Newspaper Page Text
T. A. HAVRON, Publisher,
THE STOSH34&®.
Disastrous EfFects of. a Clouckßurit
at Xenia, O.
L. *
A LITTLE BROOK BECOMES A
MIOH (V, RAGING RIYLK,
Sweeping lUvery Thing Movable
Before It.
Hundreds of Housrk Wreeked and Whole
Families Drowned—-Thrilling Incidents
and Many Narrow Escapes—The
Miami Valley Visited by a
Wind gtorin, Doing Great
Damage,
Xenia, Ohio, Way 13.—The bright May sun
el' this morning shone on a desolate and
stricken Xenia. After a night of dark
ness and terror it is grateful have
light and sun, but what an awful
scene they reveal! Homes laid waste
and property swept away, and, worse
than afl, the wholesale destruction of life.
About ei-rtit o’clock last night a mighty rain,
wind and electric storm came tip, which con
tinued with unabated fury for l'uliy three
hours.' The wind came in a continual gale,
with a continual gust which woulddowntrees,
loosen shutters and do other damage. The
rain fell in sheets, w hile the sky was livid
with wave after wave of electricity, and the
mutterings of the thunder were hoarse and
continuous. Most families were huddled to
gether in fright, for no one knew at what
moment the storm might prove to be a cy- i
clone. Tsut few persons dreamed that a flood ]
was coming which would sweep away part of j
thotown and drown many souls.
About ten o’clock the fire-belis rang out
their wild alarm, but no great number of peo- j
pie responded to the call, as they thought it >
was only a tire, anil that it could not do much j
uarm in such a rain and storm. But directly !
the second alarm came, and brought out the
whole town. The streets were dark and the
rain was coming down in torrents, but ii was
soon learned what the trouble was—that
Shawnee creek, a heretofore harmless little
stream, had become mad, and was out of its !
banks and sweeping every thing lie fore it.
Men rushed in the darkness to the scene,
anxious to do what they could. The
waters had completely submerged the
district along the Shawnee from the
place above where it enters the east end of j
town to its exit. For a distance of front one
hundred to two hundred yards on each side
of Water street, clear down to Detroit street,
Was completely under. Standing on the
banks of this mighty stream in the rain and
darkness it was an appailftig situation. There
was no light, and above the roar of the angry
w aters came the cry for help from frightened
and in many instances drowning people. '
Men rushed frantically from the shore
into the the waters; others ran in other dl- I
rections for ropes, ladders, lights and boats
toiassist with. The situation was at once
horrifying and frightful in the extreme. The
little stream that runs through the town, |
called Shawnee creek, never known to do
any harm before, which follows abed laid our j
for it between stone walls six feet high and
ten feet wide, had become a veritable river,
sweeping along in many places two squares
wide and fronfflfteen to thirty feet deep. The
gas works had been submerged and every
where was darkness, while the serpams of
people in the w ater were must piteous and I
heart-rending. The first thing to do was to l
get lights, and this was partially accomplish
ed by building great bonfires in the streets I
adjacent to the flood. Then, with J
ropes, floats, ladders and such o her ,
things as could be obtained, the work !
of saving lives began, and the number of |
People rescued in this way would probably ;
reach one hundred. From one house, w hich |
had torn loose and floated down two squares, i
tour or five young men r scued ihe family of
Aaron Ferguson, ub o people in all. They ,
had no more titan got safely out until the
house went to pieces. At other points along
Ihe line ot the flood, more than a mile In dis
ta: ce, like scene’s were enacted.
But while th good work of rescuing was
f oing ofijn n\ poor souls were going down I
iciieatli the angry waters—how many God [
only knew, lit Barr's bottom a low, narrow
tract of land along the creek-the scene w as
terrible, and here the destruction to life and
property was greatest. Of more than twenty
houses only four or 11 ve withstood the flood,
the vest being swep dewn and wreeked
Rgainst the Cincinnati pike bridge, a massive
structure. At this point later on several
bodies were recovered from the debris. At
the Main-street bridge—two squares further —
the terrible tide had fairly piled the debris of j
tujned houses in an. awful mass, among
which several dead bodies were found this!
morning. Orrin Morris, wife and seven
children lived in ft lilt If* frame house on
Second street. It was raised from its moor
ings and floated toward the bridge.
Cries came from it. and a’ man was seen at a
Window with a Tight. When it struck and
mashed, partly sinking, the light went out
and all was still* Mr. Morris and his family
bad mot their awful fate. From the shore
there was no way to reach it hem, and 1 here
was no wav for them to escape. Afterward
two of his little girls were rescued alive,
Cl nging to debris down the creek, but the
father and mother and live children were
lost.
From ton o’clock until daylight such scenes
• s here described were witnessed, and when
morning came eight bodies had been recov
ered. By this time the waters had subsided,
snd the work of taking out the bodies of the
dead began in earnest. In the course of two
■ours twenty-one had been recovered, and at
this hour we hear of four more being found
some ndles down the stream, where it joins
the Little Miami river, and there are still
some eight or ten missing.
