The Commoner.
Oct i7, 190a
.-
print nothing concerning the movement in the
higher schools. No. 3,85? Absolutely no com
munication concerning the commercial conven
tion drawn up between Russia and Persia; nor
anything about tho pending discussion of tho
Erzeroum treaty by Persia and Turkey in Con
stantinople. No. 9,200 In Jaroslaw the trial ia
proceeding of some students of the Demidow
Lyceum, who aro accused of disturbing public or
der, rioting in tho streets and ill-treating police
officials. You are recommended to say absolutely
nothing about this matter. Per Telephone You
are recommended to say nothing -about the ap
pointment of the Austrian ambassador. No. 6,733
Until further notice nothing to be said about tho
suicide in tho Wladimir district court. No. 10,490
Absolutely no news or articles to bo published
about the disorders in tho. seminaries. (Quito
secret) No. 302 To publish nothing about the
suspension of tho "Rossia" newspaper, nor to give
the reasons for thia suspension. No. 620 To mako
no reference to the disorders at tho Obuchow steel
foundry. No. 2,377 Inasmuch as in the "Govern
meiit Messenger," in the announcement that Gor
ki's election to the academy of science is invalid,
it is not stated whence tho communication ema
nates, you aro recommended by order of the min
ister of the interior to head it thus: "From tho
Imperial Academy of Sciences." No. 2,765 You
aro to make absolutely no reference to yester
day's incident with the Moscow chief of police.
(The "incident" was an attempt on his life.) No.
2,894 To refrain from commeHt on the reports
in foreign journals concerning our dealings with
China. Tho freedom of the press is estimated
highly in this country and well it may be, for in
the upward and onward march of civilization, it
must be reckoned as one of the most important
factors.
IT MAY BE POSSIBLE IN THE NEAR Fu
ture' that Ireland may come to have a rival
in its use of peat instead of coal as fuel. The high
prices of coal and wood may serve to call atten
tion to the beds of peat that are to bo found in
Indiana. The state geologist Qf Indiana, W. S.
Blatchley, gives the information that peat may
be found In abundance in tho northern counties of
the state, one bed alone covering about three
hundred -acres' It is claimed, tnat those beds
might be profitably-' worked a the peat' varies in
depth from' one foot 'to five, :a'nd the "expense of
cutting and drying the material would be com
paratively small.
AMERICANS WHO REVERE THEIR NA
tive land and all that pertains thereto will
doubtless be roused by the announcement that the
burial place of Joseph Rodman Drake, who wrote
that immortal poem, "The American Flag' is in
danger of desecration. Mr. Drake is buried in a
private graveyard in the suburbs of New York, and
the land where this cemetery lies is being cut up
into sections and new streets lare being opened in
all directions. One of these streets will pass di
rectly over Drake's grave, and through some freak
of Tate, is to be called "Whittler" street. That
good old Quaker poet would certainly not be
pleased to have his name connected with any act
of vandalism toward the memory of a man who
did so much to rouse the patriotism of Americans.
It is to be hoped that something will be done to
preserve this historic spot and let the bones of
the poet rest in peace.
ANOTHER DESECRATION IS IMPENDING
at Concord, Mass., where a beef packing con
cern proposes to erect a factory almost on the very
Bite of Thoreau's old hut beside the waters of
tWalden Pond. The growth in popularity of this
author in recent years has caused this retreat to
, become the favorite haunt of visitors. The site is
marked by a huge cairn of stones, to which each
visitor adds one. All those who read and enjoy
the writings of Thoreau will esteem such a dese
cration in the nature of a calamity, and the pedple
of Concord "are not less interested in preserving
Intact one Qf the mo3t valuable attractions of the
historic town.
tho city and watchmen have been itationod there
to keep away natives who might doface and de
stroy tho elaborate stone carvings and sculptures.
Tho history of this city has been found writton
on columns of walls of palaces and temples, but
so far no one has been found who could read tho
inscriptions. Archeologists of tho Peabody Mu
seum have mastered tho calendar of tho vanished
people, however, and it Is hoped that with this
as a starting point, an acquisition of a knowledge
of the empire may bo obtained.
