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:*m}aeen Victoria and the Pope. ' "Rid Queen Victoria ever meet Lew* *311?" asks the London Chronicle. There have been statements asserting AD old personal friendship between them, and, on the other hand, asser­ tions that they never met at all. The truth lies between the two extremes. When Pope Leo was Monsignor Fecci, and nuncio at Brussels at the court \m King: Leopold, widower of the Prin­ cess Charlotte, he met Queen Victoria «pd her husband. According to some accounts the queen invited the nuncio to Windsor' That was not the case. Jhit the nuncio came on his own ac­ count to London for the month of Feb­ ruary, 1846, and during his stay he Witnessed a great ceremonial in which %the queen took part, and was invite# to a state reception, but was not spe­ cially presented. The passages of kindness between the pope and the <ftieen were exchanged by letter*, and '.•.'jit a much later date." Conger Starts for Horn*, •' Minister Conger has Just left for thif country on sixty days' leave of al>- •ence. Commissioner Rockhill will have full power to conduct the negot­ iations now in progress. Conger re­ turns of his own initiative. For some time past he has been anxious to get %Nick to Iowa, but the opportunity has not presented itself until now. Now that the foreign ministers have satis^ ftctorily settled the question of pun* ishments of the offending Chinese offi* and a new subject is to be taken lip, it will be easy to pass the negotia­ tions into Mr. Rockhill's hands with­ out sacrificing any points. It was Mr. t3onger's own suggestion that Mr. Rockhill be placed in charge. Our government has now received Assurances from nearly all the powers represented by military forces at Pekin flf their entire agreement with the n J : 54 t . y - \ . \ ? MINISTER CONGER. ; United States government as tor tile Inexpediency of resuming offensive mil- '$ary operations in China while the $eace negotiations are in progress. =»£ -- gj| Duchess May Come ChOer. A rumor has come to Washington New York several times of late iNit I do not know how directly it comes, writes a Washington corres­ pondent. The zephyrs say Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, Intends tak­ ing advantage of the mourning season In London to visit her home in New York and spend some time in Wash­ ington, where her mother will begin £ social sovereignty next season. The announcement of the American duch- 4fes* visit has really not created a stir In Washington or elsewhere, but we should like to see her in this country once again, as she has not visited Am­ erica since her elaborate wedding. Washington will gain by the presence Of her mother, Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont, Who will be a leader in official society agbd undoubtedly the most notable bostess in congressional circles. Mrs. Belmont has long been acknowledged DUCHBSS OF MARLBOROUGH, e of the cleverest entertainers in ew York society, which she conquer­ ed not without opposition. She will ^ he a leader in Washington as in New *•, • % \ Sm# Sugar and SocmfrM. Last week the statement was made 11 the house of commons that' the Brit­ ish government Is considering the sug­ gestion that the Brussels beet sugar s conference be reassembled to see if " the European nations concerned can .reach an agreement on the question of bounties. There have been several conferences, which have been fruit- liess. The government of nearly every country which produces beet sugar has laid it was anxious to get rid of the bounty system. Not one of them has been willing to stop the payment of 'bounties unless all the others would agree to do so. That general agree­ ment it has been found impossible to jecure thus far. It is not, likely that -* new conference, if held, will be mage •ffective than the last one. A Statural Inquiry. \ •* St. Louis gets $5,000,000 for her ex- '* position. How are they going to spend that much money in St Louis?