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She JRtgtntg §laittteUr. • J. VAN BLTKE, PUBUSBML McHKNRT. ILLINOIS, THE HEWS CONDENSED. VBK KA8T. TIB M*tk>n*l Exchange Bank of Ttaft H. T., has gone into voluntary liquidation. A MtNiTENTiABT convict named Collin 8, alias ftorpc, was hung in the prison at Aubnrn, N. - y Y., lMt week, for the murder of a colored con- ̂ riot named Howard, in September last A. "•«*i ,• fir* at HUleretown, Pa., last week, destroyed #200,000 worth of property. AT the late municipal election In Boston the jv *t ; BepuUicatt ticket was elected T . 2.151. " ' T ?•«. H ^ BEKBATIOMAII tragedy was enacted in Chi- MMr '* ' oag® a few days ago. A constable named Mo- Efflgett was shot and mortally wounded by ii Mi«R Alvioft C. McKee while attemptinR to levy . ; on an execution for $42 for the rent of the * * . boose in which the fair Africa lived. GOT. IRWIM, of California, in his message to to the Legislature, oonies out strongly against Chinese immigration, and urges that steps be taken to put a. stop to the unrestricted influx of Mongolian*. He »t v* their presence has initi­ ated an ivrepreseable conflict in California, and that there is danger of their civilization over siding our own. STIM another Chicago bank has gone by the board. The German Savings Bank--Henry Greenebaum, President--closed its doors on litf t: ^ I#* Friday, the 7th inst. It is said that depositors •*b wV • u#r% Wr* -*(*: a A«i,| pi a •if *| "i .•fat* i v|§:t? •#/ ii-'< 4vr! fs -t?-: will be paid dollar for dollar. BAHKBOFTCCBR : The Simpson Bank of Lawrenee, Kan.; the LA Salle County Sayings Bank, of Ottawa, HI.; John G. Hod;e ^ypo., wholesale stationers, Ban Franoisoo, CaL, liar bilities $280,000. THB report of the commission appointed to settle the dispute as to the location of the front door of the Chicago postoffice has been ren­ dered, and is of a nature to satisfy all parties. It retains the Dearborn street entrance, pro­ vides for two public entrances to the postoffice on Clark street and one on Adams street; and reoommends that the dumping and wagoning be done on Jackson street... .The St. Elmo murderer is to have his trial at Galesburg, ILL, in February. The theory of insanity has al­ ready been advanced by the defense. THE Rev. Dr. Harris, rector of St. James'Epis­ copal Church, Chicago, has been elected Bishop of the new Diooese of Quincy, 111 Miss Mc­ Kee has been committed for murder without bail, for the reoent shooting of Constable Mo~ EIHgott, at Chicago. THE receipts of hogs at Chicago for five days recently reached the enormous number of 28$,500, having a value of $1,600,000... .Mrs. Kate Tyrrell, oonfined in the penitentiary at Lincoln, Neb., for forgery, burned a hole through the floor of the female department in­ to the guard=ro©m, made rope of a blanket torn into strips, and escaped to the hall of the warden's house. While trying to unlock the only door between her and liberty die was dis- oovered and taken back. THB SOUTH. LOVKVUXB had a destructive fire last week. The extensive whisky house of Cochrane 4 Fulton was completely destroyed, involving the loss of some $300,000 Ex.-Gov. Pinchback, of Loui<dana, has addressed an open letter to Gov. Nicholls resigning his place as a United States Senator from that State. NK&B Liberty, Ky., last week, Thomas Moore and United States Special Bailiff George D. El­ lis killed one another. Moore has been wanted by the authorities for a year past on an indict­ ed* i mtat charging him with*illicit distilling. Ellis j met him by chance Sunday night while riding -*** •»w- : %> < ••6*1 towards liberty, Ky., with a man named Dwy- er. Ellis called "surrender!" and Moore an­ swered by firing a bullet through his body. El­ lis re'urned the shot, Moore disappearing in the bushes. Next morning his body was found frozen stiff in death. Jo»,< #* to V* ' mi ? U •J-lS -h. 41»! ** •-J*' M «4 -is - m •v OENEBAL. Two OCBAX disasters are reported by cable. The British steamer European, from the Cape of Good Hope, was wrecked in a fog off the French ooast. No lives were lost. A collision occurred in the English channel, off Beaehy head, between an English steamer and an un­ known vessel. But one man was saved. THE troubles on the Mexican border are as­ suming a shape that may lead to really serious complications. One of the two parties of troops which recently crossed the Bio Grande in pursuit of depredators has been heard from, dispatches from the border telling of an en­ counter between CoL Young's command and a number of Mexican Indians, in ?.'hich two of the latter were killed and three wounded. The camp and property of the in î»n« were com­ pletely destroyed. • st&v&sa engineer, Lieut. Wise, reports far Yorably on the official explorations of the Isthmus of Dariuu, with a view to the project of an inter-oceanic oanal, connecting the Pa­ cific and the Atlantic in Central America. Lieut Wise cellmates the cost of the proposed work as not excessive. THE Bev. J. J. Bloomer, pastor of St. Pat lick's Catholic Church, in Elmira, N. Y., hm been committed to Jail for contempt of the Beoorder's Oourt, in refusing to answer a ques­ tion put by the court in reference to a case of alleged bigamy. The pastor stands on the ground of professional confidence, not church discipline. pournui, TH* people ef Georgia have voted, by a ma- i Joiity of 40,000, to locate their