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J:. ii*S '» P - - - FRACTICAL QUESTIONS. ANSWERED IN A * PRACTICAL WAY. tf. Dfailey Telia this Story of til* NM«P- 1MS Shepherd--GERRYMANDERING DM* Wet Pay--Home H*rlwli^4" *»UUh View of Tin PlMci. On* Hnndrod Questions »nd Answer*. Question No. 12. .Tho free traders *ay that when we buy an article on which there is a •duty we pay that duty, and when this argu­ ment is met by showing the cheapness of the article now, cempared to its prico several yean ago. they say: "Improvement in ma- •Chinery 3s the cause." fc this a fact? This question furnishes about as good .an instance of the inconsistency ot the free trader aa could have been given. "The "reformer" Bays that the consumer pays the duty; in other words that the tariff is a tax, and then when we show him that articles are cheaper, he drops the "tariff iB a tax" question altogether and answers: "Well, mechinery cheap­ ened those articles." The Cobdenite doea not see that he contradicts himself by this answer, for if goods are cheaper on account of inventions in machinery, how •can' they also be dearer on account of the tariff? Inventions in machinery are the result of mechanical skill, the product of the genius of mechanics, and how could we ever have had me­ chanics had it not been for the tariff? For free trade would have kept us a .nation of agriculture. From 1840 to 1860, under a revenue tariff, there were issued 26,234 patents; while under a protective tariff from 1861 to 18S9, •there were issued 365.300 patents. If any other proof of the fact that protection has stimulated invention is wanted, we need only quote the words <>f George Carlyle, the inventor of the improved machinery in use at the new {•earl-button works at Detroit estab-ished by the McKinley tariff: But for the passage of the McKinley bill «ny invention would be oi no value, and there would have been no incentive for me or anyone else in this country to make •further inventions in this line. Question No. 18. A Farmers' Alliance paper la Nebraska is responsible for this: Our Repub­ lican irienrls claim that a protective tariff eu- ablen manufacturers to sell goods chfnj>er. But let the tariff token off and see How quick vrices go down, just as thev did when coffee, sugar, twlno. quinine, etc., did when the tariff was taken off or reduced. 1B it so? To take the duty off things to whose production our country is not adapted M a principle of protection. Duties on *mch things are added to the price, be­ cause they are revenue or lree-trade duties. Duties on things we can ourselves produce are entirely different. To abolish them would be to create an enormously increased demand on for­ eign markets, which always results in a rise in prices. To make free a thing not produced in this country merely reduces its price without inflicting injur}' on any Ameri­ can interest. The removal of a protect­ ive duty on a thing we do produce would involve the destruction of the domestic industry, render useless per­ haps millions of capital invested in it, throw the labor employed into idleness, and narrow the larmer's market for his produce. Question No. 15. Why are the Iron miners of America bettter off under protection than they would be under' free trade? Under free trade, or the "Walker Tariff" approximation to it, pourig iron production fell, from 800,000 tons in 1846 to as low as 500,000. and in 1860 it reached 821,223 tons. For ail that time our pig iron production did not average over 700,000 tons per annum. Under protection it reached 9,202,703 tons in 1890. As it takes about two tons of ore to make a toy of pig iron anyone can see where our iron miners come in. Question No. 18. II we cannot find suitable material in the'Unlted States to make as good dishes as they make in Englaud. why impose a duty of bC per cent, on dishes V We can make better dishes here than In England, we have the material here. The men who dig the clay, spar and flint get more wages, as well as those who make the dishes. The duty is im­ posed to protect both classes of labor. Question .No. 19. Does Liverpool fix the price •Of wheat ? 11' not, what does ? The world's price of wheat, which is the Liverpool price, is determined, first of all, by the amount of wheat pro­ duced in the world. The amount of wheat leftover after the home demands of all wheat-growing countries have been supplied, determines the amount that can be sent to Liverpool. If this amount is large the price will be low; if email, the price will be high. Thus is the Liverpool price really fixed by the wheat growers themselves, instead of that markets fixing the price for them. This is not to say that American farm­ ers of themselves fix the Liverpool price. They do not, because it is a for­ eign market. They must meet there the Russian, the Hindoo, the Argen­ tine, the ^British American, and the price is adjusted by the competition of all bidding against one another. Ac­ cording to figures from the Depart­ ment of Agriculture the production and prices of wheat lor eleven years were as follQWS: •RODCCTION AND rnjr.E Qp AMERICA!* WHEAT >'OK El.tVEN" VKAKfc Total pro­ duction. Hushels. I98.F-iy.863 «SV-«0.IJW 6u-i, 4 TU 42l.08u.ltM 612,71,5.000 Yearly 1880 1881 1882 1*88 18S4 188 > I ......... 1888"!"".'.!.""!.".'.'.!"! 188» .. 1890 . SST.lliMHW 4^7, J18,000 45ti,8'jy,00tl 41S,8T)X.<MK> 4'JI', M>0,000 SUV-'tVi.OtW Av. value per bu*. Cents. ao.i li'J.2 88.2 VI. 1 C4.A . 77.1 68.7 68.1 C'.