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ILLINOIS INCIDENTS. OR STARTLING* ! fUt.LV REOORO& FAITH- r|T";3 16 SOBER p> Ai. ,(V v Tv Mv €fcot by Her Former Husband--Town­ ship Law la Upheld--Soldier Who l-o»t Truck Cf--Centralis ant *€fcester Ball way to Be £old. Andrew Ha pony, angered because his wife had secured a divorce, shot her twice •t Peoria, inflicting fatal bounds, and then sent a bullet into his own brain, fall­ ing: dead across her body. They were married in Peoria fire years ago and had no children. Mrs, Hapeny is the daugh­ ter of John Desmond, a wealthy retired fWteer of Topeka. Her husband was a malster, with a good position, but he is Said to have treated her with great cru­ elty. A month ago she secured a divorce and since that time had been working as a domestic in preference to letting her par­ ents Ickow of her circumstances. Hapeny saw her going to work and pursued her into an alley. The.v quarreled, and with­ out warning he fired a bullet through her breast. As she ran across the narrow al­ ley he fired again, missing her this time. She fell at the edge of the walk and he walked up to the prostrate woman and shot her in the temple. Then he killed Jlifnself. Upholds the Township ttv, The Supreme Court has handed down at decision in the case of the town of Somo- nauk vs. the People, on relation of Henry F. Hess and the Board of Supervisors of De Kalb County. The decision iuterprets the law concerning the creation of new townships and holds that the statute is mandatory upon the Board of Supervis­ ors. A petition was presented to' the Board of Supervisors of De Kalb County asking that a new town be created out of territory to be disconnected from the town ot Somonauk. The board ignored the pe­ tition and mandamus proceedings were brought to compel it to create the new town. The board answered by filing a de­ murrer to the petition and this was over­ ruled by the trial court. Then the board appealed to the Supreme Court and its de­ cision sustains the lower court. Missing Thirty-five Years. ' Samuel G. Willey of Mount Vernon, who enlisted in the Fourth Indiana infan­ try Feb. 2. 18G4, has just received his dis­ charge papers, dated March 7, 1899. Shortly after his enlistment he was trans­ ferred to Company G, Twelfth Indiana volunteers, and in one of the battles of Banks' Red river campaign was wounded and left for dead at a farm house. He was marked "missing," and his regiment was mustered out of service. A neighbor suspected him of being a deserter and out of curiosity wrote the War Department regarding the matter. The discharge was forwarded. Willey; thinks he is entitled to over thirty-five years' pay, amounting to nearly $7,000. .. Illinois Boad to Be Sold. L lie Centralia and Chester Railroad, 100 miles long, extending from Chester to Sa­ lem, is to be placed on sale. The road was built by Griswold and Gillett, brok­ ers of New York City, is doubly mortgag­ ed and has been in the hands of Receiver C. M. Forman for the last two years. The Equitable Trust Company of Chicago loaned money to the amount of $500,000 on receiver's certificates, and it is under­ stood that that company will: bid in the property. _ ' iLightnlns Destroys a Flour Mill. The flour mill of-th^, Breeso Mill and Grain Company, located at Breese, was struck by lightning and was totally con­ sumed by fire. The mill had a capacity of 200 barrels per day and had recently been improved, the product being imported. The property was owned by Messrs. Koch brothers. The loss included 0,000 bushels of wheat, placed at about $23,000, folly coyerfed by insurance. Kills Himself to AVoid Arrest. Orrick Niglitlinger, a well-known farm- f>r, living near Marshall, committed sui­ cide by shooting. The grand jury had found an indictment.against Nightlinger and two deputy sheriffs went to his honie to place him under arrest. When the offi­ cers informed him of their mission he started to run and they pursued him. When near his residence he drew a re­ volver and killed himself. Brief State Happening;*. By a vote of 108 to 5 Oak Park decided to become a village. Dr. P. M. Duvall, one of the oldest prac­ ticing physicians in Charleston, died the other day. He was born in Kentucky in 1820. Edward J. Moore, colored, on trial for the murder of his father, Edward H. Moore, at the family home in Chicago, was acquitted. Henry Knes of Chicago was knocked Oown with a slungshot and robbed of $75 Jn the midst of a crowd that surrounded ti faker on State street. The new school house at Glencoe, dedi­ cated two weeks before, wn* damaged by fire on a recent night. The loss wiil amount to several thousand dollars. The citizens in the village of George­ town were greatly alarmed the other night by an explosion in theiOcal bank.. Burglars had attacked the safe!, which is ruined,, but it is doubtful 'if'therobbfers effected , an entrance. _ The jury in the case of The People vs. Frank and John Walker for the murder of Newton Switzer on Feb. 14 returned a verdict at Marshall, finding Frank Wnlker guilty of murder and imposing a sentence of forty years in the penitentiary. John Walker was acquitted. At Tower Hill, fire' destroyed several - - buildings before it was got under control. The Dean & Richardson building, occu­ pied by R. II. Bullington, dry goods, was totally destroyed. Losses are: Dean & Richardson. $3,000: Ii. H. Bullington, $5,- 000; postoflice building, $1,500, and Morri­ son, grocery, $2,500. following National Guard orders have been issued: Appointing Perley J. Rose second lieutenant of Company K, Fourth Illinois, vice Seaman, promoted, and confirming the election of Jacob Schriener, Jr., as ensign. Third division, First ship's crew, naval militia. ) While visiting her sister in the apart­ ments of Mrs. A. L. McCauley in Chicago, Bedn Johnson, a domestic, committed