■ V-y
RECEIPTS ARE GOOD.
THE NEW LAW IS DOINO GOOD
WORK.
r •
Trcnnor; Kxplrta Claim Little If An;
Deficit for September, Notwithstand
ing the Vaet Amount- of foreign
Uoode let to the Country.
(Washington Letter.)
The second month of the operation of
the new tariff law Is likely to relieve
Democratic statesmen and orators of
mnch of the surplus anxiety with whlcn
they have favored the country In re
gard to receipts under that measure.
It Is now apparent that the revenues of
the second month ofVhe operation of
i the Dingley law will reach twenty mil
lions of dollars, which Is more than
that of the second month of the Wil
son law, and that there will be little,
. if any, • deficit for the month. The
revenues in the first twenty-two days
v In the month amodnted to 915,692,456.
and It la estimated by treasury experts
that the total for the month will be
120,06^000 In round numbers, while the
> expenditures will probably be little if
; any In exoesa of that sum. .
Tim H In marked contrast with the
operations ot the second month of the
r?isT wtifttrlaw. Thelerwinrinto effect,
•a. dldThe Dlngley law, within a few
days of the close of the calendar month
and Its operations were thus calculated
from the first day of the month follow*
Ing Its enactment, as In the case In the
’ statements which are being made with
reference,to the Dlngley law. The Wll
son law In its second month produced
a deficit of )13,573,800. while It now
seems probable that there will be lit
y tie If any deficit In the second month
y.;\ of the Dlngley law. That the Dlngley
ilaw should have been able in its first
y two months of operation to have pro
duced as much or anything like as
much revenue as did the Wilson law In
y the two corresponding months of its
operation is remarkable, and Is of it
/,/ self an evidence that the Dlngley law
when the business of the country
reaches Its normal condition, will be an
ample revenue producer. During the
months prior to the final enactment of
the Wilson law all dutiable goods up*
y on vhliV the rates of duty were re
rfucedt dfftpmoved were held back by
ImportmjS in order that they might
come' lg ;udder the operations ot that
law. The result .was an enormous in*
y crease in the customs revenues uuder
that law ^he minute it went into oper
ation. jlndeed, the customs receipts in
fta Aral; month, September, 1894, were
m
• -
m
K:
|P-. -
s* t
m
yj / :
?. w-.r< s;
■
. ■
* 1
’•si
larger utau in any aeptemoer during its
entire history and were only exceeded
in tota^ .amount ontwo or three occa
sions pfror to the inrush of foreign
goods which preceded its final repeal.
On thi^^ier hand, foreign goods were
rushed into the country os everybody
knowy at an almost unheard of rate
durlUg the five months preceding , the
enactment of the Dingley law, the ef
fect being to almost paralyse the im
portations during the first few weeks
after its final enactment. The Increase
In ImrphrtationB of foreign goods in the
five months between the inauguration
of President McKinley and the enact-'
ment of the Dingley law was $106,347,
OSfi tn excess of that for the corre
sponding months of the preceding year,
an increase of nearly 40 per cent over
the normal importations of the corre
sponding period of the preceding year.
The occasion for surprise then, is, not
that the receipts under the Dingley law
have been light, but on the contrary,
that they have been as heavy as they
are. up to this time, and that this act,
laboring as it did under especially ad
verse circumstances, should have been
able to outrun the Wilson law, which
name in under such especially favorable
circumstances as regards the customs
pad of its business. The following ta
bles compare the Importations during
the five months preceding the enact
ment of the Wilson and Dingley laws
respectively and the customs receipts
la those months, and show clearly the
advantages under which the Wilson
Jaw operated in the first months of its
existence and the disadvantages under
, Which the Dingley law now labors in
f|u first months of its operations.
- TaUe showing imports and customs
■eeslpls in the five months,preceding
4fce enactment of the Wilson Jaw;
Customs
Importations. Receipts.
