The record-union. [volume], December 30, 1895, Image 1

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VOLUME XC—NO. 112.
OUTRAGES IN TURKEY.
Extracts From a Letter of a Witness to
the Armenian Atrocities.
Men, Women, Boys and Girls Killed
by Piecemeal.
The European Powers Playlnjr a
Farcical Representation Round the
Graves of a Christian People—The
Governments of Europe a Spectacle
to Make Angels AVeep, Standing by
and Allowing tlie Turks to Con
tinue Wiping Out Armenia In
Armenian Blood.
LONDON, Dec. 29.—Dr. Henry S.
Lunn, editor of the "Review of the
Churches," and Percy W. Bunting, ed
itor of the "Contemporary Review,"
have addressed the following communi
cation to "All Editors in America and
England."
"We inclose extracts from a private
letter from a personal friend who spent
Biz months of this year in Armenia. J
May we beg to insert these in the next
issue of your paper? Yours faithfully,
"HENRY S. LUNN.
"PERCY W. BUNTING.
"Any allusion to Armenia upsets me.
I am ashamed, excited, indignant, when
I think of what I saw in that country,
and of the confidence with which I con
soled quailing women and weeping men
with hopes that England would see
them through their difficulties, and the
words of heartfelt thanks they uttered,
often upon their knees in the fields or
on the hillsides, and the childlike mes
sages of anticipatory gratitude which
they asked me to deliver to the English
jm ople, now burn and rankle within me '
Jike an envenomed wound.
"The European Powers are playing a
farcical representation round the
graves of a Christian people. If con
duct similar to theirs were to be pur
sued by an individual in private life, it
would be visited with social ostracism
and would brand him with an indelible j
Cain's mark of infamy. Fancy a man's j
neighbors parading about the doors of
his house, while he and his children
rush frantically from room to room,
and window to window, imploring them
to save them from the devouring tlames.
We have pity on a rat if we hear of its
protracted and hopeless efforts to es
cape from burning, but men and j
women, boys and girls, who are killed
piecemeal, are laughed at —that is what
it has come to.
"The Governments of Europe are a
spectacle to make angels weep. They
guard the grates to Turkey, so to say,
BOlemnly declaring that whatever may
happen to the Christians, however dia
illy they may be tortured to death,
nothing shall happen to the Turks—
they at any rate must and will be pre
i from harm. Is it a wonder, then,
that the Turks should set about fulfill
ing their threat of wiping out Armenia
in Armenian bi
•Everyone knows that the threat
would be fulfilled. Consuls reported to
their Government that the departure of •
the European delegates from Moush
would mark the beginning of the blood
bath, and newspapers the proph
ecy publicity. Appeals to the public to
insist on precautionary measures were
multiplied, and at last mere verbal
warning gave place to unmistakable
signs and preparations. But diplo
turned a deaf ear (the Armenians
are nobody's kith and kin). Were they
Greeks or Bulgarians, Magyars or Serb,
they would have high and powerful
'ors who talk of the primary
duty of protecting brothers and Christ
ians. Even Abyssinians are brethren
and orthodox when political calcula
tions come in. But they are Armeni
ans; and Si none of these Govern
ments Insisted on the execution or even
dismissal of Zeekki Pasha, and the- au
thors of the Sassoun savagery. Nay.
■ 1 and honored by !
th-- Sultan as an encouragement to i
others to go and do likewise. And now
a have gone out and have out- ,
Herod, and* no one seems |
ked.
"People are only Interested to pet the
latent news of Sivas and Trebizond at
their breakfast table early. Few per
sons take even a re rest in the j
Armenian question on the continent,
end t:. !vocates of Tur- i
The Austrian press, said to be
paid by the Turkish Government, im- ]
ntly denies th<- massacre,
and aocu rnenians of having!
attempted to butcher the Kurd-
Turks. The German press is the bearer
of the same kind of culture to its read
ers, and in both these countries th«
public knows positively nothing about j
Armenian question. The Russian
papers, beginning with the "Novoe
Yremya." cranks jokes at th" Armenians.
and in the last numht-rs which I have
ask: 'Why should we Russians
sacrifice a single soldier for the sake
of Armenian bankers and millionaires,
who are much better off than we are !
ourselves, to say nothing of British and
agitators, who have so clev- !
erly potten up the Armenian comedy?'