sui­ cide -by swallowing an ounce of carbolic acid. Miss Johnson was 21 years old, and i it is said that she had threatened to end her life several times during the past six months. ^ River traffic has been inaugurated on the Illinois river between Hennepin and Peoria. The first steamer of the season, towing a barge, left Hennepin with 20,000 bushels of corn from the Leech elevator. There are 78,000 bushels of grain in White & Co.'s and the Leech elevators to ship out. It is proposed to build an electric line from Hennepin to Streator, a distance of thirty-five miles. Putnam County owns its own right of way. There are now projected in the three counties of Putnam, LaBalle and Bureau, connecting with the new rond to Streator, nearly 100 miles of electric railway, every mile of which ppflffcgt n thickly George S. Lyons died at Decatur of heart failure, aged 07 years. May 2 the biennial session of the Illi­ nois grand lodge, A. O. U. W., will begin at Rock Island. Boyd Hicks of Hancock County cap­ tured and killed nine .voypg wpjves. ( IJe caught them m a hollow tree. William Gerrick, who is supposed to have wealthy relatives in Germany, was found dead in a lodging house in Chicago. The brick and tile works located a* Sidell, owned by David Beard of Indian- ola, was destroyed by fire, with heavy loss. Camp Point citizens have subscribed $15,000, the right of way for sixteen miles and terminal grounds for the proposed railroad from Quincy to BeardstoWn. William A. R. Mitchell was awarded $3,000 damages in Judge Stongh's 'court in Chicago in a suit for $80,000 against William C. Pomeroy, charged with mali­ cious prosecution. Chicago vegetarians have organized a company and will establish the Pure Food Cafe April 1 in a downtown building. Eggs will be the otaly concessions that will be made to eaters of meat. Two handsopie Illinois monuments lo­ cated on Missionary Ridge and Orchard Kuob to commemorate the valor of Illinois troops during the battles surrounding Chattanooga were completed recently. At the annual meeting of the Young Men's Christian Association of Yale Uni­ versity Matthew Mills of Chicago was elected president for the coming year and Dwight Moody, son of the evangelist, was chosen treasurer. The Baird prise, a cohtest in oratory, poetry and disputation, class of 1899, was held at Princeton, N. J. G. W. Gordon of Illinois ivo*jlhe Baird prize of $100. Gordon's subjj||f was "Realism and Ideal­ ism in Literatnre." The Schwarzschild ft Sulzberger Pack­ ing Company of New York and Kansas City has decided to come to Chicago. Work on an immense packing plant, with a capacity of 1,000 cattle, 3,000 hogs and 1,500 sheep daily, will begin at once. At Carrollton, Frank Ainsworth, charg­ ed with the murder of Engineer Dempsey, in an attempt to hold up a Burlington train on the night of June 24, was found guilty and his punislhftent fixed by the jury at forty-nine years in the peniten­ tiary. < A new company has been organized in Peoria to compete with the concern which has a monopoly of gas and electric light­ ing in that city. The gas company has a perpetual State franchise, and this will be carried to the Supreme Court to teat its validity. One piece of a human skull and several fragments of a coffin were turned up by Lincoln Park laborers while digging a sewer ditch in the Chicago park. The dis­ covery recalled the fact that that section of the park was used as a burying ground until about 1870. Charles Simmons of Brimfield has re­ ceived a telegram announcing the death of his grandmother at her home in Leban, Ore. She was one of the early settlers of Illinois and at the time of her death was 104 years and 4 months of age, possessing all her faculties. The annual session of the Fourteenth District Federation of Women's Clubs closed at Peoria. The following officers were elected: President, Mrs. G. E. Wal­ lace, Havana; recording secretary, Miss E. R. Strawn, Lacon; corresponding secre­ tary, Mrs. William Hawley Smith, Pe­ oria; treasurer, Mrs. L. A. Kline, Henry; vice-presidents, Mrs. W. R. Curran, Pe- kin, and Mrs. Oliver Wilson, Putnam. The new State Board of Pharmacy met at Springfield and organized by electing the following officers: President, William C. Simpson, Vienna; vice-president, Wil­ liam Bodeman, Chicago; treasurer, L. T. Hoy, Woodstock. Dr. Frank Fleury hand­ ed his resignation as secretary to the board just before the election and stated that he would remain with his successor until he should become familiar with the routine of the office. Gov. Tanner has notified the present members of the board of pharlttacy' of their removal, and has decided upon the personnel of the new board, which is as follows: William p. Simpson of Vienna, William Bodoinan of ChLago, William A. Dyche of Evanston, T. A. Jewett of Ore­ gon, Ogle County, and Benjamin Schwartz of Salem. Mr. Simpson of Vi­ enna was a member of the old board and is retained. Mr. Bodeman of Chicago was appointed a member of the board some time ago, but his nomination was not sent to the Senate, and therefore was not confirmed. The plant of the Citizens' Mutual Tele­ phone Company of Decatur was soJd at auction by County Clerk J. M. Dodd, trus­ tee for the second mortgage bondholders. The amount of the bonds declared due was $20,000. Interest for a year was de­ faulted. H. M. Whitmer bid in the plant at $15,000. He represented the second mortgage bondholders. He states that they will organize a new company, put in more capital and continue the business. The plant is estimated to be worth $20,- 000. There is still»due $2,000 on first mortgage; bonds. The stockholders in the original company are now out of the busi­ ness, losing all that they put in for stock. It was expected that the Bell Telephone Company would bid in the plant, but it did not. Though bad weather interfered