April, 1894 ...$ 60,090,037 $ 10,176,691
May ....;. 66,812,727 9,798,067
June. 51,783,712 8,858,876
July. 65,302,065 8,427,338
August. 51,697,072 11,804,914
$285,685,614 49,065,886
Table showing Importations and cus
toms receipts during five months pre
ceding the enactment of the Dingley
law:
Customs
Importations Receipts
March, 1897 ..$ 76,351,444 $ 22,833,856
April . 101,322,406 24,454,351
May. 79,358,147 16,885,011
June. 83,183,021 21,560,152
July. 53,790,407 16,966,801
$396,005,425 $102,700,171
It will be seen from the above tables
that the importations of foreign goods
in the five months preceding the enact
ment qf the Dingley law were $396,
005,425, against only $285,685,614 in the
corresponding five months prior to the
enactment of the WllBon law. They
also exceed the corresponding five
months of the year 1896 by $105,347,032.
showing that the importations of the
months between the inauguration of
President McKinley and the signing of
the Dingley bill were more than $100,
000,000 in excess of the normal. It will
also be seen that the customs receipts
in these five months of abnormal im
portation prior to the enactment of the
Dingley law were more than double
those of the five months prior to the
enactment of the Wilson law, and that
fully $50,000,000 which under ordinary
circumstances would have been col
lected during the months of August.
September, October, November, and De
cember of the present year was collect
ed during the months of March, April,
May, June and July, and that the Ding
ley law was thus robbed of an average
of $10,000,000 per month for the first
five months of Its operations. That
the Dingley law would be ample in its
. revenue producing qualities under nor
mal conditions is not doubted by the
treasury officials.
“We have been watching It very
cloBely," said Assistant Secretary How
ell, “and I have no doubt whatever that
the new law will give us an ample
revenue after the treasury business re
turns to Its normal condition. I have
been studying these customs matters
for many years In my long service in
this department, and It Is my deliberate
Judgment after a careful study of the
workings of the new law during the
two months that It has been In opera
tion, comparing Its work with that of
other laws, for I have seen the work of
many of them, that the new measure
will give to the treasury all the revenue
which It needs as soon as normal busi
ness conditions return, indeed It is
surprising to me that It has accom
plished as much as It has during the
past two months In view of the adverse
conditions under which It went into op
eration, and nobody, whatever his pol
itics or political views or ambitions
may be, who will study Its workings
thus far carefully in the light of all
conditions, It seems to me, can have
any doubt upon this subject."
GEO. H. WILLIAMS.
Money lu Thole PoekoU.
The new Republican monster not
only pulls money out of the pockets of
all consumers who remain at home, but
It puts Its paw Into the trunks of all
returning travelers.—Wilmington, N.
C„ “Messenger."
Under the Democratic policy of Free
Trade It was Impossible “to pull money
out of the pockets” of Americans be
cause there was no money In their
pockets. Now they are getting well
lined again with American dollars'and
all “patriots" are pleased to contribute
their little mites to Uncle Sam’s treas
ure chest.
Tha Bad of 1b
It seems only to be a question of time
when Great Britain must cease to ex
port any tin plates to the United States,
and that time may probably be here
very soon.—Iron and Coal Trades’ Re
view, England.
We hope so. This' was the Intent
and purport of the McKinley tariff o!
1890, and it is gratifying to learn, from
an authoritative foreign source, that
-such a favorable result la , being s<
quickly achieved. ,
KEPUBLICAN OPINION.
; Reports from tie manufacturing
districts, North and South, continue tc
show Increased activity. Three large
cordage mills at Isaia, Ohio, which
have heen out of operation for several
years, are being re-opened with a full
force of men. The Wead paper mills
at Malone. N. V., which have been idle
for two years, have been re-opened;
the Bridgeton, Pa„ woolen mills, which
have been closed nearly three years,
have resumed operations; two of the
Ohio valley railroads have given or
ders for one thousand new box cars
each, for use in the business which is
being offered them, and which they are
now unable to handle; the Cleveland
rolling mills report a large order for
bar steel from Birmingham, England,
and an Ohio paper mill reports a con
tract of several thousand tons of print
paper for the Japanese trade.
