Newspaper Page Text
T. A. HAVRON, Publisher.
FASHION,
The Bi.no of Society, in That It Pro
duces Wretchedness,
Jdak'iig tin. TVoflil Insincere and Fraught
With False Pretenses, and Fife a Sham,
« Delusion, Counterfeit and Cheat—Tal
v*age's Sermon.
The subject of Kcv. T. Do Witt Tal
r;agc’s sermon on Sunday was ‘-Dominion
*f Fashion,” and th*3 text was from Deu
teronomy, xxii., 5: “The woman shall not
near that which pertaineth unto a man,
neither shall a man put on a woman’s gar
ment: for all that do so are abomination
unto the Lord thy God.” Dr. Talmage
said:
In this, the fourth sermon of the series
of sermons, I wish those who hear to bear
in mind that I take into consideration not
only those whom 4 have before me on
Sabbath days, but the wider audience
opened through the printing press, and
while some things may not be particularly
appropriato for one locality, they are ap
propriate for many other localities. And
here I will to I '. a secret that I have never
before told in pub'ic. About twenty years
ago 1 began to pray that God would open
to me the opportunity of preaching through
the secular newspaper press. The re
ligious papers in which my sermons had
been published chiefly went to postively
religious families. Ho 1 asked God for the
wider field in which to proclaim the great
truths of religion and good morals. In a
strange way the answer came. And
the syndicate having charge of these
matters inform me that every week there
arc now 13,000,000 copies of my discourses
published in this country, and about
4.<X)0,000 in other lands, whether English
speaking countries or by translation in
many foreign tongues. 1 want people to
understand that it is all in answer to
prayer to God that this opportunity has
come, and I pray for grace to occupy the
lie Id. It is not, therefore, presumptuous
when I give wide scope to these discourses
and address them “to the women of Amer
ica, with important hints to men.”
God thought womanly attire of sufficient
importance to have it discussed in the
llible. Paul the apostle, by no means a
sentimentalist, and accustomed to dwell
on tho groat themes of God and the resur
rection, writes about the arrangement of
woman’s hair and the style of her jewelry,
and in my text Moses, his ear yet tilled
with the thunder of Mount Hinai, declares
that womanly attire must bo in marked
contrast with masculine-attire, and infrac
tion of that law excites the indignation of
lngb Heaven. Just in proportion as the
morals of a country or an age are de
pressed is that law- detied. Show me the
fashion plates of any century from the time
of the deluge to this, and I will tell you
the exact state of public morals. Bloom
erism In this country years ago seemed
about to break down this divine law, but
there was enough of good in American so
c ely to beat back the indecency. Yet
ever and anon we have imported from
Fiance, or perhaps invented on this side
the sea, a style that proposes as far as pos
sible to make vvi men dress like men, and
thousands of young women catch the mode,
until some one goes a little too far in imi
tation of masculinity, and the whole cus
tom, by the good sense of American wo
manhood, is obliterated.
Tho costumes of the countries are dif
ferent, and in the same country may
change, but there is a divinely ordered dis
similarity which must be forever observed.
And divergence from this is administra
t ve of vice and runs against the keen
thrustof the text,which says: “Tho woman
shall not wear that which pertaineth unto
a man, neither shall a man put ou a
woman’s garment, for all that do so are
abomination unto the Lord thy God.”
Many years ago a French authoress,
signing herself George Sand, by her cor
rupt but brilliant writings depraved
homes and libraries innumerable, and was
a literary grandmother of all French and
American authors who have written
things so much ivoric that they have made
her putrefaction quite presentable. That
French authoress put on masculine attire.
Fhe was consistent. Her writings and her
beli a vior were perfectly accordant.
My text by implication abhors masculine
Women and womanly men. What a sick
ening thing it is to see a man copying the
speech, the walk, the manner of a woman.
The trouble is, tbat they do not imitate a
sensible woman, but some female imbe
cile. And they simper, and they go with
mincing step, and iisp, and scream at
nothing, and take on a languishing look,
and bang their hair, and arc the nac.sea
tion of honest folks of both sexes. O man,
be a man ! You belong to quite a respect
able sex. Tho starting figure of the hu
man race was a man. Do not try to cross
over, and so become a hybrid, neither one
nor the other, but a failure, half way be
tween.