State capital at Atlanta. The new constitution is adopted by about the same vote... .The Democrats of New Hampshire will hold their State Convention at Concord, Jan. IS. To A BXQOBST, signed by every Bepublican member of the New York delegation save Mr. Chittenden, asking the President not to again Mod in the names of Messrs. Roosevelt and Price as Collector and Naval Officer in New v| York, the President, a Washington telegram ̂ Informs us, returned a courteous but peremp- toy refusal. $* WASHINGTON. Tax Secretary of the Treasury has issued a flail for the redemption of $6,000,000 of bonds of 1865, and #4000,000 of registered bonds of 1870... The War Department apprehends a general renewal of Indian hostilities in the far West and Northwest before spring. Tmm House Committee on Education and Labor have decided to report adversely upon t̂he bill introduced by Judge Buckner for the * establishment in the District of Columbia of a ̂ NMionai University for Women... .Judge, Mo- Arthur has granted & motion for a new trial in ™ fe'ie case of ex-Assistant Secretary of the Treas- vy Sawyer, and ex-Commissioners of Customs ̂ Haines and Brooks, some weeks ago convicted * .53 at conspiring to defraud tl» Government. ll®1 A. WASHINGTON dispatch nates that the evi- in the naval inquiry into the causes of sisfefti -file kM of the Huron has all been taken. A ̂ formal decision will not be made for same time. I'jft ' | It is stated that the decision of the court will «»wtha£ the Huron was lost by an error of j udg- * 1 ) meat in the commander. His course was right, ~*iti*jb*had the fullest confidence in his obser- which probably were correct, but he take sufficiently into &ooount the fact " was very 'long, deep a oompara- l quantity of water, and offered little to ttw sea^ which' to thogale WM setting in so strongly toward the land. The ship was heading right, but had been foroed out of its oourse oy the gale and the tide. Hon. JOHN M. HARLAN has formally quali­ fied as a Judge of the United States Supreme Court, and now occupies a seat on that bench as the successor of Hon. David Davis, -of Illi­ nois.... An effort to restore the franking privilege to Congressmen looms up in Con­ gress, and nobody seems to care Secretary Schura, referring to the reports that he con­ templated resigning his position and taking the mission to Berlin, says that he has no such intention. He is well satisfied with his present position, and thinks he is doing well in it-- There has been a cations of some of the prominent silver men of both houses, includ­ ing Senator Jones, Judge Kelley, Bland and others, at which it was agreed that^ during the long holiday recess, one Senator and one Itej> resentative should be deputed to call public •Jvcr bill, and to cre&ts pub­ lic sentiment in its favor We are informed by Washington dispatches to the Western press that it is the intention of the administration to leave the whoie question of settling the Mexican troubles to Congress. The Cabinet may pass upon the question of the recognition of Diaz, but beyond that it does not expect to do anything, preferring to leave the responsi­ bility upon the shoulders of the representative body. There it promises to be a fruitful source of discussion. JCDGK IJOBING, of the United States Oourt of Claims, has retired on full pay, on account of age, and the President has ap­ pointed J. Bancroft Davis to succeed him.... After an exciting canvas* the nominations of Mr. Hayes for officers at the port of Now York were rejected by the Senate by a vote of 32 against confirmation to 25 in favor Gen. Sheridan has been before the House Military Committee to testify regarding the condition of affairs along the Rio Grande. He gaya it as his opinion that there is no danger of a war with Mexico, and that the troops already sta­ tioned on the border, together with those to be •ant there, will be sufficient to preserve order. THE TURKO-KtJSSIAN WAR. THE Russians admit a defeat and heavy loss­ es at Elena. The Turkish advance was only checked by the timely arrival of Russian rein- foroements... .A strong peace element is said to be developing in Constantinople. A BUCHABBST dispatch says: "A Russian statement is published here which says that it is better to continue the war than to conclude a patched-up peace, which will sooner or later make another war necessary. Russia must ob­ tain autonomy for the Christian population, in­ dependence for Ronmania and Servia, increase of territory for Montenegro, and for Russia possession of Batoum and Kara, and the free navigation of title Dardanelles." THE London correspondent of the Chicago Tribune telegraphs that "public interest in the war was never higher in England than now. Everything points to some decisive events before New Year's day, and, should the Turks be overpowered and unable to prevent a general Russian advance upon Adrianople, there is no telling what action Great Britain may be forced to take. That she is quietly preparing for possible active inter­ ference in behalf of Turkey is certain. In Asia the Turks have evacuated Batoum, and the fall of Erzeroum is daily looked for, as reinforcements cannot now reach Mukhtar Pasha. The Servians are said to have crossed the frontier at Jacoss, and fortified themselves on Turkish territory. The total loss of Russia up to Nov. 17 amounted to 74.858 men. Baker Pasha (Col. Valentine