The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

M •d- h-Pfofrl jr. 'J THE THE MAID INN.... MARY, A Story of English Life. OF By JOSEPH HATTON. CHAPTER XV-- (Continued*) Morley had gone to the inn. The people at the "Hark-to-Rover" had come round to Mrs. Meadows to beg lier for good neighbor's sake to be pres­ ort while they "cut the cheese," one of the trifling customs of the place, and In memoir of Jack, who had always Joined their humble board; and they Ittd pressed her so warmly, vowiDg she ahould not be away for many minutes, that she was induced to put her shawl ever her head and go with them. Her brother was sitting before the Are, smoking a pipe, and nursing a gouty foot, and Mary was lying half asleep <m the sofa, in the chimney corner. When Mrs. Meadows returned her brother was fast asleep in his chair, apd Mar/ was nowhere to be seen. The widow searched for her, called, ker by name, then grew alarmed, and jr®nt back to her neighbors. They left their cheese and posset, their smoking aie and currant cake, to Join in the search for Mary. It woald not have been odd to have missed her in the daytime; but there was something alarming in the notion that sbe should be wandering abroad on a cold Icy night, and that night-- Of all others--Christmas Eve, when, ac­ cording to Kirkstall in those days, the world was more or less peopled with apparitions, good, as a rule, it was thought--angels hovering over the land to whis^ac glad messages to forlorn aouls. The night was bright and starlight, the sign of Bethlehem shining in the blue heavens, the very star that had been the harbinger of peace and good­ will to man. The snpw had ceased to fall; but hill and dale, tree aud road­ way, jyere white y?,|th their winter clothes. It waa what they called then, and •what we call now. when we get it, an told-fashioned Christmas. The good people of "Hark-to-Rover" spread themselves about the district, and they were still searching for Mary when Mr. Taylor and^ a native brought old Morley home in time to hear the Christmas bells ring out their joyful message. Informed of what had occurred they drove along the road to the abbey (care­ fully avoiding the grewsome tree by the plantation), and met Mrs. Meadows and some others, but without Mary. It had not occurred to them to look for the poor maniac where she was found the next morning. On the previous day a cloud of car­ rion crows had hovered around the gib­ bet, finally resting upon the tree, the figure in chains hanging immovable In its icy bonds. It might be that these evil birds had tritore than an earthly reputation of •vileness. Superstitious natives of Kirkstall who saw them, believing they were evil spirits, noted them as of curiously draggled plumage, with fierce beaks, and making strange and hideous cries. It might have been, they thought, in their imaginative blindness--or with an inspired vision--who shall say?-- that the hosts of heaven were driving the carrion crows out of the land, and that they had clung to the gibbet as their rightful resting place. There are no bounds to the Divine mercy, and the last appeal of a good and pure woman is known to be full of saving grace. CHAPTER XVI. The moon was shining bright and clear; the stars had gone to rest, leav­ ing sentinel over the sleeping constel­ lations that one diamond-shaped planet the Kirkstall folk had looked upon as the star of Bethlehem, when Mary Lockwood laid herself at the foot of the awful tree and fell asleep. Had her cruel destiny in its natural sequence of events led her there? Had th i inspiration of her love brought her, in pathetic sympathy, to the feet of him at whose grim altar she should complete her moral sacrifice? Was it a pagan sacrifice? Or was it the out­ come of the Divine love that was above all love, the Divine mercy which had received the penitent words of the sin­ ner in those last moments of York jail, and selected this gracious time to give them a sign of His Fatherly sympathy and mercy? May it not be that under this celestial inspiration His angels-- seeking a supreme opportunity to sig­ nalize the blessed eve- had interceded for both the loved and the lost, and, purifying the grim sign of man's stern justice, scattering the evil birds of hell, had brought poor Mary where \they had found her, to transform that wretched symbol of man's unforgiving creed into a ladder of angel gold upon •which she passed in their sublime com­ pany to the sunny land of everlasting peace. It was in some such strain that the parson preached on Christmas eve, seeking to enforce the Christian doc­ trine, that even for such as he, whose body was a black and stained thing, there might be salvation; and perhaps through the unconscious intercession of their poor, distraught sister, who had called the heavenly hosts to that modern crucifixion of the modern thief, in a blind hope that, JMK.