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ILLINOIS STATE NEWS OCCURRENCES DURING THE PAST WEEK. Joliet Penitentiary to; Be Examined J by the State Bacteriolocist--Rock- ford Mayoralty Election to Be Car­ ried In'to the Courts* Prison Full of Microbes. In response to an appeal from ."Warden Allen and Prison Physician Cushing, Gov. Altgeld has ordered the State bacteriolo­ gist from the university at Champaign to investigate the condition of the peni­ tentiary in Joliet: Dr. Cushing asserts that the cell houses are filled with the germs of death, which are doing their •work slowly but surely. Men who enter the prison in robust health are sometimes within a few months reduced to emaciat­ ed forms with»pallid faces and listless steps. Consumption fastens upon them, and if,they leave the prison alive they •are physical wrecks. The women's de­ partment is in the third story of the main ibuilding, and this department is also reek­ ing with disease. ... Some of the women never walk on the grojihd except on the Fourth of July. It is thought that if $100,000 can be appropriated by the pres­ ent Legislature to build a new. cell house for the women convicts and $25,000 to en­ large and improve the hospital all of this •difficulty will be obviated. / - i # a Mr. Hutchins Will Contest. The .supporters dt Amasa Hutchins, •candidate for Mayor of Rockford, who was defeated by 55 votes by E. W. Brown, will demand a recount, and proceedings to bring this about will lie' begun. Charges •of illegal votiag have been made since election, an3~u recount will not only be demanded on the mayoralty question, but in the aldermanic contest in the Fifth and Seventh Wards also. Aid. Crowell in the Fifth was elected by a majority of •0, Brown land Mutchins having a tie (402 each) /n that ward, while Aid. Beat- son ih-tbe~Seventh was elected by a ma­ jority of 5. Both aldermanic opponents •demand a recount. The matter of the mayoralty can only be settled in the •courts, as Mayor Brown was .installed Monday night by the Council. Mayor Hutchins personally conceded his defeat, but his supporters are determined on a ecount. Record of the Week. The post office at Walden was robbed <pf $120 in stamps. The safe was wreck­ ed by dynamite. Clark D. Trost, vice-president of the Richelieu Hotel of Chicago, has leased the Windsor Hotel of Bloomington. Byron Lavoix was arrested at Quincy for robbing his brother, Dr. W. H. La­ voix, after Uis death, of jewelry worth $300. Charles Linck fired several shots at •Sam Griffin in the public square at Okaw- ville. None took effect. The shooting was the result of a quarrel. Evergreen Park, a Chicago suburb, had an election Saturday, and •one faction stopped a funeral procession and induced nineteen mourners to v6te. They won, too. / Edward Peterson, 20 years of age, and son of one of the most prominent citizens in Kockfopd, committed suicide on ac­ count of unrequited love by taking poison -and then shooting himself. Herbert Woods set fire to three barns at Yorkville, which were totally destroy­ ed. One horse perished in the ilanies. Woods was almost killed by infuriated •citizens before he was rescued by the police. Charles A. Cole, alias Albert Raggan, Avas arrested at Walker Station. IJe is wanted on a charge of robbing a wealthy stock dealer, named Elkins at Tunnell Hill on March 8, and of robbing the post •office at Bloomfield, Johnson County. Congressman Finis E. Dowling has just returned from a tour of the Sixteenth district, completing the taking of evidence in the well-known Rinaker-Downing con­ gressional contest. He claims a net gain •of 1(30 votes. His officii^ majority last November was 40 votes. The bonded debt of the city of New York is more than five times as great as that of the city of Chicago. In 1893 the debt of the former city was $100,702,- 407.51 and that of the city of Chicago was $18,431,450. The assessed valuation •of New York property for that year was -$1,933,518,520 and that of the city of Chicago $245,790,359. Gov. Altgeld issued a proclamation changing the boundaries of the State pen­ itentiary in order to regulate the num­ ber of convicts sent to the penal institu­ tions in proportion to their capacity and the present number of inmates. The change made by the Governor places six­ ty-two counties in the Southern District .and forty counties in the Northern Dis­ trict. The stockholders of the Peoria Trot­ ting and Agricultural Society elected di­ rectors, and will begin next month on the -construction of a mile track on the Allaire farm near the city. It will be the first mile track ever constructed in Peoria? .and already arrangements are being made for a big meeting there this fall. Forty thousand dollars will be expended on the improvements. The sensational Provins divorce case at Ottawa ended in the Circuit Court in a decree for Mrs. Provins, Dr. Provins having withdrawn his cross bill and re­ fusing to make a defense. Dr. Provins, who is one of the most widely known physicians in that section of the State, left home on Christmas day, after his A\'ife had almost fractured his skull, going to Chicago for some weeks. Mrs. Prov­ ins then filed a bill for divorce, accusing him of all manner of misdeeds, chiefly of acts of violence. Upon