--BaJ- f4 tlmore American. Finds Tractor t>f Office. Hev. Dr. George Frederick Wright, professor of harmony between science and revelation at Oberlln University, writes from Jerusalem to a friend in New York that he has discovered re­ liable evidence of the truth of the biblical account of a universal deluge. Professor Wright has been one year abroad, during which he has traveled in Asia for the purpose of discovering whether there are any geological signs of a deluge which might have been of a charactr like that described in Genesis. Professor Wright has spent moet of :itEV. DR. WRIGBFf* ^ his sixty-three years of life in trying to prove that the truths of science do not conflict with the statements of fact in the sacred scriptures. He be­ gan his ministerial career as pastor of a Congregational church in Ver­ mont in 1862. Always an earnest stu­ dent of geology and zoology, his lit­ erary contributions to these sciences have been voluminous and interesting. His work on the glacial epoch in rela­ tion to Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky opened a new era in this line of re­ search. In 1892 he was given the chair at Oberlln he now occupies, and he has filled it creditably. i Only a Fin)e- Gat ton Dane#. "In the early days of the northr- west," said a Spokane (Wash.) visitor in New York the other day, "I was in Idaho. At that time we used to have dances there quite frequently in the various camps. The male members of one camp would go into their jeans and make up a pot to defray the ex­ penses, and when arrangements had been made invitations would be sent out to the other camps for the mem­ bers thereof to attend. The principal cost of these parties was for liquor, and the amount supplied varied in direct ratio with the amount contributed by the hosts. TheVe would be 5,10, 20 and even more gallons of whisky, as the case might be. 'Cockeye' Leary named these dances for all time when, in an swer to a query as to whether or not he would attend a certain shindig soon to be given in a neighboring gulch, he made reply: 'Naw, you can bet I ain't going. It's only ft five-gallon dance. i! With Inflatable Pockets. - A new ordinance in Seattle, Wash, Inhibits side entrances to saloons. j , * **1 f * * * 7^ Life Preserving Garment. One of the first thoughts of a pas­ senger on board an ocean liner when he gets out of sight of land is in regard to his safety in case of accident, and he wonders if there will be time to get out the life-preservers and place them in position,or if there would b* too much confusion and hurry. These thoughts will not rise in the mind of the wearer of :he garment recently designed as illus­ trated in the cut. This garment is in­ tended for use as a' life preserver, and is always ready for instant use, as it is always in place, ou the body of the owner, .and that, too, without the inconvenience and discom­ fort that an ordinary preserver would occasion. When occasion arises fos the use of the life preserving waist *11 that is necessary is for the wearer to place the two mouthpieces at the end4 of the tubes projecting from the gar­ ment in his mouth and by blowing therethrough distend the bulbs located at the front and rear of the body. The tubes lead directly to a pipe connect­ ing all four of the pockets, while check valves are provided to prevent the es­ cape of the air when once forced in­ side. Under ordinary circumstances the pockets are deflated and the want may be worn underneath the coat or vest if desired. While the wearer is crossing the deck or going from his stateroom to the deck he has sufficient time to inflate the device, and he is ready to meet an emergency much sooner than the passenger who is com­ pelled to AnAjkJlfe-j>re§fixYW Mfu 'tf. - ' - • - ^ ' Ha* Seen Three Centuries. The Dowager Lady Carew.the grand­ mother of the present Lord C&rew was born in 1798, and has thus lived during three centuries. At the period c£ h e r b i r t h Holy head, where she w a s b o r n , was a small fishing vil­ lage, and she It a link W i t h t h e L a d y C a r e w . t i m e s -- s o far off to the present generation--of Wellington and Nelson. She was a beauty at the Court of Louis Philippe as well as in London, and she still enjoys excellent health and spirits. Franee Honor* an American. Professor M. D. Berlitz of Philadel­ phia has been made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France, in recog­ nition of his services in propogating the French language abroad and for liMrriti The sinking of the Rio de Janeiro was the most appalling disaster the Pacific coast has known for many years. Most of the bodies of the 120 or more victims are at the bottom of the sea and many of them may never be recovered. The water where the ship lies is deep and the current swift, and the dead with most of the wreck­ age probably will be carrried far out into the Pacific. The number of lives lost may never be known exactly, ow­ ing to the fact that the ship's records