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has, secured an option on 90 per cent of the general ware potteries in Trenton, N. J., and East Liverpool, O., the two prin­ cipal potteries of the country. An unknown man threw himself or ac­ cidentally fell from a parapet on the Washington bridge over the Harlqm river at New York, dropping 147 feet, to the water. He was fished out and will live. Clipper ships Atoyan and Dirago sailed fro,m New Y9rk for San Francisco and Shanghai respectively,, and -the* captains of each have wagered: he will make the quickest trip, the distance being practical­ ly the same. . Tljte National Summer School Associa­ tion which hasjbeen holding yearly meet­ ings at Glens Falls, N. Y., has been dis­ solved by actioa of the stockhorders on account of the unsatisfactory financial condition of the association. J. J. Hill of the Gfeat Northern Rail­ road has notified President Bridgeman of Hamline University that he will give $20,- 000 for the purpose of raising the debt provided other friends of the institution will raise the remaining $15,000. THE PLAINDEALEB WOLCOTT TALKS OF HIS WORK. He Relates to His Colleagues His Mis­ sion, Its Efforts aud Failure. In the Senate Monday Senator Wolcott took occasion to make his first statement as to the recent mission in Europe of the monetary commission, charged vftth the effort to bring about an agreement with the trans-Atlantic nations for the further use of silver in the money of the world. Wolcott introduced his subject by say­ ing he proposed to make a statement re­ specting. certain phases of the work of the recent bimetallic commission of which he was a member. He would speak unoffi­ cially, not committing his associates to his opinions, and avoiding so far as pos­ sible everything which might give, rise to controversy. He §aid .that all three members of the commission were bimetallisms--a fact fully known to the President when he selected them. Whatever measure of success or failure the commission met with it had "been hampered by no lack of authority or sanction or administrative support. The commission had been of one mind through­ out. It had been given full powers, and it had not been hampered in the exercise of them. Our ambassadors had co-operat­ ed with the commission linder strict in­ structions from the home government. And the President of the United States extended to the mission his unswerving support in all efforts to bring about an international agreement. "There has been no moment in which we have not known that back of our ef­ forts was the earnest desire of the chief executive to carry out in its integrity, the provisions of the platform of the Repub­ lican party, pledging it to every effort to bring about an international bimetallic agreement." He said the commission went first to France, because of the large silver circu­ lation there and the French premier's belief in bimetallism. An agreement was reached with that country, and with the representatives of that country the com­ mission proceeded to London, where in­ dications were very favorable. The com­ mission had" no expectation that-Great Britain would abando.n the gold, standard, but had reason to suppose it would open the mints of India to free coinage. If the coiiimission had succeeded in this it would have had an agreement in behalf of the nations using more than half the silver money in the world for free coin­ age before an international bimetallic con­ ference was called. The official treatment of the commission by the British Govern­ ment was most courteous throughout, but he characterized the utterances of some of the London press as "brutal" and lie as­ serted that these papers were dominated by the allied banking element. It might be, he added, that political considerations made the reply of the Indian Government objecting to a reopening of the Indian mints to silver, not unwelcome to the British ministry, but he did not believe it dictated that reply. The position taken by the Indian Government greatly sur­ prised the commission, which had reason to believe that India would welcome the reopening of her mints to the white metal. He believed it was equally surprising to the English ministry. The position of the Indian Goivernment J. VAN SLYKE, Editor and Pub. THERE IS NO FINER COOK-SHOP IN THE LAND. ILLINOIS MCHENRY. In It Is Prepared Food to Relieve Sen­ atorial Hunger--It Cost a Lot of Money and Its Products Are the Best. COAST FORT DEFENSE. NEW YORK, BOSTON AND SAN FRANCISCO NOW SAFE. Two hours of Saturday were devoted tt» general debate in the House on the army appropriation bill, and the remainder of the day to eulogizing the life and public services of the,late Representative Seth- W. Milliken of Maine, who" served for fourteen years in the lower branch of Congress. The Senate was not in ses­ sion. Monday was District of ^Columbia day in the House, but only three bills of local importance were passed. The remainder of the session was devoted to further con­ sideration of the army appropriation bill. The debate was particularly notable for a vigorous speech by Mr. McClellan of New York, a son of Gen. George B. McClel­ lan, attacking the present army organiza­ tion as obsolete and inefficient. Mr. Lew­ is of Washington