GREATER NEW YORK. the tracks will cross the. street fourteen feet above the level of the street, and £t this poiiit a magnificnt passenger station Wto ba bitilt. extending from One Hun dred "and Twenty-fifth to One Hundred and Twenty-sixth street, under the four- track viaduct. This improvement will be of immense value to the entire State--in fact, .to the whole country--as the bridge, being so high above the water, will never have to be opened, except when large steamers or vessels with masts are to pass through: all tugs, canal boatB, barges, etc., will have ample room to go under the bridge -while it is closed. The Harlem river, having been declared by Congress a ship canal, the Secretary of War has issued orders that all tugs and barges shall joint their smokestacks and flag pcrf&s, to enable them to pass under the briage while it is closed. He has also ordered t$mt the bridge shall not be open ed between the hours of seven and ten o'clock in the morning, and four and seven in the afternoon, except for police, fire or Government vessels, the hours named BIG POOL IS QUASHED AN ERA IN THE HISTORY OF THE "METROPOLIS. UPON ITS RUINS RISES A TWO- MAN TRUST. Carnegie and Hockefeller Will At tempt to Control the Steel Rail Mar kets of the World-Can Distance All Competitors. • Completion of the New York Central's Four-Track Draw-Bridge Over the Harlem River, and of the $3,000,000 Steel Viaduct* Remarkable Engineering Feat. One of the most remarkable -feats of engineering on record is nearing qomple- tion, and the passenger entering "New York City fr6m the north will soon ride over one of the grandest examples^of steel railway construction yet accomplish ed in this age of marvelous results hi that direction. Going south at 149th street, the tracks of the New York Central begin to rise gradually, and at 135th street they cross the Harlem river on the new four-track HE ; FAIR : CANDIDATE f*T"^ HE "machine" of one of the polit-j of his opponent had developed, and I ical parties of Butte County was must be overcome by some means if he JL at ftork. The wheel-horses of hoped to win. Unfortunately, lie was the organization were in executive sesr worried and his actions showed it; on . . . ~ i i . : _ s ' ' l i s t - 1 - : u _ : i' ^ i • ' sion and the manufacture of a "slate1 for the ratification of the county con vention Was in progress. Everything had been settled without friction up to a. certain point, but here the making Of candidates came to a full stop. Some one must be selected..to run for Super intendent of Schools, and some one else must be found who was disinterested enough to stand for the place Of County Surveyor, with the nominal emolu ments pertaining thereto. This latter problem was settled, after a brief dis cussion. by the powers insisting that A1 .Wood, the incumbent, who was present, must stand tor re-election, whether he liked it or not; but a duly qualified can didate for Superintendent of Schools was not so easily found. The man who had held that position for two years past had the bad taste to give up his office and his grasp on life at the same time, only two weeks before, thus leav ing his party in a quandary for a candi date to succeed him. Of course, there were plenty of asp rants for the nom ination, but most of them were unavail able for reasons political, and the can didate must be a person who was pop ular with the voters of the county. "Jimmie" Van Wert, the handsome young assayer of the Spread Eagle Mill, had been sitting in a dark corner of the office in which the conference was being held, smoking quietly and eayingi-very little until now; but he finally put in his oar long enough to suggest that "Professor" Striker, the young priucipal of the local school, would make a good man for the office. "Yaras," assented Judge Bullock, the venerable Justice of the Peace, "but they don't know him out in th' kentry, an* we got t' have some feller th't c'n ketch th' aoutside vote. Now, Jimmie, lQok yere. What's th' matter with you runnin' f'r Super'ntend'nt y'rself ?" "Don't get; me mixed in on a deal like that!" ejaculated Van Wert, fer vently. "I don't want any old office. |T*ve got troubles enough now." But Judge Bullock's suggestion met with unanimous approval on the part 0 all th6 others present, and, very much against his will, Mr. Van Wnrt was slated for the nomination, and dyily placed in nomintion by the conven tion a few days later. It was two weeks before he found out what sort of an opponent he was to have, and then, much to his disgust, he learned that the other party had nominated a girL This was almost enough to make him throw up the canvass. Tfie idea of the other fellows thinking that he could be beaten by a woman. Then he consoled himself with the reflection that perhaps they knew they couldn't beat hiin, and had merely put up this Miss Smith to act as a forlorn hope. Thenceforth he did not,put much activity into his can vass, but attended to business pretty much as usual, serene in the belief that the voters of Butte County were not yet arrived at the stage of progression when they would permit a woman to hold office. And all this time, be it known, this heretofore unknown and mysterious Miss Smith was becoming known to the voters of the county, and, what was more, she was winning a good deal of support from sources upon which' Van Wert confidently counted. It lacked only about ten days of elec tion day when Van Wert, with a sud- dpn shock, came to bis senses. Two or three things had occurred to detract from his overconfidence.