Alike repugnant are masculine women.
They copy a man’s stalking gait and go
down the street with the stride of a walk
ing beam. They wish they could smoke
cigarettes and sonic of them do. They
talk boisterously, and try to sing bass.
They do not laugh—they roar. They can
not quite manage the broad profanity of
Hie sex they rival, but their conversation
is often a half swear; and if they said “Oh
Lord” in earnest prayer as often as they
said it in lightness, they would be high up
in sainthood Withal there is an assumed
rugosity of i pparol, and they wear a man’s
hat oniy changed bv being in two or three
places smashed in, and a dead canary cling
ing to the general wreck, and a man’s
Coat, tucked in hero and there, according
io an unaccountable esthetics. Oh woman,
ay a u oman ! You, also, belong to a very
respectable sex. The second figure of the
human race was a woman, and, some
* hies, a second edition of a volume is f t 3
first edition improved and corrected. Do
not try to cross over. If you do, you will
be a failure of a woman, and only a nonde
script of a man. We already have enough
intellectual and moral bankrupts in our
sex without vou comm# over to make
WM’H tue deficit.
In my text, as by a parable or figure of
speech, it is made evident that Moses, the
inspired writer, as vehemently as our
selves, reprehended the effeminate man
and the masculine woman. “The woman
shall not wear that which perta'ueth unto
a man, neither shall a man put on a wo
man’s garment; for all that do so arc
abomination unto the Lord thy God.”
My t'SXt also sanctions fashion. Indeed,
it sets a fashion. There is a great deal
of senseless cant on the subject of fashion.
A woman or man who does not regard it is
unfit for a good neighborhood. Tho only
question is what is right fashion
and what is wrong fashion.
Before I stop I want to show you that
fashion has been one of the most potent of
reformers and one of the vilest of usurpers.
Sometimes it has been an angel from
Heaven, and at others it has been the
mother of abomination. As the world
grows better there will be as much fash
ion as now, but it will be a righteous fash
ion. In the future life white robes always
have been, and always will be, in the fash
ion.
There is a great outcry against this sub
mission to social custom, as though any
consultation of the tastes and feelings of
others were deplorable; but without it
the world would have neither law, order,
civilization, nor common decency. There
has been a canonissafon of bluntness.
There are men and women who boast that
they can tell you all they know and hear
about you, especially if it be unpleasaut.
Homo have mistaken rough behavior for
frankness, when the two qualities do not
belong to the same family. You have no
right with your eccentricities to crash in
upon the sensitiveness of others. There is
no virtue in walking with hoofs over fine
carpets. The most jagged rock is covered
with blossoming moss. The storm that
comes jarring down in thunder strews
rainbow colors upon the sky and silvery
drops on orchard and meadow.
There are men who pride themselves on
their capacity to “stick” others. They say:
“I have brought him down; didn’t 1 make
him squirm!” Others pride themselves on
their outlandish apparel. They boast of
being out of the fashion. They wear a
queer hat. They ride in an odd carriage.
By dint of perpetual application they
would persuade the world that they are
perfectly indifferent to publi ’ opinion.
They are more proud of bein; out of
fashion” than others are of being in.
They are utterly and universally d sa
greeable. Their rough corners have never
been worn off. They prefer a hedgehog to
a lamb.
The accomplishments of life are in no
wise productive of effeminacy or enerva
tion. Good manners and a respect for the
tastes of others are indispensable. The
Good Book speaks favorably of those who
are a “peculiar” people, but tbat does not
sanction the behavior of queer people.
There is no excuse, under any circum
stances, for not being and acting the lady
or gentleman. Rudeness is sin. We
have no words too ardent to express
our admiration for the refinements
of society. There is no law, moral
or Divine, to forbid elegance of demeanor,
or ornaments of gold, or gems for tho per
son, artistic display in the dwelling, grace
fulness of gait and bearing, polite saluta
tion or honest compliments; and he who is
shocked or offended by these had better,
like the old Scythians, wear tiger skins
and take one wild leap back into midnight
barbarism. As Christianity advances
there will bo better apparel, higher styles
of architecture, more exquisite adorn
ments, sweeter music, grander pictures,
more correct behavior and more thorough
ladies and gentlemen.
But there is another story to be told.