his return lie filed a cross bill, denying her allegations and -charging that all their unhappiuess was the result of her temper, she having struck him frequently with different articles and shot at him. A stranger tried to commit suicide at Chapiu by placing himself in front of a Wabash engine. He is about 50 years old and is apparently well-to-do. He was taken to the central hospital for the in­ sane at Jacksonville. At the Chenoa school election. E. M. Pike was ejected president of the Board •of Education for the sixth term. Miss ^Minnie Arnold and Henry Crabbc were re-elected directors without opposition. •Only nineteen women voted. The ques­ tion of funding $10,000 school bonds was lost on account of not having the requi­ site number of votes. At the school election held at Free- port, Mrs. R. H. Wiles and Miss Fannie Stevens were. elected members of the Board of Education, the first time in the history of Freeport women were elected school officers. The Peoria school election was unusu­ ally quiet, a light vote being polled. In only three wards was there an.y contest. The voters of the Second Ward elected Mrs. A. G. Tyng a member. She is the •only woman on the board. Mrs. Alex Glass, who has taken an active part in the schools of the city, received a letter that if she voted she would be killed. It wak decorated with the skull and cross- bones, but there is no clew to the seiider. •'^The body ef a man about 45 years old- was found above Hampton on the river bank. . , • . ... < An electric car in Peoria ran over and instantly, killed the 5-vear?old son of Jas. Miller. • r A contract for West Bluff sewer was awarded at Peoria to Townsend & Co.. of Zanesville, Ohio, on their bid of $311,- 104. --:-- w' - i The secretary of the State Board of Health has been advised of the appear­ ance of a case of smallpox at Chaflin Bridge, Monroe County. Rena Cooper, 4 years old, was acci­ dentally shot and killed while playing with his little brother in a vacant room of their house in Marshall. '• Reports received by the State Board of Agriculture show that the strawberry crop in this State this year will be unusu­ ally large and of excellent quality. -- Harris H. Hosley, of Rockford, began Buit against the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company for $25,000 damages for injuries sustained in an acci­ dent. ' . The Wabash Railroad Company suffer­ ed a loss of $8,000 by a freight train col­ lision. near Decatur. Three tramps in a car loaded with coke were nearly suffo-. eated. Gov. Altgeld restored the rights of cit­ izenship to Ed Saley, alias Ed Williams, Moline; Isaac S. Jones, Rardin; Alexan­ der J. Long, East St. Louis;. Duncan Mo- Phaul, Fielden. ' Rev. Samuel H. Moore, for ten years pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Wilkiusburg, Iowa; has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Second Presby­ terian Church in Peoria. The heirs of the family of Charles Crow- son and Mrs. Elizabeth Deitschy, of Al­ ton, are excited over the prospect of in­ heritance of a large estate in New York city, said to be worth $300,000,000. Isaac Hammond, a young farmer living near Leroy^Qsft his home Friday, April 12, to go toyhawn, and since that time nothing has/been~\seen or heard of him. His tea.SL„was found tied to a fence near Mansfield. James Spencer, of Milledgeville, launch­ ed a new steamboat at Dixon, the first of its kind on Rock river. It is CO feet long and is built like a St. Paul packet boat, with a stern paddle wheel, double deck and staterooms complete. Assistant Attorney General Newell hai. rendered an opinion to the effect that the eight-hour law does not apply to judges and clerks of election. These officers are allowed $3 a day, but the County Board of Supervisors has power to regulate the matter of hours. The marriage of Miss Belle Burrows, daughter of Lowber Burrows, the banker, and Walter M. Strange, of Minneapolis, Minn., was celebrated at St. John's Church, Decatur, the Rev. W. H. Moore, of Quincy, and the Rev. M. Atkin officiat­ ing. A reception was given by the bride's parents. The public schools cost the people of Chicago more than three times as much as do their public schools the people of Boston., Recent, reports give the cost of the Boston schools per year as $2,012,- 517.32, and of the Chicago schools as $0,- 211,590.41. Boston's schools accommo­ date 71,495 pupils and Chicago's 10(3.895. At Rockford. Sheriff Oliver served a writ of execution on George Jacob Schweiufurth for $50,000, the judgment secured against him by G. W. Coudrey, in Chicago, recently for alienating the affections of the wife of the latter. Schweiufurth denied that he had any property except a 2-year-old colt. The officer took the colt as a starter. Schwein- furth recently paid over $200 in taxes. In reply to an inquiry, Assistant Attor­ ney General Newell says it is not neces­ sary that sureties on the bond of a city official should reside in the city or count} in which the bond is given, although it is best for one or more of them to be such residents. This being the case, city au­ thorities have no right to refuse any good bond simply because the sureties do not reside in the city or county in which the same is given. James O'Connor, of