were lost, and it is practically impos­ sible to tell just how many Chinese were in the steerage. The Rio was an unlucky ship. Since 1S90 she had sev­ eral accidents. In August, 1890,' she Decrtes Woman a* tVttness. Seldom has an attempt to kill been made the subject of such widespread scientific discussion as the case of the assault upon the jife of the Rev. John Keller, the pastor of a New Jersey vil­ lage church. The affair has attracted the attention of neurologists and of those learned in medical jurisprudence. While as yet "the facts of the case are all unknown, the circumstances of it have brought out many opinions and much data in regard to hysteria. It has started a most interesting discus­ sion, whatever the outcome of the ap­ proach log trial may be. Science for a long time has been studying that -complex being, woman. Whether science has learned anything definite or is still groping in the dark, as Adam groped when he first tried to understand the vagaries of Eve, is another question. The case has brought up the question of woman's credibility As a witness, her physical, mental and nervous characteristics and various other questions. Dr. Al­ lan McLane Hamilton, well known everywhere as a neurologist, has made the assertion that a woman is not a credible witness in a court of law when her testimony is unsupported, thereby confirming the opinion of Judge A. N., Waterman of Chicago. Dr. Hamilton has given the following In­ teresting review of the subject: was in collision with the British steamer Bombay and was severely damaged. This occurred in Hongkong harbor. In December, 1895, she went ashore at South Kagoshimo, Japan, and was so badly damaged that her cargo was discharged and the vessel docked for repairs. • In March, 1896, the Rio started from Honolulu for Yokohama. Continuous heavy head weather was encountered, and when the Japanese coast was still 1,200 miles away it was found that there was only 250 tons of coal in the bunkers. The steamship was run back to Honolulu, but before she got there the "The credence which is given to the word of a woman when that word and the word of a man are the only two things upon which the jury has to de­ cide, is a remnant left to us by the so- called age of chivalry. There is some­ thing ip us remaining of the old feu­ dal spirit which makes a man asham­ ed of himself if he does not give more credence , to a wdman's word than a man's word. It is a remnant of the old type of days, which, are called chivalrous and were not. Woman never occupied such a place in the world as she * does now. Those old knights went into the clanging lists and fought for their women as they fought for their horses and cattle. "As to that Shooting scrape over la New Jersey, I, know nothing, and it would be absurd for me to give an ex­ pert opinion upon a case which I have not investigated thoroughly. But I do not know that in my practice I have--not every day, but many times a year--cases where a woman has made charges against men which were proved afterward to be absolutely un­ founded. The woman's pastor is the man who is pretty sure to be the ac­ cused one. An unmarried pastor runs great risks. Did you ever see an un­ married pastor in a country village; how the married women, old and young, incense him with the coffee pot and fling tea leaves around him? I Gunner Charles Morgan. m 11 i - ^ » •??'<%&• / ,1 it 1 vv THE MAN TO WHOSE SOCIAL QUALIFICATIONS ADMIRAL SAMP­ SON OBJECTS. Charles Morgan, gun captain of the cruiser New York, whose promotion to ensign is objected to by Admiral Samp­ son on the ground that Morgan lacks the social graces which he believes a naval officer should have, was gun captain of the flagship New York dur­ ing the blockade and battle of Santi­ ago. He was at the head of the force of divers which explored the wreck of the Maine in Havana harbor in 1898, and was highly commended by naval Gen. Corbtn 's 'Personality. Gen. Corbin, adjutant general of the army, who profited in rank and pay by the reorganization bill, was born in Batavia, Ohio. He comes from good old Irish ancestry, his great-grand­ father having been sergeant in revolu­ tion. His great-grandfather moved to the mouth of the Missouri river in Ohio and later settled in Clermont. Ohio. Gen. Corbin's father is still living, at the age of 80. Gen. Corbin entered the Union army July 28, 1862, and has risen by merit through all the grades to that of major general of the regular establishment. He