with the carrying out of the plans for dedicat­ ing and opening the Odd Fellows' Old Folks' Home in Mattoon the other day it by no means prevented the home from be­ ing opened with a general atmosphere of good fellowship and fraternal feeling. Many of the most prominent members of the order in Illinois were present and par­ ticipated in the opening exercises. Among them were Grand Master M. P. Berry, Carthage; Past Grand Master Cicero J. Lindley, Greenville; Grand Secretary James R. Miller, Springfield and Charles Mansfield, Mansfield, president of the board of trustees. The home building is a handsome three-story structure, modern in every way, and costing $25,000, located on a beautiful tract of land just east of the city. The opening exercises ended with a social and ball. The statement that Dr. John H. Finley, president of Knox College at Galesburg, had accepted a position on the staff of McClure's Magazine is confirmed by the doctor. Mr. McClure is a trustee of the college. Norman P. Cook, professor of theology in the Advent Christian College in Men- dota, is dead. He was born in Michigan in 1850, graduated from Ann Arbor in 1875 and from Union Theological Semi­ nary, New York, in 1878. For eleven years he was pastor of the Providence (R. I.) Adventist Church, and for seven years was in Chelsea, Mass. Saturday night thieves broke into the residence of Mrs. Julia Porter in Chicago and ransacked the premises, securing a large amount of booty. In spite of the fact that the residence is guarded by spe­ cial watchmen, as well as by the city po­ lice, the burglars forced open a window and searched the house at their leisure. A Methodist minister of Rushville has been holding a revival meeting at one of the country churches, and one evening his eloquence so touched two men that they confessed to a robbery committed in Rush­ ville nearly seven years ago, says the War­ saw Bulletin. The converted sinners paid their victims the price of the articles stol­ en, JU*4#aj ttiej lnt^ud to live a new Ufe. ADVANCE IN WAGES. MARKED INCREASE IN NEAJILY i. M»l INDUSTRIES. * *'£ I Improvement of Waves Is Bnt the Natural Movement Toward Better Times for Toilers, Which Set la toon After the 1806 Election. The numerous announcements of ad­ vances In wages, particularly for the many thousands employed In the Iron and cotton industries, is but the natural movement toward better times for wage earners which set in soon after the election in November, 1896. At that time a million wouid-be workers were out of employment, and those who had employment were not fully occupied. The improvement from the date of the recovery in December, 1890, was slow but progressive. Industries began to work full hours and then they began to employ more men as prospects im­ proved. Two years this improvement went on silently until the mass of men who were idle In 189G were taken off the streets into the workshops, and the factories which had been working ten hours on half the days were operating on full time and some of them day and .flight. All this time there was no apparent improvement in wages. Agitators, calamityites and demagogues allied to disaster declared that there could be no better times until there should be an advance in wages. The regular em­ ployment which succeeded three or four days a week and the demand for labor which had absorbed the millloa of idle men, thus adding to the aggre­ gate weekly amount paid to wage workers 15 or 20 per cent., were as much an advance of wages as if a few cents a day had been added. It is the full employment of labor at a fair price which measures the general prosperity of the country, because such employ­ ment gives to workers the largest ag­ gregate of wages. As the year opened the Improvement in demand and prices made it possible to take the next step in two or three of the larger industries, which' was the advance of wages. This fondled nat­ urally after the absorption o| the un­ employed. The upward movement had begun. In the past two weeks the wages of more men were advanced 10 per cent, than during any similar time in our industrial period. And the re­ markable fact about this advance is that it has been made without a strike, without a demand, but by the free Act of employers. In this connection the returns of wages by the recent bulletin of the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor shows some interesting facts. The average of daily wages paid In eighteen employments in twelve cities of the United States was as follows: 1870, $2.20%; 1880, $2.31%; in 1890, $2.48; in 1893, $2.49; in 1896, $2.40; 1897, $2.40; 1898, $2.38%. But for the foil in the wages of bricklayers the wages of 1898 would have shown a gain over the pre­ ceding year. By Bradstreet's index numbers it appears that In October, 1890, given quantities of 107 staples cost 105.996, that the same quantities could be purchased during the entire year 1896 for 65.777, and that prices be­ gan to rise in 1897, and during 1898 the cost thereof averaged 75.527. This means that between 1890 and 1896 wages fell only 3.22 per cent., while prices fell 38 per cent., and between 1890 and 1898 prices fell 26.8 per cent. This means that if all wage earners j could have had full employment be­ tween 1890 and 1896 at 10 or 15 per cent lower wages, the fall in prices was so much greater that they would have been quite as well if not better off. It was not the decline in wages of the employed which caused the distress during the period which followed the inauguration of Mr. Cleveland in 1893, but the tentire loss of pay by a consider­ able per cent. of those who live by wages and the partial loss by half or two-thirds employment by others. Farm Labor Prospering, Too. Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota farmers, are not worrying about get­ ting their notes extended this spring. They have plenty of seed on hand. The ground is getting nicely Irrigated for spring plowing and planting. Pros­ pects for good crops and good prices were never brighter. Still their pros­ perity ointment is not without its in­ sect. The one source of worry to farm­ ers at present--particularly the ones with large farms--is the difficulty ex­ perienced in contracting for help for the spring and summer season. Two or three years ago the opening of spring brought a long procession of hungry-looking men to every farmer's door looking for work. Wages were not much object. The unemployed wanted work. They had come out from the manufacturing districts of the East and from the congested labor ranks of the larger cities of the West in the hope of finding employment of any sort. Not only was no difficulty experi­ enced in getting willing laborers at from $12 to $18 a month, but it actu­ ally became a source of annoyance in refusing the applications of those to whom no work could be given. In this year of our Lord the 1899th, and of the administration of William McKinley the third, things are differ­ ent. The farmer is finding his spring work looming ahead of him in mam­ moth proportions with men to do It ex­ ceedingly scarce. Instead of laborers coming to him and begging for employ­ ment, he Is getting out and hustling in his Bearch for the necessary "hired man." It is not always an easy matter to find him, nor is it a matter of facil­ ity to make a contract with him when found. Wages have jumped from the $18 maximum to an $18 or $20 mini­ mum, with $25 more like an average figure and more being paid in some cases. The farmer usually considers himself lucky when he gets good men at these figures. Thus the prosperity, that has come with the opening of the factories in­ stead of the mints has not been long In reaching the farm laborer. It will be interesting to note how the anti-pros­ perity papers will explain this situa­ tion.--Sioux City Journal. Increased Kin ploy went of later, Mr. James M. Swnnk, of the Ameri­ can Iron and Steel Association, reports that the total product of Bessemer steel ingots in the United States in 1898 was 18,609,017 gross tons. This is more than double the number of tons produced la 189% the first year of the administra­ tion which came into office pledged to the Infliction of free trade by gradual degrees upon the country, and over a third greater than the number of tons produced during any one year while that administration was in power. The increased production of steel has meant im increased employment of labor. The steel and ire« Workers of the country, who are among the most intelligent workmen that there are, have as a rule recognized where their chances for bread and butter lay and have general­ ly voter for protection. They will not be likely to change their views as a re­ sult of the comparative showing made by the steel and iron industry under protection and free trade. Tar'ff Mast Not Protect Trusts. The St. Paul Pioneer Press makes a pertinent and timely appeal to the Re­ publican party to take the initiative in dealing with those great trade combi­ nations that take advantage of our rev­ enue laws to strangle competition and enhance prices. Not counting those great trusts that came into existence prior to 1898, such as the Standard Oil, the American Sugar Refinery, the American Tobacco Company and many others, it estimates that the past four­ teen months have witnessed the for­ mation of no less than eighty trusts with an aggregate capitalization of over $2,000,000,000. How far a trust or combination which relies solely upon the natural and economic forces of organization and'capital to increase and cheapen production, and which re- suite in supplying a better article at a lower cost than could be produced under competitive conditions, may be justified Is a question for debating so­ cieties. It is undoubtedly the duty of legislatures and courts to protect so­ ciety from the aggregations of capital which destroy competition in order to enhance prices. For these there can be no excuse, protection or defense. The Pioneer Press declares that it is the duty of Congress, in both branches of which the Republicans have a ma­ jority, to abolish or suspend every pro­ tective duty under the shelter of which its beneficiaries have organized a trust or combination of any sort to advance prices. The purpose of the protective tariff was to foster industries, not to protect monopolies. No mercy or consideration ghould be shown to any combination of capital that takes advuntage of a protective tariff to mulct American consumers. It should be the first office of the Repub­ lican majority in Congress to free its sklrts*from ail responsibility for trusts, which under shelter of the tariff exact higher prices from the people. Wherever the protective tariff en­ hances the price of the product of a trust to the American consumer it should be reduced or removed entirely. That is a pretty safe proposition. Its adoption will remove the stigma of- fos­ tering trusts from the Republican party. * Money Talks. Before tlie enactment of the Dingley law, the tiii plate indust^ In this coun try was prostrated. American dealers were obliged to go to Europe for that commodity, and before it reached the hands of the consumer it became ex pensive because of the cost of trans­ atlantic transportation and the fact that the manufacturers had a corner on the market. WTe were told by the free traders that tin plate could not be man­ ufactured in the United States in qual­ ity and quantity that would meet the demand. But American capital and American ingenuity have been equal to the emergency, and we now find the making of tin plate among the leading industries of the country. The men who are earning $54 a week will not agree with the free traders that the Dingley tariff has been of no benefit to the tin plate industry. Money talks, and that is what the employes of the tin plate manufactories are earn­ ing.