Wrong fashion is to be charged with many
of the worst evils of society, and its path
has often been strewn with tho bodies of
the slain. It has often set up a false stand
ard by which people arc to be judged. Our
commcm-sense as well ns all tlie Divine in
timations on the subject teach us that, peo
ple ought to be esteemed according to
their* individual and moral attainments.
Th ■ man who has the most nobility of soul
should be first, and he who has the least
of such qualities should stand last. No
crest, or shield, or escutcheon can indicate
one’s moral peerage. Titles of Duke,
Lord, Esquire, Earl, Viscount or Partrieian
ought not to raise one into the first rank.
Home of the meanest men 1 have ever
known had at the end of thoir name. D.D ,
LL. D. and F. R. H. Truth, honor, charity,
heroism, self-sacrifice should win
highest favor, but inordinate fashion
says: “Count not a woman’s virtues;
count her adornments.” “Look not at the
contour of her head, but see the way she
combs her hair.” “Ask not what noblo
deeds have been accomplished by that
man’s hand, but is it white and soft!”
Ask not what good sense is in her conver
sation, but “In what was she dressed!”
Ask not whether there was hospitality
and cheerfulness in the house, but “In
what style do they live?” As a conse
quence, some of the most ignorant aud
vicious men are at the top. and some of
the most virtuous and intelligent at the
bottom. During the last war we suddenly
saw men hurled up into the highest, social
positions. Had they suddenly reformed
from evil habits, or graduated in science,
or achieved some good work for society?
No, they simply had obtained a Govern
ment contract 1
This accounts for the utler chagrin which
people feel at the treatment they receive
when they lose their property. Holdup
your head against financial disaster like a
Christian. Fifty thousand subtracted from
a good man leaves how much? Honor,
truth, faith in God, triumphant hope and a
kingdom of ineffable glory over which he
is to reign forever and ever.
If the owner of millions should lose a
ponnv out of his pocket would he sit down
on a curbstone and cry? And shall a man
possessed of everlasting fortunes wear
himself out with grief because he has lost
worldly treasure? You have only lost that
in which hundreds of wretched misers sur
pass you ; and you have saved that which
the Caesars and the Pharaohs and the Alex
anders could never afford.
And yet society thinks differently- and
vou see the most intimate friendships
broke up ui the consequence of financial
TRENTON, DADE COUNTY. GA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3. 1888.
embarrassments. You say to some one
“How is you friend?” The man looks be
wildered and says: “I do not know.” You
reply: “Why, you used to be intimate.”
“Well, says the man, “our friendship has
been dropped. The man has failed.”
Proclamation has gone forth: “Velvets
must go up and plain apparel must come
down,” and the question is: “How does the
coat fit?” not “Who wears it?” The power
that bears the tides of excited population
up and down our streets, and rocks the
world of commerce and thrills ail nations,
transatlantic and cisatlantic, is clothes.
It decides the last offices of respect; and
hiw long the dress shall be totally black;
and when it may subside into spots of
grief on silk, calico or gingham. Men die
in good circumstances, but by reason of
extravagant funeral expenses are well
nigh insolvent bnfore they get buried.
Many men would not die at all if they
had to wait until they could afford it.
Wrong fashion is productive of a most
ruinous strife. The expenditure of many
households is adjusted by what thoir
neighbors have, not by what they them
selves can afford to have; and the great
anxiety is to who shall have the finest
house and the most costly equipage. The
weapons used in the warfare of social life
are not minie rifies and Dahlgren guns,
and Hotchkiss shells, but chairs, and mir
rors, and vases, and Gobelins and Axmin
sters. Many household establishments
are like racing steamboats propelled at the
utmost strain and risk, and just coming to
a terrific explosion. “Who cares,” say
they, if wo only come out ahead.”
There is no one cause to-day of more
financial emtnrrrassment and of more dis
honesties than this determination at all
hazards to live ns well as or better than
other people. There aro persons who will
risk their eternity upon one pier mirror,
or who will dash out the splendors of
Heaven to get another trinket.
“My house is too small.” “But,” says
some one, “you can not pay for a larger.”
