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THE PLAINDEALER J. VAN SLYKE, Editor and Pub. MCHENRY. ILLINOT? A NEW PENSION PLAN. FUNDING SCHEME OF MR. ROCK­ WELL IS NOVEL. To Pay the Men in a Lnmp-Thcy Can llavc Either Negotiable Bonds or Cash at Their Option-Chicilgo For- »ltnre Factory Burned. | Connecticut Man's Idea. The New York Press says: W. F. Rock­ well. a manufacturer of Meriden. Conn., has in view the presentation of a bill in Congress through the pension committee looking toward the funding of the pen­ sion appropriation. This bill, according to Mr. Rockwell, promises to be of great benefit not only to the Government in the saving of many millions of dollars, but to the vast army of pensioners also. "It has long been the idea of Congress," said Mr. Rockwell in speaking of his plan to an Associated Press reporter, "that pen­ sioners "are dependetit, whereas as a mat­ ter of fact tbe great .bulk of them are inr dependent.. Thousands of them are own­ ers of farms in the West, which are mort­ gaged, the mortgages bearing interest any­ where from 8 to 12 per Cent. My idea is to issue negotiable bonds to. the pension­ ers, or to pay theni the cash at their op­ tion, to cover the amount they, won hi^ re­ ceive from the Government, based on life insurance expectancy. . This would en­ able them tp pay off these mortgages, thus saving to them the differences between the lowest rate of interest in any State, 6 per cent, and the interest on the bonds, 2% per cent. This would relieve them from their present entanglements. There are, hi round numbers, about 050,000 per­ sons on the pension rolls, and to those who are not owners of farms the payment of the entire amount which, according to my table, would be due them would enable many of them to start* in business, and this in itself would put into circulation a large amount of money that would inure to the benefit not only of the community in which they reside but to the country. It would also be a great saving to the Government in the matter of salaries and expenses, since it would do away with the pension office machinery, while the only expense the Government would incur would be in the issuing of the bonds." «t B meeting held at the Boston office of the company, voted to reduce the wages «f its employes about 10 per cent on Jan. 1. The Amoskeag plant, is one of the largest engaged in the manufacture of cotton in the country and employs be­ tween 8,000 and 9,000 people. A remarkable proceeding lias just come to light in White Plains, showing that there is nothing in the way of committing a perfectly sane man to an insane asylum. The victim is Frank W. Pierce, who does a large business in Wliite Plains. He is married aiid has a son. He has also a small fortune in real estate, which he has turned over to his Wife. Pierce had been in business in the town since the early '80s. No one thought of question­ ing his sanity until Sunday morning, Dec. 5, when two attendants from the Hudson River State hospital--the State insane asylum at I 'ouch kceosie--ca lied and told him to go with them quietly. Pierce learn ed then that his wife had secured from Dr. George Maguess and Dr. Charles E. Birch, two well-known physicians of white Plains, a certificate, stating that her husband was insane. Once there, Pierce immediately communicated with his friends in White Plains.» They took the matter up. Judge Lent had Pierce examined by two other physicians than those who liad first appeared in the mat­ ter. Then the victim was brought down to White Plains. Judge Lent examined Pierce and decided lie was perfectly sane. Judge Lent publicly deplored the fact that hip had committed Pierce to the asylum without first seeing him, and released him a t once. WESTERN. Fierce Fire in Chicago. Fire broke out in the A. H. Andrews furniture factory* at Twenty-second and F'isk streets, Chicago. Before it could be brought tinder control property approxi­ mating in value $250,000 was destroyed, and three firemen narrowly escaped death. The three-story factory and contents were a total loss, but the neighboring buildings were merely scorched. At "The office of tne A. H. Andrews company it wa^stated that the total loss on building and con­ tents would reach $250,000. The firm employed 275 people. Burts BREVITIES, enservatives reject the antono- ited States training ship Alli- arrived in New York after an cruise. Scrafford and Charlie Clifford were killed by an explosion of dynamite at Clearwater, N. Y. The death rate among cattle during the recent storm in Texas was fully 35 per cent in some localities. The constitutionality of the civil service law was sustained in an opinion given by the Illinois Supreme Court. Tiie orange and lemon crops of southern California have been injured by frost dur­ ing a succession of cold nights. George Gould denies that S. H. H. Clark is to succeed him as president of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The Elkhart, Goshen and Southern Railway Company has been incorporated in Indiana with $250,000 capital. Mechanical Rubber Manufacturers' As­ sociation has decided to advance the price of rubber cotton hose 10 per cent. A man registering as Edward Irvin but who was supposed to be Edward J. Epstein, committed suicide in New York. Robbers blew open the safe of C. W. Astle, a merchant of