--Trenton (N. J.) Gazette. When Business la Good. It is no new thing in this country to find that when our wage-earners are at work and business consequently is good there is a demand for foreign as well as for domestic products, for when everybody is making money everybody can and does buy liberally. When a Wilson law closes American mills and factories it seems at first a fine bargain for Americans with pockets well sup­ plied by home Industries to be able to buy cheaply. But when the pockets are emptied and no more earnings drop into them because our own industries are no longer paying wages, it ceases to be such a fine thing. We had that experience when we repealed the Mc­ Kinley law, which had increased the purchasing power of everybody. We should have a repetition of it if we were to make a similar mistake with the Dingtey law.--New York Press. Opinion of Bankers. Representative Babcock, who is a member of the committee of the Re­ publicans of the next House to make an investigation of the currency ques­ tion as a basis of legislation, has re­ cently given the Milwaukee Sentinel the replies of the hundred bankers to whom he sent questions relating to the subject. To the question, "Would you favor a bank note circulation based upon the commercial assets of the bank?" 89 of 111 answers were "no." In answer to a question regarding re­ tirement of the greenbacks, 47 of 84 bankers were in favor of retirement. In regard to the President's proposition of paying out only for gold the green­ backs that have once been exchanged for gold, 104 of 113 declared them­ selves in favor of it.--Indianapolis Journal. They Mies the Pointe. Henry Clay was the great champion of the protective principle in his day. Under it the country has always pros­ pered--it is prospering to-day under it. It does not foster nor build up trusts; it cannot do that, because it creates competition and not combination. The truth of the matter is that, for some reason best known to themselves, the so-called Democrats and free-traders miss the point.--Norwalk (Conn.) Re­ flector. Whether the bounty system is the best way to bring about the desirable results of American shipbuilding ex­ pansion is too deep a question to be an­ swered right off. It is a subject that will bear thoughtful Investigation.-- Wilmington (Del.) Herald. TEN DIE IN RACE WAR. Kagroes Are Run Down by Mob of White* ter Plotting: Revenge.' A war of extermination is on between the whites and negroes in Little River County in the extreme southwest corner of Arkansas, and seven of the latter are known to be dead. Many other negroes arc missing. The wholesale lynching is the result of the murder of James A. Stockton, a planter, last Saturday by a big negro call­ ed "General" Duckett. After hiding for some time Duckett gave himself up and was being taken toward Richmond, the county seat, when he was taken by a mob and lynched. He confessed to a carefully laid plan by the negroes to precipitate a race war, and told of many whites who were marked for execution. It was learn­ ed from Duckett that there were twenty- three negroes in the plot, and their names were given. Several parties of white men started out to execnte speedy vengeance on the plotters. The negroes became panic-stricken and fled in all directions. Willis Boyd, C". C. Reed and Minor Wil­ son, three negroes, were taken from an officer and lynched near Silver City, in Yazoo County, Miss. They were the ring­ leaders in a race encounter at the Mid­ night plantation. After being shdt to death their bodies were cut down and thrown into the Yazoo river. FEAR WAR IN SAMOA. Differences of Three Powers Have Reached an Acute Stage. Differences between the three powers in control at Samoa have reached such an acute stage that repudiation of the Berlin treaty is more than probable. De­ spite the unanimous testimony of the rep­ resentatives of the United 8tates and Great Britain, the German Government continues to uphold' tlje bourse of Consul Rose at Apia. If flio present agreement is overthrown, there is little likelihood of a new understanding and'tlic islands'will be «t the mercy of whichever party cani muster the greatest strength. Recent events at Apia have made the strain more dangerous. Admiral Kantz, with the approval of the British authori­ ties, has sustained the actions of Chief Justice Chambers. The American naval commander called a meeting of all offi­ cials for March 17, and, although no news has been received since that date, many express the fear that serious results fol­ lowed the conference. Should this be the case the Germans will undoubtedly at­ tempt to hold the Americans responsible, the Berlin theory being that unanimous action is necessary under the treaty pro­ visions. AVAILABLE SUPPLY OF GRAIN. Bradstreet's Shows Changes During the Past Week. Special cable and telegraphic dispatches to Bradstreet's indicate the following changes in the available supply of grain last Saturday, as compared with the pre­ ceding Saturday: Wheat-- Bushels. United States nnd Canada, east of the Rocfc.v Mountains, increase......... 