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

THE PLAlNDEALEE m ' •' x •• ' • • >• J. VAN SLYKE, Editor and Pub. McHENRY. ILLINOIS |4S GOOD AS AN ALAJ8M NO RASCAL CAN ROB THESE TWO SISTERS. Cpinsters of St. Josepli, Mo., Might Be Catalogued as Absolutely Bnrglar Proqf -- Mexico Wants $1,500,000 j' from, a San Francisco Phosphate Co. Read Each Other's Thoughts. Physicians of St; Joseph, Mo., are great­ ly mystified over what some of them term the idiosyncrasies of Anna and Nanna Funkliouser, twin sisters and maiden la­ dies, who reside at 833 South' Tenth street, and are.as alike as two peas. Their sensibilities of consanguinity are more acute than any case ever heard of by "the doctors. Telepathy iii their ease is brought to an unfailing demonstration. When tlig sisters are separated, the instant an acci­ dent or illness befalls One the other knows of it. Their sensibilities are so acute that it is impossible for robbers to plan a raid on their premises and the sisters not know of it in time to forestall the thieves. The correctness of this test has been verified too often by Chief of Police Broder to admit of doubt. The last plot to rob the sisters occurred a few days ago, and the police were'notified forty-eight hours be­ fore the commission of the crime. The ladies told Chipf Broder tli^ warning had come to them at the same instant by some mysterious agency. The patrolman on the beat was notified to keep a sharp lookout, and detected the robbers as they •were about to start work. Farmers Hold Their Grain. The consolidated returns of the differ­ ent crop reporting agencies of the De­ partment of Agriculture made up to March 1 show the wheat reserves in farm­ ers' hands on that date to have been the equivalent of 22.9"i)er cent of last year's crop, or about 121,000,000 bushels. This is 33,000,000 bushels in excess of the farm reserves reported one year ago, but th(^re­ sult of the spee^il wheat investigatiop made by the department last fall would indicate that the crop of 1S96 was larger thaif ihe department had reason to be­ lieve at the time. The corn in farmers' hands as estimated aggregates 783,000,- 000 bushels, or 41.1 per cent of last year's crop, as against 1.164,000,000 bushels, or 51 per cent, on hand on March 1. 1S97, and 1,072,000,000 bushels, or 49.8 per cent, on March 1, 189(5. The proportion of the total crop merchantable is esti­ mated at S6.8 per cent. Of oats there are reported to be about 272,000,000 bushels, or 3S.9 per cent, still in farmers' hands, as compared with 313,000,000 bushels, or 44.2 per cent, on March 1, 1897. Mexico Wants an Indemnity. The Mexican Government will attempt to compel the Oceanic Phosphate Com­ pany of San Francisco to pay an indem­ nity of $1,500,000 for unlawfully shipping guano from Clipperton Island, in the Pa­ cific ocean. Although the Mexican Gov­ ernment claims the ownership of this island and presumes to the right to de­ mand this indemnity for the foreign en­ croachment upon its territory, the phos­ phate company is equally convinced that it has as much right to the island as the Mexicans. The company took possession of Clipperton Island in 1885, and since that time has been steadily shipping guano to San Francisco and to Honolulu, receiving from §10 to $20 a ton for it. In August of 1890 several shiploads were sent from the island, the revenue from the sale of which the Mexican Government demands. NEWS NUGGETS. nees, turning several times in nearly her own length. William O. Hutchins, a manufacturing jeweler at "Providence, R. I., was shot ati8 killed by a burglar. The robber was fleeing after discovery, and Hutchins was knocking the intruder over the head with a heavy walking'"Srticl»r»si*4ien the on<?*Ta- taf bullet was fired. As a result of a conference at Albany, N. Y., between Governor Black, Lieuten- aut Governor Woodruff, Speaker O'Grady, Senator Ellsworth and Senator Kruni, the Ellsworth newspaper bill, which jiassed the Senate recently, was not called up in the assembly, 'and the probability is that it will not be pressed for passage. One of the most exciting, fires the de­ partment has ever been called upon to fight occurred at G14 Webster avenue, Pittsburg, Pa., when one woman was suffocated and seven other persons so bad­ ly injured that three may die. Three families were penned in a ramshackle building, the stairs eaten away by Uames. The building was a three-story brick ten­ ement, old and shaky. On the first floor and the rear of the second floor lived Sain Levin with his wife and seven children. On the second floor front lived Dominic Enriello, with his wife. On the third floor lived Max Verlinski, with his wife ambS-months-old baby. The fire started in Levin's dining-room, in the rear of the first floor-. It. burned through the door and lip the stairway," and in a very short time the entire building was in flames. WESTERN. The smallpox situation at Middlesboro. Ky., has