was honorably discharged from the volunteer service March 26, 1866, with the -brevet rank of brigadier general for meritorious service. The adjutant general® is the instrument through which the chief executive and the secretary of war act. He dare not usurp a single function delegated to his superiors. His duty is to carry out in letter and spirit their orders. He must be capable of advis­ ing when his advice is asked; he must be an absolute master of details, and must be able to answer questions re­ lating to the army with accuracy. officers for his excellent work in that connection. He is said to be one of the best divers in the navy. In the Maine work he made an av<|rage of seven hours a day under water, estab­ lishing a new record. He has been in the navy twenty years, but is still boy­ ish in appearance. His home is at New Orleans, where he was presented with a jeweled sword and gold medal in 1898, in recognition of his work on the Maine wreck. To call to the field 250,000 men, arm and equip them in sixty days and at­ tend to the innumerable details, as did Gen. Ooroln during the recent war with v.s $4;' v* Ui&J - GEN. CORBm. . sfeafn? Is a task so gigantic uiW none but a man of extraordinary ability and physical strength could fill the place. cabins and state rooms had been gut­ ted in order to provide fuel for the furnaces. In May, 1899, she collided With an unknown Japanese steamer oft Honomoko, Japan, but was not seri­ ously damaged. During the past fifty years the Pa­ cific Mail Steamship company, owners of the ill-fated Rio de Janeiro, has lost nineteen of its fleet. The founder­ ing of the Rio de Janeiro does not re­ sult in the greatest loss of life, as 200 of the 300 passengers on the Golden Gate were lost off the coast of Mexi­ co in 1862, while 400 Chinese were lost in the wreck of the steamer Japan oft the Chinese coast in the early seven­ ties. believe in defending woman to the last gasp, but not in taking her testimony in a court of law as equal to the testi­ mony of a man. God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to per­ form, and He has in His infinite wis- DR. HAMILTON. dom made both male and female, and the female is of a different nervous mentality from the male. I do not want to stir up all the women of the country against me, but I say what I say from a knowledge acquired through a long practice In the speci­ alty of nervous diseases. In Dr. Hamilton's work on medical jurisprudence he cites several cases of women who have made false charges and born false testimony because of hysteria. Among them the following: "A young girl in Richmond caused a sensation by declaring that in the previous night she had been assaulted by burglars, who had entered the house. Her story, says Dr. Hamilton, was palpably false, and her state of' mind grew out of a general feeling of alarm which attended the commission of Beveral biirglarieB in the n^Ow- hood/V . „* „ % ^ , E*t*)erpooi &rambuays. The recent completion of the "outer belt," one of the most popular features of the reorganized tramway service of Liverpool, calls attention to what is now the most extensive system of elec­ tric tramways in Great Britain and to another instance of municipalization of transit facilities only second in in­ terest to Glasgow's departure in this direction nearly seven years ago. Tram-, ways were started in Liverpool under private enterprise in the sixties, but disputes arose with the city which led, in 1874, to public ownership of the tracks and the leasing of these to a private company. More friction oc­ curred in 1897, however, and the city finally bought out the company. Plans were then entered upon for In­ troducing electric traction, the over­ head trolley was decided up, and the conversion has been going on for two years. The mileage has been nearly doubled and now comprises eighty-five miles of single track, routes have be«n rearranged and extended, 275 cars are now employed, and the number is to be increased to 400, the passengers in­ creased from 38,500,000 in 1897 to over 63,750,000 in 1899, the receipts in­ creased in the same period from £287,- 786 to £356,265, and it Is expected that the passengers for last year will be shown, when the report is out, to have been nearly 120,000,000. And now he is prepared to enlist, drill arm, equip and dispatch 100,000 men of a regular army 7,000 miles. Grant when secretary of war, wrote of Gen' Corbin: "Made major for gallant and meritorious