CONSIDERABLE INTEREST HAS BEEN
manifested in the work of excavation carried
on at the great prehistoric city of Copan in Hon
duras. Recently the Honduran government is
sued orders to stop all excavating, and this action
is causing much regret to tho scientists who have
been engaged in uncovering the secrets of this city-,
which is regarded as having been the capital of a
great empire. Great, palaceg and temples; giant
stairways and broad plazas have already been
discovered and it is earnestly hoped that the gov
ernment will soon remove its prohibition on fur
ther excavation, as Interesting discoveries aro
looked for. Meantime a wall has been built about
THAT CHICAGO IS HOLDING ITS OWN IN
tho ranks of great and growing cities is
proved by figures recently given tending to show
that it is probably tho largest broad consuming city
in America and perhaps in tno world. The Chicago
Tribune of October 5 gives this information: John
A. Heusner, president of tho Heusnor Baking com
pany, has compiled a lot of figures upon Chicago's
daily consumption of bread. Here are a fow
extracts from his figures: Four hundred thou
sand pounds of loaf bread is supplied by bakeries
in Chicago daily to the consumer. In addition,
50,000 pounds of bread finds its way to tho con
sumer in the form of rolls, each roll wolghing
one and three-quarter ounces. Every loaf of bread
sold in Chicago must by law weigh one full pound.
Hence if all tho bread sold in loaves and rolls
were baked into loaves of one pound each thero
would be 450,000 loaves of bread baked daily in
tho bakeries. A pound loaf of bread brings into tho
baker 4 cents. Hence tho daily consumption of
loaf bread in Chicago amounts to $16,000. Tho
rolls sell to tho dealers at 8 cents a dozen. For
rolls tho bakers receive in addition $4,000, or a
total of $20,000 daily that Chicago pays tho bak
ers for broad. Though a pound of flour makes
more than a pound of bread, Mr. Heusner assumed
that each pound of flour represented a pound of
bread. In that case Chicago would dispose of
450,000 pounds of flour, in broad alone, in twenty
four hours. If 400,000 pounds of flour wore packed
into barrels, each holding 196 pounds, or stand
ard weight, it would take 2,806 barrels to hold tho
supply. If these barrels were packed into freight
cars, allowing 150 barrels to each car, they would
mako up a train of nineteen cars. Twenty loaded
cars, aro considered by railroad men to bo a full
train. .Drivers of bakery wagons aro considered
doing a fair day's business if they turn in $20
per day. If the daily receipts of tho bakers from
the bread supply is $20,000, it requires 1,000 wagons
and as many drivers and as many horses to sup
ply the trade of On sago daily. Bakery proprie
tors figure that a good day's work on the part of
a baker is bread to the value of $20. Hence it
takes 1,000 bakers to supply tho 1,000 drivers who
deliver bread. In addition to these men it is
estimated that it takes 700 stable men, helpers,
and clerks to handle tho bread supply of Chicago.
Then tho bread . supply of Chicago gives work
daily to 2,760 men, or nearly as many men as
there are in three regiments of infantry when
the regiments are recruited to their full quota of
men.
THE LONDON CORRESPONDENT OF THE
Chicago Tribune tells the public of the latest
fancy of Queen Alexandria. It is reported that the
queen is in negotiation for the purchase of the so
called "Napoleon's Villa" on the Island of Elba,
which was the first consul's residence during his
exile on that island, prior to the battle of Water
loo. Since 1815 this house has had many different
owners and contains a great number of valuable
relics of the first Napoleon. The present owner
has refused all offers to sell, but it is now an
nounced that the historic place will soon pass into
the possession of tho queen of that country to
which Napoleon owned his defeat Tho queen is
said to be very enthusiastic in the collection of
relics of Napoleon, and already has a large collection.
AS CIVILIZATION PROGRESSES, INSTRU
ments of torture are gradully being clone
.away with, and so tho news that the abolition of
, tho tread-wheel and tno crank in English, prisons
Is now accomplished will bo welcomed as a sign
of the higher civilization. According to the Lon
don Chronicle, it was wir W. Cubitt who, in 1820,
devoted his talents to the perfecting of the first
of these penal contrivances. By the Prison Act
of 1865 every male prisoner over sixteen, sentenced
to hard labor, was ordered to undergo three
months of labor of tho first class, which Included
the use of the ead-wheel and the crank. The
tread-wheel was a hollow cylinder of wood with
steps about eight inches apart on its outer circum
ference, and working on an axle. The work re
sembled the continuous ascent of a flight of steps
under difficulties. The normal speed was 32 feet
a minute, so that allowing for six hotira treading
a day, a prisoner would bo required to climb over
8,000 foot Tho crank resembled the process of
raising a buckot from A well by means of a han
dle with a resiBtanco on tho whoel of 12 pound
and tho prisoner had to mako in six hours 8,pOO
to 10,000 revolutions, tho number of revolutions
bolng recorded on an infallible dial. Tho London
Chronicle concludes: "There can bo no doubt that
both tho tread-wheel and tho crank came protty
near to bolng instruments of torturo, and it is a
curious commont on our vaunted civilization that
tho proposal to abolish thom ovokod tho bitterest
opposition."
li
THAT A MAN ACCUSED OF A SERIOUS
crime may obtain his freedom through the
omission of a dollar mark on tho warrant for
his arrest is a possibility, according to' a story
from St. Louis. Tho caso concorns Georgo H.'