also made a speech that attracted attention, in denunciation of trusts, which, he declared, were threaten­ ing the liberties of the country. The con­ sideration of the army appropriation bill was not completed. Quite unexpectedly Senator Hauna appeared at the opening session in the Senate. Mr. Foraker, the senior Senator from Ohio, presented' Mr. Hanna's credentials for the remainder of Mr. Sherman's term, which will expire. March 4, 1899, and .asked that the oath of office be-administered to him. Mr. Foraker escorted his colleague to the desk, where Vice-President Hobart ad­ ministered the oath. Senator Wolcott de­ livered a speech explaining the work of thp bimetallic CQiiimission. By a vote of 45 to 28 the immigration bill was passed. The rest of the day was devoted to con­ sideration of bills on the calendar. Cuba had a hearing in the House on Tuesday, and for a time it looked as if parliamentary precedents would be set aside and the Senate resolution recogniz­ ing the insurgents as belligerents would be attached as a rider to the diplomatic and consular appropriation bill. Mr. De Ar- mond," a Missouri Democrat, precipitated the issue by offering the resolution as an amendment, but a point of order against it was Sustained. Mr. De Armond ap­ pealed, urging the Republicans who had professed friendship for the struggling Cubans to override the decision of the chair as the only chance of securing ac­ tion on the'proposition. Mr. Bailey, the leader of the minority, and other Demo­ crats joined in the appeal. The excite­ ment became intense, but the appeals of Mr. Dingley, the floor leader of the ma­ jority, as well as other Republican lead­ ers, to their associates not to join iilCthe program, succeeded. Before the diplo­ matic bill came up the army bill was pass­ ed. In the/ Senate practically the only business accomplished was the passing of the urgent deficiency appropriation bill. The measure as finally passed by the QAnnfn /tntfrnAM (P1 01 •> Ol A »r» i J * i- mL' jLCiici resolution providing that bonds of the United States may be paid in standard silver dollars was favorably reported by a majority of the Finance Committee, and notice was given that it would be called up at an early date. An effort was made to fix a time for the final vote on the pend­ ing census bill, but was abandoned. All day long on Wednesday the question of granting belligerent rights to the Cu­ ban insurgents was argued in the House, but the minority hurled itself against a stone wall. On the only vote taken--a mo­ tion designed to overrule the decision of the speaker and direct the Committee on Foreign Affairs to report without further delay the Cuban resolution passed by the Senate at the last session--the Republi­ cans stood solid and voted to sustain the chair. In the Senate a joint resolution providing for the appointment of a com­ mission to make a survey of a ship canal from the lower part of Lake Michigan to the Wabash river was offered by Mr. Turpie (Ind.) and referred to the Com­ mittee on Commerce. Mr. Chandler pre­ sented and secured the passage of a reso­ lution directing the Committee on Inter­ state Commerce to inquire whether the fund provided for in rules 16 and 17 of the Joint Traffic Association is lawfully in existence; to examine the details of its expenditure, as to whether or not it had been expended for lawful purposes, and whether any illegal or improper use of the funds could be prohibited and punish­ ed by law. On Thursday the consular and diplo­ matic appropriation bill was passed by the House, after a day of debate on the Cuban question. Mr. Dingley made ,a speech relative to wage reductions in the cotton industry, in which he showed that the tariff question has nothing to do with them. In the Senate Mr. Teller's resolu­ tion that bonds be paid in silver as well as gold was taken up by a vote of 41 to 25, and, after debate, was made unfin­ ished business. Mr. Pettigrew secured the passage of a resolution directing the Secretary of the Interior and the Attor­ ney General to inform the Senate what steps the Government had taken concern­ ing the killing of a woman in Oklahoma territory by Seminole Indians aijd-'^fie burning of two Seminole India|Is^ in the same territory. The rejjujiitioir inquiring of the Pn«tinastgr General what action was necessary to maintain the excel­ lence of the postal free delivery service was agreed to. Mr. Tillman's resolution extending the authority of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee rela­ tive to the investigation of the giving by railroads of transportation for any other consideration than cash was also passed. The War department Is Concentrating Its Efforts Upon theStrengthening l of Defensive Works for Coast Cities-- j Doves Replace Champagne. !' Defentfc from Foreign 1'ocs. Definite plans have been made in Con­ gress' for the further prosecution of the Work of fortification along" the coast. The fortifications bill will carry a considera­ bly smaller'auiount than that of last year, but the money spent will be spent where It will bave jin immediate effect in pro­ tecting cpast'defenses. It is a secret which kab been carefully Kept by Government officials, and especially ..by the heads of the War Department* that New