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H O M A f c K f i Y IDL E N CONFLICT OF RACES. UNFORTUNATE COMPLICATION IN SCHOOL MATTERS. The Alton; 111.) Board of Education Would Separate White and Black Scholars -- Arguments Advanced on Both Sides of the Controversy. Courts to Decide. Sixty years ago E. P. Love joy was shot by a mob in Alton, 111., for preaching equal rights for the negroes. The town now dedicates a monument to his mem­ ory, the negroes taking no part in the ded­ ication, claiming that the action of the Board of Education in keeping their chil­ dren from the schools of the whites is proof that the town is not as repentant of its treatment of Lovejoy as it thinks it is. •. The Board ofc Education is trying to convince the negroes that they are mis­ taken. It argues that Lovejoy and his cause had nothing in common with the present conflict be- > tween the races. It [asserts that the peo- ' pie of Alton have no desire to show any discrimination be­ tween two children ADOLPH FINKE. because they differ in color--they only want to get ail the blacks into two school ; buildings and all the whites into the others--ail the insti­ tutions to have the same attention rind the same facilities. The board decla'X it is acting for the good of the negroei and for the educational system, but the negroes are disinclined to let their pride suffer for the experiment. This controversy is likely to become as historical as did the Lovejoy murder sixty years ago. Some bitter feeling has b^en exhibited by each side, and unguarded remarks have been made, but the more level-head­ ed in both factions are striving earnestly to settle the matter amicably and with entire justice. One of the points the board has made in talking with the leaders of the opposi­ tion was in the work­ ing of the old sys­ tem. It appears from the books of enroll­ ment that but 240 the colored children of school age on the lists, out possible 300 Those who did gradually out, and the average daily attendance last year was but 70. The teachers reported that it was almost impossible to hold the •colored children in the schools, as they were sent home crying from most every session because of the taunts of the white •children. In some instances the work of the teachers was hampered greatly by the presence in primary classes of big colored .children, who had repeatedly failed to pass promotion examinations. The board took these two arguments, and with them tried to prove to the negroes that it were better for both races that they should have separate departments--both provid­ ed with the same appliances and both equally good from an educational stand­ point. When the matter is taken into court •Gen. John M. Palmer of Springfield will be the chief counsel for the Citizens' As­ sociation, which is the name of the organ- ization contending £ for the right of the BjLwU negroes to attend )h any school which the . iajKAcf1. board's districting of the city will permit. Col. J. J. Brenholt | J of Alton will have | I * charge of the case T. H. KKI.LEY. on the spot. Color­ ed people all over the country are watch­ ing the case with great interest, and it is expected that a general fund will be rais­ ed to the end that the fight may be car­ ried to the last court of resort. Origin of the Trouble. The trouble in its origin is based largely on race prejudice, which from old scores is particularly strong in Alton. Ever sinee President Lincoln promulgated the eman­ cipation proclamation, and even previous to that time, the negro has been an impor­ tant factor in the social and political life. The grave of the firts martyr of free speech in behalf of the colored race, Eli­ jah P. Lovejoy, is but a few stones' throw distant from one of the schools into which • the colored people are not permitted to enter, and only a little farther along the splendid hills of the city overlooking the great Mississippi river the granite shaft which is the token of the gratitude of Illinois for the work of this great martyr MA.TOH MRUGGE- MANN. GARFIELD SCHOOL. (Exclusively for white children.) bsars aloft the angel of peace blowing the trumpet of liberty and equality. Alton has never questioned the right of the colored children to attend the schools with the white children until this year. It was only recently that an undercurrent demanding a change became manifest. Upper Alton was the first to grapple the horns of the dilemma. When the village built a handsome centra] schoolhouse the board issued orders that the colored pupils should be kept in the old school, and only the children of white parents admitted to the new building. This caused at the time op.i> of the bit­ terest race wars developed iti the State since the close of the war. The action of the school authorities then was purely discriminative. After the case had gone through all the courts it was decided against the village. Nothing daunted by this, the white citizens resisted by force the entrance of the colored pupils into the new school. Prof. George W. Powell, then superintendent, stood in the door, armed, and declared that no colored per-* son should cross the threshold. It was a desperate game, but the colored people yielded. In spite of the adverse decision of the courts, the separate school system is now in force and always will be in Upper Alton. The City Council •started the trouble a year ago.