Haven, Kan., and .got away with a considerable sum of Ihoney. The directors of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and Michigan Central ^railways have declared semi-annual divi­ dends. WillUfm Pool, sentenced to the Arkan­ sas penitentiary for twenty-one years in 1892 for the murder of John Evans, has been pardoned. Albert Warner, the chief conspirator in the plot that resulted in the kidnaping of little Johnny Conway, is now in jail awaiting triil at Albany, N. Y. Charles Kunzmiller, the assistant cash­ ier of the defunct German National Bank of Denver, has been found guilty of mak­ ing false reports to the Comptroller of the Currency and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, the minimum penalty. J. Pierpont Morgan is said to be plan­ ning a big anthracite coal distributing concern, which shall at once act as the representative of all coal-producing and coal carrying companies, and do away with all middlemen between the producer and the consumer. * The Mechanics' National Bank of New York has brought action in St. Paul against William Dawson, William Daw­ son, Jr., and A. B. Stiekney, as assignees of William Dawson, asking for permis­ sion to sell 2,000 shares of preferred stock of the Chicago Great Western Railway held by the bank as collateral for a prom­ issory note of $100,000. Temple Houston, son of Gen. Sam Houston, who shot and killed Judge .Jen nings in a saloon fight at Woodward, O r<£j, has been sentenced to pay a fine of $rf00 and costs. Jacob Lorillard, brother of Pierre Loril lard, was quietly married in London to Mrs. Hu.vsbe. They will spend their honeymoon in Paris. The most desperate battle of the Cuban rebellion was fought at Yacta ford, on the Canto river. The Cuban loss was 100 killed and 300 wounded, while the Span ish fatalities reached fully 200, a like number hav*ig been wounded. The Mcrmod & Jaccard _ Jewelry Com­ pany at St. Louis was burned 6dt, Loss, $500,000; ' ' .. - , Willianr Broad, 09 years old, a native of Holland, committed suicide at San Francisco. Robert Peel, a grandson of Sir Robert Peel, is a student in Boone's academy in Berkeley, Cal.^ The Hower Manufacturing Company's plant at Akron, Ohio, was almost de­ stroyed by tire. Frank Connors was probably fatally burned by an explosion of crude oil vapor while making gas at Kansas City. An Omaha jury has given a verdict in favor of the city against the bondsmen of ex-City Treasurer Henry Bolton for $71,- Q00. Louis Yura, of Warren. Ohio, on trial for killing Isaac Hill, of Farmington, was found guilty of murder in the first de­ gree. Jack McCune, a gambler, who killed William A. Albin Aug. (i, committed sui­ cide in the St. Joseph, Mo., jail by taking morphine. Hon. Washington Hosing, editor of the Illinois Staats Zeitung, and ex-post­ master of Chicago, died at his home in that city. George"J. Fritcli, president of the' Fritch Furniture Company of St. Louis, commit­ ted suicide by hanging himself in an ele­ vator shaft. At Lima, O., about $1,500 worth of clothing stolen from Stapleton's s*ore at Cridersville was fouud secreted in a school house. Rev. TtySTHodk!*aj*<n5-year-old Mary Johnson, of Stcelburg, Kan., from which place they eloped, have been arrested at Pueblo, Colo. Gov. Leedy of Kansas will present a scheme to the Nebraska irrigation con­ gress to construct a 1,700-mile canal from Montana to Texas. Rev. Dr. C. C. Salter, State chaplain of the G. A. R. of Minnesota, and found­ er of Pilgrim Congregational Church and of the Bethel of Duluth, died at Duluth, aged 66 years. While Timothy Carroll, a prominent citizen of Kilkenny, Minn., was driving home his team ran into a rut, his wagon was overturned and his neck was broken, causing instant death. John Gillespie, territorial auditor of Ne­ braska. and a member of the commission which founded the city of Lincoln and made it the seat of the State Government, died at Lincoln, aged 65. The Attorney General of Nebraska has filed suit against ex-Treasurer Bartley and hi.s bondsmen for $335,000, the amount Bartley. is charged with embez­ zling from the public school fund. Michael Hicks, alias C. Cole, after at­ tempting to rob Andrew Young in West Van Buren street, Chicago, was shot by a police officer and died about thirty min­ utes later in the county jail hospital. • The Oakland. Gal., police are convinced that Patrick Murphy of Temeseal, who was assassinated, was killed by Frederick Uhl, a maniac, who also attempted to kill Eflvnrd Kearney and Constable Gus Koch. Ark., William Wilkins, a young, planter, was struck by his brother. Jasper Wil­ kins, th* blow causing death in six hours, Curtis Dearing, a son of one of the most, prominent business men in Louisville. Ivy., shot in cold blood ami instantly kill­ ed Claude Bryant, a barkeeper in a sa­ loon and sporting resort! Grady Reynolds' and Bud Brooks were executed at Jefferson, Ga., for the murder of M. C. Hunt of Belton, Ga. Robbery was the motive. Brooks and Reynolds were moonshiners.. Reynolds negotiated with Hunt for the purchase of his stock of goods. Reynolds told Hunt the money was in -the bank at Harmony Grove and invited liim to ride to that, place with him. Midway Brooks met the,pair and the two committed the murder^ robbed their vic­ tim of $1,200 In his possession and buried the body. Reynolds was arrested, con- fessed aiid