(^hrist had opened the grates of heaven to^he peni­ tent thief on the cross, so in Mis in-* finite goodness might He open them to herself and her betrayer--to him by reason of her love for him; to her by reason of her sufferings and her life, all pure and true until he had crossed her path. If the preacher drew a long draft on thjslr imaginations and hopes and enforced his text with flights of religious fancy that may seem out of place In these prosaic days, it is still permitted for us to hope that the an­ gels did take the place of the birds of evil strain and bear the suffering Mary to that other world, where the wickea cease from troubling and the weary are at rest ^ Tears rolled on. The law had given a companion to the gibbet by the plantation near the abbey. The man Fost*r had ventured to return to England, and, being con­ demned for some petty offense, was taken sick in prison. Under the im­ pression that he was dying he con­ fessed to the murder of Squire Belling- harn, and related the circumstances of the crime exactly as they had occurred. Whether it was a malignant and avenging fate that had preyed upon his fears to bring him to this position, and then to restore him to health, it is not for the historian to say; he has simply to chronicle events as he finds them in the evidence before him. Foster confessed to the jail chaplain that It was he who shot Bellingham, and he also narrated the details of the tragedy to the warder. As if the load off his tnlnd gave his physical nature a fillip, he began to recover, and in due course he was arraigned at York as­ sizes (on his own confession), upon the charge of highway robbery and murder, his confession being fully sup­ ported by such evidence as could be got together. . He died, as he had lived, a coward, struggling with his fate to the last, calling himself a fool, swearing he had been tricked by the jail doctor Into a fear of death, and at the last moment denying his guilt and having to be sup­ ported to the scaffold, a miserable exhi­ bition of judicial strangulation; but he was quiet enough when they made a sign of him near the rattling chains of his fellow criminal, the remainder of whose wretched body had almost dis­ appeared between the assaults of the wind and the rain, and the birds of prey and the human relic hunters. One calm autumn evening many a year afterwards, there came an old man to the Star and Garter. He was tanned by wind and weather, wrinkled with age and travel, his hair sparse and of an iron-grey. He had bright blue eyes, white teeth, strong, bony hands, carried a staff like an alpen stock, and wore a straggling beard. He arrived by coach with a pair of great brown leathern trunks, covered with curious marks and letterings, as if they had seen a marvelous amount of service. He settled down at the Star and Garter, ordered a sitting room, commanded a fire, spoke in calm but very decisive tones, and asked many questions about men and women who bad been dead and gone for years and years; tlie Meadowses, for Instance; old Morley, and Mary, the Maid of the Inn. There was nothing odd in his inquir­ ing about Mary, because she bad, as it were, become everybody's property. A famous poet had made a ballad about her, and it was a common thing for folk that were gifted that way to recite it. Other less illustrious ballad mong­ ers had done the story of Mary's night in the abbey into verse, and the chap­ men at the fairs had long been selling the "last dying speeches and confes­ sions of Richard Parker," "copies of verses written upon his last interview with Mary," and other literary remi­ niscences of the tragedy. It was, therefore, as I have said, not surprising to have a stranger ask about Mary; but this particular stranger ask­ ed all kinds of curious questions, and vouchsafed now and then pieces of curious information about events they had heard of at the Star and Garter from their fathers and grandfathers, matters which seemed to them now to be parts of stories in books, or things that belonged to the age of "once upon a time," or incidents that the news­ papers reprinted from old chronicles. The stranger became a particularly interesting person when he obtained permission at his own expense to erect a special gravestone to Mary Lock- wood's memory, and people touched their hats to him all over the place when it was known that it was through his influence the two gibbets had sud­ denly been removed, such of the rags and tatters of the poor wretches who had been hung in chains being buried decently, and a few Christian words of hope said over them. The old man was fond of rambling about the abbey. He set up a distant branch of the Meadows family in the "Hark-to-Rover," and often called^ and smoked a pipe with Jack Meado^s^nd his wife at the farm--the young Mead­ ows, who had inherited from the son of the Mrs. Maedows, who was the mother of that