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.-.vei vAn YEAR ONE OF GREAT PROSPERITY All Etscords R|!|sL»n hv th« fT «*fr ManMfflrtiirm »n«i United States. r? V - . -- - It has been a year of glistening na­ tion al prosperity and its brightness Is reflected into the year that is to come. Nowhere on the horizon is there visible a cloud of doubt that next year will be as generous-handed as has the yew whose bell has just tolled. All records of prosperity for this and for any other country have been broken by the harvests, manufacturers and the commerce of the United States Of America for the twelve months which now have slipped finally into The North has had a prosperity in which the West has shared, and the 8outh simply is fat with plenty. No principal crop in the United States has failed. For the bushel sown, the eartb has returned its twenty fold. It it not necessary to give the figures la order that the great fact may be grasped. In all the staples of life the year has broken the record of yield, tt is possible that in the case of cot­ ton an exception should be made, but of the southern staple there has been a production as large as the people of the cotton-growing sections could have wished. The prices are high; everyone had some cotton and every­ one has a share of the selling price. The Secretary of Agriculture has said that the well-being of the Ameri­ can farmer is a matter of the pro- roundest Interest to the entire coun­ try. He might have gone farther and have said that the well-being of the entire country depends upon the well- being of the American farmer. It has been a year of unsurpassed prosperity to the agriculturists of the country. Production has been unequaled, and . as tha wealth and the happiness of all depend upon that which springs from the ground, we go back to the basis and the proper place for the prophecy of happiness when we stand upon the farm. By the time that the new year has ran half its course it is probable that there will be a fuller and better un­ derstanding between the sister coun­ tries of North and South America. The third conference of . the pan- American states is to be held in Bra­ zil, and there the Secretary of State of the greatest of the American coun­ tries will meet with the officials of the smaller republics, and out of their conferences and discussions it is be­ lieved will come plans which, when put to the working test, will make se­ cure upon a firm foundation the peace of two continents. It is probable that before the first session of the Fifty-ninth Congress sees the day of adjournment that a national quarantine law will be passed which will reduce to a minimum the danger of yellow fever epidemics in the South. It is probable that before the new year becomes an old year two stars will be added to the flag of the United States, Arizona and New Mexico, join­ ed to become one state, and Okla­ homa and Indian Territory, joined, to become the other. When this end is accomplished, there will be no terri­ tories left in the Union, and the year 1906 .-will go down in history as the year which saw the fulfillment of the dream of the fathers. To go again into the Immediate past it may be said for the last of the old years that it saw the making of a rec­ ord for American commerce in both matters of exports and of imports. The year 1904 produced the first bil­ lion dollar record for imports; the year 1905, saw a material increase, and during each one of its twelve months the value of the imports amounted to practically $100,000,000, against an average of less than half that amount only a score of years ago. The exports of the United States, as an official puts it, "never touched the billion dollar mark until the year 1895, and have never in any calendar year been as much as a billion and a half dollars in value; but, this year they have considerably exceeded that figure and will approximate a value of $1,600,000,000." None of the of­ ficials who make a study of trade con­ ditions has been able to discover any­ thing in the future which should pre­ vent a like marvelous growth of the commerce of the United States dur­ ing the coming year. The manufactures of the country In- eretuseu their share during the last year in both imports and exports of the United States. The increase in the importation of manufacturers' ma­ terials in the ten months ending Nov- 1, 1905,' amounted to $81,000,000, an Increase of 21 per cent over the cor­ responding period of last year, while the increase in all other imports amounted to but $54,000,000, an in­ crease of 12 per cent over the corre­ sponding months of 1904. In the matter of exports of manu- fsctures the value of increase during ten months of 1905 was $58,000,000, an increase of 14 per cent, while the ipdn of all other exports was about $50,000,000, an increase of 7 per cent over the same months of last year. |)jlGH MARK IN CROP FIGURES. products of the Farm Make a Remark­ able Showing. tfk Crop figures for the year establish­ ed a new high mark, both as com­ pared to yields per acre on many grains and in the aggregate produc­ tion. The year's statistical story will be tooad in the following tables: Inc. over Bushels. 