Holbrook argus., January 24, 1903, Image 6

About Holbrook argus. (Holbrook, Ariz.) 1900-1913

Image provided by: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

                
AT THE NATIONAL CAPITOL
IMPORTANT DOINGS OF THE SEN
ATE AND HOUSE
A Few Items io Suit Our Busy Readers Who
.Have Not the Time to Peruse Lengthy Ac
cruals of Space Writers.
MONDAY.
The report of the special committeo
of the senate on Hawaiian affairs
rhows an unsatisfactory condition in
Jtho inlands.
The house lias oidered an investiga
tion into the coal situation.
As the result of several conferences,
it is expected that congress will pass,
without delay, a bill providing for the
rebate or suspension of the duty on
oal for a period of ninety days.
A House bill was passed, incorporat
ing the Society of the Army of San
tiago de Cuba.
TUKSDAY.
In the senate while tho Vest revolt'
tion directing the committee on finance
to report a bill removing the duty on j
coal was under discussion, Mr. Dol li
ver of Iowa vigorously attacked those
senators res ponb.bl i for the holding up
of reciprocity treaties in the senate.
The naval appropriation bill, as
thus far prepared, is quite moderate in
its provisions for adding to the
strength of our navy. It contemplates
the building of tt reo battleships and
but one cruiser beside two steel train
ing ships and one wooden brig for
training' purp(i :s.
For the first time this session tho
liouse was regaled with a lively politi
cal debate. General Grosvenor of Ohio
and Mr. Clark of Missouri crossed
swords during the general debate on
the army appropriation bill, and for
two hours noth sides of the liouse
cheered on their repsoctive spokesmen.
The president and cabinet discussed
.several semi-important matters duringl
the session of an hour. Philippine
matters were considered,, especially
the reduction of duties on the products
' of the islands. The president an
nounced that General Wood would be
.sent out thee and given the command
, of Mindanao.
The ways and means committee
unanimously agreed upon a billwhich
will be reported to the bouse,
) making full rebato ef duties imposed
.on coal of every description for one
-year. This is equivalent to free coal
-during the period of twelve months
irom the passage of the bill.
WEDNESDAY.
'The bill to provide for a rebate of
the duties on foreign coal for a period
-of one year, amendod by a section to
.prevent the imposition of a duty on
-.anthracite coal at the expiration of
that time, passed both houses practi
cally unanimously.
Senator Tilman made a characteristic
speech, in which'he denounced trusts
and monopolies and severely criticized
the attorney general.
The militia bill was passed by the
sonate with an amendment striking
out of the bill the section providing
for a reserve force ' of ' trained men,
thus removing the objections made
against it.
The house made a . move to take the
disposition of tho army transport ser
vice out of the hands of Secretary Root
' by adoptng an amendment to the army
appropriation bill that none of the
vessels shall be sold nor shall the ser
vice he discontinued without the con
sent of congress.
No more rural delivery routes will
be established over roads that require
payment of turnpike tolls by the de
partment. ' i
THURSDAY.
Senator Tillman continued his speech
arraigning trusts and monopolies and
again charged that the attorney goncr
al was primarily reppousiolu far lack
of action against tho combines.
The friends of tho omnibus statehood
measuro were encouraged by a vigorous
speech by Senator Foraker urging the
rUlit of Arizona, Oklahoma and Now
Mexico to be admitted to the Union.
Tho army appropriation bill was
passed by the house without any fur
ther amendment.
The department of commerce bill was
callod up in the house and considera
ble opposition was developed on tho
Democratic side, based chiefly on the
ground that the transfer of the bureau
of labor to the new department would
subordinate that bureau to n depart
ment which would represent capitalis
tic interests.
Tho president signed the coal rebate,
bill, and the measure is now a law.
The committoe on foreign relations
agreed to report the Cuban reciprocity
treaty with two amendments, one a
guarantee against further reduction of
the sugar tariff and the other making
a reduction of foity per cent on the
export of American entile.
FRIDAY.
It was private claim day in the house
and one of the claims presented
awakened unusual interest. It called.,
for over $4000 and had its origin in
equipment furnished by St. Louis
army contractors for a cavalry regiment
in 1862. This was during the time that
General Fremont commanded in that
city and scandals became rife, which
led to that officer's being suspended.