implicated Brooks. In Van Buren County, six miles from Clinton, Ark., on what is known as Cul­ pepper mountain, the family of Farmer Patterson was at the supper table when two men heavily masked threw open the front door;of the house, presented rilles and commanded those at the table to re­ main perfectly quiet under pain of death. One of the robbers fired point blank at the head of the family, the ball entering his mouth. Patterson and his three sons returned the fire. The robbers kept up a fusillade until their ammunition was gone, when" they drew bowie knives, cut­ ting the.old man's throat from ear to ear, knocking senseless two *of. his sons and mortally wounding the third son and his wife... Patterson had acted as an inform­ er on several occasions, giving the au­ thorities information that, led to the ar­ rest and destruction of numerous illicit distilleries in the countv. WASHINGTON. The Comptroller of the Currency has de­ clared dividends of 15 per cent in favor of the creditors of the Union National Bank of Denver, Colo., and 37% per cent in favor of the creditors of the First Na­ tional Bank of Fort Payne, Ala. A treaty between the United States and the Seminole nation has been concluded and signed by the Dawes and Seminole commissioners at Muskogee, I. T. It pro­ vides for the allotment of the lands for the Seminole nation and a' division of ita moneys among the citizens after the tribal governments are extinguished. Five hun­ dred thousand dollars of the funds of the nation is set apart for a permanent school fund for the education of the children of members of the tribe. All funds of the nation are to be disbursed by a person appointed by the Secretary of the Inte­ rior. Liberal provision is made for lands to be used for church and school pur­ poses by non-citizens. No coal or mineral leases are to be valid unless made with the tribal government, and with the eon- sent of the allottee and the Secretary of the Interior. United States (fourts are given additional jurisdiction over the members of the tribe, and tiie United States is to prohibit the introduction or handling in any way of intoxicating liq­ uors in the nation, and is to make an effort to purchase 200,000 acres of land from the Greek nation for the Seminoles. The treaty is to be binding on the United States when ratified by Congress and on the Seminole nation when ratified by its general council. (JETS ECKELS' PLACE. IN GENERA! EASTERN. At Camden, N. J., Frank Kirby, Christian scientist, who refused to call in a physician when his 2-yoar-old daughter was taken sick with diphtheria, was held by the coroner in $500 bail to the grand jury. Commissioner Blanchard of the Joint Traffic Association denies the report tha the Joint Traffic presidents, at their meeting in New York, ordered a reduction on export and domestic corn and other rates. The directors of the Amoskeag Manu facturing Compiany of Manchester. N. H HlPffll At Milwaukee, grain rates to the East have taken an astonishing drop. Fifteen cents on 100 pounds of grain and flour in carlots from Milwaukee to New York, 13 cents to Philadelphia and 12 cents to Baltimore are the new figures. Fire destroyed the big Auditorium building, Ninth and Holmes streets, which contains the biggest theater in Kansas City and one of the big hotels. The Audi­ torium building cost about $225,000, and is owned by Alexander Fraser, who also owns the hotel and theater furnishings. H. W. Strauss & Co. and other produce dealers of Cleveland are about to insti­ tute proceedings before the interstate com­ merce commission, charging the Cleveland Car Service Association with discriminat­ ing in favor of the Standard Oil Company and the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company. A special from Grand Forks, N. D., says that a loss of nearly $1,000,000 was caused there by fire. The Hotel Dakotali, large five-story structure that cost $-50,- 000, was completely ruined, as were the two large wholesale stores adjoining, Nash Bros, and the Grand Forks Mercan­ tile Company. Both concerns occupied brick buildings about 100 feet square and four or five stories high. The Bachrach Tailoring Company, the biggest merchant tailoring establishment in Kansas City, has made an assignment for the benefit of the National Bank of Commerce. John Long and Paulina Carr, whose claims aggregate $21,694, of which $18,900 is due the bank on notes made since last August. After the assignment Solomon Stein & Co. brought suit by at­ tachment for $21,133 for goods furnished for the fall and winter trade. Lieut. Gov. Chapleau of Canada will shortly resign. Robbers broke into the strong room of the Ward Line steamer City of Washing­ ton during her voyage from Vera Cruz to New York and stole $3,000 in silver, a por­ tion of a shipment of $600,000 in Mexican coin destined for Europe. The residence of Patrick Leahy in Ot­ tawa, Ont., was burned and Leahy and five of his children, Thomas, Marie, Katie, Maggie and Patrick, the oldest but 9 years of age, perished. Mrs. Leahy and a boy named Frank, aged 5 years, were saved. Bradstreet's weekly review says: "A sensible quieting of demand in wholesale lines is reported as the holiday season and lhe~ annual stock taking period ap­ proaches. Chief among the favorable fea­ tures of the week has been enlarged in­ quiry at higher prices for