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:AUSES OF LOW PRICES. BifeBD TIMES ON THE ^ ; whv tbev abe so. AMD ."STfce i D«p»rtmnt of Agriculture Talis y. Wist Is the Blatter with the Industry*-- 5 How Prices Have Gone Dawn - The Xi -Cheap Wheat of the Century--A Slap at 35 "the Demagognei-^An ExIiaustiTe £iam- inatien of an Important Question. • ^ The Department of Agriculture nt > Washington has prepared the following * Buthoritative statement upon the subject «f "Agricultural Depression and Its .Causes:'* with the Ml» _ -There is almost universal complaint among ' farmers of all nations of the prevalence of low j>ricea. The agricultural depression of Great , jBritnin has probably been more severe than " kC*4, any other nation. A potent cause in . ?">* case is the competition from all parts of the ? 2?or^' unrelieved by any taxation of imports, '.'.rwrance and Germany are somewhat disturbed similar complaints of unremunerative rural V industry. Italy has also had occasion to make Official investigation of the causes of agricul­ tural depression. Other countries are vocal ' fwitb similar cries of dissatisfaction with the * TrocpedK of agricultural labor. So the trouble S).px>Bars to be general in monarchies and re- " >ublics, -whether the monetary circulation ia ;old, or silver, or paper, and under the influ- nco of various ana diverse economic sys- ems. Not all countries are in the same epths of distress. In ours farmers and farm aborers are doubtless better fed and clothed. Jfcble to maintain a higer stvlo of living, and eu- *|oy more of the benefits of civilization and Kfct '• culture than those of any other country. It yf, < 'toiav be said with absolute truth that in thirty f V • ^'ears thegraleof living has advanced immensely *n this country, not. equally in afi sections, but £. , , tnanifestly everywhere. There is a tendency to g". '• .^extravagance in town life that, has been Jmi- [tateri in rural circles, and the natural ambition '.' for progress and precedence, when generally S " (aroused, will express itself in dissatisfaction > < Vith prevailing conditions and a determination t.i overpower all obstacles to advancement. • V.*< i *This is a hopeful sign. It ia an indication of •conscious dignity. It ia a prophecy of progress, wny THE LOW PRICES, p.-' v While, therefore, our own country feels the | ,'ieffect of agricultural depression less than al- ' , 'jnoHt any other in ttie world, the reduction In 8^'. - "prices of most staples and in domestic animals * - land their products forces a disagreeable com- V " |parison with agricultural values at their high- (? , #Jjest, compels reduced expenditure to keep the i „ •>, 'outgo subordinate to income, increases the >i umber of unfortunates who cannot make "both •'* «nds meet," and reduces the profits of the enter- g"t V prising and skillful who are still able to strike a lalance in their favor. Retrenchment is not an r • agreeable alternative, and is therefore delayed ' mntil its compulsion is imperative and perhaps ^'jdestructive. "The times" are universally re- >/*, - %arded as "hari" in comparison with more prosperous eras of the past. It matters not ).;v^what the prices of implements, utensils, and 'CifabricB, of goods desired by the farmer, have been reduced proportionally; his interest ao- * count, if he ha3 one, is unreduced, and his mortgage is a greater burden to lift. He sighs for the good old days of high prices, though they imay have been war or famine prices, necessarily temporary, and though they may have been the source of extravagant views, unnecessary ex­ penditure, and the foundation of his present in­ debtedness. He naturally resents and deplores . low valuation of farm products. What are the causes of low prices ? They may be various, but the prime causa jto the operation of the inexorable law of sup- ,/• ~i>ly and demand. Abundance leads inevitably Sj to low prices: scarcity, to high prices. With ||fe either there are fluctuations--a see-saw df prices which increases cost and reduces profit. Medium and uniform values are, therefore, best for the farmer. THE INCREASE OF PRODUCTION. • There has been an increase of production In <<:' this country even more rapid than the incre- ' jnent of population. America has long been synonym of plethora. Her peonle probably consume more than thoAe of any other nation, .and have a larger surplus of loreign nseds. , (Immigration has been heavy and unrestricted; railroad building has been stimulated until an v <.fjempi^-e of new and productive lands has been jopeneii, and these lands have been given ad |libitmn to settlers of native or foreign birth. - ^Speculation first and profitable utilization after- •ward have been the motive for settlement and .^development which has astonished the world i 'Jand caused over-production and low prices. The following statement Bhows the increase in thirty years in certain products of the farm as Reported by the census: Products. Corn, bushels /Wheat, bushels..... flOats, bushels ....... , vfPotatoes, bushels. - 'Cotton, bales............ V "Hay, tons .. 1849. 1859. 532,071,104 100,485,944 M6,.'584,179 •65,797,899 2,461,093 13,838,042 181)9. <Cern, bushels. s"VVheh.t, bushels 287,745,62(5 JJOats, bushels 282,107,157 •potatoes, bu shits {143,337,473 -is^'otton, bales f 3,011,996 ** , 'Hay, tons I 27,316,048 838,792,742 170,104,924 172,643,18.5 111,148,867 6,387,052 19,083,896 1879. 760,944,549 1,754.591,670 459,483,137 407,858,999 169,458,539 5,755,359 35,150,711 # If we extend the comparison to the present Mate- we find that the corn ciop exceeds 2,000,- *W0,0o0 bushels ; wheat approxin ates 500,000,0J0; oats exceed 700,000,000; and hay and potatoes have increased in similar proportion. While the product may be three or four times as large, the population is less than three timesas much, though the proportion of workers engaged in t „ agriculture was larger than now. lUlm TO FORCE A MARKET. During the forty years irom 1850 to the pres­ et time the cotton product increased from a \ little over 2,(XX).();)() bales to more than 7,000,0 kt bales. Cattle have also increased very rapidly; cows from between 6,000,000 and 7,000.000 to about 16,000,000; other cattle from scarcely 1-2,000,000 to more than 36,00),000. Whil e sheep f .have doubled in numbers Che wool production has quadrupled. While the milk cows are al­ most three times as many, their avtrage rate of yield of milk has probably doubled, 'lhe improvement of other cattle through breeding «.