- It passed an ordinance abolish­ ing the old system of local subdistricts and making of the city one school district. It was promptly signed -by Mayor Bruegge- mann. It afforded the Board of Educa­ tion the grounds upon which it will mak •its defense ih the prospective suit. The Board of Education consists of five members. Adolph Finke, a retired drug­ gist, is president. The laymen are Aif gust Neermann, merchant; H. B. Starr, steamboat captain; O. S. Stowell, assist­ ant cashier of the Alton Savings Bank, and H. R. Levis of the management of the Illinois Glass Company. Mr. Neer­ mann believes the better element among the negroes want the separate .schools. This, he says, is one reason why he voted for them. "When the time came to agree on plans for new schools this matter was brought up in the meetings of the Board of Edu­ cation. It was considered from every standpoint We did not act hastily. We took the trouble to post ourselves care­ fully as to the working of the separate system elsewhere. We had letters from some of the best educators, particularly in the south, stating that the separation of the races is unquestionably advantageous to the white and colored pupils alike. "We studied the conditions here, and finally it was decided to inaugurate the H CAUSES NO SURPRISE.# DOUGLASS SCHOOL. (New building for colored children.), change. We asked the City Council for the right to issue bonds. It was given. We borrowed $10,000 and built the Love­ joy and Douglass schools. They are mod­ ern schools. They lack nothing in furni­ ture and conveniences, and are in many respects better than any of the older schools. "They are conveniently located near the centers of the colored population. The colored children have to walk less than half a mile to reach them from any point within the city limits, wrhieh is less than many white pupils must go to attend the eighth grade class at Lincoln school. We have provided teachers of experience and education, and, in short, they have every advantage that the white pupils get. Therefore we deny the charge of race dis­ crimination. We have done what we thought best for both white and colored pedple, and are not afraid of what the courts may do. The present board is en­ tirely friendly to and in sympaithy with the colored people. We have had twenty- three years of the old system, and it has proved a failure. It was time to try something else. We have acted io *11 good faith for what we saw to be the best." President Fjnke is equally certain that the board has acted wisely. He denies that discrimination has been made, in that the buildings provided for the ne­ groes are even better equipped than those built for the whites. ' President H. B. Coats of the Citizens' Association is taking an active part in the fight against the action of the board. He blames the whites for all the acts of vio­ lence which have been reported. He claims that the negroes have acted with more dignity and thoughtfulness than their opponents, and the colored people propose to stand by the result as the law may make it. Isaac H. Kelle.v is one of the colored men who is with the Board of Education. He thinks it is a good thing for the colored people to have separate schools, where their children will be taught by colored teachers. He sees in it better results from an'educational point of view, as well as providing schools in which the young col­ ored women of the country may hope to find employment. "I maintain, as a color­ ed man, that the separate school is the thing," he says. "If my child is gradu­ ated from the new schools' she can hope for a position as teacher in that same school some day, but under the old syotem she has no chance ever to be anything. I know that my child can learn more and get more attention from a teacher of her own race than from the white teacher, whose sympathies are with the white pu­ pils alone. The thousands of dollars year­ ly which the colored teachers will draw ought to be enough in itself to show the advantage we will get from the change." Thus the subject is being discussed from every possible standpoint. London Underground Service. The chief objection to the under­ ground service is the foul air of the tunnels. Thus far no serious attempt to introduce electric traction has been made on the "circle." Within a few years, however, the City and South London Railway, better known as the Greater Underground line, starting in the city near the monument and diving beneath the Thames, has been con­ structed in the neighborhood of Ken- nington Park, and It is being extend­ ed. This is a double tunnel--two great iron tubes, in fact, one directly beneath the other--and the trains are operated and lighted by electricity. 