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CHANGE POSTAL LAWS Proposed to Eliminate Assistant Postmaster General. NEW OfFICETG BE CREATED Director of Posts to Hftndle Affairs cf Postal Department if Levr is Passed. Washington, D. C.—The four offices of assistant postmaster general will be abolished, a director of posts, with seven assistants, provided for, and the entire postal service of the Unitcu States, divided into fifteen separate districts, if the bill providing for the revision cf the postal laws which is being prepared by the 'joint postal in vestigation committee of congress, ap pointed two years ago, is passed by congress. It is claimed that a director of posts, appointed to hold office until remov ed for cause, and who shall receive a high salary, will tend to improve the service through a continuity of policies for the benefit of postal serv ice. By providing for seven assistants to the director of posts, the members of the committee believe that the dis advantages due to frequent changes and the appointment of inexperienced men to the four offices of assistant postmaster general can be obviated. These assistant directors are, accord ing to the provisions of the bill, also to hold office during good behavior. The postmaster general would con tinue as the executive head of the de partment. Much information was gathered by the commission last year in an effort to find some means of improving the accounting system of the postal serv ice. To perfect the system of man agement, provision for fifteen super intendents to have direct charge of the fifteen separate postal districts, which it is proposed to create, has (been decided upon. According to the bill, each separate district would in a sense be a branch office of the post office department. Tn addition to these charges, many of which have to be recommended by Postmaster General Meyer, numerous minor alterations in the postal laws are included in the bill. The commis sion is composed of Senators Penrose, Pennsylvania, chairman; Doliiver, lowa and Clay, Georgia, and Repre sentatives Overstreet, Indiana; Gard ner, New Jersey; and Moon, Tennes see. bobboTmab jMlee Many Trampled at Diamond Fete of Emperor of Austria. Vienna, Austria. —In honor of Em peror Francis Joseph’s diamond jubi lee. the city was illuminated on a scale of unprecedented brilliancy. The cathedral and city hall and all the public buildings were outlined in elec tric light and the effect was enhanced by powerful searchlights playing from high towers. The pressure of the enormous crowds in the streets caused several serious accidents. Four persons were killed, forty seriously injured and more than a hundred others slightly hurt. At one time a panic ensued direct ly in front of the Hofburg, where the crowds converged from three direc tions. Hundreds were trampled to the ground, and it is estimated that there were fully 1,500,000 people in the streets. It is believed that in ad dition to the official list of killed and Injured many others were injured, but were able to reach their homes. Three thousand four hundred peo ple in all classes will receive titles, decorations and promotions in honor of the jubilee. census Taking expensive It Will Cost Nearly Thirteen Millions to Count People in United States. Washington, D. C. —The cost of tak ing the next census, as estimated by Director North, will be $12,930,000. The director says that this is but $410,000 more than the cost of the census of 1900, and says that this will be accomplished “in spite of the enor mous growth in the population during the last decade, a growth largely con tributed by foreign-born people, who de not speak English, a class which It is very expensive and very diffi cult to enumerate. If the work can be done for this sum it will be the first time in the history of the nation that a census has ben taken, and compiled at practically the same cost as the prior enumeration.’* Notwithstanding the congressional requirement that appointments be made on the basis of non-competitive examinations the director says that personal and political pressure must In the end become the determining factor. He favors the appointment of clerks on the basis of their standing on the list of eligibles. RICH PURSE FOR PREACHER. S4O,CCO Given Rector of Grace Church, New York, by Congregation. New York City.