Sharpo, a former stock broker of St Louis, who
was arrested in Chicago Soptombor 16 on a fugi
tive warrant sworn out by Senator H. Br Bogole of
Belvldere, 111. Tho charge mado against him ia
that ho has secured $2,000 from Senator Bcgole
on worthless mining stock. After the arrest in
Chicago tho St Louis authorities woro notified
and tho governor's warrant of extradition was se
cured, and forwarded to tho Chicago police
Sharpo's attorney, however, noticed tho omission
of tho dollar mark in front of the figures 2,000,
and he has mado this a basis for suit to regain his
client's freedom.
ACCORDING TO A CENSUS REPORT
thero is considerably less Illiteracy among
children between ten and fourtoon years of aga
than there was ten years ago, and this ia rightful
ly attributed to tho increased efficiency of the
school system. These figures aro taken from an
abstract of tho census report mado by the Chicago
Record-Herald, and ono part especially Interesting
is that pertaining to tho southern states. Tho ab
stract is as follows: Missouri, 1890, 94.48, 1900,
96.64; Delaware, 1890, 90.96, 1900, 95,40; Mary
land, 1890, 90.54, 1900, 95.36; West Virginia, 1890,
89.16, iy00, 94.74; Kentucky, 1890, '85.17, 1900,
91.56; Texas, 1890, 85.55, 1900, 90.74; Florida, 1890,
82.43, 1900, 80.24; Tennessee, 1890, 80.94, 1900, 85.08;
Virginia, 1890, 77.32, 1900, 84.53; Arkansas, 1890,
77.89, 1900, 83.89; North Carolina, 1890, 69.38, 1900,
78.25; Mississippi, laj, 3.4, 1900, 77.62; Georgia,
1890, 66.75, 1900, 77.21; Alabama, 1890, 64.50, 1900,
71.11; South Carolina, 1890, 61.u, 1900, 70.44; Lou
isiana, 1890, 57.26, 1900, 67.12. It is particularly
encouraging to note tho great Improvement and
progress whore the illiteracy was greatest North
Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana
show exceptionally good progress along this line.
AN ARTICLE IN THE LITERARY DIGEST OF
September 27, gives an interesting view of
the enormous values of real estate on the lower end
of Manhattan island. Mr. Richard M. Hurd, -wrltr
lng in tho Yale Review, daims that tho banking
district of Now York city contains tho most val
uable land In .no world, Its only competitor be
ing tho financial section of London, $450 per
square foot having been offered for tho corner
of Wall street and. Broadway, and from this
maximum value tho average prices of real estate
varies. Mr. Hurd is of tho opinion that it will soon
develop that tho greater part of tho surface of
Manhattan island will be devoted to business
solely, and the space above tho ground floor, If
not utilized for business, to bo occupied by hotels,
apartment houses, flats and tenements, and if the
growth of the city continues unchecked, no esti
mate can be mado as to the extent of the valua
tion of its real estate.
OPERATIONS 'ARE UNDER WAY FOR THE
draining of the Everglades, those great and
dismal swamps of Florida. Estimates of tho ex
tent of tho land to bo reclaimed vary from 800,000
to 4,000,000, but all accounts agree that the land,
when drained, will ran.; among the richest in tho
world. It is not thought that tho task will bo a
very hard ono, although it will take engineering
skill to accomplish the result desired. The land is
nowhere less than ten feet above 'tide level and the
natural drainage is toward the ocean. Several
streams permeate the swampy land and tho ob
ject of tno present efforts is to assist these
streams by removing tho barriers at their heads
and thence running channels into- the heart of tho
Everglades. Nino canals in all will be .con-;
structed with a total length of 144 miles, each be
ing 50 feet In width and 12 feet in depth. The
time necessary to accomplish this task is esti
mated at about five years and the total cost about'
$850,000, which compared with the great value of
the reclaimed land for agricultural purposes ia
aurely a very good Investment