Nebraska Newspapers

    GENERAL JOHN M. THAYER
SKETCH OF THE DISTINGUISHED NEBRASKAN
WHO RECENTLY DIED AT LINCOLN
HIS LONG AND EVENTFUL CAREER IN THIS STATE
Coming to the Commonwealth in 1854, He Took
Up Farming but was Soon Called to Military
and Civic Duties for State and Nation.
Born in Btllingham, Mass.., January
24, 1820.
Graduated from Brown university,
1841.
Settled in Nebraska in 1854.
Brigadier general and major general
of territoria* forces operating against
th’e Indians from 1855 to 1861.
Colonel of Nebraska troops in civil
war and brigadier general United
States volunteers.
Memoer of Nebraska’s first consti
tutional convention, 1860.
United States senator from Neb
raska, 1867-18(1.
Governor of 'Wyoming territory,
1875-9.
Department commander Nebraska G.
A. P... 1886.
Governor of Nebraska, 1887-91.
The following sketch of the life and
public services of'Gen. J. M. Thayer,
who recently died at his home in Lin
coln, at the age of eighty-six, is taken
from the Omaha Bee:
P" r; ^ "*• v
nor -was_ already mellow and get
ting more so, and Thayer foresaw
trouble if in that state he should as
sert his authority as ex-officio com
mander-in-chief. Accordingly, he emp
tied the demijohn and put the gover
nor under guard till he should sober
off. Bun, watching his chance, the
governor got the ear of Thayer’s sec
ond in command and gave bis first
military order: “Colonel,” quoth the
gallant governor, “you will take sev
enty-five men and proceed to Colum
bus and bring four bags of flour and
twenty barrels of whiskey!” When
this order was reported to the young
brigadier, that officer simply said:
“Colonel you will take no orders from
anyone but myself.” Then he placed
the governor in his ambulance between
two trusty soldiers and resumed his
midnight march upon the enemy’s
trail. So the redskins were rounded
up and reconcentrated for good and all
—it was the last Pawnee outbreak;
and the general was never court-mar
.Hi - P d--—FWS
GENERAL JOHN M. THAYER.
John Milton Thayer was born at Bel
lingham. Mass., January 24, 1820, ot
good old colonial stock, both his grand
fathers having held commissions in
Washington’s army. He was the young
est son of Captain Elias and Ruth
(Staples) Thayer, and, with eight older j
brothers and sisters, was farm-bred
He entered Brown college in Sep
tember, 1837. On graduating in 1841
he entered the law office of the Hon.
Isaac Davis of Worcester, of the class
of 1882, and for forty years a mem- !
her of the corporation, and on finishing
his law studies he spent some years in
Washington as a practitioner in lanci
claims, pensions and the like.
Meantime he had formed the part
nership of his life. During his second
years in college he had taken three -
months off to teach a rural school in j
what was then Seekonk, and thus met
his fate in the person of Miss Mary
Torrey Allen, whose father. Rev. John
Allen, was castor of a church in the
neighborhood. They were married two
years after young Thayer's gradua- 1
tion—to walk together hanpily through
his whole public life, until he brought
her back in broken health to look once
more on the dear families elms and
breathe her last breath in the old
home at Bellingham. Of six children
born to them, two sons. John M.
Thayer, Jr., and Dana Thayer, alone
survive.
Comes to Nebraska.
Mr. Thayer removed to Nebraska in '
. 1854—the same year that saw his
classmate. Frieze, take up his life-work
in Michigan; and though at once ad
mitted to the Nebraska bar, it was with
no intent to practice Rather his heart
was set on the calling to which he was
born, and with a world of virgin soil
about him, where to choose, he prompt
ly set his stakes and went to farming.
But the sword was more in demand
than the plowshare, just then and
there; and the first territorial legisla
ture (1854. 1855) made young Thayer
brigadier general in command of the
forces levied against the redskins, who
were as usual on the warpath. For
the following six years he had enough
to do in protecting the scattered pio
neers and keeping the Indians within
bounds—a task that required all his
courage and diplomacy. Twice at
least he had to deal with a general
outbreak, and once with less than 200
men he rounded up the whole Pawuee
nation—5,000 strong, including 1 500
Cghting men—when they had raided
the Elkhorn valley and left behind
them ‘one wide swath of destruction.’