(•' -and feeding has reduced the time required ||V ." J'or maturrty and increased the weight of oS**, carcass to such an extent that the amount *". *>f beef produced annually in proportion to V ^number of animals kept is immensely increased. '% / ^Relative numbers in comx>ari son with the past S, ^n all kinds of domestic animals have far less & ; , significance than improvement in weight and B; ,. equality, in thriftineas and early maturity. It K: \ tits difficult to force a market abroad for a sur- * .plus of any product. Every nation is seeking to , jirodnce its own food, and, as far as possible, • • Jts raw material for extension in all formB of fe, - >-^industrial production. The instinct of self- P preservation compels the adoption of such a mi' "i'olicy- This furnishes the motive for the corn IS? - ifjaws of France and Germany and other Conti­ nental countries, and the laws of European na­ tions prohioiting the introduction of our pork products. We cannot sell our crops abroad, as a rule, except to fill the gaps in supply that are H: • Ijaiade by bad seasons, or other results of the ln- K evi table or inexorable. BS' 1 A SENATORIAL PLAN. Iff ' * When Senator Humnet once proposed to levy an export tax of 20 cents per pound on tobacco and compel a tribute from foreigners he was eoon convinced by practical tobacco men that its only effect woulu be to destroy our importa­ tion, and he at once abandoned the idea, lhe amount grown in Europe and the quantitv im­ ported are both regulated by governmental con­ trol there, and never by the Government or t . fe'rowei H here, and under the influtnce of this «t, , (regulation the proportion of our crop exported .• '* *Ss declining, being rediKel slightly below one- IfS' ^,'ihalf, a id nothing that our Government or grow- ,[,? " «rs can do will change this fact. £•-, In cotton this country enjoys an acknowledged i : superiority, and will doubtless continue to hold • u • fct.. It supplies to the cotton factories of the pi*, ,'world more than half their material. It can in- grease this supply, with the inevitable effect of j?, • Reducing the price. The sale does not depend ;f*vt ,*)n our purchases abroad. Its aggregate would f" not be reduced a pound if we should refuse to to hpcnd a single dollar for foreign products. *The) mills must have the fiber, and nowhere *»lse can it be had of so good quality and value. " "We can manufacture more of it here and thus _ increase foreign competition for it, but the prod­ uct can not be enlarged beyond the current f 'lvants of the world's trada without reducing the -" :,jprice of fiber and fabrics. Thus the law of sup-' *l)ly and demand limits the extension of the cot­ton-fields. In wheat overproduction has destroyed the , grower's profit. Wlieat-prowing has become fit** , « philanthropic mission for supplying cheap *' L foread to Great Britain and encouraging her * .Jmanufacturers to keep wages on a low plane. - r .^-^The Northwestern missionaries are still dili- ' - *'jBently sowing their seed and floating their bread Across the waters, and mourning that the S"5 -flprofltB do not return to them after many days f weary transportation. The area of the crop Jpf 1889 fncluded-about 10,000,009 aires more than ; :%ho home consumption of the year will require, rfend the price in Liverpool has of late been the ijpowest for a century. We cannot force foreign­ ers to buy our bread. There has been a mass of ineffable nonsenso regarding "the markets of vthe world" for wheat. I>oss than a fourth of the sjieople of the world oat wheat. Half of the j>eo- ple of Europe scarcely know its taste, while few «if the nations of Asia and Africa have any k •. knowledge of it. TOO MUCH MEAT. The production of meat has also advanced ' • •-^ftster than population. In 1880 the cattle of Ul kinds were returned as 39,675,533 head, and he numbers as now estimated on farms and anches are 52,891,907, or 33 per cent. more. 1 xcluding cows, the increase of other cattle, mch includes the beeves, is equivalent to bout 40 per cent. These beeves are brought to maturity more rapidly than formerly, and more neat is made in proportion to numbers, so that 'he beef supply is greater than in 1880 in propor­ tion to population. The ratio of supply has lieen greatly increased since 1«50. Our export of J>eef has grown up in the lasjt thirteen years .. • tind the export, of cattle has not only increased l)ut its character lia»s changed from the ship. ' 4 - «.#nent, of Texas or Florida longhorns to Cuba to the export of fat beeves to Europe, one of which 4ojmirands the priceof^fiveof the original style £ot precisely the meat-making capacity* ofThe ' ;-^'vsL^«ttJe I860 and 1890 respectively, but it sag- *~>sts the wide disparity between the ratio at eat to number of cattle at the two dates. The 'oliowing table of highest prices of beeves in shows that the present values are lower any jreat linoe we export of beef was > '---I j,|t' - y* . . - 1876... $5.75 *3.10 1877... .... 5.50 4.80 1878.. *5.40 4.90 4.40 1879 .. 5.00 4.35 4.00 1890.. ui.-'Ui 4.75 . . . . 1881.. .'25 5.40 . . . . 1888 .. t».as 6.3o 6.15 188J.. «.so 6.10 5.70 .188*.. 7.* 6.49 6.35 18B5 • - tt.86 6.60 6.10 1836 .. .......... 5.70 5.00 4.55 1837.. « 5.15 5.00 4.50 1898 . . ,5.50 5.15 4.60 1883.. 5.25 4.00 4.50 1890.. 5.20 4.75 4.40 Prk&bKreaaedtfllia84tvhBnthey wmw beh­ est,and Ml heavily in 18S8, advancing slightly In 1887 except at to tlw <»xtra jnade, and recover. ing further in 1868, only to continue a decline during the last two vcara; Beef oattle.. Kttra Choice. Good, lfedlum •4.50 4.40 3.85 S.S0 4.40 4.65 B.00 6.5C 4.15 4.10 4.S0 4.0G SwlK DTTERStintCATION OXE BEWEtlT. Thus (h« staple products of agriculture by increase of farms, by railroad building and land settlement, and the increase of agricultural Implements are grown to excess, while other products with which our farmtrs are not famil­ iar are neglected and left to loreign labor to produce, while our own rural labor is onlv par- lially employed, or else in crowding pio iuction of these old staples, and still further lowering prices and intensitying dissatisfaction with the rtsultK of agricultural eflort. It is futile to at­ tempt to defy the law oi supj ly and demand. So long as farmers inrflst on growing onlv the bread, grains, cotton, tobacco, and cattle," and to neglect, other products Vhieh are net dud, which we import at a cost of more tban S200,- 000,000 annually, just so long will the lamenta­ tion over low prices continue. Diversification is essential to agricultural salvation. There are writers and speakers who are doing incalculable injury by their influence In repio^sion of any tendfency to a wider range of rural production, encouraging indolence and idleness, paralyzing enterprise, intensifying rural inertia, anil en­ couraging dependence on foreign production, and the draining of the resources of the country to foreign lands. They appear to