steel in vari­ ous forms, accompanied by advances in the prices of sorts most affected. A cor­ respondingly heavy business has develop­ ed in pig iron and prices show but a slight shading in face of the current immense production. The wheat market has been less feverish and prices are practically un­ changed from a week ago, while corn, oats and sugar are additions to the list of pro­ ducts showing advances. . Wheat exports show a "heavy falling off from recently preceding weeks, aggregating as they do (flour as wheat) 4,604,399 bushels from both coasts of the United States and St. John, N. B., against 6,266,159 bushels last week, 4,-22,714 bushels in this week a year ago, 2,458,323 bushels in 1895, 2,- 536,292 bushels in 1894, and 3,217,050 bushels in 1893. Corn exports are over 1,000,000 bushels larger than last week, aggregating 4,129,858 bushels, against 2,814,150 bushels in this week a year ago, 2,057,790 bushels in 1895, 658,000 bushels in 1894 and 559,000 bushels in 1893. Busi­ ness failures show a rather smaller than usual ante-holiday total, aggregating 283, against 292 last week, 359 in the same week a year ago, 385 in 1895, 309 in 1894 and 353 in 1893. Canadian failures this week number 43, against 23 last week, 39 in the week a year ago and 42 in the year 1895." DAWES APPOINTED COMPTROL­ LER OF THE CURRENCY. McKenna Is Also Named-l^resident's Attorney General Raised to Supreme Bench -- Actor Terriss Stabbed to Death-French Writer 'Dead. Presidential Appointments. Among a number of appointments sent by President McKinley to the Senate Thursday for confirmation were those of Charles Gates Dawes of Evanston, 111., for Comptroller of the Currency to suc­ ceed James H. Eckels, and Joseph Mc- KermaofCnHforrria,-rit'pre3entACtorney General of the United States, to be asso­ ciate justice of the Supreme Court in place of Justice Field, who recently re­ tired. The nomination of Mr. Dawes was con­ firmed three hours later, without objec­ tion., but that of Judge McKenna Avas notj acted upon that day. ^ Mr. Eckels arrived in Washington the night previous, returning from the West, and at once carried his resignation to the White House. Mr. Eckels will remain in Washington long enough to assist Mr. Dawes in picking up the details of the office. He will then go to Chicago to ac- cept his bank position. Mr. Dawes figured in national politics as the Illinois member of the executive committee of the Republican national committee during the last campaign. The home of Mr. Dawes is in Evanston. He removed to Illinois three years ago from Lincoln, Neb., to become the president of the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke JUDGE JOSEPH M'KENNA. Nominated to be Associate Just!co of the tynitod States Supreme Court. Company. For several years he was prominent as a lawyer and business man in Lincoln. He became a director in the American Exchange National Bank of Lincoln, vice-presidont of the Lincoln Packing Company and interested himself in many other enterprises in the Nebraska capital. He is also interested in gas plants in Akron, O., and La Crosse, Wis. Mr. Dawes is a native of Ohio and is 32 years old. He is the son of Gen. It. It. Dawes, who was one of the commanders of the old iron brigade of Wisconsin. Joseph McKenna, who has been nomi­ nated to be associate justice of the Unit­ ed States Supreme Court, was taken from Philadelphia to California by his parents when he was but 12 years old, and he has grown up with the country1-Ie won his first prominence in a railroad speech twen­ ty-two years ago--his first national promi­ nence, for he had been a notable man in his own State for some time. He was district attorney of Solano County at 22, and afterward served for one term in the State Legislature before running for Con­ gress. He held the office of Congressman for four terms, and during the last one he was made judge of the United States Circuit Court by President Harrison. His most important decisions have been in re­ gard to railroad legislation. Judge Mc­ Kenna is tall and thin and angular, and his hair is auburn and a little gray. His eyes are his most remarkable feature-- something between hazel and gray and SOUTHERN. The Southern Railway Company will acquire the Memphis and Charleston Railroad Jan. 1. Women cheered for football in the Vir­ ginia Legislature halls and the anti-grid­ iron bill was defeated. At Alstott's store, Casey County, Ken­ tucky, John Alstott shot and instantly killed his brother Claude. --.Leon Lawson, 18 years old, who mur­ dered liis father in Brush Creek, Ivy., has been given a life sentence in the peniten­ tiary. Lewis George Clark, .86 years old, the original George Harris of Harriet Beech- er Stowe's famous novel, "Ultcle Tom's Cabin," is dead at Lexington, Ky. The c&se of the State of Florida agafhst C. B. Collins, late State Treasurer, ended in a verdict of acquittal. The indictment alleged embezzlement of over $52,000. i la Morehouse parish, near Hamburg, MARKET REPORTS. Chicago--Cattle, common to prime, $3.00 to $5.75; hogs, shipping grades, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, fair to choice, $2.00 to $4.75; wheat, NTo. 2 red, 99c to $1.01; corn, No. -2, 26c to 28c; oats, No. 2, 21c to 23c; rye, No. -2, 46c to 47c; butter, choice creamery, 20c to 22c; eggs, fresh, 19c to 21c; new potatoes, 