Newspaper Page Text
NEW RULING
ON
fWer of Commissioner Ware
ther Opens Treasury Door.
OLD LEGISLATION
After 13th of April Next, all
ants Beyond 62 Years Will be
Entitled to Emoluments.
Commissioner of Pensions
nith the approval of Secretary of
interior Hitchcock, promulgated
mosi important pension ruling
nesday ihat has been issued in a long
Erne.
It directs that beginning April 13
Dex t, if there is no contrary evidence
and all other legal requirements have
been met, claimants for pension under
the general act of June 27, 1890, who
are over 62 years old, shall be consid
e; ed as disabled one-half !n ability to
periorm manual labor and shall be
entitled to $6 a month; 65 years to $S;
over 68 to years to $10, and over 70
years to $12, the usual allowances at
higher rates continuing for disaDili
tjes other than age. This order will
not be retractive.
Commissioner Ware, just before
leaving for a trip south for his health,
said the order would save both the
old soldiers and the government a
good deal of money and time. He said
it was based on the Mexican war pen
sion leg'slation of 1887, approved by
President Cleveland, which placed all
I the Mexican war veterans on the pen
i sion roll thirty-nine years after the
[.dose of that war.
I ‘it would seem that if thirty-nine
| years after the expiration of service a
■ Mexican war soldier was entitled to
I a pension at 62 years, and no other
■ rcgiisite for drawing a pension should
I exist except age, that to soldiers oi the
■ I civil war, who fought vastly more and
[to longer at least, as good a rule ought
apply.
“The order could not have been is
I sued earlier because it is only now
(that the thirty-nine years fixed by the
[congressional The civil limit has been reached.
war ended April 13, 1865.
Hence the thirty-nine year^ would ex
pire Mr. cn Ware the 13th of next month.”
said the order would save
the government at least $300,000 a
pear. He was not able to say what
expense the bill would entail in the
[shape 'The of additional payments.
exten£~To which it will aug
ment the necessity for further appro
priation cannot be told, said Mr.
“It will, without doubt, in
crease the payments to some extent,
put no one -si able to fix the amount
Pe bureau has not considered tITat as
pe P do proper not think, element however, of consideration.
creased that the in
expense in the long run will
N very noticeable, because the death
pte is also to be considered, and there
N a ’ ls o to bo considered the fact that
pe pthout ones proof to whom other we give the pension
than tneir ages
p'ould peter have proven themselves anyhow
former circumstances as enti
Fted to the pension by reason of their
(Usabilities.”
Villi RIVER CROSSED BY RUSSIANS.
e Port to That Effect Comes From a RcFa
ble Source at Yin Kow.
An Associated Press dispatch from
fin Kow says: The only reliable re
)or te at the present moment from the
r ‘ a!n Manchurian cities show quiet
a
Element along the railway, and such
:| ties as Mukden, which is off the
nain line are undisturbed. The peo
lie here are not in possession of def
mite aews of the outskle events,
Tho chief movement on the Fong
lU a ^‘ § Caeng military road is the dis
i of
rid ers to and from the Rus
, aa advance
A forces.
redibie native arrived here to
2th f ^ ag n * ng Fon a report Huang as as March
.p.f »v. S Cheng to the
the main body of the con
ra ! ed forces had crossed the
: a ,
n ' ng small bodies of troops
: ---tang
and other points to guard
u « river.
rightful work of EXPLOSION.
thre e Killed and Eight Badly Injured in
a
! Three Chicago Toy factory.
Persons, two or them being
1 u ere killed and eight other
%ees em
w ere injured Tuesday by an
x Plosi 011 toy P^°l which
or- ■ oaps,
etf V deino ’lshed the two-story
Fo’k S aaufac turing
ag 0 plant of the Chi
heck °‘ N ' ov elty Company. The
W f ’’ f l ’ ;,ildin the S dead caught fire and the
and were so badly
lbI e to wangled that it was impos
e mnant recognize them except by
s of clothing.
RUSSIA DiSiRUSTS CHINA
Mika o’s Warships a: e Alleged to be
Coaling at S:ir.e Quiet Spot on
the Chinese Coast.