1 can tes­ tify from personal experience th.it the air is pure and the motion of the trains easy. Passengers are lowered. to the platforms aud raised therefrom by huge lifts.--Time and the Hour. A Veteran Postmaster. Political changes in this country have been so numerous aud their conse­ quences often so sweeping, that It is a surprise to learn that there is still in the service of the country a postmas­ ter who received his first commission under President Jackson, and haiji been continuously in the postal service for sixty-seven years. He is W. H. Wal­ lace, postmaster at Hainmondsvllle Station, Ohio. In a letter to the Post­ master General he recalls the early days of Ills-service, when it cost twen- ty-five cents to send a letter, and the postmaster, who was also a merchant, took pay for postage in oats, potatoes,' butter or eggs. Mr. Wallace is now in his 86th year. . T . t.l! . ox Church and Xo Prayers. Rev. Dr. J. E. Roberts, a well-known Unitarian minister in the West, has just been made pastor of the Church of the World, which was recently orgaii- izezd in Kansas City. There will be no prayers to the Deity offered In the church, as, in the opinion of Dr. Rob­ erts, public prayer "has largely become a perfunctory performance, addressed to the congregation more than to God. --New York Tribute. Mild Northern Winter. The winter of Sitka is milder than that of many European capitals, Berlin, Vienna or Copenjtiagen. The mild cli­ mate of the southern portion of Alaska Is due to the Japanese current. WOLCOTT COMMISSION'S FAIL UR3NOT DISAPPOINTING. Administration Is Neither Surprise Nor Sorrowing Over the Outcome! Sentiment in Favor of Any Kind Free Coinage of Silver Diminishin Why It Failed. The practical failure of o^r hi me lie commission to induce the leadl European nations to join in a cont euce to adopt an international ratio for the coinage of gold and silver should cause no surprise; neither should it lie the occasion of regret. There is much less intelligent sentiment to-day in fa­ vor of any kindVf free coinage of silver,' than there was in 1892. Two cause/ have conspired to produce this change of sentiment. / The first of these causes is the knowl­ edge of the fact that, considering its uses, the output of silver is practically limitless. Science, experience and cap­ ital have,revolutionized the methods of silver mining. But for the inventive mind of man the production of silver would be so limited that its old value before the bonanza mines "were opened" could have been maintained. "Science, experience and capital have made the annual production of silver bullion so do 'he Dingley protective tariff ting to the benefit of the Ameri- [finufacturers of silk goods. The values were as follows: uber. . $2,251,390 MM JK 1,150,584 Loss of Tin Piute Trade. ontemporary in a very plaintive ants to know what South Wales witli its plates when the Ameri- trade has gone. "We have been this question, or variations of it, y number of years i>ast. but have yet had a practical response," it s, "and we scarcely hope for one ftt tills late stage of the melancholy (history--we might almost say suicide-- /of the Welsh tin plate trade." The term suicide is rather uncalled for. If the trade is ended by American ac- tioni we should rather call it murder-- the \first blow having been adminis­ tered by the McTCtnley tariff and the mortal stroke by the Dingley bill. The Welsh makers could not liqlp this, and it is not-their fault if. the American works, brand new in all their appoint­ ments. turn out plates a little cheaper than the Welsh mills. Besides, the Americans get their tin bars cheaper. With all this it is surmising that the Welshmen can make any struggle at all. Yet they are doing so, ami dis­ patched 21,021 tons abroad last month HOW THE FREE TRADE MACHINE WORKS. great that il cannot retain its forqper value. No doubt, its value by interna­ tional coinage at the old value ratio of 10to 1 or 15 to 1 would so stimulate the silver-mining industry that from plenti- fulness, compared with gold, it would, in spite of ratio, be a depreciated and fluctuating money. The advocates of free and unlimited coinage seem to ig­ nore that natural result of the almost unlimited production of silver bullion. Silver, during the past decade, has ceased to be a precious metal. The second cause is the growing cer­ tainty that there is sure to be enough gold to make it "the money basis of the world," in connection with the free use of silver as a subsidiary, coin. The world's annual output of gold has dou­ bled, and more than doubled, during the past decade. The annual output of gold this year is of greater value than the output of both metals twenty-five years ago. At the same time, the facili­ ties of exchange ha ve been so increased us to economize the use of gold as money.