WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27 IDOL
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Circulation Statement
The circulation of The Times for the ntti end
ed February 23 1901 was as follows
Sunday Februar 17 23113
Jlonda February 18 33190
Tuesdav February 19 33113
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Dall average Sunda 23115 excepted 39317
The McnniKUn Cnnnl
Every true American is In sympathy
with Senator Morgan in his bravtvflght to
force a vote on the Nicaragua Canal bill
at this session of Congress All the force
influence patronage and lobbying power
of the Administration are arrayed against
the measure Just why It may be difficult
to understand but the real reasons no
doubt are that certain Republican leaders
are Interested In the Panama Canal job
Millie others are under deep obligations
to the transcontinental railway interests
which are bent as they always have been
upon defeating an American waterway be
tween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
For the old and exploded de Lesseps ditch
tbse anti canal people do not care a
sou They are too well Informed not to
feel certain that It could ncer bee suc
cessfully completed no matter at what
cost Therefore they are willing enough
that a Panama Canal bill shall be passed
and as much public money dropped into
the bottomless French hole as Congress
may be Induced to provide
The Hay Pauncefote Treaty hung up in
London to present embarrassment to Lord
Salisburys friend and personal asset
In Washington is still being used to ob
struct action The excuse that It would
be discourteous to Great Britain to pass
the Hepburn Morgan bill or to say an
thlng derogatory of the Clayton Bulwer
Convention while the Hay Pauncefote
matter is pending Is rapidly wearing out
and if it were not its character as
wide awake farmer busy for eighteen
hours out of the twenty four Farmers of
this type are in much the same predica
ment as a housekeeper who regards a sin
gle fly as a cause of serious worry and
believer that the fading of carpets Is an
evidence of lack of housewifely skill
We hac all seen those delightfully pic
turesque old places nestled In somo hol
low or perched on some hill slope v hero
ever thing seems to hac been In the same
place for generations where the red squir
rels scamper over the stone walls and the
cinnamon roses and golden rod make the
waste places beautiful where thre Is no
furniture too good for tired peopl to use
and no floor too finely carpeted for chil
drens feet to tread and most of us have
thought that If one wanted to live In the
country such would bo the place in which
to do It Yet on these farms one does rot
always find the best apples and vegeta
bles or the most profitable meadow the
greater part of their crop has been for
generations Ihe simple home comfort
which their Inhabitants got out of Ihcm
This Intangible hardest does not appear
in the census returns nor is it represent
ed in any bank account but it has gone
to the making of character and that
after Jill is the most valuable crop grown
In this country t
Snmprtnii
It now remain- to be seen whether Con
gress will unite with Ihe Navigation Bu
reau ring in the latters wild desire to
make that haughty son of the soil Samp
son a vice admiral We do not think it
will but all things seem possible In these
das of violations of the Constitution and
laws by people sworn to support both and
of national rule by trusts and monopolies
But in any event the truth remains that
a man who thinks as contemptuously of
fellow citizens originally his social supe
riors as Sampson docs on that account
alone should be refused promotion if he
bad not outraged cery American sense
of Justice and decency In other waS
In objecting to the Idea of advancing
any warrant officer In the nay to Its low
est commissioned grade of ensign no
matter how worthy or accomplished the
aspirant may be Rear Admiral Sampson
brands as unfit for the company of gen
tlemen such ornaments of the service as
Rear Admirals ONeil Hlchbom and Mel
ville all of whom like Farragut and many
others of his time came up to the
quarter deck from the ranks of the
people and without the natural
I tage as Snmnson calls it of an educa
tion at Annapolis That training must
Indeed be severe and effective whin It
j can raw ouK Iara aborers and
transparent subterfuge 1s toonapparent to
Justify the slightest further attention to
It
There are millions in the Panama
scheme for its political and financial pro
moters and almost an endless amount of
In
four years lick them Into so fine a social
form that ever afterward they are too
blue blooded and lordly to brook the ac
quaintance of ministers lawyers and
bankers sons who have chanced to get
money for whom it may concern behind n lne sen ice ana win us nignc si nuu
the fight of the transcontinental railway I ors without first having their vulgar pie
is but belanlsm knocked out of them In the Naval
corporations -There nothing
tional common sense patriotism and high Academy
necessity behind the Nicaragua fanal As ne f our contemporaries remarked
fcjj yesterday In taking the position that tone
but gentlemen bred it did not Insist
Tin- Cnxe of Colonel Mii upon gentlemen born are fit to wear
The persecution of Colonel May of the epaulets and Join in the exalted tocla
Firat District Regiment has ended as swim of the wardroom and the steerage
nearly everybody In the community ex
pected U would In the return of that pop
ular and efficient officer to his command
after a seven months suspension It will
be recalled that nearly a year ago Brig
adier General Harries commanding the
District militia arbitrarily ordered Col
onel May before a board composed of offi
cers his Junior In rank for the purpose
of haling him examined concerning his
fitness for his rank and command Colonel
May refused to be examined under such
conditions and was promptly suspended
The Judge Advocate General has decided
that Harries was without authority to or
der such an inquisition and that Colonel
May was right in refusing to place him
self at Its mercy The findings and the
action of the Secretary of War in the ease
would be a severe rebuke to most people
though we do not fancy that they will
much perturb the amazing Mr Harries or
even convey a hint to film that a Eelf
respectlng man in his position would be
bound to tender his resignation at once
II Is not probable hat he will think of
doing such a thing but his Inability to
recognize the fact that he is essentially
de trop in the service should not be il