“Never mind that; my friends have a bet
ter residence, and so will I.” “A dress of
that style and material I must have. I can
not afforfi it by a great deal; but who
cares for that? My neighbor had one from
that pattern, and 1 must have one.” There
are scores of men in the dungeons of the
penitentiary who risked honor, business,
every thing in the effort to shine like oth
ers. Though the heavens fall, they must
be “in the fashson.”
The most famous frauds of the day have
resulted from this feeling. It keeps hun
dreds of men struggling for their com
mercial existence. The trouble is that
some are caught and incarcerated if their
larceny be small; if it be great they escape
and build their castles on the Rhine. Men
get into jail, not because they steal, but
because they Mid not steal enough.
Again, wrong fashion makes people un
natural and untrue. It is a factory from
which has come forth more hollow pre
tenses and unmeaning flatteries and hy
pocrisies than the Lowell mills evCr turned
out shawls and garments. Fashion is the
greatest of all liars.
It has made society insincere. You know
not what to believe. When people ask you
to come you do not know whether or not
they want you to come. When they send
their regards you do not know whether it
is an expression of their heart or an ex
ternal civility. We have learned to take
every thing at a discount. Word is sent
“Not at home,” when they are only too
lazy to dress themselves. They say “The
furnace has just gone out,” when in truth
they have had no fire in it all winter.
They apologize for the unusual barren
ness of their table when they never live
any better. They decry their most luxuri
ous entertainments to win a shower of ap
proval. They apologize for thoir appear
ance, as though it were unusual, when al
ways at home they look just so. They
would make you believe that some nice
sketch on the wall was the work of a
master-painter. “It was an heirloom and
once hung on the walls of a castle, and a
Duke gave it to thoir grandfather.” Peo
ple who will not lie about any thing else
will lie about a picture. On a small in
come we must make the world believe we
are affluent, and our life becomes a cheat,
a counterfeit and a sham.
Few people are really natural and unaf
fected. When 1 siv this Ido not mean to
slur cultured lmnners. It is right that we
should have more admiration for the
sculptured marble than for tho unhewn
block of the quarry. From many circles in
life fashion has driven out vivacity and
enthusiasm. A frozen dignity instead
floats about the room, and iceberg grinds
against iceberg. You must not Jaugh
outright; it is v ilgar. You must smile.
You must not dash rapidly across the
room; you must glide. There is a round
of bows, and grins, nnd flatteries, and ohs
and ahs, and simperings, and namby
pambyism—a world of which is pot worth
one good, round, honest peal of laughter.
From such a hollow round the tortured
guest retires at the close of the evening
and assures his host that he has enjoyed
himself. Thus social life has been contort
ed and deformed until in some mountain
cabin, where rustics gather to the quilting
or the apple-paring, there is more good
cheer than in all the frescoed ice-houses of
the metropolis. We want in all the higher
circles of society more warmth of heart
am? naturalness of behavior, and not so
many refrigerators.
Again: Wrong fnsli'on is incompatible
with happinesis. Those who depend for
their comfort upon the admiration of oth
ers are subject to frequent disappoint
ment. Homebody wili criticise their ap
pearance or surpass them in brilliancy, or
will receive more attention. Oh, the jeal
ousy and detraction and heart-burnings of
those who move in this bewildered maze!
Poor butterflies! Bright wings do no! al
ways bring bappinoss. “She that liveth
in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” The
revelations of high life that come to the
challenge and the fight are only the occa
sional croppings out of disquietudes that
are, underneath, like tho stars of heaven
for multitude, but like the demous of the
pit tor hate.,
The misery that will to-night in the col
lar cuddle up in the straw is no* so utter
as the princely disquietude which stalks
through spledpi 4t avving-room*, brooding
over tho slights and offenses of luxurious
life. The bitterness of life seems not so
unfitti :g when drunk out of a pewter mug,
as wVI it pours from the chased lips of a
golden chalice. In the sharp crack of the
voluptuary’s pistol, putting an end to his
earthly misery, 1 hear tlie confirmation
that iq,a hollow, fastidious life there is no
pca^e.
Again: Devotion to wrong fashion is
productive ol physical disease, mental im
becility and spiritual withering. Apparel
insufficient to keep out the cold and the
rain, or so fitted upon the person that the
functions of lifo are restrained; late hours,
filled with excitement and feasting; free
draughts of wine, that make one not beast
ly intoxicated, but only fashionably drunk,
and luxurious indolence, are tho instru
ments by which this unreal life
pushes its disciples into valctudina
rianism and the grave. Along the walks
of .prosperous life death goes a-mowing,
and Bitch harvests as are reaped! Materia
medica has been exhausted to find cura
tives for these physiological devastations.