* If the output of iron or any other commodity were invreasing as is the output of gold at the present time it Would become a drug like silver bull­ ion and fall to a nominal price»( Another cause of the failing interest in what is commonly called, bimetallism is the growing conviction that a double standard is impracticable. The history of coinage in our own country sustains the theory of a single measure of val­ ues. When the output of silver was small, compared with what it might be to-day, the mercantile ratio of the two metals changed from time to time, in spite of coinage ratios. The intelligent consideration of the question in connec­ tion with the history of coinage in" this and other countries lias changed from himetallists to gold inonometallist,s thousands of men. They see that the maintenance of a coinage ratio fixed by law at 10 to 1 is almost as impractica­ ble as to establish an arbitrary price for wheat and corn upon a basis which would make one bushel of wheat the equivalent of two bushels of corn.--In­ dianapolis Journal. Watching the Yankee Closety. According to the latest advices from America, the Yankees are determined to secure their share of the world's trade in iron and steel, and for this pur­ pose six manufacturers in Pittsburg and the vicinity have formed a com­ pany called the Export Iron and Steel Company, the objects of which are to enter aud seek trade in the British markets. The officers of the company have been opened at Pittsburg. The capital is only ,$110,000, but sufficient backing has been obtained to guaran­ tee any amount as soon as the increase of the business demands it. A London agent has been appointed, and ah at­ tempt will be made to do business in India, South America and Japan. The Americans are an enterprising body of men, and as a rule if they take a thing In hand they do it well; it there­ fore behoves every iron and* steel firm of this country to watch Mr. Yankee's movements very closely. It will, per­ haps. be easier to checkmate early, be­ fore lie liohls anything like a strong position on the board. We know well Vviiht they can do; if not we have only to look at the tin plate trade. In this branch they, in a very short time, built up a huge industry, driving our Welsh friends practically out of their market, and have now made their first,ship­ ment towards establishing an export trade in tin plates.--Iiyland's "Iron Trade Circular." England. against 20,720 tons in the same month last year, which does not look like throwing up the sponge. Of course, the loss of the American trade is a great disaster*vbut it came in the nat­ ural order of things, and must be ac­ cepted < -patiently/4--Hardware, Metals and Machinery, London. No Doubt of It. There is no longer any doubt that the "money ptwer" of Europe dominates this country. The "power" has been sending gold into the United States, through New York, Sau Francisco, New Orleans, and other ports, until we now have a gold cir­ culation of $50.000.(100 in excess of that of a year ago. with a total circulation nearly $100,000,000 larger than a year ago. This foreign "power" is evidently determined to ruin us, if possible, by dumping a lotgtjf gold in on us in exchange for our wheat, corn, meat and other prod­ ucts. Increased Bank Clearings. That important business barometer, the bank clearings of the country, continues to indicate clearly and certainly business prosperity. The total September clear­ ings at seventy-eight cities are quoted by Bradstivet's as $5.521,933,332, a gain of nearly 15 per cent over August, 1897, and 50 per cent over September of last year. The total is only 7*/j per cent -smaller than that of the highest month on record, De­ cember, 1892. Would Like to Have It Fo. Advocacy of a "tariff war" by Europe against the United States now seems to be confined to the peculiar persons who write free-trade editorials for Democratic newspapers.--Yonkers, N. Y., Statesman. And with them the wish is father to the thought. A Christian Belief. The Republican party believes and acts upon the belief, that he who pro­ vides not for them of his own house­ hold. or country, is worse than a heathen.