1904. Record C«ni .. .. J,707,993.640 9.7 2,666,440,273 Winter w't 428.462,834 28.9 •torlng w>t 264,516,655 20.5 Trl wheat. 692,979,489 2S.3 Oats .. .. 960,216,197 6.2 Barley ... 136,651.029 *2.* *?• .. ... 27,616,045 1.4 KckW't . 14,885.082 n.S 1899 458,834.501 1901 293,185,322 1899 748,460,218 1901 t87,M-,704 1902 139,748,958 1904 33,630,592 1902 22,791,839 1866 The Washington officials who deal in the statistics of manufacturers hold that there is every apparent indica­ tion that the prosperous showing of the last year is to be more than du­ plicated in the year that is to come. It is a fairly well established fact that coming unhappy events cast long shadows before. The students of the situation look not only at the matter Immediately in hand, but they look st all the conditions of commercial life: the state of the country's finances, the likelihood of tariff changes, the possibilities of commercial wars, and, in fact, at all other things upon which government agents make reports. They look at all these things before they attempt anything of prophecy, and when they do consent to prophecy they do not put it in black and white because there is always a chance of the arising of something hitherto un­ known; but they do consent to give an expression of their belief in the future, founded up6n the best knowl­ edge which is given to them from all available sources. It is only the crop expert who in the winter, the time of the death of vegetation, refuses to say one word as to the future, for the time of long distance weather fore­ casts has not yet arrived. The view of the coming year as it touches exports and imports and the manufacturers of the country is to be expressed only by the much-used and apparently well-liked word, rosy. Should there be those who look only to the purse as the standard of a people's happiness, it may be said that there is more money in circula­ tion among the inhabitants of the United States to-flay than ever there has been lefore. Despite bank troub­ les here and there the financial insti­ tutional solidity and prosperity of the country seems to have a foundation of rock which cannot readily be worn away. The light shines ahead. , DI8ASTERS DURING THE YEAR- Earthquake in Italy the Worst Calam­ ity Recorded in 1905. Disasters were numerous during 1905, though there was no calamity involving such great loss of life or such horrors as accompanied the burn­ ing of the Iroquois theater at Chicago in 1903, or of the steamer General Slo- cum at New York in 1904. Leaving out of consideration the Russo-Japa- nese war, the greatest disaster of the year occurred in Calabria, Italy, where 400 lives were lost through an earth­ quake Sept. 8. Nearly aB many deaths were recorded as due to the collapse of a partially constructed reservoir hear Madrid, Spain, April 8. The most serious disaster in the United States was the tornado in Texas, April 29. At Laredo 100 lives were lost. A tornado in Oklahoma, May 11, caused nearly as many deaths in the town of Sidney. A Are in a shoe factory at Brocton, Mass., re­ sulting from an explosion. March 20, also resulted in 100 deaths. Railroad accidents probably have not caused so many deaths as in 1904, but several serious ones-occurred dur­ ing the past year. In a collision on the Western Maryland rajlroad, twen­ ty-eight miles from Baltimore, June 1, twenty-three persons were killed. In each of three other wrecks twenty lives were lost, and two wrecks caused twelve deaths each. By an explosion in the Rush Run and Red Ash coal mines, near Thur­ mond, W. Va., March 19, twenty-four lives were lost. A gas explosion in a mine at Ziegler, 111., April 13, en­ tombed fifty miners. July 11 more than 100 miners were killed by an explosion in the pits at Wattstown, Wales. Of disasters on the water the most serious was the wreck of the South­ ampton Railway company's steamer Hilda, off St. Malo, English channel, in which 100 lives were lost. The explosion of the boiler of the United States gunboat Bennington in San Diego harbor, July 