Jack Meadows who left Kirkstall and was drowned at sea or worse, because Mary, the maid of the inn, would not have him, preferring the Yorkshire Institutions of charity eould be cited to prove; and on a slip of pa­ per he had written, evidently on the morning of his death, "Thank you for letting me sleep in the room where I was happy, as a boy. Jack Meadows." (The End.) •.v" MORAL CLOCKS. Phonograph Suggested for th* Correc­ tion of Forgetful Habits. Many people have lately amused themselves by dipping into the future and depicting all the luxuries of life that science is going to bring within reach of the emptiest purse; but how far these more ingenious inventors will increase the happiness of the world is another question. A truly appalling prospect for the future is opened by the latest Austrian discov­ ery. It consists of a clock to keep iti order thosfe of forgetful and Irregular habits. The system is of "the simplest. A phonograph is substituted instead of the more normal striking arrange­ ment, and the Austrian inventor sug­ gests that for each hour of the day some sentence inculcating a special duty should be spoken into the phono­ graph. One has heard of people who affix in their bedrooms little moral reminders, such as "Breakfast at eight, or you'll be late, and very wrong," but it is a great many steps worse to have a clock charged at, all times of the day with moral exhorta­ tions. In the hands of a faddist this clock might be induced to pfeach the evils of intemperance while the wine was circulating at dinner. Its sense of duty would be absolutely unfailing, and, according to the Humanitarian, it may always be trusted to remember its message and to say the right thing at the right time--"if It is wound up." Indeed, the only hope for the future is that men will continue, as before, to forget that winding process. REBELS IN PARLIAMENT, Distinguished Irishman Who Have Been Elected to High Positions. The interesting question of "rebels in Parliament." which is likely to en gage ths attention of the house of commons a ferw weeks hence, recalls famous phrase used by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy in his first speech Australian soli. He refused to apolo gize in any way for his Irish career or the part he had played in promoting the '48 insurrection. As regards Ire land, he proclaimed himself to be still "a rebel to the backbone and spinal marrow." The speech created a tre mendous commotion at the time, but it did not prevent his election to the first parliament of Victoria, or his attain ing the premiership, or his receiving knighthood from the queen. The ques tion was again raised in July, 1800 when the Hon. Peter Lalor, another Irishman, succeeded Sir C. G. Duffy In the speakership of the Victorian par liament. A member of the government violently protected against the highest honor in the gift of the house being be stowed on a man who had fought against the soldiers of the queen. The Conservative premier of the period, the late Hon. James Service, severely re buked his subordinate, and said the In cldent referred to in no way reflected on Mr. Lalor, rather the reverse. Mr Lalor was the commander-in-chief of the rebel gold diggers of Ballarat, who on December 3, 1854, fought an en gagement with the imperial forces. Ix>ndon Chronicle. Embarrassed Royalty. On a recent occasion King Christian of Denmark, while out for a walk, met one of his courtiers who was renowned for his stinginess. As it happened, on a previous occasion the King had^ "treated" him, but his majesty, finding^ that he had no money, the courtier had to pay for the "treat," and it had/ come to the royal ears that the court­ ier had not yet finished grumbling at having been "bilked." Full of desire to repair the past, the King rushed up to his subject: "Now, my dear count, I am really going to stand treat on this occasion." Then, lo and be­ hold, as usual on searching for money, the King found none! Luckily, at that moment he saw through the open door the Crown Prince and his equer ry riding by. The king rushed out and called to his son; "For goodness' sake, lend me some cash. I've stood treat to Count So-and-so again, and if he finds himself done for the sec­ ond time he will raise a rebellion." The situation was saved, but the court has not yet finished its laugh.