• of regiments of British sol
diers or COWQCICIt is what Is Wi
They would set matters right in a few
Says. But even if the whole English
speaking world would arise and de
vepted?"
ANOTHER HARROWING STORY.
I.< 'XI • >\\ T><-.\ 20.—The next Issue of
Contemporary Review" will eon
a long article entitled "Armenia:
An Appeal," by I >r. K. J. Dillon, of
which the following is a synopsis:
"The tiny has come for every reason
ing person I i a cept or repudiate his
of the joint indirect responsibility
Of the British nation for a series of the
hugest and foulest Crimea that have
over stained the pages of human his
tory. The An. : ;,i,- in Anatolia
are being exterminated by Turks and
Kurds by su<-h Qendtsfa methods as may
Weil cause the most sluggish Mood to
boil with shame ai,.: indignation.
"The Armenians are neither lawless
barbarians nor brigands, nor are th»-
Turks and Kurds the accredited torch
bearers of civilisation, but if it I
pedient that Armenians should be ex
terminated, why chop them up |
meal'
"Why must an honest, hard-working
man be forced to witness the violation
of his daughter, and then have his hand
( ut off and stuffed into his mouth, while
a sermon Ls being preached to him on
the text, 'If your God be God, why does
THE RECORD-UNION.
SACRAMENTO. MONDAY MOHXIXG, DECEMBER 30, IS9S.—EIGHT PAGES.
He not succor you?' Then the other
hand is hacked off, his ears torn off and
his feet severed with a hatchet. Surely,
roasting alive, flaying', disemboweling,
impaling and other horrors have noth
ing that can excuse them in the eyes of
Christians, however deeply absorbed in
politics.
"The Armenians constitute the sole
civilizing element in Anatolia, Christ
ians they are, and from the middle of
the fifth century scarcely a year has
elapsed in which Armenian men and
women have not unhesitatingly laid
down their lives for their religious be
lief. The murdered of Sassoun, of Van,
of Erzeroam were Christian martyrs;
and any or all of those whose eyes were
gouged out, whose quivering flesh was
torn from their bodies, might have ob
tained life by embracing Islam and ab
juring Christ. But, instead, they died
like Christian martyrs. Why is it that
our compassion for these, our fellow
men, has not yet assumed the form of
effective help? For reasons of 'higher
politics.'
"The condition of Armenian Chris
tians when we first interfered (in 1S78)
was deplorable. Laws existed only on
paper. Mohammedan crimes were pun
ishable only in theory. Russia was
willing to substitute law and order for
crime and chaos, and to guarantee to
Christians the treatment due to human
beings. But we then denied her right
to do this, as she refuses to admit our
claim to undertake it single-handed.
"We said in effect: 'Though our polit
ical interests may clash with those of
Russia, we will see to it that they are
not subversive of the elementary prin
ciples of human justice and the immu
table law of God.' Yet we never took
any efficacious step to fulfill the sol
emn promise. Our Consuls forwarded
; exhaustive reports, the press published
heartrending details, Armenian eccle
siastics presented appeals. Yet we
pigeonholed the Consular reports and
ignored the petitions of the priests. We
pressed the knob, as it were, in London,
and thereby opened hell's portals in
Asia Minor, letting loose legions of j
fiends in human shape, who set about j
torturing and exterminating the Chris- j
tians there. And, lest it should be
urged that our Government was ignor
ant of the wide-reaching effects of its
ill-advised action, it is on record that
for seventeen years it continued to \
watch the harrowing results of that ac
tion without once interfering to stop it.
"During all those seventeen years
written law, traditional custom, the
fundamental maxims of human and di
vine justice were suspended in favor
of a Mohammedan saturnalia. Thou- j
sands of Armenians were thrown into j
prison and tortured and terrorized until !
they delivered up the savings of a life- j
time. Whole villages were attacked. In i
a few years the provinces were dcci
: mated. Aloghkerd, for instance, be
ing almost entirely purged of Armeni
ans. Over 2<>,000 woe-stricken wretches
i fled to Russia or to Persia. On the way
they were seized over and over again
by the soldiers of the Sultan, who de
prived them of their little money and
clothes, outraged the women and
girls, and then drove them over the
frontier to hunger and die. Those who j
remained for a time behind were no
better off. Turkish tax-gatherers fol- |
lowed those, gleaning what the brig- j
ands had left, torturing and flogging
their male victims, dishonoring their
wives and deflowering their daughters.