depreca.e any effort toward independence or the cultivation of self-reliance, the stimulation of invention, the acquisition of manual skill, or the develop­ ment of rural taste, iheir adx icj points in tiic direction of aimless poverty and practical serf­ dom. There is a further cause of low prices, which farmers should understand, very difficult to remedy, demanding serious consideration and wise action. It is lound in the combination of carriers and middlemtn to absorb a large share of the proceeds of the sale of fmrm products. Beeves are sold by growers for seven-tenths to three-fourths of the prices of a few years ago, and the meat is soli to consumers in the retail markets at little, if any, reduction from the highest prices of the last "twenty years. For in­ stance, prime rib r. asts have been sold in Washington during that period for 2J cents per pound, and sirloin steaks tor the fame. There hai l;e jn little variation, as at general rule, in tht, prices of the less valuabl > cuts. , The same complaint comes from consumers in other cities. Another aspect of the case bears upon the inexperienced buyer. The meat that is bought at §3.50 to $4 per 10J, live weight, is sold to tne consumer at practically the same prices as that which cost £4.5j to i 5. Rarely is there a difference made in the selling prices of cuts from beeves of different quality. COMMISSION WHICH IS ROBBERY. All kinds of meats, vegetables, and fruits fur­ nish, similarly, subsistence to armies o.' mid­ dlemen. Milk is brought from farms for the supply of New York for less than 3 cents per quart and sold to customers for 8 cents. The hucksters of city markets often get as much for handling a product in a single day as the grower obtained for producing it during a season's growth. The contrast between the jric<? of fruit on a farm and in a city market is a suggestion of greed and extortion. In many markets the prices of variable products are fixed for the day at early dawn, not with ref> ranee to their cost, but in view of the comparative quantity, to squeeze from the buyer the last cent that his patience will endure without declining a pur­ chase. The poor are robbed still further, when a commodity costs 25 cents a peck, by a charge of 15 cents for half a peck, which is a clear penalty of 20 per cent, for buying in small quantities. Thus, by every imaginable trick of trade,the cost Of buying is increase!, while the producer gets less aud less for his products. The army of dealers in futures who bet upon the price of grain in the coming months and l>end their energies to shape prices to suit their deals do other in­ jury than merely to prey upon each other; they distnrl) the natural flow of trade and check ex­ portation by a temjiorary rise in values, which leads inevitably to lower prices later and greater fluctuations, which are the meat and life of this class and the bane of the farmers' market for wheat. The actual buyer of grain, if a specula­ tor and not merely a commission merchaut and forwarder, may scheme to depress prices while buying and to boom them in selling, to the great injury of the growor. The honest tUiu It^iiimaiie business of receiving and forwarding grain, or that of the buyer who is a conscientious mer­ chant and not a professional manipulator of prices, helps rather thau hurts the farmer; but the others, who play games of chance disguised as business, arj the enemies of the grower and consumer and of every man who gains a liveli­ hood by the sweat of the brow. This class is so large in the various marts of trade that ita aggregate gains absorb au essential part of the products of national industry. DOWN WITH THE COMBINES. The middlemen, working in trade guilds, so­ cieties, exchanges, and board* of trade, com­ bine to control the transfer of lands, farms, city lots, railroad shares and bonds, stocks and securities of all kinds, ant all real and personal property, and to swell commissions and fees of such transfers. Cities are filled with non-pro­ ducers, not merely teachers and physicians and other useful professionals, who are in a sense producers and in every view uBeful and necesmry members of the body politic, but peo- Sle who, under the guiso of go-betweens in the Istribution between producers and consumers, combine to fix the prices they pay for the goods of the former and set up daily lhe rate demand­ ed for the latter. Free competition should re­ duce this Bhare of the middlemen to a minimum but for the inducement and opportunity to com­ bine, formally and informally, to control prices of products and costs of vending. Thus the share demanded often amounts to a confisca­ tion of the grower's profit, and the number of salesmen ia so increased that they complain that they cannot make a living. The trouble is, thero are tco many of these producers who ab­ sorb the products of the farmer iu the distribu­ tion to the consumer. Curions Biblical Errors. Several editions of the Bible have queer names given them on account of curious typographical errors. The fol­ lowing are the verses where the pe­ culiar mistakes occurred in the several well known editions: THE BREECHES BIBLE. "Then the eies of them both were opened,^and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together and. made themselves Breeches." Gen. iii., 7. Printed in 1560. THE BUG BIBLE. "So that thou shalt not nede to be afraid for any Bugges by nighte, nor for the arrow that liyeth by day." Ps. xci., 5. Printed in 1561. THE TREACLE BIBLE. "Is there no treacle at Gilead ? Is there no physician there ?" Jer. viii., 22. Printed in 1568. THE ROSIN BIBLE. "Is there no rosin in Gilead ? Is there no physician there?" Jer. viii., 22. Printed in 1609. THE PLACE-MAKERS' BIBLE. "Blessed are the place-makers; for they shall be called the children of God." Mat. v., 9. Printed in 1561-2. THE VINEGAR BIBLE. "The Parable of the Vinegar," in­ stead of "The Parable of the Vine­ yard," appears in the chapter heading of Luke xx. in an Oxford edition of the authorized version which was pub­ lished in 1717. THE WICKED BIBLE. This extraordinary name was given to an edition of the authorized Bible, printed in London by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas in 1631. The nega­ tive was left out of the Seventh Com­ mandment, and William Kilburne, writing in 1659, says that owing to the zeal of Dr. Usher the printer was fined £2,000 or £3,000. THE EARS-TO-EAR BIBLE. "Who hath ears to ear, let l«»m hear." Matthew xiii., 43. Printed in' 1810. THE STAICDING-FI8B3S BIBLE. "And it shall come to pass that the fishes will stand upon it," etc. Eeek. xlvii., 10. Printed in 1806. THE DISCHARGE BIBLE. "I discharge thee before God." 1 Tim , v. 21. Printed 1806. ^po» THE WIFE-HATER BIBLE. "If any man come tQ. me, and kate not his father, ... yea, and his own wife also," etc. Luke xiv., 26. Printed in 1810. REBKKAH'S-CAMELS BIBLE. - ^ "And Bebekah arose, and her^Cam­ els." Genesis xxiv., 61. Printed in 1823. TO-RKMAIJ. ilBLK. "Persecuted him that wits born after the spirit to remain, «fijt nil la apw.