--Candid Friend. ILLINOIS ITEMS hlghwaymaiKln disguise, who came to the gallows. ^ It was noted that the old man was particularly fond of these people, and that he liked to walk with Jack and have him tell the story of the Maid of the Inn, and the sermon the parson preached about the angels driving away the evil spirits, and making a golden ladder for Mary up to heaven. They had no idea who the old man was; but they grew to love him, he was so generous with his money, had seen so much, could tell such wonder­ ful stories; and he brought to them one morning such a grand recommendation from the bankers of Leeds, not to mention a solicitor there, that when he hinied at a desire to live with the young people at the farm, and he ac­ companied this with a present of a pair of the finest cart horses that Wakefield market could show, and when he said he bad neither chic nor child, and was tireu of traveling, tney gave him the bedroom he said he liked; and he became one of the household, living as such, a pleasant companion and' ft^end to host and hostess, a grandfather in his actions towards the children. One calm summer's morning they thought he had slept too long, and went to call him; he smiled at the chil­ dren so peacefully that they did not like to disturb him. And nobody could or did disturb him again. They found his last will and testament in a con­ spicuous place on a table near the bed. It was a generous will for more than the Meadows family, as several • j) An Old Explanation. A man in Ness county got into print the other day with the boast that he possessed the most ancient almanac in Kansas, the date of his book being 181!>. And now comes a man In Smith county with a whole library of more ancient almanacs. Foi example, he has six consecutive annual issues of an almanac bearing the title, "An Astro­ nomical Diary or Almanack," an Am­ erican publication, the first of the six having the date of 1769. The owner of these ancient publications Is Mr. A. C. Coolidge, who appears to be quite a collector. He has many old newspapers and books, and of one of them, "The Smith County Pioneer" says: "Mr. Coolidge has a book of psalms and hymns published In 181$ under the title "Musica Sacra." Did you ever wonder why it is that song books have the soprano placed above the other parts? The reason given in this book is: "As female voices are. in general, more nu­ merous, the air in this work is uni­ formly placed uppermost in the brace." --The Kansas City Journal. Dutj on Linen in Canada. The rate of duty on linen imported into Canada varies somewhat with the class of goods. On bags or sacks of linen it is 20 per cent ad valorem; on collars, cuffs and shirts of liner., stair linen, napkins, table and tray c;oths, doylies, sheets, quilts, towels and other like articles of linen or of cottou and linen combined, made up or not, 30 per cent; on handkerchiefs, lace nets and letting of linen, linen clothing. 36 per cent. This is the general tariff on lin­ ens, but if the goods are Imported from Ireland, the British preference clause of the tariff will apply and the rate of duty will be one-third less than the rate quoted above.--Montreal Star. Gov. Yates has granted a reprieve of two weeks to Joseph Ellsworth Hinkle, who was to have been executed in the codnty jail at Peoria for the murder of his wife last summer. Sheriff Kim- sey had erected the scaffold and had arranged all the details when the governor's private secretary arrived with the official notice of reprieve. The auditor of public accounts has issued a permit to organize the First City Bank of Princeton with a capital stock of $50,000. The organizers are: Albert N. Stevenson, Thomas Cecil, Matthew H. Blackburn, Shelby L» Smith, Nelson W. Isaacson, Charles O. White, Ira C. Gibbons and Jacob F. Wagoner. The state board of health haa re­ ceived a report of a serious outbreak of smallpox at Benton, Franklin coun­ ty, in the railroad camp of James Ward & Co., contractors, on the II- llncr.« ^Central railroad. Mr. Ward has notified the board of health that the quarantine is being enforced at the point of shotguns, and that he is unable to secure supplies for his men and stock. Dr. Egan, secretary of the board, has notified the mayor of Benton to permit the delivery of supplies. Russell Battise, son of J. H. Battlse, a prominent merchant of Carlinville, was killed in a rear-end collision on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad near Garrett, Ind. The engine crashed into the caboose, killing him and a com­ panion instantly. The deceased was 23 years of age, and leaves a bride of only a few weeks. Efforts to organize so-cailed invest­ ment companies and Incorporate them under the Illinois laws Are causing much annoyance iti the corporation de partment of the secretary of state's of­ fice. Secretary Rose has declared against the incorporation of these con­ cerns, and a number of promoters are now engaged in a studied effort to cir­ cumvent the decision by securing un­ der false pretenses authority to do business in the state. The Morgan county medical society met at Jacksonville with a full attend­ ance of members. The general theme of discussion was "pneumonia," with papers by Dr. D. W. Reid and Dr. T. J. Pitcher of Jacksonville. Dr. W. W. Crane of Sinclair and Dr. J. F. Harvey of Griggsville. Jamer. B. Smith, aged 82 years, died at Springfield from an attack of pneu­ monia. He was born in Maryland and had