No better evidence of the actual re
turn of business activity could be
found than the official reports of bank
clearances for the week ending Sep
tember 18. They show the clearances
to be fully fifty per cent greater than
at this time a year ago, and seventy
five per cer‘„ in excess of those of the
corresponding week two years ago.
They are greater than at any time
since January, 1893.
Is it that terrible "money power”
that is destroying the crops all over the
world for the purpose of giving Amer
ican farmers higher prices and thus
showing them the falsity of the wheat
and-silver theory? There is just as
much sense in assuming that the mon
ey power could control the wind and
weather and grasshoppers and other
causes of foreign grain shortages as It
was to assume last fall that a handful
of financiers located in some myste
rious secret chamber in London or
elsewhere could control the legislation
of the greatest and most intelligent na
tions of the world in behalf of the
gold standard, as waB asserted
day to day and week to week during
the entire campaign of 189G.
Is It the Dingley law or the fall of
silver which Is the cause of advance
of all farm products in the last sixty
days? There has been no occasion in
which sliver has fallen more rapidly
than during the month of August, and
no time in which all farm products
have advanced more rapidly than dur
ing August and September. Since the
Dingley law went into operation about
the time that this advance came, it
might he well to call upon Mr. Bryan
for another paid syndicate article ex
plaining the cause of this general ad
vance.
The treasury department has over
$145,000,000 of gold in hand, and has
had since the McKinley administration
came lit a larger gold surplus than at
any time for a long period of years.
This is in marked contrast with the
conditions during the Democratic ad
ministration, when President Cleve
land was compelled to sell bonds every
now and then to keep up the hundred
million reserve.
Those people who are satisfied with
Mr. Bryan’s explanation of the cause
in the advance in the price of wheat
might do well to inquire of him about
the advance of wool. He says the ad
vance in wheat was due to a shortage
abroad. There is no record of any
considerable shortage abroad in wool,
yet prices of wool have advanced, sixty
per cent, since the beginning of Sep
tember, 1896, while silver has fallen
twenty per cent, in the same time.
The visit of Senators Mantle and Pet
tigrew to the Mikado of Japan to in
quire why silver has been demonetized
seems to have been a great loss of time
and labor. Had they taken the trou
ble to examine the report of the di
rector of the mint, which covers the
value of Japan’s silver coins during the
past few years, they would have found
It entirely unnecessary to take their
trip across the Pacific, though that
might be a very convenient trip for al
most anybody to take providing the
silver trust saw fit to pay expenses.
The report of the director of the mint
Bhows that the Japanese silver yen,
which was worth 83 1-10 cents in 1891,
was only worth 47 8-10 cents in 1897,
all of which should have been sufficient
Information for anybody who wanted
cold tacts without a foreign junket as
an accompaniment. Senators Petti
grew and Mantle having omitted to fav
or the people of this country with the
result of their interview with the Mi
kqdo,, the public may be able to work
along with the Information given In the
following table, until the silver states
men are heard fiom:
Value of Value of
Tear. Silver Ten. Gold Ten.
1888-. 75.3 98.7
1889 . ...73.4 99.7
1890 . 76.2 , 99.7
1891 . :..83.1 : ' 99.7
1892 .74.5 99.7
1893 . 66.1 99.7
1894 . 55.6 99.7
1895 . 49.1 99.7
1896 . 52.9 99.7
1897 (July)...47.8 99.7
Last week’s report covering the busi
ness failures in the United States U
more encouraging than any which has
been presented since the upward ten
dency of business which came with the
inauguration of President McKinley.
The entire number of business failures
reported last week was only 169, which
was less than half the number In the
corresponding week of September, 1893
the first year of Cleveland's second
term, and vastly lbss than any corre
sponding week during the entire tout
years of bis occupancy of the firesi'
dentlal chair.
