Newspaper Page Text
BENEATH THE HOOD. Beneath the hood her eyes were" bright— 1 shyly watched her where she stood— Her tresBCB looked like scraps of night Beneath the hood. Such smiles would stir a hermit's blood, Such Hps—like flowers warm and light— Would quickly melt the Iciest mood, Beneath the hood. I stole behind her—'twasn't right. I call It neither wise nor good— I put propriety to flight Beneath the hood. —C. Keller in Midland. "A gentleman—a Mr. Portman—to see you, sir," said my landlady, looking In at my door. "Show him up, Mrs. Jennings," I re plied, without glancing up from my manuscript- A few moments.later Mr. Portman, an entire stranger to me, was ushered into my room. He came forward—a ninn of large build, some 40 years of age, with a slight stoop-^and, fixing a pair of dreamy dark eyes upon me, he inquired. In a low, earnest: tone: "Mr. Cecll LawTence, I believe?" "ies. Be' seated a moment, will you?" I replied, indicating a chair. He .accepted the otter silently, and waited my leisure, his eyes fixed upon the crackling logs In the grate, and his chin resting upon his hands. "What can-I do for you, Mr.—Mr. Portman?" I asked, presently, putting down my pen and turning round upon my visitor. "You are Mr. Cecil Lawrence, the au thor, are yon not?" he returned. "Yes." "The author'of 'A Romance In Blue Dye'?" "Yes." "Do you mind telling me how you came by the plot for that story?" he said^hls dreamy- eyes lighting np for an'" taut. 'Vin afraid I cannot give you any In. formation upon that matter," I replied. "Authors do hot generally communi cate their methods of work and thought to strangers, and'my time is at present so much occupied that, un less yon really ha ye some important business with ino'l really.—" "I have important business with ..you!* he. exclaimedj almost angrily. "Do you fancy that I have come down all the wny from Lancashire to ask a mere slip of an author his-methods of work?" "From Lancashire?" I sold, in sur prise. "Indeted no no sane man would. But pleaae state your business." "Will-you nnswer my question?" he cried, rising impatiently and folding his hands behind his back. "How did you come by the facts In your story?" "Since you attach sricli undue im portance to the matter," I replied cold ly, '1 can only-say that 1 owe some of the plot of iny 'Romance in Blue Dye' to a newspaper paragraph I chanced upon some eighteen months ago." "Can you 'show me this paragraph?" "Keally, unless you can tell me in jyhat way this matter Is of so much ^'Importance to you, I fear I must de ^cllue to continue this interview, for, as-1 have already told you, I am ex ceedingly busy." He looked at me steadily for a mo ment In silence, and the light came Into IV his eyes again. 5 "My name Is Portman—John Port n)an, of Portman. & Stayle, dyers and cleaners, Bochdale," he said in a pe culiar tone I could not understand. "Do you understand?" "No. I may. bo very define, but I don't understand in whai way the statement of your identity proves the importance of your visit," I Responded, becoming annoyed with bii^bis man ners, and his tone. "You don't eh?" he blurted out. "Vell, Stayle, my late partner, was the man who was found In the vat of dye. You are a picturesque liar, you' know!" I started—not at the fellow's insult, but at the germ of an Idea that was dawning upon me. This man, then, was the actual being whom I had cre ated, as I thought, in the person of James Saxon, the murderer of his partner. I fully understood now how greatly this man, whose actual exist ence I had never suspected, must have been annoyed by my .book for, doubt less, persons who had read it and knew of the manner in which my vis itor's unfortunate partner had met his death had commented upon the matter unpleasantly to my visitor. "Do you understand me now?" my visitor demanded, seeing I was not prepared to say anything about his us speech. Yes, I fear so," I replied, with a sickly smile. "But. if you have come here with the intention of bullying me you made an error in the address. My solicitors, Messrs. Wright & Wright, Ely Place, are the people to call upon." -He looked at me and frowned. Then be crossed the oom, locked the door, and put the key'In his pocket "What the deuce do you mean?" I cried, starting up indignantly. "You are presuming unpardonably! Beplace the key and unlock the door!" And I went over to him as I spoke. "Gently, gently, my good sir," he said. "I am not nearly satisfied with our chat yet Look at this and sit down quietly." "This," which he •held in my face, was a revolver. Was I at the mercy of a madman "You are at the wrong end of It, you know, so sit down and be civil." I shrugged my shoulders and return ed to my chair, having the unpleasant sensation that he was "covering" me all the time. When I had seated myself, he came and sat down at the other side of my table, laid his revolver in front of him, and began to bite his nails. I waited his pleasure silently, wondering what I could best do. "It's like this!" he said, so suddenly that he startled me out of my thoughts. "I had a partner. That partner gets drowned at our works In. a butt of pur ple—not blue, mind you—dye. You see the bare facts mentioned in the pa pers (this Is what you say!) write a story about It. You make me, John Saxon of your accursed book, murder my partner, and you bring me to jus tice, eh?" "Yes, that's it," I replied, as easily 08 I could., "I offer you my slncerest apologies for the unpleasantness it must have caused you but I