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FIRE AT OTTAWA FLAMES AGAIN RAGE AT THE CAPITAL. Five Hundred Familles are Rondexed Homeless, and Nearly Two Hundred Buildings, and Milliens of eet Lumber are Destroyed. of Otluwa, May 11. TFive hundred families, some two thousand five hun- dred souls homeless, fifteen million feet of lumber, three hundred houses destroyed, as the work of an incen- diary is the record of a fire that turned the usual Sabbath stillness of an Ottawa Sunday into the hurry "and bustle of a town given over to the ravages of a merciless enemy. The fire broke out about 3.30 p.m. with a strong southeast wind blow- ing, in Booth's lumber piles, near the St. Louis dam, and able headway before the alarm was given. To the terrors of fire were added, those ol a temporary water famine, owing to the water main bursting. Instead of orderly people dressed in Sunday best, going to church, the city was given over to trains of wagons rescuing furniture, to the hurry and bustle of rapidly moving made comnsider-: hose wagons, the sound of' bugles, loud alarms and the tramp ot the militia called out to assist the arduous efforts. : The fire was well handled when once the break in the water main was repaired, and after seven hours'. hard fighting, when more than a square mile: of territory had been devastated, was got under control, the results being as given above. At one time it looked as though 'the entire western portion of the city would be fireswept, and the greatest alarm prevailed, but fortu- nately the danger was averted, and at midnight the anxious citizens were able to retire assured that the de- vouring element had done its worst for this time also. The first fire occurred in the C. P. R. hay shed about 11.30 a. m:, and for two hours gave the brigade all they could do to confine place of its erigin. Finally they ex- tinguished the blaze and went to the stations to ve-cquip with fresh hose and prepare {or another alarm should it, come in. Barely had the hose wagon refitted than an alarm was received from box 153, near the junction of the C. P. R. and car lines, close to the St. Iowmis dam. The western section of the brigade hastened to the scene 'and found that the lumber piles in Booth's vard were burning fiercely almost exactly at the point where the great fire of 1900 was finally checked. A high sbuthwest wind was blowing and the flames were rapidly sweeping through the lumber piles, - which were dry as tinder owing to the long drouth. ' 'A general alarm was turned in and the whole brigade were quickly on the scene. Several streams of hose were laid, but barely had they begun to play on the blaze than the streams of water dwindled down to a mere nothing, and it became ap- parent their supply by some means or other was stopped. Chief Provost, it to the. who was in com- maand, did not, however, for a min- ute lose his head. Stationing two fire cngines at the dam he sent the | others down to the waterworks tail- race and prepared to do his best with long lines of hose, supplied from their two engines. The alarm came in shortly before 4 o'clock, and when the chief arrived on the scene it was evident from the hold the fire had already taken that it. had been burning for some twenty minutes or half an hour, still had the water supply held out, it was almost a certainty that the brigade would have been able to hold 1t within a reasonable distance of. where they found it. Sr Enquiries made by phone to the pump house elicited the information that the main pipe from the pumps te the city main had burst at a joint known to be weak and which City Engineer Kerr had already laid bare and was prepared to repair. The brigade rendered helpless and a strong southwest wind blowing, the flanies rushed with a mighty roar along the track of the great fire of three years ago. Passing down the lumber yard it reached the houses on the west side of Preston street and leaped from one to the other with amazing ranid- ity. The width of the street proved - 1:0 obstacle. Blazing shingles cross- ed the street, and soon a series of separate fires broke out on Rochester and Divisiom streets. ? NEWS NOTES Short ems Onided Froyn Telegraphie 4 Disyntahios, . ; Russian troops have withdrawn from New Chwang. Vignaux has been declared the world's champion billiardist. Shamrock Ill. easily defeated Shamrock I. in aan 18-hour spin. The longshoremen's strike in Mon- treal has been practically settled. . During the last ten months 75,000 immigrants have arrived in Western Canada. THE RAILWAY BLOCKADE. O her Conntries Worse off than Western Canada --Trade Paraiyzed in the United States. The question of railway freight congestion in Manitoba and the Ter- ritovies, discussed in the Dominion