* GaL :t. 29. AFFAIRS l\ ILLINOIS. IHtKBSSTIHO ITEMS GATHERED FROM TARIOUS SOURCES. - What Our Neighbors Are ef General ami Local Interest -- Mar­ riages and Deaths--Accidents and Crimes --^Personal Pointers. --In response to a 'request* from the Commissioner of the Census at Washing­ ton ss to the valne of bn ldinzs and per­ sonal property owned by the State of Illi­ nois, Assistant Secretary Whipp, of the Btste Board of Charities, has compiled a statement showing in detail the amoont of expenditures for improvement in the State, and submitted the same to Gov. Fifer to be forwarded to Washington for use in the ooming census report. The statement is as follows: Building. Amt. expended. State House, Spriupfield § 4,00(>t(KX) Northern Insane Hospi tal, Elgin...... 535,000 Eastern Hospital, Kankakee Central Insane Hospital. Jacksonville Southern Insane Hospital. Anna Institution for Deaf and Dumb, Jack­ sonville Institute for Blind, Jacksonville;....'. Asylum for Feeble-minded, Iancoln.. Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Normal'..... Eye and Ear Infirmary, Chicago.....'. Reform School. Pontiac Soldiers and bailors'Home, Quincy.. Northern Penitentiary, Joliet Southern Penitentiary, Chester.,../;. Normal University, Normal Illinois University, Urbana...... Southern University, Carbondaltk,... State Arsenal, Sprint field Supreme Court. Ottawa 4,;.. Supreme Court, Mount Vernon.. .1...; 1,311,000 800,900 643,CO!) 383.000 171,01X1 ' 182,000 348.001 • 8i,0( 0 • 220,0 X) 235,000 1,500,0110 , ,<F50,000 2.10.000 .. 270,000 200,000 " 50.000 7 60,000 55,000 Total for buildings...,. $11,754,000 Building Illinois and Michigan' Canal, Chicago to La Salle .v.... #,600,000 Locks and dam at Henry;. 400,000 Locks and dams at Copperas Creek.;: . 410,000 Grand total, buildings and im provements <$22,164.000 The present value of lands owned by the State is placed at $328,000, end the value of miscellaneous property of the State at $2,2(>.">,000, making $25,142,000 the State has expended for improve­ ments, charities and public buildings since 1839. --The Supreme Court of the State has affirmed the decision of the Appellate Court in the suit of John V. Farwell & Co. against P. W. Nilssou. says the Chi­ cago News. Attorneys Adolph Moses and E. S. Walker, who appeared in the case for Nilsson, are authority for the state­ ment that the effect of the decision is to go directly counter to the law as to pref­ erences laid down by the United States Supeme Court in the case of White vs. Cotzhausen. If they are right in the as­ sumption that the decision of the State Supreme Court is opposed to th tt of. the United States Supreme Court, it will be­ come the recognized law of Illinois and will have a big effect, since thera are many suits in the courts involving large amounts which are predicated on the the­ ory, as expressed in the White vs. Cotz­ hausen case, that a failing debtor's pref­ erence of creditors amounts to a voluntary assignment, and a fund confessed or as­ signed away to special creditors can be impressed with a trust in favor of all creditors and can be distributed pro rata among them. Nilsson was a men's fur­ nishing goods dealer, and judgments for about $16,000 were confessed in favor of the Lincoln National Bank aud other creditors, and Farwell, who secured a judgment later on, sought to secure his claim on the theory as laid down in White vs. Cotzhauseu. --Chicago ^he site of the Fort Dearborn massacre is to have a monu­ ment. Old settlers of Chicago have definitely located the spot where the tragedy occurred, and a memorial shaft to its victims will be erected at the in­ tersection of Calumet avenue and Eight­ eenth street. Mr. George M. Pullman has generously determined to provide the means for erecting the monument, which is expected to cost $^5,000. But other well-known gentlemen are interesting themselves in the movement and are tak­ ing steps to be .identified with the enter­ prise. The massacre occurred Aug. 9, 1812, and it is proposed to have *the un­ veiling of tha monument on that anni­ versary. --The initiative movement among the railroads of Illinois iu doing away with the deadly car Btove as a mode of heating passenger cars has been inaugurated by the St. Louis, Alton and Springfield Railroad, running between Springfield and St.Louis. The company has equipped its through trains with steam-heating ap­ paratus connecting with the locomotive, and the results have been so favorable that the company proposes to equip all its cars in this manner. •» , --In the Cook County Superior Court, at Chicago, the Supreme Lodge of the Order of Mutual Protection litis brought suit against State Auditor Pavey for $10,. 000 for libel. The plaintiffs are a secret society organized in many different States of the Union, which pays sick and death benefits to members. It 'is a Mis­ souri corporation. The State Auditor, it is claimed, when applied to for informa­ tion concerning the society, had written personal letters to the effect that it is doing business illegally and improperly in the State of Illinois., The plaintiffs have some of these letters in their pos­ session. and on this evidence the suit for libel has been brought against the Auditor personally. --The total revenue collections in Pe­ oria for the month of March were $1,749,- 068.68. Total tax-paid gallons, 1,933,628. Total packages exported, 354. • --The Germans of Chicago are going to erect a big theater on Randolph street, between Clark and Dearborn. The esti­ mated cost of the building is $401),000. --T. F. Bouton, of the JoDesbord Ga­ zette, reports the strawberry crop as prom­ ising in Southern Illinois, but says the peaches have been injured by the*" storm. --At Illiopolis. Sangamon County, while playing school, Elmer Fossett ac­ cidentally struck Luther Constant oh the head with an ax, inflicting a probably fatal wound. --Chicago is to have a great Central Produce Exchange on the west bank of the river, bounded by Canal, Lake, and Randolph streets. The building will be about 400 feet square and ten stories high, and, with the ground, will cost about $2,500,0 < 0. Its mission will be to give relief to overcrowded Water street. Tlfo Chfcago Cold Storage Exchange is the corporation undertaking this great en­ terprise, and work on it will be begun at once. Governor Fifer has appointed U. D. Green, of Momenoset