Baker) is appointed to the command of a division under Mebemet AM." THE most important event of the war in Europe so far is the fall of Plevna, the chief stronghold of the Turks north of the Balkan mountains. After a severe engagement be­ fore the town on Sunday, the 9th inst., Osman Pasha, who was wounded, surrendered uncon­ ditionally. On Saturday, the 8th, pays a special cable dispatch of the 11th, "after Osman Pasha bad found his escape im­ possible, his army starving and per­ ishing with cold, and no hope of success, he sent a parlementaire to the Russian headquarters with a special letter addressed personally to the Grand Duke Nicholas as Chief of the army investing. The Grand Duke declined either to accept the letter or to re­ ceive the parlementaire, and directed him to be escorted to the headquarters of Prince Charles as Commander-in-Chief of the allied armies besieging Plevna. The purport of the letter was a request for favorable terms of capitulation, and an especial request from Osman Pasha to be allowed, to surrender his sword to the Grand Duke Nicholas. This being impos­ sible, the parlemefataire returned. On Sunday another desperate assault was made on the Bnssian right, in which Osman Pasha himself' was wounded, and about 8,000 Turks put hon de combat. Nothing remained but uncondi­ tional surrender, and thus closed one of the bravest defenses of modern times." A CONSTANTINOPLE dispatch says it is re­ ported that the Council of State has deter­ mined that Christians shall hereafter be eligi­ ble to Governorships and other administrative functions of the Turkish provinces... .The Egyptian contingent in the Turkish armv will be increased by 12,000 infantry, 1,000 cavalry and four batteries. DETAILS of the surrender of Plevna show that 40,000 soldiers under arms and 20,000 sick and wounded in hospital fell into the hands of the Russians. The sufferings of the Turks in the beleaguered town were actually awful. Cold, disease and famine decimated the ranks and reduced the soldiers to living skeletons. To aggravate their sufferings, there were no doc­ tors, and no medicine could be obtained. .. During the operations against the citadel of Antivari, the Prince of Montenegro baa Veen inhabiting a house belonging to a Mohammedan Bey in the town of Antivari. On Sunday an attempt was made to assassinate the Prince in the house, which was mined and blown up. The Prince was fortunately absent at the tin>«. One of MB body guard was killed and feix in­ jured. THE Czar visited Osman Pasha after hit sur­ render and returned to him his sword, express­ ing admiration for his bravery and soldierly qualities. OKMERAL FORKIGN NEWS. A PABIS dispatch announces that the hitherto obstinate MacMahon has at last yielded, Mid consented to accept a Ministry from the Left Center....A dispatch from the City of Mexico says that ex-President Lerdo de Tejada has written letters stating that it is bis intention to withdraw all pretentions to the Mexican Presidency. He intends to retire to France, desires that his name shall no longer be used for political purposes, and recommends Gen. Escobedo to the suffrages of his friends. These professions are not believed in by many of his political supporters. BY way of Tucson, Arizona, we get the fol­ lowing intelligence from Northern Mexico: Gen. Epitacio Huerta, Commanding General of Bonora und^r Diaz, is ordered to Mexico, and all the Federal garrisons in Sonora are concen­ trating in GuayamaB, the frontier towns being left unprotected. Discontent is general in Sinaloa. Sonora, and Lower California, there having been a revolution of opinion in favor of Lerdo. Important news is expected soon. PARIS telegrams of the 8 th state that a seri­ ous hitch has occurred in the negotiations for the formation of u Ministry satisfactory to the Left. MaeMalion seems to have recanted at the last moment, and now insists upon reserv­ ing to hinueif the selection of the three most important Ministers--those of ForeiKti Affairs, War and Marine. " THE Spanish Government is in trouble again with the Basque provinces, whose ancient lib­ erties there haB been an attempt to curtail, since they participated in Don Carlos'rebellion. A PABIS dispatch of the 11th says : "On Sunday night the crisis assumed a new shape. Marshal MacMuhon determined on a policy of resistance, and a new Ministry was submitted by him. It remains to be seen whether the Constitutionalists in the Senate will accede to J the demand of a second dissolution." THE last revolution in Ecuador harcollapsed after eighteen hours' hard flghting f̂cn Quito, where it i® estimated 400 persons were killed and a large number wounded The new United States Minister to the Court of St. James was cordially welcomed on his arrival at Liverpool by a number of leading Englishmen. .. . Tne death is reported of Sidney Smirke, the distinguished English architect. A PARIS dispatch says: "A deputation of the Bight has waited upon Marshal MaeMahon and assured him that it was utterly impossi­ ble to form a ministry from their ranks, and that all further attempts in that dirootion would be useless. The members of the dele­ gation, while professing the strongest wish to support the Marshal, were most emphatic in their expressions of necessity of coming to terms with the moderate republicans and ending the crisis. The Matshal was deeply moved, and after some