It was on this expedition that young
Thayer first found use for that decision
of character that has marked his ca
reer.
Guard for a Governor.
At the end of a two days' march he
was overtaken by. the governor with a
demijohn of whiskey in his traveling
ambulance—a class of baggage much
affected by the gentlemen w hom
Pierce and Buchanan used to send oqt
to govern the territories. Now, gover
ialed for putting the commander-in
chief under arrest.
In the Civil War.
At this juncture the civil war came
>n, and the young Indian fighter found
i larger field for his talents and ex
perience. Under Abraham Lincoln's
first call for 300,000 men. he raised a
full regiment. 1,000 strong, in the new
lerritory whose total population was
barely 28.000; and of this First Regi
ment of Nebraska Volunteers he was
commissioned colonel. Reporting with
his regimett to General Fremont, then
commanding at St. I ouis, he was at
pnce sent to re-info-ce Grant who, with
three regiments, was holding Pilot
Knob, then threatened by Hardee at
the head of 7.000 Confederates. From
his first meeting with Grant, whom he
round simply clad and smoking a clay
pipe in his farm house headuqarters,
they were warm friends. For two
years Thayer served under Grant’s
immediate command and he was among
the first to recognize the real greatness
of the man. Their close relations were
renewed whn the one was in the White
House and the other in the senate, and
were broken only by the great com
mander’s death.
Wins His Star.
For gallant services at Fort Dcnel
son and Shiloh, Thayer was made a
brigadier general, and later brevetted
major general: he led a storming col
umn against the Vicksburg bluffs at
Chickasaw Bayou, in Sherman’s expe
dition up the Yazoo: had his horse
shot from under him at the taking of
Arkansas post; and served through the
sieee of Vicksburg under Grant. After
Vicksburg, he was transferred to the
Department of Arkansas and presently
assigned to the command of the Dis
trict and Amy of the Frontier; suc
cessfully defended Fort Smith, and
commanded a division in the battle of
Jenkins Ferry.
General Thayer was a good soldier,
and be knew well enough what the
war meant: indeed, he anticipated the
emancipation proclamation. “In the
winter of 18'51, while still a colonel, I
received an order from a general offi
cer to have my camp searched for a
runaway slave and to return him if
found to his master, who brought the
order. There was an issue for me. I
said to the slave-hunter: ‘You shall
not take this man back to bondage, and
I give you five minutes to get outside
my lines.’ He did not Hesitate about
going. I kept the slave at headquar
ters that night, and next morning I
loaded him with supplies and sent him
’■eioicing on his way to freedom.” And
that was not the first nor the last
time he took the bull by the horns.
Saved Lives of Soldiers.
An incident worthy of mention in
his career occurred when his regiment
was stationed at Leavenworth. News
came from Independence, Mo„ that
four union soldiers had been captured
by the rebels and were held as spies,
awaiting dear.b. General Thayer de
termined to save them and accordingly
J boarded the boat and went down the
river to Independence with his com
I pany. They proceeded at once to the
| jail and demanded the release of the
four union soldiers which was given
them. General Thayer took them tc
Fort Leavenworth and gave them their
liberty.
After the War.
At the close of the war he returned
to Nebraska and became a member of
the first constitutional convention in
1866. He took a leading part in secur
ing the admission of the new state,
and was chosen one of its first senators
in congress. In this high office he
served four years (1867-71). including
the stormy session of Andrew John
son’s impeachment and the earlier part
of Grant’s first term. After leaving
the senate he was appointed by his
old commander to be governor of
Wyoming territory, and held that of
fice some four years (1875-9). In 1886
he was elected governor of Nebraska,
and in 1888 was re-elected, and. al
though not a candidate at the follow
ing election, he became, in fact, the
first and only third-term governor in
the history of the state. It came about
in this wise: James E. Boyd, who car
ried the st^te in 1890, was not only a
democrat, but a born Irishman. He
had come to Nebraska as a minor with
his father, and neither of them had
ever taken out naturalization papers,
though the son had always been an
active politician and was at the time
mayor of Omaha.