Springvalley, pres­ ident of the Illinois Miners' Union, said: "It is the intention of the State organiza­ tion, with the assistance of the national, to induce the miners and operators in the central and southern field of Illinois to adopt the Ohio method of settling disputes by coming to some agreement regarding a scale of prices for mining coal. Charles Ridgely, president of the Consolidated Coal Company, has promised me that should the Littler amendment be passed he will enter into joint convention with the miners." Incendiaries burned the Rockford hos­ pital. The building has long caused a protest from residents on account of small pox cases being treated there, and threats of burning have often been made. Sup­ erintendents were to have changed Satur­ day, and the person who set the building on fire doubtless thought it was unoc­ cupied. Superintendent George Moore and his family had not moved, however, and were nearly cremated, losing all their property. The building is a total loss. An effort will be made to discover the guilty- pa rties/ prominent persons being sus­ pected. On the petition of A". II. Gibson and Sarah C. Gibson, Judge Cleighton, in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, ap­ pointed a receiver for the Safety Home­ stead and Loan Association. The prin­ cipal office of the company is in East St. Louis, and ex-Congressman Ed .vard Lane of Hillsboro is president. The associa­ tion has a very large number of stock­ holders in central arid southern Illinois. The petition states that the association has paid out $22,000 on account of can­ celed stock within the last year, and that $14,000 due on canceled stock is still unpaid. The court is asked to close up the business of the association. Judge Creigh- ton appointed John S. McLean, of Hills­ boro. the secretary of the association, re­ ceiver. fixing his bond at $100,000. The assets of the association are estimated to be about $85,000. The liabilities are un­ known. James Waife, a Chicago young man. fell in with some tough Rockford boys, who filled him up on wood alcohol. He is at the city hospital in a dangerous con-;li- tion. James Manard, one of the boys, was fined $50 and costs for procuring liq­ uor for minors. A Fairbury farmer plowed up a lot of waches. All are of foreign make. The works are destroyed, but the metal is in­ tact, and it is Thought that they must have been in the ground over thirty years. The supposition is they were part of the plunder taken from a jeweiry store that was robbed about thirty years ago. A. R. Cline and Mrs. Edna C. Cline, of Chicago, were quietly married in the par­ lor of a leading Peoria hotel, although no announcement of the marriage was made. They were married some months ago in Wisconsin and had the ceremony again performed in Illinois. After a hot pursuit for half a mile. Lieut. Ivandzia, of„ the Rawson street polico station, Chicago, and a Score of officers corralled two thieves named The­ odore and Frank Kowalski. They finally succeeded in arresting the men and re­ covering $500 worth of watches and jew­ elry which had been stolen from the jew­ elry store of Joseph Marach, No. 529 Noble street. LOW PRICE OF WHEAT CAUSED BY LARGELY INCREASED PRODUCTION. Free-Traders Invent Many Excuses- Importation of Foreign Agricult­ ural Machinery--Lower Prices for Labor in Sights Wheat Wants Protection. Free-traders and others are already at work trying to invent excuses for the cheap price of wheat, attributing it to any cause but the right one, which is increased production in the world's supply, as can be seen from the fol­ lowing figures of the crops for 1891 and 1894: ~ t The world's wheat supplv: 1891, 1894. Bushels. Bushels. Europe : 1,20S.590,000 <-1,538,216,000 Asia..--.. 342,011,000 341.959.000 Africa 47,051,000 47,098,000 Australasia . 33,875,000 43,3(30,000 N.America.. 088,814,000 515,488,000 S. America. . 48,805,000 104,000.000 gard Is now In «l^ht Activity In trade ought to bring a train of blessings, but unfortunately this trade activity Is in foreign goods and in non-manufactur- ing centers. Activity in trade of this kind brings no relief to the multitude of our unemployed, whose pockets have been so pitilessly emptied. What is most needed now is activity in our great manufacturing centers, but this cannot come in full beneficial volume so long as that instrument of robbery, the Gorman tariff, remains upon our statute books. LONQPELLOW'S YOUTH. Shoddy^ Not Wool. The circular, March 1, issued by Jus­ tice, Bateman & Co., of Philadalphia, shows the imports of class 1 and class 2 wools, which are the grades grown in the United States, during the five months from September; 1894, to the close of January, 1S95, also1 for the Cor­ responding months a year earlier, as follows: 1892-93. 1894-95. Pounds. , Pounds. 9,236,812 23,490,206 3,317, S66 4,062,100 9 Wool, class L., Wool, class 2. Totals. ., .2,369,746,000 2.590,121,000 The wheat harvest of 1S94 was 220,- 000,000 bushels larger than in 1891, the increase in Europe being 330,000,- 000 bushels, in Australia 10,000,000 bushels, and in South America 55.000,- 000 bushels. In Africa and Asia there through the competition that they have Totals...... .12,554,678 2S,458,306 Shoddy, , ' noils, waste, etc. .. 