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' ALBANY WEEKLY IE ALBANY HERALD. 8.8. McIHTOSH. Editor ani Proprietor. H. M. McIntosh, - Editor. Etc O' morning except Monday. SoiMCRimoN: Hy mail, poatnac Ivered by carrier 10 centa a week < —, —— , jgo paid, or dc- 1 vcred by earrior 10 centa a week or 4ft centa a month— One year • ft oo Blx tnontha 3 80 Three month*...... T * 1 3ft Allaubacrlption*payable In advance; no ex •ration to tnla role in favor of anybody. Aovx "■ & V' known on Api aifeus. kxahonablc, aud made Ovpiob up atalra, weat aide of Waiblngton —* •*- the Commercial Bank. greet, oppoaite Entonsl At Uio pottolUco At Albany, On., u ' AoopnO-oliM ihaII matter. SATURDAY, DEC. 81, 1893. Mb. Jamas G. Blaihe bat the sym pathies of thi entire oouhtry in Ale 1 manifold troublee. Tna Soath Carollnleni are not taking Very amicably to prohibition aaa State law. The majority of them are not ipollned that way. Ha. Blaihe is oontiderably im proved. It la gratifying to the whole oonntry to know that this great states- man will probably recover. Wo am eounty Democrats are mak ing a bard light to keep the old ooun ty etill solidly - In the Demooratio col umn, and they ahould be given hearty •ooouragement. Jibrt SiMraov la hot on the trail of the Kansaa Senatorial plum. It looka very muoh, however, as If Bister Lease would have a hand to the manufacture of that Senatorial pudding. Tssss has beep an Inveatigation in dbe National House of Representatives In order t» sound the different mem hors on the Speakership question. The canvass pointed to Orlep with a very large Index Anger. SrEAiaa Obiip 1s publicly quoted as favoring an early extra session and as believing that the session oan easily be made to adjourn after Its organiza tion la completed and Its tariff law framers put In shape for work. \,Mb. WaiTNBY oould be elected Sen ator from New York almost by accla mation. In selecting a Senator New York should have an eye to able bus! hsss qualifications as well at purity of party principles. Both aro found to a pre-emlnont degree in Mr. Whitney. almost Tub Panama swindle lies succeeded in undermining the govern ment of the French Republlo, and the ragged edge of what royalty rcmalna awaits In dally hope that the hour is near at hand when the degenerated House of Orleans will again be called to the throne. Georgia's only Ham Is said to be getting up a lecture whloh will con tain many of Ills best Jokes on the snollygoster, whloh will be delivered throughout the North under the man agement of n llorton llurenu. Here’s a success to . Brother Ham. There’s money ns well ns fume In the lecturing business, nml he lino the ability to At tain both. Tiik Supreme Court has rendered decision that nil assessments made by the buaril of equalizers in the State are valid, ami Hint taxes must bn paid In accordance with them, in a great ninny respects the opposition to this law seems lo have been local. No doubt the system could be improved on to a grunt extent, but tlm old style way of doing tlm buainess has long ago outgrown its usefulness, and ahould be replaced with a better sys- «tom. Comoukssman CiiXATUAM, of North Carollun, tlm ouly Negro In the pres ent House, was defeated for re-elec tion, and after the 4th of Maroh will go through the North and Northwest qn a leoturlng tour. He Is a bright mulatto, is well eduoated, and will probably make some cash out of hla lecture. He eaya he failed of re-elec tion by a technicality, but doea not olaim that there waa any fraud what ever. Two years henoe ha says he Is going to run for Congress again. Tbs question uf theponstructlon of the Nicaragua ranal has oouie up prominently before Congress. It is probable that the bill providing for the Indorsement of the company’s bonds Till be reported favorably by the committee, and as the construction of the canal is endorsed in both na tional platforms. It is exceedingly probable that some such measure will pass by a good majority. The Import ance of having this canal under Amer ican oontrol cannot be overestimated, as it will become practically the key to the commerce of the world. - Tux Supreme Court decided on Thursday that the law providing for the establishment of county boards of equalizers of taxes on real and per- aonal property was constitutional. The test case was that of J. Washing ton Collier vs. the tax collector of Ful ton county. When Ur. Collier return ed his property for taxation the local hoard thought it was too small a re turn. Judge Marshall Clarke deofded the case In Mr. Collier's favor, but the Supreme Court has now reversed the decision of the lower court. The law has lately been repealed by the Legislature, but too late to come to Mr. Collier's assistance, and of any . others in the .State who may have con tested the assessments of eqalization beards. ILD: TUB HtMBT CBOM OF TUI BOOTH AND VVKHT. Wheat la very much the same to the Western farmer that cotton is to the Southern farmer. It is his prinolpal crop, and his “money crop.” Last year cotton went down