Parliament rerently, has brought out the fact that Western Canada is not alone in being a sufferer from over-: muck prosperity. In the United States. It is shown, even a greater blockade exists than that complained of here, which, in some parts, has caused almost an entire suspension of L:usiness. One paper says that fac- tories are closed, that trade is para- lyzed, and that many people have been brought to the verge of ruin owing to the 'inability of the rail- ways to handle the immense volume j of traffic. The railway companics assert that every effort is being and has been made to meet the require-! ments of the public, but that, so great has been the development of 1both' freight and passenger trafic, and the impossibility to secure ad- ditional attempt to successfully carry all the goods offered. the conditions are such that it is actually beyond human power to do more than is being done, and they hold out no hope of relief till the un- precedented rush of the past year or two is over. The same state of al- fairs exists but fortunately in a lesser degree in Xastern Canada. While Western Canada cannot expect te be exempt from 'the prevailing conditions elsewhere in America, there is some satisfaction in knowing that we are not so badly off as else where A MILLION FOR "A GIRL." A Chicago Banker who is in Scarch ef a Domestic Servant at tigh Wage, A dispatch from New Vork dated May 9 says: His search for a good servant maid has brought John Far- son, multi-millionaire and philan- thropist, to the Waldori-Astoria. The Chicago bond broker and banker could not find in all Chicago or the western country a girl who was will- ing to accept his offerof $1,000,000 bonus, in addition to good wages and an ideal home, to enter his house- hold service and agree to remain in ihe family until he 48 years old. Ey There is no trick about this $1,- 000,000. Mr. Farson is eager and anxious to find someone to accept it. He has not given up hope of sccur- ing what be wants, but if he faile to find the ideal domestic on his pre- sent trip to New York he admits he will be discouraged. "Tl give $1,000,000 for a good servant girl,"' said the owner of "Pleasant Home,"' a splendid subur- ban place in Oak Park, Chicago, to a reporter who asked him if the of- fer still held good. "If IT get a good girl the money will be well spent. No one but a married man knows how hard it is to find competent help--and when found, to keep it. 'Some servants leave to get mar- ried, others because they are misun- derstood, and still others are asked Lo leave. The servants at my home generally leave to get married. "Now, I'll give $1,000,000 to the servant girl who will come to my homie and agree to stay there as long as I live. This is aside from the wages to be paid. one who will always be there and who will never want to leave. So far I have been unable to find a good girl who will agree to stick. What's the matter with the girls, anyhow ? Don't they want a good place and a fertune thrown in ? "' Mr. Farson is head of the banking house of TFarson, Leach & Co., of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. The formal offer which Mr. Farson has made is all ready to be tran- scribed into a contract as goon as the right girl steps forward to affix her signature. Here it is 'My ideal servant girl never makes an crror in table service. She knows at a glance the likes and dislikes of my guest at the table whom she has never seen befere She never sulks. She always 1s dignified. She is pru- dent. and knows her place. She is always neat. She never discusses household affairs with outsiders. She is a good nurse, a good cook and knows something about dressmaking. "To such a girl as this I will legve £1,000,000 ia my will." The Ontario Government will erect a statue to Sir Oliver Mowat and will ask the legislature for a prelim- inary vote of $5,000 this session. An Elm' Creek dispatch says that when the express train was a couple of miles west of Fanneystelle on Thursday of last week a man from Carman the wind blew him off the train. No one saw him tumble except a foreign- er, who said nothing about it until he got to lm Creek, when the man Flliott being missed, he told his story. The passengers for Carman change cars at this station, and the Carman local was run back on the main line to look after Elliott, who was found about eight miles back, lving unconscious alongside the track, being stunned by the fall, but riot otherwise injured. rolling stock, they cannot They point out that. Lig ; died. He is now I want some named George Elliott was | passing from one car to another, and ; FLORENGE NIGHTINGALE Sho Received Numerous Co gratulations on her Birtnday. T.ondon, May 15.