21, caused the death of sixty of the crew. olina, 3; Tennessee, 3; Texas, 11; Virginia, 1. Of these lynchings 65 occurred In the south and 1 in the north. Of the total number 61 were negroes and 5 whites. The crimes alleged were as follows: Murder, 34; rape, 15; mur­ derous assault, 4; attempted rape, 4; robbery, 2; race prejudice, 1; kid­ naping, 1; elopement, 1; informing, 1. Two lynchings were for unknown reasons, and one innocent victim was NATIONAL CHAMPION3 OF During the Year. The following persons stand at, the head in various lines of sport: Amateur Athletics--Martin J Automobiling--Barney Oldfield. Billiards--Charles F„ Conklln. Bowling--Charles M. Anderson. Boxing--James J. Jeffries. Chess--Frank J. Marshall. Cycling--Frank L. Kramef^ w ; Golf (Open)--Willie Anderson. Golf (Amateur)--H. Chandler Egan. Golf (Women's)--Miss Pauline Mac- kay. Jockey--David Nicol. Rifle Shooting--Sergt. C. K. Orr. Skat--Herman Dietz. Skating (Professional)--Norval Bap- tie. Skating (Amateur)--Morris Wood: Swimming--C. M. Daniels. Tennis--Beals C. Wright. Tennis (Women's)--Miss Elizabeth Moore. Trap Shooting--R. R. Barber. YEAH. AS 8EEN BY BRADSTREET. LYNCH LAW LE88 IN EVIDENCE. Fewer Victims of Mobs Than In Any Year Since 1885. The lynchings reported for 1905 are but 66, the smallest number since 1885. The following table showing the number of lynchings since 1885 will be of use to those studying this par­ ticular feature of criminology: 1885 184 1896 1 l»t 1886.. 138 1897 M6 1887... 122 1898 127 1888 142 1899 107 188 9 1VG 1900....... ....115 189 0 127 1901 135 189 1 192 1902 ,96, 1892 235 1909 104 1893 200 1904 87 1894 .190 1906 66 189 5 171 The lynchings in the various states and territories were as follows: Ala­ bama, 3; Arkansas, 5; Florida, 1; Georgia, 11; Kentucky, 4; Louisiana, 4; Mississippi, 17; Missouri, 1; Ne­ vada, 1; North Carolina, 1; South Car" 29,285,000 1902 232,830.300 1904 21,096,038 1904 To'l cer. 4,530,041.382 10.« Flaxseed . 28.477,753 21.3 Potatoes . 260,741,294 21.« jUce 12,933,436 *8.6 •Decrease. AGRICULTURAL VALUES. ! Inc. over 1905. 1904. --Record $1.116,696,73$ 2.6 $1,087,441,440 1204 - * 518.072,727 1.6 613,472,711 1901 n.t* .. 277,047,537 * 8 203,584,852 1902 Rariar ... 66,047.166 *6.1 61,898.634 1902 . 16,754,657 *10.7 24,689,217 1 891 Buckwh't 8,665,499 *8.2 22,791,839 1866 *1 MT. tl.992,184.324 1.4 »1,964.579,445 1904 •M&taaa 160,821.080 6.6 151,638,094 1903 F"'- 570,882.872 IflM s V *• 48,674,118 *8.8 12,285,834 •12.1 650,000,000 -12.4 68,283,108 13,891,523 628,195,359 1901 1904 1904 Tobacco Rice Cotton ... Dairy products Total value .$3,944,926,140 M $3,950,830,303 1204 •Decrease. 666,000,000 8.8 611,000,000 1904 MANY FALSE TO THEIR TRUST. Losses by Defalcations and Embezzle­ ments Are Large. The record of embezzlements, forg­ eries, defaultings, and bank wreckings shows a large increase over that of .1904, and is much the largest that has been made up since 1897. Its total is 19,613,172. These losses are distfibut- ed as follows: Stolen by public ©flclato... *....$ 481,856 From banks . •,74«,b84 By agents Forgeries From lou.ii associations... By postofflce employes ... Miscellaneous stealings 255,750 1,433,000 .... 130,823 .... 4,000 .... 1,076,059 The summary of defalcations, etc., by years for 1894 to 1904 is as follows: 1894.... $25,234,112 1896.. 1896 1897. 1898........ 10.423,296 9,405,821 11,248,084 6,851,263 2,218,373 1900... 1901... 1902... 1901... 1904... 1906... ...$ 4,600,134 ... 4,985,560 ... 6,769,125 ... 6,662,165 ... 4,742,;67 ... 9,613,172 Period of Heavily Increased Purchas­ ing Power. The year just ending has been one of almost boundless activity, accord ing to Bradstreet's. It was a period of rich rewards to agriculture, though not of uniformly record yields; of abundance of employment for labor and of few serious strikes; of build­ ing and constructive activity in all lines^ of enormously enlarged bank clearings totals, and of striking small tailure damage, considering the im­ mense business done and the unpre­ cedented number engaged therein. That It was, on the whole, a year of heavily increased public purchas­ ing power seems certain, in view of the fact that commodity prices were maintained at record high levels. Continuing the report states: "The multitude of records broken shows that new guideposts have, in­ deed been set up. The revival which began In the last half of 1904, far from spending Its force, as was pre­ dicted In the early part of 1905, grew as the year advanced. The commer­ cial, financial and industrial move ment surged forward, weather draw­ backs and disclosures of