improved. There are now 154 in the pesthouses and houses of detention. Fire is reported to have destroyed the greater part of Manila, capital of the Phil­ ippines. The loss is estimated at $2,000,- 000. At Colorado Springs, Colo., S. D. Chamberlain, who murdered II. H. Kay on Pike's Peak, was sentenced to life im­ prisonment. Fire destroyed the Deadwood and Dela­ ware smelter and a considerable amount of railroad property at Deadwood, near Omaha, Neb. Loss about $150,000. A mixed train on the East and West Railroad, running from Cartersville, Ga„ into Alabama, went through a burning trestle near Highland, "Ala. Engineer Spencer Phillips was instantly killed. In the Supreme Court of Wyoming a majority decision was rendered releasing ex-State Treasurer Otto Gramin and his sureties from responsibility to the State for the loss of $45,000 of State funds by the failure of a Cheyenne bank where „Gramin kept the funds in 1S90. In Paris, the minister for foreign affairs, M. Hanotaux, received Thomas W. Crid- ler, special commissioner, and Col. Ham­ burger, the assistant commissioner. Col. Hamburger says that the commissioners have been assured that their request for more space will be partly acceded to. The Populist administration of the State of Kansas has given out a startling public address, one bristling with severe criticism of the recent decision of the United States Suprefte Court in the Ne­ braska maximum freight rate case. The address is particularly significant in that Gov. Leedy has already taken steps pre­ liminary to the palling of the State Leg­ islature in special session, with the espe­ cial purpose of enacting a maximum freight rate law. While the address is given out over the signature of Gov. Leedy, it had first been approved by Chief Justice Dostor of the State Su- jireme Court and other prominent Popu­ lists. - . Mrs. Clarice Ivluge, a handsome woman of 30 years and the mother of two small children, has put in a claim for a share of the estate of ex-Mayor Sutro of San Francisco, who was recently declared in­ competent. The woman claims that she was for many years Mr. Sutro's contract wife and says she has conclusive proof of her statement. Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British am­ bassador, has informed the President that the judgment in the Alabama case will not permit the purchase of warships in Great Britain by the American Govern stent. The Ohio-Legislature lias passed a bill authorizing the Governor to appoint wom­ en notaries public. Tlie McKenna Steel Works Co., of Jo- ljet, 111., has purchased seven acres of land in a suburb of Kansas City, Mo., and intends to erect a big steel rolling mill. t Mrs. Olga Demorest of Grove City, twelve miles from Columbus, Ohio, took the life of her 4-year-old sou Arden with a razor and was proceeding to murder her husband, who was too ill to resist, and the family, when a servant raised the neigh­ bors and the insane woman was overpow­ ered. Prof. James E. Keeler, now at Alle­ gheny observatory, has been elected di­ rector of Lick observatory in California, to succeed Prof. Edward S. Ilolden, who recently resigned after twenty-five years' seryiqe. Keeler was educated at Johns Hopkins, and has made a specialty of spectroscopy. The J. M. Blair Brick Company of Cincinnati has made an assignment to the Union Savings Bank and Trust Company. Assets consisting of the, company's plant are nominally $100,000, to which may be added money due from its debtors. Lia­ bilities are: Bonded debt, $25,000; other debts, $45,000; total. $70,000. Three members of the "Robbers' Roost" band of outlaws, charged with murdering a boy named William Strang and a Wyo­ ming stockman named Valentine Hoy, have been captured in the Henry Moun­ tains in Wyoming by a posse of Hoy's friends and lynched. They were Louis P. Johnson, J. Bemret and one unknown man. Secret service officers have arrested at De Soto, Mo., Joseph Cature, William Sutton and William Maffit on a charge of making and circulating counterfeit money. They are now locked up at the Four Courts. Joseph Cature was night engineer at the De Soto electric light works. He was captured while making the spurious coin, and with him was taken molds, metals, crucibles and $50 in coin. Sutton is 32 years old and comes from Indiana. Seven years ago William Rodgers, a convict serving a thirty-year sentence in the penitentiary at San Quentin, Cal., was told by Lieut. McLean of the force of guards to stop talking and attend to his work. The prisoner replied: "I'll not talk any more." He kept his word until the other day, when he was informed that McLean had left the prison. Then Rodg­ ers broke his silence of seven years by remarking that his vow was off. He now converses freely with his fellow convicts. in oxen and other cattle and 840,283 In swine. There is an increase of 838,817 in. the number of sheet) and 42,011 in mules. Of the seventeen otates reporting a total