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I&' Iff r-th TV1 *f $i* Wo* HI h- KEEKING WITE FRAUD. THE STTE ROBBED O MIL LIONS O DOLLARS." Astounding Revelations Made by the Senate Investigating Com- mitteeThe Timber Wealth of the State Ruthless- ly Looted. "The following is a synopsis of the report of the senate committee to investigate alleged irregularities in the sale taxation, etc., of school and other state lands as pre sented to the senate: The Report. The results of the committee's investiga tion will be a source of astonishmeut to the senate^jand to the peopl,e of the whole state. It is not too much to say that no coniinittee e\er appointed by any legis lative body in this country has, for the length of time it has been able to give to the subject, exhumed such a mass of start ling evidence. This evidence establishes, in the judgment of your committee, the con viction that the State of Minnesota has been robbed of millions of dollars' worth of its property during the past fifteen years, and that the most gigantic frauds have been practiced upon the school fund, a fund which every good citizen has hoped to see preserved undiminished for the bene fit of the present generation and posterity. We find the laws for the collection of taxes in a vast area of the state made a farce and a laughing stock. School IiaiirtM. We will first turn to the consideration of the frauds upon the school fund. This seems to be a boundless sea of inlquitj. IJ is impossible to tell how many million dollars have been stolen from the school fund, for we have not had the time to cover with our investigation either the whole period of the past or anything libe the whole scope of the state. The evi dence before your committee shows that In many, if not a majority of cases, the state received but a little over one-quarter of the amount justly its due. This great fraud is accomplished by false returns of the amount of timber cut and by low prices put upon the same, as is abundantly shown by the evidence before the com mittee It appears by the testimony of one wit ness (see page 146 of Testimony) that on section 36, town 56, range 24a school sectionthe scaler for the surveyor gen eral had returned about 450,000 feet of timber, or 1,550 logs, as the amount cut upon the section, while the witness going over it carefully found by actual scaling that it had produced about 3,100 logs or 870,220 feet of timber. The school fund was of course robbed of the difference be tween the amount returned by the scaler for the surveyor general and the amount that was actually taken from the land. This would show upon this single section, a loss to the school fund of about $1,000. I appears by the testimony of one wit ness (see pae 158 of testimony) that on section 36, town 133. range 34, there were 600,000 feet of pine and 400,000 feet of oak. The witness testified that ho would have been willing to have givea $3,000 for ..the section, and he further testified that the whole timber on this section has been cut. The letter of the state auditor, attached to the evidence and marked "Exhibit show that from that section the state de rived only the sum of $176. which was for oak sold at $2 ner thousand upon an esti mate of 55,000 feet of oak upon the whole section. It does not appear that the state received anvthlng for the 600,000 feet of pine upon the section. L,ost Over $2,500. The evidence before .rour committee shows that 1,500.000 feet of logs, probably worth In the neighborhood of $4,500. were cut from section 16, town 54, raise 25. while the books of the state auditor show that the amount received by the state from the section was less than $2,000. The school fund has therefore been defrauded out of over $2,500 This occurred twelve or thirteen years ago. while Mr Whitcomb was state auditor. Appended to the testi mony will be found the letter of the state auditor in reference to this section, marked 'Exhibit The same witness testifies that it was (jeneral talk among lumbermen that if thev could sot a stumpage forty or school section, they could make a good deal of money out of it and their stumparre would not cost them much. It also appears by the evidence that a certain lumbermau, whose name is in the possession of the committee, cut 30.000 feet of timber from forty acres of internal improvement land, for which the state never received a dollar Section 36, town 42, range 26. was bought by another lumber company at $2 per 1000 upon a fraudulent estimate that it contained onlv 250.000 feet, while the testimony taken before your committee of a witness who run the line along the edge of it and carefully ex amined the adjoining sections goes to show thfit it contained nearlv five million feet, worth at least $3 per thousand. It is tes tified nv another witness that section 16. town 133. rauge 33. had been jntirely -tupped of the timber and three of the forty acre tracts therein containing pine, has been sold as agricultural land Another witness, who had been upon this land at the time and made examination of it, tes tifies that there was at least 2 000.000 feet of pine timber upon the section, and that some had placed it as high as 2.500,000 feet: that in addition to this, he thought there was fnllv 200,000 feet of oak timber: that the section was upon the edge of a lake so that the logs co-^1 easily be rafted to a mill close at hand and within forty rods of the Northern Pacific railroad. The value of this timber, as sworn to by this witness, was $7,525. while the state auditor shows by his tetter appended to the testi mony and marked "Exhibit IV' dated April 5th, 1893. and addressed to the chairman of this committee, that the whole amount de rived by the state from that section for timber for the school fund amounted to $309.14, and that amount has not yet been paid. The Mass of Fraud. It must not be forgotten that we are dipping in here and there into the mass of fraud, and that these witnesses, few in number, have generally been discovered by accident or by voluntary statements made by citizens who had knowledge of the facts. It is fair to pie.sume that if such a gigantic fraud as this, involving a robbery of over $7,000 on one section is true, it must have been a sample of thousands of other cases of the same kind. There is no doubt upon the mind of your committee