17,000 Liverpool Coru Trade News, afloat tor and In Europe, Increase 300,000 Total supply. Increase .317,000 Corn, United States and Canada, east of the Hooky Mountains, Increase. .530,000 Oats, United States and Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, Increase. .R67.900 Among the more important decreases re­ ported to Bradstreet's not given in the of­ ficial visible supply statement are those of 292.000 bushels at Galveston and 200,000 bushels at northwestern interior elevators. The principal increases are those of 174,- 000 bushels at Ontario and Manitoba stor­ age points. The aggregate stock of wheat held at Portland, On», and Tacoma and Seattle, Wash., decreased 277,000 bushels during the week. TESTIMONY IS CUMULATIVE. Board of Inquiry Goes Back to New York with Interesting-Information. The members of the Government in­ quiry finished their labors in Chicago and left for New York. The testimony of Gov. Theodore Roosevelt will be received, after which the court will proceed to Gov­ ernor's Island. The evidence brought forth on their last day in Chicago was largely cumulative in its character, con­ sisting mainly of criticisms of the cauiied beef and refrigerator beef from soldiers who ate it and watched its effects in Cuba and Porto Rico. David Fleisch- mann, a bellboy in the Morrison hotel, told of a visit to the stock yards in com­ pany of an unknown man whose purpose he supposed to be an experiment in the matter of preserving beef by chemical treatment. Clark Marshall, the provision specialist, whose testimony was expected to be sensational, threw no additional light on the question, his evidence being principally the expression of opinion that canned beef as now put on the market is totally unfit for human food. STATEMENT OF FOREIGN TRADE. February Report Issued by the Bureau of Statistic*. The February statement of the imports and exports"of the United States, issued by the bureau of statistics, shows as fol­ lows: Imports of merchandise during Feb­ ruary. 1899, $00,2Ij0,032, of which $28,- 074,179 was free of duty; increase over February, 1898, about $7,18(">,000. Ex­ ports of merchandise,. $93,884,149; de^ crease, $1,000,000. Imports of gold, $5,- 148,900; decrease $1,000,00D. Exports of gold, $324,840; decrease $700,000. Im­ ports of silver, $1,427,027; decrease $658,- 000. Exj>orts of silver, $4,562,190; in­ crease $800,000. , v For the eight months ended Feb. 28, 1899, there was an increase in the imports of merchandise as compared with the same period of 1898 of $33,512,234*; in­ crease in the exports of merchandise, $30,- 195,500; increase in tlje;imports of gold, $36,057,433: decrease (jn the exports of gold, $820,211; decrease fp the imports of silver, $1,801,015; increase in the exports of silver, $573,070. ^ METEOR CAUSES BIG LOS& Monte lair, N. J., Sustains Damage from Unwelcome Vlaitor. A lump of fire a yard long and a foot wide sprang frofti the heavens and struck a tree in the yard of James Lamb at Montclair, N. J., the other night. The meteor, or whatever it was, bounded from the tree and jumped over to the houses of J. A. Gross and George McNeil. It went through the roofs, smashed all the win­ dows and then buried itself in the earth. The houses were set on fire and were de­ stroyed. Large numbers of residents of unim­ peachable sobriety and veracity saw the meteor and are witnesses to the fact that it broke scores of windows within a ra­ dius of a block of the spot where it fell. The tree that it struck was-shattered also, as if a cannon ball had collided with it. FATAL FIRE AT MEMPHIS. Four Persons Suffocated and Three Others Seriously Injured. In a fire which broke out in a boarding house at Memphis four people lost their lives and several were seriously injured. The origin of the fire is not known. It was the second fire in the same building dnriug the night, and it is thought the earlier blaze was not entirely extinguish­ ed. The fire was a remarkably rapid one, and had made considerable headway by the time the firemen arrived on the swne. NATIVE ARMY IN A PANIC. Filipinos Are Demoralized by tike Wqrlc of Whsatan's Map. With each day the Filipino cause is be­ coming weaker and Gen. Otis is confident that a few more lessons such as adminis­ tered during the last week will bring the larger part of the native army to time. The followers of Aguinaldo are almost in Panic and with each engagement their re­ sistance becomes more futile. Although the American advance was commenced only a week ago, remarkable progress has already been made. Several well-fortified villages have been taken, an important strategic position secured, property worth $500,000 destroyed and American gun­ boats are cruising Bay lake, spreading consternation in all the towns along ita shores. It is impossible to accurately estimate the number of Filipinos killed In the re­ cent engagements, but the total for the last week, it is certain, is about 1,000. Many mortally wounded were carried away by their comrades to die in distant villages. Several hundred prisoners are held by the Americans. On the other hand, the loss to the troops in Gen. Wbea- ton's flying column has been slight, only an occasional man killed and few wound­ ed. This is extraordinary under the cir­ cumstances, for the United States sol­ diers in taking the offensive have been at a disadvantage, invading new country and approaching from the open well-built in- trenehments defended by the pick of Agni- caldo's army. Gen. Wheaton's brigade Sunday ad­ vanced against the Filipinos, clearing a, tract of country two miles wide and eleven miles in length, to guard against another attempt at a surprise. Some of the Filipinos recently expelled from Cavite and the small towns in the vicinity of Pasig combined forces and Sat­ urday night attacked a company of th» Washington volunteers, a detached post at Taguig. about a mile and a half south­ east of Pasig. Gen. Wheaton immedi­ ately re-enforced the Americans with two companies each of the Washington and the Oregon regiments. The post had held the natives in check and the fire of the re-enforcing companies repulsed them, driving them across to an island formed by the estuary. They were thus in front of the Twenty-second regulars. On discovering that they were entrap­ ped the natives fought desperately, aided materially by the jungle and the darkness, but they were completely routed with