* Among these was the avowal on the part of several personal and political friends of their intention to support Miss Smith, giving as their reasons that she had a good record as an educator and was_without doubt well qualified for the office; that she wanted the office, and was making 41 hard fight for it; and that Van Wert didn't want it and didn't need it. On top of this he was iuformed that his opponent had been out in the "cow dis tricts,^' and had the cowboy vote pretty well "cinched." This cheering au- nouue^nent came from two or three of the "bosses" who called on him to see if he dftlu't think it worth while to get out aud'save his political scalp by "rus tling" like the rest of the candidates; "We'll *lnive the committee fix some dates f<jr you to speak, and you've got to till 'em, Jimmie; if you don't you're a gone goose," said they. So. with the inward fear that he might, after all. be defeated. Van Wert began in earnest the!e£fort to save him self. He did not care for the office, bui he dreaded defeat at the hands of a woman, being one,of the kind of men who do not believe the gentler sex has any business in politics. He pictured Miss Smith as a big, gaunt, red-haired. ,. -self-assertive person, •'with large red hands and a snappy way of speaking and was quite surprised to learn that she was really a very ladylike youn^' woman, tipping the beam at about 110 pounds. It lacked but four days of election day, and the various candidates were putting in every hour possible in mak ing speeches and seeing, their constit uents and other people. Van Wert had put in some very telling work in several . places where It would do the most good, but in two or three precincts it, was found that a strong sentiment in favor one or two occasions while speaking he given way to puerile bursts of tem per that by th> means enhanced his chances for success. Some of the older heads had warned him that by making slurring remarks about his opponent he would only hurt himself, to which he responded by the childlike remark: "Well, if a woman doesn't want to get herself talked about she'd better keep out of politics." i. - This he practically repeated to a mix ed crowd at Conovler's sehoolhouse, in one of the strong "cow districts," on Friday night before election, adding: "I cannot believe that parents inter ested in the future welfare of their chil dren are willing to intrust thei'r early training to the hands and methods of one who so far forgets her womanhood as to stand as a candidate for a public office." Of course he regretted the re mark almost as soon as it was uttered, and recognized that the silence with which it was received was the silence of a disapproval too strong to find ex pression in words. But it was too late for regrets, and he expressed none. The next afternoon came a brief but pointed note from Miss Smith, in which she gently reminded him that his youth had evidently led him astray so far as to forget the fact that she was practi cally defenseless, and that in speaking of her as he hadke had been both un manly and ungentlemanly. This, com ing as it did. at a time when he was mentally cursing himself for hn ass and a brute, did not tend to soothe him, for he knew that every word the note con tained was true. So, instead of answer ing it as a man should, he wrote at the bottom* of the sheet: "You have no business in politics if you. fion't want to stand the consequences," then signed it and remailed it to the original sender. An honr later he was sorry he had done so, and tried to get the letter out of the postoffiee, but failed. Thus it was that the next evening, as he rode along the lonely trail leading to the "enemy's country," where he was to address a big meeting of cattlemen and make an effort to redeem himself by practically recanting all that he had said derogatory to the opposing candi date withotft losing too much of his al ready shattered self-respect, he was so absorbed mentally in thinking over what he should say that he did not hear a sudden command to halt, and realized that he was in trouble only when a Sinuous, swishing thing hurtled through the air, pinioned his arms to his sides, and jerked him from his sad dle to the rough ground. "Good shot, ol' man I" said some one in cowboy costume, who came up and sat on the victim's chest. "Ye got him right 'round th' elbows, fust throw o' the rope." n - "Let me up, you scoundrel!" fumed Van Wert. "You can take my money without taking my wind at the same time, can't you?" "Easy, m' son," chuckled the giant who was sitting astride him, as he held the candidate's wrists so that the other man. who now came up, could the more easily tie them. "We don't want y'r stuff. Do we, parduer?" "Nopey, Van," said the second man, in a voice that Van Wert tried in vain to recognize. "We jest want t' put ye where ye won't make no mo' fool r'inarks 'bout th' lady th's' ag'n ye-- not this evenin', anyways." "See here, boys," said Van Wert, more calmly, "this isn't a square deal. You know I've got to be at the meeting at Meeker at 8 o'clock? Well, it's almost that now, so let me go." „ "Oh, ho, Jimmie!" laughed one of his captors heartlessly. "Not t'night. 