Leaves Governor's Chair.
Governor Thayer declined to turn
over the office to him. and claimed to
be governor de facto and de jure until
a successor should be elected and duly
qualified. The issue was tried on a
writ of ouster before the state su
preme court, and the governor’s con
tention was sustained, but. on appeal
to the federal supreme court, that tri
bunal. by a majority of one. reversed
the decision and seated Mr. Boyd—
some of the justices claiming that the
enabling act made all residents citizens
of the new state, while Chief Justice
Fuller held that Boyd was de facto a
citizen, inasmuch as he had been vot
ing and occasionally holding office
ever since the admission of the state
into the union. In accordance with
this decision Governor Thayer turned
the office over to Mr. Boyd shortly be
fore the expiration of his unsought
third term, in 1892.
His Domestic Life.
Gen. Thayer was prominently Iden
tified with the Grand Army of the Re
public and John M. Thayer post i3
named in his honor. General Thayer
was commander of the state denart
ment of the Grand Army of the Repub
lic in 1879.
The domestic life of the great Ne
braskan was an exceedingly happy
one. His wife, to whom he was mar
ried in 1843, died in 1892.
During his long and eventful public
career he always had been a republican
and advocated republican principles.
Since his retirement from public
life he was a frequent and welcome
visitor at the state capltol and his
words of wisdom frequently have been
heard in the administrative counsels.
A Spirit of Reconciliation.
LINCOI N—The visit of C. H. Diet
rich of Hastings, ex-senator and ex
governor, recalls one of the interesting
episodes in the life of the late Gen
eral John M. Thayer. Because of
doubt concerning the citizenship of
Governor-elect James E. Boyd in 1891,
Governor Thayer refused to turn over
the office until the supreme court
should say whether Boyd had been
properly naturalized or not. The ftud
became bitter and when final decis on
had been reached and Boyd declared
eligible for the position, the two men
had become the most irreconcilible
enemies. They refused to speak and
the common courtesies between men
were forgotten.
In 1901, when Governor Dietrich was
living in the governor’s mansion, he
invited all the living ex-governors to
dinner at his home in Lincoln. Boyd,
Poynter, Holcomb, Furnas. Crounse
and Thaver were present. General
Thayer was the last to arrive and as
he took off his coat in the hall he anx
iously asked Governor Dietrich if
Boyd was present.
‘‘He is,” said the governor, “and I
believe he will be glad to see you. I
hope that you and Governor Bovd will
forget forever the past unpleasant
ness.”
“I hope so, too," responded the aged
veteran.
As Governor Dietrich and his guest
entered the parlor, ex-Governor Boyd
was the first to rise and greet General
Thayer. The two men shook hands
long and cordially, while tears stream
ed down the cheeks of the old general.
The reconciliation was complete and
the two men ever afterward stroke of
each other with great respect and
friendship.
FROM THE TALMUD.
One bird tied is better than a hun
dred flying.
When the calf kicks it is time to
thresh the cow.
The egg of today is better than the
hen of tomorrow.
If thy friend is honey do not lick
him up altogether.
The came', wanted to have horns and
they took away his ears.
Rather be thou the tail among lions
than the head among foxes.
He that hires one garden will eat
birds; be that hires many gardens the
birds will eat him.
Better eat onions all thy life than
dine upon geese and chicken once and
then long in vain for more ever after.
TRADE ADVANTAGES.
A baker can always raise the dough.
An electrician is always posted on
current topics.
A hatter is sure to be a block ahead
of all other men. ~
A butcher can usually contrive to
make both ends meat.
A shoemaker is a whole-soled man
and generally well-heeled.
A baby carriage manufacturer nev
er fails to push his business.
A hairdresser as a rule does a thriv
ing business in combination locks.
A huckster has no trouble with the
police in making a good living out of
green goods.—Baltimore American. '
MAYOR OF OMAHA DEAD.
City Chief Executive Passes Away
After Long Illness.