--Green Bay. Wis., Gazette. This is a Christian belief, and the be­ lief of civilization. The Eclirus of 1804. ILLINOIS STATE NEWS The Passing of the Shadow. OCCURRENCES "DURING THE PAST WEEK. Staked a Corpse to the Bottom of Clear take -- Attempt at Wrecking the Alton Hummer--A Miner's Narrow Escape from Fiery Death. Find Corpse in a Lake. t Clear Lake, the summer suburban re­ sort of Springfield society, has developed a murder mystery that batHes the ingenu­ ity of the local detectives. Several days ago the dead body of man was found floating near the east bank of the little lake. The body had been in the water many days and was badly decomposed. In general appearances the body was that of a heavy-set Gerpian, about 50 years old. Upon the body w^s a mark, which showed that he had been dealt a heavy blow, and the skull was fractured. To the left wrist of the--corpse was tied a hickory cane. Coroner Charles Baer held an inquest, and the verdict of the jury was that the man came to his death from pauses unknown to the jurors. The ver­ dict stated, however, that in the opinion of the jurors the man had been murdered and his body, placed in the lake, where it was held beneath- the .shallow water by the cane until the walking stick worked out of the mud aud permitted the corpse to float, 'f ;• •' To.Shelter Orphatts. The Southern Illinois Orphans' Home is to be transferred from Mount Vernon to Duquoin and a benevolent association has been incorporated under the name of the Southern Illinois Children's Protective Association of Duquoih. 111. At the first meeting of the board the following officers weie elected for one year: Judge G. W. Will, president: B. I<\ Pope, vice-presi­ dent; C. F. Litizee, secretary; L. S. Smith, treasurer, and Mrs. A. M. Wilcox, super­ intendent. A valuable property has been secured, known a& the "Old Dnquoin sem­ inary," containing fiver thirty rooms, well located, with forty, acres of land. The counties embraced within this district in­ clude Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Union, Pope, Johnson, Jackson, Williamson, Sa­ line, Gallatin. White. Hamilton, Jeffer­ son, Franklin, Randolph, Perry, Wash­ ington. Marion. Wayne, Edwards. Wa­ bash, Clay, Richland and Lawrence, Attempted Train Wreck. An attempt was made at ti e north edge of Petersburg to wreck the Chicago and Alton "Hummer." probably with the in­ tention of robbery. There is a deep out there and a tie had been laid across the track and chained down. An extra freight of which the would-be robbers had no cognizance, came along at 3:30 o'clock in themorning, a short time before the* Ham­ mer" was due, and the rear end of tlte train struck the obstruction and three cars were wrecked. The train was jioin:: very slowly at the time and no one was injured. Three Killed at Decatur, Miss Bertha Davis, aged 28, niece of Sylvester Davis, while temporarily d niented. committed suicide four miles east of Decatur by stepping in front of a train on the Indianapolis. Decatur and West­ ern Railroad. While attempting to drive over the Monroe street crossing of the Wabash Railroad in Decatur, in front of a rapidly approaching passenger train frem the west. Henry Hunsley, aged 05, a retired farmer, and his nephew, Roy Hunsley, aged 10, were instantly killed. Given Up for Dead. The Tallulu coal mine was set ablaze by an explosion and the men, with the exception of George Carr. hastily left the shaft. The flames cut off Carr and shot up the shaft, and into the air to a tre­ mendous height. Carr was given up for lost until a lull came, and then a num­ ber of sheets were soaked in water and hastily lowered to him. Carr wrapped himself in the sheets aud gave the signal and his fellow workmen drew him to the surface. He was badly burned, but will recover. The mine will be a total loss. American Silks to the Front. Our imports of silk manufactures last month were much below the value of similar imports in the month of Sep- temberin the three previous years un­ der the free-trade Wilscn bill, showing Carson Found Guilty. The coal miners' district convention at MascoUtah adjourned. Bearing on the charges against State President James Carson of the Miners' Union the follow­ ing resolution was adopted: "Resolved, That the State secretary notify Presi­ dent James Carson that he has been found guilty of the charge of bribery pre­ ferred against him and that he be request­ ed to hand in his resignation at once. State News in Brief. Chester A. Wilcox has been appointed postmaster at Quincy. C. P. Chapman and wife celebrated their golden wedding at Pittsfield. Over 300 guests were present. Dr. Newton Bateman, widely known as an educator, died at Galesburg of agin.u pectoris, aged 75 years. After a strike lasting three months, the Penwell mines at Pana have signed the scale and work will be resumed. Angus D. McPherson. Chicago man­ ager foi the-New York linen firnt'oTTJT Jaffa & Pinkfls. charged with embezzle­ ment, was acquitted at Chicago. According to a report read before the fifty-fourth annual meeting of the Baptist General Association .at Taylorville. 