'Squar" deal,' I b'lieve ye said? Was it a squar' deal fr you t' git up an' make th' talk ye did 'bout th* little school- ma'am las' night? Not any. So stan' up, Jimmie, an' let th' gent tackle ye to th' tree. We'll let ye go 'fore ye git cold. Easy, lad. Ef ye git gay we won't do a thing but hawg-tie ye an' leave ye lay till mawnin*." I The next honr was as long a one as Jimmie Van Wert ever spent. The night was a chilly one, and the ropes with which he was bound prevented the free circulation of blood, so that in a very short time his extremities Were aching with cold. To add to his dis comfort. an owl took its station in the brush near by and hooted derisively whenever the prisoner shouted, and the cries of the owl were responded to by several wolves, whose voices sounded •as though they were very close at hand. Several times Van Wert beard people go by on horseback and in wagons, and shouted to them at the top of "his lungs, but the traij was some„distauce from the clump of brush, and they did not hear him. At last, however; when he i had about given up all hope of escapin; until his captors should conje and re lease him, he beard the souhd of horses coming along 'the trail, their riders laughing and chatting, and he lifte^ up his voice in a mighty effort to make himself heard. The; fidetfr evidently heard him, and stopped. He shouted again, and presently heard them com ing toward h\m. "How did'/it happen?" queried the young woman, after she and the boy had released the candidate from his uncomfortable .predicament, and he was untying his horse from a neighbor ing tree. Van Wert explained in an injured tone, adding, with as much dignity as he could command: ul am the candi date for Superintendent of Schools, and I suppose this Is a sample of the meth ods Miss Smith and her cowboy friends have adopted to defeat me. They knew I was to speak at Meeker tb-nig'ht, and thought that Iby preventing me from doing so they could gain a few votes. I'll show 'em when I get there." The young woman laughed merrily. "Politics, is a funny business, Isn't it?" she said. "The idea of resorting to such measuresf But," she added sober ly, "you should not blame Miss Smith for what her over-zealous friends have done. I--Miss Smith is a friend of mine, and I know she would not sanc tion such a thing. It--It would be most unfair to accuse her of it, don't you think, without bluing certain of your ground?" Van Wert admitted that it would.. "Theli as a favor to me," said his fair. rescuer; "do not, please, <say anything about it, at least by way of connecting' her with the affair. I'm sure no one would regret it more than she, If she knew about It." After some "hesitation Van Wert promised, and presently his rescuer and. her escort left him, branching Off on a trail that led toward a farmllouse that he could see in the distance. The candidate noted with a grim smile, on his return, the consternation his appearance created in a certain part of the room, and. concluded-that two or three men whom he knew to be friends of his looked rather sheepish, but he kept his own counsel and made no ref erence to his adventure. In the course of the excellent speech lie presently made he "took back", what he had said about his opponent tn a manner so graceful as to win for him rounds of applause, and when he sat down it was with the consciousness that he had in part redeemed himself. As he started, along with some of the other candidates, to leate the hall, he noticed for the first time that the young woman who had rescued him from the "fix" in which the cowboys had left him had not gone home to stay when she left him, for there she was, just leaving the hall in company with an older woman in widow's weeds. Who is that?" he asked of the candi date for Sheriff, who was at his side. That girl?" queried the other. "Why,, boy, that's your hated adversary, Miss Smith. Hadn't you seen her before?" But Van Wert did not hear the, ques tion. He hurried to catch up with the opposing candidate, who started when he addressed her, but quickly recovered herself and smiled sweetly upon him. Miss Smith," he burst out impetu ously, "I don't know what you must think of me, after all the low-down things I've said about you, and the holy show I made of myself this evening. But