—When the Rev. Dr. William R. Huntington, rector of Grace Church, this city, sat down to his breakfast, one morning recently, he found under his plate a check for more than s4o,Qfff>This sum was voluntariljpP'*’-*???mDuted by members of his congregation as a token of their esteem for his long, faithful service. Dr. Huntington recently celebrated his seventieth birthday, and for 25 years has been pastor of Grace Church. He thought at the time that he would resign, but, instead of ac cepting the resignation, he was urged to remain. newTTuntereeit bill Of $5 Denomination—Bankers Warn Their Customers. Birmingham, Ala. —The discovery of a $5 silver certificate in Birming ham led the banks to issue warnings to their customers, the belief being that a number are in circulation. The Indian head on the counterfeit is im perfect and “Washington, D. C.,” in stead of being printed in a straight lino is slightly curved. Otherwise the fcjll ’is an excellent imitation of the genuine. DIVORCE CASES IN U. S. America Show3 Mare Separations than any Other Country. Manila, Philippine Islands. —With the departure from Manila of the American battleship fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Sperry, me sixteen vessels that are making such a remarkable round-the-world voyage turned their prows definitely for the home waters. They have been gone from Hampton Roads nearly a year. If the recoid established up to the present time is maintained, the fleet will return home without serious ac cident or mishap of any kind. Its progress has been watched by for eign governments with deep interest. The officers and men of the fleet on this trip around the world have been lavishly entertained at every port they touched. 11l Australian waters the Americans were greted by men cf their own race; in Japan and in China they saw the splendors of the Orient, and in the Mediterranean, southern Europe will turn out to do them honor. After clearing Manila bay the six teen battleships headed for Colombo, Ceylon, where they are due in two weeks. They will stay there for six days and then proceed to Suez without stopping. They are due at the south ern entrance of the Suez Canal Jan uary 5,-and, after the leaving of Port Said, at the northern entrance, where ccai is to be taken on board, the ves sels will divide into squadrons and make a series of calls at various Med iterranean ports. In this manner the American ships will show at Athens, Tripoli, Ville Franehe, Marseilles, Ge noa, Leghorn, Malta, Naples and Al giers. According to the present schedule the entire fleet will leave Gi braltar on February 6 for either Hampton Reads or New York. The vessels are due in Hampton Roads or New York, February 22. When the fleet reaches the United States, it will have traversed, since it left Hampton Roads, 42,227 miles. PAUL REVERE’S RIDE. Letter Published to Show That the Trip Was Never Made. New York City.—Walter Benjamin, a publisher, has a document which he believes prove* that Paul Revere never made the midnight right attrib uted to him by Longfellow and tradi tion. The publication of Mr. Benjamin is a letter from John Hancock to El bridge Gerry, dated Lexington, April 18, 1775, at 9 o’clock. This was the night before ihe battle and three hours before Revere, according to Longfellow, “crossed the bridge into Medford town.” The letter reads: “Dear Sir: I am much obliged for your notice. It is said the officers are gone along the Concord road and I will send word thither. I am fully agreed with you that we ought to be serious, and i hope vour decision will be effectual. I intend doing myself the pleasure of being with you tomor row. My respects to the committee. 1 am, Your friend, “JOHN HANCOCK.” Mr. Benjamin says if Hancock of the committee of safety knew at 9 o’clock troops had gone along the Con cord road, Lexington and Concord were fully aroused to the danger of the coming British troops, and there would have been no need for Paul Re vere to send “Through the night his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm.” SECRETARY STRAUS TO PRESIDE. Judge George Hiilyer Will Later Per form Same Duty. Montgomery, Ala. —It is announced that Secretary of Commerce and La bor Straus will preside over the Southern Comemrcial Congress at Washington, December 7 and 8. Others to perform the same duty later are Philip Werline, president of the Progressive Union, New Orleans; J. E. Smith, president Business Men’s League, St. Louis; C. H. Davis, cham ber of commerce, Petersburg, Va. ; Judge George Hiilyer of Atlanta. 