137,235 5,257,6S1 Attention is called to the much larger importations of shoddy, Uoils^ind waste --an increase of 3,800 per cent., This material takes the place of good wool and is forced upon our manufacturers was practically no change in the sup­ ply, but in North America there was a decrease of nearly 20,000.000 bushels in Canada, and over 150,000,000 bush­ els in the United States. Notwithstand­ ing the fact that the North American continent produced 173,000,000 bushels less wheat in 1894 than in 1891, the export price of wheat fell from 93 cents a bushel in 1891 to 63 1-3 cents in June of 1S94. Our per capita consumption of wheat in 1S91 was 4.58 bushels; in 1892 it in­ creased to 5.91 bushels per head of our population, but in 1893 it fell again to 4.85 bushels per capita. This meant a smaller home market for our own wheat by 70,000,(XX) bushels in 1893 than we had in 1892. When the countries outside of North America increase their wheat supplies by 400,000,000 bushels within four sea­ sons, it is very evident that the United States crop is becoming less of a fac­ tor in the regulation of price; also, that we shall not only feel the effect of this increased foreign growth in a de­ preciation of values, but that we may also look for considerable importations of foreign wheat, unless it is excluded from our American markets by a tar­ iff that will afford ample protection to the American farmer. If our consumption of wheat should still further decrease by the closing of any woolen factories, for instance, and the idleness of the hands, the farmers will still more feel the effect of free- trade upon the price of wheat Beet Sugar Enterprise. The people of Nebraska are losing no time in making arrangements to take advantage of the-sugar bounty bill that has just been enacted by their State Legislature. Just two and a half years ago arrangements had been practically concluded for the erection of a large number of beet sugar factories in Ne­ braska by Eastern capitalists. The ar­ ticles of incorporation had been drawn up for a company with a capital of $2,- O00,000, but the election of Mr. Cleve­ land as President of the United States in November, 1892, together with a free-trade Congress, immediately bar­ red any further progress in this direc­ tion. The associates in this enterprise were several gentlemen from New England and New York City, together with Mr. M. A. Lunn, of Lincoln, Nebraska, who came East to present his plans. They met with favor, were approved of and acted upon, until the elections in No­ vember, 1892, put a wet blanket upon the whole scheme. We believe it is the intention of Mr. Lunn to pick up his thread where fate snatched it from his hands in 1892.^ Since then he has been actively engaged in explaining, in a practical way to practical farmers, what benefits they would gain by growing sugar beets. 1 His original plans have In no way been disarranged, merely delayed, and, if now acted upon, there should soon be erected in southeastern Nebraska as extensive beet sugar factories as are sure to be built at Lincoln. It is hoped that one or.nioro of these will be ready for operation in the-season of 1890. - If other States would follow the ex­ ample of Nebraska in promoting their agricultural interests, it would not be long before the United States would be dotted from one end of the country to the other with sugar factories. These would supply all our home require­ ments and involve the expenditure of millions of dollars in the construction of buildings and machinery. They would divert part of our agricultural lands to crops more profitable than those now grown, and would stimulate local trade in every section where a factory is erected, besides very largely enhancing the value of local property. The sugar bounty bill was passed in the Nebr^&ka State Legislature over Governor Ilolcomb's veto, the vote in the House being yeas 08, nays 23, and in the Senate, yeas 20, nays 5. The bill was practically carried by Repub­ lican votes, the Populists, with two exceptions, voting against it and the Populist Governor vetoing it. An Exchange of Labor. In order that the pride of free-traders may be gratified, in some degree, bv the capture of the foreign markets, the Eng­ lish manufacturer and the American manufacturer should now proceed to ex­ change some of their productions which amounts, in effect, to a swapping of dol­ lars. So far as the manufacturers are con­ cerned no particular benefit can accrue to either of them, but rjnich harm will befall the American workman whose labor and skill is employed in the pro­ duction of the goods to be giv^n in ex­ change. On the one side^is a well-paid labor--on the other a poorly paid labor --these two must be equalized in order that the manufacturers' chances shall be equal. How shall this be done? There is but one way, lower prices for our labor. The Sluggard in Sight. The promised activity of trade which was to follow the enactment of the Gorman tariff has been very slow in its movement, but according to the best Democratic authority the slug- to meet In imports of foreign woolens, made of the lowest grade of material and selling at the cheapest possible prices.. , 6- •• ;.. V V . •' •• The Republican Way. He Was