INTERNATIONAL PRESS ASSOCIATION. •CHAPTER XXIII.—(CostisdbdA “You will oblige me by leaving the ahouse,” he said, “if you cannot speak civilly. I have made this lady my wife. 'She belongs now to me and my coun try, and she accompanies me to Paris "tonight." “No, not tonight,” said Marjorie "Quickly. “You will not take me away tonight, Leon!" “And why not tonight, Marjorie?” “Because I have promised Mr. Suth erland to go back with him to Annan -dalo to see my—to see dear Miss Heth ■erlngtcn. She is ill, and she wants me, ’monsieur.” “I regret it, but we do not get every thing we wish in this world. I must leave for Paris without delay!” Marjorie hesitated and looked con tused. Then Sutherland spoke, uncon sciously uttering the thoughts which A had been in the girl’s mind. “You can go to Paris,” he said, “if .yzu allow Marjorie to return with me.” . The Frenchman gave a smile which was half a sneer. “You are consideration itself, mon sieur,” he said. Then, turning to Mar jorie, he added: “What does my wife say to that?” i—i uuu i Kfjuw, sae stammered. "'I am so sorry for Miss Hetherington. It would be only for a few days, per haps, and—I could follow you.” Caussidiere smiled again, this time less agreeably. “You seem to be tender-hearted, Marjorie,” he said, “to every one but myself. Truly, an admirable speech to make to your husband In the first flush of the honeymoon. I am too fond of you, however, to lose you quite so .soon.” “Then you will not let me return?” “Most assuredly I shall not let you .go; what is Miss Hetherington to you •or to me? She 1b your mother, per haps, as you say; but in her case, what 4oes that sacred word ‘mother’ mean? Merely this: A woman so hardened that she could abandon her helpless off spring to the mercy of strangers; r.nd afterward, when she saw her alone and utterly friendless, had not tenderness •enough to come forward and say: ‘Mar jorie, you are not alone in the world; •come to me—your mother!’ ” “Ah, Leon, do not talk so!” exclaim .w«d Marjorie; then, seeing Sutherland " I. about to speak, she went toward him IVwith outstretched hands. jr “Do not speak,” she whispered, "for any sake. Since my husband wishes it, I must remain. Good-by.” She held forth her hand, nnd he took it in both of his, and, answering her prayer, he remained silent. He had sense enough to see that in the present instance the Frenchman had the power entirely in his own hands, and that he Intended to use it. He had noted the sneers and cruel smiles which had flit ted over Caussidiere’s face, and he saw that further interference of his might result in evil for the future of her he loved. So, instead of turning to the French man, he kept Marjorie's hand, and waid: “You are sure, Marjorie, that you wish to remain?” “Ye»,” sobbed Marjorie, “quite sure. <}iTe my love to my dear mother, and *ay that very soon my husband will 'V bring Ke home again.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed Tt again and again; then, with out another word, he was about to leave 'the room, when Caussidiere stop ped hint. “Monsieur,” he said, “you will also, if you please, bear a leetle message to -our mu“h esteemed Miss Hetherington from ms. Tell her that, though in the first days of our married life she has tried to separate my wife from me, I bear her no ill will; on the contrary, I ■ghall be glad to hear of her prosperity. Tell her, also, monsieur,” added the Frenchman blandly, "that since Mar jorie Anuan and I are one, we share the same good or evil fortune; that she cannot now gratify her malignity by persecuting Leon Caussidiere without persecuting her own child!” CHAPTER XXIV. N one of the nar row Parisian streets in the near neighborhood o f the Seine, close to quays and old bookstalls, fre quented by the litterateur out at elbows and the bibliomaniac, there is an obscure caba Tat or house of entertainment, bearing ■the name of Mouche d’Or. Besides tho sanded salon, with its marble tables •and its buffet, presided over by a giddy ■damsel of forty, there is a dining •chamber up stairs, so low that a tall man standing upright can almost touch the ceiling with his head, and so badly lit by a narrow window that a light of some sort is necessary even by broad •day. In this upper chamber, one foggy af . ternoon in autumn, three years after the occurrence of the events described In the last chapter, a man was seated alono and busily writing at one of the wooden tables. The man was about forty years of age, corpulent, with jet-black hair and mustache, but otherwise clean shaven. . He wrote rapidly, almost furiously,( now and then pausing to read, half aloud, the matter on the paper, ob viously his own composition. As he did so, he smiled, well pleased, or frowned savagely. Presently he paus ed and stamped with his foot on the floor. In answer to his summons, a young woman of about twenty, gaudily at tired, with a liberal display of cheap jewelry, came up the narrow stairs. “Ah, Adele!” cried the man, “is the boy below?” The woman answered with a curious nod. “Give him these papers—let him fly with them to the printer. Stay! Is any one below?” “No one, Monsieur Fernand.” “Death of my life, Caussidiere is