After a spirited debate, during which
a report on the condition of affairs in
St. Louis at the time was referred to,
the bill was voted down.
At the cabinet meeting no matters
of serious importance came up for dis
cussion. It is "understood that the
conclusion was reached to decide next
week whether the colored postmaster
atWilson,N .C, shall be reappointed.
Some of the leading Republican sen
ators called on the president and as
sured him that the Cuban treaty"1 will
be ratified and that the opposition is
confined entirely to the Democratic
side. .
Tho treasury department notified all
collectors of customs by wire to admit
coal free of dut", as provided for in
the new law.
SATURDAY.
At the end of a' struggle, which
prolonged the day's session until after
6 o'clock, the Houso passed the substi
tute to the Senate bill to establish a
Dopartmeut of Commerce and Labor.
The voto stood 137 to 40. At 0 p. m.
the House adjourned.
Said He Was Wilkes Boothe
Guthrie, Okla Just prior. to dying,
D. E. George, an aged and wealthy
citizen, made the statement that he
was John Wijkes Booth, the assassin
of President Lincoln. George attempted
suicide at El Reno and made a Becond
and successful attempt in a hotel at
Enid, taking poison. He stated that
he Lad successfully eluded the officers
after killing Lincoln and had remained
unknown to the world ever since. He
was reputed very . wealthy, owning
land in Oklahoma, Indian Territory
and at Dallas, Tex. Telegrams ask
that the body be held for identification.
One Man Against Three
Constabulary Inspector Fletcher,
while traveling alone in the province
of Albav. Luzon, lost Wednesday, was
I otto, .bc.,1 tiv lliirf-v hnlnmen. Fletcher
killed five of his opponents, but was
himself wounded. He escaped and
formed a party, which., pursued the
bolomen, overtook them, and killed six
more. Death sentence has been im
posed on one of the. natives who mur
dered five American soldier? in the
cemetery at Boanagonon, Luzon, on
Decoration day of last year.
MEEDS SUFFER FAMINE
REDUCED TO EXTREMITY OF EAT
ING PINE BAPK
Cc'cc&bt Wllh the Fullure of Crops Is the
Almost Total Disappearance of Fish Danger
of Typhoid Sweeping Over the Land '
London Telegrams from Stockholm
confirm the distressing accounts of
famine in northern Sweden, as given
In those dsipatches.
About 30,000 people are affected by
this famine, which extends from the
sixty-first to the sitxy-soventh degree
north latitude and from the gulf of
Bothnia and the Russian bordor far
ihlo the interior. The starving people
are eating pine bark, which is - dried,
ground to powder, mixed with stewed
Iceland moss and made into a kind ot
famine bread.
Coincident with the failure of the
corps is tho extreme scarcity of fish.
The fishermen return from tho expedi
tions empty handed. Even ptarmigan,
usually found in great numbers in
the stricken land, have almost com
Dletcly disappeared. It is estimated
that the expenditure of $6,300,000 will
be necessary to save the population
from decimation. Thus far, about
$200,000 lias been subscribed, of which
sum over $12, SCO was sent by Swedes
in the United States. This amount does
not include tho money necessarv to
save the breed of cattle, which alone
can live through an arctic winter on
supply seed for the spring sowing. The
peasants are making pathetic sacrifices
to avert , the extermination of the
hardy northern cattle. In previous
times of scarcity good foder was ob
tainable by mixing reindeer moss
and aspen bark. Now this is not avail
able and finely chopped twigs of birch,
willow and ash are substituted. The
mixture is boiled and fed to the cattle
warm, but it is . found that the milk
of the cattle thus fed leads to typhoid
lever, rins ana other diseases are
certain to spread unless relief is
hastened. The situation threatens a
repitition of the terrible famine of
1867, when thousands died of starva
tion and typhoid.