Brought Up 'in an Atmos­ phere of Culture. "In the first ten years of the nine: teenth century there were born in New England five of the foremost authors of America, Emerson and Hawthorne were four and three years older than Longfellow. Whittier and Holmes jn The Democratic Way. If Foreign Agricultural Machinery. Twice the quantities of iron and steel are now sent here that used to come in, and our wage earners are de prived of just that quantity of work, low as wages are. It is estimated that foreign agricultural products have been imported to the value of $7,000,- 000, displacing just that amount of the products of American farms. The im­ portation of cotton and woolen goods has almost doubled in six months, and our textile Industries are beginning to feel the effects. Nor has the free list produced the results anticipated, the total importations of goods free of duty having Increased less than $4,000,t)00 as compared with importa­ tions under the McKinley tariff. Those who voted for "tariff reform" in 1S92 can figure out for themselves how these results compare with the benefits promised by the free-trade demagogues. This is the "blessed re­ lief" from the "oppressions and rob­ beries" of the McKinley act!--Com­ mercial Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pa. Of Interest to Labor. Our exports from France have been Increasing since our new tariff went into effect, and in January there was "extraordinary activity in the exports of all textiles." The value of the silk1 goods shipped increased from £006,S00 in January, 1893, to £944,S00 in Janu­ ary, 1894, an increase of $1,690,000. Of French woolen goods the exports were $1,700,000 larger this January than in 1893; of cotton goods they were $582,- (XX) larger; of linen goods they in­ creased from $07,000 up to $180,500, and of jute stuffs from $48,000 in January, 1893, tip to $78,000 in January, 1894. Much of.the silks and woolens came to the United States--a fact that Ameri­ can labor in our silk and woolen fac­ tories will be interested to learn. were respectively ten months arid two years younger. As they grew up and began to write and got to know one .another these authors became friends; and'their friendship lasted with their (Ives. One after another^they all gained fame; and although not the greatest of the five, perhaps, Longfellow .was al­ ways the most popular. Not merely in tlie-United States and Great Britaifi, but in Canada and Australia and India and wherever the English language is spoken, there were readers in plenty for the gentle, the manly, the beautiful verses of Longfellow. His mother's father had been a gen­ eral in the Revolutionary army. His mother's brother-(after Whom he was named) had been an officer in the American navy, losing his life in Pre­ ble's attack on Tripoli. His father, once a member of Congress, was one of the leading lawyers of Portland. And it was in that pheasant, Maine city that Henry WadsWorth Longfellow was born, on Feb/27, 1807. There he passed his childhood. There he got that liking for the sea and for ships and for sailors which was to give a salt-water savor to so many of his bal­ lads. There, as lie grew to boyhood, he browsed amid the books of his father's ample library, feeling his love for literature steadily growing. He was a school boy of twelve when the first numbers of Irving's "Sketch- Book" appeared, and he read it "with ever-increasing wonder and delight, spell-bound by its pleasant liuhior, its melancholy tenderness, its atmosphere of reverie." A few months before the "Sketch-Book" began, Bryant had pub­ lished his "Tlianatopsis," and others of his earlier poems followed soon; so the school boy in Portland came under the influence of Bryant's poetry almost at the same time he felt the charm of Irv­ ing's prose. When lie was only thir­ teen t.he young Longfellow began to write verses of his own, some of which were printed in the newspapers. He was only fourteen when he passed the entrance examinations of Bowdoin Col­ lege, where he was to have Hawthorne as a classmate. Long before his college course was over he had made up his mind to be­ come a man. of letters. In his last year at Bowdoin, being then eighteen, he wrote to his father: "1 most eagerly aspire after future eminence in litera­ ture; my whole soul burns ardently for it, and every earthly thought centers in it." But here in America, in 1825, no man could hope to support himself by prose and verse, fortunately, just then a professorship of modern lan­ guages was founded in Bowdoin, and the position was offered to Longfellow, with permission to spend several years in Europe fitting himself for his du­ ties. He accepted eagerly; and his so­ journ in France and Spain* in Italy and Germany, made liim master of the four great European languages with their marvelous literatures. lie studied hard and wrote little while he was away. At last, in 1S29, being then twenty-two, he returned to his native land and settled down to teach his fel­ low-countrymen what he had learned abroad.