late,” muttered the man. “Bring me some absinthe and a packet of cigar ettes.” The woman disappeared with the parcel of manuscript, and returned al most immediately, bearing the things ordered. She had scarcely set them down, when a foot was heard upon the stairs, and our old acquaintance, Caus sidiere, elegantly attired, with fault less glove3 and boots, entered the room. “Here you are!” cried the man. “You come a little late, mon camarade. I should have liked you to hear the ar ticle I have just dispatched to the Bon Cltoyen.” It will keep till tomorrow, Huet,” returned the other, dryly, “when I shall behold it in all the glory of large type.” Huet, as the man was named, ripped out a round oath. “It is a firebrand, a bombshell, by -! ” he cried. “The dagger-thrust of Marat, with the epigram of Victor Hu go. I have signed it at full length, mon camarade—‘Fernand Huet, Work man, Friend of the People.’ ” . Caussidlere laughed and sat down. " “No man can match you, my dear ' Huet, in the great war of—words.” “Just so, and in the war of swords, ! too, when the time comes. Nature has i given me the soul of a poet, the heart of a lion, the strength of Hercules, the tongue of Apollo. Behold me! When heroes are wanted, I shall be there.” The two men talked for some time on general subjects; then Huet, after regarding his companion with a pro longed stare, observed with a coarse laugh: “You are a swell as usual, my Caus sidiere. Parb’.eu, it is easily seen that you earn not your living, like a good patriot, by the sweat of your brow! Who is the victim, mon camarade! Who bleeds?” “I do not waste what I have,” re turned Caussidlere, “and I love clean linen, that is all.” Huet snapped his Angers and laugh ed. “Do you think I am a fool to swallow that canard? No, my Caussidlere. You have money, you have a little nest-egg at home. You have a wife, brave boy; she is English, and she is rich.” “On the contrary, she is very poor,” j answered Caussidlere. “She has not a coil ** I uiaDie: "Nevertheless, I will not disguise from you that she has wealthy connec tions, who sometimes assist us in our •struggle for subsistence. But it is not touch that comes to me from that quar ter, I assure you. Mj correspondence and my translations are our chief re liance.” “Then they pay you like a prince, mon camarade!” cried Huet. “But there, that Is your affair, not mine. You are with us, at any rate, heart and soul?” "Assuredly.” Sinking thsir voices, they continued to converse for some time. A't last Caussidiere rose to go. After a rough handshake from Huet, and a gruffly murmured “A bientot,” he made his way down the narrow stairs, and found himself in the sanded entresol of the cabaret. Several men in blouses sat at the ta ble drinking, waited upon by Adele. As Caussidiere crossed the room the girl followed him to the door and touched him on the shoulder. “How is madame?” she asked, in a low voice. “I trust much better.” Caussidiere gazed at the questioner;' with no very amiable expression. > "Do you say Madame Caussidiere? How do you know that there is such a person?” The girl shrugged her shoulders. “Your wife or your mistress, it Is all the same. You know whom I mean, monsieur.” “She is better, then.” “And the little garcon?” "Quito well,” answered Caussidiere, passing out into the street. Leaving Mouche d’Or behind him, and passing along the banks of the Seine, Caussidiere crossed the river and reached the neighborhood of the Palais Royal. From time to time he exchanged a nod or a greeting with some passer-by, generally a person much more shabbily attired than him self. Lingering among the arches, he purchased one or two journals from the itinerant venders,and then passed slow ly ou till ho reached a narrow back street, before one of the doors of which he paused and rang a bell. The door being opened by a men in his shirt sleoes, who greeted him with a “bon •olr,” he passed up a dingy flight of wooden stairs till he gained the second floor, which consisted of three rooms en suite, a small salon, a bedchamber, and a smaller bedchamber adjoining. In the salon which was gau dily but shabbily furnished In red velvet, with mirrors on the walls, a young woman was seated sewing, and playing near to her was a child about a year and a half old. Both mother and child were very pale and delicate, but both had the same soft features, gentle blue eyes and golden hair. The woman was Marjorie Annan— Marjorie with all the lightness and happiness gone out of her face, which had grown sad and very pale. As Caussldiere entered, she looked up eagerly and greeted him by his Chris tian name. The child paused timidly in his play. “You are late, Leon,” said Marjo rie, In French. “I have watted in all day, expecting you to return.” “I was busy and couldn’t come," was the reply. "Any letters?" “No, Leon.” Caussldiere uttered an angry excla mation, and threw himself into an armchair. “The old woman had better take care,” he cried. “Nearly a week has now passed and she has not replied to my note—that Is, to yours. And we want money infernally, as you know.” Marjorie sighed, and her eyes filled with tears. “Why are you crying?” demanded her husband, sharply. “Because