that school lands, as well as other lands belonging to the state, have been the subject, during many years past, of combination between the buy ers for the express purpose of preventing competition' and beating down the price and defrauding the state. While it appears that $3 per thousand has been the ruling price for stumpage in the state at large, in a great many cases the school fund has received but $1 to $1.50 per thousand feet. It appears in this connection that section 36, town 57, lange 23, was estimated by the state cruisers to contain 500,000 feet, valued at $2 per thousand, whil^ the real value of the same was at least S3.50 per thousand (seepage 170 of testimony), we have not "been able to ascertain whether the estimate of the quantity of pine upon land was as far out of the way as the estimate of the price. We would also call the attention of the senate to the letter of the state auditor to the chaiiman of the committe3, dated April 5, 1893, marked "Exhibit E," and ap pended to the testimony, in which he refer? to the amount of pine sold upon the same section. It shows how grossly inaccurate were the estimates of the parties employed "by the state to estimate the amount of tim "ber upon state lands. It seems to our com mlttee that such errors must have been committed purposely, and in the interest of those taking timber from the state. Your committee would also -report tha the evidence before them shows that the surveyor general of logs and lumber foi the Second district, employed as one of hi*- deputies,, a certain party whose duty it wa? to scale on the river bank in 1891 thi amount of pine cut by one J. T. Welsh, oi the Willow river, to sell to the Ackley Lum ber company. A very small amount of tin whole of the logs hauled was reported If him as being hauled from a school section to-wit: Section sixteen (16), township on hundred and forty-two (142), range twenty rtve (25), and the rest from land owned bj private parties but the witness learnei' from the teamsters who hauled the log that the whole of them were being taken from the said school section. When the surveyor general visited the place the wit ness told him that he had learned that Robbed of Its Timber. the school land was being robbed of it*- timber, whereupon, as the witness testifies J- the surveyor general, who was the pai agent of the state to protect its interests told him that "it was none of his busines -you attend to your scaling and let these It has about $10,000 of improvements to show le-*^ fellows go. Don't pay any attention to that, for it. Nearly all the o'fficers of the said I h You take what they give you we have county, as shown by the evidence before mL nothing to do with it" It appears from this committee, are employed by the great gfji the testimony of tSxe deputy that he kept a I lumber companies operating in said county, record of the amount of timber so taken and that while but 859,230 feet were ostensibly taken from the school land the amount really taken therefrom was 3,305,- 960 feet. The witness notified the state auditor of the facts, and the clerk of the land department afterwards sent for him and said to him that he had rescaled the land and found his statements correct, and that he had collected $8,000 from the lum ber company for the pine so taken and he paid said witness $100 as a present from the state for his valuable informations Books Badly M^xed. Your committee is constrained to say that when it became necessary to ascertain cer tain facts from the state auditor, they found the books and accounts in such a state that the information could not be ob tained until a certain clerk was brought in to explain matters. It seems to them that the books and accounts should be rescued from their present condition of confusion. In saying this we do not desire to reflect upon the present state auditor. The con fusion began long before he assumed the duties of his office. The evidence taken forces your committee to the conclusion that the school fund of this state has been robbed by these and similar arts of millions of dollars of* its property. We have only been able to find a comparatively few isolated cases, but if we apply the same ration of fraud to all the school lands in the pine region, the loss to the state must have been enormous. W will not go so far as to say that the state officers were a direct party to these frauds and shared in the plunder, although some of the witnesses have so testified, but we can certainly hold them responsible for great neglect of duty nor do these wrongs seem to have been confined to any one year or any one state oflleer they range back as far as our investigation has penetrated. The lumbermen seem to have banded themselves together. The epdence shows that no assistance has been given to facilitate the state in any researches that were attempted to be im.de, and in fact impediments were thrown in the way of all investigation. One witness testifies dnectly that oft'eis of money were made to him to induce him not to make honest esti mates for the state auditor, and your com mittee is satisfied that a vast amount of conniption has surrounded the entire busi ness. It is a horrible part cf this whole matter that m=n of large wealth and high social position joined in this scheme to plunder the little children of the state of their patrimony. It would have been bad enough if the ignorant and vicious had re sorted to such practices, but when the Pillars of the Churches. pillars of the churches and the ornaments of society have joined in the work, it seems to evidence the rottenness of our whole social conditions. These robberies were not confined to the pine lands aloi e, but it appears that the state has been plundered of its hard wood timber to large amounts, although there is no law, as your committee believes, to justify the state auditor in selling a single stick of the oak, ash, elm, basswood, etc., except with the laud at public sale. In some cases wood has been sold as cord wood, although the ofiicers of the state must have well understood that when the land was so stripped and nothing left but the stumps that it would be very difficult to sell it for agricultural lauds. Your committee is informed by high legal authority that there is no law which author izes the sale of hard wood timber