A St - Petersb ur g special says: The
1 governraent ' s private ^formation is
! not completi*y reassuring as regards
China’s sincerity in observing a neu
i tral attitude. Secret advices indicate
that at least a powerful party in the
! Chinese government is abetting the
Japanese. Although at first reluctant
to credit these reports, the Russian
| authorities continue to receive evi
| dence that the Japanese contemplate
landing on Chinese neutral territory
west of the Liao river and 17,000 men i
are being held especially to await de- 1
velopments in that direction. :
Moreover the emperor’s naval ex- i
perts who have been studying care
fully the puzzle as to where Vice Ad
miral Togo’s fleet is coaling and pro- i
visioning between its appearance off
Port Arthur, are becoming more and
more convinced that it is using as a
base some quiet spot on the Chinese |
coast. After each disappearance not j
word is heard of the fleet’s where- '
a
abouts until it reappears. A calcula- I
tion of time and distaqces show it is |
quite impossible for the fleet to steam j
to Nagasaki or Hiroshima, take on
board coal and ammunition and come
back.
It is also certain the Japanese war
ships could not take on coal, much
less heavy projectiles at sea in the
face of the prevailing rough weather.
The idea that they are using Chemul
po, Fusan or some other place on the
Korean coast for this purpose is re
jected, as it is believed that if such
were the case the numerous secret cor
respondents and secret agents of the
Russians in Korea would certainly
have reported the fact, whereby, by
process of elimination, the Russians i
seem compelled to arrive at the con
elusion that the vessels of the Japan
ese fleet must be refilling their bunk
ers in some inlet on the Chinese -
coast .either on the gulf of Liao Tung ,
or the Shan Tung peninsula, so far
from ports and inhabited centers that
the correspondents are unable to get
wind of it.
The dwindling number of Japanese
battleships appearing off Port Arthur |
is increasing the conviction that many
of them have had to put back to Japan
for a thorough refitting.
VICTORY OF RUSSIANS UNCONFIRMED.
Story of Repulse and Capture of f,800
Japs Seems Doubtful.
A private dispatch received in Che
Foo from Mukden states that a battle
has taken place on the Yalu in which
the Russians claim to have captured ;
eighteen ’ v hundred prisoners. ,
Nothing .. ° , has reached , , London T , to , con
firm „ the foregoing report. ...... A dispatch
from St. Petersburg to a news agency
dated Sunday says there ., .i has been no
change , m the situation, ., .. and , that ,, . all
is quiet on both , ., , la _ ad , and . sea , between ,
the Russian line from Ping .. Vang to , j ;
the ...... Yalu river and .it the Japanese line i
to . Gensan. „ There rr y , have , been slight . .
skirmishes .... . between . scouts, . , but . no bat- , .
tie ,, has . taken . . place, , the ,. distance! .. . i
as
, between . the ., . . great. .
oppos.ng armies is
The bulk of the Russian . forces, „ ,, the
dispatch ,. : . adds, . has not , yet , passed . the ,
;
Yalu river.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON DEAD.
Congressman From Fifth Alabama District
Passes Away in Washinqton.
Representative Charles W. Thomp
son. of the Fifth Alabama district, died
in Washington city Sunday afternoon
of pneumonia.
Mr. Thompson had been sick just
one week. Toward the end he suffer
ed intensely.
Accompanied by his son. Charles
W. Thompson, the Rev. F. J. Pettyman,
pastor of the Mount Vernon Methodist
Episcopal church, south, where Mr.
Thompson worshiped while in Wash
ington, ,and the congressional commit
tee, the remains left Washington
Monday night for Tuskegee for inter
ment.
Representative Thompson was in
the forty-fourth year of his age and
was serving his second term in the
house. Two sons, h's mother and sev
eral brothers and sisters survive him.
MURDERERS,OF A NEGRO LYNCHED.
Colored Train Porter’s Death Avenged by
White Mob in Mississippi.