you have an unnatural mother, who would rather see you starve than share her wealth with you, or with the child?” “No, no, it is not that,” answered Marjorie. “Miss Hctherington has been very good. She has given us a great deal already; but we require so much, and I am sure she is not so rich as you suppose.” “She is a miser, I tell you,” returned Caussldiere. “What she has sent you is not sufficient for an ordinary semp stress’ wage. She had better take care! If she offends me, look you, 1 could bring her to shame before all the world.” At this moment there was a knock at the room door, and the man who had admitted Caussldiere entered with a letter. "A letter for madame,” he said. Marjorie took the letter, and, while the man retired, opened it with trem bling hands. Her husband watched her gloomily, but his eye glistened as he saw her draw forth a bank order. "Well?” he said. “It Is from Miss Hetherington—from my—mother! Oh, is she not good! Look, Leon! An order upon the bank for thirty pounds.” "Let me look at it,” said Caussldiere, rising and taking It from his wife's hand. “Thirty pounds! It is not much. Well, what does the old wom an say?” "I—I have not read the letter." “Let me read it,” he said, taking It from her and suiting the action to the words. It was a longlsh communication. Caussldiere read it slowly, and his face darkened, especially when he came to the following words: “If you are unhappy, come back to me. Bemember your home is always here. Oh, Marjorie! my bairn! nev er forget that! It is a mother's heart that yearns and waits for you! Come back, Marjorie, before it is broken al together.” Caussldiere tossed the letter on the table. "3o you have been telling her that you are unhappy,” he said with a sneer. “In the future I must see all your letters, even to the postscripts. And she begs you to go back to Scot land! Well,< v/ho knows?—it may cofte to that yet!” (TO BS CONTINUED.) SALADS AS A DIET. Uoie WholFiome Food and Should B* Eaten Every Day. “The beauty and wholesomeness of the salad should commend It to every American housekeeper," writes Mrs. S. T. P.orer in the Ladies’ Home Journal. "I no not refer to those highly se? soheil combinations of hard-boiled eggs And mustard, but to dainty dinner or luncheon salads made with a dressing of olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice and a light seasoning of salt, garlic and pepper. “The salts necessary for the well be ing of our blood are bountifully given in these green vegetables. Then, too. It is a pleasant way of taking fatty food. All machinery must be well oiled to prevent friction, and the won derful human engine is not an excep tion to the rule. Look carefully to it that you take sufficient fatty food, “The Americans do not use enough oil to keep them in perfect health. While butter is served in some families three times a day, and is better than no fat, its composition is rather against it as compared to a sweet vegetable oil. Fats well digested are the salvation of consumptives, or those suffering from any form of tuberculosis. For these reasons a simple salad composed of any green vegetable and a French dressing should be seen on every well-regulated table 3G5 times a year. Those who live out of town can obtain from the fields sorrel, long docks, dandelions and lamb’s quarters for the cost of picking. Where desserts ,are not used, and I wi3h for health’s sake, they might be abolished, a salad with a bit of cheese and bread or wafer or cracker, with a small cup of coffee, may close the meal. Where a dessert is used the salad, cheese and wafer are served Just before it, to prick up the appetite that it may enjoy more fully the sweet. At a large dinner the salad Is usually served with the game course.”. Corn ting done on a tandem ought to result In • double safety match. BOOSTING IRRIGATION. & Circular by the Secretary of the Board of Irrigation. The secretary of the board cf Irri gation has Issued a circular letter, which he is sending to every irriga tion ditch owner In the state and also to a large number of those who are using water from these nltches, about 800 copies of the letter having been sent out. He says that in some parts of Nebraska there is great lack of in formation as to the importance and extent of the irrigation work, and in some localities prejudices exist. For this reason the irrigation interests are prevented from receiving proper at tention by the legislature, and he thinks the only way this can be over come- is to spread before the people through the newspapers correct and timely knowledge of the progress and extent of irrigation. He calls attention to the fact that some of the newspa pers of the state are muen interested in the irrigation question and will cheerfully give the desired information to the public. Accompanying each let ter is a postal card with blanks to All out and mailed back to the board. The questions asked are: "What is the number of miles of completed ditch? What is the number of acres suscep tible of irrigation from your ditch? What is the number of acres actually irrigated in 181*7? What is the cost cf works to date?" The persons to whom the letters are sent