>.8 85.8 This table establishes beyond a doubt that the price of the wheat of our farm­ ers depends most of all upon themselves --that is, the amount they raise. It will be observed how unerringly the price realized responds to the amount of product. Thus the yield of 408,000,000 bushels in 1880 brought 95 cents a bush­ el. But the next year, with the small­ er yield of 383,000,U00 bushels, the price was (1.19. The succeeding year the yield went up again to 504,000,000 bush­ els, and, sure enough, we find the price -down again to 88 cents. So on through the whole table. When we eat substantially all our own wheat--and we will in a very few years, •except when, a9 this year, the yield may be abnormally large--then, and not till then, will wheat growers enjoy enduring prosperity. There is just one road to this condition, and that is by continued protection -- protection which will exclude competing foreign farm products, such as barley, iiemp, hope, flax, wool, tobacco and fruits, so that land to produce them at home may be withdrawn from wheat growing, thus •diminishing the supply of grain; and which will build up factories and multi­ ply consumers of breadstufls by pro­ moting the manufacture at home, to the •extent of our own consumption at least, of textiles, tin plates, pearl buttons, cut- 4ery, pottery and everything else we use". Mr. Dia|l«r, of Maine, Telia the Mui/ of the Sheepless Slieplierd. 9ioi£ Mr. lifciiglsy's speech aa i©- ported in the Congressional Record: I Save witnessed the .Sig. Blitz trick of breaking an egg in the presence of an audience, when, after asking the audi­ ence whether they would like to see a robin or a black bird emerge Iromlt, just as the audience indicated, whether robin or blackbird, so it came forth. But in the case of the Blitz trick the robin and the blackbird were concealed in the Signor's sleeve. They were both there. But in the tr<ck which the Perikeratic members of the Ways and Means Committee are trying to play, we have the same pound of wo*I, in the tame conditio*, at the same hour de­ cline 11 cents when turned to the con­ sumer and advance 11 cents when turned to the wool grower. [Applause on the Republican Bide.l Now, this beats Sig. Blitz's trick. Why, gentlemen, there was a distin­ guished ex-member of this house, who participated in the tariff discussion of 1S88, who came into the district which I have the honor to represent in the last presidential campaign, immediately after the discussion of the Mills bill. The first night he addressed a large au­ dience of laborers and employes of manufacturing establishments in one of the citieB in my district. He talked very largely about wool. He asserted positively, and proved it, that if wool should be placed on the free list it would decline 10 cents a pound, and thiB decline would reduce the price of woolen cloth at least 40 cents a pound; that this would make the manufacturer more prosperous and give the laborer larger wages. Unfortunately the same gentleman was billed the next night at an agricul­ tural town in my district, and the most important farm product of the town was wool. IJe was informed of this fact, and coached before he opened his Bpeech. He proceeded to announce that he was a friend of the farmer--a great friend of the farmer. In fact, that lie wag a farmer himself; and that he kept sheep, too, and that he wanted to tell his audience of farmers, as a farmer, just what tree wood would do. So he proceeded to present the stock arguments repeated in the majority re­ port. He saia: "Gentlemen, put wool on the free list and the demand for wool will be increased sn much that the price will be even higher than under protection;" and so on. He made a very taking speech until, at the close, a gentleman in the audience who had heard him the night before at the man­ ufacturing city in my district, exposed the trick. It is needless to say that the orator was not billed for another appointment in the state which I have the honor to represent in part, and ever since that time he has been known in that section as "The Sheepless Shepherd." [Laugh­ ter.] Now, gentlemen on the other side, if you propose to go into the next cam­ paign and tell your farmer constituents that the putting of wool upon the iree list will even raise the price of wool, I advise you to be careful and send some other speaker to manufacturing towns where it is necessary to proclaim that free wool meanB cheaper wool and cheaper clothing; and to take particu­ lar care that no listener at one r^eeting shall be present at another meeting. [Laughter.] Sir, you cannot make the double- headed plan work. The placing of wool upon the free list will do one of three things: it will either reduce the price paid to the American larmer for his wool, or it will leave the price the same as it is now, or it will increase it Now, which horn of the trilemma are you proposing to take? 1 notice that the majority of the Democratic members of the committee on ways and means have decided to take passage in both boats in order to be safe, [Laughter.] Some Questions far Free Xritderi to An* swer. Why is it that 45 per cent., or nearly one-half, of the persons who reach the age of (50 in England are or have been paupers? Why has the United States in the last ten years added 1,000,000 wage earners to those engaged in manufacturing oc­ cupations? Why has woolen manufacturing in the United States grown $77,040,7o3 in the last ten years? Why should we give up a home mar­ ket worth $13,000,000 for foreign mar­ kets worth less than $1,500,000,000 ? Why has the foreign price of tin plate decreased of late about as much as the dutv has increased ? Why did John Bright admit that un­ der free trade the English farmer lost in recent years over $1,0U0,000,000? Why have the number of workmen employed in the iron and Bteel indus­ tries in Germany increased since the re­ turn to protection 40 per cent., the wages paid 57 per cent., and the average paid to each workman 17 4-10 per cent.? Why do 30 per cent, of the children of British workmen in London go to school every morning without break­ fast? Gerrymandering Doea Not.Pay. The decision of the Wisconsin su­ preme court, by which the Democratic gerrymander of the Senate and Assem­ bly districts in that state has been de­ clared unconstitutional and therefore void, contains a lesson for the sharp politicians of both parties who under­ take by doubtful expedients and the prostitution of power temporarily placed in their hands to fortify them­ selves in permanent positions. The Wisconsin Democrats thought,of course, that they were making themselves ita- pregnable when they cut up the state into Senate and Assembly districts so l arranged as to give them control of the legislature thereafter. So utterly re­ gardless were they of the principles