of over 1,000,000 of hogs, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, Kftnea^'and Ne­ braska show an increase, and Indiana," •Illinois, Iowa and eight Southern States a decrease. There is a marked increase in the value of live stock on farms reported from almost every sectiofr of the country, the total value of farm horses iraTing,'in- creased during the year by $25,713,011; that oif mules, $G,728,972; milch cows, $05,573,933;oxen *airfl other cattle, $104,- 307,21-ftr' sheep, $25,700,191, and swine, $8,078,039--a total increase in value of $230,102,859, or 14.27 per cent. FOREIGN. The Peking correspondent of the Lon­ don Times says Russia has demanded that China surrender to her all sovereign rights over Port Arthur and Ta-Lien-Wan for the same period and on the same condi­ tions as in the case of Germany at Kiao- Chou. Sig. Felice Carlo Cavalotti, poet, dra­ matist, publicist and well-known radical member of the chamber of deputies for Corte-Olona, was killed at Rome in a duel with swords with Sig. Macola, mem­ ber of the chamber of deputies and editor Of the Gazzetta di Venezia. The duel was the result of a newspaper quarrel. A great sensation has been caused in Paris by the report that former Captain Albert Dreyfus, for whose defense Zola was recently tried and convicted, had at­ tempted to commit suicide in his lonely prison on the Isle du Diable, off the coast of French Guiana. The vigilance of his guards prevented the man from taking his life. The British steamer Gleadowe of Lon­ don, bound from Delaware Breakwater light to Norfolk for a cargo, stranded two miles south of Cape Henry, Va., life saving station during a gale, which was blowing fifty miles an hour from the northeast. She was commanded by Cap­ tain Harris of England and had a crew of twenty-three men. All of theni were taken off with a breeches buoy by the Cape Henry life saving crew. The ves­ sel probably will be floated. The Spanish gunboat Ardilla has cap­ tured in an inlet near-^Casilda, on the south coast of Cubw^Vhe American schooner Esther of Edentga, N. C., bound from Pensacola to Jamaica. The captain of. the schooner was asked to give the reason: for the presence of his vessel in the inlert: and claimed that liis rudder was broken, No further details of the affair have been received, but if the statements of the cap­ tain of the Esther turn out to be correct the schooner will be liberated. The cap­ tain has protested against the seizure of his vessel. The Esther is of 1,131 tons gross register. IN GENERAL. THE UNITED STATES IS READY. SQUTHSj^N. A negro named Will Jbnes was lynched at Lake Cormorant, Miss., by an unknown mob for assaulting a colored woman. A general creditors' bill lias been filed against the La Follette Land and Im­ provement Company of La Follette, Campbell Couuty, Tenn. Four tramps were asphyxiated in a re­ frigerator car at Fort Worth, Tex. They had built a coal fire in a leaky'stove, and they were overcome by the gas while they slept. i At Paducah, Ky., Joe Lynch was'shot, his sou, Hurt Lynch, was cut, Wade Harding was shot and James Morris was stabbed. All are seriously injured. They fought over a lawsuit. In a street fight in Texarkana, Arlc., Vinson Graviano was shot through the heart, S. Graviano mortally wounded, and Pete Darriga seriously wounded. The participants were barbers. While firing a salute in Frankfort, Ky., in honor of the Irish celebration, William Overton was fatally mangled and A. B. Dixon had one of his hands blown off by the premature explosion of the cannon. William and Samuel Gross engaged in a fight with Abe Carroll, John Carroll and Abe Sewall in Harlan County, Ky. Sew- all was kistantly killed, while William Gross and one of the Carrolls were fatally injured. A special from Norfolk, Va., reports the loss of the powerful tug Underwriter of Boston in a storm off Hatteras. The tug left Norfolk with the derrick Chief in tow for Havana, where the vessels were to help iti the work of raising the Maine. The rumor that Andrew Carnegie is dying or that he is seriously ill is denied by olficials of the Carnegie Steel Com­ pany. The steamship Maria Richmers, on her maiden voyage from Bremen for Balti­ more, with 100 steerage passengers and a general cargo, was towed into Halifax, N. S., by the steamer Alpha with a tail shaft broken. Consul Dudley at Vancouver, B. C„ who recently made a report extolling the Canadian routes to the Klondike, has been notified by the state department at Washington that hereafter his reports must not favor foreign interests in com­ petition with those of the United States. Students of the wheat market are influ­ enced by some rather startling statistics from the northwestern grain markets. Two years ago that district had on hand 24,000,000 of contract wheat. A year ago there was 13,000,000. To-day there is less than 5,000,000, of which but l,000 , r 000 is contract wheat. It is stated that there is not