reeided In Sprlngfeld for the past thirty years. James Duncan of the Duncan Found­ ry and Machine company of Alton has brough suit in the circuit court against the 'Alton and Auburn Coa! company for $660, the value of thirty coal cars, whiclr the plaintiff alleges he sold the company and for which be has not been paid. Benjamin M. Abbey of Cropsey, Mc­ Lean county, has filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy In the United States district court. His liabilities are placed at $10,000; assets, $2,691. Some months ago Springfield gam­ bling houses were closed by the police and all remained closed until recently. Within two or three weeks, on the supposition that the short session of the grand jury at this term would give them immunity for some time to come, several places have been reopened. lh the condemnation proceeding of he ] St. Louis & Chicago railway ig^nst James B. M. Kehlor in the United States circuit court at Spring­ field the jury awardedshrdlmfwypyp Held the Jury assessed damages against the defendant, in the sum of $2,187 as compensation for the land, which is located in the city of Litch­ field. The case has been pending for several years. The road is now a part of the Illinois Central line to St. Louis. Minnie Anteman of Beamington, is seeking to recover five turkeys from James M. Higgins on a writ of re­ plevin. Some time ago Higgins missed some turkeys and claimed to have lo­ cated them in Mrs. Anteman's posses­ sion. The Anti-Horse Thief associa­ tion took the matter up and recovered the turkeys. Mrs. Anteman. in a suit before a justice of the peace, got back the turkeys, but Higgins appealed the case to the county court and the mat­ ter is being fought out there. Filas German, a negro, sustained a peculiar but serious accident while at work In the coal mine of the Republic ron and Steel company, north of Springfield. A large cable used in hauling coal out of the mine broke and one end struck German over the head, rendering him unconscious. Dale Bannister, wbo secured small sums of money at Quincy on some worthless checks, was sentenced to the house of correction for 175 days. A certificate announcing an increase of capital ctock from $300,000 to $400,- 000 by the State Saving, Loan and Trust company of Quincy has been filed in the Adams county recorder's office. At Galosburg John Weslpy Adams, an old Chicago. Burlington & Quincy conductor, was found in a dying con­ dition in the railroad yards and soon passed away. There are suspicions of foul play. Rev. R. M. Tinnon, who has been pastor of the First Cumberland Pres­ byterian church in Lincoln for ten years, has offered h»8 resignation, to take effect April 1. John T. Houser, aged 79 years, fath­ er of Sheriff Houser, is dead. He had been a resident of Olney for forty yea rs. The lakes and rivers being infested with gar and dogfish, the commission has gj-anted permits to several respon­ sible fishermen to take objectionable fish from the Illinois river and its tributaries under the ice. To give an Idea of the abundance of this class of fish in the waters mentioned, John Schiilte of Havana took in one haul from Clear lake from 35,000 to 40,000 pounds of gar, 5,000 pounds of dogfish, 13,0i)0 pounds of carp and 4r000 pounds of buffalo. The bass, crappie and other game fish taken in the haul were returned to the water.' At Springfield the suit of Joseph Edwards, guardian of Charles Zimmer­ man, against tthe Loyal Americans, for recovery on a policy held In the order by Mary Zimmerman, deceased, result­ ed in a verdict against the society for the amount claimed to be^due. The Illinois Terminal railroad was compelled recently to suspend business over its entire road from Alton to Ed- wardsville because of a series of acci­ dents to its three locomotives. Drury McMillen sustained a fracture of his left shoulder while coasting on a hill in Blair's pasture, near Alton. A sled that had been left in the way was struck by the sled upon which the boy was riding and was wrecked. Capt. G. W. Hill of Alton has ten­ dered his resignation as agent for the Eagle Packet company at Alton, which position he has held for nearly twenty- five years. In addition to the magnlfioent brick and stone depot to be erected by the Chicago and EJastern Illinois railway at Mount Vernon the Third National bank will build a handsome three- story block. A movement is on foot at Salem for the building of a large reservoir just north of town, and to the fund the Illinois Southern railway company has subscribed $1,000. The reservoir will cover forty-five acres and the cost Is estimated at $5,000. According to the records in the of­ fice of County Clerk "Ackerman, there were thirty-four births and fourteen deaths in Clinton county during th§ month of January. profe«ora J. A. Kenedy and C. Spruitt of the Illinois School for the Deaf have been elected to membership