OMAHA—Colonel Frank E. Moores,
mayor of Omaha, died on Friday at
his home, surrounded by the members
of his immediate family. Conscious
to the last, his life slowly and peace
fully passed away.
As a man of robust constitution, six
feet in height and well-proportioned,
of commanding yet genial presence,
he had scarcely known a sick day in
his life until after the beginning of
his third term as mayor, when the
strain of a strenuous political cam
paign began to leave its marks upon
him. For over a year, however, the
ma^’or permitted no relaxation in his
duties, but finally, upon the urgent
advice of his physicians, sought rest.
Long vacations, spent in his old Ohio
home, and at Hot Springs, S. D., but
temporarily checked the breakdown
of his vigor. Finally an approaching
attack of tuberculosis became deep
seated in the throat, and the mayor
spent the winter a year ago in Ari
zona, in the hope of shaking it off,
but all to no purpose. He was 65
years old. t
MUST GET A NEW CHAIRMAN.
Babcock Cannot Serve Again on the
Committee.
WASHINGTON — Representative
Babcock of Wisconsin, has again made
it clear to republican leaders that he
will not serve in another campaign
as chairman of the republican congres
sional committee. He has urged Sen
ator Allison anu Representative Hep
burn to agree upon a date and call a
joint caucus to select a chairman. Mr.
Babcock said:
“My health will not permit me to
undertake the committee work in an
other campaign. I have made up my
mind finally.”
HIS NAME REVERED.
Gen. Thayer Buried With Military
Honors.
I.INCOLN—Stilled in death, the
voice of Gen. John M. Thayer, found
many tongues to eulogize his life
when his body was consigned to the
grave. With military honors his re
mains were tenderly laid to rest by
his old comrades and friends and the
entire city and state mourned. As a
mark of respect all business in the
capital was suspended during the
funeral services at St. Paul’s chhurch.
From the time the body which was
lying in state at the capitol was re
moved to the church at 1:30 p. m. till
the artillery salute of seventeen guns
was fired at the grave in Wyuka a
vast concourse attended the cere
monies and viewed the movements of
the cortege and the military escort.
The large church was nut big enough
to hold all who came to attend the ser
vices and the streets were crowded
when the procession moved to Wyuka.
DEATH OF AN ABSCONDER.
Allen Howard. Who Fled from San
Francisco with $60,000, Dies.
SAN FRANCISCO—Confirmation of
the death of Allen Howard, the ab
sconding broker, who left here last
August with $60,000, has been received
by the chief of police In a communica
tion from the State department, en
closing three dispatches from Alfred
Winslow, the American consul at
Guatemala City. The dispatches
chiefly tell of Howard’s flight through
New Orleans to Puerto Barrios and
of his attempt to reach Guatemala City
by a circuitous route. While stopping
at a small hamlet he was stricken with
yellow fever, from which he died
within a few days. Only 7 cents was
found among his effects.
HITS RETIRED OFFICERS ALSO.
Miles, Young, Chaffee, Bates, Corbin
and MacArthur Affected.
WASHINGTON—Inspection at the
war department of the bill abolishing
the grade of lieutenant general of the
army after October 12 next, which has
passed the house, makes it appear to
the officials that, as it stands, the bill,
though intended to wipe out this rank
only after that date, would really rele
gate to the grade of major general on
the retired list, or perhaps drop out
of the army, Generals Miles, Young,
Chaffee, Bates, Corbin and MacArthur.
HAVOC BY EARTHQUAKE.
Reported That 800 Perished As Result
of Shock in Formosa.
LONDON—The Daily Telegraph s
Tokio correspondent telegraphing con
cerning the earthquake Saturday morn
ing in the vicinity of Kagi, island of
Formosa, says that the railway lines
were twisted, telegraph poles thrown
down and houses destroyed. The cor
respondent says that the Nichi Shim
Bulletin states that the casualties ex
ceed 100 and that the Jijl Shimpo
places them as high as 800. An offi
cial dispatch, ho adds, reports sixty
deaths and many more persons injured
and two hundred houses destroyed.
Souvorin Goea to Prison.