Dropsies, cancers, consumptions, gout aud
almost every infirmity in all the realm of
pathology have been the penalties paid.
To counteract the damage pharmacy has
gone forth with medicament, panacea,
eiixii. embrocation, salve and cataplasm.
To-night, with swollen feet upon cush
ionec- ottoman, and groaning with aches
innn^tyult’it- will !>e the votary of luxuri
ous k-ring, not half so happy as his groom
or Wrong fashion is tho
world’s undertaker, nnd drives thousands
of hearses to Greenwood and Laurel Hill
and Mount Auburn.
OLD FOLKS’ ROOMS.
Why They Should IJe as Pleasant and
Ifoinc-l.lke as Possible.
If you tire so fortunate as to have the
"old people” in tho house, sea to it that
they have the warmest and sunniest cor
ner, and a goodly portion of tho host that
can bo afforded of comfort, convenience
and beauty; that aged blood may be kept
warm and cheerful; that failing limbs may
have restful repose, and that the dim eyes
that have watched over you and yours
through so many toilsome years may see
around them the ever-present evidences of
faithful and grateful care.
There is nothing in the world more pa
thetic than the meek, timorous, shrinking
ways of certain okl people—we have all
seen them—who have given up their old
homes into younger hands, and subsided
into some out of the way corner of it, to sit
by fireside and table henceforth, rs If they
were mere pensioners—afraid of “making
trouble,” afraid of being “in the way,”
afraid of accepting the half that is their
due, and going down to their graves with
a pitiful, deprecating air, as if constantly
npc ; cgizing for staying so long. There is
no scorn too deep and sharp for the sons
and daughters who will accept this attitude
on the part of those to whom they owe so
much.
Sometimes, to be sure, people grow old
with a bad grace. They become embittered
by misfortune, or affliction; or are peevish
aud unreasonable under the goadings of ill
health. All the more do they appeal to
great gentleness and fartfulness. Let it
be borne in mind that we, too, are hasten
ing on toward the sunset of life, aud that it
is possible that we may ripen into very un
comfortable old people, to demand much
more of patience and devotion than we, as
children, yield
The old people’s room should be as pleas
ant and home-iike as possible. Let the old
fashioned furniture and the old-fashioned
ways prevail in it. We think no one thing
could delight the old hearts more than an
open fire-place, with some ancient andirons
and a crane with its pendant tca-kettie.
These fire places are rapidly becoming ex
tinct, but to most old people living in the
present generation they would be radiant
with pictures of youth and early love. A
fire like this is not only a delight to the
aged, but a pleasant care. —lt onia/t’o Work.
SHELLS OF STEEL.
Slow the Finest Armors Were Made by
Skilled Artisans.
The finest armors were made from 1140
to 14t>0. They were marvels of suppleness,
lightness and elegance. The iron shell was
modeled on the body beneath it and fol
lowed every movement of the torso and
limbs, protecting without confining them;
the steel envelope had become individual
and was, like hose and jerkin, made for its
wearer, instead of the clumsy grooves of
the fourteenth century, made to fit any
man. In these leg-pieces, carefully articu
lated at the thigh and above the knee, per
sonal pecul'arftfes appear legs slightly
bowed and more or less heavily muscled at
the calf; in the flexible corselet the body
enjoyed comparative freedom; under the
armet or round helmet the head turned
easily; the pointed toes of the sol
lerets could be unfastened in a mo
ment if the knight was obliged
to dismount; the gaunlets were as
supple assilk gloves, and the weight of the
whole armor, composed of very thin plates
of well-tempered steel, was so carefully
distributed that it appeared comparatively
light This armor, molded on the forma of
the body beneath it, composed of polished
steel, was the “white harness” so often
mentioned by the chroniclers. In France
it was worn without ornament, but the
Italians decorated it with lions' heads and
nntique ins.ks; a little later the armorers
of Nuremberg, then very popular in F'rance,
introduced fluted steel—it was stronger,
not heavier, and offered more resistance to
lance-thrusts than the smooth metal. Many
beautiful specimens remain of this Maxi
milian armor, as it was called.