in the National Geographical society at Washington. The conservator of Nathan Walter, who is In an insane asylum in South Africa, has been paid $2,325, which has been in the hands of the county treas­ urer at Decatur for a number of years. The question whether or not Ma­ coupin creek is a navigable stream has delayed work on the bridge across that stream, in which the counties of Greene, Jersey and Calhoun are inter­ ested. The matter is being considered by the War Department. If the stream is considered navigable a draw bridge will be built. A farmers' telephone company has been organized in Calhoun county, with headquarters at Belleview. Z. D. Stauibro. a pioneer settler of Henry county, committed suicide north of Kewanee by tying a handker­ chief aroyind his neck and then twist­ ing it with a short stick. He had been In poor health. The Forest' City' telephone company has been incorporated with a capital of $2,500. The Long Point Mutual Telephone company of Wapello has been licensed by the secretary of state. Adin Baber, one of the widest-known farmers and stockmen of Edgar coun­ ty, died of pneumonia. Selbolt Reents, a wealthy farmer, mine owner and merchant, died at Kramm's Station, aged 59 years. Ross Boyd of Robinson was found on the road unconscious. The horse that he was riding was near by and the supposition Is that the horse stumbled and threw Boyd, producing concussion of the brain. Ray Evans, aged 24 years, was killed near Frankfort by a falling tree. Mrs. Mary Hough, aged 90 years died Monday at Effingham of paralysis. She was the mother if Senator Hough, for twenty-five years a conductor on t*he Vandalia line. John W. Llonberger. a pioneer of Hancock county, is dead at his home at lacrosse, aged 75. Frank Dudley Is dead at Blooming ton. aged 40. He was in the employ of the Standard Oil company, traveling through Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. The construction of the Decatur and Springfield extension of the Indiana. Decatur and Western railway will bring -lito existence a new town jus' east of Springfield. The place will be called Keyston. The railroad company has purchased 600 acres of coal rights from (he farmers living In the vicini­ ty. aid the new town will be the loca­ tion of extensive coal mines. \t A meeting of the State Horticul­ tural society at Springfield Dr. B Stuv« was elected president; John Amos, vice president, and Lewis Smith, secretary artd treasurer. The business men of Hamburg are attempting to organize a company to build a canning factory at that place Prof. M. E. Churchill of Illinois col lege, who went to California in search of health, has been engaged to take the place of dean in Pomona college, Claremont, Cal., for the remainder of the year. R. J. Graham of Belleville, Ont owner of the Hardin evaporating plant, desires to dispose of the plant to a company composed of Calhoun coun­ ty frrfit growers. An effort will be made to organize a company. In the United States District court at Springfield S. S. Tllden, postmaster at Raymond, pleaded guilty to embez­ zlement from postofflce funds and was fined $1,050, the amount of the embez­ zlement and sentenced to six months In the Chester penitentiary, the Imposi­ tion of the sentence to be suspended in case he pays the fine within ten days. Charles Ylede has been indicted for forgery upon information furnished by Fred ^Ostermier, Jr., of New Berlin. Ostermier^SayS Ylede forged his name to a check for $150 and secured the money thereon. At Pana Rev. W. H. Anderson awoke James Macon from a thirty-six-hour sleep by use of hypnotic power. Macon bad remained asleep that length of time despite the efforts of the physi­ cians t° arouse him. Macon is chief of police of Assumption. in At Springfield Federal officers ar­ rested- Frank Smith and Harry Har- lowe on charges of using the mails to defraud. The young men sent out cir­ culars in which they guaranteed to find employment for their patrons within fifteen days or refund the money. The Enterprise Savings bank hu brought suit against the city of Cair-4 to recover the value of a bond wili Interest, which the council refused t< settle at its last meeting. The amount of the judgment sought is $4,000. The total taxes of Alexander countj for the year 1901 are $31,310.54 mor« than for the previous year. Cairo is now getting back to normal conditions. Both car lines are now In operation and the street arc lights ar« again being used. An army of linemen have been working like beavers during the past week rebuilding lines, and ev­ erything will soon be back as it was before, except the beautiful shad« trees, which are completely ruined in many cases. Hon. Thomas B. Needles, member ol the Dawes Indian commission, was called to Muscogee, I. T., owlhg tc some important business that la tc come before that commi&sioii. The Washington county prohibition­ ists have selected