The Ottawa free trader. [volume], January 28, 1882, Page 4, Image 4

About The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916

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OTTAWA FREE TRADER; SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 1882.
3
Ottawa, 111., 8-turday, Jannary 88, 1889.
air-d a IV Pont Offle at VUikph, J 11.. u Second Clam
OUB CLUBBING
We are prepared to club the Fuke Thadkh
with the follow-ingpublioations.lurnishing both
it tne prices mimed, postage preptud. The
offer opea to old subscribers or new tit any
post office in the county is the chkavkat
VKR made in Ibis county:
Irbb Traokh ind Cliioaco Weekly Tiuus..(2M
Frbb Traoeii anu cnicago Weekly Tribune. 2.(15
Fhib Trader ana Chicago Weekly Inter-
ocmn ,-,v ;
Frbb Tradkr and Clili atjiJ Weekly Journal. J.t
Frbb Traorr anu fi. i.uuis ijwm-
Toon Tdi tllll ami St. l.nuis (ilolie-Demorrat. ii.fifi
Frbb Tkadkk and N. Y. Weekly Herald...,
Frbb Trader and .1 inrriran Airiralturmt . .
Frbb Traiikr and Prairie Farmer -
Frbb Trader and either of Harper s jmbli
cation
Frbb Thimbu and Srrilmer
Frbb Tradkr and tiwliij' bulim'
Frbb TRACER and rhrehnhyU-al Journal
Frbb Trahbr and St. Sieholn
Frbb Trailer and teuton nt's Monthly
Frbb Traper and ..'(- W l.iein; Ay
..BnTiniru nnil MV.7irn llttral
2.50
.'(
4.75
4.7."
H.(K)
:t.m
:;.w
:ur
s.:5
II. 110
Fbbb Tkvmbr and Murt'nivrut .ew J irk-r .M
The real name of the Mite robber, giving his
name as f.ittle, of w In'. shooting at Dallas,
Texas an Recount is ;ivt-ii atii nnother page,
is ascertained to have been Ons Goody, of I'.ur
linsame. Kansas.
A religious revival at Madison. Ohio, has
lecome so attractive that the stores and facto
lies m tho place are closed In the afternoon to
enable the owners and employes to go to
meeting.
Wm. A. Jordan has been appointed post
master at Morris, which shows one editor out
of luck. Tho Kev. Gilbert II. Knncrtson has
been appointed postmaster at Sandwich, which
Bhoivs one editor in luck, Mr. I!, being editor
of the Sandwich (unfit. The latter appoint
ment, however, appears to have given general
disgust.
William Ncal, one of the men charged w ith
the murder of the Thomas girl and Gibbons
children near Ashland, Ky., a month ago, has
been tried, found guilty anil sentenced to be
hung. Craft and Ellis, engaged in the same
crime, are next to be tried, and little doubt is
entertained that both will receive the same
sentence.
D. M. Perry A. Co., of Detroit, the well
known seed men, place us under obligations
for packages of their excellent vegetable and
lower Heeds for 1882. These seeds are well
Inown In this market, being kepi by all cur
dealer?), and their excellence has been so abun
dantly tested by our gardeners and florists as
to place their popularity on a solid basis.
By tho burning ol some "store sheds" at
Ihe upper end of the C, B. & (J. Hail road
Company car shops at Aurora, on Tuesday,
half a dozen cars were destroyed, Including
Ihe splendid Director's Car No. 200, which had
cost $18,000, one dining ear, two rattan smok
ing cars and other cars all involving a loss
of from $50,000 to m,U00.
The Illinois Central Kailroad, whose poverty
some of its officers and the tailirni A;e have
if lely been lamenting, we notice has just de
clared a semi annual dividend of :j ' per cent.
8even per cent, a year in dividends, with a
good surplus over, is rather too good a show
ing for the company to make such a poor
moutb, over.
Sr. Kaii.uoao. The Joliet Xeim of Wed
nesday says: "Engineers are running lines
on the flats to-day for a branch of the Chicago,
Burlington and (Juiuey railroad from Sheri
dan, on their Streator branch, to Joliet, to con
nect with the Michigan Central Cut-oflline.
There is also talk of the line being continued
Jo Mcndota on the Illinois Central. The lines
.'he cngiiiceis are following are the ones com
monly known as tne Mendota, which has been
followed over so many lines already."