financial rot­ tenness In high places failing to stem the upward trend. Disregard of pre­ cedents was, perhaps, best illustrated in the persistent advance of securi­ ties despite high money prices, and the tendency to discount prosperity was irresistible." Speaking of conditions in the lat­ ter part of the year it is stated: "In September car shortages began to affect traffic and collections, clear­ ings reached new high figures, while failures and liabilities for nine months were below 1904. Lifting of southern quarantines gave zest to southern trade, which was further helped by high cotton quotations when the movement was heaviest. In the last quarter open weather favored out door activity, but retarded retail trade, which was also hampered by farmers holding grain and cotton and the car congestion, which likewise de­ layed collections. Stock speculation, though lacking marked public partici pation and displaying manipulative in fluences, was of large volume at rec ord prices, despite high money, in fiuenced by active trade and dis­ turbed foreign markets. Iron and steel outputs advanced; ore sales, clearlng3 and staple prices all scored high levels In December." Of the outlook for the new year the report says: "If satisfaction with the past and confidence in the future are at all re­ liable guides, 1906 is likely to equai. if indeed it does not surpass, the year drawing to a close. The volume of orders booked ahead exceeds any pre­ vious year in the country's history, and high prices as yet seem to exer­ cise no effect upon consumptive de­ mand. Iron and steel of all kinds are heavily sold ahead, as are also shoes, cotton and woolen goods, lumber, hardware and a myriad of other prod­ ucts. Wheat enters the winter in ex­ cellent condition and' with an en­ larged area. Predictions as to 1906 building are even more sanguine than a year ago.** The number ~ of homicides and deaths by violence of every kind in 1905, as reported by telegraph, shows a considerable increase over 1904, be­ ing 9,212, as compared with 8,482 in the latter year. This record is brought down to Dec. 27, so that the com plete record for the year would have been slightly in excess of the above figures. The startling feature of the record is the increase of murders com­ mitted by highwaymen, burglars and that particular class of criminals, the number being 582, as compared with 464 in 1904, 406 in 1903, 333 in 1902, a n d 1 0 3 i n 1 9 0 1 . " * * " LOSS OF LIFE BY ACCIDENTS. The following table gives the loss of life resulting from disasters of vari­ ous kinds in this country during 1905 as reported by telegraph. Fires 4,018 Drownings ...1,757 Explosions 1,122 Falling buildings 297 Mines 54fi Cyclones and stoma ...................... 467 Lightning .- 168 Electricty 127 LUSOH HEARS SYSTEM SQUEAL ton Man Says Schiffs Speech Was Inevitable Result of Conditions. ILLJJSfOIS k JSTEWS REASON FOR HIGH M0NEYRATES Bidding Up of Lawson Friday night Bent to every member of congress and of the cabi­ net a reply to Jacob Schlff's sensa­ tional prophecy of a panic unless a more elastic currency „ is provided. Mr. Lawson's letter reads: "Schiff's speech was inevitable. It is the 'system's' first definite squeal. This is the situation: "There is plenty of money for all legitimate purposes, but our country, •having awakened to the 'system' |ame, will not send its balances to Wall street. Just then my revela­ tions cdmpelled the 'system' to bid up stocks to protect its rotten struc­ ture. This doubling of price values has increased Wall street's demands for money. Hence, unheard-of money rates. "Now, the 'system' has Its own stocks and with prices way up where it wants them is ready to unload on the public, but the public will not bite. Therefore, the only possible chance left for the 'system' Is to get rates down in the hope that brokers can induce the gambling puMta to buy them on margins. Roosevelt Is Watching, "President Roosevelt, who Is thor­ oughly posted on the game, and watching it as a terrier does a rat hole, will allow no relief to the 'sys­ tem.' The deadlock is now perfect and *tbe 'system,' suspended by its own pants seat, must strangle, drop, or kick. "The Rogers-Rockefeller-Standard Oll-Stlllman-City bank gang are not blue ribbon public kickerB, so they got their first lieutenant, Jake Schiff, to yell so that President Roosevelt would be fooled Into thinking that it was the Rothschild infallible com­ bination, but our president Is 21, has his upper and lower teeth cut, and in this case has locked his Jaws and dropped the key overboard. "Schiff says the present prevailing rates