assure yon. on my honor, I never dreamed that you really existed, or I should not havenised such a plot." "But you must have known! You illllgf tjfivp seei)!" he cried, leaning over the table and hissing his word* into my face. What would have happened If the meaning of his words had flashed, in stead of dawning, slowly, upon me I cannot think—r never want to know. But, coming upon my worried brain slowly, the meaning did not make me start, and my visitor, who evidently realized he had spoken without think ing how he spoke, probably trusted I bad missed his second sentence. To help him to that belief I an swered "How could I have known the unfor tunate dyer had ii partner? I realize my horrible mistake now, of course. I ought never to hnve written the book without first inquiring whether my plot would encroach too much upon actual facts." He did not seem to hear me. He wbb staring over my shoulder, deep Jn thought, like a man who dreams his thoughts. "Bah!" he said suddenly, with great passion. "How did you learn all you know, eh? You could not hnve guess ed what no one else had suspected!" "I fear 1 do not understand you," I said, with a smile. To my uttermost surprise he made a sudden dash round the table at me, but In the moment of his heightened passion he forgot his revolver. I thrust out my "arm and snatched It from the table as I quickly dodged my assailant and, stepping ba«k, I held the barrel In his face. 'Stand back, John Saxon, or I fire!" I cried. He staggered back and leaned against the "wall. 'Give me the key, John Saxon," I said sternly. With his wild eyes fixed upon the revolver, he took,the key from his pocket and threw It npon the table. -I took it up and drew toward the door. As If he realized that the door would open only to allow him to pass out to the gallows, he made a desperate, sud den spring at me as, with my left hand, I slipped the key Into the lock. 'Stand back!" I cried, and pushed the revolver into the hollow of hls^ ashy cheek. "Stop!" he ejaculated hoarsely, as with an Impetuous gesture he pushed his lank hair off his moistened brow with hoth his hands. "What are you going to do, old man? A price, price, price! A price—my life! I'll buy my life! A price'?" He crept toward me, shaking bis trembling arms above his head. Sud denly, he stopped, and his eyes started from their sockets. He threw his cliin forward as If trying to swallow some lump rising In his throat Then, as I sprang to him, he twisted on his .heel and fell in a heap npon the floor.- A price! Nemesis had refused his price for life. Preaches la a Red Robe. The Rev. A. W. Hobson, pastor of an independent church in Lyons, Neb., is known as ''the Man In Red," from the fact that he always-preaches-ln a red robe. "When people ask me," he says, "what the red robe means I tell them that they have made, the same inquiry exactly tliat the Prophet Isaiah did 650 years before Christ I am not permitted to divulge the secret of the red robe at present (though It will gradually be done as the days go by), further than to say, whatever else it means, for the present It is emphati cally a question mark, viz., 'Why art thou red In. thine apparel?' (Isaiah 1*111., 2). As such, for the present, let It remain. Every one instantly asks the question when they see it. A lady recently nsked me, 'Are there any oth ers than yourself?' I answered, 'Yes. many In all parts of the world.'. She again asked, 'Do your followers be lieve as you do, and wear the red robe?' I answered, 'Madam, I have no followers they are all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and will, atHlB command, put on the robe of red.' New York Tribune. A Bee ind Plgeea Rice. Probably few people could say off hand whether bees or pigeons fly the faster. Yet the question has been ex perimentally decided in favor of the bee. A race'for a wager took place at Hamme, In Westphalia. A dozen bees and. as many pigeons were carried to the village of lthyuliern, about a league dlBtant and there liberated. The bees were first rolled in fiour in order to identify them. In the result the first bee finished a quarter of a minute in advance of the first pigeon, and three others arrived before the second pigeon. The main body of both bees and pigeons arrived togeth er a few seconds later. Hit Aoptaranea Against Him. "You wouldn't think from the looks of that old fellow that he is one of the ripest scholars In this town." "It doesn't surprise me. He's the seediest looking man I've seen to day."'—Chicago Tribune, .:'r KRUGER. RHODESIA ftAMATHMBAMA ff 1 "You lie! You know you lie! Do you think I have come here to be suck led on such prevarications? Do you think I brought this with me for any reason but to get from you an account of how yon discovered the purple Bpot on my shirt, how you saw how It hap pened, as you must have done, though you don't say so In yonr accursed story? Can't you see, Ingenious puppy, that I mean to know, and when I know to send you where you cannot ran down a man by novel writing, nor put the law upon him? It's your life or mine!" "With all your threats,' said, "you're a big bit of a fool, Mr. Port man, or else your-mind is unhinged. The book was mainly written Upon the merest conception of my own, sug gested to me by a short paragraph. I have already told you that. The man ner la which my murderer, John Sax on, was brought to Justice for hiB crime was pure fiction work. Now are you satisfied?" "No!" he replied, throwing himself back In his chair. "What you say may be true I don't know. In any caBe, your story has put me under the sus picion of the poUce and the people of Bochdale. I am a marked man, I don't doubt Probably the police are hunt ing me down, now—now! But they won't find the shirt!" "Probably you overrate the Interest the police and people of Rochdale take in my novels and the death of your partner," I said, with an effort at calmness not too easy to assume. 