enough wheat in sight to sup­ ply the mills and meet the demand for seed. The situation is further complicat­ ed by the fact that the most of this wheat is owned by Leiter with Armour bidding for what little comes into the market. The prospects are for fqtncy prices before the new crop is harvested. Bradstreet's says: " Nearly all signs point to an unprecedented volume of busi­ ness being done or arranging for at the present time. The aggressive strength of prices, record-breaking bank clearings and continued large exports, particularly of the loAver-priced cereals, a very heavy volume of business in iron and steel and kindred lines, and generally satisfactory reports as to the volume of spring trade at leading distributive centers are among the visible features of this trade develop­ ment. Few decreases in prices are noted, sugar being the most important, while the list of staples steady and unchanged num­ bers pork, coffee, lead and print cloths. Trade is larger than usual at the central west, particularly in dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hardware, lumber and agricultural implements, the demand for the latter being a notable feature at near­ ly ail markets. Spring trade has opened up well in the northwest and the jobbing trade is quite active. A further shrink­ age in wheat exports, but a corresponding enlargement of the shipments of corn and the lower-priced cereals, is indicated this week. The total exports of wheat, flour included, from the United States and Canada aggregate 3,252,000 bushels, against 3,722.000 bushels last week. Corn exports amount to 5.054,094 bushels, as against 3,092,000 bushels last week." WASHINGTON. Feeling that a Conflict with Spain Is Soon to Come. Congress Makes Appropriation of $50,000,000 for Errrergenqy. UNITED STATES IS READY. Spirit of Patriotism Is Universal "Among American People. The Administration and All Officials at the National Capital.Realize that the Country-Is Facing a Crisis--Con­ ditions Deemed Such that Hostilities Seem Inevitable -- Spaniards Have Sought to Cause a Clash and Must Take the Bitter Consequences-No Honorable Recourse Save the Ar­ bitrament of Arms Appears Open. T Washington correspondence: HERE "is a general feeling at the capital that we are face to face with a crisis. The bill to appropri­ ate .$50,000,000 for the national defense is evidence that the administration lias recognized this in its preparations for an emergency. Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, chairman of the House Committee on Ap­ propriations. -Monday introduced the bill SPANISn PHEMIER SAGASTA. appropriating $50,000,000 for national de­ fense, This bill is as follows: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled: That there is administration at the time this is written is that the country is on the verge of war. Conditions- are such that an outbreak seems unlikely to be long postponed. There is good authority for the! statement that Congress will declare war against Spain soon after the report of the board of inquiry into the Maine disaster has been made public. The change of front on the part of the administration is regarded as significant. Mr. McKinley, who all along had seemed somewhat averse to the ominous move of asking Congress to assist liim,.^ making preparations for war, has tfirown off his indifference and did not hesitate to re­ adiest the emergency appropriation of $50,000,000. The change in the attitude of Speaker Reed was even more uoticea- ble than in the case of the President. The Speaker had set his face resolutely against every proposed piece of legisla­ tion which might be construed as intend­ ed to prepare the country for war. Mr. Reed had declared that there should be no increase in the standing army and that the bills for 1,500 additional seamen and the arming of the auxiliary cruisers should never see the light of day. Mon­ day, however, Mr. Reec] looked,11,^1 ,a,cted very differently. The transformations which have occur­ red in the cases of men like "Joe'* Can­ non, Payne, Little, Dalzell and Gen. Hen­ derson were also such as to cause com­ ment. Saturday night some pooh-poohed the idea that war with Spain was possible, declaring that the people of the United States were not concerned about Cijba, and that it would be ridiculous for this country to dispute the right of the Spanish Government to control its own dominion. Monday some of these same men were going about like raging lions. There was a reason for all these changes, and efforts were made in every direction to find what that reason was. I can say upon what is considered thor­ oughly reliable authority that President McKinley had in his possession a tran­ script of the evidence taken up to Friday before the board of inquiry seeking to dis­ cover the cause of the disaster to the bat­ tleship Maine in Havana harbor. That testimony, it is asserted, is of the most at any time. It is a long