Iowed to Interfere with Its good harmony
and discipline If Harries will sot resign
it Is open to Mr Root to resort to the
course the militia brigadier recommended
in connection with Colonel May that is
to order bis honorable discharge There
never will be peace or effective work in
the National Guard of this city while Har
ries is permitted to tease and worry It
Comfort In Farm Life
A ptofessor In Cornell University has
been discussing in print the question
whether a farm can be made to pay He
thinks it can but with some mental reser
vations on the subject of what It means to
have the farm pay He says of one of
his early experiences with his farm
Half of country life is in the living It is
in tlie toint of slew It i in the nay in which
we look at things Thoreau rejoiced when it
rained liecaoe lie knew that lus l ean were
happy lne day my man was agitated because
the wondchucks were eating the beans lie
would eo to town at once ami bsi a gun
1 asked liim lion man beans the wondchucks
would probably deslro He tlicrfukt from one
eighth to one quarter of an arte Now one
quarter of an acre of field lc ns should bring
roe a net rash return of three or four dollars
I told him that lie could not buy a gun for
lliat wones If he lad a run e would w1e
more time killing the woodeliwks than the beans
would be worth But the wort part of it would
be that lie would kill the wuodchucks and at
laixit morning after monun 1 had watched
the animals aa tliey stole from the bushes sniffed
the soft morning air and nibbled the crisp oumr
leaves Many a time 1 had spent twiee four
dollar for ranch lew entertainment Ity neigh
bor thought that I ought to cut out the briers
in the fence corner I told him that I Hied to
ace the briir there lie rrmarked tltat wine
folks are tool I rejilied that it is fun to be
foot
There Is a good deal of common cense
In this The reason why many people dis
like farming is that they want to get their
pleasure somewhere else and make the
farm pay for it which It wjll seldom do
Tne people who really take comfort in this
business arc the thorough going country
men who feel stifled If they have to live
In a rity and would rather mow a Held
than keep books It Is very difficult to
make a farm pay the cost of living and
clso supply enough surplus to provide for
nil kinds of city wants and whims
Another reason why many pcopf find
life In the country unpleasant is hinted at
In the anccdoto quoted above There is
really no need of cutting off all the fun of
life on a farm from imo fancied nfed of
economy Some farrrs Insist on trim
ming off all the briers In the fence cor
ners destroying all the woodchucks and
rabbits eradicating all the weeds and
reducing their premises generally to
a cross between a market garden and
a city lawn This keeps them In a
worried and excited state of mind all
the lime because nature has a lively
end permanent dislike to absolute tidi
ness and her cohorts of weeds snd
grasses and her regiments of small bcuet
birds and Insects are enough to keep any
Sampson refutes himself tie is the cest
evidence In the world that given the op
portunity which does not come to many
an American lad with a little schooling
can aspire to a rear admirals pennant al
though bis elevation to the naval aris
tocracy may be directly from menial ter
vice He Is also conclusive evidence that
the polishing and ennobling course at An
napolis may not invariably cure the defi
ciencies of heredity or do what Solomon
was cure never could be done namely to
make a silk purse out of a sows car
There Is no reason for doubting chat
there are plenty of warrant officers in the
navy today who are Sampsons profes
sional equals and bis superiors in cv3ry
other respect Gunner Morgan for ex
ample had he been in command of the
New York hardly would have permitted
such lax discipline on board as to permit
one of our torpedo boats to bump htm in
the middle of the night at sea a blunder
which nearly led to the blowing up of
the flagship through Its being mistaken
for a Spanish cruiser We do not bellete
that Admiral HIchborn when he was a
ships carpenter would have wasted his
ammunition against the old stone forts
and Christopher Columbus guns of San
Juan or on the batteries of Santiago Har
bor Whether any of these graduates
from the hawsehole would have made way
with the tell tale Merrlmac and thus re
movi the foundation for a despicable
scandal Is another matter We do not
think any of them would hae consented
to such a service even If they had known
that It would be counted to them for
righteousness and as a title to the honors
earned by others
It will be remembered that The Times
has always expressed the opinion that
there was something wrong about Samp
son Friends who heretofore hae not
agreed with us on this point will now
be convinced that our suspicion was right
He can safely be left to the verdict of
public opinion and It would be well for
Congress and the President not to Ignore
it
Tlie Woman llntulet
There seems to be a sort of craze of
late among actresses for the playing of
male characters The most Illustrious ex
ample of course Is Bernhardts Ham
let That a woman should play Ham
let Is about as contrary to the ordinary
laws of art as It would be for a man to
play Lady Macbeth and only the great
reputation of the actress In question made
such an Innovation tolerable at all
People who do not think much about the
art of acting ma7 ask why If she can look
tho part a woman should not play the
melancholy Dane or any otner orthodox
masculine role They overlook the fact
that appearance Is not by any means
ever thing in this business The actors
great power Is his personality and the
character of this power naturally ee
pends largely upon sex A man playing a
womans part or a woman playing a mans
part must be equally unplcaslng The
only possible role in which such a trans
formation would be acceptable Is uch a
one as In LAIglor In which the charac
ter to bo portrayed Is a boy of that Inde
terminate ags at which tho boy and girl
have much In common and can be good
comrades
The art of acting is ono which depends
so coaipletely upon the Innate qualities
and traditions of tho actor that such freak
Impersonations as have been more or less
common in re ent years arc anything but
pleasing Actors and actresses have in
sisted on Irjlng In order to show their
talent roles entirely out of their line and
the result has not been delightful As a
rule any part having a distinctive char
acter Is beat acted by the person who has
most In common with that character