of justice and right, and even of ordinary common sense, that they overrode the constitution, paying no heed to county or town lines or any other consideration except that of so carving up the state as to maiie their own party supremacy se­ cure. They overdid it. The decision of the supreme court, consisting of three Democrats and two Republicans, has defeated their cunning scneme and brought all their smartness to naught. It is settled that though a political party coming suddenly into control and de­ sirous above all things to make its pos­ session of power permanent may do pretty much anything it pleases to in­ trench and fortify itself, it must have at least some Blight regard for the limitations and requirements of the organic act. It is not pretended that Democrats are alone in 'the disposition to make an unfair use of power in this way. It is doubtless the selfish instinct of all par­ ties to reach out for such advantages when opportunities occur. But experi­ ence certainly proves this, that no party ever exhibited such indecent precipi­ tancy, such overpowering greed and such absolute disreaard of even the ap­ pearance of justice and right on such occasions as the Democratic. It is al-1 ways their first business, when by acci­ dent or fraud or honest votes they ar­ rive at power, to devise seme legislative. trick bv which they can maintain their hold. 'The history of the party shows this to be their invariable rule. If self- preservation is the first law of nature, self-perpetuation is the first law, the governing principle, the absorbing, all- embracing thought and aspiration of the Democratic party. In no state where it has had the opportunity to carry a gerrymander has it failed to make that its first business and to do it promptly; sometimes with a half-way Eretenee of fairness, but usually with razen shamelessness and no attempt to conceal the purpose. The people in the main are honest and square. They don't believe in gerrymanders or in trickery and sharp practices. In the end that sort of busi­ ness does not pay, whoever undertakes it. The Wisconsin gerrymander has un­ doubtedly hurt the Democratic party instead of helping it, and we believe Mr. Hill's smartness in this state, about which he boasts so constantly, will have the same effect in the end. --New York Tribune. Home Market Metier for the ftratr. Our farms produced in ISSli $3,700,000,- 000 worth of material (farm values), of which we exported $370,000,000 worth, or just 10 per cent. The balance of 60 P®r cent, is more than double the total imports of every kind in Great Britain in the same year. If we add to the farm products the value of manufac­ tured goods pold and consumed al home, say $3,000,000,000, to make a low estimate, we have a total of $8,330,- 000,000, which is more than the total imports of all the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. Australia, and the islands of the sea, which in the "American Almanac" foi 18SS are given as $7,50'.>,000,000. If we could take possession of ths trade of the world, and furnish all the goods imported by every country on the face of the globe, the value of this trade would fall short of our home mar* ket by almost a $1,000,000,000. What suicidal policy it would be for our farm­ ers to favor any measure which would in the least endauger such a market, for the slight chance which they would have of extending their exports or buy­ ing their supplies a little cheaper in other markets. In 1887 the farmers of this country, in addition to their own consumption. Bold $590,000,000 worth of butter, eggs, inUk, and cheese. This is more than twice the value of the cotton crop, and more than the value of any other single crop except corn. The West and South cannot afford to see anv change in the tariff policy until they get the lull bene­ fit of it in the development of their re­ sources. The South, with her advan­ tage of climate, timber, water-power, coal, iron and minerals, has all the ele­ ments necessary lor the most prosper­ ous manufactures; and if tue new South will unlearn the teachings of its older leaders, who still h«v«; the old prejudice against labor and manufac­ tures, and it it will support the protec­ tive tariff.it will see an era of pros­ perity compared to which the old ante­ bellum cotton prosperity will seem like seven years of famine.--Forum. A Brltiah View or Tin Plate a. The London Iron, a journal devoted to the interests of the British iron in­ dustry, in its issue of March 4. prints the address of Air. Britton, the acting secretary of the American Tinned-Pi^te Association, and says in commenting thereon: If the statistics given are correct--and we have no reason to doubt their correct­ ness--one-sixth of the American consump­ tion provided for in the short space of- a year is no mean record in a practically new industry, and it may ultimately prove, although we reserve our opinion on this point, that the United States will be in a position to dispense with the English arti­ cle. The same journal expresses doubt as to whether the Americans can raise the capital necessary to construct the works which will produce $25,000,000 worth oi tin plate per annum. American enter­ prise has never been checkmated yet, and never will be. During, the present year there will be between twenty and thirty tin plate factories in lull opera­ tion in this country. The wage-earners of the United States should bear these facts in mind. Kalan frophetf. Eighteen months azo every free trade paper in the United States was predict­ ing that the McKinley law would de­ stroy American commerce. What are the lacts? For the year ending Decem­ ber 31, 1890, our foreign trade, counting both exports and imports, was $1,417,- 172.421. For the vear 189! it was $1,798,- 818,928. The Omnipresent Kansas Man. A Kansas man, Judge Tiilotson, for­ merly of Eureka, is the Judge before whom Lieut. Hetherington, the man who shot another man for annoying Mrs. Hetherington, will be tried. The Judge is consul-general in Japan. The Kansas man is omnipresent. It is prob­ able that when Gabriel executes his skittish little scherzo, and the heavens roll together like a nice new high school diploma; when the morning stars sing "Comrades"; when the innumerable caravan gets at last to the pearly gate, there will be found a Kansas man serv­ ing as chairman of the committee on credentials, and another serving in a like capacity on the committee on rules and order of business.