BIG STICK SMASHES;
ROOSEVELT DEFENDS
THE SECRET SER VICE
In Message to House President De
clares His Statements in Previous
Words to Congress Were Gross
ly Misunderstood.
Washington. — President Roosevelt’s
big stick crashed down upon the
heads of Representatives Tawney of
Minnesota, SmiM of Iowa, Sherley of
Kentucky, and 'S itzgerald of New York,
when the executive sent a special message
to t lie house of representatives, berating
those solons for being champions of the
successful move to place limitations upon
the scope of the secret service.
The president also declared that the
interpretation of the house of the‘secret
service clause in his last message was
misunderstood, and had there been any
evidence which would point to the neces
sity of an investigation of members, such
evidence would long ago have been turned
over to the proper authorities.
The message was in answer to the res
olution transmitted from the house in
which the representatives asked for evi
dence upon which Mr. Roosevelt based
his statements that the "chief argument
in favor of the provision was that the
congressmen did not themselves wish to
be investigated by secret service men.”
Message of the President
and Reasons Therefor.
i t.e message in part:
“To the House of Representatives: I
have received the resolution of the house
of representatives of December 17, 190S,
running as follows:
“ 'Whereas, there was contained in the
sundry civil appropriation bill which
passed congress at Its last session and be
came a law, a provision in reference to
the employment of the secret service in
the treasury department; and
“ Whereas, In the last annual message
of the president of the United States to
the two houses of congress it was stated
in reference to that provision: “It is not
ton much to say that this amendment has
been of benefit only, and could be of ben
efit only, to the criminal classes,” and it
was further stated; “The chief argument
in favor of the provision was that the
congressmen did not themselves wish to
lie investigated by secret service men,”
and it was further stated: “But if this is
not considered desirable a special excep
tion could be made In the law, prohib
iting the use of the secret service force
in investigating members of congress. It
would ba far better to do this than to
do what actually was done, and strive to
prevent or at least to hamper effective
action against criminals by the executive
branch of the government;” and
" Whereas, the plain meaning of his
words is that the majority of the con
gressmen were in fear of being investi
gated by secret service men and that con
gress as a whole was actuated by that
motive in enacting the provision in ques
tion. Now. therefore,
“ Be it Resolved, That the president be
requested to transmit to the house any
evidence upon which he based his state
ments that the 'chief argument in favor
of the provision was that the congress
men did not themselves wish to be in
vestigated by secret service men.’ and
also to* transmit to the house any evi
dence connecting any member of the
house of representatives of the Sixtieth
congress with corrupt action in his official
capao.ty, and to Inform the house wheth
er he has instituted proceedings for the
punishment of any such individual by the
courts or has reported any such alleged
d linquencies to the house of represent
atives.'
Cannot understand Trend of
' the House Resolution.
"I am wholte*f^t a loss to understand
the < neiudijJ Vjtion of the resolution.
T ’ ivs maiT*r%J\Vi!iarge.s of corruption
against core,5^7 (t against any member
oi the presents ouse. If I had proof of
such corrupi-ion affecting any member of
the house in any matter as to which the
federal government has jurisdiction, ac
tion wouid at once be brought, as was
•lone in the cases of Senators Mitchell
. and Burton, and Representatives William
son. Herrmann and Driggs, at different
times since I have been president. This
w*-uM simply be doing my duty in the
execution and enforcement of the laws
without respect to persons. But I do not
regard it as within the province or the
duties of the president to report to the
house ‘alleged delinquencies’ of members,
or the supposed ‘corrupt action’ of a
member dn his official capacity.’ The
membership of the house is by tiie con
stitution placed within the power of the
house alone. In the prosecution of crim
inals and the enforcement of the laws
tiie president must resort to the courts
of the United States.
“In the third and fourth clauses of the
preamble it is stated that the meaning of
my words is that ‘tiie majority of the
congressmen are in fear of being inves
tigated by secret service men’ and that
‘congress as a whole was actuated by
that motive in enacting the provision in
question.’ and that this is an impeach
ment of tiie honor and integrity of the
congress. These statements are not I
think in accordance with tiie facts.
Declares He Said Nothing
to Warrant the Statement.