"Stories of this kind in connection
with Turkish misrule in Armenia have
grown familiar to English ears of late.
It should be remembered that these
statements are neither rumors nor ex
aggerations concerning which we are
justified in suspending our judgment.
History has set its seal upon them. The
Turks have admitted these and worse
acts of savagery; the Kurds glory in
them: trustworthy Europeans have
witnessed and* described them, and Ar
menians have groaned over them in
blank despair. Officers and nobles in
the Sultan's own cavalry regiments
bruit abroad with pride the story of the
long series of assaults and murders j
which marked their official careers.
"in accordance with the plan of exter
mination which has been carried out
with such success during these long j
years of Turkish vigor and English
sluggishness, all Armenians who poe
i moneys or moneys worth were
for a time allowed to buy immunity
from prison. But as soon as terror and ;
i confiscation took the place of extortion, ■
the dungeons of Erzeroum, Erzinghan. j
Maraovan, Hassankaleh and Van were
filled till there was scarcely standing I
room. Educated schoolmasters, mis- j
sionaries, priests and physicians were
immured in these hotbeds of infection, !
and forced to sleep night after night j
standing on their feet, leaning against
; the foul, reeking coiner of the wall.
: Hunger, thirst and slimy water ren-
I dered their agony maddening.
"Yet these were not criminals nor al
: loged criminals, but upright Christian I
in. :i v, ho were never even accused of an '
I infraction of the law. Into these pris
ons were venerable old ministers
| ligion. teachers, missionaries, mer
chants, physicians and peasants. Those
! among them who refused to denounce
their friends or consent to some atro
cious crime were subjected to tortures
Ind iscribable, often occupying days.
while their tormentors laughed and j
howled in glee. Nights were passed in j
j such hellish orgies, and days in in
'• venting new tortures or refining upon
I the old. Some of them cannot be de
j scribed, nor even hinted at.
"In the homes of these wretched peo-
I pie the fiendish fanatics were equally
; active and successful. Crime and dis- i
I honor, with nameless accompaniments, :
j menaced almost every K'rl and woman ;
j iti the country. Children were often !
married at the ;itre Of 11, even 1". in the j
vain hope of lessening the danger. Hut
the protection of a husband proved un
availing; it merely meant one murder
more and one Christian dog' less, and
what astonishes one throughout this,
: luii£, Bickening story of shame and '
crime is the religious faith of the suf- :
era.
"Such in broad outline has been the
normal condition of Armenia, ever since
the treaty of Berlin, owing at first to
the disastrous action, and subsequently
to the equally disastrous inaction of
the British Government.
"The above sketch contains but a
. few isolated instances of the daily com
monplaces of the life of Armenian
Christians. The Turks, encouraged by
the seventeen years' connivance of the
only Power which possessed any formal
<ne in favor of the Ar
>;:<. organized a wholesale r>.
I the Christians of SaFsoun. The
urati< ns were elaborate and open.
The project was known to and can
i by all. a long report was ad
dressed by the Abbott of Moush to the
British representative at Erseroum, in
forming him of this Inhuman plan. But
i international comity forbade us to mcd
' die with the 'domestic affairs < t a
[CONTINUED ON EIGHTH I>A(JE.] I
THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS.
'Reorganization of the Senate Committees
to be Effected To-day.
Vote to be Taken to Show the Strength
of the Dominant Parties.
Lodge Will Also Address tho Upper
House on the Resolution Relating
to the Monroe Doctrine—A Recess j
Will Probably Then bo Taken Until
After Xcw Year's—The Programme
in the House One of Idleness.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20.—The reor
ganization of the committees of the i
Senate upon which the steering com
mittees of both old parties have been
working for the past three weeks will
be effected to-morrow by the passage
of a resolution, to be introduced by
Mitchell, Chairman of the Republican
committee.