--Kaiuat City Journal. Aluminum for Coin. It is suggested in England that alu* minum be used for coining pieces of the value of £5. The advantage to be frained thereby is that the metal is so i^ht that if taken from the pocket in the dark it would be instantly recog­ nized as neither gold nor silver. Also the weight of lead and pewter alloys would make it impossible to pass off spurious aluminum colnB. A serious drawback will be found in the rapidly- increasing cheapness of aluminum. To be of any use the coin would have to possess an intrinsic value, and an aluminum coin worth £5, even at pres­ ent prices, would have a weight and bulk^ decidedly burdensome to carry and inconvenient for general use. Was He Out or in ? Here is something of a puzzle for boys in the arithmetic class. An operator in De Soto, Ga., handed a gentleman at the hotel a dispatch, informing him that the eharge was fifty cents. The gentleman by mistake gave the opera­ tor a $10 bill for a $1, and received back fifty cents in change. A little later the gentleman discovered his error and in­ formed the operator, who on looking in his drawer found the bill to be a $10 and Landed it back to its owner, who went away. Then the operator told his friend that he was "in" just fifty cents, and the friend insisted that be was "out"-that amount. Which was right? The Industrious Penman. A rapid writer can write thirtv words in one minute. To do this he must draw his pen through the space of a rod 16^ feet. In fortv minutes his pen travels a furlong, and in five and a half hours a full mile. He makes on an av­ erage sixteen curves or turns of the pen for each word written. Writing at the rate of thirty words per minute, he must make ei*ht Mirves to each second; in an hour, 2<S,800; in five hours, 144,- 000, and in 300 days, vorking only five hours each day, he makes not less than 43,200,000 curves and turns ef the pen. Children of a Ms.ager Growth. A very novel feature ras introduced at an entertainment givt%i receirtly by Mrs. Astor. It asnsisted of the *urni«g loose of a lot of automatic toys, tiny al­ ligators. papier mache roosters, tin toads and other animals, which were 'wound up and then set goin t by the gmtlemen of the party. Each man closely fol­ lowing the progress of the animal which he had wound up, and selected as his partner the young woman before which it paused. How They Callc* the Carriages. At a Brooklyn entertainment, held at a club-house not long ago, a novel means to call the carriages was adopted. A sheet, somewhat larjvr than bod size, was stretclnod across tiie sidewalk of the side street, and on this were thrown the carriage numbers as they were desired by their owners. Coachmen could thus ke>jp watch for their numbers, and the incessant shouting, usually a confusing accompaniment of such functions, was done away with. THE newest coat bodice is cut away on the hips and sets in rather long, narrow and flat swallowtails at the back* The front hangu straight from the collar- band or turns back with revers, like the dress-coat of a man. No material is too elaborate for these affairs. White buck­ skin a id embroidered velvets are used for the vesta MANY men strive for fame who wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do with it if they had it.--Diotmit iTe*.\ Signal. IMPROVE THE ROADS. IMPORTANT CONVENTION SPRINGFIELD. I^llaola HIM the VUeat Farm fiaadi in the Universe--Practical Suggestions for Cor­ rection of the EfU-Le(.alatloa Will Be Keeded. The Question of the Hoar. The recent convention of gentlemen interested in providing a system of better roads for the State was an im­ portant gatherings and its object should enlist the support and co-operation of every public-spirited citizen. The con­ dition which the movement is designed to bettor was not over-drawn by the s< crotary of the convention when he said: "It is one of the anomalies of our civilization that the State of Illinois, which ranks first, in many respects, of all the States in the Union, yet is fourth in population, should' owe that misfor- tuue to the one cause of having the vilest system of farm roads of any civ­ ilized community in the world." Many reasons can be assigned for the fact that there are in the State to-day only about 6,000 miles of passable farm roads, but none of these reasons are satisfactory. There is certainly no valid excuse for further delay in begin­ ning the improvement of the country rouds. The State is out of debt, the people are thoroughly alive to the ne­ cessity for iiupruveu highways, and all that is lacking is a grant from the Legis­ lature authorizing the work and direct­ ing how it shall be done. Hard roads will not only Increase the, business of the farmers and add ma­ terially to their comfort, but will also largely augment the value of farm lands. Much land that is n ̂ t now available for agricultural purposes would become so with better roads. The system to be adopted must vary, necessarily, with the locality. In Ma- eon County it is shown that gravel roads which have proved durable i.nd satisfac­ tory have been constructed at a mini­ mum cost of $1,000 per mile. -Wherever gravel can l.o obtained it should un­ doubtedly bo utilized, as it makes the best road-bed at the smallest cost. Burnt clay is highly regarded, though there are some who object to it. But it,is not the mannet of improve­ ment that is now so important as is the power to make any improvement at all. The very able and interesting report prepared by Secretary Howard, of tho Permanent State Road Association, and read at the Springfield meeting, states that enough money has been taken from the taxpayers within the past fifteen years under the pretense of making pub­ lic, improvements to build "a first-class stone, gravel or macadam road east and west, north and south through every