on lands belonging to this state and they understand that the price of oak is rapidly advancing in consequence of the demand for it for manufacturing purposes and that from the Mississippi river to the Pacific coast there are no large supplies of oak timber except in this state and that it is in the interest of the state that all its hardwood timber should be carefully looked after and pro tected from depredation. The evidence shows that oak timber on state lands has reccrtly been sold for $2 per M, while in many parts of the state it is worth $8 per M. We find that the most cunning and inge nious practices have been resorted to to perpetrate these frauds for instance, a price would be offered for the stump agowhich had probably been estimated at one-fourth its true amount by the state officerswhich could not properly be paid by any person not being in the ring and not knowing the true amount. This drove out competition, while the man who was guilty of the fraud made up for the loss on what he paid for by the vast amount ho stole or what he did not pay for. University Lands. The statement your committee has made as to school lands applies with equal force to the university lands. That great insti tution, which is the head of the public school system of this state, seems to have been plundered in an equally outrageous manner. The committee proposes, during the remainder of the session, to go still more fully into this branch of the subject. It appears that the timber has been sold in many cases at prices ranging from $1 to $3 per thousand upon an estimated amount of pine upon the section, and one witness tes tifies that where the state scale showed but 150,000 feet cut upon a tract of land, twelve times that amount had really been taken from the land, and the state univer sity had lost the difference. Another in stance is given where section 31 town 57, range 24, was sold to an individual at $1.75 per thousand, while the testimony shows that it was worth $3.50 per thousand. Swamp Lands. We pass now to the subject of swamp lands. These seem to have been also a pro lific field of fraud. The evidence shows that prominent lumbermen have large contracts with the railroad companies under which they send men to examine the state swamp lands, and when they find tracts that are well timbered and desirable they make ap plication to the railroad companies, and the companies then apply to the state for the land as a part of their grant from the state. As soon as they get title to the land they turn it over to these lumbermen at an agreed price ner acre. The tracts of land thus selected are really not swamp land except in a technical sense for pine does not grow in swamps. In this way the very choicest part of the tim ber lands of the state i re culled out for the benefit of speculators and the refuse left in the hands of the state. Not satisfied with this ingenious scheme these men go still further. It is in evidence that they do not place their deeds on record, and the title to the land appears to still remain in the rail road company, and the land thus escapes taxation. These lands are some of them covered with a magnificent growth of pine timber. In some cases a forty-acre tract will have on. it from $3,f0 to $4,000 worth of pine. Oife witness testifies that it is useless to attempt to contest the right of the purchaser, because the state officers ap pear to be in sympathy with the lumber men. Your committee on this point are not able to speal? authoritativelv, but trust the matter will be a subject of future investi gation. United States Government Land. There ,is a mass of evidence before your committee as to the fraudulent manner in which pine land has been obtained from the United States government, and much more evidence could have been obtained on this subject but your committee did not feel that it had any authority to inquire into matters outside of the state lands. The fVidence shows, however, that shanties worth $5 each were made of a few sticks, with fragments of broken glass or bottles stuck through holes as an excuse for win dows, and a few grains of corn and beans were planted with a stick in the ground, so that the claimants would be able to vwear thev had a lawful residence and gar den. By these shameful devices the United States government has Deen cheated out of lilTi millions of" acres under the pre-emption and homestead laws, while the parties who went through this pretense of a residence sold ut for from $200 to $560 each to some wealthy lumberman who had employed them to go there and who was well aware that Hie claimant must commit perjury before Hie title of the land could pass to him. It claimed before your committee that not '0 per cent of the entries made in the tim- "e regions are genuine, and that 90 per ent are a cover for fraud. The Revenues Defrauded. We now approach another and very 1m- ortan branch of this investigation, to wit: The extent to which the revenues of this tat have been defrauded by failure to tssess lands or to assess them for what they were really worth in proportion to other lands assessed in this state. The evi dence discloses the fact that the county of Itasca embraces about 5,400 square miles, or one-fourteenth of the whole state. About one-third of this area, or in the neighbor hood of one million acres, has been patented to individuals from the United States, and of this land over one-half, or in the neigh borhood of six hundred acres, has been as sessed and taxed at ?