In violation of precedents for a num- j
ber of years past, a yea and nay vote j
will be taken upon the adoption of the
resolution. The Democrats say they in
tend to show to the country that the
Republicans have more votes in the >
Senate than the Democrats, and there- j
fore are entitled to take control, but
there is a suspicion that the Democrats i
hope by this vote to be able to show j
that a deal has been made by the Re- j
publicans with the Populists. The Re- j
publicans meet this argument with the i
statement that they have permitted the |
Populists to remain just where they ,
were under a Democratic administra
tion of the Senate, and the charge of a
deal no more applies now than it would i
as against the Democrats when they as
sumed control.
The reorganization will not go into j
effect practically until after Wednes- i
day, for the present employes, commit- ■
tee clerks, etc., have already been paid:
their salaries for the month of Decem- i
ber.
Beside the reorganization resolution,
an address by Lodge (Rep.) of Massa
chusetts is on the programme for Mon- !
day, on the resolution now on the table :
rc-lating to the enforcement of the Mon
roe doctrine. Lodge, who is an ardent 1
advocate of the strict enforcement of I
that doctrine, will, doubtless, make a
strong speech, and command the atten
tion of the Senate. It is understood he
will go deeply into this subject, and re
view the historical matters out of which :
it grew, and the cases in which it has ;
been applied by this Government.
It is probable that the Senate will in
dulge after to-morrow's session in a
three-day recess until the holiday sea
son is over. The new tariff bill is now '
before the Finance Committee, and a
meeting of that body has been <.
for Tuesday. While there will be no
undue delay in reporting the bill back .
to t,he Senate, it is not probable that the
report will be made before the end of j
next week.
The programme for the House is one ;
of idleness. Under '-he working of the j
agreement announced Saturday by;
Dingley, Chairman of the Committee on
Ways and Means, the House will be
called to order Tuesday, to adjourn un
til Friday, when th» operation will be '
repeated, adjournment being taken that
day until Monday. January <>th, at
which time consideration of business
will be resumed.
The Appropriations and Elections
Committees expect to do some work in
their rooms during the week for the
furtherance of matters committed to
them.
NO DANGER OF WAR.
Michael Davltt Talks About the Vene-
zuelan < ontrovcivy.
CHICAGO, Dec. 20.—Michael Davitt,
th*- Irish Nationalist and member of
Parliament from South Mayo and East
Kerry, was among the guests registered
at the Palmer House yesterday. He has
been touring Australia, and came to
Chicago from San Francisco. He is now
on his way home, and expects to be in
hia seat when Parliament assembles.
When asked about the position of the
Irish on the Venezuelan controversy,
he said he did not think there was the
slightest possibility of any actual con
flict between the United States and
Great Britain on that question. He
sa i 1:
"Lord Salisbury is known in Great
Britain and Ireland as a bully, whose
policy, when he has been at the head of
the Government, has been to try to in
timidate little nations and powers
throughout the world. He has been
able to do this with impunity hereto
fore, but now he finds that behind little
Venezuela stands America, and he will
discover that he will not be allowed to
carry on the same policy toward this
small State in South America that he
and other English statesmen have car
ried out toward weak peoples and small
Governments in other parts of the
world.
"For myself, I can only repeat that I
am glad that such a stand has been
tr.ken by the United States. Tt was
about time, and the upshot of it will be
that the reasonable demand by the
President, to have the whole trouble
submitted to arbitration, will be ac
cepted by England, and then th ■ seat
of the operations will be transferred
from the newspapers to diplomacy. I
believe war Is so far away that it is
outside the realm of probability, be
cause*, after all, look at it in this licrht:
The commercial relations between this
country and Great Britain are so enor
mous that the people of the United
States on the one hand, and of Great
Britain oh the other, would practically
be insanp if they Jeopardized these
trade relations on account of a small
affair like this in Venezuela—a little
40,000 square mil^s of worthless coun
fy. This is particularly plain when it
is taken into consideration that the
lent of the United states makes so
favorable a proposition as to have the
whole matter submitted to arbitration."
U. S. JU3TIC3 BREWER.
Ho Has Not Been tendered a Place on
tho Venezuelan ( oniiiiis«»loii.
ST. LOUIS. Dec. 29.—Justice David
J. Brewer of the United States Su
preme Court is in this city, en route
from San Antonio, Texas, where he
has been at the bedside of a sick daugh
ter, to Washington. He left to-night.
Judgfl Brewer said the report that he
had been asked to accept a place on the
Venezuelan Commission was untrue.