No further progress was possible; com
parative lightness, resistance, convenience
and elegance of form had been att ined.
After this time the shape of helmet and
corselet was varied according to individual
caprice or the latest fashion, and the steel
was gilded and ornamented; but armor,
having attained its complete development,
steadily declined.— Scrib-itr's Magazine.
No amount of wealth sets one free from
the obligation to work— in a world the fled
of which is ever working. He who works
not has not yet ciscovered what God
made him for, and is a false note in the
orchestra of the universe.— (i* rye JJncDon
a’d.
Tiie way to economize time is tu stick to
regular hours of work. One n°ed not be a
clock, but bv following one closely he may
understand the sectet of iu» accomplish
»eut. Standard.
FIFTIETH CONGKES&
First Session.
Washington Jen, 88. —Senate.—A resolu
tion was adopted to pay Mr. Lucas 11,000 (or ex
penses in contesting Senator Faulkner's seat.
A resolution was offered requesting the l’resi
dent to furnish copies of the correspondence as
to payment of awards of Venezuelan claims.
Mr. Chandler's resolution railing on the Navy
Department for information as to the purchase
of plans in foreign countries, and changes in
plans and contracts for ships of war, was
adopted with an amendment to extend the in
quiry back to IHBO. The detflciency bill was
taken up and its consideration resumed. Mr.
Hawley’s amendment to pay for the printing of
stamps and envelopes was agreed to. An
amendment for the completion of the new
cruisers was offered by Mr. Hale, and Mr. Alli
son defended the Senate against the eharge of
delay at the last session. The amendment was
then withdrawn and the bill passed.
House—Bills were introduced extending for
one year the time for the construction of a
bridge across Staten Island Sound, at New
York; also, for the readmission free of duty of
exhibits sent to the Pans Exhibition in 138(1;
also, to reward certain inhabitants of Japan for
their humane treatment of American sailors.
A bill was reported to amend the internal reve
nue laws for the punishment of violations;
Mr. Bacon, of New York, asked unanimous
consent for the present consideration of the
resolution reported directing un inquiry
into the names, number and extent of the
corporations engaged in manufacturing and
mining, or dealing in any of the necessi
ties of fife, and known as •■trusts” or
“pools,” their methods of doing business, and
the effect of these combinations on the price of
necessaries. Scott (Pa.) wanted to know what
power Congress had to redress the evils that
might be found. Band all wanted the inquiry
extended to include the Standard Oil Company,
the whisky trust and all others. After a spirited
debate the resolution was adopted as amended,
to include all combinations under whatever
name known, and the Committee on Commerce
was authorized to sit during the sessions and
send for perrons and papers to aid the investi
gation.
Washington, Jan. 26.—Senate.—A petition
of the Chicago board of trade was presented
asking for retaliatory legislation against France
and Germany lor excluding American meat.
The House bill to carry into effect the act in re
gard to experimental stations at agri
cultural colleges was reported. Bills
were passed increasing the pension for to
tal deafness from 813 to S3O a month;
granting to Californias per cent, of the net pro
cceds of the rash sales of public lands; granting
a pension of $2,000 a year to Mis. Logan and a
similar pension to the widow of General Frank
P. Biair. The Blair educational bill was taken
up, Mr. Blair speaking. Mr. Morgan, of Ala
bama, obtained the floor, and at 4:15 p.m. the
Senate ai’oumed until Monday.
House.—A bill was reported to discontinue
the coinage of the three cent piece; the bill for
the sale of certain New York Indian lands in
Kansas, was passed; the Nicaraguan Canal bill
was referred to the Committee on Commerce,
instead of Foreign Affairs, where it had
been: aL bill was passed authorizing tho
President to suspend the collection of Ihe
tonnage tax on vessels from countries whie’i
exempt American vessels; also a hill
exempting the citizen of a State in which a suit
originates, from giving security for costs in
cases removed from State to Federal Courts.
Also appropriating $175,000 for the repair of the
U. S steamship Hartford. A resolution was
offered to set apart February 21, and each day
thereafter for the consideration of bills from
the Committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds, hut the House adjourned without
action.
Washington, Jan. 27.—Senate.—Not in ses
sion.