- - - -(
POLITICAL SENSATION
ACTING - GOVERNOR RANSOM
CHARGES FRAUD
In Open Court at Omaha He Contends
that Fraud Was Committed l»y Governor
Hrtlcnmh When He Approved Hartley’s
Straw Bond—Offers to Show that Hol
comb Knew of Hartley's Shortage—
Meserve's liond Worthless—Several of
Ills Largest Sureties Have Left the
State.
Meserve's Record In Red Willow County.
The condition of the state treasury
was the one particular thing most
talked about by Governor Holcomb, m
his campaign for governor three years
ago. He would reform the business of
the state treasury. That’s what ha
would. He canvassed the state and at
tl<« farmer picnics he was a bold re
former. He taught the people that the
treasury had not been properly pro
tected, that its fituds wore not properly
managed, and that he was the one par
ticular man who would attend to that
particular business if elected. So per
sistent was he in his discussion of the
state treasury and so prodigal was lie'
’ of brave promises that the public
learned in that campaign to look upon
him and to style him us ‘ the watch
dog of the public money." Whatever
grievances had b>en in the past, Hol
comb would reform the treasury when
he got into power. Enough of the peo
ple believed in this proud boaster to
elect him, and the farmers said among
themselves, “Now the treasury is safe,
for Holcomb is in the chair.” The
farmers understood then, as they do
.tow, that the business of securing the
public money by a sound treasurer's
bond was the governor’s business, and
they knew that if that business was
properly attended to there could be no
loss to the tax-payers whether the
state treasurer was honest or not. The
people had elected the treasurer believ
ing him to be an honest man, but they
did not depend upon his honesty, they
depended upon the bond, and they had
elected a governor whoso duty it. was
l.o require a bond, and they believed
that he would perform that duty. He
was commanded to do it by the law,
and he would surely obey the law, hut
he was bound to periorm tnis duty,
and It rested upon his conscience with
tenfold force by reason of his promises
at the country picnics, and because he
was no ordinary governor hut a reform
governor, the leader of a reform party,
and its only representative in the state
house. The treasury was the one par
ticular thing which he had discussed
in his campaign—was the one particu
lar thing above all others that needed
reform—and now, as he entered upon
the duties of his first term the first
thing presented to him for his official
action was an opportunity to reform
the treasury. If any part of the public
funds had been misappropriated, here
was the opportunity for him to make
the discovery by counting the money,
as the law directs, and if the treasury
had not been properly secured in the
past, as he had charged in his speeches,
here was an opportunity for him to
commence his reform and to make tho
treasury safe in the future. It now
transpires that Bartley's half million
default had commenced then, and that
the governor knew it. Not only had
the default commenced, but the gov
ernor, knowing it. permitted Bartley
on entering his second term to flic a
spurious bond, from which not a dollar
■an be collected, and he permitted this
defaulting treasurer to continue in
office two years, himself remaining
silent, refusing to count the money as
the law directed, holding out to the
people by his certificate on the bond
that it was genuine. A few days ago,
at Omaha,Hon. Frank, T. Ransom, pop
ulist senator from Omaha, president
pro tern, of the populist senate, chair
man of the so-called free-silver re
publican state committee, while acting
governor, charged in open court that
Governor Holcomb had committed this
fraud, and gave that as a reason to
the court why the Innocent sureties
who had signed the bond should be ex
cused. “A fraud has been commit
ted,” said Ransom. "That fraud was
committed by the governor of the state
of Nebraska and by Joseph S. Bartley.”
John H. Ames, one of the sureties,
stated to the court that he had signed
the Bartley bond relying upon the gov
ernor, that he was a lawyer and knew
his duty, that he was an honest man
who would keep his oath, that he had
counted the money as the law directs,
and that tho condition of the treasury
was then sound. Here we have Act
ing-Governor Ransom charging a
fraud upon Acting-Governor Holcomb
which calls for his Impeachment and
removal from office.
ino last repuuucan state convention
denounced Bartley and Moore who
had betrayed the republican party. The
republican press of the state has been
unsparing in its criticism of these re
publican betrayers, and no republican
voter has offered to excuse or palliate
one iota of their guilt. In this the re
publican party shows its honesty of
conscience. We will now see whether
the reform press and the voters of-the
reform party will longer stultify their
reform cause by covering up and apol
ogizing for the governor’s rascality,
bo they have covered up and apolo
gized for this shameless administra
tion from the very hour which it took
charge of the state government the
first of this year.