are asked to an swer as soon as possible in order that all the reports will be in early in January, and are told that by attend ing to the matter promptly they will help the cause of irrigation. Hearing; o Land Case. Last week Judge Klnkald held a term of court In chambers at this place, says an Alliance dispatch, to hear an equity case which involved the rights of every person living and owning land in township No. 24, range No. 27, near this place. A man named . Duhan, through ex-County Surveyor Hazard, located and squatted upon a tract of land belonging to the Kara Cattle company, claiming error in the description of the land as claimed by the Kara company. The (tract is a piece of hay land and has been deeded for nearly ten years and was inclosed with a fence. Every quarter action of land in the town ship has been settled upon and lo cated from regular government cor ners in said township and no dispute ever arose until Hazard run in a line and built his own corners (admit ting on the witness stand that he did so) and located this man Duhan. Tho court took the case under advise ment. After the Railroads. A complaint ha3 been filed with the state board of transportation by the commissioners of Pawnee county. In which they ask for an order to com pel the Kansas City & Northwestern Railway company to provide and open out a safe highway along the track of that line on the section line be tween sections 16 and 17, in town ship 2, range 9, we3t. The railroad is built on and crosses the original highway in such a manner as to ren der it unsafe for public use. The citizens of Shubert, Richardson county, have also complained to the board and ask that the Burlington give that town better passenger 'train service. A Daring Bobbery. Nebraska City dispatch; At an early hour Sunday morning two men with faces blacked entered a house in the burnt district kept by Sadie Jennings, and at the muzzles of pistols com pelled three of the inmates to hold up their hands, after which they were bound hands and feet. The landlady was compelled to give up $64, after which the men went to another room, where a man was sleeping, and ho was compelled to give up $265. The men went out, a wagon came for them and they disappeared. It was one cf the most daring robberies ever per petrated in the city, and there is uj clue to the thieves. Tl»© Moore Cane. Attorney General Smyth Is said to be preparing a motion for dismissal of the appeal cf cx-Auditor Eugene Moore in the supreme court. The mo tion will ask dismissal on the ground that Moore’s attorneys have failed to file and serve briefs within the time allowed by rules of the court. Moore’s case was filed in the supreme court November 30. Rules of the court pro vide that briefs shall be filed and served within twenty days after tna petition is filed. Trim Carbolic Acid. Miss Jennie Young, daughter of William Young, an old and respected farmer living seven miles south of Plattsmouth, died at her home from the effects of a liberal dose of car bolic acid. In a note left to her fa ther she encouraged him in his old age, but gave no reason for her rash act. Deceased was 40 years of age and unmarried. Died for Hlj Girl. Hyannis dispatch: Jesse Stanton, who committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun some fifteen miles south of Hyannis, was buried here some time ago. The young man was from near Warsaw, Mo., and it appears that upon investigation it was on account, of being slighted by a cer young lady of this county, with whom Stanton was deeply in love. The football teams of Cozad and Gothenburg will play a game in the enow on New Year's day. ■ A Gratifying Kexponse. The governors of Utah, Texas and Arkansas have complied to the re quest of Governor Holcomb that all the states furnish part of the contem plated arch of the states at the Trans Mississippi exposition. The letter was seat ■ out only a few days ago. The three governors named expressed themselves as heartily in accord with the project and the governor of Ar kansas says, although his state has no appropriation, he will use his most earnest endeavors to see that Arkan sas is properly represented at the ex position. U.P. REORGANIZATION NO NEW DEVELOPMENTS OF IM PORTANCE. The New President Likely to Take Hold on the Fleet of the Coming month—■ Subject* That Are Now Agitating Rail way Companies—Contracts With Bleep ing Car and Express Companies. The Reorganised Road. OMAHA, Dec. 30.