ST. PETERSBURG—Alexis Alexi
vitch Souvorin, editor of the Russ, was
arrested on Friday night as the result
of the rejection by Emperor Nicholas
of his appeal against the sentence of
one year’s imprisonment in a fortress
imposed January 20 last for publish
ing in December, 1905, a seditious
proclamation, including the manifesto
of the workmen’s council, announc
ing that the government had decided
civil war on the proletriat and saying
that the challenge must be accepted.
Smallpox in Wyoming.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Fifty-seven
cases of smallpox are reported in the
farming districts of Liman and Bridge,
in Uinta county, Wyoming, and the
southern part of the county has been
quarantined.
Mining Plant Destroyed.
OURAY, Colo.—Fire broke out in
the ruins of the Camp Bird mill,
which was wrecked on Sunday by a
snowslide, completing the destruction
of the plant. The mill was erected in
1898 at a cost of $500,00''.
GsmZsj/mwz?
Charles S. Francis of Troy. N. Y.,
formerly American minister to
Greece, will succeed Bellamy Storer
as ambassador to Austria-Hungary.
His name was sent to the senate
March 19. He is the son of John M.
Francis, who was formerly ambassa
dor to Austria and who served three
years as minister at Athens. Mr.
Francis is owner of the Troy Times,
a newspaper founded by his father.
When a student at Cornell he repeat
edly won the single scull champion
ship of the university and in 1876
made the time which stands as the
world's intercollegiate record—two
miles in 13 minutes and 43 2-3 sec
onds.
FOR THE AMATEUR GARDENER
He Has Wealth of Easily Grown Flow
ers to Choose From.
The beginner should try to grow a
few varieties of flowers and learn
their habits thoroughly, for in thor
oughness lies success. He should not
construct a garden in fancy out of the
highly colored plates in a seed cata
logue. and expect to produce it in real
ity. But he should choose his plants
with regard to the place he will grow
them, and study their needs carefully.
There is a wealth to choose from.
For early spring flowers, for instance,
there are the bulbs of tulips, jonquils,
narcissi, hyacinths, crocuses, snow
drops and squills. It is best to plant
them in the fall, then as soon as
spring begins they begin to bloom,
and produce a surprising amount of
color. The crocuses, snowdrops and
-quills may be planted in the lawn,
and mowed down, for they flower very ;
early, and will continue to bloom for I
several years. Jonquils and narcissi
may also be left in shrubbery or in
grass, where they are not cut, and
they will bloom many years. The
bulbs may also be planted in the
early spring; any dealer will tell how.
, Sweet peas are deservedly popular,
because of their ease of culture, pro
fusion of bloom, dainty colors and de
lightful fragrance. Plant them in any
'ood garden soil, fertilized well with
rich cow manure, in rows preferably
running east and west. Keep the
dowers well picked each day to pre
vent seed pods forming, for like pan
sies the vitality, of the plant is im
paired by the production of seeds.
The seed should be planted very ear
ly in the spring, in trenches three or
four inches deep, being covered only a
little at first and the trenches grad
ually filled as the plants grow.
Few persons are acquainted with
‘he merits of the gaillardia, or blan
ket flower, which is a hardy perennial
and blooms in the summer in great
profusion. It is about a foot high and
has good stems for cutting. * For an
old-fashioned garden the new hybrids
of French marigolds and zinnias, lark
spur and fringed petunias are exceed
ingly beautiful and furnish a wealth
of bloom for cutting.
Menu of Aged Salvationist.
It Is interesting to know what a
man of Gen. Booth’s age and vitality
lives on. Here is his day's menu:
For breakfast he takes a moderate
quantity of buttered toast, with strong
tea and an equal portion of milk. Be
tween breakfast and lunch he eats a
few raisins. For lunch he has a bowl
of vegetable soup with dry toast soak
ed in it, vegetables, especially pota
toes cooked in their jackets, and what
ever green stuff is in season. Then
he sleeps from a quarter to half an
hour. Tea is similar to breakfast,
with the occasional addition of a few
mushrooms. For supper he takes in
variably a plate of rice and milk.
The World Full of Heroes.
You find them here, there and every
where. They are not produced by
governments nor laws, but by nature.