to six cents. It costs more than that to raise the staple and get it into the market, and the effects of the decline, due solely to overproduction, have been keenly felt throughout the “Cotton States.” And now the Western farmers are being depreiaed by a decline In wheat. And the oause of the decline In the wheat market eeeme lo bo due to the ■ame oauia that depressed the market of our Southern staple—overproduc tion, or, as the market report* put It, to the “enormous accumulation of vis ible stocks." The price of wheat In Chloago on. Wednesday touched 69Jf cent* a bnahel, whloh la as low as It baa ever been In December In that market. The same rate wae recorded in December, 1884; hut, with that exception, the price has never been so low after Aug ust, and In only one Inatanoe, we are told, baa it been any lower at any sea son of the yearwlthin the laat twenty- ■even years. The farmera of the West, like those of the South, are the vlotlms of specu lation. The epeoulatori make more out of wheat and ootton than the pro ducers do. While the whole world Is speculat ing In his orop, the wonder la that the farmer doesn't take a hand in It him aelf. Whenever he Ands the market— the future delivery market, we mean- at Agurea that would Insure him a proAtable price for his cotton, he oan make himielf absolutely safe by Belt ing futures covering the number of balea that he expeota to make and de-* llverlng the ootton Instead of making it a niere matter of speculation and paying or reoelvlng, as the case might be at the maturity of the contract, the difference between the price of spots and the Agurea at which he sold his crop. TEI CITY Flftlt DEPARTMENT. There has been muoh talk of late among members of the Council as well as other oltizens in regard to the or ganization of a paid fire department, and some very good suggestions have been offered on this line. The nxRALD has never yet spoken editorially on the subject, hut there can he no doubt about It, the Institu tion Is one that needs improvement, There are some members who work conscientiously and do all in their power in the case of fire, hut It oannot be denied that there are many who be long to tho companies for the sole pur pose of shirking Jury duties, as is evinced by the fact Hint,they are rare ly If ever attendant upon a lire. This is toying with n. serious busi ness, find ill the interests of the peo ple and their property it is right that It be improved. Just exactly what plan Bhonld be followed cannot be de termined until every point line been taken into consideration. The Hkii- ALD presented nil Interview yesterday wherein it was shown that a compe tent nnd eUloient paid department could be niniiitnliipd at just about the same cost or very little mure than is now expended. This ,'s a matter thnt tho people would do wull to consider, and let the Inaomlng Council in some way have an expression of their views on the subject. There Is no doubt but that the improvement of the lire depart ment is a matter of general publlo de sire. Press Gernniefits. A Decides ^Brnmek From the Greenville (8. C.) News. A New York Herald ppff of C. A. Dana for minister to England was sent out ye»terday as “minister to Auck land.” The blunder la a decided im provement on the original suggestion. Auokland la in New Zealand and a good long way off: if Dana could be tent there, Mr. Cleveland would doubt- leu be entirely willing to proclaim a rigid and perpetual quarantine against Auokland and the country would be rid of one Its most offensive and dis reputable nuisances. AadPaauMNn VaadeeMII, Tee. From the Phlledelphta Uncord. George Francis Train uys that the word “damn” la Astatic, and synony mous with baAana. This leta out Gov ernor Flower, who, It now seems, exclaimed, at the very worst: “I don't oare a banana for rotes 1" Ae DM MsFehUsee HeeeBeeh. From the Phlledelphia Record. There seems to be some disposition on the part of the Republican press to •prlng again on the oowftry the okl roorback that the Democrats when they get in power will pap off the Confederate bondholders. It would be the part of wisdom for the organs to put this stale Invention away In the rag hag. The disposition' doubtleu ■till exists, especially In the minds of professional politicians who find them selves on the wrong side of the fenoe, to embarrass the forthooiqlng Demo oratio Administration In every praotl- oableway; but the Confederate debt bogy la-no longer uuful. There are no dupes so hopelessly Imbecile as to be longer deoeived by this particular romanticism. It answered Its purpose well enough twenty years ago; but Its US ere I f.cper« Net Alwere Paupers. From the Savannah Morning Nows, If Wales should Ucoule to visit Amerioa next year he need not bother about landing In Canada. Any laws suspending Immigration that this country may pass will not be applied to him. Tin Blecleral College SfMMh From tho l’hilndolphm Kocortl (Deni.) What argument against the modern development of a blundering electoral college system could be needed In ad dition