But this is not the only bond fraud
which Governor Holcomb has perpe
trated upon the Nebraska people.
Meserve’s bond is as rotten and
worthless as Bartley’s second bond.
The governor knew it when he ap
proved it and when he certified to the
people the falsehood that it was a gen
uine bond. Not only was it worthless
when it was presented by Meserve and
approved by the governor, but nearly
all of the larger signers have since dis
posed of their property, and several of
them have abandoned the state leav
ing no available assets behind. Not
only this, but Meserve's career prior
‘•’his taking charge of the state treas
ury 13 such as to arouse suspicion and
call for the closest scrutiny of his sure
1 ties. His Induction into the county
, treasuryship at McCook was brought
about by his creditors there, to whom
he was heavily indebted, and the rec
ords of Red Willow county show that
within the space of a little more than
a year while he1 was county treasurer
he paid off 124,000 of indebtedness,
although his salary was but |2,000 per
' gnnuQL Who Is carrying this indebt
edness now? He paid rils private cred
itors; that much appears from the
county records. Where did he get the
money? What would have been his
relation to Red Willow county had he
not been elected state treasurer? What
would be his relation to the state to
day if the governor should require of
him an accounting now? Will the
governor require this accounting?
Will he require a new bond in lieu of
the worthless bond under which the
state treasurer now holds office?
There must be somewhere some con
science among the rank and file of
populist voters. If this election passes
without a manifestation ol this higher
conscience in the populist party it can
never again lift up its head and ask
for the respect or the votes of Ne
braska people.
Several times in the history of Ne
braska the republican press has united
in scourging republican offenders and
making their actions odious be
fore the public. There never has been
at any time In the history «f the state
what could be justly styled a subservi
ent republican press. At no time when
the republican party was in! power has
it been dominated by a state house
ring so powerful that not S single re
publican paper dared to lift its voice
in protest. A year ago now the re
publican press was outspoken against
I Bartley’s influence in the .republican
I party. The republican sewspapers
voiced the demand of republican voters
all over the state that Bartiley should
not be a controlling factor In shaping
the party politics. All this Is fresh in
the mind of the people to-diy. When
Bartley’s shortage was first hinted at
but not fully established, nit a single
republican attempted to shield or ex
cuse him. Republicans witn one nui
rersal voice said: "Let no guilty man
escape.” In all this the Republican
party showB its conscience and its
natural instinct for square politics and
honest administration. 1
wnat nas me populist prefcs said or
done to purge the reform pirty from
the actions of the rotten riig at the
state house? Look at the disgraceful
spectacle presented by the laitt reform
legislature. Look at the infamous re
count fraud, and the governor’s con
nection with it. To carry out this bold
Elot they ousted four republican mem
era from Omaha and one Tsenator,
making no pretense that there was
any reason except that they! needed
that many votes to pass the [recount
measure with the emergency' clause.
Did any populist newspaper utter a
word of protest against this infamous
thing while it was being carried on?
It would be difficult to find in history
an instance where there was suth uni
versal and general consent by sj polit
ical party and all its officials and its
press to a plot that wes revolutionary
and lawless in every feature. |That
recount matter will always remain a
dark spot in Nebraska’s history. [ It is
all the darker for the reason that the
populist press was silent and uttered
no protest against it. Take the 110,
000 investigating committee. Her« are
five members of the legislature draw
ing pay for two years at the rate of
$1,500 per annum, and for this they
render no equivalent to the publiejand
make no pretense to usefulness exfcept
as they trump up political capital' for
the reform movement. The members
of this committee make no pretense
that they are qualified for the business
of examining records or accounts.