service at Decatur." H« was also highly commended by Gen* Gillan, Weed, Rousseau, A. McDowell' McCook and Ruggles, and Gen Mer ritt's indorsement was, "Well worthv and fitted to be the head of the adju­ tant general's department; can be trusted with important ditties." Gen. Corbin's personality is strfk'n* Imagine a man six feet four inches in height; erect, soldierly, weighing about 260 pounds, but carrying very little su perfluous flesh, and you have the out­ line of the adjutant general of the army. His complexion is olive, eye? brown, nose aquiline and the lines of his mouth well chiseled. He wears a mustache and an imperial. He can sav "JNo" without the quiver of an eye or the flutter of a muscle, and no one can say that he was ever known to lose-his nerve in a crisis. W«rk en the Assessdied Silt at tSie Bduesttetml Contmtoil-- im Re- latlM to MM Act of BiteMhtlBt M< » Sjwfcrat «f Vara* sa*ili Tae«d»T, r.bnutty •«. Senator Putnam In the senate and Rep- n*cnt»tlve MonteUua in the house tntro- ® bill which enlarges the power of rauroad companies In respect to conaoll- ^ € bH1 was introduced for the specific purpose of enabling the Pennsyl­ vania. company to acquire the Toledo, "a & Western railroad, which runs state from a point opposite *.eoKuk. It Is part of the railroad's plan to use this road as a connection to make a oirect line east and west with the Chi­ cago Burlington & Quincy railroad. This would give a direct line between Burling­ ton, Iowa, and Logansport, Ind. The Pennsylvania company now owns about cent of the stock of the Toledo, Peoria & Western road. Although the Mil was introduced to enable the railroad mentioned to make the contemplated con­ nection, its terms are so broad that any railroad or railroads could take advantage ®*-t them and effect consolidation. Dr." John Alexander Dowie may claim credit for a bill which William Sullivan introduced to place private b^nks under the supervision of the state auditor. The bllt was suggested by the recent legisla­ tive agitation against Dowle's bank. Wednesday, February 17. The amended bill of the citizens' edu­ cational commission in relation to the act of establishing and maintaining a system of free schools will be Introduced before <u?«istate ieK'slature. Thomas C. Mac • ?' chIcafT°. a member of the com­ mission s legislative committee, went to pringfield to foster the project. The bill provides for a reduction in the number of members of the board of education from f »*° j' en'arSes the powers of the super­ intendent, and gives wider iield to the r'Khts of the teachers. Oov. ana Mrs. Yates gave the first Of a series of Wednesday evening receptions :® "*e Numbers of the legislature and Amines at the executive mansion. About fifty members, some of them ac­ companied by their wives, were present and enjoyed the hospitality of the chief executive and his wife. Secretary of State and Mrs. Rose assisted in receiving dur­ ing the evening. Some music and reci­ tations were given for the entertainment of the guests. ' Thundar. February *8. Several interesting bills were introduced; In the house. Two of them called for the employment of convicts to help make good roads In Illinois. One of the convict labor bills was introduced by Representa­ tive Drew of Jollet. The measure was drawn up by R. W. Richardson, secretary of the National Oood Roads association.. It provides that all able-bodied convicts, not otherwise employed in labor for th» state, shall be pat to work quarrying, crushing and screening stone to be us«jd for roadbeds. Representative RMgeley of SangkmnYi county Introduced a bill providing that' counties may provide for the keeping of their own convicts within the county and use them on public highways. There is every prospect that this session of the legislature will be from two to four weeks longer than had been planned by the republican steering committee. A resolution was adopted in tho house this morning extending to April 1 the time for closing the Introduction of bills. The committee on rules had put the "stop time" at March 3; today's resolution adds three weeks to the life of the bill-intro­ ducing machinery. The senate did not work today, and will do nothiiuc uutll March 12. ' ^ : - Friday. If arch 1. "Thfe prospect for the earljr gtesmge •< the apportionment bills," said Speaker Sherman. "Is good. There are fewer com­ plaints than I expected. There is little talk of Routing, and I have no doubt that when the bills are started