Most classic roles have more than oia
phase so that many different conceptions
may bo possible and each bo equally true
THE TttlES WASHINGTON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27 1001
suited to the part of Lady Macbeth but
of widely differing temperaments may
ghc two very unlike renderings of the
character and the critic not be able to
say that one Is better than the other The
same is true of several other Shakespear
ean roles The genius of that dramatist
was so great and so comprehensive tLnt
his hcroc3 and heroines are types which
include many sub types There Is how
Hamlet Includes
ecr no possibility that
cludes a feminine type or anything llko
It It the Prince of Denmark had been
born a woman with the same tempera
ment that he had he would not have act
ed In the same way not at all
The woman artist In any lino of work
need not consider herself Inferior to the
man If she docs her best but If she Is
simply trlng to do the same work which
a man would do as well as a man would
do it she is likely to fail Her forte Is in
tasks whjch the man cannot do at all
George Eliot was great as a character
noelist but she would not have been able
to do much with a novel of adventure In
the style of Captain Marryat not be
cause her genius was less than his but
because It was not of the klpd requisite
for hia sort of story Thus Bernhardt in
feminine parts is the equal of any actor
who ever lived but her Hamlet Is no
more valuable than MCoqueIlns Roxane
would be
Thevnrlous organizations of reforming
sisters have been leaving Mr McKinlcy
alone for some little time perhaps ever
since his re election Still he Is the same
amiable but erring brother that he was
last summer when they w ere denouncing
him as a wine bibber and an associate of
Republican and other sinners It is now
proper that they should be informed of a
purpose formed by the President quite as
lld and bad as the practice of tuning
wine at state dinners In the White IIoue
He actually contemplates going to a
worldly ball glen In his honor on the
evening of Inauguration Day There will
be dancing and lie will countenance If he
does not shake a foot In It This If we
understand aright is another flagrant vio
lation of the Methodist discipline which
demands attention at the hands of every
quilting bee and old ladies tea party In
the Union Mr McKinley should beware
Thellrxt thing he knows be will wake up
some fine day to find hlmsi It regarded by
his fiercer female subjects in the lurid
light of a Joint
We are pleased to think that the excel
lent police arrangements formulated by
Major S Hester for the Inauguration sea
son will prove effective In preventing the
disorders thefts pocket plcklng and
housebreaking which a large gathering of
crooks from all parts of the country on
such occasions Is apt to render probable
Citizens and strangers alike need to as
sist the police by looking out fcr them
selves to a reasonable extent There are
some extremely tough looking customers
to be met with In the streets even now
and the careless exposure of purses ami
Jeweled gcurfplns Is to be deprecated
Judging from our reports from Havana
file Intelligent class of Cubans Is im
pressed by the declaration In the pro
poped Piatt amendment to the Army Ap
propriation bill ilcflnlng something of
the basis upon which our future rela
tions with the Island must be placed
Probably when public opinion among
them has had tim to conform Itself to
the Inevitable these roatters will be
sjsctptlblc of amicable settlement with
out much difficulty The Cubans must
learn befoie long that the forces of the
United States are not to bo withdrawn
from their territory until the reasonable
elemands of this Government have been
fully conceded
The wave of reform which took Its rlso
so suddenly and splendidly In Kansas a
weeks ago is spreading und Including
subjects other than prohibition Just cs
ve predictd It would In New York Mon
day the Womans National Sabbath Al
liance declared itself strongly against the
siiul dcstrolng and sickening vice of
eating Ice cream on Sunday Making love
on the first day of the week which the
alliance- calls the Sabbath without his
torical warrant was also denounced as
all seven of the deadly sins It is pleas
ant to learn that the good work against
these lamentable sodal evils has been
Inaugurated bj this new breed of reform
ers the Important sodality of which has
heretofore escaped national attention
There Is hope that before long they may
see the way clear to smashing Sunday
Ire cream joints and Sundny lovers
with tne same hatchet
The ynchlng habit alter a brilliant run
it Colniado and Kansas has appeare d in
Indianu where an enthusiastic crowd of
eltlzeni In the Republican stronghold of
Te rre Haute yesterday took a negro from
Jail and barged him to a tree The prev
alence of bnchlng In Republican
of late makes us fear that the
very considerable campaign debt which
Mr Hanna owes to the colored population
or vianiaml West Virginia North Caro
lina and the District of Columbia for
their assistance In cin ylng doubtful
States or localities is In considerable
danger of being ignored
A London salvager named Parker wants
to raise the Maine and pIao the hulk on
shore to be used as a Spanish war mu
seum The idea is not a bad one As a
monument to the genius of unparalleled
trcacherj the Maine might still do an ex
cellent sen Ire to the world Mr Parker
should also try to obtain permission to
raise the Merrlmac and to exhibit her as
an illustration of how public money was
squiuuleieel on condemned junks and
tanks during the latest unpleasantness
Terhaps then the American people could
better understand the reasons why there
Is aiuli feverish eagerness on the part of
the Adrnlnlstralon to revvanl Sampson
Sc lilcn Iden m SiniipKoiix
Krom the Philadelphia Times
When Mlihj had won the grtatitt naval victory
of the world history at Suilijjo in the ab
sence of Sampson he pubheh declared that the
victors was elic to the men behind the guns
and a private on his sessel who peiformed a
fiat of uncommon valor after KeTeral ollicers
liad failed to extract a lodged rartrntle 111 a
gun that waa much meded in action was
pronitl recommended for promotion without
enquiring the g ntleness of 11- birth and it was
ai pionriitly given by the Covcrhmcnt
Colil llloiideil Creed
rrom the Italtunore Sin
Somebody must fill ioltions sauted ien un
der men pathetic circumstance aa thone which at
tended th death of lonfiul Uildluau but let
the mm at t have Li funeral I furc In