“A 1 areful reading of this message will
show that I said nothing to warrant the
statement that ‘the majority of the con
gressmen were In fear of being investi
gated by the secret service men,’ or ‘that
congress as a whole was actuated by,that
motive.’ I did not make any such state
ment in tills message. Moreover I have
never made any such statement about
congress as a whole, nor, with a few in
evitable exceptions, about the members
of -xngress. in any message or article or
speech. On t.ie contrary I have always
not only deprecated but vigorously re
sented the practice of Indiscriminate at
tack upon congress, and indiscriminate
condemnation of all congressmen, wise
and unwise, fit and unfit, good and bad
alike. No one realizes more than I the
importance of co-operation between the
executive and congress, and no one holds
the authority and dignity of the congress
of tha United States in higher respect
than I do. I have not the slightest sym
pathy with the practice of judging men.
for good or for ill, not on their several
merits, but in a mass, as members of
one particular body or one caste. To put
together all men holding or who have
held a particular office, whether it be
the office of president, or judge, or sena
tor. or member of the house of represent
atives, and to class them all, without re
gal'd to their individual differences, as
good or bad, seems to me utterly inde
fensible; and it is equally indefensible
whether the good are fonfounded with the
bad in a heated and unwarranted cham
pionship of all, or in a heated and un
warranted assault upon alL
Charge in Resolution Due
to Density of the Solons.
■’This allegation in the resolution, there
fore. must certainly be due to an entire
failure to understand my message.
"The resolution continues: ‘That the
president be requested to transmit to the
house any evidence upon which lie based
liis statements that the ’chief argument
in favor of the provision was that the
congressmen did not themselves wish to
be investigated by secret-service men.’
This statement, which was an attack
upon no one, still less upon the congress,
is sustained by the facts.
“If you will turn to the Congressional
Record for May 1 last, pages 5553 to 5560.
inclusive, you will find the debate on this
subject. Mr. Tawney of Minnesota, Mr.
Smith of Iowa. Mr. Sherley of Kentucky,
and Mr. Fitzgerald of New York, appear
in tills debate as the special champions
of the provision referred to. Messrs. Par
sons, Rennet and Driscoll were the lead
ers of those who opposed the adoption
of the amendment and upheld the right of
the government to use the most efficient
means possible in order to detect crim
inals and to prevent and punish crime.
The amendment was carried in the com
mittee of the whole, where no votes of
the individual members are recorded, so
I am unable to discriminate by mention
ing the members who voted for and the
members who voted against the provision,
but its passage, the journal records, was
greeted with applause. I am well aware,
however, that in any case of this kird
many members who have no particular
knowledge of the point at issue, are con
tent simply to follow the lead of the
committee which had considered the mat
ter. and I have no doubt that many mem
bers of the house simply followed the
lead of Messrs. Tawney and Smith, with
out having had the opportunity to know
very much as to the rights and wrongs
of the question.
Chip Is Knocked Off
Roosevelt's Shoulder.
“I would not ordinarily attempt in this
way to discriminate between members of
the house, but as objection has been ta
ken to my language, in which I simply
spoke of the action of the house as a
whole, and as apparently there is a de
sire that I should thus discriminate, I will
state that I think the responsibility rest
ed on the committee on appropriations,
under the lead of the members whom I
have mentioned.
“Now as to the request of the congress
that I give the evidence for my state
ment that the chief argument in favor
of the provision was that the congress
men did not themselves wish to be inves
tigated by secret service men.
‘ The part of tile Congressional Record
to which I have referred above entirely
supports this statement. Two distinct
lines of argument were followed in the
debate. One concerned the question
whether the law warranted the employ
ment of the secret service in departments
other than the treasury, and this did not
touch the merits of the sendee in the
least. The other line of argument went
to the merits of the service, whether law
fully or unlawfully employed, and here
the chief if not the only argument used
was that the service should be cut down
and restricted because its members hail
‘shadowed’ or investigated members of
congress and other officers of the govern
ment. If we examine the debate in de
tail It appears that most of what was
urged in favor of the amendment took the
form of the simple statement that the
committee held that there had been a
‘violation of law' by the usq of the secret
service for other purposes than suppress
ing counterfeiting (and one or two other
matters which can be disregarded), and
that such language was now to be used
as would effectually prevent all such ‘vio
lation of law' hereafter. Mr. Tawney. for
instance, says: ‘It was for the purpose
of stopping the use of this service in
every possible way by the departments of
the gover. anent that this provision was
inserted’ jtl Mr. Smith says: ’Now. tha;
was the only way in which any limitation
could be put upon tiio activities of the
secret service.' Mr. Fitzgerald followed in
the same vein, and by far the larges;
part of the argument against the employ
ment of the secret service was confined
to the statement that it was In 'violation
of law.’ Of course, such a statement is
not in any way an argument in favor of
the justice of the provision. It is not an
argument for the provision at all. It Is
simply a statement of what the gentle
men making it conceive to have been the
law.