on their way they will find little to impede their progress." Only about twenty members were pres­ ent in the house in the morning, and the session was a brief one, nothing o|. Im­ portance coming up for action. I," ^ J1 so*. '"t"he United 'States". lljlfl'i 1-- has issued the Mawtitg mater-and crop bulletin for Il!fndi«r: ^fMBlbov- ering- of snow protected wheat is tie northern part of the state daring Feb­ ruary and in that part of t|»e state the crop is believed to have suffered no injury. It was generally ta good condition before the snow fell. Over the greater part of the central district the snow disappeared shortly after ther middle of the month, and wheat wfa subjected to alternate freezing amid thawing weather which followed. Con­ siderable damage Is believed to hasp resulted. The greatest injury appeasa to have occurred in the tuttrf̂ Mt of the district. In the southern district there appears to have been We injury because of the weather. A few correspondents of the injury from the Hessian fly. r "Rye seems to have suffered laps than wheat. Grasses appear not to hamo suffered greatly." , After an exciting chase through three counties Sheriff Cohlmeyer of Nashville succeeded in overtaking aw* arresting Charles Meentemeyer, a fu­ gitive wanted In Franklin Conner for the alleged embezzlement of |7,M0. Meentemeyer was formerly a promi­ nent business man of Nashville. For the past two years he has been em- ducting a brokerage business at Ben­ ton, Hi., and is accused of embesllng funds placed in his: hands by business men of the city for investment. He* was arrested at Ashley after resisting the officers, and taken to Nashville and placed in jail to await the arrival̂ ;: the sheriff of Franklin county. ! 'v OuUty of Selling His Vote. In the Appellate court at Mount Ver­ non decision was rendered in the caaa of George Persefield, appellant, vb. tho people of Illinois. The case caste ap from Union county. Persefield was iw- cused of having sold his vote at the election in November, 1900, the only positive evidence against him to (hia effect being his own confession, al­ leged to have been made to A. J. Hun- sacker, T. R. Mulline and F. M. Cole­ man, that he was to receive $5 in cash and a job at one of the state Institu­ tions shoulfl the party to whose tenets he was converted by the offer, win in the general election. J B « f 1 1 M n h ' wifrtsg •• • • Probably the youngest person ever indicted in Illinois is Tony Hull, aged 11 years, who was indicted by the St. Clair county grand jury and lodged in jail at Belleville. Hull was arrfeeted at school in East CarOndelet and brought to Belleville. He is chaigsd with having perjured himself by swearing that in a fight between Frank Helsman. and John Simons at Bast Carondelet Helsman brained Si­ mon with a shovel. <It is 4hair£ed he received a gold watch for - fSlsely swearing. Young Hull is the son of John Hull,a wealthy resident of Caron- MOTES or TBI SBSSIOXS, ' A constitutional amendment abolishing the state board of equalization is pro­ posed by a joint resolution offered to the legislature by Clayton E. Crafts. By his request it was referred to the com­ mittee on revenue. The resolution re­ cites that the revenue to be raised by taxation shall be apportioned among the various companies on a percentage plan, the rate to be ascertained by dividing the sum of the gross revenue raised in each county during the preceding year by the sum of the gross revenue raised In the whole state. The details of this method for enactment Into a statute are left for the legislature. A novelty In this proposed constitutional amendment Is the authorisation of the general as­ sembly to orovlde for "local option In taxation in each county by the affirmative votes of a majority of the electors there­ of, provided that all taxallon shall be uniform as to the class of property and persons against which it may be levied." This would give a county the right to tax separately property not now reached, as for example mortgages, also to intro­ duce new methods of taxation, such as the so-called single tax. The house has passed its first piece of legislation, apart from appropriation bills an amendment to the primary election law enacted two years ago for the ben­ efit of the country districts, which found the Cook county law too expensive. The amendment simply provides for the print­ ing of the ballots, and has an emergency clause so that it takes effect In time for the spring