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The Commoner.
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CT. BECKW1TH, president of the defunct Citi
. zenB' National "bank at Oberlin, 0., an insti
tution made famous by Casaie L. Chadwick's finan
ciering, died at his home on the evening of Feb.
5. Ever since the Ohadwick expose Mr. Beck
jvvith has been failing and he has been gradually
losing his eyesight. He was sixty-five years of age
and at the time of his death was under indictment
by the federal grand jury on the charge of having
violated the national banking laws in connection
.with the loans made to Mrs Chadwick. It is
claimed that Mr. Beckwith's death will materially
weaken the cases of forgery now pending against
Mrs. Chadwick.
PRESIDENT SCHURRMAN of Cornell Univer
ersity, created something of a sensation
when in an address delivered to the students of
"Cornell on the evening of Feb. 5, he said: "The
Christ of the Twentieth century differs from the
Christ of the Ninteenth and preceding centuries
No longer will educated men go to the Bible as a
text book of physical science. It seems strange
that men should ever have 'regarded the Bible as
such, but they did a generation ago. Now an edu
cated man who would quote the Bible as an author
ity on any physical subject would be an object of
ridicule in the eyes of all educated men. ,1 do not
believe there is any true history in the Bible, sim
ply because the Hebrews never wrote history. I
do not attempt to explain the miracles of Jesus
Christ, but even today we have our Christian
Science and faith cures."
IN AN INTERVIEW made public February 5,
Senator Allison of Iowa declared that he i3 in
favor of railroad legislation. He declined to com
mit himself explicitly in favor of the house meas
ure known as the Esch-Townsend bill, but he said
that private cars and all discriminations should be
done away with. He said that he favored some
such regulation as the president has proposed.
Senator" Allison further said that there is a de
mand among the people "for corrections in the
tariff law." He said he would not favor a re
opening of the tariff question for the purposes of
general revision, but he thought that there should
be some corrections.
ACCORDING to a government report, New York
is the first in the production of potatoes,
Michigan second, "Wisconsin third, Pennsylvania
fourth, Iowa fifth, Maine sixth. Ohio seventh and
Illinois eighth. According to the agricultural de
partment potatoes are the fourth largest crop in
this country. In 1904 the potato crop exceeded that
of the banner year, 1896, by 40,000,000 bushels. In
1902 the yield was 284,000,000 bushels, in 1903 it
was 247,00,000 and in 1904 it was 332,000,000 bushels.
The ratio of production to each family is 20 bush
els. THE people of Newark, N.. J., and the people of
Heath township, near Paducah, Ky have
been considerably disturbed recently. , The cause
of the Kentucky disturbance is "a talking tree."
The Paducah correspondent for the Chicago Trib
unesays that a committee of "responsible citizens
investigated this tree. The correspondent adds:
"One thing only was established and that the fact
that the tree is dying slowly from the continuous
tramping of the earth about its roots. The tree
' is on Wilt Albert's farm and for years the mystery
of its supposed vocal powers has been upon the
countryside. Hundreds -there are who will testify
that on occasions a voice apparently coming from
the tree cries: "There are treasures buried at my
roots." The investigating committee listened for
a few hours before the human like cry sent the
members trembling back to town. The members
of a family which lived there several yeara ago
became frightened at the voice; they sold the farm
at a sacrifice and went away.
nnHE disturbance at Newark is due to a dream
1 had by the late Mgr. Geo. Deane. The
Newark correspondent for the Chicago Tribune
says that Mgr. Deane, in a conversation with a
parishioner, four hours before he died, told oi
strange manifestations which had come to aim on
the previous night. A little over a week before -his
death Mgr. Deane attended a young man, TVimo
Healoy. The boy did not die for over a week. Ho
was burled Jan. 19 and the next day Mgr. Deane
died just after finishing his dinner. On the after
noon of that day he called on Healey and told him
of the experience ho had had the previous night.
"I had either a dream or a vision, in which I. ap
peared to bo in heaven and was talking to your
son. Above the strains of the music came the
voice of your son Willie, saying to mo: 'O, mon
signor, are you with us so soon? Wo want you hero,
for we are all so hap;.y.' " Both the monsignor and
Mr. Healey were much overcome at the narration
andtho latter says the whole thing was startling
to him. Four hours later Mr. Healey heard the
monsignor was dead.
NEWSPAPER dispatches say that great interest
is manifested in the forthcoming report of
Mr. Garfield, commissioner of corporations, on the
beef trust. It is understood that the report will
soon be made public. The Washington corres
pondent for the Fort Dodge, Iowa, Messenger,
says that in tho event criminal proceedings aro
commenced, the individuals against whom these
proceedings will be had are as follows: "Nelson
Morris, Louis F. Swift, Ira Morris, J. Ogden Ar
mour, Patrick A. Valentine, Calvin M. Favorite,
Arthur Meeker, Thomas T. Connors, Charles F.
Langdon, Michael Cudahy, Ldward A. Cudahy, Pat
rick Cudahy, Albert F. Bochert, Edward Morri3,
Lawrence A. Carton, L. Edward Hartwell, Jesse
P. Lyman, Frank E. Vogel, Louis Pfaelzer, William
Rusself, Albert H. Veeder, Henry Veeder, Edward
C. Swift, Ferdinand Sulzberger, W. H. Noyes. Tho
companies which formed the trust now perpetually
enjoined from further operations are: Swift & Co.,
The Cudahy Packing Co., Armour & Co., The G. H.
Hammond Co., Hammond Packing Co., The Armour
Packing Co., Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Co.
JOHN LEWALTER, according to a writer in tha
Milwaukee Sentinel, has traced tho tune of
"Yankee boodle" to 1776, at Wasenburg, the cen
tral depot of the Hessian troops employed as mer
cenaries in the var of American independence.