The greatest cause of the destruction of life
and property in Xenia was a small culvert,
w here the little stream passed under a high
embankment of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati
and St boni“ railroad in the east end of
town. The culvert would not allow the vast
amount of water, that ivas falling to pass
through, and it gathered in a vast lake
'agftinst the embankment, which suddenly
gave way, and let rite water into the town
like an avulanche, running in waves *eti and
twenty feet high. Two more bodies bave
been found, ant? the total loss of life will not
full below thirty souls.
The radroads in all directions are so washed
out that travel will not be resumed for sev
eral days, and the town is full of travelers
anxious to get out.
While George Thompson was trying to get
his mother and grandmother, Mrs. Dr. Crum,
across Water street, through the stream,
they eanu near being swept away bv Uiecur-.
rent. George, w-hile holding tip Mrs. Crum,
fell, but soon recovered, himself, and man
aged to get them all out.
George Witnter had a miraculous escape.
He was attempting-to, cross tb«“ Snriugfleid
bridge when tne bank gave way under him
and he was hurled dow'tt into the rsging wa
ters of the Shawnee. He wit* swept down be
low the Cincinnati pike, where he managed to
catch onto a tree and climbed to a place of
Safes-. He ca n,.d to a passei -by and told him
se was an Xenian. but would not give his
name uutll he was rescued for fear word
would reach his parents.
Harry Arnold made a narrow escape lrotn
Crowning. He had been working at the
toene of destruction this side of the depot,
and knowing that hfs father’r family would
be uneasy started to bross the bridge on tbe
bpriiigtielu tfack to go and tell them he wus
snip. As he ste pea oh the bank it caved in
with him, and he fell into the raging tor*
rent beneath. His long rubber coat was
,£o wrapped around him that it was
almost impossible to help himself. He
crowded against the side wall, and with al
most superhuman effort managed togetbff
Ins coat. He called for help and some one to
bring him a’rope. But before he got a rope
"emm ~ne came to his rescue, and he threw up
ms coat, which just reached to the top of the
bvQl< By that meanS lie was drawn out of
his unpleasant quarters. Harry says he
'bought his last hour had come, sure.
I lie list of the dead 1s as follows: Mrs. Nellie
Anderson and sister, Lydia Casey (colored),
both Widows past sixty years of age; lived in
burr s Bottoms. Mrs. Samuel Corchoran and
two sons, aged about twelve and twenty-five
years, widow and sons of the late Samuel
Corchoran, better known as “Sam Patch;’’
lived just across the creek, on King street, in
the bottoms near the depot. Mat Evans
(colored), day laborer, wife and
child, lived on the creek just west of White
man street. The child is missing. Orrin Mor
ris. white, laborer, wife and five Children,
three girls and two boys, the oldest a girl
fifteen years of age, and the youngest a babe
of ten months, lived on West Second street,
near the creek. Stephen Donton, colored, la
borer, lived in Barr’s Bottoms. William
Powell, cart driver for Sam Clark, wife and
six or eight children, lived on De
troit street, between the north and south
forks of Shawnee. One child escaped from
the house, as did Henry Rrnzelton, son-in
law. Powell and two children were found
this morning, the rest missing. Lewis Ander
son and wife, colored, lived in Barr s Bot
toms: Mr. Anderson is missing. Mrs. lid
Lindsay, lived on the foot of the creek, near
the depot; Mr, Powell and two children.
The incidents of an exciting nature are
almost beyi nd description. A lineman was
standing on an embankment, and before
he could realize his danger he was in the flood
and swept a mile by the raging waters. A
telegraph operator got into the water, and
after floating some distance he caught onto a
tree. A house came down in the flood and
S ink the tree he was perched on. He climed
on the house and started down with the cur
rent until he came across another tree. lie
clinched It, und remained thereuntil he was
rescued several hours later.
M. E. J. Smith, of Pittsburgh, worked no
bly all night assisting the Buttering. A lady
went into a house to help another, and soon
advised the woman to leave. She refused,
and the lady who was there to help rushed,
out and was caught in the deluge. Mr. Smith
caught her, and, after she was nulled ashore,
she vhs nearly dead from exhaustion. He
drew a flask from his pocket and poured a
good, stiff slug of whisky down her throat,
thereby bringing her to and saving her life.
A man’s wife called to her husband that she
thought waler wus running into the cellar o£
their hou e. The husband lighted a lanui
and started to go down to the cellar, but in
an instant the water was up to his chin in
the room where he and his wife had been
sleeping.
When it was learned that the gasworks had
been disabled.and rendered useless andthq
elect tie wires were down, Ihe citizen.- gath
ered wood and started bonfires to enable
them to see how to carry ou the work of res
cuing the sufferers.
Joe Walton is one of the unheralded heroes
wh o risked his life more than once by taking
a boat and r> sou;tig people. He took the Fer
guson family of nine people out of the
waters, and landed them safely on the shore,
immediately after which their house tumbled
! to pieces as though it were a shell.
Hamilton, 0., May 13.—The wind and thun
der storm which passed over Butler County
Wednesday night cut off Hamilton from all
telegraph, telephone, railroad and mail
communication with the outside world
except Cincinnati Reports from the
surrounding country come in slowly
and are very meager. Four barns
were struck by lightning, and the buildings
and contents were lost. Several bridges in
this vicinity were carried away. Two rail
road bridges on the C„ R. & C. and two
I bridges on the C., 11. & I). were carried away,
i No trains are running on the C., R. & 0. orC.,
HAI). The loss to grain, trees houses, etc.,
j in Butler County is very heavy.