He said: "I would not be surprised if
Chief Justice Fuller were tendered a
place on the commission. He and the
President are warm friends, and Mr.
Cleveland appointed him Chief Justice
in 188$. The Chief Justice would make
an excellent man for the place, but al
though he is wiry and is capable of do
ing an immense amount of work, I do
not think he would accept the position.
"As to General Harrison. I do not
think that he would accept a position
on the commission. He can probably
make more money out of his law prac
tice and not do such hard work. And,
then, although I do not know, he may
be a candidate."
"Would the fact that he held a place
on this commission seriously interfere
with his candidacy, in your opinion?"
was asked.
"It would not help him any," replied
Justice Brewer. "If he were a candi
date he would most probably want to
be where the politicians gather, and
he would not have the time to do this
if he sat on the commission."
Continuing, Judge Brewer said:
"Speaker Reed is now on trial, as it
were. He has a position that is a diffi
cult one to fill, and the next four months
will make or break him. McKinhy will
enter the convention with the most
votes, but I do not think either he or
Morton will be able to control it. In
that case they will compromise upon
some man acceptable to both, and it
would not surprise me if that man were
Allison."
Yirp at Emporia, Kansas.
EMPORIA (Kan.), Dec. 20.—The j
three largest business buildings in !
Hartford, twenty miles south of here,
were destroyed by fire at daybreak this
morning. Loss between $30,000 or $40,-
OOU. The buildings burned were P. B.
Axton's opera-house, E. C. Rich & Co.,
general merchandise, and McGregor &
Reed's hardware store. The Masonic
s.nd Odd Fellows' lodge room was also
burned, including about $1,000 worth of
lodge property. The fire engines re- J
fused to work. The opera-house might i
have been saved, but for this mishap.
Manitoba Politics.
WINNIPEG (Man.), Dec. 20.—The
Conservatives are organizing to make a
strong fight against Premier Greenway
at the elections on January 15th. They
do not expect to defeat him on his
school policy, but are making an attack
Gn his general administration work, j
and alleging that all the registration
lists have been stuffed. Candidates
were nominated on both sides by con
ventions held in several parts of the
province yesterday.
A Murderer Arrested.
STEUBENVILLE (O.), Dec. 20.—
James Rice, colored, who killed a man !
at the Panhandle tunnel near here on i
Christmas, was arrested yesterday, j
When the officers arrived with him at
the lockup h«-re a crowd of 1,000 men I
gathered, and cries of "Lynch him!"
were indulged in. The police managed
to prevent trouble.
An Unsafe State Building.
MEMPHIS (Term.), Dec. 29.—A dis
patch from Jackson, Miss., says: Recent
investigations of the condition of the
Btate Capitol have demonstrated the
tact that it is in an unsafe condition.
Experts who have examined the build
ing say it is likely to collapse at any
moment.
TRAGEDY IN KENTUCKY.
Horrible Vengeance Inflicted Upon a
Wife and Her Paramour.
A Mob Sets Fire to the ITomo of tho
Woman, Burning Her Alive, and
Shoots to Death the Man.
LEBANON (Ky.), Dec. 29.—A mob
inflicted horrible vengeance on a faith
less woman and her paramour last
night when they burned Mrs. T. J. West
alive and killed W. A. Dever, her para
mour, at Mrs. West's house on Cart
wright's Creek, on the Springfield Pike,
three miles north of this city.
The mob is said to have numbered
about seventy-five, and it was about 12
o'clock when they appeared at Mrs.
West's house. Mrs. West, Dever and
his little daughter were the only per-
Bons in the house, and when the mob
cailed to Dever-to come out, Mrs. West
and the little girl responded, but Dever
remained inside. Just as Mrs. West
reached the door several shots were
fired at her, and she ran back into the
house, but the child remained on the
outside.
The mob then fired several shots into
the house, none of which took effect, and
after several attempts to get Dever to
come out, the mob fired the house. The
heat forced Dever to run out, and with
pistol in hand he started to a corn field
a few steps from the house, where he
took shelter behind a corn shock and
was shot to death.
Mrs. West perished in the burning
house, and this morning her remains
were found in the chimney where she
had taken refuge. Her legs and the
upper portion of the body were almost
entirely burned off.