Lewalter Is an eminent authority on folksongs. He
says "Yankee Doodle" is a dance tune the Hessian
tioops picked up and addssthat In the district to
day numerous tunes may be heard which closely
resemble it in lilt and rhythm.
THE British census reports of family names,
according to a writer in the Kansas City
Journal, give in England and Wale3 253,006
Smiths, 242,100 Joneses, with Williams, Taylor, Da
vis and Brown following in order. For Scotland,
Smith leads, followed by McDonald, Brown, Thom
son, Robertson, Stewart and Campbell. Murphy
is ahead in Ireland, there being 62,600 of them;
' then come Kelly? 69,900; Sullivan, 43,600; Walsh,
41,700; Smith, 37,000; O'Brien, 33,400; Byrne, 33,000;
Ryan, 32,000; Connor, 31,200; O'Neil, 29,100, and
Reilly, 29,000.
MRS'. ELEANOR LIGHT died recently at her
homo in Cincinnati and thereby hangs a tale
of loyalty and faith. According to the Cincinnati
Enquirer, Mrs. Light was 80 years of age. In 3pite
of the importunities of her daughters bhe preferred
to spend her declining years in the little room
alone, where she might daily and nightly pray for
the return of her husband, Jacob Light, who was
killed at the explosion of the steamer Pat Rogere,
at Rising Sun, Ind., 35 years ago. Though others
mourned him as dead his faithful wife never gve
up hope that he was sound and well and would
return to her. The bodies of the others who per
ished were found and identified, but that of Light
never came to the muddy surface of the stream and
was never found. Mrs. Light's children married
and started Jn life for themselves, but the mother
continued to live alone and kept a place at her
little table for her missing husband until tho day
she died. When tho steamboat whistles blow as
the vessels came to and fro from the city she could
be seen at her window looking out, her face bright
with hope for the one who never returned. To
ward the last sha became childish and repeated
that "Jack" would be home In a fow days. Tho
funeral took place from the home of her daughter,
51 Lock street ,
THE peculiar financial arrangements obtaining
at tho court of tho czar aro strikingly illus
trated by a story told by tho Copenhagen corre
spondent for tho Cincinnati Enquirer. This corre
spondent says: "Prof. Tuxen, tho famous painter,
finished tho czar's portrait and wa3 given an order
on tho court treasurer for $6,000. Tho treasurer
would only pay the artist $4,000. Tho rest, ho said,
was his commission, discount, and so on. When
tho professor went to tako leave of tho czar ho wao
asked whether he had received his feo. He ex
plained what had happened and the czar then gave
him tho $2,000 out of his private safe in gold. He
did not seem at all surprised to hear of tho action
of the treasurer and has taken no stops to have him
punished.
CONGRESSMAN HEPBURN of Iowa has been
severely criticised for his railroad freight
rato measure, but tho Washington correspondent
for tho Sioux City Journal says: "Every lino and
every word of tho Hepburn bill was written in the
office of Attorney General Moody and approved by
tho president before it was introduced by Col.
Hepburn." The correspondent adds: "It is prob
able Col. Hepburn, in his speech in support of the
committee bill this week, will refer to the situation
in Iowa, of the misconception, of tho unfair means
employed, of the effort to make political capital
for somebody olso, and will intimate that when all
tho facts aro known matters will look differently."
CHARLEb WAGNER, author of tho "Simple
j. Life,'; referring to tho president, says: "He
love3 France, and takes pleasure In recalling that
he and Mrs. Roosevelt are descendants of a French
Huguenot family." This, moves tho New York
World to say: 'Not only a many-sided man but
a many-blooded man Is Mr. Roosevelt. When he Is
talking to a Frenchman ho can think only of
Franco and his French blood. Tho sight of a
Hollander drives from his mind everything but the
thought that Dutch blood strolls leisurely through
his veins. Whistle "The Wearin' o' tho Green" and
the president, remembering his ancestral shillalah,
begins to s ing tho Big Stick, and then wise South
American republics take to the tall timber. Men
tion Missouri and he remembers that his own ar
teries expand under tho pressure of warm southern
blood. Or Lodge drops in and Mr. Roosevelt re
calls that he too had New England ancestors, even
if codfish balls are not on the white house break
fast table. If the president could be separated Into
his constituent parts he might make a creditable
appearance as a world's fair congress of nations."
SENATOR KEAN of New Jersey has prepared
a resolution proposing tc authorize the in
terstate commerce committee to sit during the rc-
. cess of congress to investigate the railed rate
question, the committee to report Its findings to
the .senate at its regular session nett November.
The Washington correspondent for the Chicago
Tribune, referring to the Kean resolution, saysj
VThe adoption of such a resolution Is designed for
the purpose of tying tho hands of President Roose
velt, who has announced his determination to call
an extra session if no legislation on this question
is enacted by the present congress. This Is tho
scheme of the railroad attorneys, who are respon
sible for the proposition. It Is to be used as an
argument against tho session, and the contention
will be made that the president should not call
congress together to act on this question while the
senate is conducting an investigation of it. In
view of the president's attitude on the railroad rate
questions, and hl3 frank announcement that he will
call an extra session of congress if necessary, tho
adoption of tho resolution would be an insult to
him. President Roosevelt is well aware that this
subterfuge is proposed for the purpose of embar
rassing him, and those who are awaro of the presi
dent's views believe he would ignore the pIano
the railroad representatives to cause delay, and call
m an extra session in spito of any investigation tho
senate may authorize."
THE youngest rear admiral in the United States
is older than Admiral Togo, according to a
writer in The Independent. The fou Japanese vice
admirals are all younger than the youngest of our
captains. Tho Japanese rear admirals average ago
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