ftaukakt* County, as Fish Warden. i --The following is • summary of the last crop bulletin sent from Spring­ field: The temperate re was ulurbtlr nh <ve [he nor­ mal of the last ten y«ars. Thrmgho'it the most of the State an average amount of sunshine was reported. The rain1 all, exespt hi the extreme northern counties of the State, was above the average. Bond County -- Considerable plowing being done. Some oats down. Ka n fall, 1.28. Weath­ er of last week affected wheat and grass favor­ ably. Champaign--The wheat that Is not kilted la looking fine. Oats partly sewn. Soil in good condition. Hainfall, 0.7t> inoh. Coles--Peaches are probably all killed. TWo- thirds of wheat injured. Rainfall, 0.50 inch. Cumberland--The weather ot the last week affected wheat favorably. Rainfall, 1.2T. Edwards -- Condition favorable for wheat. Peach trees iu bloom. Rainfall 0.10 inch. Franklin--Oats being rapidly sown. Wheat c mi ing out well. Ground too wet for work. Rainfall 2.05 inches Fulton -- Farmers preparing to sow oats. Rainfall 1 inch. Henry--Farmers jnst beginning to kqy oats. Soil too wet for work. Rainfall 1 inch. Hamilton--Wheat Jooked well until last freeze, which evidentlv damaged it one-half. The peaches were all killed and other fruit badly damaged. Rainfall. 1.15 inches. Iroquois--'The early sown wheat in fair con­ dition. The late sown was badly affected dur­ ing the late freeze. R&infaM, 1.20 inches. Kendall--Vegetation has not started much. Rye looks well and the snow which fell the 27th will helj) it. Little wheat here. Rainfall, 1.42 inches. Lake--This morning, the 28th, the worst snow storm of the season is in progress. Nearly a foot of snow has fallen. Hainfall, 0.H3 inch. Logan--Weather warm and spring-like. Farm­ ers busy sowing oats. Winter wheat locking well. Rainfall. 0.85 inch. I^aSalle--Weather favorable until 2Sth; grow­ ing colder, which may affect fruit unfavorably. Rainfall. 1.(13 inches. Marshall--The 27th was the stormiest day of the season ; 2.24 inches of rain and melted snow fell in twenty-four hours, which filled up wells. McHenry--Frost nearlv out and the "ground ipe. Vi grain. Rainfall, .38 inch. getting in good stmt armers sowing small xvsinian, men. Pike--The weather of the last week has affected the wheat and grass crop favorably. Rainfall. 1.87 inches. Randolph-Weather of last week affected wheat favorably. The wheat is badly injured, e8j>ecially the late sowing. Rainfall, 1.48. Sangamon--Conditions generally favorable. Oats sowing commenced. RRiufall, 0.!*2 inch. Schuyler--The weather of last week has been much more favorable to the wluat prospect. Rainfall, 1.34 inches. --Springfield dispatch: Warden F. J. Murphy and Commissioner Joe Messick of the Chester Penitentiary have bad a conference with Gov. Fifer relative to the change in the boundary lines be­ tween the territory of the northern and southern penitentiaries. The number of prisoners at both penitentiaries is de­ creasing, but to the greator extent at Chester, and as they have new cell-houses they, think they are entitled to more con­ victs. --Illinois municipal elections: Spring­ field--The Democrats elected six Alder­ men and the Republicans one, Thea new Council will be oomposed of twelve Democrats to two Republicans. Gales- burg--The temperance element scored a decided victory, electing five out of seven Alderman. Kock Island--The Pemoorats elected four out of seven Alderman. Maeomh--The Democrats elected two Aldermen, City Marshal, and Superin­ tendent of Streets, the <ceBt of the city offices going Republican. License was defented by about 80 votes. Quincy-- Walker, Democrat, w*ts elected Mayor by 27!) majority.. The rest of the Democratic ticket was also cbosen. --The State Supreme Court has ren­ dered a decision by which the Decatur Young Men's Christian Association is given $25,000, thus sustaining the will of the late D. F. Hamsher, who gave half his wealth tothat organization. He left $600 a year to his father, William Hamsher, who tried to have the will set aside. The Court also decided in the case of Emmons vs. City of Lewistown, which was to test the validity of city ordinances requiring canvassers, peddlers. to take'out licenses, that such ordinances are invalid and cannot bj Enforced. --The Rev. Dr. Goodspeed, who has been working in the interest of the new Chicago University, was asked by Tribune correspondent in reference to the committee's success in the matter of rais ing funds for the new enterprise. "We have $300,000 already pledged," said he, fcbut we must have $100,000 more before Jane 1 in order to secure Mr. Rockefel ler's generous donation of $600,000. And right here I want to say emphatically that Mr. Field's donation of a $100,000 site for the .university is not to be applied in making up the $400,000. Mr. Field has so informed us in unmistakable terms. 'Unless every dollar of the $400,- 000 is secured before J une 1 I shall with draw my offer,' i6 what be has said to us. 'You can raise the required amount in Chicago for a Chicago enterprise, I am positive.' We propose," said Dr. Good speed, "to make the University of Chi cago what Yale College is to its home city. It will be a Christian institution, entirely unsectarian, and conducted on the broadest possible educational princi plea. If we are successful in our work of raising funds the building will be begun as soon after June 1 as adequate plans can be prepared. --A circ ular containing instructions for the examinations in schools intending to compete for the public-school premiums offered at the next State Fair at Peoria, will soon be issued by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The examinations for competing high schools will be held in May. On May 21 the subjects will be algebra, geolnetry, English literature and natural philosophy; on May 22, Greek, civil government, physiology and botany; and on May 23, Latin. German and book- keeping. The examinations in graded schools will take place during the after­ noons of May 22 and 23. Twenty-two premiums are offered, ranging iu value from $3 to $10. --Ex-Senator D. B. Gillham, of Alton, who was recently shot by a burglar, is slowly but steadily improving. --There is considerable excitement among the Methodists of Springfield over the refusal of Elder Preston Woods to announce a prohibition meeting from the pulpit of the Second Methodist Church. Elder Woods was esked to an­ nounce a meeting which he believed was a boom for the Prohibition party, and re­ fused to do so. A warm controversy may occur. --Nearly $12,500,000 trill be required to run the city of Chicago foe the coming year. --The Board of Supervisors of Law­ rence County has employed a couple of expert accountants