to that which has been presented by the eleotlon in North Dakota! In that state the official result divides the eleotoral between Cleveland, Harrison and Weaver. The Cleveland elector has 181 majority; the Weaver elector 14 majority. Thus North Dakota’s vote for President has beeu neutral ized by a olumay electoral machinery which has defeated the will of the State's mnjority. Has not the time come .when the people should abolish this machinery and eleot the President direotly by popular vote? ^ The Pension Hcnndnl. From tlics KuusuHCitjr (Mo.) TIiium (Deni.) The cancer bus grown to such a size as to require a deep cut; but It is Im possible. It might cost $10,000,000 to scrape off the barnacles, hut the gov ernment will never again have an op portunity for so large a return on the money invested. A DSACOVRAOED HILVER1TB. Congressman Pieroe, of Tennessee, who was prominent as an advocate of the free coinage of silver at the last session, la reported by a Washington dlspatob to have given up all hope that the question will be reaohed thie Congress. Indeed, Mr. Pieroe even goes so far as to give it as Ills opinion that the silver cause will be side tracked for four yrars. He says that in the present Congres the free-silver men will be given no recognition, but that on their part they have suflleleut strength to prevent any legislation oaloulated to be detrimental to silver. Mr. Harrison says lie will pull nut for Indianapolis after March 4th, nnd will live there permanently. Srnator Billy Chandler, of Ver mont, is mixed up with the Republi can steal in the West, says a report. This, however, goes without saying. Thr programme for the opening of the World’s great Fair as mapped out will be quite an interesting one. Mr. Cleveland Is to be the only speaker, and the rest of the programme consists of a poem by Dr. OliverWendell Holmes and some music,. The audience for the occasion, however, la to be very select. Only 5,000 invitations will be issued, and one thousand of these go to the offloials and members of Congress. The other 4,000 Invitations will kindly request the bearers to bt present, but to bring along a five dollar bill to pay a reserved Beat. The manngers of the World’s Fair have adopted almost every conceivable mdhng for coining money, but 5,000 people from iiinong all these in the Uuited Slate will form a very select crowd, and they would • l; no doubt glsdly pay f«w n,« bolter. tVhnl Thor DM nl Brussels. From thu Now Vovk Frees (lto|i.) Tile only matter upon which the delegates to the international mone tary conference have been able to agree at nil is upon the question of taking a rest until next May. The conference, having mnrehed up the hill, has simply resolved to maroh down again as gracefully as it oan. AN ADVERTISING LETTER. A Schama That Often Due. a Firm More Injury Tlmn II Doaa Good. Speaking, of advertising brings to mind a very prevalent nuisance which is being inflicted just now on long suffering New Yorkers. I refer to the advertising letter—the circu lar letter which asks you to trade with somebody or other. They are directed by hand, put in plain envel opes, sealed and stamped with two cents' worth of terra eotta paper. The uninitiated can't tell them from a genuine letter until the envelope la torn open. Then they are un masked. They Are revealed in all their uninteresting disappointment. These people who Mail them out are sharps, I' tell you. They only aend them to private houses and apartments, where women will most likely, receive them, and Uiny know the weakness of womankind for any thing lh the nature of a letter. Women always just ache to get let ters. and these' confounded circulars fool them every time. If it happen* that the victim live* In a flat the wife, mother or sister will gleefully trip down the four flights of etaire when the hem the postman's short, sharp ring on the electric bell in the kitchen. 8he knows the ring perfectly, nnd it is to her care about the most welcome sound of the whole day. Then she r a the letter box and pulls out circular. It looks interesting. There i* no advertising imprint on the envelope. The handwriting is apt to be very amateurish or very expert in its line*. The victim stud ies it carefully. She sees that the letter la postmarked in New York, but that does not count oneway or another. She is quite likely and more liable to get a letter from some one in New York than anywhere else. She also studies the bock care fully. and holds the letter up to the light and discovers nothing to give her a clew of whom it is from. But she does not open it. Oh, no I She holds it tight like some predotiH thing, and with a glad heart at the anticipation of a pleas ant. gossipy letter from Bomohody she climbs the four flights of atalra to her own floor. Perhaps there are two of them. Then it la all the worse. When she gets Into the box of u dining room in her seven room flat, which nlao does duty as a sowing room, aim aits do.wn in the rocking chair, drawn a long breath and opens the letter. Then is