50c to 60c per bushel. Indianapolis--Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $5.25; liogs, choice light, $3.00 to $3.50; sheep, common to choice, $3.00 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2, 91c to 93c; corn, No. 2 white, 27c to 28c; oats, No. 2 white, 23c to 25c. St. Louis--Cattle, $3.00 to $5.50; bogs $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $3.00 to $4.75 wheat, No. 2, 99c to $1.01; corn, No. 2 yellow, 25c to 27c; oats, No. 2 white, 22c to 23c; rye, No. 2, 45c to 47c. Cincinnati--Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $2.50 to $4.75 wheat, No. 2, 92c to 94c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 27c to 28c; oats. No. 2 mixed, 24c to 25e; rye, No. 2, 46c to 47c. Detroit--Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $2.50 to $4.25 wheat, No. 2, 93c to 94c: • corn, No. 2 yellow, 29c to 30c; oats, No. 2 white, 25c to 26c; rye, 46c to 47c. Toledo--Wheat, No. 2 red, 93c to 94c corn, No. 2' mixed, 27c' to 28c; oats, No 2 white, 21c to 23c; rye, No. '2, 46c to 48c clover peed, $3.20 to $3.30. Milwaukee--Wheat, No. 2 spring, 86c to 88c; corn, No. 3, 26c to 28c; oats, No, 2 white, 23c to 25c; rye, No. 2, 46c to 48c barley, . No. 2, 35c to 42c; pork, mess, $7.50 to $8.00. \ Buffalo--Cattle, $3.00 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $3.75; sheep, $3,00 to $5.00; wheat, No. 2 red, 96c to 98c; corn, No. 2 yellgw, 81c to 32c; oati$3 No. 2 white, 27c to 29c. New York--Cattle, $3.00 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $4.Of); sheep, $3.00 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2 red, $1.00 to $1.02; corn, No. 2, 35c to 36c; oats, No. 2 white, 27c to 28c; butter, creamery., 15c to 23c; eggs. Western. 2Cc to 23c. ACTOR TERRISS SLAIN. Stabbed to Death ialiondon by a Super Named Archer. William Terries, the well-known actor, was assassinated Thursday night as he was about to enter the stage door of the Adelphi Theater in Jjondon. He had just left his cab and was walking across the pavement when a man rushed upon him with a knife and stabbed him immediately below the heart. Mr. Terriss was carried into the theater and doctors were summoned from the Charing Cross Hospital, but he died with- SENATE AND HOUSE. WM; TEimiSS. in fifteen minutes. The murderer was .seized by some of the bystanders and giv­ en into the custody of the police. He gave his name as Archer, and is supposed to have been a super at the Adelphi The­ ater several years ago. No motive for the murder was ascertained. Mr. TerriSs had been playing a leading part in the English version of William Gillette's American drama, "Secret Ser­ vice." He reached the theater at his customary hour, driving there alone from his lodgings. He stepped from the cab to the pavement near the stage entrance and was making his way through the usual crowd that throngs the spot at the time, when a man darted toward him from be­ hind. He concealed a long dagger be­ neath a cloak that covered his sWulders, and was thus enabled to hide his purpose from>the bystanders. It was only when Mr. Terriss fell that the crowd realized that a crime had been committed. "My God! He's stabbed me!" Terriss shouted as he fell. "Don't let him es­ cape!" Mr. Terriss was carried into the theater and up the stage stairway as far as tbe first landing, where he was laid on the floor. He died surrounded by the mem­ bers of the company and the theater staff. A large audience had already assembled in the theater, to whom the manager an­ nounced from the footlights that Mr. Ter­ riss had met with an accident that pre­ vented giving a performance. As the au­ dience dispersed'ihe newsboys were cry­ ing special editions of the evening papers, and the fact that Mr. Terriss' had been murdered became quickly known. It caus­ ed a remarkable scene along the Strand, expressions of horror and indignation be­ ing heard on every side. ALPHONSE DAUDET DEAD. Sudden Ending of Life of the French Writer at Paris. Alphonse Daudet expired in Paris Thursday night. He was dining with his AT.PHONSE DAUDET. family when he was seized with a sudden syncope. Physicians were summoned, but he died almost immediately. Alphonse Daudet was born at Nimes of poor parents May 13, 1840. In 1857, with his brother Ernest, he went to Paris to try to gain a livelihood by literary pur­ suits. His first publication was a volume of poems entitled "Les Amoureuses," which appeared in 1858, and won for him a reputation that led to his employment on several newspapers. It was while writ­ ing under the name of "Baptistet," or un­ der his real name, novels, tales and news­ paper articles that he achieved his real popularity. FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS* A Week's Proceedings In the Halls of Congress--Important Measures Dis­ cussed and Acted U pon--An Impar­ tial Resume of the Business. The National Solons. In the House on Thursday a bill passed appropriating $175,000 for relief of peo­ ple who are in Yukon river country, and also biil passed by the Senate the day be­ fore to prohibit pelagic sealing by Amer­ ican citizens. Former bill encountered -practically. .no--annosition. Bill to pro- CIIARLES G. PAWE*. New Comptroller of the Currency. remarkably deep and clear, resonant, pleasant voice. He has a PLAN A GREAT UNIVERSITY. Congress Takes Up the Question of