A special commissioner of the
SwodishTgovernment. who has just re
turned from the scene of the distiess,
emphasizes the'jiecessity for the. adop
tion of immediate plans to abate the
distress. His report has caused a
most'painful impression and will, it
is hoped, enhance the national efforts
to provide remedial measures. Up to
the 'present 1300 carloads, valued "at
over $100,000, represent the total
quantity of provisions and fodder
shipped to the famine Etricken area. '
BLOWN TO ATOMS
Great Destruction Wrought by
Gun
Cotton
Kanaimo, B. C A terrific explosion
occurred at the Hamilton powder com
pany's works, Departure Bay Wednes
day moining. George Simonetta,
James Ful forte and ten Chinamen were
killed. Only one body, that of a
Chinaman, was recovered.
The others were absolutely blown to
fragments. The gun cotton storage
house exploded first, the concussion
exploding the gelignite mixing bouse,
400 feet awav, where the great loss of
life is supposed to have occurred.
The ground was excavated to a depth
of six feet where the buildings stand.
The buildings were blown into kind
ling wood and scattered with frag
ments of human flesh over several
acres. The tramway was blown up and
a length of steel rail twined spirally
around a tree like a whip lash. James
Preston, a nitroglycerine maker, had a
miraculous escape and owed his life to
his coolness. IIo was junning his
machinery 4,000 feet from the'cxplos
ion when it occurred, and was thrown
down. The window and a part of the
wall were blown in, but ho kept his
machinery running in spite of the con
cussion, which almost btopped it, and
never left bis post, thus preventing a
third explosion.
The works are three miles from No
naimo and broken windows hoio tes
tify to the tremendous forco of the ex
plosion. The management states that it is
utterly impossible to assign anv causo.
No witnesses survived. ' .
IRRIGATION IN ARIZONA
San Francisco Syndicate to Complete
Rockland Canal
Phoenix, Ariz. Extensive prepara
tions are being made for the reclama
tion of arid land near Yuina, Ariz. A
sydniuate of San Francisco capitalists,
represented by Charles II. Mau, has
concluded negotiations for the pur
chase of the right of way, canals and
heading of the Rockland Canal com
pany, headed by John N. Speese.
The syndicate is amply provided with
capital to complete the construction of
the canal undertaken by the Rockland
Canal coin pa ny, and work on the big
ditch will be resumed as soon as possi
ble. The Rockland canal lies between
the Colorado and the Gila rivets, and
when completed will provide water for
a great tract of fertile land.
The efforts to encourage .the govern
ment to carry out riparian improve-,
ments rear Yuma have been attended
with so little success that much of the
work probably will be undertaken by
private enterprise. For the construc
tion of a levee along the Colorado river
from a point a few miles below Yuma
to another point near the international
line,' the Arizona Ditch company has
receutly been incorporated by Arizona
mem. The officers. are: W. H. De
Berry, president; W. F. 'fimmons,
secretary, and James H. Meadows, B.
L. Nammaly and W. H. Thomas direc
tors. The company also purposes to
complete an irrigating ditch to carry
water from one or more of the canals
now in operation in tho Colorado
river valley and distribute It over the
vast tracts of fertile land that will be
reclaimed from the marsh lands ly the
construction of the levee. These lands,
amounting to about 40,000 acres, are
flooded annually by the high waters of
the Colorado river. The lands are
very fertile and far more productive
than average farming lands. Tie
levee will be about fifteen miles in
length and' will preserve an average
distance from the river banks of about
300 yards. It will be thirty-three
feet wide at the top and average about
four and a half feet in height. The
cost of construction will approximate
$30,000. The stock of the company has
been subscribed in money and labor,
and almost enough means have been
provided for clearing the right of way.
Preliminary surveys have been com
plete and three large forces of men aie
now engaged in clearing the right of
way. Within a few weeks actual con
struction of the levee will begin and
work will be pushed vigorously until
the project has been completed.
lie pits ni iiie in a darkened room,
alone In the hiding light. Why are
his brow so heavy with gloom and his
cheeks so deadly white? But though
his heart Is faint with care, his cour
age never flinches. Ills eyes are fixed
In a Kin s.sy stare. What is It bis firm
hand clinches? "A little courage," he
murmurs. "Yes, a little, and all Is
won." "A choking gurgle, more or less,
a gasp and the deed Is donel Without
a shudder or eyelid wink-? Ah! It
makes the heart recoil that he so quiet-,
ly, calmly drank a dose of castor olL
London TH-Blta.