3,000 People Homeless. Guthrie, Okla. —Asa result of a 48- bour downpour in the valley of the Cottonwood river and its tributaries, the Cottonwood has overflowed its banks, and many homes are under wa ter, and 3,000 people are homeless. The river was one foot higher than ever before in its history. Fatal Rear-End Collision. Birmingham, Ala. —J. N. Gaston, a conductor, was killed and three others injured in a collision on the Southern railway, forty miles west of Birming ham. The rear engine struck the ca boose of the forward train and both engine and caboose rolled down the high embankment. Pope Pius Very ill. Rome, Italy.—All audiences at the Vatican are suspended indefinitely ow ing to a slight change for the worse in the pope’s condition. He is worse and fever ha3 developed, which obliges the pontiff to remain in bed. Physicians declare his condition is not serious, but the public is becom ing apprehensive. Rebels at Haiti Capita). Washington, D. C. —Dispatches re ceived at the state department indi cate the revolutionists under Auguste Sim an are drawing close to the Hait ian capital and the government of Nord Alexis and city of Port-Au-Prince will probably fall. Invention to Propel Airships. Denver, Col. —Thomas H. Cates, in ventor of a submarine boat, has an nounced the perfection of a tubular double propellor operated by an elec tric motor for an airship. He claims it solves the aerial problem, furnish ing both lifting and propelling pow er. Eight six-foot tubes, with a dift ing capacity of 2,400 pounds, will be built with a total weight of 1,500 pounds. The propeller acts much as steamer screws, drawing in the air and driving it away beneath. JAPAN AND U. S. AGREE Notes are Exchanged Regarding Policies in Far East. DEVELOPMENT OF PACIFIC Is the Aim of Both Nations-—Other Pow ers not Sure of the Real Meaning of the Exchange of Notes. Washington, D. C,— (Secretary of State Elihu Root, on behalf of the United States, and Kogoro Takahira, ambassador, on behalf of Japan, ex changed diplomatic notes defining the policies of the two governments in the Far East. The actual ceremony of exchange was very brief, Secretary Root handing the ambassador a note which bore his signature, and the ambassador giving to Mr. Root a pa per defining Japan’s policy and bear ing his signature. Assistant tary Bacon, Second Secretary cf Em bassy Masanao Hanihara and Mr. Babcock, Mr. Root’s private secretary, were witnesses to the transaction af ter an informal exchange of felicita tions, the ambassador and his secre tary left the state department, the former with a smile on his face, in dicating his great satisfaction over the conclusion of the exchange. The exchange of notes is based on the idea of encouraging and defend ing free and peaceful commercial de velopment in the Pacific, and to this end the signatory parties have pre pared a series of articles expressive of their intention in the matter. Leg islative action by the senate is unnec essary and the declaration or ex change of notes will not have to be referred to that body. The declara tion is not a treaty, simply a reaffirm ation of what both Japan and the United States have stood for in China and the Far East generally. It has no legal standing, but its greatest benefit will be that derived from the moral effect it will exercise in the fu ture diplomatcy governing the Far East. In this respect, it lias been lik ened to the Monroe doctrine in Amer ican history. It was pointed out as rather a sin gular coincidence that the exchange of notes with Japan regarding China should occur the same day as that on which Tang Shao Yi has come to thank the American government for the remission of the Boxer indemnity. As apart from the reiteration of the attitude of the two governments in terested on the subject of China, the exchange of the notes is very timely and useful, according to the state de partment. Newspaper publications abroad, while expressing generally a favorable degree of satisfaction over the step taken by Japan and the Unit ed States, nt the same time show that there is still some misconception of the real attitude of the two coun tries. 93 KENTUCKY COUNTIES DRY. Twer.ty-One Partly “Dry” and Four Entirely “Wet.” Louisville, Ky.—Ninety-three of Ken tucky’s 119 counties are now totally “dry,” twenty-one are partially dry and four are wholly wet, and the case of one county, which recently voted as a unit on prohibition, is being set tled by legal process in court. This is the substance of a statement secur ed by a local newspaper from the Ken tucky anti-saloon league. During the past year the fight has been quietly but vigorously waged, and over twenty counties have gone over to the cause of prohibition. The four counties which are entirely wet are Jefferson (Louisville), Kenton, Camp bell and Nelson. The local option election recently held in Scott is be ing contested in court. The anti-sa loon league leaders are claiming that already Kentucky, the home of the dis tiilery, drinks less whiskey than three fourths of the states in the union. GERMANY WAS SOUNDED. America Knew Her Attitude on the Japanese Agreement. Berlin, Germany.