a National School. The bill to establish the University of the United States was again introduced in both houses of Congress Tuesday. The bill in general terms provides for an institution of the highest possible type, for the graduates of accredited colleges and universities only, with special refer­ ence to the work of original research and investigation jn all important fields of inquiry. The government is vested in a board of regents and a university coun­ cil. The board of regents embraces the President of the United States, the chief justice of the United States, the commis­ sioner of education, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the president of the National Academy of Sciences, the ^president of the National Educational As­ sociation, the president of the university and nine other citizens to be appointed by tho President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, no two of Whom shall be from the same State. The uni­ versity council is to have immediate charge of the work of instruction, re­ search and investigation. It consists of the regents and twelve otlie? members, to be appointed by them from among emi­ nent educators, with a like impartial dis­ tribution. All courses and officers of in­ struction are to be determined by the council, also all regulations governing the internal management of the institution. Neither sectarian nor political prefer­ ences in any form 'are to be allowed, whether in the appointments or in any of the operations of the institution. Au­ thority is given to establish with other institutions of learning suoh co-operative ' relations aa are deemed advantageous. Receipts of American Board Reached a Total of $642,781. The annual report of the American Board of Foreign Missions shows total receipts from all sources of $642,781, of which New England contributed $386- 484; Illinois, $38,915; Wisconsin, $9,249; Michigan, $18,735; Iowa, $13,136, and In­ diana, $1,351. The report deals at length with Turk­ ish massacres and says that while many Christians were killed or fled, the number of professing Christians exceeds that pre­ vious to the outrages. The wounds left by massacres have been slowly healing, though iu several places the suffering has been quite as great as in the previous year. The demand for indemnity for losses incurred at Harpoot and Marash, amounting in all to $100,000, have been pressed, as yet without result. The changed conditions at Constantinople and the arrival of Dr. Angell, the new United States minister, may reasonably be ex­ pected to secure early and satisfactory action in regard to this claim and all other material questions at issue between the United States Government and Turkey. ?/<£ ©F Tihi® IM<sW! hibit pelagic sealiftg warmly antagonized by Mr. Johnson of _JSTorth Dakota, Mr. Loud of California, Mr. Hepburn and others. In the Senate resolution direct­ ing the Secretary of War to send supplies to American and other sufferers in Klon­ dike region passed. Mr. Pritchard of North Carolina, chairman of civil service investigating committee, delivered brief, speech upon execution of civil service law as devel9ped_byrhis committee. Sen- ite passed bill directing Secretary of Treasury to purchase or construct suita­ ble vessel for revenue cutter service on Yukon river. Alaska, to cost not to exceed $40,000. Mr. Allison of appropriations committer? reported favorably House joint resolution providing for recess of Congress from Dec. 18, 1897, to Jan. 5, 1898, Adopted. Mr. Ilawley of Military Affairs Committee reported resolution of Mr. McBride of Oregon for relief of American miners' and other sufferers in Yukon valley, Alaska. Committee struck out all but enacting clause and amended by appropriating $250,000, which is to be used by Secretary of War for purchase of subsistence and supplies and for theij transportation and distribution. Adopted. In the Senate on Friday a joint reso­ lution accepting the invitation of Norway to participate in an international fisheries commission next year was passed. One hundred and thirty-eight private pension bills were pasfeed. Resolutions on the death of William Steele Holnian, late rep­ resentative from Indiana, were taken up. Tributes to his memory were paid in elo­ quent eulogies by several members. The resolutions were passed, and as a further mark of respect tbe Senate at 4:25 p. m. adjourned until Saturday. In the House amendments to tho legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill were adopt­ ed. The House refused to accept the Sen­ ate amendment to the bill for the relief of the miners in the Upper Yukon. On Saturday both houses of Congress adjourned until Jan. 5. The Klondike relief bill was put through its final stages before adjournment. Why doesn't the Austrian reidvsralh enforce the usual football rule's forbid­ ding slugging amd mass plays V ' An Ohio physican has been arrested for grave robbing. If he is guilty the law should take its course; a doctor's work should end when he gets a patient into the grave. It is practically certain that Martin Thorn convicted himself by talking too much. But, of course, he couldn't help that, being a barber. A Jilted Lovers' Club has been organi ized in New York. Why doesn't Reformer Charlotte Smith swoop down upon that organization aud»l)oint out the way to di» band' it? A