I hope you'll believe me when I say I'm sorry for the things. I've said -- and I honestly hope you'll be elected, after all. I shall vote for you, any way, and you can count on lots of my friends." \ But his boyish enthusiasm in behalf of his opponent came too late to be of service to her, for the returns showed that Van Wert was elected by a small majority, for which he was indebted to the miners. On Thursday after elec tion he went to Miss Smith. "I regret this as much as you do," he said, earnestly. "I wish I had met you earlier in the campaign. But I have a proposition to make. What are you go ing to do now?" "I don't know," she said, trying to conceal the sadness in her tones. "You see, I had to give up my school, and there are no vacancies now." "Well, what I was going to propose is this: Will you take an appointment as my deputy? Remember, all the work will devolve upon you." Miss Smith gasped, and her pretty face grew a rosy red, then turned pale. She did not wish to be under obliga tions to this man--and yet, there was the mother to be considered, and the invalid sister in Chicago, whose hos pital bills were such a severe tax on the family resources. "Yes," she said, finally, "and thank you, very much, for offering me the place. You have lifted a great load from my mind." There was some comment on this ar rangement by the voters of the county, but it was hardly adverse, and the dep uty soon showed that she was the right one in the right place. She worked day and night, and denied herself necessary sleep that her beloved schools should not retrograde; in fact, in the course of a few weeks she succeeded in making herself almost ill, for the death of the former superintendent had left the af fairs of the office in rather chaotic con dition, and although Van Wert and his deputy qualified at once after the meet ing of the canvassing board, it was al most Christmas before they got matters straightened out. And it was just at this time, when the little deputy, more than half ill from overwork, was spending a couple of days at home, that she got a brief note from her superior, which read: "Miss Smith: For some time past I have been dissatisfied with you as Dep uty Superintendent of Schools, and ,-our resignation as such will be ac cepted. I will do myself the honor of calling upou you and explaining mat ters more fully to-morrow night. Very truly yours, "JAMES VAN WERT." Miss Smith burst into tears. "Just to think, mamma! After 1 have worked so hard! What shall we do?" "I suppose they want the job for some politician that doesn't need; It," commented Mrs. Smith, grimly. "But to think he lias the audacity to come here after that! I won't let him in, the treacherous thing!--discharging you, alter bing so friendly, and all that." "Yes, you will, mamma," interjected the girl, recovering herself. "We must not forget ourselves in our own home." Just then the door bell rang, and the girl hastened away to hide the traces of her tears. When she returned to the little parlor Van Wert was standing there, big and handsome, in front of the fireplace. He advanced to meet her as lier mother vanished from the room. "You got my note?" he said. "I'll tell you how it is," be went on awkwardly. "I'm not satisfied with you as a deputy because--because I want you to take the office Itself and me with it." And that Was the way they arranged it.--New York Dally Tribune. End view of the New York Central's new four-track steel draw-bridge over tlie Harlem River at 135tli street Greater New York, "i lie largest structure of its kind in the world. steel drawbridge, at an elevation of 24 feet above high tide. This massive structure is remarkable in being the first .four-track drawbridge ever constructed, and is the largest bridge of the kind fn the world. It is 400 feet long and weighs 2,500 tons. The draw bridge is 5S feet 6 inches wide, from center to center of outside trusses, and is carried on three very heavy trusses. Be tween the central and each of the two side trusses is a clear space of 26 feet, which permits the passage of two sets of double tracks. The floor is corrugated, and the rails are bolted to it on steel tie plates. The trusses of the drawbridge span are 64 feet high in the center and 25 feet higli at each end. At the highest part of these trusses is situated the en gine house, which contains two oscillating double-cylinder engines, which turn the draw, and can be worked together or sep- covering the great business traffic in and out of the city, the important through trains as well as the principal suburban trains arriving and departing during those hours. This will avoid delays, which have been, at times, very annoyiug^and permit of much faster service than could have been maintained under "the old arrange ments: and, as speed is One of the prin cipal factors iu travel in this age, this feature will prove an important one. Quite a number of the great improve ments which have recently been made in the northern part of the city