—The state de partment at Washington sounded the German foreign office in advance con cerning the Japanese-American agree ment for the maintenance of the in tegrity of China and of the status quo in the price and was informed that it would, be received “re with the full est approval, bein§ in + he interest of Germany as well as iuG powers par ticipating in it. Germany’s policy in the Far East is identical with that of the United States, and it is one part of the world where the two gov ernments have pronounced mutual concerns. The foreign office considers the agreement achievement in the statesmanship of the United States and Japan it was conceived and executed on a large scale of liberality and good will. THAT STANDARD OIL FINE. Government Asks Supreme Court for Writ of Certiorari. Washington, D. C. —Attorney Gene ral Bonaparte formally submitted to the supreme court of * the United States his petition for a writ cf cer tiorari to the circuit court of appeals for the seventh circuit ordering up for review the judgment of that court reversing the rulings of Judge Landis in the rebate case against the Stand ard Oil Company, in which the com pany was fined $29,000,000. The effect of granting the petition will be to postpone until after the holidays the court’s decision as to whether the case should be reviewed .by the supreme court. LOAN ToIHPANY FAILS. Receiver Named for Equitable Bank and Loan Company of Macon. Macon, Ga. —The Equitable Bank and Loan Company closed its doors and on the petition of its directors, was placed in the hands of R. L. An derson, receiver, by Judge Felton of Bibb superior court. The liabilities are about $110,000; the assets from $60,000 to $70,000. The company was not strictly a banking institution, but was/' build ing and loan association. DIVORCE CASES IN 11. S. America Show* More Separation* Than Any Other Country Washington, D. C—The divorce rate appears to be much higher in the United States than in any of the for eign countries for which statistics re lating to the subject have been ob tained, not less than one marriage in twelve in this country ultimately ter minating in divorce. This fact has been ascertained by the census which has just completed a compilation ot statistics of marriage and divorce cov ering the twenty years from 1887 to 1906, inclusive. Similar statistics for the previous twenty years were gath ered some years ago. The figures show that at the end of the forty-year period divorces were increasing about three times as fast as the population, while in the first decade of the period they increased only about two and two-thirds as fast. In the six years from 1900 to 1906, population increased 10 per cent and divorces 29.3 per cent. The divorce rate increased per 'IOO,OOO of popula tion from 29 in 1870 to 82 in 1905 ; there being one divorce for every 3,- 441 persons in the former years, while in the latter there was one for every 11.218 persons. During the twenty years from 1887 to 1906 the total numbe/ of recorded marriages was 12,832,044, while the number of divorces granted during this period w'as 945,625. For the pre vious twenty years the number of di vorces was ’328,716. At the beginning of the forty-years period divorces oc curred at the rate of 10,000 a year, while at the end of the period the an nual number was about 66,000. A more significant divorce rate is that which is based, not on total pop ulation, but on the total married pop ulation, since it is only married peo ple who can become divorced. These statistics show that in 1870 the di vorce rate per 100.000 married pop ulation was 81, while in 1900 it was 200. This shows that divorce is at present two and a half times as com mon. compared with the married pop ulation, as it was forty years ago. The average duration of marriage terminated by divorce is about ten years, 60 per cent of them being less than ten years. The number of years from marriage to separation was as certained in the cases of 770,929 di vorced couples. Of these 98,460, or 12.8 per cent, separated in the first year of married life, and 14.2 per cent in the second year. The surprising fact that was revealed that 3.1 per cent of the total number separated and became divorced after more than 25 years of married life. Children were reported in 38.9 per cent of the total number of divorced cases, children being present in 46.S