township in the State." The subject of using the convict labor of the State in the construction of coun­ try roads and bridges has been agitated for many years. It seems to suggest, iu many respects, the least objection­ able way in which such labor can be employed. But that and all other mat­ ters connected with the establishment of better roads for the people are primarily within the province of tho General As­ sembly. It is evident that the next Legislature will be compelled to give considerable attention to the road question. I). A. Moffitt, of Decatur, recom­ mended ditches on both sides of tho road, fifteen inches of gravel in the cen­ ter and twelve inches on the side being the proper thing. The people of Macon County, Mr. Moffitt said, were entirely sat islied with these roads, which had a great deal of hard wear on them. The only trouble was that under the existing laws it was impossible to raise the nec­ essary money for the building of such roads. Considerable money had been raised by private subscription, and in this way much work was being done. T. F. Sheridan, of Springfield, spoke of the work of the League of American Wheel­ men In getting better roads, and men­ tioned the fact that the organization, 3,000 strong, had ep.'nt $-20,000 in circu­ lating good road literature. L. T. Prime, of Dwight, a newspaper man of prominence, spoke in favor of tiling rqjids to right and left, and in­ stanced eases where tiling alone had produced good country roads without any more expensive methods. T. F. Sheridan advocated the appointment of a %ommission by tho State, just as New Jersey had done, whose province it would be to look after the condition of the highroads. He said that from $10,- 000 to $15,000 annually would b< required for the pui'pose, and that the members of this commission, if possible, should be practical engineers. H. W. Thornton, of Millersburg,'Mer­ cer County, who in 1840 was a member of the State Legislature, read a paper on his patented method of road building. His idea is to dig a drain canal, or rather well, in the center o^ the road, filling it up with sand and have a layer of tiles at the bottom. This, he claims, will keep any road in a perfectly dry state. Papers were also read by Prof. Talbott on tho general subject of good roads, and by J. H. Buruham, of Bloom- ington, on "Boads and Koad Laws." Another man who had some original Ideas to present wjas William Hanna, of Monmouth, Warren County. He is a man of great prominence in his section of the State, and at the head of large manufacturing interests. He uses over 100 tons of clay a day, and last year he sent out 1,29b car loads of drain tile and sewer pipes. "I advocate the general use of draiu tile throughout the rural districts of the State for the improvement of our roads," said he. "The country I came from is flat country, and there we could dis­ tinctly see the advantage derived from liberal draining. There is, for instance, the road between Peoiia and Keesburg, originally as bad a stretch of land as could be found, with quicksand bottoms or swamps. Drain tiles were put in and the road became good. No matter what the road itself may be made of--bri«k, gravel or stone--it is drainage, thorough and efficient drainage, aboveoall, which is needed. That is the first thing re­ quired." W. L. Eaton, of Bockford, delegate to the Illinois Press Association, delivered an address on the financial aspects of the proposed thorough improvement of our State and county roads. His scheme is to impose a graduated tax for roads, b tth for building and maintaining them. This tax would have to be paid partly direct by communities to be benefited, partly out of the State funds. The State is to advance the sums needed for the purpose, taking ample security in each case, and thus a much lower rate of interest on the^money loaned could be had than if each township, county, or city was to borrow the money on its own responsibility. The following permanent officers were elected: D. W. Smith, President, Spring­ field; J. H. Hackett, Vice President, Jacksonville; Phocion Howard, Secre­ tary, Danville; Edwin Cleveland, Treas­ urer, Quincy; Executive Committee, Isaac Reynolds, S. T. K,. Prime, J. F. Donovan, D. A. Moult, A. H. Bates. An Afttontehert f*a«1i-v ji&safm Pasha, when Minister o! War for Egypt, was very pirtitular as to the personal appearance of his officers and Issued stringent arderj that they should nevor appear un­ shaven in public. One day he met upon the street a lieutenant who had bearded the Pasha and disre­ garded his orders. "To what regi­ ment do you belong?" demanded the indignant Minister. "To the --- regiment at Abasseuh." replied the frightened Lieutenant. "Get into my carriage at once so that I can carry you to the encampment and have you publicly .punished." was the stern command which followed. The young man obeyed and the twain rede gloomily enough for some time, when the Pasha stopped .his carriage and entered an office where he would be detained for some time on business. Seizing the opportunity the culprit sprang from the vehicle, darted into a neighboring barber's stall, and re­ gained his post before the return of his jailer, minus his beard. For tho remainder of the route the officcr, buried his face in his hands and seemed the picture of apprehension., Abassanh was reached at last and all the officers were assembled to witness the degradation of their •comrade, who all the while kept well in the rear of his chief. "Come forward; you son of a dog!" cried irate Pasha, when there stepped before him an officer with a face as clean as a baby's and a look of the most supreme inno­ cence. His Excellency gave one look of blank astonishment and then,with an appreciative smile breaking over hits war-worn features, turned to the assembled officers and said: "Here, gentlemen, your old Minister is a fool and your young Lieutenant is a Cap­ tain."