Let the emergency arise and lot here
stand your heroes, all panopied with
courage and ready for sacrifice.
Whether or not any of them are. as
Bernard Shaw w’ould have it, daring
because they are afraid not to be—
whether they are outwardly brave be
cause they are inwardly coward, does
not alter the fact that they risk their
lives to do glorious deeds.—Louisville
Courier-Journal.
His Wisdom.
After King Solomon had offered to
cut the famous infant in half the
mothers were so tickled over hia tact
that they wanted to elect him judge
of the next baby show.
"Not for mine,” exclaimed Solomon,
vigorously. “I wouldn't be judge at a
baby show for all the gold in my
mines.”
“But we thought you were so wise,”
insisted the mothers.
“I am, ladies, and that is the very
reason why I decline to be judge.”
FROM STEAM TO ELECTRICITY
America Likely to Lead the Way in
Movement, as Usual.
It looks as though the day of s'eam
were passing. In this prodigious
change—if it come—America is likely
to lead the way. Already there is a
feeling in Europe that if electric loco
motives are to replace steam the ques
tion will be solved in this country.
And the steam locomotive was never
more powerful. Think of the speed it
attains, of the loads it hauls! What
did the world know a few years ago
of wnat the steam locomotive could
do? Compare the machine of a few
years ago with the one of to-dav—its
size and speed. A ship does not con
vey an impression of man’s power to
accomplish great things more forciblv
than does a modern American rail
way train with its monster engine,
its long train of huge cars, with all
the appliances of water and light and
heat. And yet this monster locomo
tive may soon have to make it; bow,
so to speak, to run its last raca. Its
very perfection indicates that it has
reached the limit.—Indianapolis News.
Volcanic Activity in Alaska.
Volcanic activity is so commonly
associated with the palms of the trop
ics that It is somewhat difficult to
think of subterranean fires burning
fiercely through the hard crust of the
cold northland. Yet one of the most
extensive volcanic belts of the globe
lies on the southern coast of our Alas
kan province. This necklace of mam
moth peaks comprises fifty-seven ac
tive or recently extinct volcanoes,
with altitudes ranging from the 14,
000 feet of Wrangel, above the head
of Cook's inlet, down to the few hun
dred feet of the Bogoslofs beyond the
western extremity of the Alaskan pen
insula. This belt of volcanic activity
is 1,600 miles long and not more than
forty miles wide. More than twenty
five of the Alaskan peaks are live vol
canoes to-day, forming a varied and
imposing array of cones that rise in
many cases from the sea.—Tacoma
Ledger.
Night Work in Parliament.
It is not so long since the'house of
commons used to meet at 4:15 p. m.
for the convenience of lawyers and
city men who could leave their courts
and offices by 4 o’clock. Now it meets
a little earlier, but still most cf its
work is done after dark. In the old
days this system appeared to work
well enough, but now, with the pro
gressive sentiment of England insist
ing that the service of a member of
parliament shall be of a businesslike
character and that he shall be paid
for it in a businesslike way, it is prob
able that a radical change will take
place in the general scheme of par
liamentary attendance. We may ex
pect to see parliament meeting in the
morning and finishing its labors be
fore nightfall.—Boston Globe.
unamp Ulark's New Word.
Champ Clark has been receiving
felicitations on the popular apprecia
tion which has greeted his use of the
word “lowering’-’ in debate. Papers
all over the country are discussing it
and his colleagues are congratulating
him on adding a new word to lue lan
guage. “Hang ’em!" said Champ.
“I'm going to look it up now and see
if there isn’t authority for it. i ll bet
Shakespeare or somebody used it, and
if they didn’t it’s the first new word
ever added to the language of which
that isn’t true.”
Woman Navy Yard Commandant.
Mrs. Albert H. Metcalf is the first
woman to hold the position .of com
mandant at a United States navy
yard. She has been appointed to fill
that post at the old and almost de
serted yard at Sackett’s Harbor. Her
husband was the commandant at the
time of his death. There are but a few
hundred dollars’ worth of government
property remaining at the yard. Mrs
Metcalf will receive $1 a day for keep
ing a friendly eye on it.. She is the
third of her name to hold the position
THINK EARTH’S CORE OF METAL
Explanation of Scientists for the Dif
fering Density.