per cent of the cases granted to the wife and in 2C per cent of those grant ed to the husband Alimony was demanded in 18 per | cent of the divorces granted to the ; wife and granted m 12.7 per cent. The proportion of husbands who asked for alimony was 2.8 per cent $16,975,222 POSTAL DEFICIT. Biggest Shortage in History of the Department. Washington, D. C. —In his annual re port for the fiscal year ended June 30, Postmaster General Meyer gives total receipts for the year as $203,361,886, thereby showing a de ficit of $16,975,222, the largest in the history of the department, with an ad dition loss from fire, burglary, etc., of $37,056. The deficit of 1909, it is estimated again, will exceed $16,000,- I 000. Attention is particularly called to a number of improvements in business methods of the department as tending to its advantage and the saving of con siderable amounts. Recommendation is again made for the creation of the position of director of posts, at a high salary, and who shall hold office dur ing good behavior, the object being to have a continuity cf policies for the benefit of the postal service and the people of the United States. The necessity for good roads is pointed out in connection with the de velopment of the rural free delivery service. It is suggested that should congress grant the department author ity to utilize rural routes still further by the enlistment of a limited parcel post confined entirely to rural delivery routes, it would then be possible to earn additional revenue amounting to millions of dollars and at the same time benefit the farmer by enabling him to have merchandise delivered when ordered toy telephone or postal card, which otherwsie would not be purchased. “The special parcel post/’ says the postmaster general, “will en able the farmers to have small par cels delivered at their gates, to live better and to obtain easily the neces saries of life.” Permission is request ed to establish experimentally a lim ited parcel post in not to exceed four countries in order to demonstrate the practicability of the plan. Estimated Cotton Crop. New Orleans, La. —The Times-Dem ocrat’s estimate on the cotton crop of 1908 is 12,800,000 bales: Alabama 1,200,000 Arkansas ..... 900,000 Georgia and Florida. >1,900,000 Louisiana 500,000 Oklahoma 750,000 Mississippi ..... 1,500,000 North Carolina . . . 675,000 South Carolina. . . 1,150,000 Tennessee 400,000 Texas ....... 3,825,000 Total 12,800,000 These figures relate to the actual growth, and are exclusive of linters, repacks and similar additions. Suffocated in Salt Mine. Detroit, Mich. —Six men were suf focated in the village of Oakwood. They were at work in a shaft being sunk for a salt mine, when'* the can vas tube, which supplied them with air, became clogged, and the shaft filled with gas. In some unexplained manner, this tube either became tan gled or clogged at 200 feet down from the surface. With the air supply shut off, the shaft rapidly filled with gas, and the men were suffocated, 138 HILLED IN MINE Gas in Pennsylvania Coal Pit Exploded BODIES NOfTET RECOVERED Force of the Explosion Filled the Mine With Muck and Debris Making Res cue Work Very Difficult. Pittsburg, Pa —The last ray of hope for the rescue of any one cf the 13S or more miners who were entombed to'” a.n explosion at the Marianna mines of the Pittsburg-Buffalo Coai Company was dispelled when the first rescuing party reached the workings and found the dead bodies scattered about the floor of the mine. Few, if any, of the bodies are mu tual ed, and the men were undoubted ly smothered by the deadly vapors which followed the explosion. All b.it. two cf the bodies hi the mine, it is said, are those of foreigners. The workings in whien the catas trophe happened is known as the Ra chel and and Agnes mines, in real ity a double mine, with underground connections. Construction work v -'us practiallv finished, and Deputy State Mine In spector Henry Louttitt a few minutes before the explosion, had completed at. 3,0 days’ inspection, whien had re vealed no cause for appro,-tension. Mine Foreman Henry Thompson and two miners entered the cage, and it was started towards tne bottom of the 500-foot shaft. There was a trem bling cf the ground, round about the month of tho stmft as front an earth quake, and an instant -aier there Vvas a terrific report, and the cage was hurled up the shaft and through the roof of the shaft house, the mine fore man and the iwo men still in it. The bodies of the men were hurled right through the top of the building and far beyond it. Thompson was dead when picked up, while the