The little girl gave the alarm this
morning, but only meagre information
can be gained from her.
W. A. Dever is the man who shot and
killed T. J. West, husband of the burned
woman, at Beaver Green, on Cart
wright's Creek, three weeks ago. Dever
had a preliminary hearing, and was re
leased on the ground of self-defense.
The killing is thought to have been
caused by intimacy on the part of
Dever and West's wife. After Dever
was released he was charged with liv
ing with the woman as her husband.
It is said that Dever had been warned
that he would be killed if he did not
leave. He is from Knoxville, and leaves
a wife and several children. Mrs. West
also leaves a large family, but none was
at the house at the time of the horrible
tragedy.
The Coroner's jury has so far failed
to return a verdict.
It was December 7th when Dever
killed West. The latter and his wife
had been living apart for some time,
and his wife had instituted divorce pro
ceedings. She had been induced to with
draw the suit, however, and West was
on his way to town to see about the
matter when he saw Dever. He snap
ped a pistol twice at Dever, after ac
cusing him of adultery with Mrs. West,
when Dever drew his revolver, and, de
spite West's plea for mercy, shot and
killed him and ran away, but returned
when the Coroner's jury returned a ver
dict of justifiable homicide, and re
newed his relations with Mrs. West.
This incited the neighbors to fury, and
last night's horrible work Was the re
sult.
GERMAN TOPICS.
Rapid Reaction Toward Confidence in the
Future of American Finances.
Investors No Longer Accept Tendencies
of the London Market
As a Good Guide in Important Mone
tary Enterprises— Firms Do Xot
Hesitate to Negotiate In American
Securities, Having si General Con
viction in tlie Recovery of a Healthy
Condition of Our Finances.
BERLIN, Dec. 29.—The reaction to
ward confidence in the future of Amer
ican finances, especially as affecting in
ternational monetary relations, has
been surprisingly rapid within the last
few days. Berlin and Frankfort took
the lead of London in speculative buy
ing 1 of American stocks, and operators
here have on the whole benefited by
the selling which was done in London,
and at no time during the Wall street
panic have the German bourses been so
much influenced as was the English
market. The buying set in earlier here,
and even investors took a chance in se
curing stocks at low figures. The bourse
closed notably firm on Saturday, after
considerable buying of American rail
road securities.
The course of operations here gives
evidence in the decreasing Influence of
London upon matters of finance in
which German financiers or investors
are interested. Financiers are no longer
inclined to accept the tendencies of the
London market as a good guide in im
portant monetary enterprises at the
present moment.
Tt is not forgotten how Germany ab
sorbed the American loans at low values
during the war of the American rebel
li< n, when the bonds were almost un
salable in London. So, now, when
English financial houses seem to hesi
tate over the reception of a new bond is
sue, the Washington Government, if it
is desirous of having foreign markets
take part in the loan, might find Ger
man firms prepared to negotiate. The
belief here in the permanence of peace
between the United States* and Great
Britain is absolute, and general con
viction in the recovery of a healthy con
dition of American finances is un
shaken.
The capture in Athens of Baron Yon
Hammerstein, the former editor of the
"Kreuz Zeitung," who absconded under
charges of forgery and embezzlement,
created a tremendous sensation in po
litical and social circles when his arrest
became known on Saturday. The arrest
of this fugitive has cut the ground from
under the feet of the socialist leaders,
and may even be said to have carried
away the feet of some of them. All
along one of the chief weapons of the
socialist press and the socialist parlia
mentary leaders has consisted of in
sinuations that the Government had
connived at Hammerstein's escape, and
frowned upon genuine attempts to bring
him back in order to prevent disclosures
affecting the conservative supporters of
the Government. The capture of Ham
merstein has taken the wind out of the
sails of the socialist craft, and rendered
the Hammerstein letters which the so
cialists were holding over the heads of
many Conservative members of the
Reichstag almost if not wholly value
less as terrorizing measures.
There has never been a moment
since the disappearance of Hammer
stein that the Government has not been
earnest and unceasing in its endeavors
to find him and bring him back to
justice, no matter who might be injured
by any revelations which his prosecu
tion might entail. The political police
tracked him through Switzerland and
Italy, and finally spotted him as he was
landing from a steamer at Piraeus, the
port of Athens, and five miles from that
city. Having run him down, the police
commissaries watched him closely dur
ing the entire time occupied in making
applications in secret to the Greek Gov
ernment far his surrender.