--St. Nicholas. with splendid pearls round thelr arms, as Well as round their ne\ks; 'but their possessors seem to have been perfectly ignorant of -the true value of the gems, as it is recorded-that an Iudian woman gave one of Che sailors fOur rows of her pearls in exchange for a broken earthy en ware plate. • ' y The Spanish king forbade anyone to, gowithin fifty leagues of the plac»? where such riches were found without the royal permission, *ind took posses­ sion of the fisheries for himself. .But so cruelly did the Spaniards behave to -the natives,' making them per force dive for them, and brutaly ill-treatihg them when they were unsuccessful in pearl finding, that "one morning, at dawn, the Indians assailed the Span­ iards, made a sanguinary slaughter of them, and with daneirtg^aQd leaping, ate. them, both monks and laymen." THE STATE CAPITAL. WHAT ILLINOIS' LEGISLATURE IS DOING. An Impartial Record of the Worifc ; Accomplished by Those Who Malrw 1 Oiir Laws-Haw the Tinie Has Occupied During the Past Week. SEALING IN LABRADOR. Accidcntal Protection. The clause placing a new duty on diamonds, which was1 intended to cre­ ate a revenue from importations, has done just what protectionists have al­ ways claimed a protective tariff would do. It has established a new American industry.--Philadelphia In­ quirer. Charity Works Active. Activity in trade at the importer's shop means activity in works of char­ ity among our unemployed laboring classes. Free-trade tariffs always have and always will create these condi­ tions. The Thing to Do. Take care of American industries, and the money will take care of itself. --Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N. Y. The Good Old Days. 9 II u pin i f » r Fieldja Many Miles Square Fairly Teem­ ing with Seals. Late in February the Newfoundland sealing steamers break through the ice in St. John's harbor, and make their way to some northern outposts, lying there until March 10, the earliest date on which the law allows them to "go to the ice." They stand out to sea until they meet the immense fields of ice from the Arctic Ocean. These fields are often many square miles in extent, and fairly teem with seals. A great seal- hunter told me that the sea seemed sud­ denly converted into an ocean of seals and ice. The steamer breaks into the jam and floats with it or skirts along the edge, the crew, 200 or 300 in num­ ber, taking- jo tM floating tee' and liv­ ing tliefe forlbr^s and nights. The young seals fatten so rapidly that sealers say you can actually see them grow while you are looking at them. The poor creatures are easily killed, a blow with the butt end of a gaff finish­ ing them. The hunter then "sculps" or skins them, inserting a sharp knife un­ der the fat, and with marvelous dex­ terity taking off the "pelt"--skin and fat together--in about a minute and a half. A party of men will "pan" their pelts--pile them up to the number of about 1,000--and thrust a gaff with the ship's flag into the pan. When there are pans enough, the steamer breaks into the ice and hauls tliem aboard with a donkey-winch; or the men drag them to the vessel's side. The Newfoundland seaMiuuters al­ ways speak of seals as "swiles," and for our word carry they call "spell." A school master, who had Ateeu listening to a seal-hunter's story, said, sneer- ingly: "Swiles! How do you spell swiles?" "We don't spell 'em," replied the hun­ ter; "we most generally hauls 'em!"-- St. Nicholas. *< The Dominie's Prayer. Miss Molly Elliot Seawell relates the following anecdote in the course of a sketch of John Paul Jones, in the Cen­ tury : The landing on St. Mary's Isle thor­ oughly alarmed the coasts, and the name and character of the vessel and her commander were well known. The Hanger being seen beating up the Sol- way toward the "lang town o' Kirkcal­ dy,"the frightened people assembled on the shore, and presently down came their "meeuster," the Rev. Mr Shirra, lugging a huge arm-chair, which he flung down on the shore., and then plumped hmself violently into it. He was short of breath, and very angry with the Deity for permtting such do­ ings as Paul Jones'; and, puffing and blowing, he made the following prayer, which tradition has preserved: "Now, Lord,'Minna ye think it is a shame for ye to send this vile pirate to rob our folk o' Kirkcaldy? For ye ken they are puir enough already, and hae naething to spare. They are all fairly Kuid, and it wad be a pity to serve them In sic a wa\ The wa' the wind blows, he'll be here in a jiffy, and wlia' kens what he may do? He is nane too guid for onything. Muckle's the mischief he lias done already. Ony pocket gear they hae gathered thegither, he will Sang wi' the whole o't, and maybe burn their houses, tak' their cla'es, and Btrip them to their sarks! And wae's me! Wlia kens but the bluidy villain may tak' their lives. The puir women are inaist frightened out o' their wuts, and the bairns skreeking after them. I canna tho't it! -I canna tho't it! I fiae been long a faithful servant to ye, Lord; but gin ye dinna turn the wind ubout, and blow the scoundrel out o' our gate, I'll nae stir a foot, but just si' here until the tide comes in and drowns me. Sae tak' your wull o't Lord!"