--Florence Night- ingale, ' {ne {amocus Crimean war nurse, was showered with congratu- *her a tions today on having reached iaightieth birthday. There, were number of callers at her residence, yall of whom were received and wel- come, although the health of the | venerable heroine is not of the best. | Queen Alexandra's congratulations, {in the form of an autograph letter, y were delivered to Miss Nightingale py a special messenger. Dispatches icouched in felicitous phrases were al- so received from other crowned heads jof Europe and from persons of note in all parts of the world. Miss Nightingale is now a tall wo- man, rather stout, with gray hair 'and fine open face. Although a great sufferer, she shows little trace of it. She spends most of her time in read- (ing. Her room is litered with mag- azines, newspapers, writing papers, pencils and letters: She loathes any- thing in the form of publicity, and seldom grants an intervidw. but to anyone who seeks advice on (nes- tions affecting the interests of the sick or those who " nurse them, a hearty welcome and a word of 'en- couragement and cogmsél. are. always cheerfully accorded. She has a very comfortable horae in one of the best streets in the west end of London. Miss Nightingale, who owes her fame to her labors in reforming the sanitary condition of the British army. was born at Florence in 1823. In the spring of 1854 war was de- clared with Russia. and a British ar- my of 25.000 men sailed to the east. i Alma was fought on Sept. 20, and the wounded from the battle were sent down to the hospitals prepared for their reception on the banks of the Bosphorus. In the crisis Miss Nightingale offered to £0 out and or- ganize a nursing department at Scu- tari. The offer was gladly accepted by the war office and within a week she departed with her nurses. She ar- rived at Constantinople on the eve of the battle of Inkermann--the Fke- ginning of the terrible winter cam- paign--in time to receive the wound- ed from that second battle into wards already filled with 2,300 pa- tients. ; i In the spring of 1855, while in the Crimea organizing the nursing de- partment, she was Prostrated with fever. the result of unremitting toil and anxiety; vet she refused to leave her post, and on her recovery re- mained at Sculari until Turkey was evacuated by the British, July: 18! 1856. It is known that for years Miss Nightingale has been an in- valid. Tt is not so well knowa that her sick rooin has been the scene of the most constant and arduous lahor for the improvement of the health of the soldier. : DISASTROUS FIRES. [UNSRSISRSIY i Scxu® Lands Around Lake Winnipeg in a Blaze. : Word reached Winnipeg ast Thurs- day of terrific forests fires raging on both sides of Lake Winnipeg. The fires commenced evidently about three days previous, and those who have come from the scene say that an ar- my could not stop the conflagration. The district on fire covers thousands of acres of valuable timber lands, chiefly the property of the Dominion government. The loss of personal property is also tremendous, and over a hundred families have lost their homes and-stock. The fire is reported to extend from along both sides of Lake Winaipeg. running right up into Kildonan, where the cultivated lands have stopped its course about ten miles from the city. The fire runs from Tyndall to Balsam Bay. on .Lake Winnipeg. through the German sel- ments. The damnage cannot be even estimated. ; : | Robbed at Calgary. ! Mr. ©. Fontaine, a farmer of La Rochelle, Man., who has been visit- ing Alberta on a prospecting expedi- tion, was relieved of a large sum of money as he was boarding a C. 12. R, train at Calgary last Tuesday. He was entering the car with a val ise in one hand and a parcel in the other when he was jostled by two strangers. Upon entering the car and after the train had started he discovered that he had been robbeu of $750, which he had in a small sack in his inside coat pocket. The money was all in Merchants Bank bills of $10. denomination. He says another mun on the same train was also robbed of a sum amounting to about $200. Surrendered. Melbourne, Victoria, May 15. --Pre- mier Irvine announced in the lai tive assembly today tha ceived a latter from the} the Engine Drivers! assoc! claring the strike off and i unconditionally. The presideat the Engine Drivers' association in an interview said the surrender was due to the drastic nature of the Strike bill, which was sure of adoption. | was BULGARIAN PANIC. Hideous Mass of Suffering Huu aity Huddled Together in the Jails, A cable from Salonica says : It is oenerally that the Turkisk authorities deserve unlimited acknowledged credit for keeping in hand the fanat- ical troops and the Anti.Bulgarian population here. I am.informed that one battalion of