A mob of masked men stormed the
jail at Cleveland, Mass., Saturday
n ight and secured possession of Fay
ette Sawyer and Burke Harris, two
negroes, charged with the murder of
Sid Killum, a negro porter on a pas
senger train, near Hushpuekna. during j
Christmas week.
The prisoners were taken to the
icene of the killing and hanged from
he railroad bridge, where their life
'ess bodies were found dangling.
COTTON KING
KNOCKED OUT
Dan Sully and His Coterie Fail to
Meet Engagements.
IS FORCED TO SUSPEND
Announcmznt of Collapse Of Bull Lead*
a Crnes Wildest Confusion on Floor
o{ New y ork Cott()Q £- /ilange<
Daniel J. Sully, the cotton operator,
who has for fifteen months been the
biggest figure in the cotton markets
of the world, and who has “bulled”
cotton from 7 cents a pound to over
1 *, enounced his inability to make
good his engagements on New York
cotton exchange Friday. In a few mo
ments cotton fell nearly $13 a bale
from the highest figures of the day.
Scenes such as iollowed the an
nouncement of the failure it has been
the privilege of few brokers to wit- j
ness before. Traders in the street
have witnessed stock panics in pre
vious years; corners have been bro
ken, and many crashes have been re
corded, but none has been accom
panied by such frenzy and confusion.
The announcement of the suspension
was made by Superintendent King, of
the exchange, who read from the ros
trura ^his notice:
" _ e regret that we are unable re
me9t °’ ir engagements and therefore
have to suspend,
DANIEL J. SULLY &. CO. !
For a few seconds there was an om1 ’
nous Quiet . over the floor as though the
aews had stunned all within hearing i
°* tbe announcement, Then with one
impulse a mighty shout went up from
bears, they who had been fighting
Stihv and the bull clique loi months,
^Tats were thrown into the a r to fail
where would > a moment later to
be trampled upon by the stampede for {
tb e pit. Coats were torn by frantic
brokers in their mad efforts to unload
their holdings, and chairs and camp
stools were dashed into the pit, to em
phasize some wild broker s offer to
sell. Messengers soon were rushing
in and out of the building with orders
to sell or buy; telepliGne booth were |
beseiged and telegraph offices were
flooded with dispatches. :
Soon news reached the stock, pro
dues ami coffee exchanges, and trad- i
ers on these markets hastened to the
scene of the panic. Crowds assailed
the entrance to the visitors’ gallery, j
but a double guard was placed at the
doors and admittance was refused to
but those accompanied by mem
bers.
_. It estimated that . something .. .
was
like three-quarters ., , of . ?. million , bales ,
■
of . cotton A traded , , . during . . the .
were m °
twenty 4 minutes of , the .. panic ^ . ,, that fol- . .
lowed the announcement, and that A of ,
this .... upwards . of . half . a million .... . Dales ,
represented , „ forced liquidation or the
selling out ^ of men whose margins
. have , been nearly , ... wiped out.
or quite
As , the market slumped 2o0 points,
or two and , a half . ,, cents per pound, ,
during , . this period .... the loss falling .. ... on
element , amounted . , ^ to something ...
a million .... dollars, ,
Suliy Locked in Office.
Sully’s profits on h s old deals were
to be enormous and presumably
of these were used to bolster his
deals. After the suspension
announces Sully locked himseli |
his office and declined to give out
statement. Wild guesses were
as to the liabilities, but all agree
they must be well up in the mil
Excitement at New Orleans.
The announcement cf the failure of
the “Cotton King” of New York. |
the greatest panic ever seen j
the floor of the New Orleans cotton
Prices melted away until
were $D and $10 a bale lower
Thursday’s close and every mo
the fear was that local firms i
go to the wall. When the pan
was over and the commercial integ
of the local cotton trade was found
a g*reat sigh of relief wont up
the cotton ring, although scores
small operators were wiped out
heavy longs had lost fortunes.
TO CHINA JAPAN NOW TURNS.
Such is Declaration Published in Official
Newspaper in St. Petersburg.