'Possibly I do!" he replied, in a hoarse voice, with a fugitive glance at the door. "But there is you to reckon with now!" 'Me?" 'Yes, you! Do you think If I knew I was as safe from suspicion as be fore your book was written I could leave you after' what I've said to you to-night?" 'What do you propose to do, then? Give yourself over to the police, eh?" I asked Ironically, for I was weary of the terrible nervous strain. "It is you or me, and, by my soul, I will seal your lips!" •tOEMHOT llHUTIANA O A N E E E S A E CTjO HE issue between the English and the Boers is one as old as this cen tury. lu rnauy different forms, but always with much the same ground of quarrel at the bottom, it has reappeared wlth each succeeding decade. Many times the two peoples^have met on the battlefield, and when war itself haB not existed rumors of war between them have been current. Wherever the Eng lishman and the Boer have had their common interests in one territory strife has been snre to come, for the qualities and ideals of the two-are widely dissim ilar. The great gold fields in the. Transvaal fcre the material facts that have caused A WEALTHY BUBGHBtt. the conditions for the present struggle, for it is through them that Englishman and Boer have been brought so close to gether. The Boers claim to be the lords of the Transvaal country, and they per sist in regarding the foreign settlers—the UUlanderq—as temporary residents with out real rights. Sharply opposed to this view stands England, whose many sons in Transvaal land have their immense in vestments in mines and machinery and demand a full share in the government. 4*The Transvaal for the-Boers," is Presi dent Kruger's cry, while the English against it shout: "Pull rights,, civil and political, for our emigrants who settle in your land." The problem takes on many phases, hut not one of them can clearly be under stood without back reference to the his tory of the relations of Boers and Eng lish. The first form of the issue i^ over the question of sovereignty. England is asserting her suzerainty, while admitting Boer independence in local affairs, and Kruger Is denying England's claim. Such Is the history of the two that each con fairly make its claim. Sovereignty or rio sovereignty would not, however, be a burning question was there not reason for insisting on it. The more practical statement of the issue is that it concerns the political franchise rights which the Uitlanders now find it so difficult to acquire, and which Eng land insists so strongly they shall secure on reasonable conditions. It is on ac count of inability to agree on the terms of the franchise, combined with views •about sovereignty, which leave no mid dle gronnd. that war canfe, but even the franchise Is only an Incident la securing what the English really want. Sir Al fred Milner, who has been the foremost English agent In negotiations with the Boers, has said that he insisted on the franchise merely because he thought it would help the Uitlanders to secure for A BOSK SUPPLY TRAIN. themselves what they need, and because he thought an agreement could be reach ed concerning it more easily than con cerning the many reforms in Boer laws which are the real objections to be at talned-for the benefit of the Uitlanders, and the real occasion of England's inter vention. Main Grievances Stated. Reaching thus the kernel of England's reasons for interference in the Trans vaal, the main grievances of the Uitland ers against Boer rule in the Transvaal can be summed up in the following dec larations: The Uitlanders pay practically all the taxes of the Transvaal, yet have no say as to how the money shall be spent. Their children have to speak Dutch in order to gain a proper education. Johannesburg is wretchedly governed, and Is ill a fearfully unsanitary condi tion. The Uitlanders have no power in monicii-al government. Their newspapers are gagged. They are not allowedxto hold public meetings. Trial by jury is turned into a farce. The dynamite monopoly is an obstacle to the industrial progress of Johannes burg. The president may without trial expel any Uitlander from the Transvaal. He controls, the cables and can delay messages. The Uitlanders pay more money in tfties than is spent in the government of the Transvaal. The Uitlander has been disarmed and compelled to pay for a fort erected to ter rorise him. This, then, has been the status in the TransvaaJi The Boer, caring only for farming, hunting and religion, narrow, bigoted, but fearfuHy strong considering his numbers, rules the Uitlander. thre* l/tmn nuprow, and striraalr hinders BOER AND BRITON. Hif'cry of the Trouble Which Has Led to War in the Transvaal. TRANSVAAL ftUJTCNMftC _J VIUCtMMM POTCHtFSTftOOOt KICftKSDOft* MlOOUiUM ./JOHANNESBURG sn«UMf*t WN9UR6 3 BOER NATIONAL SONO. Flag of our precious land, wave on, Transvaal's four-color free. We pray mar God the band strike down er raised to lower thee. Float proudly,.banner, to the wind, For past the threatening til, Our foes have fled nnd left behind A land unconquered still. Through many years of hate and