In this city' the Schwab brewery and Kahn
! stove foundry were submerged. The Meth
odist church and public school at Seven
j Mile were badly wrecked. Throughout the
I oouittry th 're are reports of houses un
roofed. The barn of Isaac Dick at
I Millville was destroyed by fire, to
< gether with alt the implements and con
sents. It was the finest barn in the county;
i insured fors2,KM. The barn and contents of
! Samuel Dalzell, in the western part of the
j county, were also struck by lightning and de-
I stroyed: loss unknown. A number of flue
groves have been laid waste, and small losses
I innumerable go to make up an aggregate
j that will fall not far short of SIOO,OOO.
Dayton. 0., May 13.—At 8:20 last night a
sharp thunder storm eante up, and rain al
most immediately fell in torrents, alternated
with bail, the hailstones ranging in size from
a hazel-nut to an almond, and were gath
ered in as great curiosities. Reports cßine
in gradually of disasters near the center of
town and matters grew serious, but about
lfo’clock tbe message cam to the center of
news that W olf creek levee, which protects
Miami City tor West Daytont, had broken,
and Kemp few n, as it is called, being the lower
part of Miami < 'ity, was swept away. People
hurried to the scene only to find that the dis
-1 aster was more man was told. Some six
hundred feet of the levee had been broken
by the sudden torrent which came rushing
down Wolf creek, and 150 acres of that part
of the city were e vered with water.
In Kemptown terrible distress occurred. A
score or more houses with their sleeping oc
cupants were swept away from their founda
tions and overturned, or lodged against walls,
or carried into the Miami and borne away, no
one knows where. That portion of the city
was aroused, and th entire male population
that dare et age In the business,
were gioping meir way through the
flooded district carrying out the distressed
and shrieking women and children to
places of safety. It was In vain to telephone
for aid to the east side of the Miami, lor it
was apparently impossible, and at least high
ly dangerou3*to attempt to reach the scene
with horses and carriages. There was not
much to do but wait for dawn. To add to
the distress tho electric light works were
flooded, and all portions ot the city, lighted
by electricity, inelud’ii- Kemptown. were in
total darkness. Flashes of lightning
afforded the only light for the
: distressed and rescuers. To-day thou
sands of people ar visiting the spot and
! wonder that anv of the unfortunates escaped
alive. In almost all the houses in that part
of town the water rose to the height of a bed
or even a table In one beautiful little one
story cottage, a man. and wife lay asleep.
Awakened by the rush of water and the
shrieks of neighbors, the husband rose to
find himself and wife in a floating house and
no means of escape. Tho water rose
higher every minute, and the only way to
air and safety was through the roof.
With a p€*n-kn*t‘s* hr cut tho ceil-
I lng 'above him, while standing on his floating
' bed. Through a hole in the ceiling be clara
! bered into the attic and drew his wife alter
l him. Then he cut his way to the roof, and
! there the coup,.) sat in the driving storm mi il
da light brought r '.'et. being powei h -s to
do anything but pray The house was caught
by a wall about two blocks from its Inunda
tion, or it would undoubtedly have been cur
i riedtothe Miami and lost. It is the chiet
I point of curiosity today.
Aibany 0., May 13.—a tornado parsed
through Columbia' Township. Meigs County,
about five m 'i*i from Uii* place, lart night,
i carrying death and <l*-' • Don with it.
Mrs, V •rgarytt* McC’.ot is agud,
was instantly kill d:, a - her - nephew,
i lfatli man Me< oman. up-u twiny-one
Lizz*“ MeOonma aas se)> u, *f Injured. Ijiit
will probably reoovqr The bouse in wh eh
tV»« m.j. VYvyYfcgiea wer** kiiicU eiiUrofy de
molWfCd and -r> nrerert Ibto kindling-wood
\ stone luantebpii < e weighing nearly two
hundred pounds*. w*. earned tv distance of
fifty yards ¥WeVv*hoju goods were* ar
rlcd f H'-tjrWii'nTl/thso miles. Many
Woust"' fL*"itghoir* the county were wrecked
or psrt.iS 'lt f»*
Lepw . X ’Of'-Mny 1 ;! -The storm e
htvw iiu” from Hid southwest in mad tury. tsy
“nt- will tiff'lloL». V' iViltv some off wo
rooting others and till.ug the air with au in-
TRENTON, DADE COUNTY, GA.. FRIDAY, MAY 21. 1886.
describable mass of flying folinge, awningik
bricks and roofs of houses with a crash and
wild rushing noise that was most ap
palling. The first building struck was the
old Lebanon tannery, on Main street, tbe
roof of which was torn off and scattered It
jumped next to the Lebanon House, three
squares to the northwest, tearing off the tin
roof, which lies in a huge ball on Broadway.