York, Bbston ah® Sail Francisco are to-day for­ tified to a degree-Sufficient to keep off al­ most any foreign fleet. There are already on hand and ..ordered" many: more big guns than could possibly be put in place in the next two years. What is wanted now is, first5, simple fortifications and em­ placements for the guns now lying around on skids; second, a large supply of the new type of carriages; third, light fortifi­ cations to protect the gunner, and, fourth, barracks and houses for the artillery­ men. The purpose of the War Depart­ ment and of Congress i$(,to fortify large cities, whicn; could be made the basis of an attack for the levy of blackmail. The small towns along the coast will be al­ lowed to take care of themselves. The officials ,have figured out that if they con­ centrate their energies on- places like Bos­ ton, New York, the entrance to Chesa­ peake bay. Mobile, Savannah, the mouth of the Delaware, Charleston, the mouth of the Mississippi, Galveston, San Fran­ cisco, the Puget Sound, they will be rea­ sonably secure against the attacks of for­ eign fleets, which would not be likely to .make a combined movement against the smaller places, because their destruction would not inflict a severe blow upon the commerce of the country. $600,000 Fire in Minnesota, A large portion of the business district of East Grand Forks, Minn., was wiped out by fire, entailing a loss of over $600,- OOO. The blaze was discovered in G. W. Hines' saloon, and before the fire depart­ ment could do effective work the flames had crept under the approach of the De- niers avenue bridge, attacked Russell & Doll's saloon, Rogers' cafe, the Great Northern grain elevator, Dan Sullivan's, William Dobmier's and Kelley's saloons, and all these buildings were destroyed. A sudden change in the wind saved the entire business district from ruin. This is the second time within a year that this Twenty-two persons arrived at Seattle from Dawson City, bringing gold dust and drafts amounting to $1,000,000. They confirm the report that the mother lode has been discovered on Eldorado creek. Anthracite coal producing and carrying companies have advanced prices 10 to 20 cents per ton, to the basis of $3.95 free on board for stove at tidewater; other prices in proportion. The advance, it is explain­ ed, is due to the lightness of stock result­ ing from the continued restriction of the output and to have orders from the West. Collector of Customs Milne at Victoria, B. C., is in receipt of a letter from Ska- guay in which it is alleged that Mr. Smith, United States Commissioner for Dyea and Skaguay, claims a strip of land i three miles down from tbs hesd of LEks ' Bennett, which is near the boundary as defined by the United States, and which would give the United States control of the territory from the coast to the lake. The commissioner, the writer alleges, has ordered all locators of lots to have them recorded with him. A party of Ameri­ cans, the writer says, followed the com­ missioner's direction by hoisting the American flag just below the police bar­ racks, where the British flag was flying. The Canadian mounted police demanded an explanation, and after some parleying the flag was hauled down and an apology tendered. The same letter contains in­ formation that Bernard Moore is having more trouble with squatters on land which he claims at Skaguay. Early In the pres­ ent month, it is alleged, he turned out with an armed force and drove squatters off the land. It is also stated that some firing was done, but nobody was hurt. Bradstreet's commercial review says: "Distrjbntlye trade remains rather quiet, mild weather throughout the country tending to check distribution of winter goods. Prices generally remain steady or tend upward, except lor some grades of iron, land orders for spring trade wherci received are encouraging. A feature of the week was the placing.of an order by one railroad for 100,000 tons of steel rails, with smaller orders, aggregating in the neighborhood of 25,000 tons more. Pig iron production is now at an unprecedent­ ed rate, the furnace capacity being esti­ mated at 1,000,000 tons a month. An­ thracite coal production, it is hoped in that trade, will be restricted sufficiently | to allow of the advance of 20 to 40 cents a ton being maintained. Weather has ! been disappointing at the Northwest, but an improvement in the demand developed at some centers as the week advanced. 1 The jfSsli to Alaska has already begun on the ft^acific coast. The recent falling off in wheat exports prove to have been due 1 to the usual holiday quieting and not to any falling off of demand from abroad. The total export of wheat (flour included as wheat) from the United States and Canada for th)3 week amounted to 5,135,- ICQ bushels, against 3,481,000 bushels last week. Corn exports for the week show a gain of 1,000,000 bushels, amount­ ing to 4,641,000 bushels, against 3,455,000 bushels last week." nOBAKT LUNCHES IN HIS PRIVATE BOOM, are mostly in silver and had been halved by the closing of the mints? She is at a disadvantage with neighboring nations in the matter of exports; her currency is in­ sufficient and steadily decreasing and the recent famine was one of money rather than of food. Contributions forwarded