The Government of Greece does not
extradite culprits except for capital
offenses, but under pressure from Ber
lin the Athens authorities took advan
tage of Hammerstein's having recorded
himself as "William Herbart" to expel
him from the kingdom as an anarchist
suspect. Hammerstein was, therefore,
compelled to leave, and embarked on a
steamer for Brindisi. The German police
also took the steamer, and the moment
the vessel sailed Commissary Wolf of
the Berlin political police placed him
under arrest.
The conduct of the Government in
the Hammerstein matter having thus
been vindicated, the police will be al
lowed a free hand to pursue their plan
of socialist repression, while the Con-
B< rvatlves, no longer deterred by so
cialist menaces of damaging revela
tions, will urge repression measures in
the Reichstag.
Berlin now has the prospect of an ex
tremely racy scandal season between
the Hammerstein case and the revela
tions contained in the Yon Kotze doc
uments, which are in the possession of
Fritz Friedmann, the absconding Ber
lin lawyer. According to current report,
Friedmann is now in London, where he
has prepared a pamphlet attacking his
legal and political persons, which he
threatens to publish if the German au
thorities molest him anywhere. It is
understood Friedmann wants a formal
permit to return to Germany, nominally
incognito, in order to settle his af
fairs, and is now negotiating with the
proper authorities in ISerlin to that end.
The Christmas season, according 1 to
reports made by the leading shops in
Berlin, show a boom in business. The
sale of the cheaper class of gooda has
been slack in favor of the higher and
more costly class, and the casual on
looker would consider that the mer
chants, as well as the public, have been
having a fine time all around. The
"North German Gazette" says that Ber
lin has received and sent out Christ
mas parcels far exceeding in number
those sent and received during Christ
mas week of 189&
The celebration in the new palace at
Potsdam on Christmas Eve was even
more brilliant than usual. The Em
peror and Emprw-.s and the members of
their family entered the Shell Hall at
."» o'clock in the afternoon, attended by
the members of the imperial household.
The presents were spread out upon
tables placed along the walls, and the
young Princes could hardly be re
strained from infractions of etiquette
by rushing forward to admire the hand-
WHOLE XO. 16,912.
some gifts before all of the company
haii assembled. Immediately alter the
company had taken their positions, the
members of the Emperor's suite, the
court ladies, the Emperor, the Em
press and the Princes, •with their suite,
having been assigned to places forming
a square with a plastic representation
of the nati\ ity zA B< thlehem in the cen
er, the Kaiser allowed court etiquette to
relax, and everybody mixed freely with
the others. The young Princes ran
about, discovering fresh sources of de
light upon each Cable, but after an
hour's enjoyment of this kind the chil
dren were obliged to retire.
The Emperor dined with his intimate
circle, Dr. Yon Tucanus, General Yon
Hahnke and others of his private Cabi
net.
At all of the military barracks in Ber
lin each company had its Christmas
tree, and the ceremony of "BesotM rung* 1
(the giving of Christinas boxes) was ob
served. Each of the men stood in line
to receive his pr< sent, while the Captain
and other officers of each oompany
sang "Still.- Heilige Naoht." The Cup
tain then t<>!d out to each man his share
of punch, which concluded the service.
The ceremony was the same in each
barracks.
The hospitals and even the pi
also had their Chris'tra The
Mombit and Ptoetzens i
immense trees for the inmates, who
sanjj song-?, rec< Ived presents and were
treated to better fare than usual. The
Countess Yon Waldersee provided a
large number of widows and children
with their Christmas dinner, and had
an immense tree upon which were hung
parcels of clothing.
Ex-Em] : lerick visited the
Kaiser Frederick Hospital on Christ
mas Day. SI: eived there by
]>r. Virchow and Dr. Bosse, Minister of
Ecclesiastical Affairs, Instruction an<l
Medical Affairs. The ex-Empress pre
sided cut the fete, which followed her
ai rival, and distributed the presents.
Dr. Virchow interest* d her with a state
ment of the results of tlie treatment of
the variou i "rofessoi -
rings and Heilserum, of the institution,
which led her to compliment the pr «
>rs U] "i the success of their re
medial applications.