Albanian troops was in the city on the second day of the outbreak, talk- ing 'freely among themselves. of kill- and grew mutinous, ing the Bulgarians and raiding and plundering the town. Their officers, learning this, contrived to have their aminunition belts secretly removed, and the entire force was ordered off to the frontier of Bulgaria next morning. This and other "instances show that the Turks can forestall massacres when they choose. A consul who passed through the exciting scenes of the Armenian at- rocities, assures me that no massa- cres will take place in Macedonia without and order from the Sultan. The Bulgarian panic is appalling. Rulgarians are afraid to show their fuces outside of their own houses, and how they get food and contrive to exist is a mystery. The author- jties report that there are 400 in prison, the number may be 700. I attempted to yisit an ancient, prison in the walls at the back of the town. After being searched from head to foot. 1 passed through the main gate but was stopped at the jailer's of- fice, where 1 caught a glimpse through the bars of a hideous mass of suffering humanity huddled to- gether. Hospitals are overflowing, wounded Turks naturally being car- cd for and treated in preference to others. The women are in dispair, not knowing whether their men are dead or alive, as no list of names of pa- titnts is available for the relief of anxious mguiries, and only gruff dis- wivsals are received at the doors of prisons and hospitals 'when qucs- tions are asked for the missing. Many are likely starving, huddled in cellars and barns. FAR EASTERN QUESTION. The War Feeling Becoming Intense in the Flowery Kingdom, . A dispatch from , Victoria, B. C.,, says : According to advices by the steamer Empress of India, Japan's arsenals were being worked night and day, provisions were concentrat- ed; i coal stored on Tshima Island, and on all sides it was evident that Japan, doubting the extent of Rus- sin's withdrawal from Manchuria, was preparing for war. Hon. Sydney Fisher, Canadian minister of agriculture, who was one of the passengers by the steamer, and who has been in close touch with Japanese royalty and officialdom, says the war feeling in Japan is very strong. While disposed to act in unisor. with the powers in regard to the situation, Japan is not idle and warlike preparations were much in evidence. The massing of Rus- sian troops on the hanks of the Ya- lu, or the pretense that protection is being accorded to lumber concession- aries, was causing e strong feeling in Japan. One accident is reported at a powder magazine and there were sinister rumors of Russian spies having fired the powder, the factory situated at Toko Fu, was totally de- stroyed. No lives were reported lost. liussia is also making extensive nailitary preparations. The North China Daily News reports that there has been a continuous flow of Rus- sian troops traveliing by train from Itarbir to Port Arthur, while other large bodies have been moving to- ward the eastern borders of Man- churia, camping in the viciaity of Yalu river, which divides that coun- try irom Korea. These warlike move- ments are causing great alarm to 'hinese officials, and an unnamed Chinese official is quoted as saying that the Russians are preparing for the inevitable. struggle with the Jap- ancse. a day which all Chinese offic- jals know to be not far distant. Japanese papers publish dispatches to the effect that Russia is buying large stores of coal and provisions. Other reports published by Japanese papers arc to the effect that Russia is fomenting disturbances by sending mounted brigades to IFenbuang. A Tien 'T'sin dispatch says that 20 battalions of Chinese mercenaries has been levied by Russia in Man- churia. Another report which has caused great excitement in Japan is to the effect that Russia is endeav- oring to 'enake an agreement wit. China regarding Manchuria. The Ja- pan Herald says that Japan has special means of obtaining such news. This report, which is published in all the vernacular papers, is probably ecrrect, Joseph Abey, formerly of Chater, 'here he was well known, left 7ukon Territory, in company nan named McIntyre on Nov. to convey the mails. to Log "They were drowned while ng found of the bodies until last Saturday, when the remains of Abey were found on the lake shore. His brother. Mr. G. Abey, of Chater, was notified by telegram of the fact and he will have the body brought to Manitoba for interment. Tagish lake, and no trace DAKOTA PRAIRIE FIRES. Much Damage to Property Repartea Child Burned to Death, Reports from all over the State of North Dakota concerning the prairie fies of last Thursday indicate that probably never since the state was settled has there been more damage