are a disgrace to a civilized people. He meant weii, but he got his juggle machinery mixed. What he wanted to say was: Outrage on Free People. " 'The advance in Reading (a property absolutely dependent upop the price of coal to the people) from 30 to 155; doubling the price of oth­ er stockB, which can only be Justi­ fied by an Increasing price of the people's necessities, was not only a disgrace to a civilized people but a damnable outrage on a free people, and an Immeasurable insult to an In­ telligent people.' "The situation could hardly be more perfect If the 'system's' pants seat is made of durable stuff, the public will be regaled with an ever Increasing Schiff squeal and an ex­ hibition of arm and leg play which in time will strangle the 'system,' unloose the hook, or tear the pants seat. Any one of these three results will bring the people to their own. Has Laugh on Schiff. "Jacob Schiff, who testified to be­ ing the favored channel for loading up the Insurance companies of which he was a trustee with his own ma­ chine-made chromos, yelling for more elasticity in the American peo­ ple's currency, and 'Jake' at the same time disavowing all intention of com­ peting with George Ade or Peter Dunne Dooley for the world's premi­ er joke hallo! Pardon us, plain, corn husking, Indian-mush-and-mo- lasses fed Americans, Jake, from haw-hawing! "There was nothing the matter-- now, was there, Jakey?--with the amount of rubber in American coin while you, Rogers* Morgan, Stillman and Rockefeller had the dip rights to the billion and a quarter insurance bogshead. No trouble then, Jakey?" Alleged Jo I let Criminal Practically Kidnaped by Captain Murphy. Captain Martin Murphy of the Joliet police force arrived in Joliet Wednes­ day from Topeka, Kan., having in cus­ tody Thomas T. Tyner, alias "Dough­ nuts," indicted in Joliet for working a fake prize fight swindle and sus­ pected of being implicated in the elec­ tion frauds last spring. Tyner en a fugitive from justice since last September. In order to get his prison­ er out of the state of Kansas and escape habeas corpus writs and other legal delays Captain Murphy was com­ pelled to virtually kidnap Tyner. Ar- rayed against the officer were the head gamblers of Kansas and, many prominent business men in Topeka, but Captain Murphy succeeded in out­ witting them and getting his man to Joliet. Part of the credit Is due Chief of Police G. S. Cubbon of Wichita, where Tyner was apprehended. Cub; bon refused large bribes to let Tyner escape and with the aid of a deputy kept the man hidden in a house on the outskirts of the town until a Joliet officer could arrive with the requisition papers. NO RACE 8UICIDE IN ILLINOIS OUTWITS KANSAS GAMBLERS. QUEER BORROWER IS TO RETIRE Freeport Man Who Asked One Dollar Loans in Letter* Will Rest. The action of Daniel Y. McMullen, a prominent business man of Freeport, in sending out letters asking loans Of a dollar from each person addressed, was the occasion for a visit- to that city of his brother, David McMullen of Chicago, who is the president ofU the Freeport Hardware company, of which the former is secretary and treasurer. D. Y. McMullen said that he became personally involved to such an extent that he believed an appeal of the character he sent out would have the desired elfect. He said his confidence in the business men of the country was responsible for his action. David McMullen after an interview with his brother said that the latter had without the knowledge of his closest friends become personally in­ volved and had worried over It to-'in­ considerable'extent. He will take a rest for awhile. The Freeport insti­ tution the McMullens lire interested in is solvent. Mr. McMullen has al­ ways had a very high standing ill ness and church circles. PEORIA TO KEEP UP OAS FIGHT Attorneys for City 8ay 8upreme Court Decision Only Prolongs Contest. Attorneys for the City of Peoria are not disheartened at the adverse de­ cision handed down by the United Sfhtes Supreme Court in the suit of the Peoria Gas and Electric Light company versus the City of Peoria. Wlnslow Evans, who has represented "the city for the last five years in the case, and City Attorney W. H. Moore say it will mean simply another hear­ ing of the case in the United States Circuit Court in Peoria, and that the case then will be tried on its merits. Already the fight has cost the city $15,000. It is held by the attorneys for the city that the decision of the Supreme Court, was only on the al­ leged violation of the anti-trust laws of the state of Illinois by the gas com­ pany, and that this will have'nothing