to examine the records of the county for years back. The experts have been at work for some time, and if their reports bs true Lawrence County has been robbed fcy a gang of "boodlers." Many discrepancies have been reported, and some are said to amount into the thousands. --Booth and Modjeaka's receiX engage­ ment at the Chicago Opera Houso was a wonderfully successful ore. The box- office receipts fertile tlcee weeks footed up $71,752. • • • • * : • . - ' * - * * . ir i k HUNDRED PERISHED. awoi ">» o* bi w > rf" WUHVCKX • CTCLONK. " rhe Storm General Between the Missis­ sippi River and the Alleghenies--Differ­ ent Places Where the Cyclone Was Felt --Destruction at Varlaus Points. Louisville (Ky.) dispatch: The yel­ low floods of the Ohio, lapping the tops of the highest levees and threatening death and destructfon to the towns along, the river "bank's, met a greater horror than any to which it had ever given birth as it rolled on its way to the Mis­ sissippi. In. the rushing of a mighty wind a giant of the air, leaving wreck and ruin on the prairies of southern Illinois, swept up the swollen stream, and in less than three hours wrought damase which months of worK can not repair, and slew scores, perhaps hun­ dred's of human beings. In Louisville alone at least one hun­ dred lives were lost and meager reports or still more ominous silence indicates an awful loss of life in other towns. Whole villages are said to have been leveled to the ground, and there is reason to believe-that when news from these stricken.hamlets comes to the pub­ lic the death-list will reach appalling proportions. First reports led to the conclusion that the cyclone which laid so much of Louisville in ruins and the wind storm which tore its way across Illinois were not the same, and it is difficult now to explain the wide area of country visited. A general storm raged over most of that part of t*ie United States between the Missouri river and the Alleghanics and north of the Ohio Thursday evening, and it Is probable that thero were sev­ eral cyclones, tornadoes, and hurricanes. The well-known eccentric movements of cyclones would account for the wide distance between the points affected in southern Illinois and along the Ohio river, and it seems likelv that the cy­ clone which struck Louisville and the one which a few hours earlier had whirled over the southern part of Illi* nois were Identical. Falling upon the country a few miles east of the Mississippi between Cairo and St. Louis, it rose again into the air whence it came somewhere east of Louisville. Between these two points its course is only two plainly marked and its continuous progress established. Special dispatches show that the cyclone was first felt at Nashville, Car- bondale, and Murphysboro, three towns lying in a line almost north and /outh. The extreme distance between these towns is about forty-five miles. Tearing its way across the State to Olney, not far from the Indiana line, it seems to have turned southward, for it was felt at Evansville, Ind. In the meantime, Metropolis, III., on the Ohio river, had been half wrecked, one person billed and several injured, and $250,000 worth of property destroyed. Up the Ohio the cyclone raced and, crossing into Kentucky, laid the country in rnins. The board of trade of Louisville has made a canvass of the ruined district and the estimate of one hundred persons killed is obtained from the returns. Other estimates place the loss of life much higher, and it is not improbable that the story told by the ruins will bear them out. The board has gone to work with a splendid courage that will command the admiration of the whole country to re­ lieve the needy and repair the terrible ruin the city has suffered. It sends out a statement that the loss will not excced $2,000,0p0, and says that though the calamitv is a great one the residents of the city able to cope with it unaided. That aid will be furnished if needed or desired is evident from the ready proffers from neighboring States and cities. It is likely that this generous assistance will be required by the smaller towns and villages, in which the people will be leas able to face the disaster which has over­ taken them. Onn of tne most patriotic scenes was the finding of tne bodies of a boy and girl, evidently brother and sister. Their hands were clasped and they appeared as If asleep. As they were lifted up a handsome woman and a stal­ wart man rushed forward and Gtasped the dead forms. The father wept aloud, but the mother, falling to her knees, lifted a tear-stained face*upward and quaking as if shaken in a storm said: "John, God's taken all we had." They refused all offers of aid and car­ ried their own dead to their desolate home. Virgil Wright, who was rescued from the ruins of the Louisville house just as he was about to blow out his brains with a revolver, said last night that he did not suf­ fer so much bodilv pain, but the agony of being buried, with no knowledge of what awaited him. almost crazed him. Then, too. the shrieks and groans of the imprisoned girls added to his agony, more so as lie could tell when some of them died by the cessation of their groans and the cries of the survivors, lie says he has no recollection of how he got under the wreck, but believes that if he had not been rescued at that mo­ ment he would have blown out his brains. . THE STATE OF TRADE Business In the South Affected by the Floods and Storm*. New York dispatch: Bradstreet's "State of Trade savs: Another rise in the Ohio and Mis­ sissippi rivers continues to Keep large tracts of country under water and thu9 toobstruct trade. The disastrous storm Thursday night, notably at Louisville and elsewhere in the central Western states, can hardly fail to intensify the unfavorable conditions already existing. Exports of wheat continue to decline on the Pacific coast. The total ship­ ments of wheat, and flour as wheat, from both coasts this week amount to IS A TIGHT PLACE. A Confetferale Colonel's Experience la Chicago--He Bides for Boors Between lhe MattreM and Springs «f the Bed afa Lady Friend. A gentleman who was a Colonel in tfie Confederate Army and is now a resi­ dent of Chicago, relates many thrilling episodes of the war, of which the follow­ ing is not the least interesting: "I came through the lines--no matter how --on special business, the exact nature of which I don't care to divulge even at this late hour. J was quite a youngster then, comparatively speaking, you know, and had a good deal of the dare­ devil about me. I went into the war from the start. I was one of the first fellows in New Orleans to mouqt p. blue cockade on my hat- Well, as 1 waa sav ing, I came boldly np to Chicago. Got