can be seen from the trains as they pass over the new- viaduct. Among them are Grant's Tomb. St. Luke's Hospital and the buildings of Barnard College and Columbia College, on Morningside Heights, and very soon the grand structure of the Cathedral of St. John the 'Divine will be observed. Further north, and on the west side of the Side view of the new four-track steel draw-bridge over the Harlem River. arately, so that if one should break down at any time the other can do the work. From One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street south the four new tracks run over the steel viaduct to One Hundred and Tenth street, and thence by the stone via duct to One Hundred and Sixth street, where they strike the level of the present four-track line. _ The work of building this massive struc ture, which is here illustrated, began Sept. 1, 1893, and has continued without cessa tion until now, and will cost when com pleted considerably more than $3,000,- 000. The completion of the new work will permit the opening of all cross streets un der the railway and so admit a perfectly free passage for street traffic. One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street, which has become a great thoroughfare, will be entirely free, as the trains which heretofore crossed it at grade will pass over it at an elevation that will allow street cars and all traffic perfect freedom. At One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, Harlem river, the now famous speedway is under construction and approaching completion; the magnificent High Bridge, Washington Bridge, McComb's Dam Bridge and the viaduct leading to it, from the north, are works of art as well as of great utility, under which the trains pass, and on the right may be seen the buildings of the University of the City of New York, Webb's Sailors' Home, and hun dreds of other new buildings of less impor tance. < North of the Harlem river, on the Harlem division, is Bronx Park, which is to contain the great Botanical Gardens and Zoological Gardens of Greater New York, and within a few years this portion of the city will offer attractions which will be unsurpassed in their character by any city in the world. Greater New York, which is nineteen miles wide by thirty-five miles long, cer tainly offers to the tourist and seeker after knowledge or pleasure more induce- ments than any other American city, and few cities in Europe can equal it. The American "French Mixed." "In the manufacture of candy," said a diplomatic officer of experience, "there is no doubt but that America now leads the world. American can dies are about the only ones made of sugar that can be bought in Paris. Though the French have long led the world in this line, they have gradually but surely managed to do away with the use of sugar in their candies, ex cept where they make them for con sumption in other countries, and in America in particular. The French people will not buy a confection which is made of sugar alone. They want combinations and depend more upon starches than sugar. "I think I am safe in saying that sugar-made candy is rarely, if ever, sold in Paris. Of course, it would be made if it was desired, but the people of Paris prefer something else. Two weeks before Christmas I was in Paris, and I had to send to at least a half dozen so-called famous candy manufacturers before I could buy any sugar-made candies. I could get hun dreds of combinations, marslimallows, chocolates and things in that line... In Germany it is much the same way.' Washington Star. . The Fly and the Scissors. Many Kentucky people who have seen the wonderful, work of Carl G. von Schoeler, the Ivuttawa engraver, will testify to the truth of this story, told by Irvin Cobb in the Paducali News, though it will sound much like a pipe dream to the uninitiated: "A house fly went off witK~& pair of scis sors at Kuttawa ,a feW weeks ago; This sounds strange, especially when it is added that the fly was just a com mon, everyday specimen of that do mestic pest. In that respect, however,, the fly differed from the shears. The scissors were among the wonderful minute tools intended for the cherry stone workbasket made by C. G. von Schoeler, the engraver. Although so small that their outline could not be distinguished by the ordinary eye, they were perfect in size and mechanism, It being possible to .cut human hair and cobwebs with their tiny steel blades. It took several days of Mr. von Schoe- ler's time to produce them, too. "The scissors lay on the carver's work-table. The fly started across the table, and he took flight. The shears were so light that the insect moved away with the case before Mr. yon Schoeler could rescue his precious lit tle prize. The fly has not been seen since. Neither have the scissors. The former owner of the scissors says the fly is at home cutting out a new pair of light trousers for summer use."