delegates and alter­ nates to the state prohibition conven­ tion to be held at Peoria July 1. Rev. \Y\ J. Parmley of Ava has brought suit against Rev. Geo. D. Ward for slander and defamation ol character. Both ministers are Baptists. George P. Howell, a well-known con­ tractor of Murphysboro, is dead. In circuit court at Murphysboro the case of the Fort Pitta bridge works ol Pittsburg vs. Murphysboro Water, Electric and Gas Light company to en- fore njeciiftniea' w>8 decided in favor of defendants. The Knights of Columbus held a cel­ ebration at Galeaburg, Large delega­ tions were present from Burlington, Keokuk, Peoria, Quincy, D«« Moines, Davenport and Beardstown. Degrees were conferred on a class of sixty-one candidates. A large number of the members ol the Knights of Pythias and also th« Modern Woodmen of East St. Louis went to Caseyville to attend the fu neral of Mrs. Dorothy Trauttttann mother of Hon. W. E. Trautmann. James Lynch, one of the most widely known citizens in Macoupin county died at Carlinville aged 65 years. He had been the custodian of the court house thirty years. He was burled with Masonic honors. Automobiles are likely to supplant the old-time stage coaches used reaching the Yellowstone parkB. Chicago firm is figuring on a number of modern carriages designed for the hilly districts In which are located the two national parks. The application to organize the St Charles National bank with a capital of $25,000 has been approved. Twenty-Inch Ice is being cut on the bay behind the dike in Alton harbor which is the thickest Ice that has been cut near Alton in ten years. The ice fields are in the prime of condition and work of harvesting is going on at a rapid rate. The funeral services of Mrs. Eliza Digraan were conducted in the Mount Olive Baptist church, Upper Alton Fifty-two years ago the church was founded, and Mrs. Dlgman was one ol the charter members, uniting with the church at the age of 13. The Alton board of education Is con sldering plans for the new high school building. 1 Under the will of Mrs. Mary Devine which was probated in the county court at Alton, Mrs. Devine leaves to St. Joseph s hospital the residue of her personal property after her debts are paid. Her real estate goes to hei grandchildren. Alderman Samuel Gregory says that he has received notice thai he will be subjected to personal violence unless be ceases opposition to slot machine.1- being operated in Alton. The alderman has announced h:s intention of keeping up his fight. Rev. G. W. Waggoner was on his way to market, carrying a basket when he was stopped on the street by Luke B. Cnapman and Miss Ruth Mc Coy and requested to marry them. The minister complied and then proceeded on his way to market. Ida May Dennle, who was acquitted at Quincy of the charge of murdering her husband on the grounds of insan­ ity, will be sent to the asylum at Jack­ sonville, as there seems to be no pro vision made for taking care of women in the asylum for criminals at Chester The Alton city officials have been notified that the tax assessment of tht city of Alton, representing all the tax­ able property in the city, is $2,137,302 This is an increase of about $200,OOC over last year. The Quincy Street Car company has decided to extend Its tracks to Walton Heights and also to make a loop through the grounds of the state sol­ diers' home. Work will be commenced at the opening of the spring season. W. W. Ward, aged 55 years, a farmer who lived a few miles south of Quln cy and who was gored by a bull several months ago, died from his injuries. Defiance Starch, 16 ounces, 10 cents The rate for state taxes this year If 50 cents on the $100. Louis Ericbter, one of the wealthiest farmers of Maseoutah township and a member of the county board of super­ visors, died suddenly of heart disease aged 53 years. Elder Stotler, pastor of the Chris­ tian church at Centralia, has an­ nounced his resignation as pastor, tc take effect March 1. The death of Mrs. Indiana Vail, aged 90 years, occurred at her home In Car- lyle, where she had lived for over hall a century. Manorial "services were held in th< Supreme court at Springfield In honoi of the lace Judge Damon George Tun nicliff, who died at his home in Ma­ comb, 111., December 20, 1901, at tht age of 72 years. John Moore, 18 years pf age. was killed in the Green Ridge coal shaft north of Carlinville, by a large lumj of slate falling on him. He was t driver In the mines. His mule rai away, knocking out one of the props Ernest Best has sold his seventy acre farm near Witt to J. M. BlacV welder fof $4,250. 