conversation with the deputation, among whom were some of his staunchest friends, for whose opinion he has great respect, said there was no other course left open to him but to resign. His friends were appalled at the prospect and besought Mm not to take this step. On the condition of his retaining the Presidency they authorized him to do whatever he pleased in or­ der to terminate the crisis. The Marshal still hesitated and reiterated his unwilling­ ness .to retain office, under the circum­ stances, but the delegation urged their views with great force, and pointed out the danger to conservative interests of plunging tho country into an uncertain future by resign­ ing at the present time. Finally the Marshal yielded and promised to summon a Ministry frem the moderate Left. Marshal MaeMahon at once put MB resolution into effect, by com­ municating with M. Dufaure, giving him blanche to form a Ministry." PROCEEDINGS OF COX KRESS. £ THURSDAY, Dec. 6.--SENATE.--A number of petitions were presented and referred.. ..A resolu­ tion was introduced by Mr. Burnslde, and adopted, asking the President to transmit to the Senate the correspondence had with our Ministers to France, England aud (iermany in regard to the Franco-Prussian war Mr. Ferry presented a petition of citizens of Michigan in favor of the passage of a bill to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar.... The silver men achieved a decided victory in the Senate, and developed an unexpected strength. Mr. Allison, who has charge of the House Silver bill, moved to make it the special order for Monday, Dec. 10. Mr. Morrill moved to postpone the matter to Jan. 11. This was rejected by the one-sided vote of 17 yeas to 40 nays. The motion of Mr. Allison was then agreed to by 41 yeas to 18 naye... .There was a lengthy debate, in executive session, upon the question of the relative rights of the President and Senate in the matter of official appointments. The President renominated the New York Custom House officers who fell by reason of the expiration of the extra session. A number of ether nomina­ tions were sent in. John B. jaawley, of Illinois, was confirmed aa Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. HOUSE.--In the House the only business of im­ portance was the threefold report from the Elec­ tions Committee on the Colorado case--one to the effect that Patterson was entitled to the seat, an­ other that Belford was the rightful claimant, and a third, signed by Mr. Cor, of Onio, claiming that there wan no legal election and remanding the question back to the people of Colorado The Post-Route bill was passed....Mr. Joyce wanted to introduce a resolution censuring the Spaniards for their barbarities in Cuba, but Mr. Hale objected. FRIDAY, Dec. 7.--SENATE.--The House bill for the relief of the sufferers by tha wreck of the steamer Huron was passed.... Mr. Mitchell, of Ore­ gon, delivered a long speech in support of his bill to extend the time for the completion of the North­ ern Pacific railroad. HOUSE.--The proceedings in the House ware ex­ ceedingly dull. Mr. Stephens introduced a bill amendatory of the act incorporating the Texas Pa­ cific Railroad Company; Mr. Cox, of New York, of­ fered a bill to reorganise the life-saving service, and Mr. Wood, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, reported a concurrent resolution for the adjournment of Congress for the Christmas holidays, from the 15th of December until Jan. 10, which was passed. MONDAY, Dec. 10.--SENATE.--The case of J. B. Eustis, of Louisiana, was called up, and after a brief debate the resolution declaring htm entitled to a seat in the Senate was adopted by a vote of 49 yeas to 8 nays, the latter being Messrs. Allison. Cameron (Wis.), McMillan, Hamlin, Howe, Ingalls, Morrill and Saunders. Mr. Eustis was then sworn in and took his seat. ..A number of bills were introduced and referred. Among them were the following: By Mr. Plumb, to declare certain lands heretofore granted to railroad companies forfeited, and to open the same for settlement; by Mr. Johnston, amendatory of the supplementary act to incorporate the Texas Pacific railroad, and to aid its construc­ tion ; by Mr. Christiancy, to provide for challenges to jurors in trials for bigamy and polygamy in the Territory of Utah.... Mr. Matthews made a four hours' speech ia favor of his silver resolution. HOUSE.--A large number of bills were introduced, among the lot being another income-tax bill, by Mr. Turner; a bill by Willis, of New York, restoring the tax on tea and coffee, and looking toward tariff reform; a bill by Mr. Joyce, adjusting the salaries of Postmasters; and a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution providing for the election of Senators by direct vote of the people Mr. Wood, Chairman of tne Committee on Ways and Means, reported the usual resolutions for the distribution of the Presi­ dent's annual message among the various commit­ tees. The resolutions, after some discussion, were adopted. TUESDAY, Dec. 11.--SENATE.--The morning hour was nearly all occuped by the reception of petitions in favor of woman suffrage, for a law in relation to the liquor traffic, and in relation to tariff matters Among the bills introduced and referred were the following: By Mr. Davis, of Illinois, to establish a Court oz Appeals; by Mr. Kellogg, au­ thorising mail ateaaiBhip service between New Orleans and certain pom named Mr. Conkling introduced a resolution for the appointment of a committee to inquire iato the border troubles with Mexico.... A discussion upon Mr. Matthews' eilver resolution took up the balance of the day's session, which wae participated in by Messrs. Ecrnan.Beck, Wallace and Allison. HOUSE.