New York dispatches on Monday announc
ed the death in that city of the Hon. Clarkson
S. Potter, ex-representative In congress and
for years prominent as a democratic politician
of that city and state. Two years ago, w hen,
t'y the Kelly defection, the rest of the demo
cratic state ticket in New York was defeated
by 40,000 Majority, Mr. Potter came within a
ie hundred votes of being elected lieutenant
governor, his personal popularity even draw
ing to him the bulk of the Tammany vote.
The city ol Atlanta, (la., had barely got
shrough rejoieiug over its splendid and buc
tcssiul exhibition of southern products, when
it was visited by the: lire fiend, wiping out in
a few hours all the profits it had reaped from
the big show. Early on Saturday morning
fire broke out in the basement of Black's Can
dy M anufactory, one of the largest buildings
in ihe city, and before the fire department
tould get to work the whole building was en
. veloped in flames. A nigh wind blowing at
the time, the fire spread rapidly, involving leu
inner large business places in the destruction.
Fortunately at this time the clouus came to the
rescue ol the Inefficient fire department, and
ending down a heavy rain, put the fire out.
The loss is estimated at $500,000.
WjjIc the weather hereabouts has been ex
eec!ingly "variable" during the past week,
about half the time mild and springlike and
the other bait w interish with the thermometer
from freezing joint down (on Tuesday morn
ing) to zero, the week throughout New York,
New England and Lower CanaJa has been one
of intense Cold. The reports on Tuesday and
Vcdneslay from all portions of New Eugland
art the lowest temperature in thirty years.
any towns reporting o0 to 40 degrees below
aero. The Piscatauquis river at Portsmouth
was frozen over for the first time since 1857.
At New York the thermometer sank to 8 be
low, at Poughkeepoic to 10. at Albany to 18,
and at Saranac lake to 40 below.
Tho Kcndota Bulletin u in lino with the en
tire press of the county, wl'b. one or two paid
t scepttons, in scoring the so-called "iloge
piao of jmblisLIng tbc proceeding, of the
Board of Supervisors, said plan being to pay
one office f ISO, or about five prices, for print
ing a few thousand copies of the proceedings
in the form of supplements, and then to sponge
on tlie various newspaper publishers in the
county, and cheat the post office department,
to circulate these supplements gratuitously
through the mail to the sutiscribers of all such
papers. Very naturally, the bidy of tho pub
lishers of tho county scouted the impudent
levy. As the JlulMia suggests, the Hoard
could easily have had such n synopsis of it
proceedings as the law contemplates prepared
and published in all the papers in the county,
for less money than was wasted on the foolish
"Hoge plan," and witli vastly more satisfac
tion to the people.
GUITEAU FOUND GUILTY.
So Ciuiteau has been found guilty. The plea
of insanity wouldtt t avail in Ins case. llml. full access to the gorgeous dining cars a.i ihe tinned to rise until the night ot the 2lili, when
popular sympathy been with him it would I'ullmanitcs, enjoying the same fare at the it came to a .-land. At thai lime Nashville was
have been good enough. Had his victim se-l same reasonable-cost. hemmed in on all sides and ten thousand pen-
duoed his sister or debauched his wife, ail the Aside Irom these comforts, the 'System" is ,e had been driven from their homes. Look
world would have agreed that Guiteau was as also noted for the exceptional politeness of it- ing from the siispensioa bridge, one could see
"crazy us a bed bug." Hut he had no wrong employe.-, forming indeed one of its chief at- oniy a va-t expanse ot waters stretching out
to goad him to madness no extenuating plea, tractions, the fame of w hich has become w -rid- in every direction. The railroad bridge and
and liis crime involved not alone the life of wide mid frequently draws passengers nut of tt-iek ('"innd oik- longlinoof black in thowa
au individual but of the nation the safety of. the more direct way to enjoy this luxury. u r, and the trains which cautiously passed
fifty millions of people. ( ruy or only devil-
ish, such ft man is until to live. The world is.
abundantly justified in ridding itself of such
a monster.
The only remaining question is, when will;
occur the final act in the tragedy -the hang-
ing bee? The next term of the District Crini-
inal Court begins on Monday. The defense
have the whole term, which lasts four weeks,'
we believe, in which to file exceptions, and j
aficr they are heard and determined vjunxt
the prisoner, Judge Cox can at once pass sen
tence and order the execution at any time with
in the next thirty days unli the case is car
ried up to the court in banc, which meets in
April, and as Judge Cox will no doimt be dis.
posed to give ( luiteau as long a shift as he
c in, the execution will probably not take place
before July.