The Bourse Gazette (St. Petersburg)
says Jajau’s hope of aid from America
is gone and now she can only depend
on China. With the latter’s hatred of
the west in view, she is trying to effect
an alliance. The Gazette predicts that
Chinese neutrality will soon be bro
ken.
Cleveland is Now Sixty-Seven Years Old.
Ex-President Cleveland passed his
sixty-seventh birthday quietly at his
home in Princeton, N. J., Thursday.
WOOD IS CONFIRMED.
Senate Fscaliy Approves of General's
Promotion to Higher Rank by a
Vote of 45 to 15.
A Washington special says: The
long continued fight against the con
Urination of General Wood as major
general ended rather unexpectedly Fri
day. • A vote was reached and the result
was General Wood's confirmation.
That Hiis was to be the fina: outcome
of the fight was made certain by the
i iavorabie report of the commutes,
reached after careful consideration of
the testimony of the witnesses sum
moned by those who have opposed
General Wood’s continuation Tife
whole influence of the administration
was back of him, and w4iile individ
ual republican senators have said they
would not have voted for confirmation
had they not previously pledged them
selves to do so, there has never been
any real doubt of the result. The vote
was 45 to 16.
The late Senator Hanna was recog
nized as the leader of the forces op
posed to General Wood, and had it
not been for his death before the
disposition of the case, it is conceded
that the vote would have been much
closer. It has not been believed at
any time since the contest opened,
however, that the fight against con
firmation. would have been successful.
Only two republicans remained in the
minority. 1 hey were Senator Scott,
West Virginia, a member of the
military affairs committee, wire op
posed the nomination while it was
pending in the committee, and Sena
tor Kittridge, of South Dakota.
Five democratic senators voted with
the majority in favor of confirmation.
They were Senator Cockrell and Sena
tor Pettus, who, as members of the
m ' li tary affairs committee, heard all
the testimony against General Wood,
and Senator Patterson, Senator Clarke,
cf Arkansas, and Senator Dubois. The
negative vote on the confirmation was
as follows:
Bacon, Berry, Blackburn, Clark, oi
Montana; Culberson, Gibson, Latimer,
McCreary, McLaurin, Mallory, Martin,
Money, Newlands, Simmons, all dem
ocris, and Kittridge and Scott, repub
licans.
After a vote had been reached. Sen
ator Foraker moved to make the vote
public, and Senator Blackburn moved
to make public the testimony had be
fore the committee on military affa’rs.
motion in legard to the testimony
was voted down, and the general un
derstanding was that the vote was lo :
be given out. In the confusion, how
T <er ’ * bp annoucceraen 4 was made that
both motions were lost. No speeches
were made.
Dependent upon the confirmation of
General Wood were 167 promotions
for other army officers These hav6
been held up since their nominations
were made by the president, but will
now be confirmed without opposition
They include twenty colonels promot
ed to be brigadier generals on the re
tired list and one brigadier general on
the active list, and a number cf other ;
officers ranking from colonels down to
second lieutenants All, no doubt, will
be speedily confirmed, and will, accord
ing to military authority, take rank
and pay from the first time they were
appointed to fill vacancies.
DEATH IN AN INFERNAL BGX.
Mysterious Box Sent Police Official Ex
plodes on Beinq Opened.
An infernal machine exploded Fri
day outside the residence of Com
missioner of Police Laurent, at Liege,
Belgium, wrecking the house, fatally
injuring an artillery officer and se
riously wounding half dozen other per
sons.
When the machine was discovered
Major ,, . _ , was summoned and was
exaiammg ’ ie pa " v3se in which the
n ! achme was concealed when the ex
b osion oecurre . Pap n s legs were
« bIown and he shortI Y af ter
wards suectimbed. A policeman who
also lost his legs by the explosion, is
in a precarious condition.
” ,rnp Cerneaie Donates,
■ !n! - , l l> college, the stare college
women at Rock Hill, S. C., has re
a gift of $20,000 from Andrew
Carnegie for a library building.
PLANING FOR UNIFORM INSURANCE.
Scheme of all fire Companies to Form a
Mutual Combination.