ways from a strained situation or a misunderstanding to actual war, they argue, and this dis­ tance may never be bridged. In fact; there are plenty of acute observers of the situation who say Spain's apparent policy of aggressiveness is a mere bluff, designed for home consumption, and that the best possible treatment of it was to refuse the recall of Qen. Lee and to refuse to change the plan of sending relief supplies to Cuba by war vessels.' / If it were Spain's pur­ pose to test the firmness of the United States, to ascertain whether or not this country was'feaily willing to take its place, gun in hand, ready to fight a duel, Spain has her answer. Meanwhile, too, the most energetic prac­ tical preparations for war continue in this country. Ships are being fitted out as rapidly as possible, crews are being en­ listed, ammunition is hurried forward, the coast defenses are manned, transports for troops are being prepared, the State mi­ litia are ready to jump aboard the cars. Not only is the President to have placed in his hands the funds with which to outfit all our own ships, including the merchant vessels subject to our call for transports or auxiliary cruisers, but he will be able to< close contracts for the purchase of a num­ ber of foreign battleships and cruisers which are in the market. If it turn out to be true that Spain has succeeded in borrowing $40,000,000, and with this has bought two Brazilian cruisers, the Presi­ dent will in a few days have in hand the money with which to buy a dozen ships, if that .many are thought necessary. Moreover,' it is proposed to let contracts at once for1'the construction of a large number of small torpedo boats, perhaps fift\ or a hundred, to be built during the next two months.on inland rivers and lakes, where they will be free from any- possible Spanish attack, ready to be taken to the seaboard at a moment's notice. The meaning of all this is simply that the re­ sources and ingenuity of the American people are brought into play in all their wonderful extent and celerity in prepara­ tion for the national defense. Coupled with the preparations which the Govern­ ment has been making for months past, the sum total is most formidable and well calculated to impress Spain or any other THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON CRUISINU ORDER. After a debate lasting several days the Senate on Friday passed the bill extend­ ing the homestead laws and providing for right of way for railroads in the district of Alaska. Comparatively little discus­ sion of general interest was created by the bill. Section 13, providing for certain bonding concessions to Canada in lieu of privileges to be extended by the Domin­ ion Government to this country, however, induced a pretty lively debate, as it: brought into the controversy the old fish­ eries question on the New England coast,, which has been pending between the Unit­ ed States and Great Britain for 100 years. Two more appropriations were sent to tlie President Friday, the pension bill and the consular and diplomatic, both of" which weiit through their final stage in. the House. It was private bill day. The- most important action taken Was acqui­ escence in an agreement to make the bill appropriating about $1,200,000 for war claims approved by the court of claims under the provisions of the Bowman act a special order for the next Friday. Ther- claims carried by the bill, 730 in number,, are for stores and supplies seized during the war ip the Southern States. Quly two bills \wre passed, one to pay the heirs of Sterling T. Austin about $59,000 for cotton seized during the War, and the oth­ er to pay an aggregate of $3,300 in small claims growing out of back pay, etc.,. earned during the war. The House ad­ journed until Monday. In the House on Monday the Hawley bill providing for two additional regiments^ of artillery was passed under suspension of the rules by almost unanimous vote, Mr. Bailey, the Democratic leader, want­ ed more time for debate than the forty minutes allowed, and because he did not get it he inaugurated a filibuster against District of Columbia legislation that con­ tinued all day. In the Senate the session was devoted to consideration of the Dis­ trict of Columbia appropriation bill. At the hour of adjournment the bill had not been disposed of. . -« The District of Columbia appropriation bill, containing a provision for the reduc­ tion of about one-half of the present rates of telephone cliarges 'in the district,, was passed by the Senate on Tuesday. A bill to authorize the relocation and re­ building of a pontoon bridge across the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, Wis., was passed. The, bill for the relief of the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Tennessee, appropriating $288,000, was passed. In the House the bill appropriat­ ing $50,00«,000 for defense passed unani­ mously. In the House on Wednesday the legis­ lative, executive and judicial appropria­ tion bill went through its last stages in the adoption of the financial conference report. Tlie remainder of the day was consumed in consideration of the Senate amendments to the Indian appropriation bill. The substitute for the Senate pro­ vision regarding the opening of the Un- compahgre reservation was knocked out on a point of order, and the amendment goes back to conference. The desire of the conferees to non-concur in the Senate free homestead clause encountered bitter opposition, and an arrangement was made whereby four hours are to be devoted to debate a proposition to concur submitted by Mr. Eddy of Minnesota. Mr. Sher­ man, chairman of the Indian Committee, declared that the free homestead provis­ ion would cost the Government $50,000,- 000. He desires to eliminate it from the bill, and has the support of the Secretary of the Interior. In the Senate the $50,- 000,000 defense bill was passed by a unanimous vote. Hawaiian annexation, was considered in executive session. In the House all day Thursday was spent on the Indian appropriation bill. The Senate amendments were non-con­ curred in and the bill sent to conference. In the Senate no business of real impor­ tance was transacted in open session. The session lasted only an hour, the time be­ ing largely consumed in disposing of rou­ tine morning business. A few bills of minor importance were passed. EASTERN. I . 1 . • j Eight persons were injured in a panic at a Hartford, Conn., theater. The strike at the Pepperell and Laconia Cotton mills at Biddeforl, Maine, has been declared off and the operatives will resume work under the promise that the mills will not be the last to restore the old rate of wages. About 3,500 hands are affected. The Holland submarine torpedo boat made a half hour's trip off Perth Atnboy, on Staten Island Sound. Everything was in perfect condition, and the boat, answer­ ed to her helm with remarkable quick Rear Admiral Matthews will relinquish his duties as chief of the bureau of yards and docks on the 15th inst. He will retire in the autumn. Captain Sigsbee and Cap­ tain Dickens, the latter being assistant chief of the bureau of navigation, are among the oflicers talked of to succeed Admiral Matthews. A remarkable case of pension fraud, the latest developments in which have just come to light, has been made public by the pension office in Washington. About eight years ago"George Watson, with four aliases, was sentenced to a fine and im­ prisonment for having drawn four sep­ arate pensions. At the time of his con­ viction-lie had two other applications for pensions on file. Being an exemplary pris­ oner, Watson was discharged in June, 1890. Shortly after, under the name of George Kelley, he presented a claim for pension on account of service in the Mex­ ican war on the ship Savannah, and later filed an application for still another on acount of service in the rebellion on the ship Pawnee. In this his duplicity was discovered, as a result of which he was held in Philadelphia for several.days un­ der $1,000 bajl. The Agricultural Department at Wash­ ington has issued the following bulletin on live stock: The returns Of the number of live stock on farms-in the United States Jan. 1 show 13,900,911 horses, 2,257,005 mules, 15,840,880 milch cows, 29,204,197 oxen and other cattle, 37,050,900 sheep and 39,759,993 swine. These figures show a decrease of 403,750 in the number of horses, 100,8-11 in milch cows. 1,244,211 MARKET REPORTS. Chicago--Cattle, common to prime, $3.00 to $5.75; hogs, shipping grades, $3.00 to $4.25; sheep, fair to choice, $2.50 to $4 75; wheat, No. 2 red, $1.02 to $1.03; corn, No. 2, 29c to 30c; oats, No. 2, 20c to 27c; rye, No. 2, 49c to 50c; butter, choice creamery, 19c to 21c; eggs, fresh, 10c to 11c; potatoes, common to choice, 55c to 70c per bushel. Indianapolis--Cattle, shipping, $3.00 to $5.25; liogs, choice light, $3.00 to $4.25; sheep, common to choice, $3.00 to $4.50; wheat, No. 2, 97c to 99c; corn, No. 2, white, 30c to 31c; oats, No. 2 white, 29c to 31c. S^, Louis--Cattle, $3.00 to $5.75; hogs, $3.00 to $4.25; sheep, $3.00 to $4.75; wheat, No. 99c to $1.01; corn, No. 2 yellow, 27c to 28c; oats, No. 2, 27c to 28c; rye, No. 2, 49c to 50c. Cincinnati--Cattle, $2.50 to $5.25; hogs, $3.00 to $4.25; sheep, $2.50 to $4.75; wheat, No. 2 red, 97c to 99c; corn, No. 2 mixed, 31c to 32c; oats, No. 2 mixed, 27c to 29c; rye, No. 2, 53c to 55c. „ . Detroit--Cattle, $2.50 to $5.50; hogs, $3.00 to $4.25; sheep, $2.50 to $5.00; wheat, No. 2, 97c to 98c; corn, No. 2 yellow, 32c to 33c; oats, No, 2 white, 29c to 31<;; rye, 52c to 53c. Toledo--Wheat, No. 2 red, 98c to $1.00; corn, No. 2 mixed, 30c to 32c; oats, No. 2 white, 27c to 28c; rye, No. 2, 50c to 51c; clover seed, $3.05 to $3.10. Milwaukee--Wheat, No. 2 spring, 93c to 95c; corn, No. 3, 29c to 31c; oats, No. 2 white, 28c to 29c; rye, No. 1, 50c to 51c; barley, No. 2, 'GSc-i to 42c; pork, mess, $10.00 to $10,50. • , Buffalo--Cattle, $3.00 to $5.50; ~ hogs, $3.00 to $4.50; sheep, $3.00 to $5.00; wheat, No. 2 red, 9Sc to $1.00; corn, No 2 yellow, 33c to 35c; oats, No. 2 white, 32c to 33c. i New York--Cattle, $3,00 to $5.50; hogs, $3.00 to $4.50; sheep, ,$3.00 to $5.00i wheat, No. 2 red, $1.07 to $1.0S; corn, No, 2, 37c to 38c; oats,;,No, 2 white. 