augurating the fight for his otlicial effect
Tlie Ie3ch coinVrn and wreckers who erowd d
down io the Miore when they heard of tlie Hits
wreck turned even less he artlcssnetiii In their
desire for plunder than tlie polil i a bejeh
ccmber at Wahlngtoii who nuhed to the Mate
Department alter the dead mana official fhrc ji
mrot na soon as the breath liad left his bod
11 III I i nil I re Ill I Inn fli ropy
IVom the Kunsia CItv Star
It is the n ef the world that the Carnegies
snd the Itoelcfcllers who glie of their abund
ance without appreciably diminishing their In
exhaustible atore receive more praise and clur
than the treat ami of humble philanthropists
who daily deny themclvcs that the maj help
their fcllow ma
IlepuiillriuiR und TrtiHlH
Prom the Chicago Chronicle
The truth i that the Itipublicans do not mean
to lesfixlate agaiiut trusts They passed an anti
Trust bill in the Houae to serve as a Morgan
until after election No doubt they purrKely
made it unconbtitutional ao that If the Kenale
to life Two ir ht I ou1 ua - rKn usine
Mv u ic wie rnacuaenv wouiq prova innoe
SVJIPSOVS CHECKS SLIM
of Promotion
llcgret lsivjeijrissed In naval circles
oier the publication of Hear Admiral
Sampsons views about the promotion of
warrant officers to commissioned grades
In the navy nj the very time when his
chances for securing the coveted vice ad
mlralcy were good There is an apparent
general endorsement by navy men sta
tioned In Washington of the views which
he expresscll The regret Is born of the
feeling that Sampsons cause has been In
jured by his own action In maintaining
that from the standpoint of refinement
and socia polish a rriin who has served
as a common sailor cannot attain that
high standard of what Is called address
which Is associated w th an officer and
a gentleman
Sampsons enemies have not lost the
opportunity afforded the ji by his endorse
ment of Gunner Morcmns application to
take the examination for a commission
They are crying snol and saylnp that
Sampson the son of a poor worklngman
seeks to draw lines of social distinction
between American citizens and places
himself and the commissioned officers of
the navy in the aristocratic class That
this has appealed to many of the peoples
rcpresentatlve s In Congress there can be
son and Schley have been materially less
eneti
Some of his friends go so far as to say
that any attempt to secure legislation lrrj
nis oenait would tie useless congress lias
alwajs been friendly to the enlisted men
of the army and navv and any reflec
tion on thu private soldier or the blue
jacket Is resented There are a great
many Congressmen who believe that the
average army or navy officer Is a snob
with an exaggpmtCHl idea of his own Im
portance and there has been much talk
of that sort since Sampsons letter almut
Gunner Morgans rase was published
At any rate the feeling against Sampson
has been Intensified and has extended to
Senators and Representatives who have
not heretofore been greatly concerned in
the controversy over the respective claims
of Sampson and Schley to the credit of
conducting the naval campaign In the
West Indies which resulted In the de
struction of Admiral Ccn eras squadron
One of Sampsons friends in the Senate
expressed the opinion eslerday that the
feeling In Congress against the admiral on
account of his letter about promoting en
listed men was loo great to be readily
overcomc He said that there would bo
no legislation at this session In behalf of
Sampson and Schley but the reward
nominations cf the Santiago captains and
the Junior officers of Sampsons fleet rec
ommended for advancement would be con
firmed by the Senate before the session
ends This Senator remarked that Samp
sons opinion in Morgans case was one
of those things which men think but deem
it wise not to talk about
A great many naval officers vestrday
sald that It would be useless to try to ex
plain to the country Just what Sampson
meant by his Tefcreree to the official ami
social distinctions observed in the naval
sen Ice They maintained that Sampson
expressed a correct view- of the proposi
tion to promoter enlisted men to commis
sioned grades but did so very awkwardly
It was necessary thev said for a man tn
live on board a man-of-war to uiulerstauif
inat aDie as jacK Tar maj be In some
ways he cannot even after rising to a
warrant grade and serving in It for several
ears overcome the effect of early associa
tion In the forecastle and acquire that
something which would make the men
have confidence In and respect him and his
brother officers feel that he had attained
the high standard which the navy Is sup
posed to maintain The fact that the
General Board of the Navy endorsed Sec
retary Longs suggestion about promoting
warrant officers Is regarded by naval offi
cers as no criterion of the sentiment In
the sen Ice Some of the officers vesterday
expressed the conviction that the members
of the board merely wanted to accommo
date the Secretary and that few If any
of them really favored the promotion
scheme
Considerable feeling Is expressed In
naval rlrclrt over tho addition to Ihe
clattieifuithorfztnie the nrnmotinn r wnr
rant oihcers of a provision for- the pro
motion of warrant machinists to
siourk aiai omcers regard this as the
first step toward the -revival of a separ
ates Corps of Engineers with p revival
of the controversy over their status with
regard to line officers Since the estab
ILsnment or the Engineer Corps Its mem
bers and those of the line have waged a
bitter fight which has tended to Injure
the elliciency of the personnel and It lias
been found necessary to effect a com
promise by abolishing the distinction in
rank and transferring all engineers to
the line
This was done In the reorganization
act of March 3 1S Since then the war
rant machinists a grade crc ated by the
net havej been e ntrustcel largely with
running the machinery of warships al
though this has given rise to much dis
satisfaction to Rear Admiral Mellvllle a
former engineer but now In the line and
Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineer
ing He maintains that the reorganiza
tion act contemplated keeping commis
sioned officers in charge of the machinery
but that offliers trained us engineers are
being assignee to line duties exclusively
hen Long proposed that
Congress provide for me promotion of
wjrrant officers to commissioned grades
a delegation of warrant machinists wait
ed on him with a petition that their
grade be Included la those from which
piomotions might be made The Secre
tary denied the petition on the ground