*i average valuation of a little over $3 per acre. About one-half of the personal estate of the county also escapes taxation. The county has been miserably mismanaged and the result is it has an indebtedness of nearly $20,000, while k^^^M^tMs^^^di^^^MMiSM,, or by individual lumbermen. The evidene^ also shows that at the time the counts was organized a resident of the city of Mln. neapolis, who was largely interested in a lumber company in said county, was ap pointed as one of the commissioners thereof. This was the same man who bought the timber claim just referred to, and who was a member of the lumber company who fur nished supplies for the United States sur veyor. While acting as county commissioner of Itasca county he continued to reside in the city of Minneapolis with his family, and he appears to have been made county commssioner simply to assisst the lumber company in the operations by which it was to deprive the state of its taxes. It is claimed by witnesses who appeared before this committee that while parties resident in the county, or small concerns not in the ring, were assessed upon their property at a high valuation, the great lumbermen, who were the favorites of the combination, got off entirely from payment of taxes or were assessed for much less than the real value thereofin some cases for less than one tenth of a fair valuation. The assessment of the property of the county seems to have been conducted in a shameful manner. The present assessor has been in the employ of another of those lumber companies, and wo have reason to believe is still so employed Could Have Added Millions. While the law of the state requires the as sessor to personally visit and examine the land to be assessed, his own evidence shows that out of seventy towns in the county he visited but thirteen. This witness admitted to your comittee that where he had made personal inspection of. the land he had raised the assessment, in many cases, to a high figure as compared with the former assessment, in one case raising a tract of land from $120 to $1,800, and he admitted that if he had personally inspected the rest of the county and had made a similar in crease it would have added millions to the taxable real estate of the county. It is but justice to say that the reason the coun ty assessor did not visit all the towns in the county was that he was prevented, as he alleges, from so doing by the action of the other coun ty officials. admitted, to use his exact words, "That a man in Wino na could make as good an assessment of the county as he had made of the towns that he had not visited." Your committee is forced to the conclusion that millions of dollars' worth of property have escaped assessment in that county alone, and that the undervaluation of such as has been assessed will amount to a vast sum. It is in e\idence before your committee that the county of Itasca and the state itself has never received one-tenth it3 just propor tion of taxes on real estate in Itasca coun ty, and it appears by the statement of one witness that a part of the Cannon Falls Improvement company's land, now owned by private parties and therefore subject to taxation, has not been assessed at all. Your committee are of. the opinion that one man cannot assess a county of the size of Itasca county, but it would require three men with several assistants several months to 'properly do the work required by law. I also appears that there are in the said county of Itasca two private railroads or tramways used for the transportation of logs. These are well built, wide gauge roads. They pay no tax to the state upon their gross earnings and they completely escape all local taxation. These two roads aggregate a length of about thirty miles and represent a large amount of money invested thereinnot less than $160,000 and should bear their reasonable share of the burdens of the state. In addition to the transportation of logs for their owners, they also carry freight for third parties. The assessor referred to testified before your committee that, acting under the in structions of the county auditor, he entirely omitted to examine one township in which certain prominent lumbermen own large quantities of pine land. While he raised the assessment upon other lands, he had not. in consequence of these instructions of the county auditor, made a similar examina tion or increase in the assessment of the lands in said township. Your committee further find that tracts of land worth from $800 to $3,200 have been assessed at a valuation of $48 to $192, and the evidence before your committee goes to show that most of the pine land is assessed for not over pne-tentn of its value, thereby defrauding the state and the county of nine-tenths of their revenue from such property. From the testi mony taken, your committee find that the output of logs has been of late years from 240,000,000 feet upward in Itasca county, and this year it is claimed it will amount to 265,000,000 feet, which at $6 per thou sandsaid to be a fair average value would make an annual production of about $1,500,000. Part of this yield is taken from the Rainy lake country alone and is shipped into Canadathis year about 40,000,000 feet have so gone out from our state from which the state never has and never will receive anv revenue. Immediate steps should be take* to put a stop to these practices. The various lumber companies operating in Itasca county have large plants, numerous horses, cattle, wagons, etc.. valued at about $400,000, $100,000 re maining in this county permanently, and upon all this, with the exception of about $27,000, no assessment whatever is made. Gross Undervaluations The evidence taken before your committee goes to show that in assessing land no distinction has been made between lands that are valueless and lands that are valu able, both being assessed at the same rate. Thus certain lands in section 11, town 58, range 24, from which all the timber has been cut, were assessed at $50 per forty acres, while land one mile east of it be longing to a lumber company, containing $2,000 worth of timber per forty acre tract, was assessed at precisely the same rate. This undervaluation seems to run all over tire county and is especially applicable to the lands held by the great lumber firms. A former assessor, a late auditor of the county of Itasca, who had also been in the employ of lumber companies, testified that he made no effort at all to assess logs, except that he had assessed the logs of the Grand Rapids Lumber company two or three years that said company was composed of the members of the Hall & Ducey company, now the Shevlin-Carpen ter company, and that the Grand Rapids Lumber company turned the logs over to said company after May 1 so as to escape taxation in Hennepin county, where the taxes were three times as high. The logs being manufactured in Hennepin county were taxable there under the present law. Wnile these gigantic frauds have been practiced upon the revenues of the state, the tona fide settlers of the county of Itasca have been compelled to bear unjust and needles burdens for the purpose of supporting the