the undertaker who had blundered into coming before the great wit was dead, and said that the man had "only come to urn a lively Hood"--Is known to be decidedly apoc­ ryphal. . , f-u Nevertheless, a remark somewhat of the same sort, which Is attributed to Lord Chesterfield in his last illness, is undoubtedly authentic. Chesterfield was very ill, and his death was only a matter of a few weeks; but his physi­ cians advised that he be taken for an easy drive in his carriage, andvhe went out. ,, As the equipage was proceeding slow­ ly along it was met by a lady who re­ marked pleasantly to the great invalid: "Ah, my lord, I am glad to see you able to drive out." "I am not driving out, madam," an­ swered Chesterfield, "I am simply re­ hearsing my funeral!" Value of the School Excursion. The school excursion is a method of instruction which has been long estab­ lished in Germany, and to-day it forma a regular feature of perhaps the ma­ jority of the elementary schools of that country. -The school excursion, offers the most favorable opportunity for in­ troducing the child into many branches of knowledge, for the reason that by means of outings, the pupil may be brought in direct contact with various phases of nature and the works of man. And, indeed, the locality is exception-. ally unfavorable where an abundance of material may not be found for in­ structing the child in geography, his­ tory and the natural sciences. So far this broad method fs little known in our own country, but it has much to recommend it. , Very Considerate. A true husband thinks first of his wife's comfort, says a French journal. Friend Perrichon, accompanied by his wife, took a trip to the outskirts of Paris. Very tired and hungry, they entered an eating house. The proprie­ tor declared that he had nothing but a chop to offer them. " "Only oner'^exelaimed Perrichon. "Then what is my wife to have?" Shot by a Horse. A peculiar accident in East Mon­ mouth, Me., may result seriously. A man by the name of Prescott w as lead­ ing a colt, when the animal whirled and kicked, striking Prescott in the region of the. bip pocket, where he car­ ried a loaded revolver. The revolver was discharged, the bullet lodging La the calf of Mr. Prescott's leg.