During the interval, as his miserable soul
stands on the verge, prying into the awful vista
of eternity, long diatribes and lectures by the
press and sermons by the clergy on (luiteau
"The Moral Turpitude of Hiding in a Refuge
of Lies" will be in order. As to the latter,
brethem, pardon the suggestion we ask noth
ing for it does not the theme involve "Too
large a variety of goods for one label f" Sup
pose we make that the title. The effort will
be, in the discourse, to find in the label the
descriptive, distinctive, qualifying term in the
vocabulary "saint, sinner, professor, repro
bate, politician, assassin" and then the "mor
al lesson" to be derived from one's having so
many "distinguishing characteristics."
Meantime as to all this lecturing and ser
monizing, dear brethern of the sensational
school! Can it help (luiteau ? You I
would not have it do so it it could! And as1
an "awful example," have we not had enough
about it already? In war times it used to be
saiil that about eight pounds of lead were fired
to every bullet that took effect. Wo like good,
square gospel preaching and genuine religion,
something that savors of salvation; that tends
to young men becoming Christ-like, in being
loveable, industrious, beneficent, just, sober
minded, genial; old men growing better as
they grow in years; girls practical, true, mak
ing society a joy and home heaven; woman
saintly and sweet, able to make good bread,
enjoy a joke, patch a boy's trowsers, sing in
family worship, and withal having so much ot
character that she can infuse the spirit of piety
into all in her home circle, so that when her
dust Is laid to rest her children shall rise up
and call her blessed, and wish above all things
to follow and be like her, the happy, holy,
good, cheery and beneficent, in the long future
years, ami because in her atmosphere was genu
ine and true life.
A few sermons of that stripe and power, that
can effect something, from men who are them
selves a heavenly benediction wherever they
are, would not be amiss about these days. A
nation expanding slates into empires and com
ing to be a hundred millions of people, nerds
a mighty organizing life force. Let us have
a rest from chaff. This great world needs
none of it if perchance it can get God's gos
pel in Us steady
THE GREAT BUBLINOT0N BO0TE
There arc no more single railroads in this
country. The lron track has become so general
and all-pervading that it has become necessary
to group the railroads, according to their own
ership or connections, in combinations or sys
tems. Thus we have the Yanderbilt or New
York Central system, the Wabash or Gould
system, the liock Island system, the Burling
ton system, ic. Of the extent and ramifica
tions of the last named, as far as owned and
controlled by a single corporation, a very intel
ligible map is given on our 7th page. The
"system" includes several thousand miles, and
seems to touch 'every considerable city and
town, if not every man's farm, over a width of
nearly five degrees, or :i()0 miles, from Chicago
to the Kocky Mountains. It would, however,
be telling but half the truth to say that this
includes the whole of what may be properly
comprehended in the "Burlington system."
Its connections are so close with the Atchison,
Topcka and Santa Fe "system," the Denver
and Km Grande system, ami half a dozen of
other vast corporations all embraced in what
among railroad men is known ns the "Boston
syttem," that one can really ride, or send
freight, under the protection ot the "Burling
ton system," to almost any point that can be
named eastward from Chicago to the Atlantic,
southward to the Gulf, or westward to any
point on the Pacific from San Diego to Vash
ington territory. The "Burlington system,"
in its most restricted sense, not only pervades
an empire, but throuf h its connections its rami
tlcations reach the uttermost parts of the
world.
We are induced to refer to this "system,'
however, not on account of its rastness so
much as some of its minor details in which the
ordinary traveler or business man is more im
mediately interested. The traveler, in these
days of brisk railroad rivalry, insists on such
comforts as only a few years ago were not
dreamed of, except at a heavy extra cost. Then
nono but aristocrats or millionaires could
afford to ride In Pullman Palace cars and en
joy tho luxuries of Pullman Dining cars and
sleepers, with a cosy smoking room attached,
and indeed on most railroads to-day such is
still the case. But our "Burlington system"
has taken a largo step towards leveling such
distinctions. Ot course it can't control the
Pullman hionopoly and oilers to such of its
passengers as prefer its exclusive comforts
their unrestricted use; but to passengers of
less exclusive ideas it oilers without extra
charge its seductive reclining chairs, in which
one can sleep as comfortably as If stretched on
a Pullman mattress; and if he cares to indulge;
in a fragrant five penny Cuba (Connecticut rivers in Kentucky, of which we made men
leaf) instead of being poked forward into a' tion in our l tt as then equal to the great flood
den reeking with emigrant lilth, he can retire of is)7, the highest on record, had by no
to a palace smoking car, handsomely carpeted, inc. ins attained ji climax at the latest dates
and furnished with the most soothing reeiin 'then received. The river kept on rising not
jug chairs.