Regarding Restrictions of
the Secret Service.
“There was both by implication and di
rect statement the assertion that it was
the law. and ought to be the law, that
the secret service should only be used
to suppress counterfeiting: and that the
law should be made more rigid than ever
In this respect.
"Incidentally I may say that in my
Judgment there is ample legal authority
for the statement that this appropriation
law to which reference was made im
poses no restrictions whatever upon the
use of the secret service men, but re
lates solely to the expenditure of the
money appropriated. Mr. Tawney in the
debate stated that he had in his pos
session ‘a letter from the secretary of the
treasury' received a few days ago' In
which the secretary of the treasury ‘him
self admits that the provisions under
which the appropriation has been made
have been violated year after year for a
number of years in liis own department.’
I append herewith as appendix A, the let
ter referred to. It makes no such admis
sion as that which Mr. Tawney alleges.
It contains on the contrary, as you will
see by reading It, an ‘emphatic protest
against any such abridgment of the
rights delegated to the secretary of the
treasury by existing law,’ and concludes
by asserting that he ‘is quite within his
rights In thus employing the service of
these agents' and that the proposed modi
fication which Mr, Tawney succeeded
in carrying through would be ‘distinctly
to the advantage or violators of criminal
statutes of the United States.’ I call at
tention to the fact that In this letter of
Secretary Cortelyou to Mr. Tawney, as
In my letter to the speaker quoted be
low, the explicit statement Is made that
the proposed change will be for the bene
fit of the criminals, a statement which
I simply reiterated in public form In my
message to the congress this year, and
which is also contained in effect in the
report of the secretary of the treasury
to the congress.
"A careful reading of the Congression
al Record will also show that practically
the only arguments advanced In favor of
the limitation proposed by Mr. Tawney's
committee, beyond what may be supposed
to be contained by Implication In cer
tain sentences as to 'abuses' which were
not specified, were those contained In the
repeated statements of Mr. Sherley.
Foxhounds as Caddies.
Foxhounds are being trained to act
as caddies at Oxford, Pa, to hunt for
lost balls. The training is being done
by Mr. Frank Duburow, a breeder of
hounds and beagles. The dogs at first
showed a desire to pick up the ball
and retrieve it, but they are now so
trained that they simply stand guard
over the balls. Mr. Duburow is seek
ing to train collies for the same pur
pose, so that thsy can carry the clubs
on their backs, thus abolishing the
human caddie altogether.
“Mr. Sherley stated that there had
been 'pronounced abuses growing out of
the use of the secret service for purposes
other than those Intended,’ putting his
statement in the form of a question, and
in the same form further stated that the
’private conduct’ of ‘members of congress,
senators.’ and others ought not to be in
vestigated by the secret service, and that
they should not investigate a ‘member of
congress’ who had been accused of ‘con
duct unbecoming a gentleman and a
member of congress.’ In addition to these
assertions couched as questions, he made
one positive declaration, that ‘This secret
service at one time was used for the pur
pose of looking nlto the personal con
duct of a member of congress.’ This ar
gument of Mr. Sherley, the only real ar
gument as to the merits of the question
made on behalf of the committee on ap
propriations, will be found in columns 1
and 2 of page 5556, and column 1 of page
5557 of the Congressional Record. In col
umn 1 of page 5556 Mr. Sherley refers to
the impropriety of permitting the secret
service men to investigate men in the
departments, officers of the army and
navy and members of congress; in col
umn 1, page 5557, he refers only to mem
bers of congress. His speech puts most
weight on the investigation of members
of congress.