House—A bill was introduced for the protec
ton of forests and public lands. The Senate
amendments to the “little deficiency bill" were
concurred in, and the engrossed bill sent to the
President. Friday being private bill day. the
private calendar was taken up. The House ad
journed until Monday.
Washington, Jan. 80.—Senate—Several un
important executive communications, petitions
and memorials were presented. Bills were re
ported from the Committee on Public Lands. A
constitutional amendment was reported as to
the-meetings of Congress, changing the date of
cdjournment to April 30 instead of March 4. A
report was made against penny postage, and
placed on the calendar for discussion. A reso
lution of inquiry into the inefficient mail
service of the West and South was introduced
by Mr. Plumb and went over. The Blair educa
tional bill was opposed by Mr. Morgan. Mr.
Evarts will speak to-morrow. At 4:30 the Sen
ate went into executive session, and at 5:20 p.
nr adjourned.
House.— A Senate bill was passed authorizing
the construction of a bridge across the Missouri
below St. Charles, Mo. Under the call of States
a large number ot bills wore introduced. Re
ports were submitted in the Indiana White-
Lowry contested election case, the majority de
claring White's seat vacant. Ordered printed
and notice given of consideration Thursday
next, Public Printer Benedict’s answer to a
resolution of inquiry about recent discharges in
his office was read. A resolution was adopted
to investigate the present Public Printer and
his predecessor. The bill making provision for
agricultural experiment stations, with Senate
amendments, was agreed to. Mr. Breckinridge,
of Arkansas, introduced the Hewitt Adminis
tration bill of last session, and it was referred
to the Ways and Means Committee. The House
at 4:25 p. m. adjourned.
Washington, tan. 81.—Senate—Among the
bills reported was one to provide for warehous
ing fruit brandy. Mr. Hiddleberger offered 6
resolution to consider the pending treaty be
tween the United States and Great Britain in
open session. Mr. Edmunds objected and it
went over under the rule. A resolution was
adopted instructing the Committee on Com
merce to consider the advisability of requiring
river and harbor work to be done by contract.
The regular order was set aside at 2 o'clock
for half an hour and several minor bills passed
in spite of the objection of Blair, whose educa
tional bill was then discussed by Mr. Kvarts.
A joint resolution v as agreed to proposing an
amendment to the constitution fixing April 30
instead of March 4 as the day for the adjourn
ment of Congress and the end of the Presiden
tial term.
House.—A bill was passed authorizing the
construction of a bridge across the Missou.s
river at Jefferson, Mo. A resolution requesting
the Inter-State Commerce Commission to in
vestigate the Reading strike, was reported from
the Commerce Committee. A bill was reported
requiring land grant roads to construct inde
pendent telegraph lines. The bills granting
pensions to the widows of * -one als Logan and
Blair were reported and put on the private cal
endar. Bills were passed for the erection o
public buildings at Greenville, S. C.: Asheville
N. C : Springfield. Mo.: Monroe. La, and Ports
mouth. O. The resolution in regard to tht
feuding strike was made Ute special order foi
to-myrrew
V()L. IV.—NO. 49.
WRECKED BOATS.
The Will S. Hays Crushed by Ice—Logs •(
Numerous Other Vessels at St. Louis.
Bt. Louis, Jan. 31.— For some days.past
several tugboats have been butting the
3hore ice in the harbor, and with the oc
casional aid of dynamite, succeeded yes
terday in opening a passage of from on*
hundred to two hundred and fifty feet
wide, outside of the steamers aud other
craft lying along the bank from near the
bridge down nearly to the arsenal.
This relieved the pressure on the
boats, but in conjunction with the warm
weather weakened the groat mass of
ico in the harbor, and about midnight and
later last night a movement took place,
both below and above the bridge, filling
up the open waterway and causing con
siderable damage to shipping. A second
and third movement took place to-day, and
although the main body of the gorge is
still firm, there is here and therd an open
bit of : water, and the won ring
away process is actively going
on, and a general rush out may
take place at any hoar. So far the follow
ing damage has been done: The ice barge
Huce first broke away, and was carried
with great force against the little steamer
Mattie Belle, crushing her side in and
sinking her. Just below this point lay the
Will H. Hays and a fleet of saudboats, all
of whose lines were broken, and they
moved down the bank en masse for some
distance. The barge Suce crashed into the
Ila.ys, forced her upon the shore, and left
her there in a badly wrecked condition. Her
hull is not crushed, but Bhe is twisted into
nearly all kinds of shape from stem to
stern, and is strained to such an extent
as to render her almost worthless. She
was valued at 985,000. The Delver, a sand
dredger, was carried down and was
crushed by the ice and sunk. The City of
Monroe, another Anchor ime boat, was
caught in tho rush aud carried down the
bank, but is not much injured. On her
way down, however, she stove the ferry
boat Jacob Tamin, which now lies sunk.