that the grade of warrant machinist was
now ard he believed that the experiment
of promoting other warrant officers
should be tried before extending Its scope
Then the warrant machinists went to
Congress and suceeeded in having their
grade Included In the amendment for the
promotion of warrant officers now pend
ing
Till lOHIA IlOliMIAItY
A Co in in I I on Appointed to Confer
With Vllsuliilppi Jicn
NEW ORLEANS Feb M The Louis
iana commission to settle the water boun
dary line between Louisiana and Missis
sippi met here today with Albert Es
teplnal district attorney as president
Governor Lcnglno of Mississippi lu3 ap
pointed a similar commission with Sen
ator Bowers as president
The two bodies will meet In t few da s
and try to reach un agreement is to the
boundaries If they find this Impossible
the matter will have to bo submitted to
tho United States court
Mississippi claims that the boundary ex
tends In a straight line from the mouth of
Pearl Illver which separates the two
States to Pass a I Outre at the mouth of
the Mississippi This contention annexes
one third of Plaquemines Parish includ
ing all the 0ster beds east of the Mis
sissippi Hivcr together with somo lirteen
hundred fishermen and swampers who
heretofore voted In Louisiana and be
lles eil themselves citizens of that State
The oyster beds sre the most valuable
portion of tho territory furnishing nearly
all the oysters eaten in the Mississippi
Vnlley Acting on the claim of the State
of Mississippi the oyster dredgers of that
State have taken fiossesslon of the beds
and are now taking thousands of barn Is
oi ost rs jrom mem oniiy The situation
has been very strained for some time
threatening a war between the fishermen
of the two States and It Is to prevent
this war that the commissions were
by Goiernors Heard and Lnugino
The Louisiana commission asserts that
the boundary line follows the main chan
nel through Mississippi Sound and at the
meeting today maps were produced show
ing that the lerritry claimed t Missis
sippi has iilvrns occn under Louisiana
Jurisdiction and regarded as a part of
lmlslana
CnillllclinK Ivpert Text I in on
lYolil tlie Indiarupulu Sentinel
lliieli attention is beinir attracted b a decision
of Judee rumuaii of the New iork supreme
court excluiili i csiert tttaitnon as to hand
writing Ilirre has bc n a gnat ileal of dissatis
faction thmuahout the eoiinlr with so called
expert testimony of all sorta Imjiortant cues
have hliov o such eilraordinary conflicts of testi
mony bv phj blclans handwriting experts and
other that the value of such testimon is
double and it la more than probable that tha
lead iiUe b Jinlne Furunan nuj be fdioved by
other courts until expert testimon will be largely
restricted it not entire 1 alioliiJied
sesv Jfnme for nn Old In fumy
From the ew iork world
The new name for a combination of corpora
tions is a community of internd This It
atrongcr than a gentlemens agreement and
less offensive than trust Hut n monopoly by
any oilier name is jut as malodorous And a
community of intireit used to describe a com
bine of coal companies railroads or steel mills
really means a consoiracy to alnlisli umpetl
tion
run mtw staix wmmi
lllx Letter lrllev il In Ilnve j Comment na If Iadlnc Ilrllllauer
it the- nnt Observntorj
Dr Andersons new star discovered on
February 21 at Edlnburg and which at
tained such remarkable brilliancy Is rap
Idly fading und In thtf opinion of the as
tronomers at the Naval Obsen atory It
will become invisible within ten dajs or
two weeks
Although discovered simultaneously at
various places throughout the world It
was not noticed at the Naval Obsena
tory until brought to the attention of the
experts there through the discovery by
Mr Inrnuhar of the Patent Office who
located It with the naked eye at or about
the time of Its discovery by Dr Ander
son
The star flamed Into light suddenly and
died out as suddenly as It had appeared
According to Prof S G Brown of the
Obsen atory Its life will be a short one
though he admitted last night that tho
new star may continue to be visible for
a jear or more
In lCC n new star appeared not so
bright however as this one which re
mained visible for nine days said Prof
Brown Other stars of this class sen
In 1572 and 1GW reached a magnitude
among the various obsena tones and
that part In which is located Nova Jcr
sei ns the new star will probably bo
called will be thoroughly studied If tho
star attained a brilliancy of the thir
teenth or fourteenth magnitude photo
graphs will no doubt have been taken
of It
This star was certainly not visible as
late as tho 19th of Iebruan photographs
of that region In which It is sluateet
showing that there were no stars ahavc
the magnitude of 10 5 On Friday night
added Prof Brown the star was nearly
as bright as Cipelln which Is of tho
fint or highest degree of magnitude
On Saturday night It was equal In bril
liancy but on Sunday night It dimin
ished growing gradually fainter by Mon
day By tomorrow night It will Co
fainter than the stars adjacent In Per
seus
At the Obsin atorj lhe brightness anil
position of the new star have been care
fully estimated and -measured In color
the star as seen hero was decidedly white
on Friday night being particularly notice-able
for Its marked brilliancy By
Monday it was observed that the color
had changed so that It had fallen below
the brilliancy of C vpella In the color
scale A tinge of reddlshness was also
observeJ This change In color Indicates
its decadence
Prof Brgwn laughed at the Idea that
the recently discovered star is the Star
of Bethlehem of biblical times It la sim
ply a fixed star thousands of millions of
miles away whlci has In ptsIng through
a cloud of meteoric matter set Its surfaco
Into violent Incandescence
At the Lick Obscn atorv In California
the first opportunity for securing obser
vations of the new star occurreel Sunday
forenoon The star was easily found In
full sunlight with a 12 Inch telescope At
11 a m It was fully half a magnitude
brighter than the first magnitude stir
Capella with which it was compared At
7 p m it was fully hilf a magnitude
fainter than Carella a decline of a while
magnitude since noon Its brightness
continued to decrease throughout the
evening
pitAs or Tin ltivwv tiuist
Y Meeting to CoUMlde r Imiiros eiueitts
to the Cuban Properties
NEW ORLEANS Feb ti Several of
the officials of the United States Fruit
Company or Banana Trust gathered here
today to consider what should be done
with the properties recently acquired by
the company In eastern Cuba They in