heavy loss after two hours' fighting. The Americans lost t\fo killed and twenty wounded. Gen. Wheaton determined to punish the natives, and at daybreak Sunday his brig­ ade started and swept the whole country along the lake in a southeasterly direc­ tion toward Gen. Oveushine's position. The line, extending Over two miles of country, rough and covered with thick jungle, advanced eleven miles. The Fili­ pinos fled. At scarcely any time did the Americans get within 1,200 yards of them. The troops returned to Pasig at night, ex­ hausted by the hard work under a hot sun. The Oregon regiment had one man killed and four wounded and the Twenty-second regulars one wounded. According to the official reports no fewer than 200 Filipinos were killed. Gen. Otis says that the American army and gunboats now command the lake. He estimates that property of the insurgents valued at $500,000 has been destroyed, while quantities of rice and sugar and 400 tons of coal, which is very valuable, have been captured. Many prisoners represent that the Filipino soldiers are weakening. if' if.V WINDSTORM DEALS DEAl^i Tornado Sweepa Across Alabama* Mis­ sissippi and Arkansas. Eleven persons were killed and fifteen injured in Saturday night's cyclone near Edwardsville, Cleburne, Ala. The cyclone began six miles west of Edwardsville, near Iron City, and swept the eonntry for twelve miles. Its path was from 100 to 200 yards wide. The greater part of the country it moved over was wooded land nnd hundreds: of trees were uprooted or twisted off at the ground. At intervals the storm would rise above the ground and skip along from fifty to 100 feet above tho earth. Thou St would desceud again and lift houses bodily from the ground nnd dash them to pieces. Immense tim­ bers were carried high into the air, and some were driven through trees. The residence of Lewis Coffee, tax as­ sessor of Cleburne County, was a large double log house on a little hill. Coffee, his wife and nine children were at home. The house was crushed like an eggshell nnd its timbers blown 200 yards away. Ten of the eleven occupants were instant­ ly killed. Their bodies looked as if they bad been lifted high into the air and dash­ ed repeatedly to the earth. The body of one of the children was found wrapped about a stump like a string. All were Stripped of their clothing and all had their brains dashed out. On the Walker plantation, five miles' above Pine Bluff, Ark., six houses were completely demolished and a fine gin house blown into the river. Seven negroes oc­ cupying one of the houses saved them­ selves by lying prostrate on the floor. They crawled from the debris after the storm. On the Fish plantation, six miles below Pine Bluff, ten houses were completely demolished. There still remains a consid­ erable portion of the inland country from which to hear. MRS. PLACE ELECTROCUTED. Death Was Instantaneous and Was Met Without a Struggle. Mrs. Martha Place faced death in the electric chair at Sing Sing, N. Y., Monday afternoon. She made no scene. Mrs. Place went calmly to the chair. She leaned on Warden Sage's arm. Two wom­ en attended her--one a prison attendant, the other a physician. She was calm be­ yond expectation. No one has walked Into the death chamber as serenely as she. Death was instantaneous and came with­ out a struggle. The crime for which Mrs. Plaoe suffered the death penalty was committed a year ago last February at her hofoae in Brook­ lyn. She killed her stepdaughter, Ida Place, by throwing acid in her face while asleep and then smothering her with the bedclothes. Then she waited for her hus­ band to come home. At the door she hit him several timef^n the head with an ax, and it was several months before he re­ covered. Jealousy was the motive which led her to take her stepdaughter's life, she being insanely jealous of the atten­ tions her husband paid his daughter. AGUINALDO IN A RAGE. ter Orders Oen. Laxarda Beheaded. t>UKSeatins Surrender. Aguinaldo is taking extreme measures to suppress signs calculated to cause a cessation of hostilities. Twelve adherents of the plan of independence, residents of Manila, have been condemned to death be­ cause they wrote advising surrender. Gen. Lagarda visited Malolos for the purpose of advising Aguinaldo to quit. He argued with the insurgent leader and attempted to convince him of the folly of his persist­ ence in the face of overwhelming odds. Aguinaldo was furious at the advice and ordered Gen. Lagarda to be executed im­ mediately. The unfortunate general was promptly decapitated. ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS -- The nilaois Humaae Society want* • law passed providing for whipping as a punishment for wife-beating, robbery* burglary and certain classes of assault. The cat-o'-nine-tails applied to the bat* back is to be the instrument of punish­ ment. Sixty lashes is to be the maximum. The bill was prepared by a committee headed by John G. Shortall, and was I»- trodnced in the House on Monday by Rep­ resentative Newcomer of the Second dis­ trict, Chicago. Gov. Tanner sent to the Senate the names of the new members of the State pharmacy board for confirma­ tion. Under the rules action was reserved until Tuesday. The question of publishing the pay roll* of State institutions was discussed with much warmth in both houses Of the Leg­ islature Tuesday morning. The Honse passed the Pawners' society bill by a vote of 86 to 21, but not without considerable debate. It also passed, without emer­ gency clause, the Senate bill to prevent the ppread of San Jose scale. The com­ mittee on Lincoln monument reported Itt favor of an appropriation of $100,000 for rebuilding the monument, as recommend­ ed by the Governor. A minority report signed by Alschuler and Retallic, Demo­ cratic members of the committee, recom­ mends that the present site be