blood, Dear flag, thou didst endure, Again the storm thou bast withstood And floated still secure. And as of old when foes assail O'er brave hearts thou shalt wave, Nor *halOthe blnck or Brit prevail While we have strength to save. Thou art, dear flag, our token true, Transvaal's four-color free, To thee we pledge ourselves anew, Till death we'll Strive for thee. Aloft o'er all our precious land Wave, banner, proudly on, Bv God forsaken be the hand E'er raised to drag thee dowto. the latter in his modern struggle for wealth. The war is, however, not merely a war with the Transvaal. The Boer rules un disputed in the Orange Free State as well as in the Transvaal. Boers live in great numbers invNatal, which the Eng lish long ago wrested from their indepen dent rule. -Boers, too, are many in Cape Colony. Everywhere they are of the same nature and ideals. Everywhere they, \Hll band themselves together as foes of Eng land. A war with the Transvaal means also war with the Orange Free State and bitter fighting with Boer sympathizers on English colonial soil. The Transvaal, or South African Re public, as it is properly called, Is a region about- as large as the State of Nevada, and Is completely surrounded by foreign countries, having no direct outlet to the sea. To the north and west are (he British possessions, 'Bechuanaland and Rhodesia. To the south is the friendly Qtangp Free State, and-also Natal,' a British province. Tp the east are the Portuguese colonies. MA8UTQN HCJ0CIBU6 SWAZI, BTftCCHT •bttWMIO LAOYSMfTN A TYPE OP ARMORED TRAIN EQUIPPED BY THE BRITISH. Hilly and even mountainous, full of sharp ravines and regions of difficult pas sage the Transvaal Is peculiarly adapted for defensive operations, and even with inferior fighters than the Boers could long hold out against a great force. The Boers settled it only after a series ofbut there was no redress, hard experiences, the result of which had been to drive them north and. east from the African settlements they had orig inally made. Struggles in Former Days. Only by considering the past struggles with the: English can the present one be seen in Its true proportions. The Boers were the original European settlers of South Africa. Of Dutch descent, they had sturdy qualities, which their life In the savage lands only served to tpak* sturdier. They were farmers from the first, and by the sweat of the negro races they grew In wealth. The English took definite possession of the Cape in 1814, and the English immigration .then began in such great waves that Holland emi grants and Boer children could not keep up the balance of power. The situation was much such as exists now in the Transvaal, where the Uitlanders out number the Boers, except for the fact that then the Boers were actually and not merely nominally subjects of Great Brituin. The English rule was autocrat ic, and the Boer idea about slaves and land holding fitted so little with the Eng lish ideas that soon the Boers had two great grievances against tuelr rulers. The Dutch-French colonists quarreled with the English continually and num bers of them "treked" or tracked norths ward In search of farming lands. Their BOBK SENTINELS ON DUTY. first settlements were In Natal, but from there also the English drove them, and then they "treked" into the Transvaal, where, on an unpromlsiug uplaud. 0,000 feet above the sea level, they became Boers—"farmers." There they hoped the British would leave them alone and their hopes might have been realized had not the discovery of gold been made there in 1866. Prior to that time, In 1852, England CHAMBERLA.IK. MEN 20 A N MM* SNCK had practically acknowledged the inde pendence of the Transvaal, otherwise known as the South African Republic. In 1854 the Orange Free States were also declared independent, but by both treaties and conventions England retain ed suzerainty. There was trouble In 1881 when a force of British was repulsed at Majuba Hill, the incident leading to a revision of the convention in that year and again in 1884. It is the latter which defines the degree of authority reserved by England under its suzerainty, and the contentions over which are involved in the present trouble. By its terms the South African OLD PORT AT MAFBKING. Republic has fall powers to frame and amend its constitutions and administer its internal affairs, but is'prohibited from making auy treaty save with its neigh bor, the Orange Free States, without the cousent of the Queen. By this time British, Americans, Ger mans nnd French were pouring into the gold country, and Johannesburg began to take on the size and character of an American mining town. This annoyed .the Boers, but their thrift did not de sert them, and although they avoided mining and stuck to their farms, they found many means to derive national revenue from the Uutlandcrs or "out siders." The government, under Presi- dent Kruger, levied transport dues, stamp taxes, license fees, franchise costs, customs and monopoly charges onvsuch a mining necessity ns dynamite. The British in the Transvaal appealed to London and London appealed to Preto By 1800 TYPBS OP UOBR SOLDIERS. the Outlanders were paying to the Boer government a revenue of. #,000,000 an nually, which consisted almost entirely in a tax on mining. Then a number of prominent English and American miners formed in Johan nesburg what has passed into history as the National Reform Union Committee, of which Lionel, Phillips was chairman! and John Hays Hammond, an American, an