government and protecting the property of the lumber firms. While the total assessment of the countv for the present year is but a little over $2,000,000, we believe the cash value of timber alone standing in the county, which is sub ject to assessment, amounts to $20,000,000. IS* 8, 6 1 -ii amountstheo about 1 OP 1 26o,000,000 feet, worth $1,500,000 It must be remembered that these revela tions refer to but a small part of the area that could be examined by a proper system of investigation, and that these facts as to the frauds upon the revenue refer alto gether to one county. The Remedy. The committee feels that it would be a crime on the part of the state when the knowledge of these robberies is brought home to the legislature! to stand still and do nothing to pimish the plunderers of the people and prevent similar atrocities in the future, Such a course would simply en courage every adventurer in the state to join in the spoliation. The committee there fore recommends that some body, commis sion or committee be created, with ample power to carrytestimonyworktoafter on the the close of the3^115 session, as the committee proposes to te,0 up the last hour. Each member of the new commission could be given power to administer oaths and send for persons and papers and employ agents to inspect the lands which have been sold. To prevent the appearance of creating lucra tive offices, the committeetoonly suggestser that these commissioners bed paid thei ex penses, believing thaot? there is public spirit enough to bel found to undertake the work. mm S separat por tions of the state and send out agents and collect the facts. The statute of Ihnitations does not run against the state, and if the matter is properly pushed, suits can be brought against those who have defrauded the state and millions turned into the public treasury. If the facts revealed are as strik ing and terrible as those laid before the com mittee, the governor could call an extra ses sion next.winter to take the proper and necessary step,sS I? ?S!K* thres premises.Bcmnellv The report to Keller ena D. SnTTth, Dedon and Leavitt, the committet'. Thev accompanied it with a joint resolution to carry into force and effect the suggestions j& *f report, and appropriate clos 50,000 to pay the expenses. The names of the commissioners were not inserted and the joint resolution was laid over until to-day to give senators an opportunity to give some re flection to the matter. They also Introduced a bill, which was passed under suspension of rules, suspending the sale of timber on ll A^_ amuKl.lM.K. a lands for two Years. it \& flAD^DATjgj IS! ppPELGIUM, STRIKERS AND SOLDIERS COME "& TOGETHER., ,s, v* four Strikers Killed and Many, Are Wounded in a Fight With Soldiers at Mons |S --Begr'Ti'- 0 iv, 'to Look .Serious. I' More Blood Shed. Brussels, April 18.At Mons- to-day the strikers indulged in all manner of threats against the government, and as the day wore on they became emboldened and determined to take possession of the town for a labor procession. When the mob attempted to march through the streets thev were met by a strong de tachment of the civic guard. N atten tion was paid to the order to disperse. Hooting and yelling, they attempted to march on. and notified the guards to fire upon them. The guard fired upon the crowd, but this did not effect their dis persal. On the contrary, it only infuri ated them, and a charge en mas se was made upon the guard. A desperate hand to-hand conflict ensued. The main body of the strikers was broken up. but groups of struggling men could be seen in the side streets leading from the main thor oughfare. The battle was long and bit terly contested, but finally the guard were victorious. I is known that four of the miners were killed. Many of the rioters were wounded and a numb er were tak en to the hospital. The killing of the four striker's has added greatly to the excitement in the town, and there is danger of a more serious outbreak. Men and women from the adjacent min ing villages are flocking into Mons. and the authorities are anxiously awaiting the events of the night. Moiih is the center of the gre at Borinage coal min ing district. Three-fourths of all the miners in Belgium are employed in this district. To-da., a thousand of the dock laborers in Antwerp joined the strike movement. Many of the men in loading and discharg ing vessels and in other work about the wharves did not quit work, in obedience to the order of the men engineering the strike. This inflamed the strikers, who to-day made an attack on the workers. The latter made a weak attempt to de fend themselves, but they would,"in all probability, have been driven away had it not been for the gendarmes, who took a hand in the affray. The strikers were armed with revolvers, and used them. The gendarmes, who also had firearms, weie quick to respond, and it is thought that several strikers were wounded. A number of ringleaders among the strikers Avere captured. The feeling of unrest continues to spread. There is no deny ing the fact that the crisis is acute. Ex cited meetings in favor of universal suf frage are being held throughout the country. Everywhere impassioned ap peals, are made to those who live by toil to join the great demonstration now in progress. I the Charleroi district, where 30,000 miners arc employed, work in the mines may be said to be at a standstill, for 20,000 of the miners have quit work and are riotous. Most of these miners are miserably poor, and they and their families are bound to suffer. The cotton, yarn, lace, linen and woolen mills and factories, in Grammont, in East Flanders, are affected by the movement, a large number ot the oper atives in these industries having joined in the strike movement. Some of the more enthusiastic and hot-blooded strikers at Grammont assembled in the Cafe Hollandaise at that place and held an impromptu meeting, at which fiery speeches were made by some of the leaders. The gendarmes* attempted to break up the meeting, but met with stout resistance. The fight was transfeired to the street, and though the gendarmes had the advantage of arms and disci pline, the strikers struggled desperately, and were only dispersed after a long con test, and after two of the gendarmes and a large number of the rioters were seriously wounded. I the