fone in one day in a similar The Red River walley to have man- ner. appears. free from disaster of this kind, but from there west fires. been swept over the plains, covering thou-- sands ol square miles and destroying an immense of property. The ground was covered in of territory amount. most cases with a dense growth of grass, little of which had been burned off last fall. The weather for some time back has been quite dry, and on Weanesday the wind rose from the south, and blew away what little moisture was left in the grass, and made it as dry as tinder. Thursday morning the wind was still blowing strongly, and it continued to in- crease in force all day. The govern- ment station at Bismark recorded a velocity of 44 1miles an hour, and this rate was probably reached all over the state. The air was filled with dust from the plowed fields, and where the soil is light, this amount- ed to an old fashioned dust storm. All that was needed to produce a disastrous lire was the dropping of a spark. Y . ; While the danger was happily avert- ed, the conditions were probably more threatening at Harvey than at any other place in the state, There it appeared certain that the entire town would be swept out of exist- ence. Iire was: seen away in the west early in the day, and the resi- dents of the town began to prepare fer it as best they could. 1t was realized that with the wind that was blowing the fire fighting apparatus of the town would be absolutely use- less should the {ire auace reach the town. The only hope was that the fire might be kept from reaching the place! The fact that the fire was to the west and not in 'a direct 'line with the wind gaye some hope that the town might be passed by. All the men in the place organized into fire figliting gangs, , and with plows, wet sacks, and other apparatus, started out to plow breaks, to back fire and in every conceivable way to protect the town. J Ai one time the fire was within half a mile of the town, and it secem- ed as if the place was doomed. Resi- dents in many cases buried valuables hoping thus to save them, for it was realized that if a spark fell among the buildings the earth afforded the only shelter. Two traing of freight cars stood on the side track all day on which it was proposed to take away residents from the place should the fire once start. As evening came it was seen that the eflorts of the volunteers who had been fichting to save their homes was successful. The fire passed by, and - the town was safe On the same day a disastrous fire started near the Great Northern track between Rolla and St. John. In a few moments it was heyond control, and it swept everything be- fore it. Numerous farm houses and barns, were destroyed, among then being the buildings on the Boyd farm, occupied by the manager, Mr. Wright. All these were hurned. the logs being about $1,500, and Mr. Wright's family barely escaped with their lives. Win. DePuy lost about $200 worth of new lumber and feed, and there are several other losses not reported. ...One of the most distressing inci- dents of the day was the burning of the three-year-old daughter of Den. Granstadt, of Sawyer, Ward county. The fire threatened the heme of 'he family, and Mr. and Mrs. Granstadt went out to do what they could to save the place. They could not take the little one with them into the heat and smoke, and were afraid to leave her in the hotse, which was threat- ened. As a measure of safety they her into the centre of a plowed field, where there was no chance of the flames running. While they were at work a spark flew across the fleld and lit in the dress of the child. In en instant she was enveloned in flames, and before her agonized par- ents could reach her she wus burned :s0 badly that her recovery was re- cgarded as impossible. Aside from the loss of life and the i destruction of buildings. there sas great damage done to the timber of the state, and this is not so plenti- ful that any can be snared. For some time there have been had fires in the Turtle mountain covntry. This section is heavily weeded, and in fact it is the only section of che state where there is any preat ex- panse of forest. The fires there have beer fanned . occasionally by the winds, and then have died down, te he revived by the next hrecze. DBe- fore Thursday immense damege hed heen done, and the fires then had got beyvond any possible 'eflort {to son them. The reports from thot seetion since the high winds are mesare. but there can he no doubt thot the dam- age w tremendous. The Turtle mountain belt of timher envers a large area on hoth sides of the linn, tand the damage from the fires of the Past week or two there has been in- "calculable. as The Montreal strike has been set- .tled amicably.