officer. They were in communication with Cecil Rhodes, resident director of the British South Africa Company, and Leander Starr Jameson, known as "Dr. Jiin." What happened is of too recent occurrence and too sensational to have passed from the memory of readers. The first battle of the Jameson raid occurred at Krngersdorp oh Jan. 1, 1890 the second at Doornkop the day follow iug, when Jameson's already defeated raiders were all captured by the Boers. President Kruger turned over the raid ers to the British- Government, which sentenced Jameson to fifteen months .in jail and some of his officers to shorter tcrfos, after making them the heroes of London for weeks. Kruger arrested hundreds of Outland ers in Johannesburg on the charge of treason, and upon trial four were sentenc ed to death. Among the latter, was the American mining expert, John Hays Hammond, but their sentences, were com muted to fine and imprisonment. Both the Boers and the British were fighting mad, and everyoue expected war would follow between them, but it was averted in a curious manner. Emperor 'William of Germany sent a cable message of sympathy to President Kruger, fh» enfu}| terrible of the family of notions by this characteristic act changed the whole situation. England was so mad at William that for a time she forgot or ignored Kruger. She as sembled such a fleet of war vessels as has never before In the history of the world prepared for war—aud William sang softly. Trouble Not Remedied, But the trouble in the Transvaal was not remedied. War talk was heard from time to time in the Transvaal as well as in England, and in August, 1807, Presi dent Kruger, in an address to the volks raad, openly denied that England pos sessed any rights of sovereignty over the country. In March last Joseph Chamberlaini brought the Transvaal situation promi nently before the House of Commons. He said that President Kruger had prom ised reforms, but that none of his pro posals would be satisfactory. In another! speech during the same month he defined, the right of intervention in the Trans vaal which Ejngland had, limiting it to cases in whicn the convention of 1884 had beeh"""Violated, or in which English subjects had been treated in such man ner ns would give cause for intervention if they were residents of some indepen dent foreign country, as France or Ger many. March 24 a petition, which had been signed by over 20,000 British subjects in the Transvaal, was forwarded- to the British Government through Conyngbam .Greene, the British agent at Pretoria. It dealt with political grievances only, and. aimed to show that the Boers were con tinually making existence harder for the Uitlanders. A body known as the Uit lander council was formed, and its com munications with Sir Alfred Milner, gov ernor of Cape Colony, met with a favor able response. Negotiations, in the hope of securing a settlement of the troubles, only resulted in. producing a firmer and more emphatic assertion of his rights President Kruger. No definite answer to the Uitlanders' petition came uutil May 10, when Joseph Chamberlain suggested a conference be tween Sir Alfred Milner and President Kruger at Pretoria. President Steyn of the Orange Free State at once invited the two men to meet at his capital, Bloemfontein, and a week later both ac cepted the invitation. The demand made by Milner was that every foreigner who bad been a resident of the Transvaal five years, and proposed to make it his per-" manent home, should be given full citi zenship, and that the distribution of rep resentatives of the volksraad should be so arranged that the Uitlanders, who mostly live near Johannesburg, should have proper share in the government. The best that President Kruger would do was much less than this. He propos ed a two years' residence prior to natu ralization, and then five years more be fore the granting of the full franchise. He placed so many -'conditions around even this offer that it was regarded with much suspicion. The conference had no practical result. President Kruger sug gested arbitration by a foreign power, but owing to the British claim of sover eignty the commissioner could not con sent to this. Fntile Negotiations, Negotiations went on slowly after this. The British demands formulated them selves as a five-year period for admission to full burghership and an increase of the representation of the mining districts in the raad to one-fifth of the total number of members. A bill embodying some.of these points was considered by the volksraad during the early part of July. On the 10th of that month it was passed In a form that granted practically what President Kru ger had proposed at the Bloemfontein conference. Messages and diplomatic notes sent back and forth after this brought out two points of disagreement. President Kru ger insisted that if he made any conces sions to the Uitlanders it should be on the distinct understanding that England would not regard its interference as a precedent and would formally resign all pretense of sovereignty. Secretary Cham berlain would not listen to such a sugges tion. The other point of disagreement was in regard to the assurances that any re forms made would not have nullifying conditions attached to them. Secretary Chamberlain began to insist that a joint committee of Inquiry, made up of expert delegates representing the Transvaal aud the British Government, be appointed to investigate and be sure that all franchies promises would be carried out. Aug. 21 President