-- -- The prayer appears to have been ef­ fective; for at that very moment the wind changed, and blew "the scoundrel out o' our gate." Romance Ruined. A young girl friend of mine writes to me from the interior of Pennsylvania to this effect: "Oh, dear, the romance of the coun­ try is all in the books, I believe. You know how poetic my fancies are? Well, I came out here to try and feed them after a long course of starvation diet in city society, but it is not a success. The places are nice enough--some of them, at least--but the people--oh, the people! They have no imagination whatever. 1 was telling my landlord about a pretty little glen I had discov­ ered. When I described it, he said, with a kind of lignum vitae smile: " 'Oh, yes, that's Peter Wood's land. No good on earth. He never could raise nothing onto it. Now jest look at that land!' And he pointed to his treeless farm, laid out witli long rows of cab­ bages, and potatoes, vegetables and what-nots. 'That's sumthiu' worth talkin' about now, that is!' "'Oh, yes,' I replied; 'but I'm speak­ ing of the scenery. The little glen Is simply beautiful. I am going to spend half my time there. I've given it such a pretty name, too.' " 'Shoo!' he remarked, with another wooden grin. 'What d'ye call it?' " 'Verdure Valley,' was my answer. Msn't it pretty?' " 'Durned ef it ain't,' he rejoined. 'Prettier than, the name it's always went by.' " 'Arid what was that?' was my query. " 'Wall, it's allers bin called Skunk- weed Holler.' "I ran coming home at once." Doln'gjl of State Dado; Representatife Miller, of Cook, intro^ dnced in the House Friday a resolution for the appointment of a special Commit­ tee charged with the duty of investigate ; ing the abuses said to exist in the as­ sessment of nroperty for taxation in Cook County. Mf Miller says he opposed the resolution at thfe solicitation of a num­ ber of taxpayers residing in his district- Among others the House passed the bill of Mr. Miller, of Cook,; regulating the granting of franchises and special priv­ ileges by cities, villages and Incorporated ' towns. The arbitration bill prepared by the House Committee on Judiciary from the thrx>e measures introduced in that body at the first of the session and which was passed by the House was received by the Senate a few days ago, and after a hot discussion was ^advanced to the or-% der of second reading. Senator Craw­ ford's bill providing for the formation and disbursement of the public school teach­ ers' and employes', pension and retire­ ment fund. was advanced to third read­ ing, as was also Senator Fisher's bill appropriating $50 to each farmers* ih-, stitute; Senator Evans' bill to prevent the sale of . articles made of gold and silver not up to the standard claimed for them, and Senator Leeper's bill amending the law relating to building and loan asso-1 ciatiohs, were passed. Among the bills passed by the Sedate Tuesday were the following: Senator Bo- gardus' bill providing that indigent vet­ erans and their families shall receive as­ sistance from the poorhouse management in any county upon the recommendation of. the Committee on Relief or from the commander of the G. A. It. post? to which they belong; Senator Humphrey's bill providing for the organization of the park districts and the transfer of submerged lands; the House bill prohibiting the use of certain oils in coal mines; Senator Sal­ omon's bill for the incorporation of pawners' societies, which provides that such societies may make loans to the amount of $500 at a rate not to exceed T per cent, interest; a valued policy bill re­ quiring insurance companies to pay te the insured in case of losses by fire the full amount stated, in the policy. In the House Representative Ellsworth., intro­ duced a bill to provide for th'e construc­ tion of a ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river via the DesPlaines and Illinois rivers. A'duplicate bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Bo- gardus. <• The Senate spent the greater part of Wednesday in discussing the drainage canal. The school teachers' pension bill was passed. The Gibson resolution in the House, looking toward an investiga­ tion of Chicago assessments, was defeat­ ed after a breezy debate. An attempt will be made to reconsider the matter. In the midst of a vindictive fight over the statutory revision commission, the House adjourned. The fight over drainage legislation in the Senate is over, and the bill of the drainage trustees, with a compromise amendment attached, will be crowded for­ ward for passage. Late Thursday even­ ing representatives of Chicago and the valley people agreed to accept the Leeper amendment to section 20 of the present law. It reads: "And said district shall at the time any sewage is turned into or through any such channel or channels, turn into said channel or channels not less than 20,000 cubic feet of water per min­ ute for every 100,000 inhabitants of said' dictriet and shall thereafter maintain the flow of such quantity of water.