fight between the workmgmen and civic guard in the streets of Mons, to-dav, fourteen soldiers were wounded. Three will not recover. They were re moved to the hospital where their ante mortem statements were taken for the public prosecutor. Dispatches from Antwerp this evening show that the situation in that city has giown more threatening since noon. The strikers had gathered repeatedly in large crowds throughout the northern district before o'clock. A squadron of police riding wi th drawn swords against the workinginen were overwhelmed with showers of stones and timbers. The police retreated in confusion. Whi le the reserves were being summoned the strik ers threw up barricades in the side sti-eets, women and children hastened from the houses with firearms. Another squadron of police supported by a detachment of the civic guard tried half an hour later to drh back the mob. They were met with volleys from the re tolvers and rifles of the men behind the barricades. Many of the ooldiers were wounded and removed to the hospitals. More of the guards were summoned and after ten charges carried the barricades. The strikers retreated, firing. Crowds are still gathering in the northern district this evening, and more fighting is ex pected. The concert halls of the city are empty. Several theaters arc closed. The petroleum reservoirs are guarded by militia. Collision, in Miehigmn. Farwell, Mich., April 18.A collision oe ctired on the Toledo, Ann Arbor & North ern Michigan road about four mi'es nrrth of this cily this morning between a working train and the north-bound passenger. Two men were killed, several badly injured and on" is missing. None ot the passengers were iujured. The killed are. W. Unger and Isaac Rischnell. The injured are: Frank Thompson, thigh broken and otherwise injured, may die O. S. Crouthers, James Pickering, badly bruisd. A Mine on Fire. Hazelton, Pa., April 18.Fire broke out this morning in the pump house at the bot tom of the first lift of Crystal Ridge colliery, operated by A. Pardee & Co. Two pump men endeavored to extinguish the flames, but were, unable to do so, and fled, reach ing the surface in safety. Five gangways men, Mike Burke, Edward Boyle, William Dinkey, Henry Cook, Sr., and Henry Cook, Jr., are in the mine, but it is thought they have reached a place of safety. The flames spread quickly, and in a short time had climbed the 300-foo slope and shot fifty feet in the air. Mrs. Mnybrick Would Die. London, April 18.A report htfs been cir culated and generally credited in Woking that Mrs. Florence Maybrick tried to kill herself in the Woking prison on Saturday. She is said to have stabbed herself severely in the throat and chest with a table knife, which was taken from her time to prevent her from inflicting mortal wounds. Losses From Prairie Fires. ^Huron, S. D.. Special, April 18.Last week's prairie flies in Hand, Hyde and a small part of Sully counties were the sever est ever experienced in tlat part of the state. The property losses aggregate many thousands of dollars, and it is not improb able that one 01 two persons,/'will burns received- .^H,,,-*",1 DEATH IN ""ME DEBRIS. Many Live* LOK. an Earthquake Athens, April 18.The Island -of Zante, one of the principal Ionian islands, was visited by a most destructive earthquake this morning, resulting in great loss life and property. The shock appears to have been most violent in the eity of Zante, the greater part of which was destroyed. The people are panic-stricken and the authori ties helpless. The streets arc impassable, being filled with masses of stone and tim ber, the wieckage of the houses "which were thrown down by the earthquake. Thus far the bodies of twenty persons killed by_fall ing walls have been removed from the debris, and it is feared that many more dead are still in the ruins. The number of pc-rsons injured runs up into the hundreds. Most of the buildings that stood erect after tne shocks of l*euruary and March were either thrown down or shattered so as to be unsafe for occupancy. The church- of St. Dionysius and the government offices were thrown down. Advices from the interior show that the whole island has been devastated. Many villages have been destroyed, and it is thought that the loss of life has been very great. News of the disaster comes in very slowly, as communication with the interior of the island has been greatly interrupted oy the destruction of the telegraph lines. Avar ships will be dispatched from the Pi raeus with clothing, provisions and medi cine-s for the sufferers. Q,ueer Relig-ious Boil. St. Louis, April 18.Eight years ago Col. Alsus Price of this city mysteriously dis appeared, and a short time later Dr. Sylves ter Nidelet, a prominent St. Louis physician, left the city under equally inexplicable cir cumstance. Nothing was heard from either until their unheralded return about a month ago. Since then stories have been rife that both were in India devoting their time to a study of theosophy. Buddhism and Gther Oriental theories of leligion. Now it ap pears, however, in a private leter from Gunston, Va, that both men have for several years been inmates of a tiieosophical institute conducted there by Dr. G. S. Howard. When the institution was opened the impression in the neighborhood was that it was intended as an asylum for inebriates, but soon grew some tales of the performance of somber rites and queer methods of worship began to float out from around the asylum. It was conducted, however, on a basis of strict secrecy and martial discipline. No one was allowed to stir beyond its boundaries without permission from Dr. Howard, and the con verts were compelled to perform the most difficult manual labor in order to fit them selves for communion with the ttlavatsky god. Dr. Howaid, however, seemed to be exempt from this hard laboi and thereby earned the sobriquet of "The Fakir Who Does Nothing." It has also been said that Mrs. J. A. Specht, wife of a wealthy retired St. Louis merchant now owner and occupant of Gunston Hall, near the so-called institute, was the patroness and financial backer of the little community. Since the return of Nidelet! and Price frequent efforts have been made to find out where they have been, but without success. Both to-day positively declined to talk about the Gunston story. It is said