to do with the continuance of the suit by the city. STATE BOARD ACTS ILLEGALLY Births In State in 1905 More Than /, Double Number of Deaths. The Illinois state board of health1) annual report for 1905, filed with Go*. Deneen, shows there were 65,000 deaths and 150,000 births in Illinois in 1905. Of the births 78,000 were male* and 72,000 females. Consumption has caused more deaths than any other single disease, with pneumonia a close second. Smallpox prevails less than at any time since the close of the Spanish war, but there is more diph­ theria in the state than at any time In the history of the board. Details of a working arrangement between the state board of health and the state water survey for investigating the water supplies and systems of sewage disposal of the cities and villages of the state have been completed and work will be begun at once. On rec­ ommendation of the state board of health, Dr. Walter G. Bain of Chicago has been appointed bacteriologist by the trustees of the University of Illi­ nois and will devote his attention to the bacteriological examinations of the specimens of water and sewage sent in by the state board of health. # JUSTICES PLAN A STATE UNION GOVERNOR CHOOSES TRUSTEES GRAND JURY INDICTS FOREMAN Official Excused on Last Day to Make Action Possible. Helena, Mont, special: Two more of the thirty-one indictments returned by the federal grand Jury were made pub­ lic when former United States Mar­ shal J. P. Woolman and his partner in the sheep business, Grand B. Chris­ tian, appeared in court and were bound over in $1,000 bail to answer the charge of illegally fencing govern­ ment land. Woolman, who is a wealthy and prominent citizen, was foreman of the grand jury, but was excused on the last day, that his asso­ ciates might indict him. BREAKFAST FOOD IS POISONED Patrons of Y. M. C. A. Eating-Room Are Made Violently III. Sioux City, la., special; Ten persons who at the new Y. M. C. A. cafe par­ took of breakfast food impregnated with poison, believed to be arsenic, were made violently ill and are now under the care of physicians. It is believed all will recover. The manner in which the package of breakfast food was poisoned Is a mystery to the management of the Y. M. C. A. An iavftUgatlon Is being made. Miss Gould Aids 8chool. New York dispatch: Miss Helen Gould has given $7,000 toward $10,000 required for the American Parsee School for Women at Toona, India, and Miss Sorabjl will sail for home Jan. 13 a happy woman. Former Bankers Are Indicted. Baltimore, Md., dispatch: The grand jury has indicted three former officers of the Maryland Trust company, which failed. They are charged with giv­ ing false bank statements. Decides on Those for St. Charles School and the State Board of * Charities. Gov. Deneen has practically com­ pleted the personnel of the board of trustees of the St. Charles school for hoys and the state board of charities. The Commercial club of Chicago rec­ ommended to him two men for trus­ tees of St. Charles school. It has been decided that the club shall erect a building to cost not less than $50,- 000, which shall stand as its contribu­ tion and interest in the school. H. S. Moore of Green county has been ap­ pointed assistant secretary of •the state board of charities to take the place made vacant by the appoint­ ment of F. Q. Whlpp to be audit clerk to Gov. Deneen. Mr. Moore has been chief clerk of the insane hospital at Jacksonville. Veteran Enters Quincy Home. Capt. W. S. Morris, a well-known soldier, politician and legislator, a for­ mer state's attorney, and once a can­ didate for congress, has been admit­ ted to the soldiers' home in Quincy. Bent with age, sufficiently feeble to occupy a hospital cot, but his mental vigor undimmedt this once prominent nun has become the nation's ward, a victim of security debts contracted for supposed friends. He declares he will stay at Quincy only so long as his health is feeble, he being much broken by financial troubles and sor­ row over the death of his wife, whom he burled three months ago. Cannon Cracker Tears Off Hand. Fred Groh, a butcher In Marissa, while in a saloon in OM Marlssa lost his left hand. It was so mangled by a cannon firecracker which some one had lighted and set on a table in the saloon and which he was trying to throw outdoors that amputation be­ came necessary. Postofflce Robber lb Sentenced. Frank Cox pleaded guilty in the United States district court at Springfield to robbing the postofflce at Worden, and was sentenced to five years in Chester penitentiary. He had previously served two years' sen­ tence there for