--Louis ville Courier-Journal. v Death of the Giant Steel Pool. The Carnegie-Rockefeller interests in the iron and steel business have been com bined, and they will seek to control the steel rail business of the world. Tuesday a $17 price" was announced at their Eastr era; mills, the cut from $25 having been made within a few hours., The reduction was met by the Illinois Steel Company at Chicago, which makes about one-third of the rails produced in this country and which has never belonged to the steel pool, by a $21 price, which, with freight, competes with the Eastern mills. The Carnegie-Rockefeller combination is the outcome of a| plap conceived by John D. Rockefeller years ago. . He has gradually acquired control of the vast iron deposits of the Mesaba range, above Duluth. These deposits are so near the surface that mining has been done with scoops. Competitors had to sink deep shafts. Rockefeller bought or built rail roads to the lake docks, and constructed the latter. . When, vessel owners squeezed him on freights, he built a magnificent fleet of whaleback barges, to'carry his ore to the smelting furnaces on Lake Erie. These boats he built to draw 20 feet, and they carry ore so cheaply that scores of smaller boats cannot compete. To make his ore into steel, he contem plated building his own smelter at Lake Erie docks wfeicli he owned,^but at the last- moment a deal with Carnegie was made, and the result is a two-man trust of power more stupendous than the world has ever before seen. They ,can produce finished steel rails cheaper than any other parties in the world, and they intend to control the markets of the universe. This has been foreseen by other con cerns. The Illinois Steel Company has already made creeping reductions in, wages in all departments, preparatory to the struggle, which President J. W. Gates saw was to be serious. The steel pool has been composed of the Carnegie Steel Company, the Lacka wanna . Iron and Steel Company, the Maryland Steel Company, the Pennsylva nia Steel Company, the Bethlehem Iron Company, the Cambria Iron Company. It was fostered by Carnegie and Rockefeller until their plans were complete, and then smashed at one blow. Just before the World's Fair the rail roads spent a large amount of money in the betterment of their roadbeds, and heavy purchases of steel rails resulted. Then came tlie blighting effects of the panic, and from that time until the pres ent railway managers have been 1 more strongly bent on keeping down the cash outgo than in keeping up their roadbed in the pink of condition. Nearly four years have passed since World's Fair preparations; and many of the lines are getting into bad physical condition. All the principal lines are in position to require heavy purchases of new rails as soon as business improves, and that most railroad men believe will be.after the in auguration of the new President. So con fident are some railroad men that better times are at hand that they are likely to discount the future try placing heavy or ders at once with the steel mills, now that the price of steel has gone to bottom notch. Began at $100 a Ton. All the original lines of railway were built with iron rails, as steel in the early days was considered a luxury, to be used most sparingly. When railways began using steel for rails they imported them from England and paid about $100 a ton for "John Brown" rails. A large mileage was laid with rails at that price. Then American mills began -to make steel rails, and English competitors were finally driv en from the field. Prices ranged down to $60 a ton some years afterward, and with the steady advance in appliances for tho manufacture and handling of the product the sagging in prices continued until $50 was named one day as the price of steel rails. That announcement caused as much excitement in the trade as the news that steel rails were being offered at $17. The larger part of the steel rails used in railway building was purchased at be tween $50 and $50 per ton. Between $100 and $17 a ton for steel rails is the hiBtory of the most remarka ble industrial development in the world. When American mills began to compete .with foreign ironmongers the Lake Su perior region was a wilderness. Duluth was unheard of except as a traders' ham let. There were some copper mines on Lake Superior, but the unlimited re sources of the region in iron ore were not dreamed of. Once started the develop ment went on apace between the iron mines and the iron mills along Lake Eri*; and at Chicago. From a humble begin ning of some 500 tons, shipped a score oi years ago, to 10,000,000 tons of iron ore which went forward from the mines the last season of navigation is the record of that development. What English milis are offering steel rails for is no longer of interest. • A Dog Playing Football. A most amusing scene was witnessed one Sunday afternoon In Moore street, Dublin, where a number of gamins •were playing foot-ball with a large blad der under their own special rules. One of the teams, presumably being disap pointed in the turn-out of a "man," filled the vacancy