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8
The Commoner.
.VOLUME 7, NUMBER U
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IRESII)IONT IIOOSMVELT has Hot aside Iho
verdict of acquittal rendered in tlio cane of
Oaptain Lewis M. Koehler, Fourth Cavalry, U.
S. A. Captain Koehler was charged with using
dlHrcHpectfiil language in an appeal from the -lotion
of General Wood, who reprimanded Captain
Koehler for making charges against Major Scott,
commanding oiilccr at the Jolo military post,
. and civil governor of Jolo, and was charged
with conduct unbecoming an olllcer and u gentle
man In making unfounded and malicious state
moutH regarding his commanding olllcer and with
- insuhordlnatlon. The first court-martini sentenced
' him to he reprimanded, but the second court-
martial upon which today's action was based, ac
quitted him.
SIBOKMTARY VAVT reported to the president,
saying that "After much consideration I am
.convinced that this finding of the court involves
afllrmatlve inferences and conclusions of fact that
cannot he supported by the evidence. You, as ho
reviewing authority, arc put In this position that
. if, you, approve the ilndlngs you necessarily alllrm
op approve the statement derogatory to General
Wood contained in the appeals and If you do so
approvo those statements, then it would, become
your duty, as commander-in-chief, to 'order Gen-
oral -Wood before a court-martial for perverting
his power as department commander to accom-
, pllsh- an unjust and unfair purpose against his
..,4,J"nllnnte ofllcer. You cannot In Justice to Gcn
. fRfil Wood find any evidence in the record to sus
tain the bringing of such proceedings or the flnd
,.,Jnj$ of a court against him," In setting aside tho
Plirdlct of the second court-martial, which was for
acmlttal, President Itoosevolt said: "I entirely
concur In all that the secretary of war says of
Captain Koehler and of General Wood and of tho
poor showing made by tho court which last passed
on thd case."
TTira EXPERIMENT made by tho Massachu
setts physicians has attracted considerable
attention. In some quarters it lias met witJi seri
ous attention and in others with smiles and sneers.
The Boston correspondent for the New York World
says:'1 '"Dr. John Sproul, of Haverhill, and Dr.
Willlanl V. Grant, of Lawrepce, today gave addi
tional details of Dr. Duncan MacDougall's ex
periments to show the existence of tho human
soul. After repeating the results of tho tests with
dying men and women, which showed in everv
, case a diminution of weight at the instant of death
of from one-half to one ounce, wholly unaccount
able for In any other way than tho illght of tho
soul, Dr. Sproul said that in order to confirm their
, tests tho doctors caused the death of thirteen dogs
i ranging In weight from fifteen to seventy pounds!
Iwieh ease was watched with the utmost care but
at tho instant of death there was not tho slightest
. diminution of weight on scales adjusted to show
a variation of one-tenth of an ounce. Dr. Mac
Dougall, the author of the original experiments,
today said: 'There Is really nothing proven vet
.'J ho research must continue extensively to con
clusively demonstrate that tho soul has weight
Any hospital that will give us tho opportunity to
continue these experiments will bo reimbursed"
ground that tho innumerable waves of motion pro
duced by the rise and fall of the chest add their
forces to the other forces acting upon the scales
and thus give an Increase over the true weight of
tho body? On the hypothesis we would naturally
expect some slight change to follow death and
such change to correspond in suddenness with tho
temperamental character of the deceased. These
physicians state that the change does take place,
and In the cases mentioned its manifestation was
controlled by temperament. Tho contrast of a
man walking across a scale platform and stand
ing still upon it may be used to illustrate my
meaning, but the illustration is not an exact ono.
In one case the forces are so great and their suc
cession so slow that the scale may be seen to vi
brate, while in the other the forces are so slight
aud their succession so rapid that no recoil is
perceptible. The spirit of energy in the body
ceased to labor, but I do not see-any proof that any
material part of tho body has been set free."
UNDER the Now Jersey law corporations arc
required to file an animal report. It has been
discovered that of the fifteen thousand corpora
tions chartered by New Jersey, eight thousand
failed to file their report for 1903. Failure to file
such a report is punishmable by fine, which in the
case of all these corporations would aggregate
?2,000,000. Under the law all the directors of these
corporations may be disqualified from serving in
any capacity in their respective corporations for
a period of one year.
TIIE AGENTS of the lumber triist say that the"
OfYOflt of tho nroatrlonf'a nnflrm !r ncn..rln.r
great areas of timbered land from sale' or settle-'
mont will operate to tho advantage of the trust ,
by further restricting the available domestic sup-'"
ply of lumber and facilitating a consequent in
crease of prices and profits. Referring to this
claim tho Philadelphia Record says: "This is quite
possible; but it is not so good an argument against
tho creation of forest reserves as it is against
the indefensible duty on imported lumber. The
true way to cut the 51aws of the trust is to repeal
tho tariff duties, under the shelter of which it
robs tho Consumer."
a GENILEMAN who Is described as s"an eml
ZX ncnt physiological chemist" dismissed tho
Boston experiment in short order when, apealcln
to the Chicago correspondent for the Now York
World, he said: "Years ago a group of Germ,
students settled this point: If a mouse was
owed to die in a hermetlcally-sealed-by fusion
not merely stoppered-bottle, absolutely no loss
of weight occurred, oven using a scale showln
one milligram (l-UO.OOOth of a pound). But"?