they will return there and that several prominent St. Louis women will also enter the insti tute. S riac Text of the Gospels. Washington, April 18.Much interest has been excited among scholarfs ine City bj- it wraes the Capital the publication th cablegra stating that Prof. Fendel Harris, of Cam bridge, had discovered in the convent on Mount Sinai a palimpsest containing the complete Syrlac text of the four Gospels. "The Gospels," said Dr. Cyrus Adler, of the Smithsonian institution, "it is believed, were originally written in a dialect current In Palestine, especially in Galilee, a mixture of th Hebrewe and Syriac. We know that not pur Hebrew from the presence of such expressions as the one Christ used on the cross, ''Bloi, Bloi, Lama Sabacthani" (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"), which is of Syrian origin. So ever since the modern search for sources of the Scriptures began it has been directed in part to the discovery of what was believed to be this original text of the Gospels. If that is what is now discovered its value and importance cannot be overestimated. The common version is from Greek trans lations of the original. Prof. Harris, whom I know quite well, is particularly well qual ified to judge of the authenticity of such a discovery.*' The Mille Lacs Settlers. Washington, Special, April 18. Repre sentative Baldwin had an interview with Commissioner Lamareaux to-day in regard to the settlers on the Mille Lacs lands, and laid the facts before him in such a way as will probabiy result in allowing matters to rest as they are until congress has an other opportunity to act. It'is an interest ing feature to Minnesotians here that Castle did not put through the Washburn resolu tion, which would have settled the matter and quieted the title of these settlers. Castle thought he had the matter settled with the department before he went away. Senator Washburn was alo of the opinion that he had fixed up things, but it seems that the administration prefers to consult regular Democratic members and for that reason Commissioner Lamareaux had this conversation with Representative Baldwin to-day. Two Mills. Coney Island, N. Y., April 18. At the Coney Athletic club to-night Johnny Van Heest defeated Danny Russell in three rounds and Billy Smith of Boston knocked out Tom Williams of Australia in the sec ond round. A large audience witnessed the contests. Russell was clearly outclassed, but made a game fight. In the first and sec ond rounds both men scored knock-downs, but Russell was badly winded. Van Heest found little trouble in the third in landing when and where he pleased. The Sinith Williamt, contest was fast and furious, neither man paying much attention to sci ence. Knock-downs were frequent in the first iound, and when the gong sounded Williams was nearly done for. The second round lasted two minutes and thirty-five seconds, when Williams went down and out. Bot mene were badlyon wrash punished, and Smith quit unsteady his feet when he planted the blow that did the business for Williams. Inion Paeifie Workmen Strike. Omaha, April 18.Six hundred men em ployed in the Union Pacific shops here struck to-day. The men who went out were the machinist**, boilermakers. blacksmiths, molders and patternmakers. The employes claim that the company has acted in bad faith concerning the fulfillment of an agree ment entered in to allow the force of men employed to reduce itself when the time was below the standard of nine hours a day. The Knights of Labor among the shop men refused to strike. The strike extended along the entire line where machinists, boil ermakers and blacksmiths are employed. The strike affects about 2,500 men on the system, and only interests the workers of iron or those men who are working eight hours instead of nine, as they alleged they were promised on Jan. 15. The towns to be most affected by the strike in addition to Omaha are Denver, Cheyenne, Salt Lake, Rawlins, Armstrong, Pocatello, Evanston, Laramie, La Grande and Shoshone. No Troops lor the Fair. Washington, April 18.Secretary Lamont said to-day that the plan of having United States troops at the world's fair had to be abandoned on account of the refusal of the park authorities to let the troops have part of Washington Park. thought arrange ments could be made to have a corps of cadets visit the fair during the summer. Gen. Schofield and Rear Admiral Belknap have been assigned as military and naval aides to the president on the occasion of the naval review in New York harbor. Appointments Rejected. Duluth, Special, April 18.The council to-night again rejected mayor's appointments to fire commis sion and board of public works. The mayor appointed A. C. Bartlo w, Demo crat, to the board of public works, and E Jefferson, Republican, to fire com mission. His previous appointments have been rejected. .They were, both rejected12 to 2.^*, v,.r^', *K die from -??-&, 1 mMtk^Sk city the Slnvin and Hall^v,^ & \j, London, April 18.Paddy Slavln and Jim Hall have signed articles to box twenty rounds for a purse of 1,000, at the National Snorting club in Derby week. *38S&Mi$!&& THEY ARE A BAD LOT. WANTED FOR THE KILLING OF-$ $$- POLICEMEN. m Arrest of Two of a Band of Three Desperadoes Who Have Com mitted Sundry Depreda tions in the Vicinity V- of Dubuque. "John Ball." New York, April 18.The queerest rail road train that has been seen in many a long ear drew out of the Pennsylvania depot to-day amid the cheers of a big crowd of enriositj seekers. The train consisted of Engine No. J, of the Pennsylvania railway, and Cars No. 3 and 5. Engine No. 1. of the Pennsylvania road, is also Engine No. 1 of the United States, being the first railway locomotive used on this side of the Atlan tic. It is called "John Bull," and started this morning to puff its way laboriously to the worlds fair, where it will be an object of wonder to millions. John Bull shows no sign of his gieat age except his antique construction. He is painted and polished and burnished so that he shines as fair as the latest born ot modern locomotives. The coaches look like stage coaches on railway wheels. They, too, are in gala attire, being painted a bright green, with the inscrip tion, "John Bull train." It is expected that the John Bull train will carry some dis tinguished passengers before it