St. Louis mau has secured the arrest of a Pullman porter, whom he says., tried to steal $43,000 from him. We don't be lieve it; why should, a sleeping car porter want such a sum? WORK OF OUR NATIONAL LAW­ MAKERS. > • ? ' rrrrrrrr A LOST OPPORTUNITY. The Memory of It Saddened the Life of the Traveling Man. It was evident lie was sinking fast and the physician told his sorrowing relatives to prepare for the worst. Then suddenly lie seemed to rouse himself. "Doctor," lie said, "I am going, am I not?" The physician inclined his head. _ "Well," continued the patient resign­ edly, "we all must go some time, and I suppose it's all right. But I cannot help thinking of my wasted opportunities." There are few of us who could not improve on our lives if we had them to live over again," said the doctor. "Of course, of course," returned the patient, irritably. "I can recall dozens of things that I would do differently if had them to do again, but they do not worry me particularly. I merely charge them up as mistakes that every one is liable to make. However, It's different with an absolutely wasted op­ portunity--an opportunity that never would or could come again. One never can forget that. It must remain a source of regret as long as life lasts. In my case it is with me on my death­ bed--the one great mistake of my life." The physician sought to soothe him by saying that it probably was not a serious matter and that his imagina­ tion doubtless exaggerated it to a con­ siderable extent, but he shook his head. •It isn't a matter that has just oc­ curred to me," he said. "It is not. the result of fever or delirium; it is some­ thing that I have known for years. The opportunity came to me more than twenty years ago and in not more than ten minutes after it was too laite 1 real­ ized that I had wasted it. Since then my life lias been one long regret and nothing but regret." "What was the opportunity?" asked the physician at last, realizing that he could not turn the patient's attention from it. •Why, on one business trip that I took I had a chance to charge up a suit of clothes to the house and didn't do it." And so saying the traveling man turned his face sadly to the wall and shortly thereafter the end came.--Chi­ cago Post. Shapes of Eggs. The eggs 6f the owl family are almost spherical, and are thus easily moved by the parent bird in her desire to se­ cure an equal amount of warmth to each. As she nests in a hole* there is no fear whatever of any of her clutch rolling away and being smashed. On the other hand, the guillemot, which nests, or rather lays, her eggs on flat, bare rocks in high, exposed latitudes, lays a single c^g so elongated and cu­ riously shaped that when stirred by a violent gust of wind or the bird's sud­ den flight, it does not roll away, but simply spins around upon its own axis like a top. In the case of plovers, snipes and other birds that lay four large eggs, the eggs narrow so rapidly toward the smaller end that four of them in a nest practically form a square, thus enabling the bird to cover them the more effectually. According to Dr. Nicolsky, the variety in shape in eggs is due simply to the effects of the law of gravity. Every egg which is not yet covered with a solid shell de­ viates from the spherical form and lengthens by the effect of the pressure by the sides of the ovary. Breaking Caits by Machinery. A horse-breaking machine has lately been invented, and an ingenious sysr tem l'or training horses lias now come into use. In the center of a large round building a. horisontal wheel is set up Long shiifts are attached' and the horses are harnessed to them, after the manner Of a merry-go-round. The train­ er sits in the middle and drives his cir cular team, one of which is always a thoroughly "broken horse, which sets the pace unci >keeps the others in check. i It was rot expected that the President tvould nominate Attorney General Mc­ Kenna for the Supreme Court until after the Pacific Railroad suits were disposed of. That was the understanding before V he went to Canton, but he thinks Gov. •Griggs-ef-New-JerKey-^vMi-he-able-fo-look-- after the railroad foreclosure with equal , zeal and ability, and that perhaps it would be as well to have a new man take hold at this time. The controversy be- ' tween the Attorney General and the legal representatives of the railway companies has become rather heated. Both sid«s are stubbornly fixed to their present posi­ tion. Somebody must yield before any arrangement can be concluded, and it is . believed that Gov. Griggs can make bet- :• ter terms than Attorney General Mc- . Kenna. The Central Pacific has been a po- ' litical issue on the Pacific coast for many years, and everybody in California is com­ mitted to or against its interest. There­ fore the President thought it would be better that somebody from the East who «Jould not be.accused of prejudice or pref­ erence should undertake the .settlement of its affairs with the Government. : By the last census of the executive de­ partments in. Washington there were"!05 persons over 70 years of age employed as clerks by the-Government, and it is prob- , able that the number has nearly doubled'*' since that time. There .are sixty superan­ nuated clerks in the Treasury Depart­ ment alone, and most of tlieui are incapa­ ble of performing any important duty. Some