--Levant Herald. , Ex perl en r<> <« with Death. Fernleigh L. Montague, the En­ glish artist who killed his wife and himself in Washington a few days ago because he could not sell his pic­ tures, had once before a serious ex­ perience with death. He ran away to America when a young man to es­ cape the apprenticeship to a barrister to which he had been bound by his father. A short timo afterward a body was found floating in the Than s and was buried as his. lie did not learn of this fact till twelve years later, when the legacies which should have come to him had been divided among other heirs. He was looked upon by the laws of England as dead, and could not prove his identity in the courts. Hut it re­ quired a pistol shot to make him as de»\d in America as he had been for a quarter of a century in England. The iJtila One'* Vornlon. A party of young people stopped playing whist long enough one evening to hear a good story. "In my Sunday- school class," said a bright young-wo» man, "is the sweetest little cherub you over saw. She is much younger than the other members, but she in­ sistsupon remaining in iny class. Some days ago I instructed each ot the little ones to memorize a sentence from the Bible. Knowing that the infant brain could not retain a long sentence, the mother of my youngest pupil gave the child the shortest in the good book--'Jesus wept.' The lollowing Sunday I called ui on the class to fulAll my instructionsr0Fi­ nally 1 came to Margaret. 'What is yours, my dear?' I asked. 'Jesus k'ied,' she lisped." -- Kansas City Times. Itepruduotlve I'ownrut Weerta. Farmers who allow the weeds on their plantations to go to seed have little idea, many of them, of the la­ bor and trouble they are storing up for themselves. Some curious ex­ perimentalist has been at the trouble of counting the seeds produced by a single plant of some of the common­ est varieties of weeds with the follow- lowing rather startling results: Wild carrot, 1.200: dandelion, 1,500; chick- weed, 2,000; cockle, .1,200; campsion, :{,42.">: chess, 3,500; dock, 3,700; rag­ weed, 4.372; groundsel, H,r»00; ox eye daisy, 9,000; mallow, 1(5,500; mother­ wort; 18,000: fox-tail. 19,500; sow thistle, 19,000; mustard, 31,000: Can­ adian thistle, 42,000; red poppy, 50,- 000: lambs' quarters, 825,OOP.--New Orleans Picayune. TEE largest brain ever weighed by the scientists was that of TurgeniefT, the novelist. Previousb^yiA^ been stated, the largest brain a criminal not particularly i^^^^Hanything but A FOOL is like worth more than fleece it Sonant hi nx to Think About. Would you be just? Please do not punish a child for a fault learned from yourself. Did your wife look a little bit, just the least little bit cross this morning? Was the kindling wood tine and dry? Don't play oft mean tricks on the small boy; he has an excellent memory for injuries as well as for benefits conferred. In this respect he is liice a dog. The teacher who took the oppor­ tunity to clean her finger nails while keeping a pupil after school to berate her for drawing a comb through hei bangs during school hours has some­ thing to learn of the consistency of things.--Good Housekeeping. Oris)ii ot "Manga." The bang is one of the latest Inno­ vations among women and girls. It had its origin in the reformatory for girls on Blackwell's Island, New York. The inmates were in the habit of getting away, and it was difficult to recognize them after changing their apparel. It, was first suggested to crop them, but this was considered too sweeping. The bang was then adopted, and it was a per­ fect mark. For some reason or other the style struck the popular fancy, and in the course of a few years after its adoption as a mark in a reformatory it became one of the fads of fashion. --Pittsburgh Commercial. Coat or !> are Uraira. A three-pound bottle of alkaloid ol aconotine costs $485, while cocoaitie, the great local anaesthetic, is worth commercially $120 a pourfd. Papayo- tine, a solvent lor the diphtheritic membrane, comes in thirteen-ounce bottles at a cost of $189 each. Still more expensive are various prepara­ tions of the Calabar bean, used in optical diseases. They range from $i37 for a single ounce xo an almost incredible sum for the sauie small quanr.-ty. Fortunately, these rare and costly drugs are seldom pre­ scribed.--Cincinnati Commercial Ga­ zette. • j THKRE are not many big thieves, but a good many little ones. - ' OPTION BILL AMENDED. HATCH'S ANTI-OPTION MEAS­ URE FINISHED AT LAST. Prohibitive Taxea Preacrtbed for Specu­ lative Dealer* and Severe Penalties Pro­ vided lor Evasion*--License, of 81,000 a Year to Be 'Xeyled. Objects of tbe Bill. The House Committee on Agricul­ ture has formally adopted the report propared by Mr. Hat -h's subcommittee in favor of the anti-option bill. The measure as agreed upon is the Hatsh bill with some modifications in line with the suggestions made some timo ago by Senator Washburn. The bill does not propose to interfere with fu­ ture contracts for the delivery of actual products, but it levies a special tax on those dealers in options or futures who at the time of making such contracts or agreements are not the owners of the ar­ ticles to bo sold and delivered, or have not by purchase acquired the right ti> their future possessions. These deal­ ers are required to pay $1,000 annu­ ally as a license fee for conducting their business jind shall also pay the further sum of 5 cents a pound for every pound of raw or unmanufactured cotton, hops, pork, lard, bacon, or other edible product of swine, and the sum of 20 cents a bushel for every bushel oi wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, grass seeds a;;d flaxseed. Records pf these transactions are to be kept by the dealers and by the boards of trade where they may be made, and reports are to be submitted regularly to the Commissioner of Inter­ nal Revenue, who will collect the taxes. All dealers iu options or futures are to be registered, and all transfers or assign­ ments of eontractssliall be in writing and signed in duplicate, with the date and length of the option explicitly stated. False or fraudulent entries are made punishable by a fine of from $1,000 to $20,000, or imprisonment from six months to ten years, oriioth. Commis­ sion merchants who simply desire to conduct a business of making, trans­ ferring or assigning future contracts or