31c to 32c; butter, creamery, TCc to 21c; eggs, Western, 12c to 13a. hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the national defense and for each and every purpose connected therewith, to be expended at the discretion of the Presi­ dent, and to remain available until June 30, 1899, $50,000,000." Mr. Cannon introduced this bill in his individual capacity, but it was after a most important conference at tlie White House attended by Secretary Ixtng, Sen­ ators Allison and Hale, and Representa­ tives Cannon, Dingley, Boutelle and Gros- venor. The conference continued for an hour and was regarded as most signifi­ cant, in view of the developments of the day and the reports that the President had given an emphatic refusal to the re­ quest for the recall of Consul General Lee, and another to the request that re­ lief supplies should be sent to_ Cuba in merchant rather than in war vessels. While Senators and Representatives were speculating as to the meaning. of such a conference, the answer came from Mr. Cannon when he introduced his^ bill appropriating $50,000,000 for the national defense. There was much excitement in the House, but >Ir. Cannon said he had no intention of adding to the excitement throughout the countryr^The bill speaks for itself," said he. "It is an appropria­ tion for national defense and it gives the President discretion, in the use of the money. I am not certain that we should not always have such an emergency fund. But just now, with the strained relations between this Government and SP^'i and the talk of war, it is important that the President should leave nothing undone that would strengthen the national de­ fense. He is doing everything, but there are some things which cannot be done le­ gally, such as the purchase of ammunition for our navy, projectiles for our big coast defense guns, coal for our fleet, and other things that have to be contracted for when there is an emergency. This appro­ priation is to be drawn against in just such an emergency." The bill is not simply a private bill, it is an administration bill and an emergency measure. The situation regarding Cuba has become so delicate that it is recogniz­ ed tha» war is inevitable unless Spain is made ) understand that this Government is ready for war and will not stop at half­ way measures. The President proposes to be ready for any emergency, and if Spain wants war she shall have it, but she will be driven from the western hemisphere She has done enough bluffing. Although few persons will openly admit it, the' feeling in the inner circles of the startling character. This evidence is said to show that the Maine was not only blown up by design, but that her destruc­ tion was the result of a carefully laid con­ spiracy, in which a number of Spanish guerrillas and volunteers and at least.prie Spanish officer were implicated. I am assured that when the full report of the board of inquiry is made public it will dis­ close facts which wiH shoek the civilized world. Heretofore the President has believed that he could bring the war in Cuba to an end by peaceful means. While not entire­ ly confident that he could secure the peace and independence for the island by such means, he hoped at lda&t that he might secure autonomy for Cuba with the prom­ ise of independence to be accorded tlie Cubans at some date in the future. Here- . .. , tofore all preparations made by the Presi- i misunderstood: It is that if'wpr is forced possible enemy' with the vastness of the task which Jilie must undertake if she starts wavf;<f^qii us. The United States is ready fo»;war, and at. this moment Is able; to make \Var with terrible effective­ ness. Thjs . Government is not seeking war, and is trying to avert war, but if it must come to blows we are ready to strike in aSva.y which Spain will never forget. But It is a long way yet to war, and we may never get there. The attitude of the President is that it is not for us to make war, but to be prepared for it if it is forc­ ed upon us. There is nothing in tlie pres­ ent situation justifying Spain, in declaring or provoking, hostilities. ^ Nothing is at isstre which ifiakes a- case^ on which she dare go before the world as a disturber of the peace. The position of this Govern­ ment is a. simple t>ncv aiid;$honkl -not be dent have been for defense, for he lias recognized all along that war might result in spite of all his precautions. Since he SPAIN'S TtOY KING. has looked at the evidence deduced before the board of inquiry he lias changed all his plans. During the last month a