—No new develop ments in the matter of the Union Pa cific organization has developed here, but the period of transition is believed to be close at hand. The date of the inauguration of the new president has not been announced, but in Chicago it Is said1 by persons supposed to know that the change will take place on January 1, 1898, which falls on Satur day of this week. This seems to be substantiated by a report t^at a meet ing of the new directory of the Union Pacific will be held in New York city on Friday morning, and that further announcements regarding the new officers may be expected after the ad journment of that meeting. With the actual reorganization close at hand there appears two subjects of considerable interest that are now agi tating several classes of railway and kindred companies. Far more inter esting than the gossip concerning ex pected changes in the official makeup of the company is that regarding tho probable contracts with sleeping car and express companies to be made by the reorganized Union Pacific railroad. It is accpted that new contracts will have to be made and the question that is being discussed by railroaders and other companies is what companies will get these contracts. wnne the familiar statement that the reorganized Union Pacific railroad will be a Vanderbilt line seems to be dissipated by the personnel of tho directory, it is nevertheless conceded bv most railroaders that the Vander bilt Influence will be strongly felt in the reorganized road. This being true, the question of whether tho Vander bilt influence wi.» be strong enough to force a contract with its own sleep ing car company, the Wagner Car company, superseding the contract of the Pullman Car company, which is not represented on the new directory, is a matter of some concern. The of ficials of the Wagner Car company have been watching the reorganization of the Union Pacific, and there are those who look for nothing but Wag gner sleeping cars to be operated by the Union Pacific, as now on all other Vanderbilt lines, within a year from the reorganization. At present both Wagner and Pullmancnrs are operat ed on the Union Pacific’s main line from Council Bluffs to Ogden. Al though the Union Pacific's contract is with the Pullman Palace Car com pany, the through cars that leave Chi cago over the Northwestern are all Wagner cars and are sent over the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific to the coast. In a similar manner the express contract of tbe road that Is now going through the process of reorganization is attracting a great deal of attention. At present the Pacific Express com pany enjoys a monopoly on all ex press matter handled on the Union Pacific lines. On the Northwestern and other Vanderbilt lines the Amer ican Express company enjoys the ex clusive right to carry on business. It is believed by many railroaders who are in a position to command respect for their statements that the Ameri can Express company will displace the Pacific Express company on the Union Pacific within the eventful railroad year that Is about to begin. Hostility to Americans. NEW YORK, Dec. 30.—A special to the Journal and Advertiser from New Haven, Conn., says: Captain George L. Kelsey, of the schooner Wallace Ward, which has just arrived here from Barcelona, Spain, insists that the American consul at that port fears mob violence and Is unable to keep the American flag flying from Uncle Sam’s vessels. He put into port there September 16, remaining three days. At first the Stars and Stripes floated proudly from the masthead, but the Spanish loiterers were attracted by it and gathered by the side of the ves sel, threatening violence. The Ameri can consul heard a rumor that the crowd proposed burning the vessel, and he sent word to Captain Kelsev to haul down the flag. Captain Keisey defied the Spaniards, but the next day the consul repeated his advice and Captain Kelsey was reluctantly persuaded to store the Stars and Stripes below decks during the re mainder of his stay. Alger a Very Sick Man CHICAGO, Dec. 30.—The Post’s Washington special says: General Alger, secretary of war, Is a very sick man. He Is lying critically 111 at his home on K street from an acute attack of the grip, with typhoid symptoms. It is only within the last few hours that his condition became such as to disturb his family. Up to yesterday afternoon he continued to discharge some of his official duties. He did this while in bed and against the wishes of physician. Since then, however, he has become very much weaker. General Alger has not been in ro bust health for some time. It has been his practice to give too much atten tion to the details of the business of the war department, and he has, really, done a greater amount of ac tual work than he has been obliged to. All this has, told on him, and he is now suffering from the effects of too close application to his official labors. Prince Committed for Trial. LONDON, Dec. 30.—Richard Arthur Prince, the super who assassinated William Terries, the actor, on Decem ber 16, was formally committed for trial today at the Bow Street police station. Authority to Levy Taxes. VIENNA, Dec. 30.—An Imperial de «ree has been gazetted authorizing the government during the prorogation of parliament to levy taxes and provide for the state expenditures from Janu ary 1 to June 30 next. GAGE NOT TO RESIGN. .'ha Story Started at Washington OState, ly Dented. WASHIOTON, Dec. 30.