for the starving were in money, rather than in grain. Rice was abundant throughout the famine period at a trifle over a cent a pound, or cheaper than wheat in England. Among the obstacles with which the commission ha5 to contend was the re­ markable drop in silver and the coincident tariff legislation, together with the state­ ments of New York bankers in England to the effect that the American people do not favor bimetallism, and the commis­ sion was merely sent as a sop to few far westerners; that bimetallism in the Unit­ ed Stales was dead and that the Presi­ dent was really a gold standard man. The commission was also attacked by the ex­ treme fr»e silver men, who predicted fail­ ure. All these, however, he did not believe affected the outcome. He expressed the opinion that an international bimetallic agreement is hopeless for the present, es­ pecially while the nations of Europe are piling up gold. With certain modifica­ tions, however, he believed such an agree­ ment was still feasible. It might be nec­ essary to change the ratio to, say, 20 to 1. I if K A TORS, Wife to Get Mangled Remains. A horrible fate intercepted W. C. Hoge of Nevada, Mo., on his journey home to meet his wife, with whom he was about to become reconciled. Hoge fell under a Memphis freight train at Fulton, and his underclotning and parts of his body were found at Liberal, Mo., three miles distant. He was mutilated beyond description, but was identified by an affectionate letter from his wife, pleading with him to stop his dissipation and return to her. As much of the body as could be gathered in a basket has been sent to his wife at Ne­ vada. -T! Doves at a Launching. The Japanese cruised Kasagi was suc­ cessfully launched at Philadelphia. The Kasagi is the most important ship ever built in the United States for a foreign country, and is the first foreign warship launched in America since the Russian warship Zobiaoa in 1878. Ever since Japan had a navy the custom of liberat­ ing doves has been in vogue and the re­ lease of the two young doves was to sym­ bolize the happy fruition of a great en­ deavor accomplished through the inter­ cession of white-winged peace. t* ix i$ • • - NEWS NUGGETS. Senator Vest. Senator Stewart. Senator Hoar. CHARACTERISTIC SCENES IN THE SENATE LUNCH ROOM. Henry Bulche, formerly of Chicago, committed suicide at Henderson, Minn. The National Guard of Missouri will Collect money to aid in relieving suffering In Cuba. Trops are patrolling the streets of T^rague because of threats of further Czech disturbances. New York labor unions have declared war on Chinese laundries afad asked the public to boycott them. D. M. Hough & Co., shoe manufactur­ ers of Rochester^ N. Y., have made an/: assignment to Granger A. Hollister. J. S. Dunham of Chicago was unani­ mously elected president of the Lake Car­ riers' Association in session at Detroit. It is stated that the Government of Chili has decided to undertake the con­ struction of the projected trans-Andean railway. The northern Colorado coal operators have issued an address to striking miners giving their - reasons for refusing..to ad­ vance wages. .> . Richard Croker heads the finance com­ mittee of Tammany Hall, which means that he is to be the nominal, as well as the actual, leader of the organization, v. A hurricane leveled hundred of der­ ricks in Jhe oil field of Ohio and blew down telegraph and telephone poles in many localities. A tremendous rain ac­ companied the wind and streams over­ flowed their banks. The village of Alger, in the Scioto marsh, was completely-sub­ merged and the residents compelled to vacate-or move into the second story of their homes. A section of floor at the Cudahy pack­ ing plant at Omaha, Neb., fell, carrying down several workmen. J. Novak was killed. 5The nominations of Charles Page Bry­ an of Illinois to be minister to Brazil and E. H. Conger of Iowa to be minister to China have been confirmed by the Sen­ ate. Henry E. Straight, who was araested in Jersey City a week ago charged with swindling business people in Wilkesbarre and Harrisburg, Pa., and Baltimore and •New York, has escaped from tlie Jersey City jail. ' ' Candles in the Klondike are $1.50 apiece, thus making the miners' light ex­ pense heavy. Young Mr. Leiter has raised at least 9,000,000 bushels of wheat right in Chi­ cago this winter. William Terriss' funeral drew a crowd­ ed house. Here's a valuable pointer for several actors in this country. The Emperor of China says lie is "filled with forebodings." He's in great luck not to be filled with lead. It may have been a mean trick for the Luetgert stenographers to quit, but per­ haps they saw no other way to escape from the expert witnesses. Very satisfactory trials have been re­ cently made of a lifeboat made of pumice stone, which it was found would remain afloat with a lead.. Why not try it on the Texas ? Frank Stanton thinks there is nothing remarka hle ia the fact that--Nausea speaks English fluently for $1,000 a night. A great many of us could do the same thing. Theatrical Note.