robbing the postofflce at Effingham. Chosen by Poultry Men. The Illinois Poultry association at Danville elected O. L. McCord of Dan­ ville president, John Coolldge of Gales- burg vice president, A. L. Moore of Normal secretary, H. T. Noble of Bloomington treasurer, and J. J. Klem of Macon superintendent.. Bees Attack Thjii^ While W. F. Over beck and family were attending church a stranger en tered their place in the west end of Edwardsville and stole a hive of bees. The man was surprised, by James Wa­ ters as he was leaving the premises, and stumbled on a Steep hill with his load of sweetness. The man and the hive rolled to the bottom of the hill together. The hive struck a tree and the liberated bees rallied around their yellow standard and had the thief going over the next hill at a rattling clip. Minister and Wife Wed Fifty Years. The golden wedding of Rev. and Mrs. J. B. Dille was celebrated at Peoria Jan. 4. Rev. Mr. Dille has been a member of the Central Illinois conference of the Methodist Episcopal church for forty-seven years. Live Stock Commissioners Exceed Right in Inspecting Meat. The state board of live stock com missioners has been performing work altogether foreign to the purposes for which it was created, according to Attorney General Stead's Interprets tion of the law under which the board was created and operates. The pur­ pose of the board, says the attorney general, is to stamp out infectious diseases among live stock. Instead of confining itself to this, the board has been inspecting cattle with ref­ erence to fitness for meat for human consumption, and this, the attorney general says, the board has no au­ thority to do. Inspections have been conducted under state supervision at the Union stock yards, Chicago; at the National stock yards at East St. Louis, and at the Peoria stock yards. Under the attorney general's opinion, just handed down, there is no neces­ sity for the board to have an inspect­ or at either place. Mail Service Averts Suicide. Letters mailed by an intended sui­ cide saved her life. Mrs. O. L. Garth- wait, a wealthy woman of Jefferson, Iowa, suffering from partial paralysis, after mailing notes to relatives in Peoria telling of her intention attempt­ ed to take her life at a Peoria hotel. Receiving the missives in the early morning mail, her relatives hurried to the hotel and found the woman in a comatose state, physicians averting death. Governor Limits Callers. Hereafter Gov. Deneen will receive callers in the morning and will devote the afternoons to official business. The following notice to this effect has been posted in the executive offices: "The governor will receive ..callers only between the hours of 10 a. m. and 12:30 p. m. Afternoons are re­ served for the transaction of business in connection with the state depart­ ments and institutions." Half Million for Orphans. The will of P. B. Kemmern of As­ sumption, filed in the probate court at Taylorvllle, gives practically all of his $150,000 estate to found an or­ phans' home at Assumption. The Institution Is to be under the control of the Presbyterian churches of cen­ tral Illinois. Mr. Kemmern had no children. He bequeathed his wife $3,000 and an annuity of $200. Central Labor Union Officer* The Duquoin Central Labor union bas elected these officers for the en­ suing term: President, J. H. Green­ field; vice presidents, O. C. Arm­ strong and E. T. Burbank; recording secretary, H. C. Roorbach; financial secretary,v. Theodore Rosenkranz; treasurer, Joe C. Davison; sergeant- at-arms, Pat Bana; statistician, Charles Ross. New Fire Chief. Mayor Kern has appointed Frank Dlnges chief of the Belleville fire de­ partment, to succeed the late Fred B. Phillips, who died of injuries sus­ tained in being thrown off a truck In a collision with a street car. He also appointed Louis Miller and Oliver Hartnagel members of the depart­ ment and Louis Adams as patrolman. Young Doughertys in Firm. Horace R. Dougherty and Ralph Dougherty, formerly of Denver, and both sons of N. C. Dougherty, the convicted embezzler, have opened a law and surety bond office in Peoria, and it is announced that the family will remain In Peoria. Steal Silk From Train. A transcontinental freight train on the Rock Island road has been rob­ bed 6f a considerable quantity of silks. The discovery was made when several bolts of the material was found near the Higiabotham woods, just outside of Joliet. 