What a spectacle this man Mutz has
made of himself as chairman of this
Investigating committee. And yet no
populist newspaper has offered to crit
icise him.
Look out over the state and you will
see a trail of defalcations wherever
populists have been in county offices,
but you will read no criticism against
these defalcations in the populist press.
In Lancaster county the populist clerk
of the district court robbed the county,
but no populist newspaper nor no pop
ulist convention has condemned hint.
In Custer county, the home of Governor
Holcomb, a populist plundered the
county treasury, but because this treas
urer was Holcomb’s friend, no word of
censure has ever been uttered agatnst
him by any populist newspaper or any
populist convention. Another county
official in Custer county defaulted. The
default was published by the commis
sioners, the public knew it, but the re
form party in Custer county carries the
name of that official to-dpy as its can
didate for county Judge. The reform
county committee out there have de
manded his withdrawal from the
ticket, but because he is Holcomb’s
friend, he remains on the ticket and
the populist voters there are whipped
Into line hv the houses demandine hia
support. In Merrick county, the home
of Secretary of State Porter, the treas
urer plundered the county to the
amount of $30,000, but neither Secre
tary Porter, the populist press, or the
populist conventions of that county
have dared to criticise it. In Platte
county, the home of Judge Sullivan,
the treasurer stole $30,000 but neither
Judge Sullivan or the other democratic
officials of the county have lifted so
much as a little flneer to prosecut^'t*' -
offender. Not only does this Platte
county defaulter go Scot free from
prosecution and free from criticism,
but his brother, who was intimately
associated with him when the default
was committed, has been promoted to
a public office at the state house under
Land Commissioner Wolfe, because he
Is the son-in-law of United States Sen
ator Allen. A populist treasurer
robbed Hamilton county and his son
was indicted for burning the court
house there, but through the influence
of Congressman Stark and others the
prosecution was nollied and the
guilty man allowed to escape; not only
to escape punishment, but to escape
criticism from the populist press and
the populist conventions of that
county. In Gosper county a populist
plundered the treasury and burned the
court house and the records, escaping
without punishment and without criti
cism. There is not space here to re
count the long list of populist defalca
tions which have occurred in the last
four or five years. In York county four
township treasurers defaulted, but you
do not read of these defalcations in the
populist press, and you do not hear of
them in the resolutions passed by the
populist conventions there.
Where is the conscience of the re
form party? Where is its honesty?,
Wherein does it show the reform that
It promised the people? Where is the
reform that was promised us as to
pass-grabbing and junketing? No po
litical party, no set of politicians in
any state, have made so disgraceful a
spectacle as the populists have made
In this state in the last tew months
along this line, and yet no mention of
this is made in any populist paper or
in the resolutions of any populist con
vention. These state officials hare
junketed in all directions. Look at the
disgraceful conduct of the state aud
itor. . What reform paper has criticised
him? What reform convention has
denounced him? Where are the fraud
ulent tally-sheets of the fraudulent
recount which Hedlund exposed, and
for which he was removed by the
governor from the recount commis
sion? Where is the investigating com
mittee with its $10,000 appropriation,
that it has not investigated this fraud,
brought out so conspicuously before
the public, pointed out so explicitly by
Hedlund, and attaching its wicked con
spiracy to the very person of the gov
ernor? All these things are in line
with the governor’s conduct as to
Bartley's spurious bond and the other
spurious hond of Meserve. What set
of party leaders have before shown
such utter disregard for the rank and
file of the party? These reform offi
cials treat their followers as if they
were dumb cattle; as if they had no
self-respect; as if they would follow
blindly any set of political shysters if
only they posed as reformers.
They promised to raise the valuation
of railroad property. They taught the
people for six years that railroad prop
erty was assessed too low. They made
the people believe it. It was a lie, but
they made the people believe it. There
baa never been a year since Nebraska
had railroads that the railroad prop
erty was not assessed at a higher valu
ation in proportion than other prop
erty, and yet these reformers pre
tended that the people had been
wronged in this matter^ and that they
would right the wrong as soon as they
got into power. Did they do it?. No!