the mouse died In an open vessel a loss with n ha f
a minute of death of from ten to twei tv n III
grams was noticeable. That proved clearly U it
n gas was given off. The Boston eSinSrts
show a loss on the same ratio for tl e Sn
U
o
A SEEKER after truth" writes to tho iw
, . xo rld to say: "It may not be amiss
tP call the attention of the credulous to a cons or
ation of the possibility of, lU. scientific explanation
of tho observed diminution of wcljrht imino iinESS
following death, based purely upon tS Sffl
aws of all matter possessing Energy LS It St
be explained by tho wave theory of matter on tho
TIIE FIFTY-NINTH congress failed to provide
for an investigation of the ntue sub-treasuries
of the United States and the St. Louis Republic
thinks this Is significant for it says: "Recent
scandals in three of these institutions, and the as
certained loss of large sums of money from two of
them, reveal faulty methods of management which
call for broader aud deeper inquiry than experts
of tho treasury department have the power to
make. Nothing loss than a congressional commis
sion, empowered to summon witnesses from all
branches of the treasury service, can bring out
2S Ct? " a VVny t0 allfty a Sowing public sus
picion of looseness and Incompetence or worse if
indeed the suspicion be unfounded. Pending tho
count of cash in the sub-treasury at Chicago cre
dence need not be given to the rumor that the
tho mo l'n,7H bG nen.T t0 1.000,000 than
the Jf.13,000 already ascertained. But the morn
than a billion of dollars kept at all times in ?he
government s vaults ought to be so safeguarded
that it would be impossible for such a ruWto
,b p.Vm lnt .cii;culfltl0 mch less for It, by any
possibility, to turn out to be true. In failing to
ascertain whether there is possible ground for Bueh
rumors the republican congress wnTdeltaquent
in a high duty which it owed to tho people. Is tho
republican party afraid to unepver the record r
its guardianship of tho public moneys?''
(T?1 LEtWIS BrARSONS died recently
VX at Flora, 111., aged SO years. During tho
civil war ho served as chief of river and rail frai is
porta on for tho federal army. General ParsZ
was tho democratic nominee for lieutenant SU?
ernor of Illinois in 18S0, at the time iymin Tram!
bio was the democratic nominee for governor Tho
St. Louis Globe-Democrat says: "In the "lea th of
. General Parsons .tho country loses one of the men
upon whose ability, courage and integrity the fc
, tqry of its arms depended in the times that triod
njon's souls. Among the men of. the Strong arm
. and ciean hand whoso work contributed to " Sf,?
cess he was as conspicuous as ac ive il?s organ
izing .and executive abilities, soon perceived S
sorolyeedcd, led early in the war to his prom
tion from the line to the post of chief of the trans
portation department, in which his work won suc
cessive promotions in military grade up to the
rank of brigadier general. He had the confidence
of Lincoln and of Grant, and in the voluminous
correspondence he leaves are letters expressing
their sense of dependence upon his intelligent co
operation, and their appreciation of the high ser
vice which always put men in the right place at
the right time. After the close of the war the
improvement in methods of transporting large
bodies of troops which wore made under his con
trol of the transportation bureau, were highly
commended by Gen. von Moltke. The United
States will be fortunate if, In the next great war!
It has in command of such a vital work a man of
the singleness of purpose, unselfish devotion to
duty, and high ability of Lewis B. Parsons.
THS C1TH J?LECTIOaN of Chicago will' take
PhiinriSnSi i u TRc,fcrrinS to ffiis election the
Philadelphia Public Ledger says: "It Is of more
than passing import, because if the republicans
S?WnWi,n ltMrJ?. be the dth-knell to so-called
municipal, ownership as practiced, in this country.
Democrats, headed by Mayor Dunne, seek to have
i C utake over tlle street cars' and then have
the city become the owner, and run the same as it
twSSi le water or any other business.
fip dT4t t6 K0-ia haTe a11 public UtilItie3
. O-s.
TnE "call of the tame" is on according to the
New York. World's Waterbury, Conn., cor-
,perate expedient of depending upon the meiy
of civilized man.. At Columbia Mrs. John W
Fuller a mnfnfn n1o. o ni, .. .. u" vv.:
...w...ta t aiv u. lourceen email
which began by stealing tthe food of lier. chickens
and which now not only eat regularly with the do-
?etIS.!1bnt sllnro ti,elr nests an Perches.
J. l. Littles hen-house numbers among its regular
habitants several quail and four blue jays which
dwell in peace and amity with the Plymouth
Rocks. Cornelius Kierstad, of Deep River, reports
wmaeGrmImve lulSen rGfuge in his woodshed, and '
W lllam Townsend, of Middlebury, is troubled bv
chickadees which .fly into his house whenever a
door or window is opened."
FmfnT"5?81 GENERAL
JL monk H. Hitchcock has made a compilation
showing how many clerks in postofflces and lette?
carriers will be affected by the increased pay re
cently provided for them by congress. The Wash
ingtpn correspondent for the New York Press savq.
'The additional pay will begin on Jnly i X new
fiscal year. The total number of clerks promoted
at that time or as soon afterward as they sha H
have completed a year's service in the grades n
which they are now serving, will bo loonn n?
these 358 will be advanced from a salarv of S4o
to $G00; 833 from ?n00 to $000;" S4 from Snon
?800; 4,02G from .$700 to SS00 4 995 Sm loon -
SfiSSi nt0ow?1a?rCCeain J
ary provided by law, will be promoted In tiie same
way. The increase will affect 24,227 caXs
S 0? iMeveatlS? fll0Uehte are suggested bv
nYonth's0 agf efr iCj5vWiGn " 8n
to give an account of itself to tho nl ffl011
its administration of the nubHo Sn&J0
give nn aecoint of jJES U fL OjffiSflfltotS
. govomtnont. Having made tbla nri?fSS. ?
-only natural that 1lf m ZSifWUS
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