“What appears in the record is filled
out and explained by an article which ap
peared in the Chicago Inter-Ocean of
January 3. 1904, under a Washington
headline, and which marked the begin
ning of this agitation against the secret
service. It was a special article of about
3.000 words, written, as I was then in
formed and now understand, by Mr. L.
. Busbey, at that time private secretary
to the speaker of the house. It con
tained an utterly unwarranted attack on
the secret service division of the treas
ury department and its chief.
“At the time of this publication the
w-ork of the secret service, which was
thus assailed, included especially the in
vestigation of great land frauds In the
west, and the securing of evidence to
help the department of justice in the
beif:f'trust Investigations at Chicago,
which resulted in successful prosecutions.
Efforts to Kill Move
Found to Be Unavailing.
"These methods proved unavailing to
prevent the wrong. Messrs. Tawney and
Smith, and their fellow members on the
appropriations committee paid no heed to
the protests; and as the obnoxious pro
vision was incorporated in the sundry
civil bill, it was impossible for me to con
sider or discuss it on its merits, as I
should have done had it been in a sep
arate bill. Therefore 1 have now taken
the only method available, that of dis
cussing it in my message to congress; and
as all efforts to secure what I regard as
proper treatment of the subject without
recourse to plain speaking had failed, I
have spoken plainly and directly, and
have set forth the facts in explicit terms.
"Since 1901 the investigations covered
by the secret service division—under the
practice which had been for many years
recognized as proper and legitimate, and
which had received the sanction of the
highest law officers of the government—
have covered a wide range of offenses
against the federal law. By far the most
important of these related to the public
domain, as to which there was un
covered a far-reaching and widespread
system of fraudulent transactions involv
ing both the illegal acquisition and the
illegal fencing of government land: and,
in connection with both these oltenses,
the crimes of perjury and subornation of
perjury. Some of the persons involved
in these violations were of great wealth
and of wide political and social influence.
Both their corporate associations and
their political affiliations, and the lawless
character of some of their employes,
made the investigations not only difficult
but dangerous. In Colorado one of the
secret service men was assassinated.
Instances in Which
Secret Service Starred.
"In connection with the Nebraska prose
cution the government has by decree se
cured the return to the government of
over a million acres of grazing land;
in Colorado of more than 2,000 acres of
mineral land, and suits are now pending
involving 150,000 acres more.
"All these investigations in the land
cases were undertaken in consequence
of Mr. Hitchcock, the then secretary
of the interior, becoming convinced that
there were extensive frauds committed
in his department: and the ramifications
of the frauds were so far-reaching that
he was afraid to trust his own officials
to deal in thoroughgoing fashion with
them. One of the secret service men ac
cordingly resigned and was appointed
in the interior department to carry on
this work. The first tiling he discovered
was that the special agents’ division or
corps of detectives of the land office of
the interior department was largely un
der the control of the land thieves; and
in consequence the investigations above
referred to had to be made by secret
service men.
“If the present law, for which Messrs.
Tawney, Smith, and the other gentle
men I have above mentioned are respon
sible, had then been in effect, this ac
tion would have been impossible, and
most of the criminals would unquestion
ably have escaped. No more striking in
stance can be imagined of the desirabil
ity of having a central corps of skilled
investigating agents who can at any time
be assigned, if necessary in large num
bers. to investigate some violation of the
federal statutes, in no matter what
branch of the public service. In this par
ticular case most of the men investigated
who were public -servants were in the
executive branch of the government. But
in Oregon, where an enormous acreage
of fraudulently alienated public land was
recovered for the government, a United
States senator, Mr. Mitchell, and a mem
ber of the lower house, Mr. Williamson,
were convicted on evidence obtained by
men transferred from the secret service,
and another member of congress was in
dicted.”
Chief Asks for Reversal
of Action of 3oions.
The president then gave a number of
other instances, all of which tend to
point out the efficiency of the secret
service, and he concludes:
"In conclusion. I most earnestly ask, in
the name of good government and de
cent administration, in the name of hon
esty and for the purpose of bringing
to Justice violators of the federal laws
wherever they may be found, whether In
public or private life, that the action
taken by the house last year be reversed.
When this action was taken, the senate
committee, under the lead of the late
Senator Allison, having before It a
strongly-worded protest from Secretary
Cortelyou like that he had sent to Mr.