From this point it went down Broadway
blowing down beautiful shade trees on both
sides ol the street, and unroofing many
libuSes oh the east side. When it reacte d
Davis & Greely’s mill it jumped down in the
bol’ow by the reservoir and struck a frame
dwelling, completely levelingtt to the ground*
The house was occupied by two colored fami
lies, consisting of four grown persons, two
young men and two little children. Strange
to say, every one escaped, the two young
men, Ed. Grimes and Jim Johnson, being
blown from the room upstairs, where they
were asleep, a distance of more thun a hun
dred yards against the bank of the reser
voir. The Union school-house and many
other buildings in town were damaged.
Cincinnati, May 13.—The storm reached
Cincinnati about 10 o’clock, and was violent,
consisting of rain, wind and hail. The rain
fell in torrents, and the streets were deluged
with water. There was less of hail
than in the morning, but it fell with
great force. The damage, however, is incon
siderable. The suburbs report slight
damage. Reports come of damages by the
storm from Middletown, Piqua, Wilmington,
Washington, C. H.. Albany. Greenville, Mari
etta, Lancaster and other Ohio points.
I.ATEIt FROM THE STORM.
Xenia, 0., May 14.—T0-day the work of
clearing away the debris of the Wednesday
night flood has progressed with considerable
effect. Large gangs of men are at work in the
stream, cleaning out the lumber, household
goods, etc., with which it is filled, working
waist-deep in the muddy water. The remains
of the destroyed houses are being carted back
to the lots from whence they came, and where
houses were not swept from their foundations,
but only flooded, the people have been busy
shoveling out the mud and sand that cover
the carpets a foot deep. On East Water
street several dwellings containing tine fur
niture were flooded badly, the rich carpets
and costly household goods being utterly
ruined, silverware floated away, flue stoves
demolished and elegantly papered walls
ruined. Many of the residents of the
flooded part of the city arc making
arrangements to move to higher parts
of the city as soon as possible. The
homeless who are without friends or rela
tives here, and who are principally colored
people, are being taken care of at the skat
ing rink. where the committees are at work
distributing food and clothing, large quanti
ties of which have been handed in by kindly
disposed people. The word from the country
is growi ig worse all the time. Houses on
nearly all the roads leading to tbe town have
sutfered severe damage, and many houses and
barnsihave been utterly destroyed. On the
road leading to the Soldiers’ Orphans’
Home, the houses are all damaged, the plank
walks a thing of the past, and the timbers
block up the road badly and have damaged
the bridges. The oflice of the Xenia Manufac
turing Company lies against the railroad
bridge on the road to the Home, as well a*
great masses of timbers, planks. The bridges
all over the county, with few exceptions, are
gone, and great holes washed in the road
beds.
Houses, fences and trees, on the Cooley
farm (Goe’s Station), occupied by John P.
Lesourd, late of the Cincinnati horse mar
kets, were swept entirely away. The family
escaped by being in the cellar. The orchard
on this place yielded an income of about S7OO
a year. Near this place the mills of the
Miami Powder Company are located, and
they are damaged badly, materials ruined
and houses floated away. The loss will be
very heavy. The fences 1 etween Yellow
Springs and Clifton are about all gone,
and most of the orchards, barns and out
buildings destroyed and houses unroofed.
At Beaverstown, several miles west of
Xenia, the United Presbyterian Church was
destroyed, and the usual number of barns,
fences, etc., as well as a number of valuable
horses killed, which was also the case in
many places east of town. The damage to
cornfields was such that they will all have to
be replanted.
Morris, who with his wife and five children
was drowned, was warned by a neighbor in
time to have escaped with his family, but
laughed at the idea of danger. But a few
moments afterwards they were all in watery
gravgs.
Dayton. 0., May 14.—The losses by the
storms and floods of Wednesday night in the
nine counties ot Greene, Clarke, Madison,
Miami, Darke, Preble, Montgomery, Butler
ana Warren are estimated to foot up $10,000,-
000.
Edw. Morehouse, a Narrow-guage conduc
tor. anxious about his mother, who lives
in Xenia, walked from here there to-day
anil back again, because b rca on of the
fallen timber, debris and wreckage, no one
can even ride horseback, and the
streams are swollen and the bridges
are gone. At Trebeln station, while being
ferried aeressthe Little Miami river, lie and
the oarsrnau discovered a living boy child in
a drifted tree top, and rescued the child, who
had an arm and leg hrokeu. He had drifted
four miles down Shawnee creek from Xenia
into the Little Miami. Hurriedly they started
in a buggy with the child, but it died before
they got to Xenia.
Many incidents of the disaster are related
now. In the angle formed by the railroad
and Detroit street the house of the Stoker
family tottered dangerously, and lusty calls
drew the crowd around it. Planks would not
reach, but soon a ladder was brought from
the wrecked fire truck and the family rescued.
Scarcely had the last member landed safely
when the house turned over, and a
moment after went to pieces. The crowd
looked at it in astonishment, and a stampede
followed the crashing of a portion of Brad
ley’s flax mill which stood nearby.
In Bar’s Bottom, a stretch of lowland north
of the railroad, was a scene of terriblt de
struction. Of the fifteen or twenty houses
that occupied the flat, only two or three
could be seen, the rest having gone with
the tide. Here a man dashed into the
water, reached a floating house just as it
turned over, but, nothing daunted, he
crept in and came out with a babe. A
sudden crash sent the house in nieces
and he struck for the shor* with his
precious burden when he disappeared be
neath a mass of debris. Wbe he reappeared
be was hurling through theejlvert and called
out, “1 have lost th baby; catch it; it is right
down there; I can’t reach it.” A few rods be
low he reacht d land, bur the baby was not
found until next day. It was dead. Six
others went down in this bottom, three in
the same house that the baby was taken
from.