the time to see a woman mad I That woman will give the most perfect imitation of anger and dis gust you can find anywhere. She will hurl that advertising letter on the floor as though it was a thing ac cursed. She knows she lias been fooled, and she resents it. Then she flounces out into the kitchen and slams the door. That’s a woman’s way of swearing. I doubt if under any circumstances you could induce her to buy goods of the firm who sent her that letter, nnd so 1 don't believe that this systematic letter trickery that ho many linns in dulge in pays them ns well as adver tising in some other manner would. Within tlie last week I have received these delusive letters from dry goods houses, hanks, furniture stores, car pet cleaners, liquor dealors, real es tate agonts, confectioners, bakers, butchers, cigar manufacturers, tai lors, and evon churches are getting into this pernicious habit. Tho soap people of course are always with you. —New York Herald. AFRICAN IRONMASTERS. A Place Where There Ate Few Strike! Becauoe of the Fate of a Striker. The Baluhiuffi,' as'the natives of the Miiansanyomma district of cen tral Africa are styled, enjoy an ex cellent local reputation as ironwork ers. They find their crude material in the form of bog iron ore on the surface of the land. It rarely hap pens that digging to an appreciable depth is necessary. Their smelting fnrnaoes, which are constructed of clay, are from six to ten feet high, from forty to sixty inches in diam eter at the base and conical in shape. The ore is tipped into the furnace from above; the charcoal, on the other hand, is introduced, into bosinlike side openings, which also receive a continuous air blast, while the iron and dag are removed from the bot tom of the furnace about every eight or twelve hours, according to the de gree of heat obtained. The forge is a circular building some sixteen feet in diameter, with a -pointed root and open side*. At a distance it might be taken for a park hand stand. In the center of this hut is the fire, which is maintained in constant activity hy means of a unique pair of bellows; which merit a special description. They consist of a block or wood, generally twenty inches long, hollowed out and fitted with a funnel head mode of clay. At the lower end are two orifices, over whioh skins ore stretched. Mo tion is imparted to the instrument by the action of two small rods. The hammer is of solid iron; the tongs are marvels of simplicity—to wit, a bent palm branch. An iron wedge driven into a timber hole Berves as an anvil. The recollections of the Balubans carry them back to the time when they wrought metals with stone tools. Somo of the natives are com paratively artistic workers. Very fine axes, tastefully inlaid with cop per, are produced. Strikes among these swarthy arti ficers are of comparatively rare oc currence, probably owing to the fact that the malcontents invariably have their heads lopped off and their skins placed on one side for patching, or in case of need entirely recovering the aforesaid curious bellows.—Lon don; Iron. Kxlrn HcuIh Talk. From tho llaltlmoro Sun ;Dom.) It is stated that Mr. Cleveland favors an extra session of Congress, provided be can be assured that it will be very ihort. He would like to see the House organised and committees appointed next spring or in the early fall, so that members may buokle down to work on the tariff in December ae soon ai the regular session begins. The tariff bill could be framed next summer by a committee at some mountain resort, away from Washington and its lobby of self-seeking protected interests. The appropriations committee and the committee on banking and currency could advanoe their task in the same way. But a prolonged session at Washington, lasting all summer, is not desired. Can anybody give assurances that, if assembled in March, Congress will adjourn in April? If so, all-extra" session is not improbable. Eighty-eight Degree* Hellin' Zero. The coldest known spot on the earth’s surface is on the Eastern slope, a shelving mountain that runs down to near thff water's edge, on the eastern bank of the Lena river, in northeast-Siberia. The spot in question is nine and a fourth miles from Serkorchoof, about latitude 07 north and longitude 134 east Dr. Woikoff, director of the Russian meteorological service, gives the minimum temperature of the place as being 88 dogs, below zero. It Is a place of almost perpetual calm. In the mountains neur by, where windy weather is the rule, it is not nearly so cold.