Kruger declined to take part in any such joint inquiry, but offered a five-year franchise on condition that England would promise not to assert sovereignty in the future, and not to In terfere again with the internal affairs of the Transvaal. England formulated, Sept. 8, a note to the Boers which was so specific that it was regarded as almost an ultimatum. It asserted-sovereignty and reminded Kruger that the proposal for a joint Inquiry would not always re main open. President Kruger replied Sept. 18 with a definite denial of England's sovereign ty, and with a refusal to put the English and Dutch languages on an, equality in the raad. He also this time placed seven years as the minimum be would consent to as a preliminary to the franchise. To this England replied Sept. 22 with a tem porizing note which was taken to mean practically a postponement of any ultima tum till her troops were ready for the field. The volksraad had Aug. 28 re jected the proposal to do away with the dynamite monopoly, and that made the situation with England still worse. Active arming was kept up on both sides, and the situation was intensified when, on Sept. 28, the Orange Free State raad decided to cast its fortunes with its neighbor republic. Britain continued to pour troops into South Africa, and the Boers were not slow to meet the emer gency. The district north of Dundee and Newcastle were hurriedly turned iuto camping grounds by the burghers, Laing's Nek wras occupied, and other steps were taken that menaced an invasion of Na tal. Oct 10 Kruger's government sent an ultimatum to London demanding the withdrawal of British troops from the frontier and the return .to England of the special forces sent to South Africa and of the forces en route. If not com plied with, state of war was to exist in twenty-four hours. The next day Montague -White, the Boer consul gen eral, quitted London, and war was prac* tlcally on. Boer Fighting Strength. The fighting strength of the Boers is very hard to estimate. It is safe, how ever, to say that with the, Transvaal and Orange Free State side by side, and with recruits from Natal and Cape Colony, they can muster an army of 50,000 men. The white male population of the Trans vaal Is placed by the census of 1880 at 137,047. Of these about 26,000 art thought to be able-bodied. The white male population of the Orange Free.Stati in 1800 was 40,571, and the number of burghers available for military service 17,881. The Boers proudly say that each one of them is equal to seven Englishmen, and the truth is that-they are among the most skillful marksmen in the world. Eveu old Oom Paul cfin handle his rifle with sufficient skill- to make him boastful of the amount of lead he can put in Eng lish heads. By an order of the volksraad Issued Aug. 14 all burghers of both classes are made liable for military ser vice at quick notice. The estimated cost of war with the Bo4rs as made by the English war office is £5,000,000 ($25,000,000), but other com puters place it nearer £75,000,000 ($875, 000,000). The English regular army in Cape Colony consists of 27,500 well-dis ciplined men, but this number has been increased by regiments from India nnd from British garrisons. A girl of sixteen thinks it is the proper thing to get shocked if her mother sits out on the front porch with anything but her best dress on. Self-possession is more than nine points in law-nr in anything etoe for th*t m§tfer, ABOUND A BIG STATE INTERESTING ITEMS OF LATE IOWA NEWS. Plot to Wreck and Rob a Train—A Tonag Woman's Body Found in a River—Hobo Holds Up Hobo-Trouble at Qirls* Reform School. A plot to wreck and rob a north-bound passenger train on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern road near Rockford oo a recent ndgbt was revealed by four arrests. It was also stated that the at tempted crime was the third futile effort of the kind within three weeks. The men arrested are Frank Hay of Rockford, Young Barkett, living near Nora Springs Charles Wilson and "Jupe'* Brockett. The first two have both served time in the penitentiary, and all are said to be members of an organized gang of would be train wreckers. Other suspects are under surveillance. Brockett is said to have confessed. The train which escap ed wreck had $35,000 In cash on its ex press car. It passed safely^over a sec tion of track which was displaced, but news of the affair was kept secret until the arrests had been made. Tramp Held Up. A strange case of hold-up occurred on a freight in charge of Conductor H. Rob erts, just before Montour was reached. Two tramps were stealing a ride, when one of them held up the other, stripping him of his clothes, which with a few dollars, made up all the man had. He offered resistance, however, and his as sociate shot him, the badl passing through the jaw and out at the mouth. The wound was not serious. The engineer of the train saw the flash of the revolver when it was fired and when the train stopped tEe injured tramp was fonnd. He gives his name as O'Connell. The would be murderer and robber made his escape. Mystery in a Girl's Death. The body of a young woman was found in the Des Moines river at Des Moines and identified as that of MaMe Schofield of Macksbnrg. She was 21 years old and went to Des Moines a few days be fore to visit at the home of J. W. Thom as. She was missed* bat no anxiety was felt and the first suspicion of trouble came when the body was found. The corooer and physicians on examination declare that she was not