1111 WRECKS CAUSE DEATH Freight Runs Into Passenger Train at Litchfield, Illinois. SMASHUP NEAR CARBON DALE. Head-On Collision In low* Kills Thn« --Train Crew Dtoobajr* Ordtn ul Engineer Ud'HrMBSa P>f tl>« PlBlllj with Their Uvea. Two persong met death and fire were injured ia -tC cbllision between the 'Diamond Special"vpf the Illinois Cen­ tral Road and freight train No. 53, Are miles north of Litchfield. It Is re­ markable in that the fast passenger was ahead of the freight and that both trains were moving. The dead; EL B. Burns, Frank Mclntyre. The injured: C. W. Castles, Jack Dean, Michael Don­ nelly, A. M. Dearborn, E. Eaton. The "Diamond Special'1 was moving at a rate of twelve miles an hour when the freight crashed Into the rear sleeper. A heavy fog hung over the country and both trains were picking their way carefully. It is said the passenger would have been traveling faster had there not been some trouble with tho locomotive's mechanism. The engineer on the freight engine declared that the fog was so thick he could not see 100 feet ahead. j A fatal head-on collision between afl Iowa Central passenger train, south­ bound, and a single engine, occurred four miles south of &Idora on the Iowa Central Railway at 11 o'clock Saturday night. The killed: William Frew, Ea­ rner Ogle, Frank Patton and John White. Engineer White reversed his engine, clung to his poet and at the cost of his own life saved the passen­ gers on his train. < Three persons were seriously injured In a head-on collisidti at Texa* Junc­ tion on the Illinois Central Railroad.' Passenger train No. 26 collided with an extra freight. The passenger engineer, Robert 'Allen, Baggageman Charles Ashley and Mrs. Dr. J. S. Lewis were seriously injured. Engineer T. W. Lyons and Fireman P. W. Desot were killed In a head-end collision of freight trains on the Pitts­ burg, McKeesport & Youghiogheny di­ vision of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie railroad at Round Bottom. The trains came together as the result of disobey­ ing orders by one of the crews. Responsible for CoMllaf AmWmI At Peoria, Illinois, the coroner's jury in the inquest over Wallace Markley, the boy who was killed 'a week ago in a coasting accident, re­ turned a verdict in which the city is held responsible for his death, and the street car company is exonerated. The jury claims that the city authorities should have enforced the ordinance prohibiting coasting or should hare furnished police protection. Torrens Law DphaM la KlnnMOta. The supreme court of the state of Minnesota iast week handed down a decision sustaining the Torrens system of land title registration in every par­ ticular. A case was carried from Ram­ sey County to that court by W. P. Westfal, the local attorney in charge of such registration, with the purpose of testing the constitutionality of the law enacted a year ago. Polish-Americans Help fuwnlif-- Patriotic Polish-American residents of this country have sent 14,000 marks to their countrymen in Poland under the German rule to help the families of the people who were placed in pris­ on because they protested against the treatment of their children by school authorities for the refusal by the chil­ dren to pray and study religion in other than their parents' language. Working for Penny Pottage. Representative Smith of Illinois will press his bill providing for penny pos­ tage. He has a petition with the sig­ natures of more than 300.000 bankers and business men, representing twenty states. In addition there will be near­ ly half a million personal letters pray­ ing for the passage by Congress of the penny postage bill. Indiana Lincoln League OflBeerm. At Terre Haute, Ind., the In­ diana Lincoln league elected these of­ ficers: President. Harry Miller, Fair- mount; vice-president, Charles R. Lane, Fort Wayne: secretary, Jounce Monyhan. Orleans; treasurer, Walter Mand, Terre Haute. The next conven­ tion will be held at Evansville. Immense Harvest or Lott. The greatest log harvest that Hm ever been known on the Penobscot river, Maine, is being gathered. In fa* vorable years and "good times" a cut of 50,000.000 to 70.000,000 was consid­ ered satisfactory for the west branch, but this year the cut will be nearly 100,000,000 feet. To Extend Woman SafTrage A permanent international woman's suffrage conference was agreed upon at Washington last week at an ad­ journed meeting of the international delegates. Susan B. Anthony was elected chairman. The representation of each country in the convention by three delegates was decided upon, and invitations will be extended to all countries not represented to send three delegates to the convention, which will be held at a time and place yet to be determined upon. Morder Mrstery la New Tark. Mrs. Kate Voegel. a widow, was * found murdered in her apartments in Christopher street. New York. Rob­ bery evidently was not the motive, for a large diamond ring was left un­ touched on the body. Irish U«(w SsIMi Davit*. Dublin dispatch: The United Irish . ' league convention at Kilkenny y ed Joseph Devlin as the nationalis^v Vj candidate for North Kilkenny* in place v s|. of Patrick tired. H McDermott. wbo has r*»