1.011 Baptist churches with a membership of 110,000 are well established in the S'atc. The bottom of the marvelous body of gold ore which was encountered in the Hardin shaft near Deadwood, S. D.. at a depth of over 200 feet, has at length been reached. The body of ore shows a thickness of twenty-two feet that will average $50 a ton. The magnitude of this deposit exceeds anything that has ever been discovered in Bald Mountain or Ruby Basin and has set the adjoining property owners wild. Drifting north and south from the. bottom of the shaft has commenced. The owners of thi^ property have no experience in mining. They art- members of the Union Stockyards Ex­ change in Chicago. Patrick GarvCy choked to death while eating a bun and some cheese. He Jived at Griggsvilie. The United States sugar refinery locat­ ed in Waukegan, lias been sold to New York buyers, who, it is claimed, are not members of the trust. Owing to the trust the plant has been altogether idle for sev­ eral years. The trustees of Williams College at Williamstown. Mass., have arranged a complete settlement of the bequest of Judge B. R. Sheldon of Rockford of $100.- 000, and have decided4he entire sum shall remain intact, only the income to be used. The Jury in the murder case against Ansoa W. Gregor at Galesburg returned a verdict of guilty and gave him a life sentence. Gregory, inji fit of anger last spring, beat his wife and while she was ill placed his knees upon her abdomen. She died from the injuries received. At Clinton, the power house of the Clin­ ton Electric Light and Power Company burfiod. Sparks from the cars or spon­ taneous combustion is the cause assigned. The smokestack and the scalded machin­ ery aud some walls only remain. Thi- city is in darkness. The insurance is not enough to cover the loss. The loss may be £2.500, as most of the machinery is de­ stroyed.' Earl Cprlej was kicked to death by ft horse at Moweaqua. Horse thieves raided Roundout ftnd etole several valuable horses. George Winberger of Chicago was fa­ tally wounded while hunting near Lacon. At Clinton, John Warner's bank cashed a fraudulent check for $500 presented by a middle-aged man with iron-gray hair. Lee Michaels, a Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern roafl brakfcman, fell under the cars near Louisville and was killed. The union miners in the Car'inville Coal Company's shaft have struck again, claim­ ing that non-union labor is beiug employ­ ed. Nathan Nasovitz was drowned in the Chicago river by falling from the Harri­ son street bridge. The case was not one of robbery and murder. The First Presbyterian Church of Kan­ kakee has extended a call to the Rev. A. M. Ay res, pastor of the Eleventh Presby­ terian Church, Chicago. Stockholders of the Mutual Union Loan and Building Association of Chicago have decided to go into voluntary liquidation and wind up its affairs. Col. Hugh E. Bayle died at his home in Chicago. He was 49years old and wa? prominent in military circles during Gov. AItgeId's administration. Carl Koeble took-his life at Chicago. First he drank carbolic acid : then he cut his throat with a razor and finished by hanging himself with a wire.' The Illinois Presbyterian synod at Galesburg elected as moderator Dr. James .Lewis of ; the Chicago presbytery. T h e e l e c t i o n r e q u i r e d t w o b a l l o t s . . > : i ; A call has been extended to. J. B. Bai­ ley of. Rock Island to act as secretary of the Khnkakee Y. M. C. A., vice Jesse Kline, returned-to Janesville, Wis. \ . George Van Voorst, grain and lumber dealer at Union Hill, has made a volun­ tary assignment. Assets and liabilities, about $7,000. Edward Hines Lumber Company of Chicago is the principal cred­ itor. Owing to continued sickness Dietrich Schlueter, a garden farmer, and his son John, living at Mascoutah, agreed to com­ mit suicide together. John shot hhuse'f, but will recover. His act scared the old man. ' The miners in the employ of the Coal Valley Mining Company at Cable and Sherrard have returned to work at 49 cents, having abandoned their demand for 50 cents. They had beeu out three months to a day. Scarlet fever has begun to spread to au alarming extent at Greenville. The lower grades of the public schools are closed and the Mayor has issued a proclamation requesting parents to keep their children at home. ' - ,v , ^ \ Dr. John N. Wilkins of Chicago at­ tempted to board a moving Lincoln ave­ nue cable train at the Monroe and Dear­ born curve and was thrown almost under the first itrailer. His face and head were bruised and cut and one rib was broken. The lynching bee that was threatened to take place at Marion did not come off as promised. Sheriff Parks outgeneraled the Carterville mett', who were organiz­ ing the mob to lynch the seven Italians in