drowned, as there is no discoloration of swelling. There were no marks of vloleoce, how ever, and no poison could be detected. The murder is a complete mystery. I'rcnpe frOm Reform School. The inmates of the girls' reform school at Mitchellville have been In rebellion and escaped from t^he custodians. A doz en policemen from Des Moines went to the scene to assist in rounding them up, and members of the State board of con trol' went along to investigate the trou ble. Twenty girls escaped. They were recaptured, and the disturbance Incident to their return set all the inmates going. Windows and furniture were smashed, the guards overpowered atnd the girls es caped. Beet-Snsar Congress. The Farmers' Industrial Beet Sugar convention of the State of Iowa qonven ed at Clear Lake. James Wilson, 'secre tary of agriculture, presided over the meeting. Papers were read by James Allen of Ames, Neb. Prof. Allen of the State Agricultural College of Minneapo lis Theodore Hapke of Pekin, 111. Prof. Hayes of Minneapolis Prof. C. F. Curtis of Ames, and C. F. Sayler of Washing ton, D. C. Supposed Crook Falls Beneath Train. A tramp beading his way east fell un der the wheels of the stone train In the Northwestern yards at Tama, both legs being crushed at about the knee. He gave the name of John Leonard, but other tramps with whom he has been as sociating say he went by the name of Frank Williams and that he comes from Columbus, Ohio. He died. Brief State Happenings*N Horse thieves are at work in Crawford County.'- A single tax club has been organized at Des Moines. Free rural mail delivery has begun In the country surrounding Iowa City. A. T. Wood, the postmaster at Win tercet, has been convicted of perjury. The name of the postoffice at Yotmgs towtn has been changed to Carbondale. Over one hundred men have been work ing on the Rock Island grade at Minden. L. J. Farrell was robbed of $75 while asleep in a boarding house in Burlington. Charles Gramkow, residing neaj Per sia, suffered a loss of about $3,500 by fire. Dr. P. Turner, who has just died at Des Moines, was the founder of the street railway in that city. G. C. Jameson, a wealthy banker and business man of Dows, has been indict ed by the grand jury for bribery. Mra. Robert T. Lincoln has been ap pointed administratrix of the estate of her father, the lat^. ex-Senator Harlan. William Dunsmore, a freight conductor on the Rock Island, committed suicide by shooting while despondent over ill health. Mrs. Fred Seitber of Des Moines was .thrown from her carriage in a runaway and sustained injuries from which she died. The 12-year-old son of Peter Shaver of Slgourney, returning from a hunting trip, fell from the train and was cut in two by the wheels. The late James Morton of Cedar Rap ids carried more than $34,000 insurance on his life.* He was by no means a wealthy man. Thomas Glenn was killed by a knife thrown by Frank Montague in a packing fiouse at Omaha. They were both for merly of Ottumwa. Andrew Chindlund, a prominent farm er of Buena Vista County, died very sud denly. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Walters, an aged couple of Weltan, were seriously injur ed by a runaway team colliding with their buggy. J. D. Goff sold his 151-acre farm near Atlantic for. $57.50 per acre—land for which he paid $20 per acre only a few years ago. It Is learned that the burglar killed at Otley, thought to be one Kennedy of Waterloo, is Lou Bartlett, who served a jail sentence there last summer. A dangerous epidemic disease has broken out among the horses near Albla. There Is an epidemic among horses around Ames, something similar to pink eye. According to the report of the auditor of Dubuque County that county spent $13,756.57 in criminal prosecutions last year. A young son of William Laubender of Audubon while riding a bicycle was kick ed on the head by a horse and fears are entertained for his recovery* A Burlington man was arrested an? fined for shooting a duck across the river from Burlington. He has appealed the case and will test the Illinois frame law. Sherman Dougherty, a boy of Paine, fell off a tree and hurt his arm in such a manner that ii Is feared he will lose it. Ground has been broken and excava tions begun for the foundation of the C. & N. W. freight and passenger depot at Quarry. Wm. Broderlek of South Omaha was found Reside the track near Dunlap with his skull crushed and left leg injured. His leg was amputated aud it is thought he will recover. When President McKinley was at Du buque he met there an old schoolmate who had saved him from drowuing while both were boys together. The meeting was most cordial, WilHamsburg will soon be lighted by gas. Burglaries are epidemic in Woodbury County. An opera house is being erected at Iowa Falls. The grain elevator at Conroy is belog enlarged. The B., C. R. & N. will enlarge its yards at Dows. The barbers of Dows refuse to shave on the Sabbath. Another well of natural gas has been struck at Letts. W. F. StahJ has been Installed as post master at Lisbon. Street improvement is the order of the day at Monticello. Horse thieves are again operating In Plymouth County. A modern hotel will be built at Mo Iutyre in the spring. The city power house at Williamsburg is nearlng completion. Late potatoes are a failure in the north ern part of the State. The foundation is being put In for a new church at Floris. Fayette has a new school house In. course of construction. P. D. Finch has been commissioned postmaster at Finchford. The