through the Union lines in Kentucky, where there were many facilities for that The hedge was full of gaps and letters went regularly through. But I had to be cautious in my movements. The • Federal authorities were on the lookout for secret emissaries. I came to meet some parties from Canada, and I met them, transacted mV business, and went around town for several days enjoying myself. "One morning I received a not© from a lady of my acquaintance, who had a kindly feeling for the South and whe was well posted on current movements. She wrote: 'I learn on undoubted authority that you are known to be in Chicago and that they are on the look­ out for you. When you get this stay where you are until night and then gc to Mrs. X's, street; aud show het this note and I think you will be all right.' "Here's 'a pretty mess,' I said to my- Relt. However, I determined to weather the gale. I had been through many a big battle, but to get in a tight place like this was calculated to make a man nervous, as I might i>e arrested as a spy and shot. I wasn't a spy, however; but I couldn't prdve that I wasn't. "I wasn't molested during the dav. 1 stuck close to my quarters and, chang ing mv clothes and putting on a slouch hat and pulling it down over my eyes i launched out on the street and pursued ipy way to the address indicated in the lady's note. The streets were precty lively with people and a regiment oi soldiers was marching down Lake street to the Illinois Central depot tc take a train-for the front. Fine, strong young fellows they were in that regi ment, too, with a band of music playing one of the popular songs of the day. 1 got to the house all right and found th lady to be an old Southern friend. An old friend, but a very young and hand some lady, the wife of a very agreeable Chicago gentleman. 'You'll be all right here,' she said, and I thought so, too. She, her husband and I had a very pleasant evening together and parted for the night in high spirits. 1 was tired and went to sleep very quickly, Don't know how long I slept, but I was suddenly awakened bv a thundering knock at my door. 1 sprang up and found my friend, the master of the household, pale as a ghost, standing in the hull. 'An officer and a guard are at the door and you must hide--I don'! know where--or we shall be ruined.' " 'Go ahead,' I said, 'and let them in. ni take care of myself and. you shan't be compromised.' "It was a desperately rough situation. Just then my friend's wife came quickly to me and said: 'Come in here, we must do the best we can and adopt "feei •) heroic means. Get in there and don't breathe or you're lost* "She pointed to her bed* " 'Get under the mattress and He still as death, and get air when you can.' "In an instant I saw her plan. The bed was a large one. The springs were large. I pulled up the mattross, jumped in on the springs, and pulled the mattress over me. The lady then returned to her bed and quickly lay down as naturally as you please over me. She wasn't very heavy, but the 'mattress was, and the spriugs seemed to have edges cutting into my legs and side. "Hardly had we disposed ourselves in this unique manner when the Lieuten­ ant and bis meti were admitted to the house. We could hear loud talking and a deal of profanity as they explored the house from cellar to garret anl looked in every closet and ran their bayonets into piles of clothes. At last the door of the room opened, '.'he officer touched his hat and remarked that he couldn't use much ceremony, as the case was urgent. He had been informed and was convinced that Col. was in the house, and he meant to have him. "Mrs. X pleaded sickness as an excuse for not rising and aiding the search, and said: 'Look everywhere, sir, over the house. There's nobody here except myself, my husband, and servants. All the closets and coal-bins and everything are at your disposal. We have nothing to conceal.' " 'Oh!' said the oflicer, 'I've heard all that many a time. I shall have to look all through your room, madam.' "He did. "He looked in each closet; called his men in and made them run their bayo­ nets into the wall to be sure there were no secret closets anywhere. He stooped down, looked under the bed within four feet of me. Jove! but I was in a cold sweat. One movement, one creak of a spring, one sneeze,'or hard breath would have betrayed me. But, after three minutes of suppressed vitality, the Lieutenant withdrew, muttering: 'This is d--d strange.' "Still he lingered down-stairs; went into the cellar again, into the back yard, tore up boards from the floors, and ran his bayonets into the parlor sofas. At .401.156 bushels, against 1,800,390bush­ els last week. In the corresponding ! ^ the KanS cleared out, thoroughly week a year ago they were 1,741,944 j disgusted. They did their duty cer­ tainly, and deserved promotion. "I waited on those infernal springs two hours before I moved. I was afraid they would suddenly come baok. But they didn't. The guard was kept around the house until IU o'clock next morning aud then they withdrew. I spent the day with my friends, borrowed a suit of clothes and a haj; from my frieud, shaved my mustache off, and at 8 o'clock in the evening, taking leave of my kind protectors, I lighted a cigar, stepped boldly into the street, and be­ fore midnight was a good many miles on my way to the Confederacy. That is what I call a pretty close shave." were bushels. The total from July 1 to date is 79,«>93.779 bushels, against 67,- 922,250 bushels in the like share of 1888 and 1889. The decrease of available stocks of wheat east of the Rockies was 1.031.000 bushels last week, against 800.000 bushels in the preceding week. There is no improvement in pig-iron aud only a slightly better demand for steel rails. The number of men in­ volved in strikes and lockonts in the United States this year is slightly less than in the like quarter of 1889. Dry goods are. fairly active with jobbers' drives in cottou dress goods being the feature. Agents report trade moderate. Print- cloths, prints and low-grade bleached and brown cottons arc weak, the decline In prints being nearly per cent owing to larger stocks. The woolen goods de­ mand, especially for men's wear, is rather quiet, wnile prices are steady. Low and medium grades of wool are firmer but not in better demand. The' manufacturing outlook is not encourag- ing. . The business failures reported number 189 In the United States, against 200 last week and 161 for the same week last year. Tne total number of failures ia Che United States since Jan.. l is &,358, against 3^46 in 1889. Ought to Be Shock Sufficient. Dr. Lancet (the family physician)-- Well, doctors, what do you think ? Dr. Scalpel (called in consultation >-- The patient evidently requires a shock to his sensibilities to arouse him from the present condition of lethargy. ^ Dr. Probe (also called in consulta­ tion)--How would it do to show him the bill for this consultation?