And tUcn, of course, he hits
1 his spirit of politeness and accommodation ;
not only characterizes its road ollicers, Iiomcv-
er, but runs through the whole
Our own city ot Ottawa, diiiing
management,
the past v car.
has had occasion richly to realize this fact.
The gas wot k i. the tile works, starch factory,
llouring nulls and various glass works have
till been most generously favored by having
side tracks constructed to their doors, at
heavy expense, but without the cost of a dollar'
o our local manufactures. The generous lib - -
crality with which these conveniences havej l ::n,i teet long, and scores ol men were kept
been provided almost impels belief of the say-jCon-taiilly moving to and fro arresting drifts
ing that has become common with regard to (Vom rushing agiiinst.it. Kafts, rails and logs
the Burlington, that any tanner not over n! were in abundance, while dwelling houses of
mile or two from its track can have a side! all sizes and descriptions were constantly
track laid to his barn any time if he can s itis-j floating by. Three of the houses caught con
fy the management of the road that helms aliained twenty-four live hogs. The ram was
car load or two of corn or hogs to ship.
In a word, the system is not only a wonder
in its vastness, but in its details, and in all its
appointments and workings a model of the
highest type of railroad service.
GUITEAU.
The trial of Guiteau, the assassin cf Presi
dent Garfield, terminated at Washington on
Wednesday, as most of our readers are already
doubtless aware, in a verdict of guilty ot niur
der in the first degree. The jury, on whose
disagreement bets were made two to one but
the day before, deliberated but 15 minutes on
their verdict and unanimously agreed on the
first ballot.
The closing speech of Judge Porter, which
occupied about a day and a half, was perhaps
one of the most stinging, bitter philllppics
ever uttered in ;my court of justice. It kept
Guiteau in a constant state of excitement, and
there were no live minutes during the whole of
it in which he did not interrupt Porter with
"That's false," "That's a mean, dirty lie," Ac,
itc. When others appealed to the court to
stop these interruptions, Judge Porter said it
was not necessary they were no bother to
him and he went on pouring his lava words
and burning coals.
The speech of Guiteau, which he was allow.
ed to make on Monday, was but a repetition
of the speech he had published a few days be
fore in the newspapers, in which ho, claimed
to be a patriot, having done what he did for
the good of America and under divine inspira
tion, lie closed by half maundering, half
singing, the old song,
"John Rnnvn's body lies mouldering in the grave,
lint his soul is iiiurcMiig on ;"
Putting in with ludicrous emphasis and ges
ture the
"(ilory, glory hallelujah!"
When the verdict of the jury was announc
ed he said: "My blood will be upon the heads
of that jury, and don't you forget it." The
audience shouted itself hoarse in approval of
the conviction. Mr. Scoville at once gave no
tice of a motion for a new trial. Guiteau said,
"God will avenge this outrage."
The trial has certainly been one of the most
remarkable in the history of the jurisdiction
of this or any other country. There was no
question about the fact of the murder, no de
nial of the prisoner's guilt; the only defense
attempted to he interposed w as that of insanity.
And the remarkable feature about It w as, that
in the whole conduct of the trial, both by
court and counsel on both sides, the treatment
of the prisoner was such as assumed this in
sanity, and yet the success of the prosecution
Tested on the pretended necessity to overcome
that assumption. Thus, if Guiteau was to be
treated as sane, how could Judge Cox, or coun
sel on either side, ignore his right to appear
in his own defence yet that right, which he
constantly claimed.was practically, on all sides,
all through the trial, treated with profound
contempt. Then if he was to be regarded as
sane, on w hat theory could Judge Cox, viewing
him as a prisoner in the dtck charged w ith an
infamous crime, permit him constantly to in
terrupt the proceedings, insult his own and
the opposite counsel, and even openly defy
and insult the court Such things could be
allowable in no court in the civilized world
except on the theory that the man was mad.