Tawney, accepted the secretary’s views;
and the senate passed the bill in the
shape presented by Senator Allison. In
the conference, however, the house con
ferees insisted on the retention of the
provision they had inserted, and the
senate yielded.
“The chief of the secret service is
paid a salary utterly inadequate to the
importance of his functions and to the
admirable way in which he has per
formed them. I earnestly urge that it
may be increased to $G,000 per annum. I
also urge that the secret service be
placed where it properly belongs, and
made a bureau in the department of
Justice, as the chief of the secret service
has repeatedly requested; but whether
this is done or not, it should be ex
plicitly provided that the secret servic*
can be used to detect and punish crime
wherever it is found.
I "THEODORE ROOSEVELT.”
HUNDRED THOUSAND DIE
IN A WFUL EARTHQUAKE
Seismic Shocks, Tidal Waves and Fires Devastate Mes
sina, Reggio and Scores of Other Cities
and Towns of Calabria.
Horrible Scenes in the Stricken District, Described by Eye-Witnesses--All Nations
Offer Sympathy and Aid--King and Queen Go to Sicily--American Consul
Arthur S. Cheney and His Wife Are Reported to Ee Among the Victims of the
Terrible Disaster.
ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE.
“His Majesty Vittorio Emman
uel, Rome:
“With all my countrymen I
am appalled by the dreadful ca
lamity which has befallen your
country. I offer my sincerest
sympathy. American National
Red Cross has issued appeals
for contributions for the suffer- *
ers and notified me that they
will immediately communicate
with the Italian Red Cross.
“Theodore Roosevelt.”
Rome.—Stunned at the magnitude
of the calamity which has over
taken its fellow countrymen, all Italy
mourns for the stricken province of
Calabria and the island of Sicily. Ac
customed for centuries to earthquakes,
Italy stands ever in dread, but none
was prepared for the disaster which in
the fraction of a minute Monday dev
astated cities and towns and caused
the death of thousands. Late esti
mates put the number of dead at 100,
000.
Messina, whose tragic history has
been marked by tidal waves and war,
and which was the center of Monday’s
terrestrial maelstrom, was shaken to
ruins. Flames burst forth to complete
the city’s destruction and to burn alive
untold numbers helplessly pinioned be
neath fallen walls and broken timbers.
The Strait of Messina was shaken and
twisted by the earth's trembling, for
mariners report the channel altered
beyond recognition. The ports and vil
lages on both the continental and Sicil
ian sides were wrecked or inundated
and all lighthouses along the coasts
were swallowed up. Navigation now is
dangerous and in some places impos
sible.
Seaport of Reggio Wiped Out.
In the Calabrian district, which was
only beginning to recover from the ef
fects of the earthquake of 1905, Reggio
was the center of the earth's upheaval.
The seaport of Reggio is reported as
no longer existing and the city projter
is in ruins. The loss of life on both
sides of the strait and jn eastern
Sicily was enormous.
One of the refugees from Reggio
who was the first to bring the news of
the city’s destruction tried to make his
way to Sicily in a sailboat, but was
compelled to return, and finally found
safely at a peninsula port. In describ
ing his experience he said:
“The sea was strangely, mysteriously
agitated, and the heavens were ablaze.
Nearing Sicily, the clearing smoke re
vealed the mystery. Messina was in
flames. In the frenzy of despair I
turned my boat back to Calabria.”
Terrible Scenes at Messina.
Starving, bleeding from injuries and
almost insane from their terrifying ex
periences, Messina's survivors are flee
ing in all directions. The spectacle
presented by the ruined seaport is de
scribed as terrifying. Tumbling build
ings both killed and mutilated, while
hundreds of the injured imprisoned in
the wreckage were abandoned to their
fate by the fleeing populace. One of
those who escaped said:
“The earth seemed suddenly to drop
and then turn violently on its axis.
The whole population, who practically
were precipitated front the houses rent
in twain, were spun around like tops
as they ran through the streets. Many
fell crushed to death and others, bewil
dered, took refuge for breath beside
the tottering walls, where they soon
met the fate of their companions.”
Brave Work of Rescuers.