reaches Chi cago. The passengers this morning were all railway officials. They included General Superintendent F. W. Jackson. General Pas senger Agent George W. Boyd and General Passenger Trainmaster E. T. Mander, who will all go clear through to Chicago. The throngs of passengers on the local and ex press in-coming trains this morning all gazed curiously at the John Bull train. Jonh Bull puffed more smoke in a minute than all the rest of the engines an houi. Fear of Cholera. New \oik, April 18.The World this morning thus summarized a four column article on the likelihood of a cholera epi demic this summer: "The World has gath ered the opinions of the leadiug physicians of New York, and the health officials, on the probabilities of a cholera epidemic this summer. On the whole, a caieful review of what these medical experts say leads to the conclusion that a cholera epidemic is not probable. There is an almost mianimous belief that we will have some cases of chol era during the hot months. The doctors, however, point out very clearly the reasons why these sporadic cases are not likely to become epidemic." Halifax, N. S., April 17.The British steamer Numidiau, from Liverpool, lies at quarantine, where 1.200 immigrants and their effects have been undergoing the proc ess of disinfection. A Swift Crniser. New London. Conn., April IS.It has been a long, tedious wait, but it has proved of advantage to the builders of the United States cruiser Detroit, and the United States will pay the expenses of the ship during these several da ys of delay in attempted trial, which will average at least $2,000 per day, besides some $15,000 tor evtra speed developed above the contract, which called for I knots She has proved herself the fast est cruiser of her displacement in the world, developing a speed of slightly over twenty knots, or upwards of twen ty-three miles per hour. From the data taken on he averagethi ppeed is estimated at IS1^deck should be appointed. People who are in terested in the Indian exhibit think that the secretai-* has made a great mistake, because the delay Avill probably prevent the first-class evhilut which the Indian office intended to make. A Town Burning, "^/j ir' Three of a Kind. ,j Dubuqu e, Iowa. Special, April 18. Two of the three men wanted for killing officers Frith and Talcott in the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul yards Friday 1 were brought to Dubuque to-night and placed in jail. They were seen at Gree ly, Delaware county, and Marshal Long ford organized a posse and captured them i at a country school house, whe re they had stopped to rest. They are Kid Healy of L-a Crosse, who has done time in the Waupun penitentiary, and Kent of Oma ha. The Sioux City man, the one sup posed to have done the shooting, is still missing. The trio ca me to Dubuque last Wednesday and pdid for their board a week in adAance. Wednesday night the Sioux City man, who said he was the cousin of a Dubuque man named Duane, tried to shoot a bartender, who took his revolver from him. This revolver was found at the scene of the murder Friday morning filled with bloody car tridges. I is supposed the trio commit ted the highway robbery perpetrated up town Thursday night, and that they fled to the railroad yards, where the of ficers were hunting them wh en killed. Detective Gadboios, of the Illinois Cen tral, had followed them into Dubuque. After leaAing Sioux City for Dubuque they broke into a car at Webster City and stole some revolvers, and further on they burglarized an American express office. i-V?* ,t S (sM 'MM SI *M -m $* kuot- but may pc slightly affected by the tidal data. The Indian Exhibit. Washington. Special. April 18.Owing to the change that has been made in the In dian office and the appointment of a com missioner and assistant commissioner, the work of the Indian exhibit for the world's fair had been held up. This exhibit was formerly in charge of Commissioner of Rail roads Taylor, who was appointed by Secre tary Noble to have charge of the interior department exhibit at the world's fair. Taylor was working in conjunction with the Indian office up to the time his suc cessor was appointed. The Indian office de sired to continue the work right along and hurry up the exhibit so as to make a credit able showing, but Secretary Smith held the whole matter up until the new commissioner r~N Cuban Filibusters. ^Oj New York, April 18.In New York is brew ing to-day what may develop into a revolu tion in Cuba within the next few months. The project is one of long standing. The N^I possibilities of its c'imax within a short $1 time is the result of the recent elections in '*W Cuba, which were unsatisfactory to the peo- '& pie there and to the Cuban patriots in vjft America. Instead of starting an expedition from Key West or Tampa. Fla., it is prob able that if one is undertaken it will be" *{"-$ organized if not actually started from here. -*p In Harmon hall was organized last evening 't** the New York-Cuban revolutionary party, its avowed purpose being to uphold the -"$& movement for independence and a lasting. J'pyl republican form of government in Cuba. Detroit, March 18, 1 a. m.A brief tele phone message just received from Plymouth, ^**S Mich., twenty-five miles west of here, states |l that a block of buildings has burned and the entire town is in danger of destruction. j$M The operator was compelled to leave the t,-.j3 exchange, as it was then burning. Engines t^3 have been sent from here. Plymouth is a i'^im town of about 2.000 inhabitants. iMl |f$ *m tJ^ Miniature. Duluth. IJI^ Washington, Special, April IS.There being made in this city a model of Duluth 21x26 feet in size for exhibition at tha world's fair. It is on a scale of 250 feet' T* to the Inch, and is expeeted to show the topography, water line, all the streets and blocks and about fifty of- the most prom lnent buildings. The surface representing the water will be dotted with lake craft of all kinds that visit Duluth, while there will be shown the docks, grain elevators and l-ailroad connections. Victor Mindeleff is preparing the model, and expects to have it done by May 1. but he has been Informed by Secretary Thompson, Of the Duluth chamber of commerce, that if the model is completed and reaches Chicago by May 10 it will be there in sufficient time. isl