Yet in the argument of the prosecution, in the
chargo of the Jadgc, and in the verdict of the
ury, it is solemnly averred that he is not now
and never was insane !
And the verdict is right. He was not insane.
He was innately, constitutionally and thor
oughly a bad man irreclaimable devilish
but he was not mad. Y'et what a commentary
is this on American jurisprudence, that while
in the whole conduct of the trial the insanity
of the man was virtually assumed, during the
same "whole conduct" the foregone conclusion
dominated that in the outcome the assumption
of insanity was to be ignored !
Tak Jkaxxette Chew. The Navy Depart
mcnt at Washington on Saturday had later dis
patches from Eastern Siberia in regard to the
crew of tho unhappy arctic search steamer
Jeannctte. From these It appears that Daven
howcr and his eleven men of the whalcboat
had reached Irkutsk in safety. Davcnhower
being incapacitated by blindness, accounts for
Melvlllo being in command of the whaleboat,
Before proceeding to Irkutsk, Melville says he
had found the place- where Do Long and his
men were left by Nindcrman and Noras and
had not found De Long there, which seems to
indicate that they had not perished, but had
been able to make their way inland to some
safer shelter where they will doubtless be found
when, l iter in the season, Melville, who is to
remain in the country, is able to continue the
quest, rso tidings jet of the second boat.
THE SOUTHERN FLOODS.
The flood in the Cutnlcrland and Tennessee
w'onlpm tho lii'h, hut with renewed rains con-
lind reia-ed presented a curious spectacle,
-ei imii;' to mmo upon the water. Kailroad
travel, h"wever, whs generally arrested forsev.
cr.-il day-. The Tennessee at Johtisouville was
'nine
wis..
w ide. The New Providence bridge
wept
away. At .Jacksonville, on the
Cumberl-md, the
wis sr.ved w ith the
ireat iron railroad bridge
utmost dillicultv. The wa-
.vt.-r were up to the iron rails, and additional
weights of -tone and Iron were put upon the
structure to bold it to its dace. The bridge is
general throughout the south, and from every
point come stories ot rum wrought by the up
preccdclitcd floods.
F0BEIGN.
The only news of any interest from Europe
during the week comes from France. M. Gam
belta, as prime minister, having proposed cer
tain constitutional amendments, chief of which
whs the insertion of a clause establishing the
principle that deputies shall hereafter be elect
ed by a departmental w-rutin ik lite (by gener
al ticket instead of single districts), and asked
a congress of the two chambers to act on the
proposal, the committees appointed by the
chambers to consider the proposition reported
in favor of the congress but almost unanimous-
ly against the mitiu ; lisle, intimatin" that
bould the congress be summoned, it would
undoubtedly also reject that proposition. Gam
betta thereupon violently declared that if the
congress, when summoned, insisted on exceed
ing the limits of discussion proscribed for it
by the separate resolutions of the two cham
bers its action would become unconstitutional
and revolutionary, anil the President would
then have to consider how to get rid of it.
This seemed to present the question whether
congress or the "government," (the President
and Cabinet) were sovereign and on the under
standing that this was the issue, the chamber
of deputies on Thursday, by a vote of 1105 to
1 17, rejected the government bill for a revision
of tho constitution, upon which Gambettaand
the rest of his cabinet immediately resigned.
The chamber thereupon adjourned in the high
est excitement. There is no intimation as yet
who is to be Gambetta's successor.
The monetary panic on the Paris Bourse, in
consequence of the suspension ot the Bank of
Lyons and the run upon the Union Generale
Bunk of Paris, has about blown over, both
banks having proved able to meet their lia
bilities. SMALLPOX
The State Board of Health is receiving dis
patches ot the appearance of smallpox at new
points in this state at the rate of about four a
day, but think the disease is not on the in
crease. The Board has extended the time to
vaccinate school children in counties where
smallpox now exists to February 1st, and in
counties yet free to March 1st.
In Chicago there were at bust dates KiO
smallpox patients in tho pest house, with new
cases at the rate of about 5 a day, and deaths
about 3. Health Officer De Wolf says it is
impossible to stamp out the disease while
tramps and others from outside arc constantly
being scut in broken out with the disease.