clude Immense banana plantations and the
six towns of Banes Erabarcadero Pueblo
Nueo Los Angeles Flores and Macabi
besides the great Boston sugar estate
with 8233 acres In cane and 2CXI acres
more being prepared for planting
The pay roll of the sugar estate exceeds
J70d a month and the entire property
was purchased for the cum of IMflOOO
Grinding has Just been begun on the place
The company expects to spend ROOOOOtf
In developing this and other properties It
expects to acquire In eastern Cuba
Among the lands for the control of which
the United States Fruit Company la ne
gotiating for are those In the neighbor
hood of the Bay of Nlpe where the United
States Government will probably place
one of Its coaling statfons
it nvvi eo EHNOltS ATTEND
Planning to Ilnve Thone of the South
Here on VInrcli 4
NEW ORLEANS Feb 2C The South
ern Industrial Association with head
quarters here has undertaken the work
of getting nil the Southern Governors to
attend the Inauguration of President Mc
Kinley in a body with their several
staffs The suggestion was made at a
dinner here during Ihe carnival and the
Industrial Association undertook the work
of Inviting the Governors
So far three have agreed to tho propo
sition Govs V W Heard of Louisiana
A D Candler of Georgia and Iingino of
Mississippi Gov W J Jennings of Flor
ida announces that he cannot attend be
cause of the meeting of the Florida Leg
islature and Gov J C W Beckham of
Kentucky Is still In doubt whether he
can attend the Presidential Inauguration
or not
The other Southern Governors have not
yet been heard from
MINEIts VitKR IJE11AMJ
Griev aiiit en anil ll4iufMtt Submitted
b the Notiliii Jinni Colliery Men
W1LKESPARRE Pa Feb M The
mine workers employed at the Notting
ham colliery of the Lehigh and Wilkes
barrc Coal Company at Plymouth have
forestalled in a way the convention at
Hazletou by Issuing a series of demands
and requests and submitting them to the
cimpiny There are eight grievances
and the remedies desired and five re
quests three of which ure tor an ln
etease in wiges
The company has given no answer yet
to the statement Whle the grievances
are purelv local there are many of them
that apply to other mines It 1 ex
pected that other local unions at other
collieries will do tne same thing Tho
action It is understood is Independent
and not on any understanding with the
Executive Board of the union but it is
important as indicating which way the
wind blows and tells what tho men ex
pect when the wage schedule Is revised
on the 1st of April
Intolerable Method
From the Kansas Clt Times
If the Kalis rrohibittonists cannot control the
liquor evil if the cannot remove the pernicious
influence of the saloons with the legal weapons
laced in their hand tiiey are not justified in
resorting to practices which lead tu worse evil-
than the one the seek to lelro They should
put up their hatchets and let the practical com
mon ne voters of the Slate elect men to office
who will repeal tlie h v pocritlcal and moribund
law a ts1 b the insincere and plurlatc Repub
lican part
Mild by CoiiipnrNou
From the Omaha Uorld lleraid
Xow why in the name of reason should lloosj
velt be angry because of the wild and weird
stories of his hunting trip sent out by the trm
nendsi Not a Mnirie one of these etorles can
compare in coloring to those penned bv
velt himself when lie wrote Alone lu t ulia or
whatever the title of his Cuban liook may be
Not one of the prcs stories contains as much
of slaughter blood stabbing tJiooting killing
and fcUnning as an amide cliapter of Alone In
Cuba especially the one wherein is net forth
with extreme minuteness of detail the atiootin in
the back tof the unarmed and fteeip g Spaniard
who fell a victim to the unerring aim f the man
who whipped Stain
TI1MM3SSCC TltOOP KTXll
Met In Xrsv Orlennx by n Committee
From VnlivllIe
NEW ORLEANS Feb 26 The re
turned veterans of the Thirty seventh
United Statea Volunteers formerly tha
First Tennessee Volunteers arrived hero
today from Manila by way of San Fran
cisco vnd were met by a committee from
Nashvlle who will escort them to Ten
nessee wheTe a grand reception will be
given for them The party of veterans Is
leel by B F Cheatham said to bo the
younge3t colonel In the United Stites
Army who Is accompanied by most of
the officers of the disbanded regiment
und n Inrge number of the enlisted men
The First Tennessee it is stated was
the only Southern regiment In the Philip
pines When their time expired the cnen
enlisted In a body In the new
United States Volunteers The reg
iment Is slid to be the earliest In tne ee -vice
having received travel money as In
ducement to re enlist in the rhllppnes
Th money was deposited with the quar
termaster and each soldier brings noma
several hundred dollars In gold
The Tennessee boys have not a kick to
make said Colonel Cheatham Then
was never an army In the world well
fed as he American Armv lrt the
rlnes We had plenty of food and got
food The beef came to us from both
ninny times brighter than this one while j Chicago and Australia frozen lit reftlg
they lasted
It will probably be found fSS an Saa inere was no
- uaau IHV irtiiunil Tl la iiuv
- uws T IVI1 UIIIUWii w w jnuoiumin 1aas iuns11 m -
j pCITCl Willi ifSt FlCtlOn f O
them admit that the chances of iast year The work of photographing t Colonel Cheatham thinks
pass ng tne measure creating tne grauc - hn hn nortinned out still alive but that
or vice admiral for the benefit of I -----
rders
Agulnaldo Is
conditions have won
derfully improved of late and that the
recent orflcr to deport Filipino prisoners
has had a good effect-
i iiniivLF of mkivii
An Application for IIIm Ilelease Mntle
to the Supreme Court
Application was made yesterday to the
Supreme Court for the release of Alex
ander uion a writ of habeas
corpus and for a writ of certiorari to
bring up the charges against him for re
view by that court The application was
mado by Messrs J M Wilson
Gean of California and C A
Severance of St Paul Minn partner of
tho late Senator Davis McKenzIe was
appointed a receiver of certain mining
properties in Alaska by Judge Noyes of
the Nome district and when ousteei by a
writ of supersedeas refused to turn over
to the parties In interest certain gold
dust aceumiilnted while under his con
trol For this he was taken before
Jutlgo Morrow in California and sent to
Jail for six months for contempt of court
He seeks release on tho ground that the
proceedings In Judge Morrows court were
without authority of law
Till CCKKV TltCST
A Pronpeetint Issued by the New