lesson in cool­ ness and self-possession has been well learned. If Spain were only able to real­ ize it, the very calmness of the American Government and the American people speaks louder than any noisy vociferation. In the presence of a real danger of war-- for no one denies that a real danger now exists--party lines seem obliterated and every branch of the Government and ev­ ery man wfio has anything to do with it stands squarely out for the preservation of American honor. Though the war cloud darkens, it is not believed by some that the storm is likely to break very soon, although it may come upon us, either directly or by provocation, we will fight. Or in good time we will have a solution of the Cuban problem, which has become simply intolerable to this nation, even if we have to fight to get it. But over such questions as Dupuy de Lome, Gen. Lee. the Maine disaster and the method of,forwarding relief sup­ plies it is, our purpQSe to be correct in ac­ cordance with tlie practice of nations, dig­ nified and firm, neither cringing nor un­ necessarily provoking. One thing now most noticeable among the public men of Washington is that as the danger of war becomes more serious they grow more conservative. The events of the last few days, pointing more and more to the possibility of war through change of policy at Madrid or thd accident of friction between people who are grow­ ing to hate one another, have served to level up and level down opinion at the American capital. Those who were ultra conservative have become patriotic advo­ cates of war, if necessary to preserve our honor and dignity. Those who first fierce­ ly shouted for blood, with or without rea­ son, are now facing the actualities of the situation calmly. In truth, so far as the country is represented at Washington by Senators and Representatives of all po­ litical parties, of all sections and all shades of opinion, the nation stands to­ gether as one man looking calmly and without fear into the eye of a possible foe. The jury in the case of the State of Ne­ braska against the bondsmen of ex-State Treasurer Bartley returned a verdict for the defense. The amount sued for is $550,- 000. • • At Cairo, W. Va., near Parkersburg, Geo. Collins, 12 years old, stabbed his mother twelve times, while she was at­ tempting to punish him for disobedience. News of Minor Note. According to the latest figures, China owes her creditors $193,525,000. Gen. W. B. Taliaferro, who was com­ mander of the Virginia troops during John Brown's raid, is dead. Four hundred patients have died of starvation .in one Havana hospital dur­ ing the past two mouths. Mayor Good of Springfield, O., has been ousted by the Circuit Court for violations of tfie Garfield corrupt practice law. The body of ex-Commissioner Leonard R. Wells of Brooklyn has been found in the woods near IMainfield, N. J., with a horrible gash in his throat. Miss Frances E. Willard bequeathed her estate to the Temple fund, after the life interests of her secretary and her sis­ ter-in-law have expired. Half the party organized by Miss 'Mary M. Board at New Brunswick, N. J., to found a temperance colony in Alaska started for their destination. The report that a Spanish naval officer some time ago sold to the Washington authorities a map of Havana harbor, showing submarine mines, is not credited. A 7-foot granite monument in the Up­ per Ilartz. Germany, has an iron tablet inscribed: "Here in the year 1847 the first trials were made with the cultivation of the potato." A cablegram to London from Shanghai, China, says the United States As'a<le squadron is concentrated at Hong-Kong, with a view to active operations against Manilla. Philippine Islands, in the event of war with Spain. A Paris newspaper expresses a hope that "a European statesman will be found to intervene, with a view of the mainte­ nance of peace between the United States and Spain." The navies of the world are now rated as follows: Great Britain, 1: France, 2; Russia, 3: Italy, 4; United States, 5; Ger­ many, 0: Spain. 7; Japan, 8; Austria, 9, and Netherlands, 10. The smokestack of the Government as­ say office in Wall street. New York, has lately been cleaned, and the sweepings smelted and refined, yielding 52 standard ounces of gold and 800 ounces of silver. A sale of American prize horses took place in London. Twenty-two magnifi­ cent aniiualsi which took prizes at recent horse shows in Chicago and New York, were sold at auction at an average price of about .^294. a striking illustration of foreign prejudice against American pro­ ducts. Another phase of the cigarette smoking evil is attracting the attention of Cincin­ nati physicians'in the case of Joseph Sav­ age. 19 years old, in one of the city hos­ pitals. Through smoking forty cigarettes a day he contracted an ulcer which de­ stroyed the membrane behind the palate in his throat, and he now exhales smoke from his ears as well a? from his nostrils.