abandoned and that a new monument be erected near the center of Springfield at a total cost of $500,000, one-fifth of that amount to be appropriated by this Legislature. The Senate concurred in House amendments to resolution for appointment of commis­ sion to revise laws regarding practice of courts of record. By vote of 27 to 1? tabled resolution by Mr. Davidson order­ ing publication of pay rolls of State Uni­ versity. Killed Humphrey bill to abolish two-mile saloon limit in counties of over 125.000, vote being 15 to 13 and motion to reconsider being postponed to March 29. Killed bill giving Illinois and Michi­ gan canal commissioners power to con­ demn land. The Senate on Wednesday concurred la House amendments to municipal pawn­ shop bill; refused to concur in Honae amendments to San Jose scale bill; recon­ sidered adverse vote and passed Curley coroners' bill; also Humphrey bill abol­ ishing two-mile saloon limit in counties of over 125,000; passed number of routine appropriation bills and other minor Sen­ ate measures; also House bill allowing trustees of soldiers* orphans' home at Nor­ mal to place inmates in private homes. The House reconsidered vote passing res­ olution giving Chicago Yacht Club certain riparian rights on Lake Michigan and postponed further action thereon for a week, and passed the Page bill, providing for equal division of school tax between educational and building purposes. On Thursday the House passed the bill creating free employment bureaus fat cities of more than 50,000, which is looked upon as one of the administration's labor measures. The vote was 103 to 30. At the afternoon session the House passed, with the emergency clause, the amend­ ments to the arbitration law proposed by the arbitration commission. The changes are in accord with the recommendations made by Gov. Tanner in his message. The commission is given power to compel wit­ nesses to testify. Decisions in eases In which both parties join in asking for arbi­ tration are made enforcible by the courts. The Senate passed Berry's bill giving to the superintendent of insurance, instead of the Attorney General, authority to prosecute violations of the insurance laws of the State. Other-bills passed were Case's bill for the establishment of juve­ nile courts, Berry's bill for the incorpora­ tion of cnsualty insurance companies, and Baxter's bill to allow the Atchison, To­ peka and Santa Fe road to acquire title to the Chicago and Santa Fe. The Cook County delegations of both parties were playing to the bicyele vote of Chicago Friday in their championship cf the Curtis good-roads bill. The meas­ ure was advanced to the great disgust of 'learly all the farmer members of the Legislature. The Democrats made a fight on the feature of the omnibus appro­ priation giving the insurance office $4,- (XX) for legal services and $6,000 for ex­ penses for prosecuting violations of law. TKa (fom xrna n 1 repealing the warehouse act of the last session was read a second time and made a special order for the next Wednesday its passage.- The following are among the bills lately introduced: By Mr. Milchrist--To prohibit illegal dealings in scrap iron. Also a bill pro­ viding that where the theft of engine journals or other appliances from trains results in loss of life the thief shall be chargeable with murder. Also a bill to exempt the capital stock of jobbing com­ panies from assessment by the State Board of Equalization. By Mr. Lantz--State Federation of La­ bor bill providing for management of jState prisons. Creates three penitentiary "commissioners to have jurisdiction over all State penal institutions; provides pria- oners shall as far as possible manufacture all articles needed in various State insti­ tutions; prohibits work of prisoners er product thereof from being farmed out to any persons, firm, association or cor­ poration; provides one penitentiary shall be designated as reformatory prison, in which convicts susceptible of reformation shall be kept. By Mr. Curtis--Providing for Illinois exhibit at Ohio Centennial and" North­ west Territory exposition, under direc­ tion of State commission of eleven mem­ bers to be named by Governor and paid only actual necessary expenses. Senator Davidson's bill amending tho fees and salaries' act so that it conforms with the township organisation act-- ayes 38. By Mr. Barclay--Ceding to United States jurisdiction over public building sites in Elgin, Freeport, Joliet, Monmouth nnd Streator, in accordance with request of Secretary Gage. Senator Hamilton's bill providing for a division of the road and bridge fund col­ lected in cities and villages in townships operating under the labor system--ayes 32. By Mr. Humphrey--Providing that In counties where county lines are not iden­ tical with election districts, district com­ mittee shall appoint time and place for holding district conventions: also that In districts where general registry law is In force and they have no election commis­ sioners, voters at primary elections need not be registered, this being designed to apply to districts outside of Chicago fea Cook County. By Mr. Berry--Giving insurance COM* missioner all.powers in regard to insur­ ance business which now attach to offices of auditor and attorney general. "i ,'•«$ 'W. v,' \"\1 T. 'J ,JR • 4 Height off CloBds. Mr. Hildebrandsson. Director of file'" Upsala Observatory, has published his observations of the height of clouds daring the past seven years. These comprise 3,000 measurements of heifht and motion, of which 1,635 were taken by photography. It appears that the mean height of the clouds varies great­ ly during the year. The maximum reached in June and July, when the mean height of cirrus clouds is 8,176 meters (fire miles), and that of cumufcaft 1,685 meters (a little over a mile). 7^T fr-- -- ' -'ii. "41 .5 3