IVeMtern Combine
CHICAGO Feb 2C The prospectus of
the Great Western Cereal Company or
ganized by O C Barber life been Is
sued The capitalization wll eanslst 6
lWO0C S per cent twenty year sinking
fund gold bonds and COOOOUO of stock
It Is announced that the company wU
have Jlif0 working capital
The ten companies in the comblus tisn
are announced to have a capacity of 60M
barrels per elav which is stated to be 50
per cent of the cereal output of the
country In the opinion of the promoters
the net i amlngs of the companies will
aggregate JViOXI a jear After deducting
the bond Interest lU0o there will be
I ft SllfiOuO for the sinking fund and divi
dends on tho stock
Aninng the directors will be O C Bar
ber Edwin Gould J Morton II L Lit
tle U C Miles F P Sawyer II -R
Heath II It Steward D Oliver Jr G
W Brown W A Dugan Dr S G Stein
and J V I lev wood
PICTI KKS OF THE fAUIMlT
The Preslilrnt nnil III Vilvletrrn Insr
for Pliotnfrnpirrs
Photographers besieged the White House
yesterday to obtain pictures of what will
be siractiCHll the- rnst business meeting
of the Cabinet a at present constituted
There will be a meeting on Friday but It
will be devoted largely to considera
tion of Inaugural matters and all of the
members may not lie present at one time
Attorney General Griggs will leave the
Cabinet shortly after the beginning of
President McKlnleys second term and In
e onsequence there was a rush yesterday
to get pictures of the members In a group
Half an hour of the Cabinets time us
occupied with several sittings for which
appointments had been previously made
to nmriRO LnTTiu cuuiius
Slept TnUen to Promote Ellleiency of
ReKinirntlon Service
Tho Postofflce Department has gent no
tices to postmasters asking for a report
an oon as practicable after July 1 of the
names and numbers of three letter car
riers In their offices who will have regis
tered the greatest number of articles In
their routes during the period from Janu
ary 1 last to Jul 1 together with the
number of articles registered by each
This step has been taken by Third As
sistant Postmaster General Madden to
promote the efflclcnc of this service The
question of how the department will rec
ognize the services of the most active car
riers has not been determined but It Is
proposed to reward In some way the men
who have shown themselves mot Inter
ested
TtEltMEltb TRIP TO THE POLE
The Ciliuidlnn Nnslcnlor Lookloe for
u Orient Hie Compnulon
TORONTO Ont Teb M -Captain Ber
nler the French Canadian navigator
who arrived here today has practlcully
complctcd arrangements to start ou a
trip via Alaska to tho North Pole in Mjy
He Is lookli here for a likely young
scientific man to accompany hjm
Bernicr will sail along the coast of Si
beria taking the natural course of the
waters and about the middle of Septem
ber he hopes to be within two hundred
mlls of tho pole He said today
Nansen you know went within JM
miles of it and since then the Duke of
Abruzzl cut that distance down by nine
teen miles a here is only ono way and
that Is natures way to float in Peary
and Captain Svcrdrup who are fighttpg
the course of nature in Greenland will
never get there
Poor tendro is dead He could not be
alive He was not prov islomd 1 will
carry provisions for four jears I wdl
leave provisions along the route in bol
low slakes
molimuvs ATT oum s act
rhey Serve Notice for n Its-settlement
if the Case on Appeal
NEW YORK Feb K Weck3 Bat
tle attorney for Roland Mollneux have
sen ed notice on the District Attorney
that they will apply to Recorder Goff
tomorrow for a resettlement of the case
ou appeal The lawjcrs desire to have
certain evidence presented to the Court
of Appeals This evidence was excluded
b Recorder Goff out of the settlement
Should the recorder refuse to grant tho
re ettlcment the attorneys will appeal
to the Court of Appeals at once Includ
ing the excised testimony in their affi
davit They say the will thus be placed
befoie the Court of Appeals as they da
slre
Clerk Welsh of the Jc neral Sessions
sas that the printing of the settlement
of the csaso on appeal will not bo com
plete for several weeks
Murders in xc it York
From the Ilrookl n Kjglc I
It s diiilcult to convict men of In
thin city And it skould he Hut that diiHcully
cncouragi a crime Indeed three fourths of the
nan tltTers here not only cecal arrest but arc
not even IOlice Eucceed in set
ting trace of the men guilty of onl one murder
in four3ud in getting evidence enough to con
Vict a much proiiortton Indeed so
far as immunity from punishment is concerned
niurckr is a much safer crime than bank robbery
for instance
OliJret LrssoiiH
From the St l ouls tllol lcmoerat
flcr a struggle of nvcral weeks the Ore con
Legislature has Micceedcd in electing u eratnr
Thtre are still three deadlocks and two fnclud
both Senators These failure arc educating the
people on the subject of electing Lulled State
Senators by popular vote
sin Vamjkiiiiis siccnsion
Milton Alio anil 1 It Totten Men
tinned for the- Vncnney
The resignation of Frenk A Vanderllp
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury waa
announced at the department shortly after
noon yesterday Mr Vanderllps resigna
tion takes effect not later than March
next
Mr Vanderllp quits the Government ser
vice to accept the offer of a large Western
corporation as Its president which hs has
held under consideration for several
months Mr Vanderllp before entering
upon the duties of his new office has de
cided to visit Europe In order to make a
study of financial and Industrial affairs In
Englnnd and on the Continent
The Assistant Secretarys resignation
has caused genuine regret In the Treasury
Department where his devotion to the In
terests of the Government was highly an-
predated In speaking of his retirement
Secrcary Gage said yesterday afternoon
I am sorry Indeed to have Mr Van
derllp leave us He has been an able and
exceedingly valuable assistant to me t
realize however that at his age for ho
Is still a young man It Is to his advantage
to engage In the wider opportunities which
nls abilities can command in financial and
Industrial fields He desen es the success
Which Is SUre to enme tn him nnfl mnAh
as I should like to have hlrn stay during
the
itriiiiuiiucr oi my aaministratlon I
also feel that he Is doing himself Justice
by entering- into wider activities
Mr Vanderllp entered the public sentco
simultaneously with Secretary Gage com
ing to Washington as the Secretarys pri
vate secretary He demonstrated execu
tive ability of ft high order which won him