by substituting in his stead a handsome collie dog." The dog played his game with extraordinary in telligence, stopping the ball with his head when it was going against his team, and upon every occasion on which he got possession of It lie ran off with it in his mouth and, despite all opposition of his opponents, carried it triumphantly through the goal. The game lasted about twenty-five minutes in the presence of a large gathering and ended with much excitement in the dog's team winning 10 to nil. As there was no gate to receive money and as the teams depended on the generosity of their patrons, the latter voluntarily sub scribed liberally. It is .a pity, I am afraid, that the best "man" in the field --or rather the streets--received very little of the receipts--I mean the dog.-- Dublin Freeniau's Journal. The annual increase of the German nation during th ̂ last five years has been more thrtn five times as much as that of the French. WILL FEED 10,000. McKinley's Inaugural Ball Caterer HaB an Enormous Contract. It is estimated that 10,000 persons must be fed at the McKinley inaugural ball and a Philadelphia caterer has the enormous contract. He has agreed to supply 300 gallons of consonnne, 300 gai- Ions of dressed terrapin, 300 gallons chicken salad, 250 gallons of crab sk!*» 200 gallons of lobster salad, 300 gallons of coffee and 1,800 gallons of ice creanv to say nothing of 80,000 oysters. There will also be a quantity of mineral waters and punches, while the list of solid re freshments is quite as formidable, in cluding 10,000 sandwiches, 8,000 chicken cutlets, 7,000 sweetbread patties, 250 Smithfield hams, 200 tongues, 180 tur keys and 250 pounds of afssorted cakes. This enormous quantity of food will be served as a table d'hote supper, for which $1 will be charged. The cooks, the 200 waiters and the utensils will be taken to Washington from Philadelphia in a spe cial train. Most of the stuff will be cook ed in Philadelphia in advance. DEFALCATIONS THE PAST YEAR, Aggregate 8nm Stolen Falls a Little Short of Ten Million Dollars. A record of fiduciary misconduct dur ing the great year 1806 has been compiled by the insurance companies writing this special kind of hazard, and it shows that the defalcations aggregate the tremendous total of $0,465,921. This is less, how ever, than in 1895, when the stealings footed up $10,423,405. The State of New York was the source of largest loss,, with $2,388,816. Delaware was the smallest with $1,100. Out of 340 reported cases of embezzlement fourteen stole more than $50,000, twenty more than $100,000, one more than $500,000. and one more than $1,000,000. The ' losses are distributed as follows: City and county officials, $1, 393,975; from banks, $3,996,970; by agents, $1,045,875; forgeries, $341,500 from loan associations, $479,578; by post masters, $32,815; miscellaneous, $2,175,- 782 ILLINOIS LAW-MAKERS. Speaker Curtis, Friday,., announced the House committees. After the list _ had been read the House adjourned until Monday at 5 p. m. During a brief session the following bills were introduced in the Senate: To incorporate companies to do life insurance, to grant or dispose of ^an nuities, to do endowment and tontine business and every insurance pertaining to the insurance of lives upon the fixed premium plan. Also authorizes assess ment life insurance associations to do bus iness on this,plan and to control compa nies of this State and of other States do-- ing business in Illinois. Another bill to incorporate life or accident/insurance companies on the assessment plan and to control the companies of ..this and other business in Illiaois. These bills were drafted by the Underwriters' Association, of Chicago. Giving power to' the city council in cities of 100,000 inhabitants or more to declare department stores a uui- sance and a detriment to business and providing for the abolishment of depart ment stores, Mr.king the larceny of bi cycles a felony. The Senate then ad journed to Monday afternoon at 5 p. in. The House met at 5 o'clock Monday afternoon wlt.h less than a quorum pres ent. The session continued only n few minutes.^ Bills were introduced as fol lower To legalize the Judicial proceed ings of the March term of 1886 and 1887 of the Clay County Circuit Court; to pre vent a person about to become insolvent- from designating a preferred creditor; also a bill providing that in an attach ment proceeding where goods seized are liable to waste or deterioration tlie Court may cause the same to be sold and hold the proceeds subject to the determination of the suit. Tlyere was no business trans acted in the Senate. As usual at the Mon day sessions there .was not a quorum pres ent. Ex-Representative W,. H. Greene of Mount Vernon will appear in opposition, to Dr. Miller's bill, providing for the con solidation of the Supreme Court at Spring field. In the House Tuesday Mr: Revell's bill repealing the libel law came up. The author moved to lay the bill over two weeks, but the motion was