Is the middle of the earth made of
metal? Experiments on the gravita
tional attraction between small mass
es give us the means of determining
the average density of the earth, and
it has always been considered remarn
able that the density thus found, five
and a half times that of water, is far
higher than the mean density of the
rocks which constitute those parts of
the earth accessible to us. These lat
ter have not more than two and a half
or three times the density of water.
It does not seem probable that any
pressure in the interior, however
great, could explain so great a differ
ence. It must be assumed that the
interior is made of a totally different
material from the outside. The great
density of the earth suggests that in
all probability its core is of a metallic
nature. It is significant that the me
teorite, the only planetary bodies of
which we can examine the interior
are composed for the most part of
nickel iron. The inference becomes
almost irresistible that the iron bear
ing rocks are samples of the deep in
terior, which by a rare and exception
al chance have been extruded to the
surface by volcanic agency.
NAME SUCCESSOR FOR WITTE.
Gossips Already Have Picked New
Leader for Russia.
The rumor that Count de Witte is
about to resign names A. N. Kokov
soff, former minister of finance, as his
successor. St. Petersburg advices,
however, say M. Witte has no inten
tion of retiring.
Bat Ball Into Three States.
Probably no other part of the Unit
ed States except in East Liverpool,
Ohio, is there a baseball diamond
from which it is possible to bat a ball
into any one of three states. Such a
condition actually exists at the
grounds which have just been leased
for the Klondike club there.
The diamond is laid out on a lot
which is known as the “state line cor
ner.” If a batsman makes a hit over
third base the ball will be sent into
West Virginia. Should a foul tip re
sult the catcher would have to chase
the ball in Pennsylvania. If a straight
drive or bunt is made the ball will
bowl into the state of Ohio.
Taking advantage of this freak of
nature, the Klondike club is going to
advertise the fact that its club will
play ball in three states simultaneous
ly.—Philadelphia Ledger.
Highest “Judicial” Court.
Two pretty girls visiting Washing
ton listened with hushed attention to
the words of wisdom that fell from
the lips of their guide. He was their
Washington cousin, knew all about
the capitol and was graciously ex
plaining its sights to them. “And
this,” said he, stopping before a door
in the capitol, “is the supreme court
of the United States. That, you know,
is the highest judicial court in the
land. There are other courts in dif
ferent parts of the country that are
just as high, but this is the highest
judicial court.” Then they entered
and heard an argument delivered be
fore nine judicial judges.
Represented Filthy Lucre.
Assistant Secretary of State Bacon
is exceedingly natty in personal ap
pearance and cannot abide anything
or anybody savoring of slovenliness.
While rummaging through his desk a
few days ago he found several soiled
and rumpled slips of paper. With one
hand he touched a button for his mes
senger and with the other daintily
picked up one of the slips. “Eddy,”
said he, “what is this?” That is your
pay check, sir.” “And these others?”
“These are pay checks also, sir.”
“Well, take the filthy things away and
get them cashed,” said Mr. Bacon In
digusted tones.
Popularity Distasteful to Him.
Congressman McCall of Massachu
setts is a born insurgent. He never is
on the same side with anybody else
if he can help it. A short time ago
he proposed an ameidment to a pend
ing bill. There was a call of the
house. After it was over McCall was
discovered striding moodily up and
do\*i in the Republican cloakroom.
“What’s the matter, McCall?" he was
asked. “Matter!” snorted McCall.
“Matter enough. I am getting too
blamed popular. Seventeen peopl
voted for that amendment of mine.”
Would Be a Hero.
Jacob Riis has been ill at his home
of anginr pectoris, and his physician
ordered him to cancel all lecture en
gagements. Notwithstanding this Mr.
Riis was recently approached by an
emissary of a certain church, who
pleaded with him to deliver a lecture.
But, sa;d Mr. Riis, “my physi
cian has told me that if I lecture
again this winter it may kill me.”
“'Well, then,” replied the church
man, not a whit abashed, “you will
die in a good cause.”—New York Sun.