jail on the charge of murdering John Young. Gov. Tanner has issued a requisition on the Governor of Nebraska for the re­ turn of JamesJStewart, under arrest at Omaha and wanted in Chicago on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill upon Dennis C. Douo- hue, a saloonkeeper. The will of the late Albert Hankins of Chicago, who was killed in a folding bed, has been probated in the Porter, Ind., Circuit Court. His widow, Ella A. Han­ kins, is appointed administratrix of the estate. The value of the estate was plac­ ed at $100 and she gave bonds for $200. W. J. Ollendorff died at Canton from injuries received in a runaway accident. He was vice-president of the extensive agricultural implement works of tae Par- lin & Orendorff Company, and als* vice- president of the First National Bank. He was a member of the Legislature in 1S85 and was one of the famous 103 who stood by Gen. John A. Logan in his mem­ orable senatorial contest. Emily Huntington Miller, dean of the Woman's hall, Northwestern University, had a "lively and unpleasant encounter with hornets at EvanSton. The steam was turned on for the first time this fall in the morning, and it awoke a nest of hor­ nets under the floor of Dean Miller's room, near the steam pipes. The little fighters swarmed into the room and before she could escape, the educator was stuiig on both face and hands. The mystery surrounding the disappear­ ance of Albert A. Hammers, an officer in the Modern Woodmen and member of the Maccabees at Elgin, was closed when his body was found in the box beneath an unused windmill tower in Dundee town­ ship, hanging from a beam. It had evi­ dently been there since Sept. 30. The mill is unused and somewhat out of the way. which accounts for the non-discov­ ery. Justice Brown held an inquest, the verdict being suicide while aberrated. Hammers leaves a family. Sixteen students in the Duquoin high school have been suspended from school for failing to prepare for a literary pro­ gram. ami as a result twenty-five more tiled out. The trouble arose out of a di­ vision of the colored students between the Platonic ami Socratic literary societies. At the beginning of the term, when the societies were being organized, the, mem­ bers of the Socratic society claim that Superintendent D. B. Rawlins told them they could have their preference between four colored girls and one colored boy and they promptly took the boy. The Platonic society then protested' against the divis­ ion and Prof. Rawlins decided to divide them equally among the two societies. This brought forth a 'protest from the Socratic society, and when Prof. Rawlins insisted on the division sixteen out of seventeen who were assigned on the pro­ gram refused to make preparation. The Board of Education will now be called on to settle the matter. _.Galesburg's new Catholic university, the Corpus Christi Lyceum, has been for­ ma lly opened. Bishop Spalding of Peoria delivered an address on education. Many prominent members of the church from other cities were present. The new in­ stitution is in charge of Fathers Costa and Tonello and Prof. Q J. Cavanaugh. It starts with about 100 students. Sheriff Yoekey sold out the elevator and grain belonging to Robert T. Harrington at Marseilles. There were Claims agsrre- ating $1S,000 on file against Harring­ ton and the sale did not reach half that amount. Deacon James Haymond of Bradley, a wealthy lumber dealer and promiuent Baptist, died of injuries received while fighting a prairie fire. ' • The closiug day of the free street fair at Mattoon brought an attendance of 50,- 000 people, and all pronounce the week au unqualified success. The sheriff of Champaign County has decided not to follow the provisions of the act of th? last Legislature providing that sheriffs shall retain the convicts com; mitted to the penitentiary until all the criminal cases before the term of cour' ai-e disposed of and then take them all to prison on one trip. The sheriff is advised that the yrovisioU is invalid. Vast Loss Due to Bad Roads. The bad roads of Iowa have been made the subject of a report to the Sec­ retary of . Agriculture by Gen. Roy Stone, director of the bureau of road In­ quiry of the Agricultural Department at Washington. He reports that while Iowa leads all other States in ton­ nage of agricultural products, the cost of transporting her crops by wagon has reached the maximum, owing to the bad condition of the public roads,, so that her agricultural output of 24,000,- 000 tons is hauled at an average cost of $1.31 a ton. The Iowa farmer pays on an average 24 cents a ton a mile, but the cost of hauling on good roads la from 6 to 10 cents. The present condi­ tions are largely caused, he" says, by the neglect of the Government to lay out roads in advance of the settlement of the country. Gen. Stone