--Mr. Whitthorne introduced a bill pro­ viding for the removal of the bodies of those lost on the Huron to the Naval Cemetery at Annapolis, which was passed--The day was passed in action upon Senate amendments to the Deficiency Appro­ priation bill. They were all disposed of, and the bill was sent back to the Senate. W DNESDAY, Dec. 12.--SENATE.--Mr. Ed­ munds submitted a resolution authorizing a com­ mittee to oonsidar the state of the law respecting the ascertaining and declaration of the result of elections of President and Vice President of the United States, and also to consider and report upon the best manner of electing those officers and the duration of their terms of office. Agreed to.... Mr. Dawes, from the Committee on Public Build­ ings and Grounds, reported adversely on the peti­ tion to give the UBO of the Senate chamber to the women for the purpose of presenting arguments for a Sixteenth amendment.... Mr. Davis, of West Vir­ ginia, presented a resolution in regard to the militia.... The Senate Insisted upon it* amendments to the Deficiency Appropriation bill, aud a confer­ ence committee was appointed... Consideration was then renewed of Mr. yatthews' resolution on the silver question, pending which the Senate went into executive session. HOUSK.--Mr. Morrison took the Speaker to task for filling vacancies on oommittees, where the mem­ bers had not been excused by the House....Mr. Stephens introduced a bill repealing the iron-clad oath required of pensioners... Mr. Harris called up the Colorado contested-election case, discussion upon which occupied the entire day. His Own Brimstone. A Universalisfc was once trying to prove to the untutored mind of a negro woman that such a place as hell was a simple absurdity. " Aunty, do you be­ lieve that all the people who go to bad places are burned in a lake of brim­ stone ?" "Certain I does," promptly replied the tinted theologian. "Well, now, don't you see, aunty, there isn't brimstone enough down there to keep the lire going all the while?" This seemed to be a poser for a little while. She had never entered into a calculation of the amount of combustible material necessary for the process. Her counte­ nance so»n brightened, however, and she replied, "Why, honey, don't you know that everybody who goes there carries his own brimstone with him ?" STRANGE CASE. A Keedl* W«rks Its Way from a Woaun'i Toot to Her Hip. [From the Louisville (Ky.) News.] A young woman named Melissa Shipp, whose residence is in Martin county, Ind., arrived in the city by the Ohio and Mississippi road, this morning, for the purpose of receiving medical advice. About three years ago, while walking across the carpet of her room at her father's residence in her bare feet, she stepped upon a piece of broken needle, which penetrated the hollow of the left foot, sinking deeply into the flesh. Herself and mother made repeated efforts to draw the fragment from the wound, but without success. Finally a piece of bacon-rind was bound on the punctured part, and in a day the pain subsided, and a week later the wound seemed per­ fectly healed. Miss Shipp continued to go about and attend to her domestic duties for several months after the accident, entirely free from pain. Gradually, however, her ankle began to pain her, and this con­ tinued for two or three months, she at times suffering intensely. She sup­ posed, as did her friends, that the pain was caused by acute rheumatism or a sprain, and bathed the part affected in tepid water and soothing Muiments. Alter about three months of suffering the pain began to subside, and a month later had entirely ceased. She suffered no more for about fifteen months, when the acute pain again set in, this time in the knee. For two or three months the same treatment was followed a® when the ankle was affected, the young lady and her parents still supposing the pain was the result of acute rheumatism. Then the ptfin be­ gan to subside, and in three months had entirely disappeared. For nearly a year Miss Shipp's health was excellent, and she supposed she had entirely recovered from her singular affliction. But she was mistaken. About six weeks ago the pain returned with great acuteness, this time in the hip. Her sufferings at times were in­ tense, and the remedies formerly used seemed wholly without efficacy in her emergency. On Wednesday last, how­ ever, the secret of all her suffering was explained. While adjusting a skirt after arising from bed, she discovered that a small spot near the hip-bone was par­ ticularly sensitive, and her mother, be­ ing called to examine it, felt the sharp point of something in thfe flesh, and protruding through the inflamed skin. A pair of tweezers was obtained and the obstruction removed, when it was found to be about half an ordinary-sized needle, so corroded by rust as to be but little thicker than, an ordinary horse­ hair. The fragment had traveled the entire length of the limb, from tho oen- ter of the foot to the hip-bone. The young lady suffered very greatly after the needle was