agreements of the legitimate sort will be required to pay a fee of $3 a year. Failure to make proper reports to the internal revenue department is made punishable by a fine of from $100 to $5,«0l>. Chairman Hatch thinks that the bill as reported will prevent "wind specula­ tions" .and dealings in puts and calls, which are already prohibited by most of the boards of trade. MILLIONS BURNED UP. Lou of Life and Property by a Cotton Fire in New Orleans. Property valued at $4,000,000 was destroyed and a hundred or more per­ sons robbed of their homes by tire at New Orleans, Sunday. Flames were discovered among some cotton iu front of the so-called fireproof press on North Front street. The department respond­ ed promptly, but the wind was so high and the cotton so dry that it burned like tissuo paper. The flr«men worked like demons to arrest the progress of the flames, but all their efforts were un­ availing. Chief O'Connor sounded a repeated alarm, which brought more en­ gines to the scene, but they had no effect whatever. The woodwork cracked and fell to the ground and the bright flames leaded upward from every part of the compress. After three repented alarms a general alarm was sent iu, and all tho engines in the city, with the exception of two or three, were called out. ; The fire­ proof press had about 10,000 bales of cotton stored in it. This was entirely consumed. In half an hour after the flames had started tho fire-proof press was totally consumed and the flames communicated to an adjoining press. In this* press was stored 50,000 bales of cottbn, some of which was taken out to a place of safety. The major portion, however, was in flames in a. short time, and it was impossible to savo it. Suddenly a small llame was seen to leap skyward from a corner of the Inde­ pendence press. In a second almost the entire square was Ablaze, and the flames formed almost a solid block of fire. In the yard were stored some ten thousand bales. This proved excellent fuel for the flames, and in a little time it4was consumed. The total amount of cotton burned, as near as can now be ascertained, is esti­ mated at 80,000 bales, held by factors and commission merchants, and covered by their open policies. Much of this cotton will bo sent to the pickeries and saved, so that the total loss will prob­ ably not exceed $30 a bale, making the total on cotton between $2,000,000 and $2,250,000. Loss on presses and sheds estimated at $150,000. It is thought the lire started from a cigarette which some person threw among tho cotton. While the firemen were fighting the cotton fire an alarm was given of another at Laurel and Third streets, about twelve blocks away. Tho fire began with the sacrifice of two young lives. A little daughter of Mrs. Valentino was filling a coal-oil lamp when it exploded. 'Ih j laming oil was thrown oviir an infant sister and both children were burned to death. The flames spread out on their mission of destruction making a huge funeral pyre for the unfortunate little ones. Chiof O'Connor sent s >veral en­ gines to the scene, but before they could get down to active work a do if n houses were in flames. Alarms were sent in 1 and every engine on both sides of the river was summoned to the scene. Tho heat was intense, and for this reason it was almost impossible to get near the burning bu'ldings, tho wind in many in­ stances blowing tongues of flames across the street. The flames spread in every direction owing to varying winds. The tiro swept across Laurel street with a rapidity that was at once alarming and soon the sec­ tion bounded by First, Third, Laurel and Magazine streets, four squares, was ablaze, and the wooden buildings were devoured as if they were so much chaff. Magazine street staid the march of the destuctive element westward and acted as a barrier on the south. Every build­ ing in tho foursquares mentioned except four was destroyed. Most of the houses were small, but some very hand­ some houses on Magazine street were destroyed. Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the fire and in many cases nothing will be saved. The scene presented was truly one of deso­ lation. Nothing remains of the many handsome buildings embraced in the four squares but tall, gaunt-looking Chimneys, like huge spectral forms standing guard over the blackened ruins. The losses by this Are are estimated at 1250,000. It fs believed that the bulldf- ings are mostly insured. AROUNDAGREAT STATE! BRIEF . COM PI*. ATI ON NOI8 NEWS, ^ , ; ---- Heavy Jewelry Robbery at Qaia«r-Taa Rock Island Boys Drowned--Mall funul" Stolen and Rifled--Klne Trainmen la*' Z1:/; Jured at a Coal Mine. OP ILLte.'Cll M From Far and 5«ar, ' A seTV creamery, stocked at $50,900^ Will be-started at- Atlanta. - '~A'* 4 AT Petersbuig Albert Kinman stradt William Mitchell with a billiard cue, In- ' 'f flicting a fatal wound. £ THE convention at Springfield in the> *** interest of good roads met at a most op- portune time. The State is full, of ; 4% frightful examples. V THE fees turned info the treasury by Secretary of State Parsons of Illinois in ^ the three and a half years he has he&l ofllee aggregate $72,000. > SATjEM citizens have been alarmed by an Ohio and Mississippi engineer, wb» claims that many houses of the town are on railroad land and will be thrown off as soon as he can run the necessary lines. AT Rock Is'.and, Le? Johnson, a^ed 19 years, son of Walter Johnson, editor of the Daily Union, w nt ont sailm® with three school companions on ihs Mississippi Riv> r. The boat eapsized and he was drowned with Fingal Hiil„ aged 17 years. The bodies have not been recovered. THE mail pouch from St. Lous to Jack­ sonville was stolen from the Roadhouse depot baggago-room and rifled of the money and valuables it contained. The pouch and open letters were found in a pasture south of town. A few of the letters were unopened. Among the pile of open letters were several drafts and postal notes. The postmaster had tho % •_ mail matter gathered up and taken to the office. An inspector was telegraphed N> vif for- ' A BEAR-END collision occurred cn th# Ohio and Mississippi Railroad at the Bennett coal mine near Lebanon. A, train going east was switching cars the mine, wh,en an extra wonting train running backward crashed into th# caboose of the other train, almost de* molishing it, ali-o the caboose and nimk flat ears on the extra. The following is' a list of the injured: Dick Howelon^', Washington, Ind., both hips hurt; Dick , Foster. Vineennes, Ind., knee hurt; Ed ; Bartholomew, Clay City, Ind., head cut, alsfi hurt in legs and back; J. Dou^hertyv Olney, 111., hurt alntve ankle; George-* Wheatland, Wheatland, Ind., head and face cut; Charles May, Flora. 