.As terrible as the scene was along Detroit
and Water streets and Bar’s Bottom, the
mad sweep of Ihe waters was worse below.
West Shawnee had caved out the railroad
bank, and the leaping waters vied with East
Shawnee in the work of destrueti n. Nearly
two hundred homes were overturned and de
molished west ot the railroad, and the cur
rent quickly covered i ( s track of devas
tation by sweeping evety trace
of the buildings and covering
the foundations with sediment. Several
hundred yards below ii eh <>f the debris
was stopped by the M itn -toot bridge, and
an indication of the de-tru -tion is given by
the piled-up mass. At this bridge most of
the live- were lost. Those who were able to
hang to a plr.uk. or the house that remained
fir and supported its inmates to this point,
went to pieces here, and iliev were either
dashed to pieces or relentlessly held under
to drown; or, it they were spared thjs terri
ble fate by sut nb.ng sooner, they were
buried under the debris.'
At this place lodged the house of Orrin
Morris, wife a,.d seven children. The
house came for '.wo squares with
terrible rapidity on *o ts fate, anil just
before the crash came, Morris appeared nt
the window w-ith a lii^'D *. The crash iiu
balanced him. au.l as the nouse turned and
twirteU'- snd all life d ssppeared, and the
house wont to pieces, the family of nine
went down Next i.ir seven were found dead
an l t*o appeared al'e. Ono. « |epiid of 8,
bed been washed a: here a few rdf’s bdlow;
the oilier, a lad of made a gHilant swim of
a Bril pod aught die abutment of the last
•bridge, tie «mti he could not And a piece of
timber to catch hold ol so he smana for thff
shore.
All XT 11 CONUUESS.
First Session,
Washington, May 12.—Senate.—A concur
rent resolution was presented by Mr. Mitchell
of Oregon, for a modification of the Chinese
treaty. Consideration of the Inter-State com
merce bill was resumed, and a number of
amendments proposed and rejected, one by
Mr. Edmunds was adopted restoring
to the long and short haul clause the
words struck out by Mr. Camden's
amendment. The bill was then passed—yeas
47, nays 4. Those voting in the negative were
Messrs. Brown, Colquitt, Morgan and Ran
som. The bankruptcy hill gave way to the
pension bill, which remains the unfinished
business for 2 o’clock to-morrow. At 6:47 p.
m. the Senate adjourned.
House —An invitation from the Grand
Army of the Republic to attend Decoration
Day ceremonies at Arlington wns referred;
also, an invitat on from the Fifth Army
Corps of the Army of the Potomac to visit
the battle-grounds of South Mountain and
Antietam oh the 17th and lHth inst. A bill
was reported from the Judiciary Committee
extending tbe jurisdiction of the court of
claims-over claims for the use of patents
and patented inventions by the United
States; also a bill to simplify the plead
ings and procedure in criminal case,s
in the Courts of the United States and the
Dist ict of Columbia. The joint resolution
providing an indemnity to certain Chinese for
losses sustained in Wyoming Territory was
called up and debated until the morning hour
expired. The army appropriation bill was de
bated and finally passed. Attention being
called to the absence in the record of the word
“arch,” in the language of Mr. Wheeler yes
terday characterizing F,. M Stanton as an
“arch-conspirator.” the House ordered a cor
rection to be made. Mr. Wheeler admitted he
had -truck the word out because it had
stirred up some feeling. The consular and
diplomatic bill was taken up. A motion to
reduce the increased appropriation for a
steam launch at Constantinople from SI,BOO to
SI,OOO was lost—yeas 58, nays 87. Mr. Morri
son, who made the motion, said he would not
raise the point of no quorum. Pending
further discussion the House adjourned,
5 p. m.
Washington, May 13. - Senate.— Bills on
the calendar were taken up in regular order
and a number passed. The tir-t annual re
port of the Commissioner of tbe Labor Bu
reau was received from the Secretary of the
Interior. The bill to give military tele
graphers in i lie late war a certificate ot hon
orable discharge and rank was recommitted
to the Military Committee. Blair’s general
service pension bill was called up and de
bited by Messrs. Blair, Berry and Logan,
Senator Vest having tbe floor for to-morrow.
House.—A resolution was adopted calling
upou the President for information in regard
to seizure of the Adams in Canadian waters.
Debate on the < hinesa indemnity joint resolu
tion was resumed. The morning hour ex
pired before a vote could betaken and the
measure wa- relegated to its place ott the
calendar. The diplomatic and consular ap
propria ion hill was taken up aiul missed. The
bill to create u Department of Agriculture
was then taken up and considered. Pending
further discussion the House adjourned.
Washington, May 14.— Senate.— A petition
was presented from lowa for the abolition ot
“the American House of Lords.” -Mr. Frye’s
bill was favorably reported, limiting the
prtvi egos of foreign vessels in the ports of
the United States to the privileges accorded
American vessels in foreign ports. Mr.