When the opportunity came they pet
tifogged and caucused and pretended
for a whole week that they were
gravely considering how to carry out
the pledges they had made, and then
ended their Tarce by leaving the rail
road assessment as it had been be
fore. They pretended that they would
control the corporations as to rates.
They would regulate telephone and
telegraph companies. They would re
duce telephone rates for the benefit of
the down-trodden farmer, who never
uses a telephone. But have they done
it? They passed a law authorizing the
state board of transportation to regu
late these things, but they have not
enforced the law, and they make no
pretense of enforcing it. They cannot
enforce it. It was iincnnHHtiiHnniil
when they passed it and they knew it
Their law provides a fee to the at
torney general for every case which he
brings against the railroad, and this
thing alone makes it unconstitutional,
because the constitution says that no
state officer can have his salary raised
while he is in office. They knew that
this railroad law would be held uncon
stitutional, and the railroads winked
the other eye when it was passed.
These boasting reformers think that
they can fool the people year after
year by advertising what they are
going to do, and by pretending to do
something which they know will be
unconstitutional, and then they appeal
to the people and say that they were
hindered by republican courts and by
injunctions.
And now the question of Meserve’s
straw bond is knocking at the door.
What will the governor o about it?
Wbat will he do about the ugly charge
which Acting-Governor Ransom has
made against him in open court? Will
he go on counting his annual passes
and his Pullman passes, arranging for
another junket to the "red apple
country?” And will he attempt to
sooth Nebraska people with another
chapter from Mutz, the investigator?
How much of this Mutz will populist
voters endure without protest? How
long will they endure the humiliation
which the state house gang is heaping
upon them without making some dem
onstration of their disannroval?
TOOK A MEAN ADVANTAGE.
Bagaged Nan Insisted on Kissing Ilia
Fiancee in a Street Car.
A youngs man and a younj? woman
changed from a Belt line to a Four
teenth street car at the avenue,
Washington, and sat in one of the
seats in the first car. He was carry
ing an overcoat and a satchel and was
evidently going away. She wore a
shirt waist and dark skirt, as if start
ing out on a shopping expedition.
Just before they reached Sixth street
he leaned over her and said quietly,
so quietly that only the reporter baelc
of them could, hear: “I am going to
kiss you good-by when I leave tho
car.”
‘ Oh, please don’t,” she said appeal
ingly; “not before all these people.”
But he was decided and said per
sistently: “Yes I shall; so raise your
veil. If you try to resist people will
see it and wonder about you, and
they will look at you all the way up
town after I get off.”
She glanced up shyly and then
slowly raised her veil. He bent over
her and kissed her and no one in the
car looked up. A few people won
dered why she was so anxious to 6how
the diamond ring on the left hand,
but n body but the reporter appre
ciated the fact that she was trying to
justify the kissing by means of an en
gagement ring.
Troublesome Cracked Silver Coin.
The stumping machines at the gov
ernment mints, embodying as they do
all the best inventions obtainable, yet
do not do their work with absolute per
fection in every instance. Occasionally
a silver dollar is turned out with a
trifling defect, and then the coin causes
more trouble, many times over than it
is worth. This imperfection is a slight
crack in the edge of the coin, which is
likely to escaoe the notice of any ordi
nary scrutiny, but like the rift in the
lute of which the poet sings, it makes
the dollar's music mute.
The commonest way to test a silver
coin to find out whether it is a counter
feit or not is to drop on a table or
counter. If it has a clear ring it is
supposed to be good. As a matter of
fact some counterfeit coins, now cur
rent. which are made of antimony add
i tin, have a sound almost identical with
that of a real silver dollar. What
makes this test more uncertain is the
fact that a real silver dollar with the
little rift sounds as if it were lead when
dropped. The opening destroys its
jingle just as a crack destroys thtt
melodiousness of a bell.