an Assistant Secretarys commission hav
ing been appointed to that office In July
1S3 upon the expiration of the term of tha
late Scott Wlke Mr Vanderllp was con
splcuously successful In the management
Of the details of the war loan of ISO and
of the recent Refunding operations under
the new financial law
It Is generally believed that Milton Alles
the private to Secretary Gage
will be Mr Vanderllp successor There
s said lo be another aspirant for the offlca
In tho person of W D Totten of Michi
gan a member of the Legislature and a
prominent attorney of that State who It
P mster the entire support of
the Michigan Congressional delegation In
his behalf
A GltBAT lllSIl OF RECIltITS
t
Enlistments Ponrlnjr In Under Hie
Army Lair
General Shafter has telegraphed this
War Department that the organization of
the first provisional squadron of recruits
under the new army law has lieen com
pleted at the Presidio of San Francisco
It consists or IG1 officers and enlisted men
The officers are Captain Pitcher First
Cavalry commanding Lieutenants AVI
nans and Conrad Third Cavalry and
Pershing Fourth Cavalry
The War Department yesterday Issued
this statement
Recruiting under the new law Is pro
gressing In the most satisfactory manner
The enlistments for the week ending Sat
urday February reached over 600 be
ing an Increase of 1S1 over the week be
fore All the requirements of fitness here
tofore required for enlistment In the Reg
ular Army have been maintained
The department la now assured of the
speedy enlistment of sufficient first class
men to fill the new army to the maxi
mum Three battalions of Infantry 61
men each and one squadron of cavalry
have already been completed since tho
2d of Februnn Many of the enlistments
are from men already having had sen Ice
ACOUITTAI FOR VPCOU3IICK
Chief IlontHsvnlii Drnn However
Convicted Iij the Conrt Mnrllnl
The court martial which met at Pensa
cola for the trial of Junior Lieut Benja
min B McCormick commanding the tug
Potomac and Chief Boatswain Francis A
Dran late commander of coal barge No
2 en charges growing outoffhe loss of
the coal barge at sea on December 20
19o0 acquitted Lieutenant McCormick or
neglect of duty It convicted Mr Dran
of that charge also finding him guilty of
culpable inefficiency In the performance ot
duty Mr Dran was sentenced to suspen
sion from duty for eight months and tho
action of the court In his case and that of
Lieutenant McCormick was approved by
the Secretary of the Navy yesterday Tho
specific allegation against Lieutenant Mc
Cormick waa that he did not send assist
ance to the coal barge Chief Boatswain
Dran waa accused of having abandoned
the coal barge
THE GEOHGETOWX DEUATU
Ine rrllwe of the rniy the Subject of
no Alle fllscnssloii
A large and representative audience as
sembled In Gaston Hall of the George
town College last night the occasion be
ing the third public debate of the George
town University School of Law Debatingr
Society The subject of debate was Re
solved That the standing army of the
United States should be one hundred
thousand men The affirmative of tho
question was sustained by1 Daniel J Slat
tery and Charles Denegre of Louisiana
while the negative was defended by
Thomas If Tatum of South Carolina and
Albert R Denu of Wisconsin The judges
were Hilary A Herbert qf Alabama Mar
tin A Knapp of New York and William
M Springer of Illinois
Mr Slattery was tne first speaker of
the affirmative and In his argument he
reviewed the early history of this country
and compared its territory wealth In
terests and population with the present
status of the United States lie stated
that Increased Interests necessitate In
creased vigilance and protection and ar
gued that an Increase of the army does
not undermine the foundation upon which
this Republic was built II also argued
that we nee d an increased standing army
to protect our national honor and Inter
ests In China Cuba Philippines Porto
Rico Hawaii Alaska the seacoast tho
frontier and for internal needs Mr
Slattery said there would not have been
so much mismanagement In the campa
and most all department of the army
during the Spanish war if there had been
more trained soldiers to take charge of
affairs The sneaker quoted from a letter
of George Washington in which he advo
cated an army of fAOo or loaOOo trained
soldiers In preference to volunteers
Thomas II Tatum was introduced as
the first speaker ou the negative side of
the question and he argued that it did
not follow that the stronger and mora
powerful a nation grew- the stronger Its
army should be Mr Tutum spoke against
maintaining an army In China for tho
purpose of partitioning China The speak
er contended that during the war with
Snaln the Inadequacy was with the lead
ers the officers the trained soldiers and
not with the volunteers
The second speaker on the affirmative
side was Charles Denegre who argues
that the Idea of settling disputes b tri
bunals of arbitration was theory and idle
dreams
He said that the disputes of nationj will
be continued to lie settled by war Jusi as
disputes between private punles will bo
continued to be settled by courts The
speaker argued that the judgment of men
who have grown grey In the sen Ice
should count for something in the mat
ter that the experts of the War Depart
ment were In favor of the increns 1T
ssld tint the verdict of the people at
i nwi imtniiwi eiee lion eilUOrSCMl inC
sentiment underlying the increase of the
army so as to enable the Government to
pmierlv protect Its interests and
Albert R Demi closed the argument
for the negative with a splendid and very
forcible speech in which he reviewed the
contentions of the affirmative disputing
the same effectively
Charle s IVpegre was granted fivo min
utes In rebuttal of the negative arcu
nvnt
The Judges Immediately
and re
turned In about twentv minutes with
the erdirt In favor of She negative
ouallfying It however by saying thst
the question was unfortunately worded
making it very difficult to defend it
The following are the officers or tho
society Thomas T FIv ITf 7tTt
Edward T V President D inlel
T Masterson Sf Cretan James A Wat
son Treasurer Lie Ingston J Cullen
Reception Committee
Henry V Kane Wisconsin Ch ilrman
Stunrt McNu nara James A Tourney
James A OShea New York V Sorlgt
Perry Richard J Jonrs Pennsylvania
Jnmef A Kathman Louisiana Jose ih L
McAIeer Pennsylvania John J Vine
enn Washington U K Eston Wiscon
sin Daniel S Masterson Pennsylvania
Franz II Rldgrvay M Irntlv
Maryland Alnyslus H Tw lbill Pennsvl
vhkIh William Livingston Browning
Maryland