Several tugs were wrecked, making an
aggregate loss of r.eai !v *5100,000.
Fatal Railway Wreck.
(Jrbana, 0., Jan. 31. —A disastrous wreck
resulting m the death of a fireman and
fatal injuries to an engineer, and serious
injuries to several other persons, occurred
on the Pan Handle road, one mile> east of
here, this evening. The fast west-bound
mail and express, which precedes the reg
ular passenger train due here at 4:3K, was
fifty minutes late, and was making up
lost time. The yard engine and crew were
doing some switching in the east end of
the yard, and had just backed with two
cars and the engine on a side track to let
the mail train pass, but the track was al
ready full and would not clear, and the
switch was open. In this position the
mail train came around the curve at its
fastest speed, and dashed into the yard
engine.
■ ♦ ■
Aged Widow Made Wealthy.'
CmcAUfA, Jan. 31.—Judge Jamieson de
cided to-day the long litigated .Case of
Harriet Marietta Tuller against certain
owners of lands in the populous southern
part of the city, which involvccTa dower
claim of about $1,300,000. Hy. the de
cision Mrs. Tuller, who is about ninety
years of age, has established her right
to dower in a tract of eighty acres sold
by her husband over fllty years ago, and
now owned by several hundred persons.
The case will now he sent to a commission
to ascertain tho amount due Mps. Tuller
from each of the present owners. 'Among
the heaviest losers by the decisioti will he
the Rock Island and Lake Shore railroads.
♦
- ■ te
A Prison in Flames.
Richmond, Va., Jan. 31.—Soon after 5
o’clock this morning the buildings of the
Virginia Penitentiary, leased by the Davis
Shoe Company, of Boston, and operated as
a shoe factory, was discovered on fire.
The flames spread rapidly. The buildings
burned were three-story bricks and cov
ered an area of about 700 feet in length and
60 in width. The loss to the shoe company
is estimated at from $150,000 to $175,000.
The buildings were State property and
the loss caused by their destruction will
amount to $35,000. The shoe company
worked between three aud four hundred
convicts.
t
Bound, Gagged, Robbed.
Detroit, Mich., Jan. 31.—Wm. Law,
a farmer, living in Bedford Township, ten
miles from this city, was awakened during
last night by a revolver pressed'tightly to
his head. men bound and
gagged Law and his wife, while the third
ransacked the house. They secured sever
al hundred dollars in money and drove
away with one of Law's horses. It was
several hours before Mrs. Law worked
herself loose and gave the alarm. A party
is in pursuit.
John Bull in Mexico.
San Antonio, Tex., Jan. .31.— M. M.
Gonzales, agent for several wealthy resi
dents of Coahuila, Mexico, has closed the
sale of 500,003 acres of land in the State of
Coahuila to the representatives of an Eng
lish syndicate who already own 3,000,000
acres in that State. The consideration was
SI2S,(NX), or t wenty-five cents per acre. The
purchase comprises much mountain land.
English capitalists now own fully oue
quarter of the State of Coahuila.
———— - —— ♦ ■'»
Carpenters Ask an Increase.
Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan. 31.—The carpen
ters of Pittsburgh and vicinity have noti
fied their employers that on the Ist of May
next they will demand .an advance on
wages of ten per cent, pay ar.d half pay for
all over time and nine hours work a day.
The employers claim that if the demands
are enforced a general paralysis of busi
ness will he the result.
Murdered His Mother.
Buffalo, N. Y., Jau. 31.—John Culleu
this evening murdered his mother, Mrs.
An nie Cullen, m cold blood. Cullen is a
ship-carpenter, thirty-four years oil, aud
has been tv regular iu Ins habits lately,'