postoffice at Tunnel! has been dis continued mail to Homer. The new button factory at Burlington has commenced operations. V. W. Bailey of Dows has been indict* ed on the charge of arson. Tho. Northwestern Is pushing its ne*w extensions across the State. Alexander C. Walker has been commis sioned postmaster at Farley. Burglaries and petty crimes are becom ing numerous over the State. Indianola has voted to grant a fran chise for a water works plant The grand jury failed to Indict the liquor dealers of Wright County. Work on the water mains at Iowa Falls Is delayed for lack of pipe. Dubuque maintains a floating house to be used as a quarantine station. Morning Sun denies that there Is an outbreak of diphtheria In that place. The foundation for the new Catholic Church at Tama is almost completed. The crop product of Powesheik County this year is estimated at 4,560,000 bush els. Potato fields in Greene County are yielding as high as 250 bushels to the acre. The creamery at Vinccnt, owned by O. G. Page., was destroyed by fire. Loss $3,000. The Council of Iowa City has been ask ed to provide new quarters for the pub lic library. Audubon men have incorporated for the purpose of mining copper and gold near Mena, Ark. Rev. J. L. Jones of Oarrington, S. D„ has been called to the Congregational Church at Rockford- A postoffice has been established at Dresden, and Cyrus L. Richards com* missioned postmaster. Two plumbers at Keokuk were over come by gas, but were rescued before anything serious happened. Fire at Tara destroyed several barns two of which contained three horses and three cowa, which perished. The diphtheria scare at Oakville has abated, uo new cases appearing and thosev sick progressing to recovery. Fifty coal miners employed at the Eagle mines in Des Moines are out on strike, demanding higher wages. Johnson County will pay the bills inr curred during the smallpox siege last summer, amounting to about $1,100. The Country Club, the largest social organization at Marsballtown, will erect a club building to cost about $3,000. The Gibson Coal Company at Des Moines has found another good vein of coal four feet four inches in thickness. E. Gadibury of Tama, a brakeman on the Northern Iowa, fell off a car while rounding a curve and seriously injured. J. Q. Hull of Perry, a brakeman on the Milwaukee, had his right arm crush ed at Keystone while making a coupling. Fire on E. Elllngston's farm at Mil ford consumed a barn containing four horses and a quantity of feed. Loss $1, 000. Edward Ebery of Burlington- was care lessly handling a revolver when It dis charged, the bullet going through hif hand. F. J. Shannon of Fort Dodge struck torpedo with a rock, when it explode^ striking him on the face and severing at artery. Wilmer C. Whitseer, an Iowa mant has been appointed overseer at the ev gineer depot of the War Department at Iowa City. Mrs. A. Woolson, an aged lady o* State Center, while visiting at Marshall town fell from a carriage, breaking h«} right hip. The succulent watermelon is a sourct of revenue. George T. Davis sold $2, 500 worth from his patch, two miles eait of Ames, this year. John Bender, an old and prominent citizen of Gilman, died very suddenly at his home from hemorrhage, caused by the bursting of a blood vessel. Ha I'd In Moss, constable at Loveland, was shot and probably mortally wound ed by a horse thief and desperado for whose arrest he held a warrant. The shooting occurred at a grading camp near Loveland. The desperado escaped in the constable's wagon, compelling Joseph Morgan, a deputy sheriff, son of Sheriff Morgan, who had accompanied Mosa, to take the reins to drive for him. After a chase lasting the entire afternoon the man's .capture was effected on the out-' skirts of town. The fellow showed fight, and the officers were compelled to shoot him in the leg. Nora Springs has failed to secure the location of the much-desired creamery. The farmers refuse to take stock. P. O. Kallstrom, a prominent farmer of Dale township, attempted suicide by cutting his throat on account of family troubles. The provision store of Malum & Vi-. gren at Des Moines was burglarized and then burned to cover tracks. Total loss about $500. A skillful skin-grafting operation has just taken place at Atlantic, which has provided the little eon of Homer Everett with a new scalp. Injunction proceedings have been com menced against a large number of Cedar County saloonkeepers. Dairy Commissioner Norton's report shows a decrease in the number of creameries operated in the State. E. H. Gwin of Victor was seriously injured when bottle containing a gal lon of ammonia exploded In his hands. About $500 worth of clothing was de stroyed In the store of Borger & Bllven, at Mivicatine, through the bursting of a water^bipe over their ceiling. The jyry in the case of the State of Iowa against C. Fields for the murder of Fred Bennett in a box car at Rome last July brought in a verdict of guilty, A traction engine pulling a threshing machine crashed through a wagon bridge uear Athelstan, killing one and severely injuring two others. The dead man's name is Idleman. The Iowa State Implement Dealers' Association will hold its next annual meeting in Des Moines Jan. 3-5, when the name will be changed to the Iowq Implement and Vehicle Dealers' Assc? elation. The young son of Sam Hoffman, a farmer living near Washington, was found drowned in a large tank near his home. A number of men were working uear a* the time, but had no knowledge $f the accident.-