* In the House Miller, of Cook, made a determined fight on the street and elevated railway bills of Senator Crawford that were reach­ ed on the order of second reading of Senate bills. These measures passed the Senate only after determined opposition. Mr. Miller characterized the bills as the most vicious of any before the House, the Humphrey race track bill alone excepted. Back of them, he said, were all the street railway interests of Chicago. Although the bills came up unexpectedly, their sup­ porters seemed thoroughly organized, and after Miller's vigorous speech in opposi­ tion, which came as a surprise, allowed no further discussion. Miller moved to strike out the enacting clause of one bill. Sterchie moved to lay this on the table. The vote, which was a test, resulted: Yeas, 74; nays. 34. Both bills were then advanced to third reading. Curiosities in Pearls. The value of pearls„has been in all agesoconiniensurate with their beauty, [u the East especially, they have been greatly admired, and enormous sums of money have been paid for them. Pliny observes that pearls are the most valuable and excellent of all precious stones; and from our Savior's compar­ ing the kingdom of heaven to a pearl, it is evident they must have been hel« in very high estimation at that time. It is said that Julius Casar gave a pearl to the mother of Marcus Brutus thai was valued at 4S,417 pounds and 10 shillings of our present money; ami Cleopatra dissolved one worth 250,060 pounds in vinegar, wbich she drank at the supper with Marc Antony. From time immemorial there haye been fisheries of pearls in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and in the bays of Ceylon; and when Columbus arrived in the Gulf of Paria, on his first voyage to America, he was astonished to find the precious gems abounding there in un­ paralleled quantities. His men landed, and saw the Indian women adorned Sensitive. An excited individual climbed three flights of stairs in great leaps aud yell­ ed: "Where's the editor?" Nt>body owued to the distinction. "{Show me the editor!" lie demanded, 1 shaking a paper in his hand at arm's j length. J' ' | "ile's in there!" piped :in indiscreet j olBce boy, who had been hired to I answer the telephone*. j The man with a grievance bolted in*o the room designated without knocking. He showed the paper under the editor's nose, and, pointing to a icarked portion, exclaimed: "Read that!" The editor read: "Mrsr R----" "That's my wife," interrupted the angry visitor. "Mrs. R----continued the editor, ,Jgave a violet luncheon to her friends yesterday/' "What's the matter with that?" ask- ttd the editor. "What's the matter! Look at that!" and lie indicated the word. The editor with sinking heart read ••violent luncheon." Apologies were not enough. The man could only be assuaged by a present of a yearly sub­ scription, which included the weekly colored supplement -- Indianapolis News. The Largest Flower. j The Victoria water lily (Victoria Re- *gis) is found in the still waters of the j tributaries of the Amazon River, in I South America. The leaves of this lily I are often 0 feet in diameter, and strong j enough to support the weight of a man. '.The flowers are sometimes 2 feet iu ; diameter. Each flower is separate; it 1 expands at night and is white and fra- ! grant. It closes at daylight, to open again for the last time as the second evening comes on. Then it is pink, and its odor is rank and unpleasant It expands partly the third evening, showing a deeper red, and then it sinks below the surface of the water. The Federal Government of Mexico offers a bonus of four cents for every rubber tree planted. In addition to this, the State Government of Oaxaca offers one cent •> < A Wonderful Sensitive Plant. An incident related by the author of "The Pearl of India," in his description of the flora of Ceylon, is almost uncan­ ny, although we are assured that it is true. It is about the .mimosa, or sen­ sitive plant, and makes one almost wonder whether the plant has intelli­ gence. The doctor, one of the characters of the book, while sitting with his family on the broad piazza, which formed the front of the bungalow of a coffee plan­ tation, recognized a thrifty sensitive plant, and it was made the subject of remark. He called his young daughter of eleven years from the house. "Lena," said he, "go aud kiss he mimosa." r The child did so, laughing gleefully, and came away. The plant gave no token.of shrinking ffom contact with the pretty child. "Now," said the host, "will you touch the plant?" Rising to do so, we approached it with one hand extended, and before it had fairly come in contact the nearest spray aud leaves wilted visibly. "The plant knows the child." said the doctor; "but you are a stranger." Too Much Ice-Water. A very courteous Englishman who had traveled much in America was once asked at a dinner-party here fot his general impression of us as a na­ tion. "I have but one fault to find with you," he said. "You drink too much ice-water!" Everybody laughed. "Surely that's a trifling sin," said one. "Not in the least" he answered, seri­ ously. "The very issue of. life and death may depend on it For example, w hen I first came to your country I went to a-New York hotel. While 1 was waiting for my dinner to be serv­ ed, the waiter brought me a glass of ice-water. I drank it. He brought an­ other. 1 drank that He refilled my glass, and I managed to dispose of its contents a third time. But the expe- rience nearly finished me." "But why on earth did you drink it?* asked several voices at once. - - A twinkle appeared in the English­ man's eye. "Would It have been courteous to re­ fuse?" he asked, gravely. "Shouldn't a stranger drink the wine of the coun-