of them are drawing salaries as high as $1,800 a yeg& others $1,200, $1,- 400 and $1,600. There is no pension list for civil service employes. In the army and navy a man is retired on half or two- thirds pay when lie reaches the age of 62. Secretary Gage has been studying the 4 question very carefully,-and has decided that it is only fair to the Government that.clerks who are incapacitated by age should receive only a corresponding amount of their salary. Hence he has issued an order reducing the sixty vet­ erans who have passed three score and ten to $900 a year. The two committees on Indian affairs are working together in the preparation of a bill to carry out the recommendations of Secretary Bliss with regard to a new * form of government in the Indian terri­ tory. They are unanimous in the opinion 1 that prompt and radical action should be taken to dissolve the tribes, abolish the existing tribal governments and place the inhabitants of the several reservations upon the same footing as-the citizens of other territories, with equal rights, priv­ ileges and protection. The first step to be taken will be the organization and ad­ mission of Iiklian territory into the Unit­ ed States, the appointment of a governor, a secretary, judges and other officials that compose the ordinary territorial organiza­ tion. Then a census of the territory will be taken and an election ordered for a Legislature t*> frame a code of laws. Secretary Bliss is congratulating him­ self that he is to be relieved of all re­ sponsibility in connection with the ap­ pointment of the officials to take the next census. The temper shown by Congress on this subject is very significant. It is not proposed to allow the civil service commission to have anything to do with the appointments, which are temporary, and will last for three or four years only, but it was originally proposed to make the Secretary of the Interior the appointing power. Mr. Bliss immediately objected. There will be several thousand persons on the staff, and he has trouble enough now. Therefore the superintendent of the cen­ sus when appointed will distribute the patronage. The bottle of 45-year-old whisky which Major Barrack G. Thomas gave to Miss Richardson of Lexington, Ky., to send to the secretary to baptize the battleship Kentucky has been totally consumed. It was a perquisite of the last administra­ tion, and was partaken of by President Cleveland, Secretary Olney, Hoke Smith, ( J. Sterling Morton, Attorney General Harmon, Postmaster General Wilson and l the faithful Thurber. Secretary Carlisle and Secretary Lament were not guilty. The former does not drink, and Col. La- mont abstains from preference. ' There are bills before the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds for the erection of custom houses and postoffices in more than 200 cities of the United States and for the extension or enlarge­ ment of existing buildings in fifty other cities. During the last three or four years, while there has been a deficit in the treasury, Congress has passed very few such bills, but there is going to be a de­ termined effort this session upon the part H of representatives who need buildings in •their districts to secure authority for their erection. Commissioner Powderly finds that dur­ ing the year 1896 80,019 of the immi­ grants arriving in the United States were illiterate, and 90 per cent of them came from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Russia and Poland, 6 per cent came from France, Norway, Sweden, Germany and theJQnit- ed Kingdom. In 1897, 42,154 illiterates arrived, of which 90.23 per cent came from the group of countries first named, and 6.55 per cent from the group last named. Speaker Reed is becoming quite a so­ ciety man. He has appeared at all impor­ tant social functions thus far, and has been particularly conspicuous at the opera / every night, where he has occupied a box " as the guest of his friend, Representative Simkius of Massachusetts. HOLES IN THE SUN. Strange Phenttlrtena Visible with a Smoked Glass. With the protection of a piece of smok­ ed glass great dark spots are now visible iiear the center of the sun's surface. They aiipear as great blotches on the sun's disk, but when viewed with a pow­ erful telescope they are repealed as great' holes in the sun's surface thousands of miles in area and depth. When the spec­ troscope is used these great cavities are seen to be seething masses of rosy flame. To the eye assisted by smoked glass only one or two spots are visible, but with the telescope, in addition to three great cavi­ ties, several smaller ones come to view. Each of these is really an enormous hole and into the largest our earth could be tossed withotit "'ever touching the edges. As is usual -when such phenomena aa these are presented," astronomers are guessing and speculating as to the results I which these strange conditions may por­ tend. To those not posted in the science of the stars these conjectures and specu- j lations must either be accepted o.r reject­ ed. But whatever may be the follies and vagaries of astronomers' one thing is cer­ tain, and that js that for some time the , surface of the sun has given strong evi- J dences of a great upheaval. The culniina- tion of these evidences can only be de­ termined as they are developed. . " - ' V ' < . •