primaries in small cities which are using it. Senator Pemberton has. Introduced a bill designed to provide state supervision for title guarantee companies. It re­ quires a deposit with the state auditor of 123,000 for companies outside of Cook and »f 150,000 for companies In Cook county; als« for a reserve and Indemnity fund af $25,000 outside of Cdok and of $100,000 In Cook. Senator Juul offered two revenue, bills. One provides for assessing separately the land and the Improvements thereon. The other seeks to re-establish the 5 per Wife aartl Edward Van Dorp, a well-to-do Bel­ gian workman, while In a lit of jeal- ousy, shot and fatally Wounded his wife at Kewanee. He then turned the re­ volver upon himself, the bullet paw­ ing through the right side of the body. Van Dorp returned a week ago from Europe and charged his wife with un­ faithfulness. Quarrels followed and the tragedy was the result. She is 25 i years old and was married to Van. Dorp five years ago at Oconto, Wis., * where her parents now reside. The shooting was witnessed only by tluf % year-old daughter. First District Seal* Dnd. In a four hours' session at Spring*- field the sub-committee of miners and operators of Illinois reached an agree­ ment on the mining scale for the first district, where the hardest fight was" promised. The scale in the first dis­ trict is to remain the same as last year and it is not believed that any ma­ terial changes will be made in the other districts. This is a victory for the operators, for they had positively refused to consider the 5 per cent in­ crease demanded by the min«ra. V x Frank P«w is Arr«ft*cl. ' Frank Pew was arrested at Sandwich and taken before the Federal officers at Chicago for sending threatening let­ ters through the mails. Secret service men have been working on the case for two weeks. Pew signed a statement that he was the one who wrote the letters,which were addressed to Charles Lasiier, who was shot while prepar­ ing. for bed on the evening of Dec. > • j-„. •- . f, "• 11 ; 1 f jijilli.• , ,7' *«w Ktoelrlr Road. ^ The project of constructing an eke* cent limitation ^n the tax rata In Chi- ;»tric railway from Oakland to Ash more. via Spring Lake and Newman, is being Sixty-seven per cent of Portugal'* inhabitants cannot read qjt ;ago, which was eliminated by the 8U' premo court's "section 49" decision by providing that the assessment may be re­ duced when the taxes are extended. Both »f these bills are In accordance with the recommendations of the Chicago Real Es­ tate Board. Representative Edwards wants the office of state vegetable and fruit commissioner established at a salary of $1,500 a year, with »,staff of ten inspectors at $2 a day. The duties proposed for them are super­ vision over methods of fruit packing. The senate has passed the following pills: The municipal committee bills in relation to disconnection of territory from pities and villages. Senator Pemberton'a bill which repeals an amendment of the farm drainage act made at the last ses­ sion. Senator Humphrey's bill provid­ ing that shorhand reporters shall be ap­ pointed In the Cook county courts only when the appointments are authorised by the county vote. Speaker Sherman annonnced the follow­ ing committee on iiitsccllaneous affairs: Skaggs. chairman; Mueller. Kettering, lidwards, McCulioch. Bundy, Kopf, 3'chlagenhauf, Chamberlin. Beem, Shurt- leff. Farrell, Perdunn. t>oyle, Shay, y Crafts. Wall and Buckley. promoted by prominent Coles county capitalists, headed by State Senator S. C. Pemberton, Judge Winkler, W. P. Fanning and others. It has been dem­ onstrated that the venture will be a paying one and open up a territory without railway facilities. The pro- motors will organise a stock comoaay, and intend taking out letters of incar* poraUon within the next 30 days. A--pte Chair U Brawa Dr. Henry T. Fowler, professor of philosophy in Knox college, has an­ nounced that he will accept the chair of biblical history in Brown university and that the Knox board will act o* Ma resignation in June. S • r. 1 L ' Taeoa WmIm Mills The LAcon Woolen Mill has been de­ stroyed by fire. One hundred h&nda are thrown out of work. The fire whs started by spontaneous combustiqfk lass, $100,000; insurance, $£S,0Wk v; s s to saloons. , his text books on mnite™ jating to tne army wiui accuracy, physical strength could fill the place, inhabitants cannot read or writa. u ileara, crafts. Wall and Buckley. *mss, •iw.vw, insurance, ' .Jv feis j> '