--New York Pre**. • A PRiSTKR most be a pretty skillful surgeon to set broken typo. ADIEU. * ' '%T KVKLTJf WSOM, We was* both what yoo esM tftuit butchers, 'cause we butchered folks patience, I B'pose. Well, yes, we pretty young fer the place and I ain't but 16 now an' that was two years ago; but we was mighty plucky little chaps, I tell yon. He was a Frenchman, «U fire an' go, an* I guess I gpt there on clear Yankee grit. When I first knew him we was both newsboys; used to come• down to the trains, you know, to sell our papers. I liked him 'fore I knew him, 'cause he was such a pretty little fellow; reg'lar French--black eyes an' black hair, an all-round beauty. One day I spoke to 'im and says: "How's biz to-day?* an* asked 'm what wns his name, an' he said "Pierre"--that's French for Peter --an' I said my name was Tom, an* that's all 'the introduction newsboys needed. It didn't take us long to get "acquainted, an' we got to be jojly good friends. One day Pierre says: "I'm sick o' bein' a newsboy; let's get into bigger business," so I says: * "Let's get on the trains," so we tried. It took quite a while to get in, but we struck a piece of luck, an' both got a place on the D., Y. & T. 'Course we couldn't see each other much any more, only just as the trains met once a day: then we'd both be on the rear platform, last car, an' just shout out "Bonjours!" "Adieu!" He'd taught me them words an' a lot more, an' spent aheap o' time gettin' me to say 'em right; it was awful hard at first, but after a while he told me I said 'em fiist rate. You know, what bon jours means, but I bet you can't say it like I can. Adieu's harder yet, but it means a heap more. Pierre said it was> A' Dieu--to God. D'ye see ? I'd rather not tell the rest 1>out, Pietre, but -1 s'pose I might as well go now I've got commenced. Well, ye see, one day the trains didn't meet at the regular place. It made me feel kind o' skeery and at the station I got onto the engine an' kep' my eye on the track ahead. We hadn't gone many miles 'fore we came to just what I ex­ pected. There was the engine of his train upside down in a ditch, an' the cars spread all around, folk groanin' an' screamin'. Ugh! I never saw such a sight before, nor heard such sounds, an' I don't know as I want to again. It was quite a while 'fore I found; Pierre. I knew better'n to listen fer his voice. I knew if he was most dead he'd just shut his teeth hard an' never make a noise. I hated to look for 'im, but I says, "Pluck up, old boy, it's your business to find Pierre, dead or alive." Pretty soon I saw a hand stick­ ing out from a broken pile of wood, an' I knew that hand. His hands wasn't never rough an' dirty like the other boys. You see he was cut out for a gentleman. All I cbuld see of him was that one hand an' his sweet face. He was under a heap of wood an' glass an1 couldn't move uor speak, but I could tell by his face that he knew me. 1 went to work to get him out, an' when I got the stuff off from him I saw he was all bruised ar.d cut. but T be­ lieve 'twasn't much an' talked jolly to him all the while. I couldn't move 'im; he had to lie right there till the train came to take us back to the city. An' then I got the brakeman an' we managed to get him into a car. It hurt him awfully, I knew, but he knew me all the time; I could tell that by his face. ,;va When we got there we had him took £ to the hospital. It seemed so nice an* still in there, an' the sisters were so kind an' carefnl. I thought when I ^j(h saw Pierre put into a nice bed'twas a >\ regular heaven for him. But he .didn't - .<m know nothin' 'bout it. He had an awful ? fever, they say. He was talkin' jest as '• fast 's he could, but no sense to any- ' , thing he said. The doctors came and looked him over, an' they looked pretty solemn, an' one of 'em said he wouldn't live but a few hours, an' he put his h^nd on Pierre's head an' says: " • ; "Poor fellow! it^ too bad, sttdk "i; pretty little chap!" » I tell you I'll never forget that doctor for that. They gave him something? to stop the fever, an' said he must be kep quiet, but they let me stay, after I begged 'em to an' prohiised to be still. He got quiet after a while, an' the sis­ ters weut away an' I put my head on the pillow by him, an' I think" we both slep a couple of hours or so; then I wose up au' sat there watchin' him for a while. He knew I was there in his sleep, I guess, 'cause he opened his eyes an' says: t "I thought you was by me, Tom. I'm glad. Tell 'em I won't be back no more; an', Tom, you au' me ean't be pards no longer. Be good to yourself--don't forget your old pard. Tom--Adieu." I just says, "Adieu. Pierre." He never spoke another word, an'just shut his eyes an' went away--to God. It's kind o' nice when I get to thinkin' it over, to think that was the last word I said to him--that adieu that he had learned me, an' that I am livin' all the time with that adieu o' hisn as a kind of blessin' on me. That's all there is 'bout Pierre. An' me? Well, there ain't much of ana: 'thout him.--Detroit Free Press. • 3f * a3 H* f ^ "SllfS A Mean Husband. Mrs. Smallpay (wife of a cleric)--I saw Mtol Small purse with a forty-dollar dress on to-day, and here I'm wearing a twenty-dollar one. You and Mr. Small- purse are clerks in the same store, too, and get the same salary. I'd just like to know what you do with all your money." Mr. Smallpay- You ought to know about as well as any one what becomes of it. As for that dress, I suppose you know that Mrs. Smaltpurse does her own work, while you have a four-dollar B6rvftot»" Mrs. Smallpay--Huh! Fd like ttt know what a paltry four dollars has to do with a forty-dollar dress. Mr. Smallpay (triumphantly)--She's only been here nine weeks--so there now!--Neic York Weekly. Won by Her Tongue. ' . Sowders--How long did you know your wife before vou were married to Ler? . Kiply--Two days. c * • Sowders--Wasn't that rather a acquaintance? Riply--If you had heard my wile talk you wouldn't ask such questions. At the end of those two days I felt f|| though I had known her five years.-- * Kearney Enterprise. - The world is not made up to the eye of figures--that is, only half; it is alar made of color. How that element washes the universe with its enchanting waves! The sculptor has ended hia work, and behold a new world of dream­ like glory. Tis the last stroke of Na­ ture ; beyond color she cannot go. In like manner, l ife is made up> aot - 4^- knoweWige only, but love atax : ~. * . i V " " r&v