Seven such tramps came in in one day, mfect
ing dozens, no doubt, if not hundreds on the
way.
At Pittsburg the new cases still average
about :50 a day; and -about the same at Kich
mond and Norfolk, Ya. In New York city
the total number of cases last week was "!);in
Philadelphia during the same week there were
23 deaths from smallpox, an increase of 11
over the preceding week. Tho first case ap
peared on Tuesday at Hartford and on Ved
nesday at Omaha. Boston is still free from
the pest, but there has been great alarm over
the appearance of a case at Amherst college.
In Michigan the pest is on the increase, and
believed to be on a stand in Ohio and Indiana.
Fhoiiatk Cof jits. A decision of the su
preme court of this state, rendered last week,
has created wide alarm, particularly in Chica
go, by wiping out the Cook county probate
court, established by act of the legislature in
1877, and declaring all its acts and proceed
ings illegal. Tho court has been in oitration
over four years, and during that time has pass
ed upon and settled the title to property valued
at 110,000,000. Now all this action is declared
to bo illegal and void. On that point Cooley
on Constitutional Limitations is quoted as
follows:
When a statute is adjudged to be unconsti
tutional, it is as if it had never been. Bights
cannot be built up under it; contracts which
depend upon it for their consideration are
void ; it constitutes a protection to no one who
has acted under it, and no one can be punish
ed for having refused obedience to it before
the decision was made.
The consequences of unsettling all this liti
gation of course are ot the most serious kind,
and the question how to avoid tho vast incon
venience and loss it involves is now the en
grossing topic of Chicago's legal pundits.
Tho act, originally passed to apply to all
counties with 100,000 inhabitants or more, thus
being in fact limited to Cook county, it will
be remembered was amended by the last legis-
lature so as to take In counties of 70,000 lnbau
itants or more, thus letting in La Salle. Hap
pily, however, our first election of a probate
judge under the act could not occur until 182,
so that no new court for this county has yet
beer, organized and no harm here has been
done, except such in may have resulted to
some of our people who may be interested in
Cook county property that her probate court
may have acted upon in the last four years.
PB0TECTI0N AND WAGES.
We arc rather surprised to find our friend of
the Aiiwrieiin M.tnufiirtiinr, of Pittsburg, ad
mitting that, according to the consular reports
made to the state department at Washington,
the operatives in the English cotton factories
receive about the same wages that ate paid to
the same class of employes in Massachusetts.
A little further investigation would have
shown him that the same holds good with ref
erence to the operatives in the various iron in
uustries ot the two countries, am that as to
shipping, the over-protected operatives in the
various ship yards of this country tire actually
boggard compared to the unprotected employes
of the yards at Glasgow. In truth, if our
Pittsburg friend would lay aside his prejudices
he is otherwise honest enough -- he would
admit that protection -tariff exactions ami
impositions, in other words - have nothing to
do with waes. The facilities of travel and
transportation between this country and Eng
land are such, that If a Manchester cotton
spinner is assured that he can earn two shil
lings a week more in Massachusetts than in
Lancaster; or a Sheffield cuttler that he can
earn two shillings more a week in New York
than at home it w ill take lam but two weeks
to cross the salt pond and be here. "Wages in
this country, in many lines of employment,
are doubtless kept up above the European
average by the facility with which men, who
fancy their pay ns mechanics or operatives
insufficient, can fine more remunerative em
ployment, ns well as comparative indepen
dence, by squatting on western Lauds or niiu
ing for gold and silver in the Kocky moun
tains. Aside from cases like these, however,
the wages of operatives in this country and
the British empire must hereafter be substan
tially the same, whether we or England, one
or both, have protection or free trade. The
gabble of the protectionists about better wages
to the operatives in "protected" industries is
played out.