Hoar's resolution was agreed to. requ ring
that the committee, when reporting the river
and harbor bill, to state the tacts that
show the national imp rtance of the sev
eral pieces ot work, and why each item of
appropriation Is advisable. At 2 o’clock the
Senate took up the Mexican pension bill.
After considerable debate without action the
Senate went into executive session, and alter
an hour and a half were opened,
and the Senate adjnur^n.
Hot si:. The t<fflfl!ri up the
bill mak• ng't lu JDcpart ment of
executive department, and spent the day on
the private calendar.
Washington, May 15.— Senate.— No ses
sion. _
House.. The House passed the bill estab
tishin a sub-treasury at Louisville. The dis
cussion over this bill led into a prolonged de
bate upon the silver question. The House
then discussed Mr. Holman's bill for a com
mission to visit the Indian Territory, and the
evening was devoted to eulogies upon
the late Michf*3 Hahn, of Louisiana
Washington. May 17.—Sun \te.— The Ship
ping was passed, with the Fay bill as an
amentjlient. This latter limits the privileges
accord#! to foreign,vessels in our ports to
the privileges given our ships in foreign
•ports. The Pension lull was debated as the
regular order, but was not presented at the
executive session. Mrs. Thompson was con
firmed a- postmaster at Louisville.
House. —Numerous bills were introduced
in the House under the call of States. The
urgent deficiency bill was pa-sed. The rules
were suspended, and the ">tli and sth of June
were sit apart for the consideration of
measures from the Pacific Railroad Commit
tee A Senate bill providing for the study in
public schools of the Territories and the
District of Columbia of the effects ot alco
holic drinks and narcotics was passed.
Washington. May 18. —Senate.—The Senate
worked on the calendar until "o’clock, when
Senator Coke spoke at length on the labor nr
bP ration bill. The pension bill was Jhe regu
lar order.
Rouse —The House devoted the-day tt> the
ocean subsidy Clause ot the post-office bill.
Foreign Notes.
Count Herbert Bismarck has been ap
pointed Secretary of State for Foreign Af
fairs.
The Orangemen of Lurgaii, County Ar
magh, Ireland, ere enrolling themselves in
military association organized for the put
pose of resisting home rule government.
It is stated that in tbe event of an Ulster
rebellion, a Loyalist expedition will be
ready to march oil Dublin, leaving strong
garrisons iti Ulster and an army of observa
tion on tbe Shannon.
The O’Donoghite has abated tbe rents of
his Gleutlesk estates in jJonuty Kerry fifty
per cent
A farmer named Qu'gley, of Knoc.k
jaiues, neat Tulia, County Uiare, Ireland,
was shot while sitting at bis fireside.
He had recently taken a boycotted grazing
farm.
Sir Thomas Krskine May, who was re
cently elevated to tbe peerage with the
title of Baron Farnborough, is dead.
Twom'inning mills in Lara,County Mon
aghan. Ireland, have been closed owing to
depression i‘ business. One thou-apd per
sons have been thrown out of employ
ment.
Mme. Bouctcault has donated *30.000t0
the Pastern Institute.
The Pi pe has consented co be godfather
of Queen Christina's child.
M. Pasteur will receive a diploma of
honor from the Soeiete San veleurs de La
Seine on May 30.
The British yacht Galatea, which is to
eomoete in the races tit American waters
for the American cup. has started on her
voyage io New York
The Chinese Government is opposed to
curtailing the power o. the Pope’s nominee
for Nine to at Pekin, and rlo*s not desire
the French Government to have exclusive
control o' all missions in China.
A FOOLISH OLD FARMER.
How He Went Round With Thousand of
Dollars in His Hand, Trying to buy
a Wife.
Hartford, Conn., May 18.—Last fall
Chauncey B. Winship, a bard listed old
farmer of Wethersfield, lost his wife. He
is seventy-six years of age, but within a
week after his wife’s death, lie began to
look for a second wife. He had real estate
valued at $5,000 and SIO,OOO in bank, and
hoped to buy a woman of some sort. He
first wrote an advertisement for a wife, but
it appeared as one for a housekeeper.
Twenty-five women answered at once. He
ranged them in a room and made the cir
cuit with a roll of Hills. $2,000, in his hand,
and stoppiing in front of each, said: “I’ll
give you this to marry me, to marry me
right now.” All refused, most of them
never having seen him before. He kept up
a hot hunt for a wife for about a month,
proposing to over forty women from six
teen to sixty-sev.en years of age His offer
was $2 000 to each, and he raised it to meet
the appearance of each, going as high as
SIO,OOO. At. length he married Mrs. Pnenm
danee, giving her $6,000 cash, and trans
ferring propertv valued at $5,000 without
consideration. ’The children then filed a
petition for a conservator. Most of the
women were in court to-day and a crowd
of Weafhersfield farmers. It was shown
that since the petition was filed Winship
had threatened to start for New York and
jump overboard on the way; that he had
nought laudanum and got the bottle to his
lips: that he had threatened to kill his sons
who live on the place, and had assaulted
Charles, threatening to brain him with a
spade. The Attorney for Winship confined
his efforts to showing that Winship knew
enough to begin planting his farm this
spring. The ease for the petitioners was
rested at 4 : if) p. in., and at 5 the court ad
journed to Wednesday.