—8t Louis Republic. Tlmorousnesi of Groat Men. It has boon recently stated by those who knew him well that Mr. Spur geon was an example of the fact that public men often quake on the eve of their great successes. Though few guessed it, he was nervous in speak ing, and one result of the disastrous panic at the Surrey Gardens in 185S was that he ever afterward dreaded excitement in great audiences. At the Free Trade hall in Manchester, 1872, the orator was in buoyant and brilliant form. Yot before delivering his address he had been attacked by nervous sickness in the anteroom. As we have suggested, this curious preliminary recoil seems to be a fre quent characteristic of the offorts that establish or increase famo. Inquiry shows that somo form of timorousuess dogs distinction like its shadow. It may have peculiar and i even eccentric features. Mr. Ed mund Yates has mentioned the case I of a distinguished living politician, noted for his dash and aplomb while | in tho house of commons, to whom on ono occasion Sir Honry Halford, the eminent physician, gave an ac count of a railway accident. The narrator was elaborate in his descrip tion, and it was too much for his listener's nerves. In the midst of the story the doctor had to break off. His friend was on the point of faint ing.—Cassell’s Journal. The Washington correspondents should be more careful in regard to their plans when assembled in caucus. 8o far they have announced about sixteen certainties for caoinet posi tions. A General Favorite. Whether plainly boiled, like the humble potato, served in a snow white napkin, and eaten with shav rings of cold butter, or inlaid in tiny blocks like miniature black dice into goose liver, turkey’s breast or pigB' feet—or. again, sh reded delicately over the ci >amy surface of supremos de volatile—the truffle, despite its costliness, is deservedly a favorite esculent throughout the civilized world.—London Telegraph. Th. Home Aquarium. An aquarium in which plants are grown will not require the changing of water, except occasionally, when the tank needs to be cleaned. The growing plants give off oxygen and absorb carbonic add. To arrange an aquarium with plants, cover th* bottom of a glass globe or tank with gravel which has been thoroughly washed. Half fill a small flowerpot with earth, and plant in it a small Egyptian Uly; then All tho pot with well washed sand. Place the pot in the center of the tank and surround it with stones, so that it may be held in place and at the same time con cealed. On top of this pot, and around it in the rocks and gravel, Bet out a few fine mosses and vines, such as grow in fresh water. Let watercress and homwort bo among them. A north exposure is best for this aquarium. Put in the fish apd feed them on bits of meat, crumbs of bread and worms.—Ladies' Home Journal. Jl'STIVI LAMAR IIKTTBB. He Kcihun Hi* Jetiruer le Mnce» Te-day—Meaater Oerdea nl llaiae* special lo the Herald. Atlanta, Dec., 28—Associate Jus tice L. Q. C. Lamar, whose illness was reported in these dispatches yesterday, Is better, and will resume bis journey to Macon to-day, though Tar from be ing a well man. SENATOR GORDON AT HOUR. I Senator John B. Gordon returned from Washington to-day, and is here fiii* Hie holiday!. or On* Mind. Young De Bore (hunting for some thing to say)—I wish I had lived in the knightly days of old. ' Weary Beauty—So da L —New York Weekly. It is a fact that has been olearly demonstrated, that there are a great ipany more quail in the the country than there have been in half a dozen years, and sportsmen seldom lail to secure splendid sport from a day spent in the woods. It is generally a very easy matter to find a number of coveys in a day’s hunt and an unusually large number of the whirring “Bob Whites” have gone down this season before the unerring aim of many a sportsman. Electricity In Mining. One of the latest applications of electricity to mining operations is seen in a lead mine in Belgium. Each bucket arriving at the top of the shaft makes an electric contact, and a needle in the office indicates by a red line upon a revolving drum the number of buckets brought np. —Philadelphia Ledger. Me. J. K. P. Keaton, the present County Surveyor, announces in this evening’s Hxrald his candidacy for re-election. Mr. Keaton is' a very competent man, and the -Hhrald has heard of no opposition to his re-elec tion. • The official counting of Minnesota’s vote lias not yet been completed. INDSTINCT PRINT We have the best recipe for making Fruit Cake of the most meaty and delicious quality. We have just baked one thousand pounds, and if you contemplated having a complete Xmas or New Year’s dinner you are compelled to have one of “OWS FAME” Fruit Cakes. All who have tried them pronounce them perfect every respect Send us y6ur or der to be delivered when you need them, and we will ed in 4 Take Pleasure in keeping them in our air-tighfl. Cake Boxes. Send to us for a sample, and we will send, free, a small piece in order to convince you of their merits. REMEMBER We I are headquarters foi kinds of staple and fancy] GROCERIES and delicacies; also, for Fruits. Nuts and Candies of the finest quality. Very Truly, Mock & Rawson -IN- Is * f Dress Ms -AND- TRIMMINGS THIS WEEK! Before purchasing call and ex amine our stock and be convinced. You can save money on each and every article sold in a first-class Dry Goods House. We have an immense line of samples of CARPETS In all the new patterns. These goods are just in, and we are no ready to take orders. 4 Reich & Geiger. i — •