"Tuky Am. do it!" For investigation, dis
covery anil research, there is no time like win
ter. People are often more at leisure then than
at other seasons. Long evenings give time for
reading, thinking, courting, and doing chores
generally. The glare of day is not shut in
and toned down by leafy covering, by green
sward, by delightfully growing bud and flow
er. Front yard and back are, as to that mat
ter, on a level, and no pretentious upper-crust
and aristocratic airs at the front door cm im
pose on the passer-by. if the shutter hangs by
one hingo over a dirty window, if the gate
don't swing, and the fence Is out ot its perpen
dicular, it the feathers of turkeys lie 'round
in easy familiarity with the scrapings of the
Christmas pig, handy-like, at the back door,
the gentle traveler passing by has a sense of it
and an impression. If the trees and shrubs
hard by have an unkempt look, like a school
boy's hair when he gets out of bed, if the
pickets are oQ' from its fence, you Know with
out calling that the folks there are easy-going
people, and not of that kind always in a stew
about dirt and slackness. Dingy paint, the
walk to the front door, or loose boards, the
sidewalks indicating age in rottenness and
hard usage generally, all help to make impres
sions on the new-comer. Not alone every old
shanty, but every tired-looking, rickety gate,
the heap ot rustiug cans and piles of ashes in
dicate when people can live "comfortable,"
and not be in an everlasting fret about being
nice. When the world wants quiet and people
are looking for a home, that's the place that
will be at a premium. Mankind can't always
be straight-laced and go in tights. Churches
and school buildings, painted and standing in
lawns, amid trees over-arching, suggest taxes
and a blue-blooded aristocracy. Ilign notions
are of no use. This world is largely made of
dirt. Arc w e better than our fathers ':
One of the most audacious swindles wcever
read of has, according to the New Y'ork Sun,
been lately practiced upon the intelligent "bet
ter class" ladies of Newark, New Jersey. A
dapper, spruce young man, good looking and
a fluent talker, has been selling from house to
house, at the rate of two or three dollars a doz
en, colored pumpkin seeds which he calls the
seeds of the wash-rag plant, assuring his uupes
that yie seed, after being planted two or three
days in a dry soil, would develop into a stout
stalk bearing a red, white and yellow flower
of exquisite loveliness, and soon after, burst
ing into full bloom, a wash-rag of the finest
texture would appear, which could be used in
hot or cold water without injuring it and no
grease or dirt would adhere to it. And the
intelligent ladies ot Newark were abundantly
duped by a swindler whom the children would
pelt with mud for his impudence in the rudest
western wild.
Again the papers announce, and this time
with great positiveness, that the war of rates
between the trunk line railroads from Chi
cago to the seaboard, is at an end. An agree
ment has been arrived at on fixed rates for
grain from Chicago to New Y'ork at 20 cts. per
100 lbs., ork and other commodities in pro
portion, while west bound rates will be 45 cts.
for first class, the new rates taking effect last
Monday. This understanding was arrived at
on the agreement to submit the most knotty
point, "differential rates" that is rates some
what higher or lower according to distance
to a commission ot three prominent men.
Most of Uie roads, however, have such heavy
contracts ahead, which they are allowed to ful
fil, that the new rates will be little felt for a
month or two yet
Congress has again done about nothing a!
week. Monday and Wednesday were given
to eulogies on tho deceased Senators Barnsido
and Carpenter. During the remaining three
days the two houses were in session tho only
bills passed were the bill to retire Judge Hunt;
tho bill to pay Mrs. Lincoln $15,000 as arrears
of pension, and a pension hereafter of $5,000
a year; and a bill to remit the duties on cer
tain clothing sent over from Eugland for the
suffering negroes m Kansas. Sherman mado
tho closing speech on his !i per cent, funding
bill In the Senate on Thursday, and then a
motion to l;iy it on the table was voted dowu
by -15 against 2:1.
M'KNliliiKton Letter.
Heek, Vooi-lieen and Imjulh on the I'litKioii JJiU
.1 Siifier'AfKthett'eiil Slmiit Wouutn'e
'its Oner Mori .
iKruiii Our Ui ituiur CorrrBimiiclciit.)
Washington, I). C, Jan. 21, 1882.
The past week was marked by the practical
failure of committee expansion in the house.
aih r a somewhat highly spiced debate, and by
a discussion of the arrears ol pensions bill, in
which Senator Beck of Kentucky had the
hardihood to denounce the measure ns fraudu
lent and a most unjust imposition upon the
tax paver. Senator Yoorhees appeared to have
secured a momentary triumph by replying
that this nation could not haggle with its pre
servers over the price of their blood, and Sena
tor Ingall.s of Kansas said he was for the ap
propriation first and last, no matter w hether i.
amounted to millions or billions. Senator
Beck wa not us pyrotechii:cal a the other
twti Senators, and he won applause from the
galleries, but the sober second thought of the
country, whether it comes now or fifty years
liruee, will be with him. In this arrears of
pensions act there has been a prodigal waste
of tin.' national treasure, and that treasure is,
for those who can .liscern it, but another name
for the blood which Senator Voorhccs used
with such telling rhetorical effect.