It is reported that the national
board of fire insurance underwriters,
at a meeting held in New York Wed
nesday, came to an agreement with a
committee of twenty representing in
surance companies by which all fire
insurance companies in tni3 country
and all foreign companies represented
here will form a combination. Uniform
rates are to be fixed for the same
class of risks in all cities.
■tm
r KUROPATKIN
MOVING FAST
New Russian Commander is Ex
pected to Do Wonders.
HOPE IS ALL-PERVADING
|
Whole of Car's Empire Thirsts for
Gore o -victorious Japs and
Dire Vengeance.
Advices of Tuesday from St. Petera
burg state that' General Kuropatkin
expects to reach Mukden March 26.
Everything will be sidetracked in or
der to get him to the front on sched
ule time. The general may proceed
on a flying visit to Port Arthur, but he
is more likely to enter at once upon
his duties as commander in chief of
the Manchurian afiny. He bears an au
tograph letter from the emperor to
Vicerey Alexieff, to whom he will re
port. It is understood that the vice
roy them will turn over the entire di
rection of the land operations to Gen
eral Kuropatkin, who will transmit
his reports to the emperor through
the viceroy, but practically this is
the only point on which Viceroy Alex
ieff will maintain superiority.
New General’s Plans.
General Kuropatkin had his plan of
campaign practically perfected before
he left for the Far East. He returned
to St. Petersburg quietly from his
country seat and his presence was not
known for some days, He devoted the
interim to the elaboraton3 of his
plans, in conjunction with his staff,
and with the aid of all the information
in the possession of the ministry of
war, as well as of the special reports
from the theatre u£ war.
A superstitious idea prevails in St.
Petersburg that Gen. Kuropatkin will
signalize his birthday, which occurs
on March 30, and which is also his pa
tren saint’s day, with some important
act.
On accouut of the difficulty of hous
ing the vast number of troops poured
into Mukden, 1,000 having ifieen sent
forward within the last few days to
ward the Yalu river as reintorcements
for the 7,000 troops already at Kasan
and Anju, and the stream of soldiers
from European Russia is now being
held at Harbin.
Advance Proceeding Smoothly.
The machinery of the advance of the
Russian forces, says a Russian corre
spondent of the Associated Press at.
Mukden, are working smoothly from
ITarbia southward. The running of
passenger trains has been resumed
and the Russian families are proceed
ing on their way to Europe without
cessation. Very cold weather, accom
panied by blizzards and snow storms,
has been followed bv a succession of
fine days. The health and spirits of
the troops are good.
Information has been received at
headquarters that the Japanese are
strengthening tlTeir positions in Korea.
Newspaper M*-.n Barred.
The Japanese authorities, says a dis
patch from the Korean capital, have
ordered the newspaper correspondents
at Ping Yang and Anju to return.
They also refuse to honor the per
mits formerly given for correspond
ents to accompany troops to the front
and are holding them at Seoul. The
action is regarded as significant.
VARDAMAN’S VFTO SUSTAINED.
Mississippi House Upholds the Governcr
bv a Verv Close Vote.
There was a spirited debate in the
lower house of the Mississippi legis
lature Tuesday morning on the veto
of Governor Vardaman on the Holly
Springs Normal bill, which was sent
in Monday afternoon.
The members covered every phase
of the negro education question. Six
ty-four members of the house voted
to pass the bill over the veto, and
forty-eight voted to Sustain the gover
nor. It takes seventy-two votes under
constitution to pass a b'll over the
governor’s veto, and therefore it failed
t<? pass.
MAKERS OF CORSETS ARE NON PLUSSED.
Growth of the American Girl Precludes
Reasonable Profits on Goods
Dealers in corsets in Pari3 say that
their profits are growing smaller as
the American girl keeps on expanding.
Puny-sized corsets are no longer in
demand for the American market. In
stead cf three and four shoe measures,
five and six are demanded, and the
extra sik and cotton that goes into the
stockings intended for the American
market is enough to make a manufac
turer’s hair stand on end.
Sports and good living are blamed
for the change.