Already British and Russian squad
rons have arrived at Messina. Sailors
and marines have been disembarked
and they have performed courageous
acts in rescuing the injured and re
moving the wounded. A large number
of suvivors have been transferred to
the warships, which are transformed
into great floating hispitals. It is im
perative that the dead be removed
from the ruins in order to avoid a pes
tilence. Steamers with doctors, drug
gists, firemen and workmen have ar
rived at Messina from Catania and
other places.
Special dispatches received here
from Calabria confirm the destruction
of Reggio. They report that the situa
tion there is as bad, if not worse, than
at Messina. The streets in Rome are
jammed with people, who snatch the
special editions from the newsboys.
The people are plunged in grief and
lamentations are heard on all sides.
Here and there one asks another:
‘When will end this awful repetition
of devastation and death in our coun
try?”
All Nations Offer Aid.
The hands of all the nations have
oeen extended to Italy in her affliction.
From rulers have come messages of
condolence and from the people spon
taneous promises of that aid which
brings the world closer together in
times of great calamity Great. Britain,
France and Russia have sent their war
ships quick as a flash of the tele
graph could carry the orders to lend
assistance to the stricken cities. Re
lief funds have already been started
and a hundred ships and trains are on
their way carrying supplies and re-en
forcements to the south. Rome, Milan,
Florence, Naples and other cities are
sending physicians, police and firemen.
Described by Naval Officer.
At the time of the earthquake the
torpedo boat Sappho was lying in the
harbor of Messina and one of the offi
cers told of the occurrences, as fol
lows:
“At half-past five in the morning the
sea suddenly became terribly agitated,
seeming literally to pick up our boat
and shake it. Other craft near-by were
similarly treated and the ships looked
like bits of cork bobbing about in a
tempest. Almost immediately a tidal
wave of huge proportions swept across
the strait, mounting the coasts and
carrying everything before it. Scores
of ships were damaged and the Hun
garian mail boat Andrassy parted her
anchors and went crashing into other
vessels. Messina bay was wiped out
and the sea was soon covered with
masses of wreckage, which wras car
EARTHQUAKE SCENE IN ITALY.
i
Calabrian Family Among Ruing of T heir Home, Earthquake of Oct., 1907.
ried off in the arms of the receding
waters.”
King and Queen Go to Sicily.
King Victor Emmanuel and the
queen, who left for the scene of the
calamity, reached Naples last night
and proceeded at once to Sicily. A
large number of people saw their
majesties depart from Rome and one
among the number of deputies at the
station observed to the king: “The
presence of your majesty will suffice
to console the stricken population.”
The king turned sharply upon the
speaker and said abruptly: "Don’t
talk nonsense.”
Horrible Scenes in the Ruins.
The work of rescue at Messina, ac
cording to the meager details received
here, presented harrowing scenes.
Hundreds of people were pinned under
walls and rafters alive, but terribly
injured, for 30 hours. One of the res
cuers found under the ruins of a house
five children, alive, but unable to
speak, clinging around the corpse of
their mother. In some cases heroic
rescuers met death in the falling de
bris. In one house 20 persons sus
pended on the fifth floor and unable
to reach the street because the lower
floors had been torn away, were res
cued with a rope by a sailor. Six
criminals were killed while attempting
to loot the Bank of Sicily, where cash
amounting to half a million dollars
lay in plain view.
. Officials Give Succor.
The pope has telegraphed the arch
bishops of Palermo and Catania and
the bishops of Miletto and Catanzaro
expressing his sorrow over the ap
palling calamity and ordering the say
ing of prayers. He asks also what
money is required, as he desires to
contribute funds to cope with the situ
ation.
Premier Giolitti has appointed a na
tional committee to organize succor
for the unfortunates. The president
of the organization is the duke of
Aosta. The king has made a generous
contribution to the relief fund. Min
ister of Public Works Bertolini and
Minister of Justice Orlando have left
Rome for Sicily. Sig. Orlando is a
Sicilian.
Lasted Only Twenty-Three Seconds.
A report of technical observations
from the observatory at Messina says
the earthquake lasted for 23 seconds
only. It was accompanied by remark
able atmospheric phenomena. The
surcharged air was filled with sparks
and flashes of flame which flared up
until the heavens seemed afire. The
crest of the earth appeared suddenly
to drop. These phenomena were fol
lowed by distinct lateral oscillations
that threw the panic-stricken people
off their feet as they rushed to the
streets.