8eek Legislation So That Their Fee* May Be Increased. * A state organization of justices eff the peace is to be formed within a short time. The Christian county magistrates are at the head of the movement and organizations are springing up in all parts of the state, with the object of bringing the whole together In a state association. The purpose of organization is to secure legislation in their own interests. The matter of compensation is worrying the justices. Under existing laws a justice receives pay only in cases where he collects money for fines. Ftor preliminary hearings he receives noth­ ing, and the same result follows a dis­ charge. In only two or three cases out of every ten heard, it is said, la he remunerated. STATE TO SUE CORPORATION* Attorney-General Orders Prosecutlcgir: for Failure to Comply with Law. Secretary of State Rose has certi­ fied to Attorney-General Stead a list of about 1,000 corporations that have failed to comply with th« Illinois anti­ trust law. This requires affidavits that each corporation is not connected with any trust or other illegal com­ bination. Attorney-General Stead will certify the names of the corporations to the state's attorneys of various counties with instructions to proceed in accordance with law to collect from each corporation a fine of $50 a day fringe Oct. 80 for failure to with the law. - Celebrates 104th Birthday. | lies. Margaret Ginley, the oldest person living at Waukegan* celebrat­ ed her 104th birthday Jan. 5. Clark Coarser, who has lived in that re­ gion sixty-eight years, celebrated hla 89th birthday. He lives just within the south limits of Zion City, and openly defies the Zion authorities by smoking a pipe wherever he goes. „•/ Stead to Aid Civil Service. Attorney General Stead will State's Attorney Yan Winkle of 'Mor­ gan county in the prosecution of the suits which have been instituted against Alderman Hildreth of Jack­ sonville. Hildreth is charged with so­ liciting campaign contributions from employes who are under the state Civil service law. * . i V Safety Appliance Inspector. fjtfgene Wright of East St. l-oulli has been appointed state inspector <4 railroad safety appliances by the rail­ road and warehouse commission. The office was created by an act passed by the last general assembly. Will- lam R. Miller of Enfield has been ap­ pointed public administrator of White county. Justice In Quick Tim*. J. E. McNier, a traveling salesman, was arrested on a Big Four train, taken before a magistrate at Paris and fined $18, got a receipt for the amount and caught the same train out of town. The charge had stood against him for over a year, but be had not been in Paris during that time. f 1 Prepare Freight Rate Five expert railroad accountants began work Tuesday on the •compil­ ation of statistic and comparisons of rates and classifications in Illinois and neighboring states so that the state commission, together with Governor Deneen, may prepare a satisfactory revision of the Illinois rates. ^ • m - v I** i . st..***. -v. - ,**1. ... - Widow Ends Life in Restaurant. -The body of Mrs. Melvlna Devolt, aged 65, was found In a restaurant; at Bloomington. Morphine was foundi on the table beside her. She was aL widow and came from Springfield six months ago. Fatally Wounded fn Saloon. * John Green, a miner, was shot and f§tally wounded by Joseph Harris in a saloon in Rldgely", a suburb of Springfield. Harris was captured three hours later. Hospital To Be Sold. Financial troubles which have be­ set the career of St. Joseph hospital of Paris culminated in an order of court for the sale of the institution, to satisfy the claims of creditors, amounting to about ten thousand dol­ lars. The hospital was erected about two years ago by the Benedictine sisters. Farmer Ends His Life. * At New Berlin Lee Gregory, a farm­ er, committed suicide by shooting himself in the hesd with a revolver. Leading Lawyer Is DeaA $ Henry B. Kepley, aged 70, his home in Effingham. He was one of the leading members of the bar la southern Illinois, and was at one time the nominee of the Prohibition party of the state for governor. New Savings Banks. Auditor McCullougb has l8Stt#6 |»er mits for the organization of the Gran* ite City Trust and Savings bank at Granite City, Madison county, and the People's Mutual Loan association at Shelbyville. ' Actors Escape Drowning. a >-"The steamer Frank, with the Jaaaw C. Moore Theatrical company on board, bound for Columbus, Ky.. sunk in the Mississippi river, near Cairo, to thirty feet of water. The eighteen per­ sons on board were rescued in their clothes, but lost ail their • ^ STs Eccentric Man la «ea4. [ J\'; Noah Graham, a well known aid eccentric character, died at HoMnson • of pneumonia. He was 65 years old and well known to the tnmttt polK lie. m •'V"