others, al though mortally injured, were hurried to a hospital. Shattered portions of the woodwork about the mouth of the shaft were blown into Ten-Mile Creek, 2,000 feet from the shaft, Portions of at least two other bodies were blown from the shaft and were found in the field nearby. The ventilating fans were put out of commission by the explos ion, and for several hours no air could be forced into the mines. Immediate ly following the explosion a dense vol ume of smoke issued from the shafts, Rescue work was immediately start ed, but it was impossible to gain entrance to the mine for a long time. The opening up of the shaft was the only solution, and for this task there were volunteers in numbers. Relief parties on special trains from this city carried the chief officers of the company and mining experts from the United States laboratory and test ing station, recently establi°hed here, who took with them all of the latest appliances and devices for rescue work. Several experienced miners de scended the steps inside the ' shaft, and succeeded in reaching the bot tom. Here they found further prog ress barred, because the latter head ing from the bottom of the- shaft into the mine proper was choked with muck and debris The largest pcC-Mble force was vt once put to W'ork to open this passage. There was. however, practically no hope fiom the first of those entombed men being taken out alive, but this did not deter the most strenuous ef forts to hurry the opening of the mine. The noise of the explosion was an ominous sound to all the people of the little town, and they hurried to the scene, each seeking a loved one, and most of them, leading that a loved one was duwn in the workings, \vas in all probability dead or dying. The scenes were pitiful. Many of the women were hysterical, and their shrieks and cries were heart-rending. Others W'ere silent in their grief, but in their drawn faces could be read the awful agony were enduring. The cause of the explosion has not been determined. Two theories are entertained; one is that ?. pocket of gas w r as struck by one of the miners, quickly filling the workings and then igniting from a lamp; the either theory isf that gas from a w'ell on tne Fulton farm, under which the mine is locat ed, penetrated the workings. The land in the vicinity is said to be gas eous, and it is possible that gas may have seeped through the coal stratum until it accumulated in sufficient vol ume to cause the diaster. Marianna, the scene of the dis aster, is anew mining town in Wash ington county, Pennsylvania, forty miles south of this city. It was laid out and built up by the Pittsburg-Buf falo Coal Company, with a view to making it a model tew’n in every re spect. MANY CHINAMEN ESCAPE. Twenty-One Held for Deportation Make Their Escape. San Francisco, Cal. —Twenty-one out of the 116 Chinese held at the Pacific mail dock pending the decis ion of the immigration officers as to whether or not they were entitled to enter the United States, escaped from the detention sheds at Second and Brannan streets. Four of them were recaptured in Chinatown and returned to the shed and a vigorous search is being made for others. The Orientals, cutting the heavy wire netting over one of the window's, saw'ed through iron bars and slid down a w'ater pipe. “NIgIH hTbLRS” INDICTED Nineteen Persnos Held for Murder of Captain Rankin. Union City, Tenn. —Nineteen indict ments charging implication in the lynching of Captain Quentin Rankin, w'ho w T as hanged and shot to death at Walnut Log a month ago by a band of “night riders,” were returned by the grand jury, which, immediately following the killing of Captain Ran kin, began an investigation of the night rider raids in Reel foot Lake district in Tennssee. LATE NEWS NOTES. General. In a sensational collonm- < English house of commons p Asquith declared the Priti u Pre!B ter Plans, which provide lor an I nna v a l of the navy so that it may 1 per cent the combined stS by any two nations, to mean “V° th °t powers wherever situated/- u : S to declare whether this meirt “ gere * lug the United States, he reaeatert original answer and declined w The men responsible for 1 and corruption in San Franci J m * :y not their tools will suffer, if v m J. Henry has his way He n, * anClS recovered from his wounds Va°* C has outlined the future action of tV district attorney. He t-Tu-w --declared his life work would ■ K ’ ally ried to completion. e ca i- Two arrests of men under Sur . fi , ance is expected to compi e t e ‘ rounding up of a gang of alleged terfeiters that has been flooding c-ago with bogus