--Owing to the legal measures undertaken against him, Actor ltatcliffe will not appear again this sea­ son in his private family drama, "The Wife Beater." The serial entertainment we have with us always. The recurrent Durrant inci­ dent being at last permanently closed it is quite fitting that the Andree balloon should be discovered again. It appears that David B. Hill popped out of obscurity last week just long enough to aunounee that he is a Demo­ crat and then popped back without giv­ ing anybody a chance to prove it. Sarony, the famous New York photog­ rapher," died a few months ago and his widow has just consoled herself with his successor. <Saroiiy's negatives evidently were better developed than his wife's. . It is to be hoped that the offer of $20,- 000"for the discovery and identification of Mrs. Luetgert alive will encourage some of the various persons who are finding that .estimable lady almost daily to bring her into camp. A Missouri woman who had inadvert* ently made a souvenir collection of two husbands confessed that fact the other day. The husbands immediately met and exchanged 32-caliber compliments, and ,within an hour that woman instead of be­ ing one bigamist had become two widows. * Southern cities report encouraging pros­ pects in all lines of trade for the new year. , >;v Robert Caldwell* Smith Hollon, John Williams and Tom Wilson, colored, were killed in a drunken fight near Barbours- ville, Ky., and William Burgas mortally , wOuuded. , « Arthur S. Pope has been appointed tem- porarj' receiver for the Hoffman Machine ; Company, a West Virginia corporation, in a suit brought by stockholders for a dis­ solution of the corporation. „ . j At Louisville, Ky., three men were se­ riously and two fatally burned as the re­ sult of a boiler explosion in the Fern- cliffe distillery. The fatally injured are John Kenny and Philip Kerb. ' Benjamin Butterworth, United States Commissioner of Patents, who has been ill at Piuej- Woods Hotel at Tliomas- ville, Ga., several weeks, is dead. His last illness was caused by pneumonia. General Cassius M. Clay's young wife, Dora, barely escaped death at the hands of her brother, Olell Richardson, Clell, angry because his brother-in-law, Willie Bryant, paid too much attention to Dora, drove her out of the house and fired two shots after her. Mr. Mount (Dem. of. Oldham) has in­ troduced a bill in the Kentucky House designed to remove the negro as a quanti­ ty in Kentucky politics. It makes pay­ ment of poll taxes for the year prior to the election a qualification to vote in elections in that State. The body of James E. Berry, known in life as the tramp millionaire, lay for a time at a-Paducah, Ky., undertaker's es­ tablishment, worn by age, disease and ex­ cesses and stared at by morbid strangers. Berry's wife took the remains to Mount Vernon, 111., foij interment. English Geographical Knowledge. * A leading London paper explains to Its readers that "the plot of 'Secret Service' is laid in Richmond, which was one of the most important points in the late civil war between North and South America." BRIEF NOTES OF NOTABLES. Hall Caine has been ordered by his physician to go to Rome and abstain from all work and worry. William B. Howell, Assistant Secre­ tary of the Treasury, was a messenger, boy in the department fifteen years ago. " There is a relic of Livingstone in the Charterhouse school, London, in the form of an old battered coat given by the great African missionary to one of his native followers. Mine. Emma Eames, the great singer, said recently that though she loved America no singer could live there long* because the constant rush and hurry' soon told on the voice. Pampeluna, his native town, lias es­ tablished a Sarasate liiuseum, to which the violinist has given all the presents and jewelry he has received from royal personages during his career. When President McKinley returned to the White House recently he found • that one of the alterations was the fit­ ting out of a hitherto unused room as a handsome smoking room for him. The thirty days of mourning that have interrupted the social gayety of Washing-' ton will compel the administration to hus-- tle in order to fulfill all of the formal en­ gagements that have been made before the beginning of Lent. The discipline at the naval academy was never so severe as at present. Capt. Cooper, the superintendent, is making a new and higher standard, both in con­ duct and scholarship, and has adopted some severe measures to test class honor among the cadets. •• When President Lincoln appointed Mr. Hassurek of Cincinnati as minister to Ecuador lie told hiiii it was the highest office in the gift of the nation, Quito, the capital, being nearly 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. Archibald J. Sain­ ton of Arizona now enjoys that honor. Representative Broussard of Louisiana lias followed the example of Representa­ tives Belknap of Illinois and Beach of Ohio in getting married, and it is hoped that the epidemic will spread in alphabet­ ical order through the entire House of Representatives. Robert Adams of Phi.-; adelphia, Joseph W. Bailey of Texas and William Edward Barrett of Massachu­ setts are three young and handsome Rep­ resentatives whose names at the top of the list in tho congressional directory do .not have the asterisk that indicates the matrimonial state/ but there is still time for them to reform. When the "Cs" are reached Mr. Oauaua lawa wiU W the first to fall.