lost. The bill went on to third reading. Mr. Revell in troduced a resolution that a committee of five be appointed to investigate the Chi cago drainage board. Referred. A num ber of equal suffrage petitions were pre sented and then came a shower of bills. A resolution indorsing the Sperry bill, now pending in Congress, relating to mail CarHers and requesting the Illinois mem bers of Congress to use all honorable means to secure the passage of the. bill, was adopted. A joint resolution, which was adopted, giving the use of Camp Lin coln, with necessary tents and equip ments, tp the various uniformed organi zations of the State, A resolution was adopted by a rising vote, in respect to the memory of the late Frank N. Tice, of Ogle County, an ex-member. In the Senate Senator Crawford presented two peti tions, one from the judges of the Superior Court of Cook County and one from a large number of the members of the bar of Chicago, asking for the repeal of the mechanics' lien law, on the theory that the law was too complicated, and asking that a more simple one be enacted. A joint resolution was adopted asking Con gress to consider at an early date the bill now pending before that body which provides for the^classification of postoffiee clerks. Mr. Craig's bill authorizing the Governor to appoint a resident trustee at the Eastern Illinois Normal School at Charleston was read a third time and passed with the emergency clause. Immediately after the reading of the journal iu the Senate Wednesday, a mes sage was received from the Governor, ask ing that he be authorized to borrow the sum of $250,000, with which to meet the current expenses of the State. In the course of a controversy concerning the appointment of* clerks, Senator Littler, chairman of the Committee upon Public Grounds and Buildings, said: "The pub- lis buildings have not been checked up for the past twenty-five years. : I havelnti- matious from many quarters that there are a lot of chicken thieves who are play ing upon the revenues of the State and 1 am going to stop it if I can. I not ask j only for a clerk, but I also ask for an ex pert accountant to examine the books of the several State institutions." The re quest was granted. The joint resolution offered by Senator Sparks asking Con gress to recognize the belligerency of Cuba was adopted. In the House a mes sage from Gov. Tanner was received ask ing for authority to borrow $250,000 to partially meet the existing 'deficiency: in the State revenue. Mr. Stoskopf's resolu tion favoring the passage, by Congress of the bill increasing the pay of railway mail clerks was adopted. The Senate bill ap propriating $52,000 to defray the expenses of the Secretary of State's office and the office of the Goveruor until July 1 was passed, with the emergency clause. The Governor transmitted to the Senate Thursday a message containing the fol lowing amendments for the Illinois and Michigan canal commissioners: C* E. Snively of Canton, to succeed J. M. Walsh, resigned; F Mi Ryon of Streator, to succeed Alt Gerdes; Howard O. Hilton of Rockford, to succeed Thomas H. Can non. Senator Templeton's bill authoriz ing the Governor to borrow $250,000 was favorably reported by the Appropriation Committee, with the amendment that the money be borrowed for not longer than two years. The bill was read a second time and advanced to the order of third reading. The joint committee on rules presented its report, fixing the rules of the session the same as those which governed the Thirty-ninth Assembly. The report was adopted. In the House the Senate joint resolution providing for adjourn ment until 5 o'clock Monday afternoon, on account of Lincoln's birthday, was con curred in. Several bills were introduced. Chaperons and the Bike. One curious effect of bicycling in En gland is the elimination of . chaperons out of doors. Young women, who would not have dreamed of riding horseback unattended by a groom, now go wher ever they please alone on their bicycles. A Yarn from Maine. A Dexter selectman, taking tlie an nual inventory, called at a certain house and inquired if the family had any musical instrument, and he was greeted with a reply in the affirmative. The readiness and joyousness of the acknowledgment were explained when the Assessor was ushered into the pres ence of a melodious infant in a cradle-- and he immediately raised that happy taxpayer's valuatioh $10,000.--Lewiston Journal. Hand iu Cap. The word "handicap" stands for hand In cap, from the drawing of lots out of a hat or cap. It was the name of a game of cards^nlayed in old times, which is said|w^have been not unlike Iqo, with this difference: the winner of one trick had to put a double stake into the pool, the winner of two tricks a triple stake, and so oh. Thus, in racing, so that competitors might have an equal chance of success, it was found neccessary to penalize previous win ners and the name of the old card game came to be applied to this equalizing. ' . \ .. h ' if?' - V:/, i '-"-