five dollar hill young women are already under rest. * uaer ar- Laing Ching Kwai, special Dvr. commissioner of education to** * sa ca, was robbed of valuable n n ' including his passport, at the man house in Chicago. The robb * occurred while the distinguished w itor was dining at a Chinese rant near by. J ‘ Having a horror cf mice Qn ly childhood. Miss Man- I'abeU, of Florence, N. J.. died of fright wh™ a mouse, pursued by (lie family ™ darted across the kitchen door in ;/ home Miss Mead was well kno " socially. Joseph Orscher, aged 48, a brlcklav er, repairing the masonry of a buiM ing in New York City, fell from Z scaffold, sixty feet, to the pavement A doctor was summoned, and was v tonished to find that, Orscher// on/ injury was apparently a dislocated shoulder. He is apparently all right. The week, December 7-12, is uniauc in the history of the country. During that week will meet in Washington the governors of all the states and their advisers, as the National Conser vative commission, to list the resoure. es of the United States; the Southern Commercial congress, to interpret bv the voice of authority, the resources and possibilities of the south; the National Rivers and Harbors congress to work for a coherent policy in the development of the great natural lines of transportation; the National Coun cil of Commerce, to consider the im portant features of commercial rela tions at home and abroad; the Com mission on Country Life, to consider rural sonditions in every respect. Washington Honorable Gifford Pinchot, presi dent of the National Conservative commission, and chief forester of the United States, will address the South ern Commercial congress on Monday night, December 7, on the “Commer cial Meaning of the Appalacham Range.” In addition to this speech, there will be an elaborate display of chart:;, diagrams, maps, etc., by ka* fern and otherwise. Contracts for about 10,000 tons ot steel armor for the battleships Florida and Utah have been awarded by the secretary of the navy. The Bethlehem, Carnegie and Midvale companies were each given a contract for about one third of the armour. In a quiet and simple manner, trib ute has been paid at the Chinese le gation to the memory of the deceas ed emperor and empress dowager of China. Practically all the members of the diplomatic corps, Vice Presi* dent Fairbanks, several members of the supreme court and assistant sec retaries of the various executive de partments attended. President Roose velt sent one of his military aides, Colonel Charles S. Bromwell, who left the president’s card and those of the secretary to the president, and of Cap tain Archibald Butt, another military aide. Secretary Root was suffering from an indisposition and sent a rues sage of sympathy through Hunington Wilson, assistant * secretary of state, as did also Admiral Dewey through an aide. Admiral Sperry cabled the navy de partment that he would allow men of the Atlantic fleet shore lea-' at Manila and permit them to par' iC _ ipate in a parade and various festiv ities arranged in their honor. He sajs a few existing cases of cholera m tn* Philippine capital are isolated as to be a menace to the health or ta fleet. Major General John F. Weston, no* in command of the Philippine force, has been assigned to command the - partment of California, with heada ters at San Francisco, vice BngaOK- General Fred A. Smith, who # assigned to other duties. Major o**l era! W. P. Duvall will succeed to Philippine command. American Minister Rockhill, at Pj kin, cabled the state department ing that the Chinese government* anxious for a postponement of . meeting of the international °P 1U commission at Shanghai, from ary 1 to February 1. The Chinese a. not yet ready for the meeting- ir “ wiil be no objetcion to the request the part of this government. When Secretary Strauss of the partment of commerce and laboi * asked if he contemplated ‘ a u,r ‘" up” among the officials of tne gration service at New Yotx e plied that an improvement or t vice was in contemplation. 1 u , office is not a private franchise, myself will soon learn,” said the retary. • -j of ti*^ President Roosevelt reeenea white house, from the bands ct don Leech, the last boy runnei m - relay run from New York t° _ a ington, the silver tube cditaim message to the president 1 * ard C. Morse, of the Internal Young Men’s Christian associauo - Secretary Straus of the depai m . cf commerce and labor has S'V/r’th- 1 a comprehensive plan i° r a iV-*°„ian unemplowed of the country. . a *: k| S he will announce and expiau- - annual feport. to be made b u -“ v few days.