withdrawn, and is still a sufferer, and comes to the city to consult a skillful surgeon and seek such relief as medical science can afford. The esse is certainly a very remarkable one. Pensions. At the close of the year ending June 30, 1877, there were on the flies of the office 42,809 original army invalid claims; 19,344 invalid increase ; 32,713 army widows' original; 814 widows' in­ crease ; 975 original navy invalid; 62 navy invalid increase ; 524 navy wid­ ows' original; and 2 navy widows' in­ crease claims. To that number were added during the year 16,532 original army invalid; 11,214 army invalid increase; 5,269 original navy widows"; 780 army wid­ ows' increase; 271 original navy in­ valid ; 117 navy invalid increase ; 97 original navy widows'; and 16 navy widows' inorease claims. Seventeen hundred and seventy-one original army invalid, 132 original navy widows', 4 army widows' increase, 6 original navy invalids', and 1 original navy widows claims were taken from the rejected files and reopened, making a grand total of 61,112 original army in­ valid ; 21,558 army invalid increase; 38,114 original army widows'; 1,598 army widows' inorease ; 1,252 original navy invalids; 179 navy invalid increase; 622 original navy widows'; and 18 navy widows' inorease claims for disposal. The yearly value of claims allowed during the year is $1,343,534,84, as fol­ lows : Army invalid, $472,453.22; in­ creased pension to invalids, $339,996.12; army widows, etc., $446,292 ; increased pensions to army widows, $16,504; navy invalids, $16,528.50 ; increased pension to navy invalids, $2,877; navy widows, etc., $10,260 ; increased pension to navy widows, $9,060 ; survivors of the war of 1812, $5,568, and widows of the soldiers of said war, $12,096. During the year the following amounts were paid for pensions : To army in­ valids, $128955,544.15; to army widows, etc., $13,348,883.57 ; to navy invalids, $199,619.40; to navy widows, etc., $322,926.63; survivors of the war of 1812, $934,657.82 ; to the widows of the soldiers of said war, $361,548.91, mak­ ing a total of $28,122,683.48.--Report of the Commissioner of Pensions. Destruction of Forests. The rapidity with which this country is being stripped of its forests must alarm every thinking man. It has been estimated by good authority that, if we go on at the ) resent rate, the supply of timber in the United States will, in less than twenty years, fall considerably short of our home necessities. How dis­ astrously the destruction of forests of a country affects the regularity of the water supply in its rivers necessary for navigation, increases the frequency of freshets and inundations, dries up springs, and transforms fertile agricult­ ural districts into barren wastes, is a matter of universal experience the world over. It is the highest time that we should turn our earnest attention to this subject, which so seriously concerns our national prosperity. The Government cannot prevent the cutting of timber on land owned by pri­ vate citizens. It is only to be hoped private owners will grow more careful of their timber as it rises in value. But the Government can do two things: 1. It can take determined, and, as I think, effectual measures to arrest the stealing of timber from public lands on a large scale, which is always attended with the most reckless waste; and, 2. It can preserve the forests still in its pos­ session by keeping them under its oon- trol, and by so regulating the cutting and sale of timber on its lands as to se­ cure the renewal of the forest by natural Sowth and the careful preservation of e young timber.--Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior. Caoutchouc-Making on the Amazon. Narrow paths lead from the hut through the thick underbrush to the solitary trunks of the India-rubber trees; aad, as soon as the dry season allows, tho woodman goes into the seringa! with a hatchet in order to out small holes in the bark, or rather in the wood of the caoutchouc tree, from which a milky- white sap begins to flow through an earthenware »pout fastened to the wound. Below is a piece of bamboo which is cut into the shape of a bucket. In this way he goes from tree to tree until, upon his return, in order to carry the material more oonveniently, he be­ gins to empty the bamboo buckets into a large calabash. The contents of this are poured into one of those great turtle shells which on the Amazons are used for every kind of purpose. He at once sets to work on the smoking process, since, if left to stand long, the gummy particles separate, and the quality of the India-rubber is hurt This consists in subjecting the sap, when spread out thin, to the smoke from tho nuts of the Uruoury or Uauassa palm, which, strange to say, is the only thing that will turn it solid at once,, An earthenware " bowl without bottom," whose neck has been drawn together like that of a bot­ tle, forms a kind of chimney when placed over a heap of dry red-hot nuts so that the white smoke escapes from the top in thick clouds. The workman pours a small quantity of the white rich milk-like liquid over a kind of light wooden shovel which he turns with quickness, in order to separate the sap as much as possible. Then he passes it quickly through the dense smoke above the little ohimney, turns it about several times, and at once perceives the milk take on a grayish-yellow color and turn solid. In this way he lays on skin after skin until the_ India-rubber on each side is two or three centimeters thick, and he considers the plancha done. It is then cut upon one side, peeled off the shovel, and hung up to dry, since much water has got in between the layers, which should dry out if pos­ sible. The color of the plancha, which is at first a bright silver gray, becomes more and more yellow, and at last turns into the brown of caoutchouc as it is known in commerce. A good workman can finish in this way five or six pounds an hour. The thicker, the more even, and the freer from bubbles the whole mass is, so muoh the better is its quality and higher the price.