AN ANARCHIST’S STORY.
Twenty Bombs Prepared for Use at the
Chicago Meeting, But Only One
Thrown.
Cleveland, 0., May 18.— A sensational
tale was spun by William Weber to-day.
Weber formerly lived here, hut is now a
resident of Chicago. He is an Anarchist,
and is here to collect funds for the relief of
wounded rioters in Chicago. Said be:
“After the trouble at McCormick’s works
on Monday afternoon, a special meeting of
our club was called. Spies called the
meeting to order, and a committee con
sisting of Parsons and two others, was
appointed to draw up a, manifesto.
This was the one headed, ‘Revenge I
Workingmen to arms!’ The advisabili
ty of using dynamite if the police inter
fered with any other meetings was dis
cussed, and it was decided that twenty
bombs should be prepared for the next
Tuesday. Five hundred ballots were dis
tributed, twenty of which contained a
skull and cross-bones.’* 1 know that tbe
twenty men received their bombs. ‘To
arms V was the signal for tbe throwing of
the bombs. The meeting was almost
through, Tuesday night, when the police
ordered the Anarchists to disperse, and it
is presumed that the other nineteen men
had started for home, or were injured by
the discharge ftf the police revolvers, which
immediately followed the throwing of tho
first bomb.”
DYNAMITE IN ONTARIO.
Outrages Perpetrated Because of Enforc
ing the Liquor Law.
Orangeville, Ont., May 18.—Two more
dynamite explosions occurred here last
night—one at the office another at the
residence of Police Magistrate Monroe.
The office was completely wrecked and
adjoining property was somewhat dam
aged. The house was badly damaged, but
fortunately no lives were lost. The indig
nation of the citizens is very great, as this
is the third and most destructive explosion
since the initiation of tho Scott act. Tho
cause of the outrageis the action of Magis
trate Monroe in strictly enforcing the tem
perance law. Although large rewards
have been offered for information regard
ing the perpetration of the first two explo
sions, no one has been arrested in connec
tion w itb the crime.
Siaitment by Hugh M. Brooks.
Hr. Lons, May 18.—Hugh M. Brooks,
alias Maxwell, whose trial was begun to
day for the. murder of C. Arthur Preller, at
the Southern Hotel, this city, April 5, IHS5 f
makes a partial confession, which fore
shadows It is line of defense which will ba
upon the “murderer by imprudence” the
ory. He makes a statement that he ad
ministered chloroform to Preller in order
to perform a surgical operation, and that
his patient died ou his hands. Horrified at
the result he went on a spree and became
crazed with drink. The prisoner, however,
is unable to account for the loss of the
dead mail’s moustache and the word.
“Traitor.”
Terriblafeoiler Explosion.
Kitt.an May 18.—One of the
boilers at the rolling-mill exploded with
terrific force at about 1 o’clock this morn
ing, shaking nearly all of the buildings in
the town and awakening the residents,
who rushed from their houses in terror,
many of them not waiting to dress them
selves. Instinct took them to the mill,
and when they reached there they found
the boiler-house in ruins. It is rumored
that six tramps were buried beneat h the
debris. Sol Wallace, on duty at'the time,
was severely burned.but will likely recover.
On the Trail of the Morris Robbers.
Joliet, 111., May 18. — It is considered
certain that the men who robbed the ex
press company on the Rock Island railroad,
some time ago, and murdered Kellogg
Nichols, tbe messenger, will soon be in
custody. The fugitives have been located
in a small village not far from here, and
have been fully by Orrin A.
Euston. a farmer living in Kendall County,
a few miles from. Morris, where they took
bn akfa-t on the {Sunday after the crimej
was committed.
- -♦ ♦-
Guiteau’s Counsel Comes to Grief.
Nfw York, May 18.— Charles H. Reed,
formerly attorney for the State in Chicago
and subsequently chief counsel for Charles
J. Gniteau. the assassin of President Otr
field, w as arrested here to-day and to-night
occupies a col in Ludiow-street jail n d«t
fault ot hail, charged by Campbell & Col
with the embezzlement of $1,700. No fur
ther facts are obtainable to-night. ,
Textile Manufacturers Combine.
Philadelphia. May 18. — An association
of textile manufacturers, repuesenting
$150,000,000 capital, has iu this
city. The object is a combination of inter
ests regarding labor.
V()E III.—NO. 13.
SOUTHERN NEWS GLEANtNGS.
CtJtRENCE KF.iFßu.a convict employed in
a coal shaft at Birmingham, Ala., escaped
by climbing a wirev'able one and one-half
inches in diameter and 204 feet long, ex
tending from the bottom of the shaft to tbe
ground.
A Baltimore housewife found a living
frog in a bottle of chow chow the other
day. He was too big to get out through
the neck of the bottle and ruusj; have grown
considerably during his confinement in his
air-tight prison. This story i» vouched for
by a Baltimore newspaper.
David Bell, of Palleter’s Mills, N. C.,
found a very small pearl in an oyster seven
years ago. He wrapped it in a paper and
laid it in a trunk, and the New Berne Jour
nal saysJhat it has grown from the size of
a BB shot to the size of a small marble.
