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Items of Interest
During the past flvo months trusts have heen
organized with an aggregate capital of $2,000,
000,000. Professor Ira Romsen has heen elected Presi
dent of Johns HopkinB university to succeed Dr.
D. C. Gilman.
Immigration officials have decided to exclude
from the United States all persons suffering from
consumption.
Mrs. Woodbury of Boston was defeated in her
noted libel suit against Mrs. Eddy, the founder of
Christian science.
Andrew Carnegie has given $10,000,000 of the
United States Steel corporation's 5 per cent bonds
to the universities of Scotland.
- The Washington legislature recently closed a
two days' special session, passing among other
bills a new capital punishment law.
Senator Piatt has announced his intention to
retire from the United States senate upon the ex
piration of his present term in 1903. '
A' number of poems by King James I., bearing
as marks of genuineness the royal autograph, are
reported to have been found at Oxford.
When the Great Eastern was launched it was
the largest ship afloat. The Celtic, just launched
in Russia, is 10,300 tons heavier than the Great
Eastern.
r The Argentine republic is the most progressive
country in South America. Already $40,000,000
have been invested in electrical undertakings in
the republic.
The order of St. Benedict has furnished forty
three popes and 40,000 bishops. The order of St:
Francis has furnished ten popes, the order of St.
Dominic four.
The president has appointed Herbert W. Bowen
of New York, present United States minister at Te
heran, Persia, minister to Venezuela to, succeed
Minister Loomis.
Vertical writing seems to be a fad that has had
its day. Numerous boards of education have abol
ished it and ordered a return to the writing that
slants to the right.
Two hundred and fifty years ago eight cows
and one bull were taken into the territory now
comprising the Argentine republic. Today the cat
tle herds contain 10,000,000 head.
The new battleship Illinois, after adding the
allowance for tidal corrections, made the ofllc.al
record of 17.45 knots an hour, and is the speediest
battleship of her class in the world.
The new naval academy at Anapolis will cost
$3,000,000 and will be the finest structure owned by
the government outside of New York. It will pro
vide accommodations for 550 cadets.
Calculations based on the census returns thus
far available fix the present population of the Do
minion of Capada at 5,551,036. The increase during
the past ten years has been very small.
L. Dauphino, a poor shoemaker living in Yazoo
City, M'iss., has been notified of the death of his
aunt, Emily Dauphine" of Marseilles, France, who
had willed to him her entire estate valued at $1,
000,000. June 12, by a vote of 13 to 3, the school board
of Chicago adopted a resolution providing for free
school books for the first four grades of the public
schools and appropriated $91,000 for the purchase
of books.
There will be state elections in Nebraska,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Penn
sylvania and Virginia this year. Governors will
he chosen in all these states except Nebraska and
Maryland.
It Is estimated that it will cost $250,000 and re
quire six months' time to repair the famous bat-
The Commoner.
tlcship Oregon which recently arrived in San Fran
cisco. The damages were received in the wreck in
the Gulf of Pe Chi Li.
Bunker Hill Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri
can Revolution, have decided to erect a monument
on the spot where Paul Revere stood while wait
ing for the signals for his famous ride "One if by
land and two if by sea."
Saloons in Toronto, Canada, close at 7 o'clock
Saturday nights. This order is strictly enforced.
The idea is to prevent workingmen who are paid
on Saturday from squandering their wages at the
saloons on Saturday evening.
The Minnesota legislature passed a law parol
ing life prisoners who have served 35 years less the
time allowed them for good behavior; provided,
that in all cases the unanimous consent of tho
board of pardons must be first obtained.
Goust is the smallest republic in tho world in
point of area. It is one mile square. It is located
on the flat top of a mountain in the Pyrinees be
tween France and Spain and is recognized by both
countries. It has a president and a council of
twelve.
Thomas A. Edison has announced that he has
succeeded in devising a storage battery. This is
an important achievement, and if Mr. Edison has
really solved the great problem that for years has
agitated electricians, he will have won a new
laurel of no mean proportions.
One of the largest bodies of land owned by a
single individual on the western continent is tho
Island of Antlcostl at the mouth of the SI. Law
rence river. It was purchased four years ago by
M. Menier, the great chocolate manufacturer of
Paris. The island Is 130 miles long and 30 miles
wide.
Sumatra widows are tied down by an iron-clad
custom. When the husband dies the widow erects
a flagstaff at her front door and flings a flag to
the breeze. As long as the flag remains untorn she
must wear widow's weeds and keep in seclusion.
Tho moment a rent, no matter how small, appears
iii the flag she can lay aside her weeds and accept
the first offer that comes.
The Desert of Sahara comprises 2,500,000
square miles. It is believed that one-half of this
area can be made habitable by turning the ocean
into the other one-half. Most of the desert is fer
tile and would produce crops if it had water. But
rain never falls there. " Artesian wells have been
bored in various parts with success, and wherever
a well flows the verdure is luxuriant.