--Soribner for December. A Great Wheat and Corn State. Eli Perkins, in a letter from Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, to the New York Sun, writes as follows : Yon in the East can have no possible con­ ception of the magnitude of the Western crops. Take this county, Cerro Gordo--and there are ninety-eight other counties in the State just as large--I find the yield of wheat alone will be over 1,000,000 bushels. It will be 150 bushels to each man, woman and child in the connty, 300 bushels to every male, and abont 500 bnsh- els to every able-bodied man, and pork and corn in the parae proportion. It is safe to say that every able-bodied man in Cerro Gordo county raises enough to support fifty men. There are many wheat-fields here that pro­ duced last season forty-tive bushels to the acre. The average yield is twenty-eight bushels. Three years ago, when I visited Northern Iowa, I could buy plenty of wild prairie land for 85 per acre. Tne same land is now selling for $20 and $30. and the prioe is marching straight to $50. There are a great many farms in Central and Southern Iowa worth $75 per acre. Do you ask me which is the richest State in the Union ? I answer, Iowa. Sise lias no waste land, but few lakes, no moun­ tains, no ban-en ridges. Sha has 30,000,000 aores of black garden soil, throwing out 5,000,- 000 acres for roads, river-beds, and three small lakes. This whole 30,000,000 acres will be worth in the market, in less than twenty-five years, an average of $60 per acre; or the farm­ land of the State will be worth $1,800,000,000-- enough to pay the national debt. The farm­ lands of Iowa are worth more than the farm­ lands of all New England. I saw eighty acres of ground yesterday along the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern road that I could have bought four years ago for $4 an acre. This year the owner raised 2,418 bushels of wheat on it, and sold it for 90 cents per bushel, making $2,176.20 off of $320 worth of land! This seems an incredulous story, but it is liter­ ally true. The crops are not one-tenth har­ vested here. Not one bushel of corn in 500 is liuakod.- The enow has fallen about six inches deep, and the farmers are waiting for a thaw. About one-fourth of tho wheat is thrashed. Two hundred car-loads went to St. Louis last week from this vicinity to be shipped to En­ gland, via New Orleans. The north and south railroad lines in Iowa are transporting immense quantities of wheat and floor fromTowa and Minnesota to Burlington and St. Louis, to go down the Mississippi. A Dream of Anglo-haxondom. The story is everywhere the same-- the Anglo-Saxon is everywhere a con­ queror. Always acquiring and never re­ linquishing, he suffers no limit to be put to his possessions. It is not without the range of probability that within fifty years the whole of the continents of Nor tlx America, Africa, and Australia will be entirely in the possession of men of Anglo-Saxon blood, besides the Brit­ ish isles, quite a third of Asia, New Zea­ land, nearly all of the island of Polyne­ sia, and such fragments of territory in other parts of the globe as are already in British possession. This vast area will include more than half of the fertile and productive soil of the globe. It will dominate all the seas of the world, affording a coast line greater in extent that the shores of all the remaining countries of the globe. It will contain nearly all of the vacant and unoccupied lands to which the crowded populations of other countries must resort. It will present, in short, almost a monopoly of the undeveloped resources of the globe. --J. Edgar Chamberlain, in December Galaxy. Emigration to Liberia. The American Colonization Society has sent to Liberia since the close of the war 3,137 colored persons. It is now preparing to dispatch another expedi­ tion on the 2d of January next. The number of emigrants will depend, to a considerable extent, on the means yet to be contributed for the purpose. The society is constantly receiving urgent applications for passage and settlement. These, with other movements, espe­ cially in South Carolina and Florida, represent, it iB estimated, a quarter of a million of men, women and /tbii^ron, New York Tribune. Tfce St. Lou* Custom Home Swindle. St. Louis is k»nch excited over the in­ vestigation of thtirok done on the Cus­ tom House now building there. It is. strongly suspeotedf ^w Je great pier* upon which the bmtiW is to stand, and which are required by contract to be> of solid atone, are redUy hollow, the. oentral cavity having bee® fraudulently- filled with shale and oonoreVe by the con­ tractor, with the connivance, of Walsh the superintendent The oaae derived ••• interest from the fact that Wals\, who ise "highly connected" in St. Lotos, andfe who has intimate personal relation! with! the United States Judge before whoni1' the inquiry is being conducted, has been' doing ail in his power to prevent the. piers from being bored in order to tesfl their composition. Bliss, * the Unitec States attorney, who is conducting the investigation, was put to a vast amount of trouble before he could get authority from Washington to pierce the stone; and finally, haviftg obtained the author* ization, he was interfered with by- Walsh's men when he went to the Cus­ tom House to begin the boring. Ho> succeeded, however, in cutting through the surface of two or three of the pierifc before his operations were discovered^ and found that they were actually filled' with concrete and other foreign sub­ stances. As the Custom House party had a*rora. in court that the piers werci • perfectly solid, there is evidently agooct ease of perjury to be mad© ^out againsi ;.s theia. Walsh, the superintendent, ha* had a great deal to pay in St. Louis, public enterprises for many years, and there are rumors that he has only es­ caped investigation on some previous occasions through the infiuenoe of pow­ erful friends. " Too (food Friends to Quarrel." Annie Louise Cary told a Chicago* - Tribune reporter that Clara Louis* Kellogg, while singing a duet with her in San Francisco, broke down in a ca­ denza, and that a trifling quarrel waa the consequence. She also said : " L caught cold while traveling to Denver. Miss -Kellogg and I have peculiar and different ideas about the ventilation of V, cars. She always wants the Pullman car to be warm, and I always like tohavo plenty of fresh air." The reporter asked Miss Kellogg about the matter, and she*- said: "I don't want to quarrel with. Bliss Cary; in fact, we are too good friends to quarrel, but what she says is. false. I had sung that cadenza eighty or ninety times, and always sang it as- it was written, and she had been in the habit of singing it with others who sang- it differently, and that is how it was, " Then sha broke down ?" *' Certainly. I sang it as it written, and she didn't. • I held my temper, but she got angry, and to soothe her I said that the audienc* would never know that she failed. That's, all there was to it." As to the differ­ ence of opinion about car ventilation. Miss Kellogg said: "Why, she com­ plained that the car was too warm, and what did she do ? She went out on the back platform and sat on a camp-stool. Worse than that, she left the doors open, «.nd it got so cold that I had to pull my dress up and put my wraps on. She did actually. No wonder she took cold. hy, I had to have a curtain put up so- as to keep from freezing. We had just left the equable climate of California, and were coming over the mountains, where it was real cold. And would you. believe it? She slept that night with the ventilator opened. She did." Sitting Bull Again. Sitting Bull comes to the front again, this time as the victim of a mistake in not understanding the offer of our Gov­ ernment to quiet his turbulent spirit and insure peace. The band of Sioux with Sitting Bull in Canada have recent- ( ly stated--so the Canadian authorities-H learn--that they did not refuse to go back to their old haunts across the bor­ der, but that, in the excitement of the short interview with Gen. Terry, owing" to their belief that he had fought them, in the battle at Bear-Paw mountain, they did not understand what the Amer­ ican Government Commission desired, so they went off in a huff. It is now in­ ferred that they would otherwise have- been willing to come to terms, Tho truth is, we suppose, that̂ Sitting Bull, for the time being, was a mad Bull, and 4*iia**&wtiiable.--Chicago Journal. THE MARKETS. ME W YORK. BIITM *T as #11 50 Hoos 4 75 % 6 60 COTTOK 11X9 N* Fr.oua--Superfine 5 00 @ 6 25 ' WHEAT--NO. 2 Chicago 1 32 9 1 34 COBN--Western Mixed 62 9 66% OATS--Mixed. 35 9 41 RYK--Western 73 9 T4 POBK--New Meoa 13 25 $13 SO LAB» 8# CHICAGO. BBKTBS--Choice Graded Steers 5 25 % 5 50 Choice Natives . 4 00 ($ 6 00 OOWB aw« Heilera 2 26 9 3 50 Butcher*'Steers 3 26 g 3 75. Medium to Fair 3 90 9 4 40 HOOK--Live 3 50 <4 4 35- FLOBB--Fancy White Winter 6 75 (4 7 2& GoodtoChoice Spring Ex.. 5 25 £ 5 50> WHEAT--No. 2 Spring 1 08 9 1 09 No. 3 Spring 1 03 (A 1 04 COBH--No. 2 43 (4 44 OATB--No. 2 35 § S RYR--NO. 2 us 9 (5 BARLEY--No. 2 60 £ 61 BUTTKB--Choice Creamery 28 <4 30- Eoos--Fresh ao 9 22. PORK--Mess LL 86 011 9» 7J(® a MILWAUKEE WHKAT--No.L.. 1 LL#® 1 I» No. 2 1 08 <4 1 0» COHH--No. 2 J... 44 A 45- OATB--No. 2 25 0 2FT RT»--NO. 1 66 9 57 BAKUCY--No. 2 65 A 6» ST. LOUIS. WHEAT--No. 3 Bed Fall. 1 32 9 1 28 COBN--No. 2 Mixed 46. A <7 OATS--No. 2 27 & 28 R*E 66 O 66 POBK--Mees 12 00 «12 IS L»BD 7J£ Hoos ,.... 3 70 9 4 35 CATTLE 350 ( $ 6 00 CINCINNATI. WHEAT--Bed 1 18 <G 1 2» COBN--New 40 0 41 OATS 30 <g 83 RYE ...«. 63 ^ 65 POBK--Men * ...11 80 M12 00 LABD 7X® 8 TOLEDO. WHEAT--No. 1 White Michigan.... 1 31 & 1 82 No. 2 Bed Winter 1 30 & 1 30$f COBN 47 & 50# OATS--No. 2 28 0 29 DETROIT. FLOUB--Choice White 6 80 @6 50 WHEAT--No. 1 White 1 30 ® 1 31 No. 1 Amber.. 1 26 @ 1 27 COBN--No.i ® 81 OATS--Mixed 30 @ 31 BABLKY (percental) 1 2"> 1 80 POBK--Mesa 12 60 @11 75 EAST LIBERTY, PA. CATTLE--Beet 6 M) t» 5 50 Fair 4 «• ($ 6 00 Common . H 00 (•> 4 Ott B OM 4 VO 9 4 4 5 3 25 9 4 »