—Assistant Secretary Vanderlip, when asked con* cerning a report that Secretary Gags had tendered his resignation and than Mr. McKinley had refused it, said* “There is nothing in it.” The report in question gave Mr. Vanderlip as authority for the assertion. Secretary Gage himself left for New York this morning. Mr. Vanderlip, when ques tioned further, said that so far as h« was quoted as authority for the asser tion he could say that there was noth ing in it, for he had never so stated to any person. As to whether or not Mr. Gage had offered to resign, and Mr. McKinley had refused to accept it, he (Vanderlip) could say nothing, for he did not know whether it were so or not . It is believed in some usually well Informed circles that the report Is substantially correct, but that there was no formal tender of a resignation. It is regarded as probable that in some conversation with the president, Mr. Gage, in an Informal way, said that he would resign if his financial views were embarrassing the administration and that the president in reply stated very positively that he did not want the secretary of the treasury to do any sach thing. It is learned, furthermore; that at the time of this conversation the president informed Mr. Gage that their views - were in accord and be > ■ must not think of resigning. It Is re* garded as certain that Mr. Gage will continue in office. Secretary Gage was seen on his re turn front New York and questioned as to the truth of the published report that he had tendered his resignation to the president, and that it had been firmly declined with many ex pressions of confidence and apprecia tion of his abilities as shown in his administration of the treasury de partment. Mr. Gage was not inclined to dlscuse the matter at length, but said that he had not tendered his resignation, nor had he any reason to believe that he and the president were not in sub stantial accord on the great questions now before the country. The report, he said, probably sprung from a re mark he had made to intimate friends ' ~ to the effect that not for anything would he embarrass the president, and if he saw that he was doing so hs would resign at once. He added; “A cabinet officer ought always to stand ready to resign his office at ths request of his chief, but I have no reason to brjieve that such action on my part is even remotely desired by the president. The desires of other people in that direction I am not dis posed to consider.” Hanna'H Campaign Begin*. COLUMBUS, 0., Dec. 30.—Major Charles Dick arrived from Cleveland last night to assume charge of Sena tor Hanna's personal interests in the senatorial election. Mr. Hanna is not expected here before Sunday. In the meantime Major Dick will shape ujn affairs to combat the opposition to the re-election of his chief. The rooms at the Neil house have been secured for Mr. Hanna. Major Dick will have a corps of lieutenants to assist him, and the prospects are for a very lively skirmish. But few of the members-elect of the general as sembly have arrived and the majority will probably not come to the Cap ital City until Friday, the day previous to the caucuses for the organization, of the upper and lower houses. The list of members claimed by Charles L. Kurtz in opposition to Senator Hanna as given out tonight contains the names of two senators and six repre seentatives, but Major Dick does not concede that any of these members will vote against Senator Hanna. The Requisition Denied. DENVER, Dec. 30.—Got. Adams € has refused to honor the requisition of Governor Black, of New York, in the case of William H. Griffith, of Lead ville, Col., proprietor of the Herald Democrat and Evening Chronicle of that place, who was Indicted by the New York City grand jury on a charge of larceny. The indictment was found on the complaint of Richard J. Bolles. of New York, who claims that Griffith secured a loan of $14,000 from him in 1892 by false representations. Governor Adams refused the requis ition because it appeared to him that the criminal prosecution was not be gun in good faith, but was an effort to force Mr. Griffith to pay the debt. Mr. Griffith announces that he wilt go to New York next summer nre nared to stand trial on the indict ment. President Sl(na the Seal Bill. WASHINGTON, Dec. 30.—Ex-Secre tary Foster had a brief conference with the president today, after which the president approved the bill pro hibiting the killing of fur seals In the waters of the North Pacific ocean, passed the day congress adjourned for the holidays. The act prohibits the killing of seals by American citl sens, except as they may be taken on the Pribyloff Islands by the North American Commercial company. It also prohibits the importation of pe lagic seal skins into the United States raw, dressed, dyed or manufactured.' The penalty for violation of the law-f» a fine of not less than $200 or more than $2,000, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, for each offense, including the forfeiture to the United States of the vessel,* Its tackle and cargo. The Merchants and Traders’ bank of Atlanta, Ga., failed to open its - doors. Capital stock, $llft,000. Arkansas Populists. LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 30.—The populist state committee met here yesterday. Resolutions were adopted instructing the national committee men to be present at the St. Louis middle-of-the-road convention. The resolutions were strongly against fusion and opposed the nomination of a ticket this year, as has been pro* posed. The will of Mrs. Henrietta R. False Baker, who died at Philadelphia. be> queaths $2,000,000 to the Pennsylvania, hospital. ,