A queer suit at law is attracting attention In
Wichita county, Kansas, and promises to last for
several years. A Kansas girl died, leaving a
sweetheart and a brother. Sweet heart and brother
arc not on good terms. When the sweetheart or
dered a handsome monument for his dead love's
grave the brother went into court for an injunc
tion preventing the erection of the monument.
The national indebtedness of the world is esti
mated at $41,000,000,000. The human mind cannot
grasp the immensity of these figures. If Adam had
begun counting silver dollars at the rate of 100 a
minute when he was first created and had lived to
keep up the count twenty-four hours a day until
now, he would not have counted enough to pay
the interest for one year en this sum at the rate
of 10 per cent.
Accident insurance companies are considerably
interested in a suit now pending at Des Moines, la.,
involving the question of liability of a company
on its policy where the assured is killed by a
maniac. Anna Kahler, widow of Frank Kahler,
has sued to recover on a $10,000 policy, which is-re-sisted
by the company on the ground that tho
shooting was not an accident and that its policies
especially provide that injuries purposely inflicted
will not be considered accidents unless committed
by a burglar or highwayman. The maniac was
neither of these, so the question to be decided by
tho court is whether In legal contemplation, a
maniac can ho said to have a purpose in the com
mission of his acts. ,
About May 1, Lieutenant H. L. Gilchrist, acting
for tho board of health, completed a census of
Manila. According to the Manila Times It shows
the population of Manila to be 244,932, of which
number 181,361 arc Filipinos, 51,567 Chinese, 8,562
Americans, 2,382 Spaniards and 9C0 of various other
nationalities. The officers and soldiers of the United
States army are not included in the above figures.
There aro 18,463 buildings in the city classified as
follows: Good, 3,739; bad, 1,135; small, 1,472;
shacks, 12,117.
The Chicago Chronicle, speaking of desertions,
says: "Scores of soldiers will not answer roll call
at Fort Sheridan this morning, and the celobratlon
of pay day yesterday at this postthe fifth since
the anti-canteen law went into effect- demon
strated that many recruits as well as veterans have
taken French leave of the army. Drunkenness
seemed more general evcn than last month, and
among tht crowds of men in blue who besieged the
saloons of I-Iighwood there were many who openly
declared their intention to desert the service. Not
only are desertions on tho increase at Fort Sheri
dan, but at every army post in the United States
and island possessions, according to government
reports. From Fort Sheridan alone the desertions
have averaged more than twenty-five every month
since February. Last month, while the Investigat
ing committee of ministers was making inquiries
at the fort and vicinity, men who wore the blue of
Uncle Sam were leaving the post in squads to take
off their uniforms in some secluded place, ex
change them for disguises and flee from the re
straints of army life to return no more. These
scenes were repeated yesterday and officers at the
fort say that if tho movement spreads it will not
be long ere tho ranks will bo thinned as though a
plague had struck the barracks. Twenty-five de
sertions a month for ono year make 300 deserters.
Three hundred deserters from every regiment in
the regular army, now numbering 100,000 men,
would make the total nearly 25,000, or the entire
former strength of the standing army. Fort Sheri
dan officers do not like to give out figures on de
sertions, but the men themselves arc willing
enough to tell how many of their comrades have
gone. 'And there'll be thirty-five or forty more
gone this month,' said a member of company II of
the Twenty-ninth infantry. 'Four men out of our
company left last pay day and six out of the com
pany next to ours, company G. They cannot stand
camp life these days. If it wasn't for the disgrace
of it and the fact that my mother is living I'd go,
too.' Major Lord, paymaster, paid out $16,000 to
3,379 men yesterday. Of the number, 3,191 belong
to the Twenty-ninth regiment. The others are
members of battery D of the Fifth artillery. The
size of the commands is due to constant recruit
ing, without which it would be Impossible to main
tain the full strength. Most of the soldiers' money
was in the hands of Pllghwood, Waukegan and
Chicago saloonkeepers before midnight. One hun
dred men came to Chicago on the 7 o'clock train
last evening. So crowded were the eight High
wood saloons during the afternoon and night that
at times it was not possible to reach the bar. Al
derman Gibbs' place did a thriving business. Fights
were frequent, but so far as learned there were no
attempts at murder, as on the May pay day. The
woods near the fort were full of drunken soldiers,
some of them asleep, the easy prey of thieves who
throng the vicinity of .the post on such occasions.
Gambling was being carried on under the trees.
It was a common thing to see a soldier who had
lost his entire month's pay at craps, poker or rou
lette. Sergeant of the Guard Schmitz and his men
were busy all night putting drunken and disorderly
comrades in tho guard house. The sergeant said
he believed more than half the enlisted men were
drunk."
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