Straits of Messina All Changed.
Reports indicate that the geography
of the Straits of Messina has been so
changed as to cause apprehension of
serious commercial and strategic diffi
culties. It is believed that navigation
has become extremely dangerous, in
which case the fortifications on which
the' government in recent years spent
large sums will be useless. The famous
whirlpool of Charybdis, it is said, has
shifted its position.
Desperate calls have been made
from Rome to Messina, but these re
main unanswered and fears are en
tertained that Fort Spuria, near Mes
sina, has been destroyed, as the wire
less station installed there is one of
the most powerful in Italy and Is evi
dently not working.
American Consul and Wife Die.
Washington. — That Arthur S.
Cheney, American consul at Messina,
Sicily, and his wife lost their lives
in the earthquake disaster which dev
astated that city Monday, is indicated
by an official dispatch received last
night by the state department from
Stuart Lupton, American vice-consul
at Messina.
The following dispatch came via
Malta, Maltese Islands, in the Mediter
ranean, being received there by wire
less from Messina by Consul William
H. Gale, and transmitted by him to the
state department:
“The Messina consulate destroyed
and consul and wife supnosed to be
dead.—Lupton.”
Arthus S. Cheney is a native of Illi
nois, but was appointed consul at Mes
sina from Connecticut August 15, 1907.
Stuart Lupton, w’ho is from Tennessee,
was only recently appointed vice and
deputy consul at Messina and had just
arrived at his post, succeeding H.
Peirce, an Italian.
Ballooning as a Rest Cure
Miss Blanche Vignos. vice-president
of the Ohio Federation of Women’s
clubs, has become an enthusiastic
aeronaut, and recommends a balloon
trip to every woman whose nerves re
quire relaxation and rest. This seems
advice likely to work a cure worse
than the disease, still Miss Vignos
points to the fact that by a balloon
ride of several hours a severe attack
of nerves was overcome. Miss Vignos
is also president of the Sorosis of Can
ton, and all the members of that club
were present to see her first ascen
sion in .that city the other day. Many
of the women implored Miss Vignos
not to make the trip, telling her she
was risking death. Miss Vignos, how
ever, went up in the balloon, and so
enjoyed the experience that she made
a second ascension the following after
noon. She Is endeacoring to get fellow
clubwomen to accompany her on as
censions, asserting the sport to be al
most alluring enough to divert any
woman from work for equal suffrage.
Wireless From Arr Lamps.
Some day a book on the ‘‘Mysteries
of Wireless Telegraphy” will be writ
ten. A dweller in Brunswick, Ger
many, recently intercepted a wireless
message without the aid of special ap
paratus of any kind.
In his house was a workshop or
laboratory, lighted tty an arc laaft
which, he observed with some interest,
flickered in a most peculiar manner;
the variations of intensity in the ligfit
being accompanied by corresponding
variations in the humming sound so
frequently given out by the electric
arc.
The Brunswicker, who was familiar
with the Morse code and could read it
by sound, soon recognized, to his as
tonishment, that his lamp was spelling
out a Morse message. In fact, his arc
lamp was acting as an inpromptu re
ceiver for the electric waveB seat out
by a wireless station about two and
one-half miles distant.
Secret messages must evidently be
very difficult to send by wireless when
the very arc lights proclaim them
aloud.—New York Herald.
To Prevent Spontaneous Combustion.
By placing small cylinders contain
ing compressed carbon dioxide, with
fuse plugs, melting at 200 degree}, in
coal bunkers, spontaneous combmitloB
it is said, wiU tsajorerentetl.
LAME BACK PRESCRIPTION
The increased use of “Toris” for
lame back and rheumatism is causing
considerable discussion among the
medical fraternity, it is an almost in
fallible cure when mixed with cer
tain other ingredients and taken prop
erly. The following formula is effec
tive: “To one-half pint of good
whiskey add one ounce of Tori3 Com
pound and one ounce Syrup Sarsapa
rilla Compound. Take in tablespoon
ful doses before each meal and be
fore retiring.”
Toris compound is a product of the
laboratories of the Globe Pharmaceu
tical Co., Chicago, but it as well as the
other ingredients can be had trom any
good druggist.