During the. seven years it has not been
wet. %
At Salisbury, N. C., Franklin Gaston, a
colored man convicted of criminal assault
upon a lady, has been sentenced to be
hanged on the 2d of July.
Hon. I). T. Patterson, son-in-law of «*•
President Johnson, and an ex-U. S. Sen*
ator, has been appointed postmaster at
Home, Green County, Tenn., with a salary
of $l4O a year.
R' Jas. Cartwright, who has been crazy on
the subject of religion for some days, shot
and killed his friend Bud Johnson, Wood'
berry, Ga.. a few days since. He declared
that he was commanded by God to do the
deed. He is in jail at Greenville.
Chari.es Lataei., a shoemaker, killed
John Kelb, a saddle-maker, by stabbing
him through the heart, at Brandonville,
W. Va. The cause of the fray is not known-
A non.eh explosion on the MeCrurrt
farm, where C. L>. Robbins is drilling for
gas, three miles from Wheeling, W. Va.,
blew John Rarr 13T» feet, killing him. He
leaves a wife and four children.
Mrs. Marr Hears, of Walton County,
Ga., has a rolling pin which has been in
constant use for 170 years. It is as good a*
new'.
Roxifi Cox, of South Carolina, eloped
with her lover, Goldsmith Long, and was
married in a graveyard. Miss Roxie onght
to sing, “I want but little here below, but
want that little Long."
A Georgia man, who has just died at
ninety-seven, could lift a barrel contain
ing thirty gallons of whisky and drink
from the bung-hole, and handle a 450-
pound bale of cotton as if it were a baby.
A can of dynamite exploded at a quarry
near Strawberry Plains. Tenn., fatally in
juring two laborers, Lafayette Smith and
Wesley Moulden.
Atlanta, Ua., is the third largest snuff
market in the world. Lomloi^comes first,
New York next and Atlanta third. Loril
lard sold 308,000 pounds of snuff in that
city last year, and other makers about
150,000 pounds. One house there sold 06,000
pounds. In Macon Lorillard sold 175,000
pounds.
A young lady, whose home was destroyed
bv fire' during the visit of Sherman’s army
to Columbia. S. C., took a survey of the
ruins a day or two after the conflagration
in hope of finding some little relic to re
mind her of the trials through which she
had passed. She searched for a long time
in vain among the smoldering debris. At
last her eyes fell upon a small piece of pa
per, which she picked up. It proved to be
a remnant of John Howard Payne’s song
of ‘‘Home, Sweet Home,’’ and the only •
words untouched by the flames were
"There is no place like home."
August K. Kiuchenstien, postmaster at
Lavender Hill, Baltimore County, Md., was
arrested a few days ago and held in $2,500
bail. Special Agent Henderson, of the
post-office department, states that Kilcben
stein has been guilty of various irregular
ities in the past three or four years, and
that his accounts are about $2,700 out of
the wav.'
A little child of James Barker, seven
miles from Chattanooga, Tenn., was left
tied in its chair before the fireplace while
the mother went out to t*lk with her hus
band, who was working at the woodpile.
While there Mrs. Barker heard something
fall in the house and said: “Did the baby
fail?" They did not hear the child cry,
and overlooked the matter. When tjje
mother returned she was horrified to find
the child overturned and its head all aflame
as it lay tied to the Chair, and its face
buried in the coals. The child was actually
burning alive. Its hands and face were
blackened and charred, and it lived only a
short time after it was extricated from the
flames. The sight was heartrending, and
the mother is wild with grief.
A dog belonging to Mr. A. J. Hall, a
farmer living near Cabott, near Little
Rock, Ark., went mad recently, and among
the animals which it wounded in its wan
derings about the farm was a milk cow.
The cow showed no si gas of being affected
by the wound, and it was thought that hy
drophobia would not result. The otjier
day, however, the aninWf ‘ Wfcttu'sßowiHg
the symptoms of Lhivskeaded disease,' -and
at the same time the farmer’s two little
children, who half been nourished with the
cow’s injjk, exhibited similar symptom*,
and on the Uth weye.in a critical condition
suffering the most' terrible agonies. The
other of the family were also ill,
but their syjnptoms axe not so alarming a£
those of th"e.children* and some hope is ex
pressed tbal they may recover.
The resid'emswof John Newhart, near
Roekport, \V.. .was struck by lightning
the other eTemnf ‘ The fluid rah down fhp
chimney tbrohh’T* dne end of the Bottsdi
tearing the entu<s-enii^out of the building.
No one was hurt .in the dwelling. Henry
and Wallace Newttfert.* sons iff ‘John N<*w
hart. were close by tbs house .atthfl time,
and were filled to the- ground by the shock.
Both voting men wWc liarity* 'lnjured, and
at iast accounts w*qa-iu acdangerous con
ditla#- * *v; if
A TERR'S lk hail storm occurred a few
days ago in the noTtli-w-est part of Arkan
sas The datttage In Kulton and adjacent
4> - great and the town of Salem
was bad \"shbten up. No lives, so far as
known, are lost. Cr »ps w r ere destroyed
, and house> fences a u.f forests w ere leveled
j t>v the wind, •