111., brakes* man on extra, hurt en leg; Harry Smithy conductor of extra, leg anil hand hurt; Ed Hanover, Aurora, Ind., foreman of section men, knee hurt. Twenty-four section men were in the caboose of th® extra when they came together. Bb( seemed a miracle that all were not killed." •A' RAIN and wind stonns have been fre» -r- qucnt, the past few days, in many part* of this State. The Okaw River bob- toms south and east of Vandalia ar® submerged. Some -live-stock he.s pe 'fe , •M I#? '•.%S fv Sfe . ;*(«.. - 1 THE resources of a shoe factory in Leicester, Eng., have been immensely increased by the adoption of electric power. The installation is to be fur­ ther enlarged, and when complete it will include t *o engines of l ">0-horse power for the driving of the dynamos for light and power. Fifteen hun- Ired people will be employed and the factory will produce 50,000 pairs of ihoes a week. SENOR Dox ANTONIO DEL CASTILLO lays 3,000 tons of meteoric stone fell trom the moon In his part of Mexico re- 'iant.lv ished, and a vast guantity of lumber . and fallen tfmber was swept away. Th®; " , water has not been so high since 188^L . ^ At Carlyle, Mascoutah, and Fayette* | ville, almost the same coudition pre-~ - vails, the Kaskaskia having overflowed. • Several hundred acres of growing wheat are under water, but it is thought * that this will not injure the growing-* plant. The Little Wabash is oak of its bank in tho vicinity ot : Clay City, and the fertile bottom ' lands are under water. Jerseyville re­ ports the severest rain-storm ever' . *£. known there. From an insignificant ~ stream, the deluge made of Macoupitt Creek a raging torrent, washing out • ? bridges and in many instances threaten}* iug life and property along its baukflu., All living in the low parts of the bote* tuns were compelled to move out. ThB damage in bridges alone will amount t®' several thousands of dollars. Business £-« on the Litchfield, Carrollton and West- - em Railway was suspended, the bridge^. ,1 on this road being washed away. Near . Efllngham, Leo Dale was Instantly killed by lightning and his brother wa| probably fatally'injured during a sever* electric storm. Seven washouts on th* Vandalia line between Efllngham and. Terre Haute were caused by the storm. All trains were abandonod. Tho Wabash' River is the highest ever known, and number of bridges over that stream havs been carried away. At Newton, a few more inches and the great high-water mark of 1875, when the Embarras RiveT was higher than ever known before, witt . - be reached. The railroad and two wagoa bridges, all of iron, are in danger, bei-^^ sides dozens of small culverts and mile* of fencing. The bottoms are covered - $$£ with water, and lots of stock has been drowned. ^ THE store of the Huffman Jewelry; Company at Quincy was looted by burg­ lars Saturday morning, §15,000 worth of watches and, jewelry being taken. No effort will be spared to recover th* valuables. The men who cracked thi* big safe knew their business. Appar* ontly it did not take them fifteen minute* to shift the bolts and swing the heavjf doors wide open. A small hole les|^ than a quarter of an inch deep and on * line with the dial plate shows that they first intended to dfill an entrance, but' discoverinO the extremo hardness of th%, tempered steel, they abandoned that platk and resorted to their sledge hammer. They emptied forty-seven trays int<# sacks, taking 300 pounds of valuables.' _ The goods stolen consisted cf goI<| xift J watches (about 300 of these), goltl thimbles, gold rings, unset diamonds, * and all kinds of jewelry set with dia- * monds, peurls, ami other previous stones. . * The forty-seven trays were stacked up .r£ • in the big safe just us they weie dis- . played in the show-cases. There wa* ,• not a dollar of insurance on these goods.; , t The company is not a member of either^ jN of the jewelers' security associations. t v >"• CHARLES SQTIBES, a Mexican wat.l veteran, fell dead at Illiopolis with heart - disease, aged 70 years. ; ? GOVERNOR FIFEB has reappointed Js L. R. Wadsworth, of Madison County, • member of the State Board of Public ;|F Charities. -"^r5 A WEEK ago Charles Beltx,a Summer- / ̂ / field apple dealer, heard" of the approach- 4 ; ing marriago of Mertie Levins, his early »«' sweetheart. She was at his old homo in ^ ^ Buncetown, Mo. He took the first train^^jfS r. for that place resolved to try at that late " i hour to win the womau of his choice^,;- p The journey was not in vain. He found j "vsi that the wedding day had been set andt t the arrangements for the ceremony be- \ ing made. Young Beltz ardently pressed.v ; : * his suit in earnest and succeeded in get-' „ ting the girl to elope with him. Theys , ran away to and were married in St. •' Louis, and have just-returned b .their < new home in Summerfield. , 4 THE annual statements required by . " 'W * law of the life insurance companies do- <0: • ing business in Illinois exhibiting their. . rf*$| condition Dee. 31, 181H, and tho uusiness1 - transacted hy them during the year lfcyi v be­ have been tiled with the Auditor of Pub--* lie Accounts. The statements show that policies were written in this ** * State during 18V)1, covering $72,28">,tW«<r'-'~f.jp ' of insurance, of which 74,523 policies ami 348,290 of insurance were indus­ trial insurance. Dee. 31, 1801, there were in force in this State 201,401 poli­ cies and $260,072,059 of insurance. Of . this amount there was $11,695.45 of in- • dustrial insurance. The premiums '" eeived bv the .•oujpatti** la till* Staftft durins fcm wuoeuted to IMaMfe** • -& A®§!'