WHY WELLS WAS WRATHY.
All Things Considered, He Had Some
Excuse for Anger.
Charles E. Wells, who has been
called the groundhog senator of West
Virginia, because he once introduced
a bill advocating the changing of
groundhog day from February 2 to
July 4, was staying over night at the
Grand hotel of a budding West Vir
ginia village not long ago.
He was awakened in the morning by
heavy pounding on his door, and the
voice of the old man night clerk say
ing “Five o’clock! Better get up or
you’ll miss your train.”
Mr. Wells didn’t intend to catch a
morning train and hadn't given any
Instructions that he should be called
at the unearthly hour of five o'clock,
so he paid no attention to the old
man’s early morning greeting and was
asleep again almost immediately.
In about 15 minutes he was again
awakened by the pounding on his door
and heard the voice of the old man
saying apologetically: “Don't get up.
I rapped on the wrong door."—Lippin
cott’s.
HANDS RAW AND SCALY.
Itched and Burned Terribly—Could
Not Move Thumbs Without Flesh
Cracking—Sleep Impossible.
Cuticura Soon Cured His Eczema.
"An itching humor covered both my
hands and got up over my wrists and
even up to the elbows. The itching
and burning were terrible. My hands
got all scaly and when I scratched, the
surface would be covered with blis
ters and then get raw. The eczema
got so bad that I could not move my
thumbs without deep cracks appearing.
I went to my doctor, but his medicine
could only stop the itching. At night
I suffered so fearfully that I could not
sleep. I could not bear to touch my
hands with water. This went on for
three months and I was fairly worn
out. At last I got the Cuticura Reme
dies and in a month I was cured. Wal
ter H. Cox, 16 Somerset St., Boston,
Mass., Sept. 25, 1908.”
Potter Drug & Chcm. Coro., 8oi« Props., Boston.
“CALLING” THE PITCHER.
_
The captain—See here, you’ve give
seventeen men bases on balls! Dis
here’s a ball game, not no six-day
walkin’ match!
Electricity’s Beginnings.
The term “electricity” was derived
from the Greek word meaning amber.
Electricity ii self is earliest described
by Theophrastus <321 B. C.) and Pliny
(70 A. D.), who mention the power of
amber to attract straw and dry leaves.
I Dr. Gilbert of Colchester, physician to
i Queen Elizabeth (1540-1603) may be
considered the founder of the science,
as he appears to have been the first
philosopher who carefully repeated the
observations of the ancients and ap
plied to them the principles of philo
sophical investigation.
Mean Insinuation.
He was a brand-new milkman, and,
lacking the wdsdom of more experi
enced members of the species, knew
not that on certain subjects he should
at all times maintain a frigid silence.
“It looks like rain this morning, mum,”
he said pleasantly, gazing skyward, as
he poured the milk into his customer's
jug. "It always does,” was the curt
reply. And the milkman was so dis
satisfied with the remark that he
strode away and savagely kicked a
lamp post.
Fairly Warned.
An old Quaker, not careful of the
teachings of his faith, was discov
ered by his wife kissing the cook be
hind the door. But the Quaker was
not disturbed.
“Wife,” said he, gently, “if thee
doesn't quit thy spying, thee will make
trouble in the family.”
THEN AND NOW
Complete Recovery from Coffee 111*.
“About nine years ago my daughter,
from coffee drinking, was on the verge
of nervous prostration,” writes a Louis
ville lady. “She was confined for the
most part to her home.
“When she attempted a trip down
town she was often brought home in a
cab and would, be prostrated for days
afterwards.
“On the advice of her physician she
gave up coffee and lea, drank Postum,
and ate Grape-Nuts for breakfast.
“She liked Postum from the very
beginning and we soon saw improve
ment. To-day she is in perfect health,
the mother of five children, all of
whom are fond of Postum.
“She has recovered, is a member of
three charity organizations and a club,
holding an office In each. We give
Postum and Grape-Nuts the credit for
her recovery.”
“There’s a Reason.”
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, Mich. Read, “The Road to
Wellvllle,” in pkgs.
Ever read the above letter? A nrw
one appear* from time to time. They
I are genuine, true, a ad full of human
Interest,