Prince Bismarck spent Christmas
alone with his family. Count and
Countess Yon Rantzau, the latter his
daughter, and his son Count Herbert
Bismarck and his wife. The health <>i'
the ex-Chancellor is excellent. Hi- walks
but little, but drives frequently.
The "Boersen Zeltung," in Its issue of
Saturday, said that as the result of con
sultation with his physician and Count
Herbert, Prince Bismarck had d< I
not to attend the banquet in Berlin on
January ISth, the twenty-fifth anni
v. rsary of the proclamation of th<- Ger
man empire, because of the fact that
the Ministers did not join the Bmpi r :
in inviting- him, and also owing to the
disappointment of Count Herbert in ob
taining a ministerial post.
Official information from Washington
has been received in Berlin that the
United States Government will close
out all German insurance companies
doing business in the United States, un
less Prussia rescinds her measures
against American insurance companii a
preventing them from doing business
here.
Chancellor Prince Yon Hohenlohe is
in Vienna, where he Is staying with his
brother, Prince Constantine Yon Ho
henlohe, Court Marshal to Emperor
Francis Joseph of Austria. Princ<>
Hohenlohe has had interviews with
Count Goluchowsky, Austrian Minister
of Foreign Affairs, from which have
originated newspaper stories that the
meeting of the two statesmen was of
great political import as cementing the
harmony of the Powers, etc. Prince
Hohenlohe will return to Berlin in time
to take part in the New Year fetes.
The New Year's Day programme is as
fellows:
At 8 o'clock in thp morning there will
be a reveille from the castle to Branden
burg gate and back performed by the
massed bands of the Berlin garrison.
At 10 o'clock religious services will be
held in the castle chapel, and at 11
o'clock the court ceremony of filing past
the Emperor and the imperial party in
the Welssen SaaL At 12 o'clock there
will be a parole in the yard of the ar
senal by the Kaiser in the presence of
all the commanders of the German army
corps. Then salutes will be fired in the
Lustgarten.
The Duke and Duchess of Coburg are
passing the Christmas holidays at Co
burg with their family. The Duke will
go to Stuttgart on' January 7th to in
vest the King of Wurtemburg, under
the instructions of his mother. Queen
Victoria, with the Order of the Garter.
The Emperor and Empress have final
ly arranged to start for Abbassia in
February. During his visit to Austria
his majesty will meet Emperor Francis
Joseph, who will then be staying at
Cap Martin.
There is great anxiety over the condi
tion of the Empress of Austria, who is
afflicted with prolonged spells of melan
choly and religious excitation. Her
physicians insist upon her majesty hav
ing repeated changes of scene in order
to divert her mind.
Councilor of Legation Rose, former
Landeshauptman (Governor) of New
Guiana, and recently the prosecutor of
Herr Liest in the Cameroon scandals
resulting in Liest's conviction of gross
cruelties to the natives, and his conse
quent dismissal, has been appointed
Consul-General of Germany to Samoa,
PENALTY OF DEATH.
Verdict of a Jury in an Onialia Murder
i :isc.
OMAHA (Neb.), Dec. 29.—The jury
in the murder case of Claude H. Hoover
retired yesterday at 11 a. m., and came
into the courtroom this morning at
10:45, with a verdict of murder in the
first degree, and fixed the penalty at
death. This was the most rapid work
ever seen in this city or State, the act
occurring but sixteen days ago.
On December 13th Hoover quarreled
with Ham Dubois, his brother-in-law,
and the Councilman-elect, and was dis
charged by the latter from his employ.
Hoover then got drunk, and coming
upon Dubois in a shoe shop, shot him
without warning, and Dubois died the
next day. All the evidence was one
sided, and the verdict occasioned very
little surprise.
«,
Poaco Amoni; Labor Associations.
CHICAGO, Dec. 20.—Peace is re
stored among the labor associations of
this city. The terms of settlement of
existing difficulties suggested by the
American Federation of Labor at it.-;
recent meeting held in NeW York were
accepted to-night by the Chicago
Tiv.des and Labor Assembly, and hav
ing'been previously accepted by the
Chicago congress, the trouble is ail
ended. The result will be the amal
gamation of the Labor Congress and
Trades and Labor Assembly, which
was the plan of adjustment proposed.