But we have hail other entertainment than
Congress this week. The National Woman's
Bights convention has been in session, and the
esthetic crank, Oscar Wilde, has for tho mo
ment quite eclipsed Guiteau ns an object of
morbid curiosity. Popular idols cannot all be
hung, mid therefore must be endured. Unlike
Guiteau, Wilde does not run on theology, poli
tics and assassination, but piques himself on an
uttorness in art, which is thought to be more
artful than artistic. He recks with ultrapoeti
oal, supcru'sthctical art. Art oozes from hii
every pore, and he is slimy with the art love
sick, maidens adore. There is a report this
morning that such was the stress of his elo
quence while talking to n young lady at the
hotel yesterday that she "utterly" fainted. The
asthetic craze is not fully diagnosed as yet,
nut enough is known to say that it is epigunic
and not epidemic. That women only and nof.
men grow wild is shown in the fact that the
blandishments of the long-haired bore had no
effect on Speaker Keifer. He sent in his card
during the session ot the house, evidently ex
pecting that the Speaker would accord him
admission to the floor, and that the members
of the house would give him an ovation, which
w ould be w orth thousands as an advertisement.
Speaker Keifer answered that he could bo seen
at his hotel. It is a pity that our women will
make such jennies of themselves over an a-s-thetic
sham, but we have our revenge in tho
recollection that the English women ran after
our Joaquin Miller aud Walt Whitman in
somewhat the same way.
The Woman's Bights Convention presented
the same old cast of reformers aud performers.
They have added nothing to their repertoire
of resolutions, speeches, reports and collec
tions. Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton arc
very old; they will not appear at many more
conventions. When they are gone the move
ment will have lost its ballast and its brain.
Grand Knplds and Fall Kiver.
Gua.M) Kapios, Jan. 27. The Fall Kiver,
Grand Kapids and Brookfield Insurance Co.
have made their annual report and make a
good showing. A little more vigor iu it?
management Is desirable, however.
Sam Harley is home from Nebraska and
Kansas. He reports Mrs. Carrie Judd as suf
fering from a disabled arm; that Mrs. Audrus
Moore has married a rich widower; that Bill
Porter is buying lands at Girard and growing
fat on roast buffalo. Sam is going back there
himself to settle and grow up with the country.
Sufferin Meyer had a dance Tuesday night
Considering the nasty weather only a small
crowd of you,hs and festive maidens appeared
and welted the floor in good shape until sun
rise. Mr. Hen. Titzell and Miss E. Basore,
Mike Costello and Annie Meyer, Olive Lctson
and Mary Ann Engles, C. Basore and Almic
Titzell, Elaine Wilkerson, Jake Ilcttlc, Johnny
Ilarragan, Will Adams, Joe Harris, Bob Wing,
Bob Wagner, Miss Soles, and others togged out
in new store clothes shook tho rafters to the
tunc of "And Johnny Goes Shouting lor
Sarah." I am requested to thank Mrs. Meyers
and Jake Wagner for victuals generously donat
ed to the hungry but thankful guests.
Mr. James Batkin has been seriously ill for
some weeks, but his friends hope to see him
regain his strength soon.
The sociable at the Hicsory Point church
last night w as not a success on account of the
miserable roads. Our pastor will preach as
usual on next Sabbath.
A few persons In East Fall Itiver are en
deavoring to compel the Commissioners to lay
a road to tho Marseilles bridge. The effect
will be to compel Fall Kiver to build half of a
bridge there, as the present one has been con-
demned as unsafe. Bird Bickford says he is
going for those Fall Kiver tax liars if they
don't come down handsomely for that bridge
The attention of the Superintendent of
Schools is called to the board of directors in
tho Lewis district, Fall Kiver. They are about
as Nzy and shiftless a crowd as any civilized
community can show. On account of the con
dition of the school house, the children of the
district have been compelled to sponge on the
neighboring schools all winter. Finally when
the other schools refused to receive them any
any longer, they roused up and hired a
teacher. As it is, the district isn't entitled to
any funds as they haven't had six months
school, and it would teach them a good lesson
it they didn't get any. . - -