estimates that with rail­ road co-operation narrew stone roads or gravel roads surfaced with stone can be built generally throughout the State at a cost! of' from $800 to $1,200 a ruiie where no heavy grading is required, • and suggests that the cost caii be large­ ly reduced by the employment of con­ vict labor, as is done in other States. Conservative estimates based upon the hauling of crops and local travel place the tax paid annually by the farmers of Iowa because of bad roads at $14,- 000,000. Steel Wagon Roads. One of the most fertile causes of bad roads in many parts of the country is the use of the narrow tires on heavy farm and freight wagons. Eventually, says the Buffalo Express, when broad tires are adopted on all wagons, and care is exercised in filling the ruts, the evil will be mitigated to a great extent, but in the meantime the United States Department of Agriculture is endeavor­ ing to save the country roads from the quick deterioration which is so com­ mon. It proposes to lay down in the center' of the road two flat steel tracks of suitable gauge of the average farm wagon traffic. These steel rails, for they are nothing less, are to be seven- sixteenths of an inch thick, and of an inverted trough shape. They wiil be bedded in gravel laid in trenches, and they will be tied together at the joints and in the middle. On all hills the rails will be slightly corrugated or roughened to enable horses to take a good foothold. Beyond the question of durability such a road is supposed to reduce the tractive re-, sistance from 40 pounds per ton on a macadam surface to 8 pounds per ton on the trough rails. The cost of rails and fittings for a short stretch of road will be at the rate of $3,500 per mile; though a line several miles in length could be built for about $2,000 per mile. This estimate is for a track weighing 100 tons to the mile; a track for lighter traffic, weighing about 50 tons per mile, could be built for half the money. These figures represent the cost of material only, the grading and track-laying not included. Roads and Roads. In the commonwealth of Massachu­ setts the State builds the principal roads, and the counties and towns bear the cost of the branch roads. The continent of Europe has 9S2,300 miles of public highway, most of which is kept in good condition by special pro­ vincial or departmental taxes. Spain was well provided with roads during the rign of Charles Y., but al­ lowed them to fall into disuse; now there are but 14,000 miles of highway. Germany has three kinds of miles: the German short mile, 0,859 yards; the German geographical mile, 8,327 yards; and the German long mile, 10,120 yards. The East India Company began, and afterward the British Government con­ tinued. the construction of roads in In­ dia, and now all parts of the peninsula are well provided. The Carthaginians were excellent road builders. Portions of the roads leading from Carthage east and west along the sea coast of Tunis and Tripoli are still to be found. ; The arshin, a common measure of length on Turkish roads; is thirty inches. A thousand arshins is consid­ ered the unit of distance, equivalent to something less than 1,000 yards. The Phoenicians were great road builders^ Traces of their roads in Syria and Asia Minor, from the seacoast to the plateau of Armenia, are to be found even at the present day. fi Thomas Paine, Skeptic. That Thomas' Paine, the author of the "Age of Reason," was once a preacher will be news to many persons who have become accustomed implicit­ ly to follow his teaching and who re­ gard him as the greatest antUCliristian writer of the English language. Paine was the son of a Quaker stay-maker, or, as we should say, corset-maker. H:s- father was a pious man, and Paine himself, in his youth, was accustomed to attend the meetings of the Quakers and to take part in them. When about 20 years old lie was very devout, fre­ quently officiated as an itinerant preacher and gave large promise of fu­ ture usefulness in the ministry. The course of his reading changed, how- c) ever; doubts arose in his mind with rer gard to the inspiration and authenticity of the Scriptures; he began to study them with a critical eye; criticism in his case developed irreverence, and he finally became known as a daring skep­ tic. His friends, particularly Benja­ min Franklin, did all they could to dis­ suade him from the publication of the "Age of Reason,"*but Paiue was obdur- f ate and the book appeared. To think of Paine as a preacher is apparently to imagine a contradiction? and yet it is possible that a trifling difference In cir­ cumstances might have made him one of the most eminent clergymen of the Ijist century.--St. Louis G^be-Demo­ crat. •. Usually the epitaph on a man's tombstone would read differently if bis widow were to express her true feel-