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The Commoner
&PRIL 10, 1903.
ACCORDING TO THIS AUTHORITY, H
guard who has been trained in tho use of
the signal cod which is practically the African
Morse alphabet, heats the message on his drum in
the open air and the sound- is carried across tho
valleys and glens to the next village where it is
Interpreted by another guard. Mr. Rideout ex
plains: "There is always a guard on duty ready
to receive these messages. Ho- can tell at onco
whether the message is for his .chief or the head
man of his village, in which case he goes to "tho
head man's hut and makes the communication
verbally. t If, however, the message is for a dis- t
tant part, he repeats .it on his gourd, and so 'it is '
carried from village to village, with very littlo
loss of time, until it reaches tho person for whom
it is intended. During the war between the Brit
ish and the Boers we who were hundreds of miles
distant from the scene of hostilities got all the
news with surprising rapidity. We knew of ev
ery victory and every reverse "which took place
in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, and
t have known of several instances where the news
came by the gourd air line hours ahead of the
message by field telegraph. You can readily un
derstand how this surprised the military officers.
Tho game system is common in many of the Afri
can tribes, and the secret is always confined to tho
few trained men in each village, who are chosen
for their fidelity to the head man or chief. "Who
first devised this system nobody seems to know.
It has been used for centuries."
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY IS
practically the custodian of more than $1,
300,000,000 in cash and is responsible for finan
cial transactions aggregating $3,500,000,000 per
year. But Frank A. Vanderlip, former assistant
secretary of the treasury, writing in Scrlbner's
Magazine, says' that the control of finances is not
the only important task imposed upon the secre
tary. Mr. Vanderlip says that the secretary is
the head of the navy of revenue cutters, light
house tenders, and the coast survey steamers. He
Id the arbiter of the admission of from half to
three-quarters of a million immigrants a year.
He is the head of the national public health sys
tem, of a great detective service, of a life-saving
service with 272 crews patrolling 10,000 miles of
coast, of a coast survey, a light house system, il
luminating the shores of this continent from
. Maine to Alaska, and of an architect's office that
has built and cares for 400 public buildings. Ho
is the commander in all these activities of an
army of 26,000 menas many as were serving in
the regular, army of the United States before the
Spanish war. There are some things even tho
secretary would like to reform, but cannot There
is one collector of customs ,who receives a salary
of $1,800 who in one recent year collected 20
cents. There are 12 customs districts onicered at
a total cost of $15,578.14 whose total of collections
in one year was $275.26.
THE TOWN OF DORCHESTER, MASS.,
claims the honor of having the first public
school in America to be 'supported by direct taxa
tion upon the inhabitants of a' town. The Dor
chester correspondent of the Chicago Tribune says
that 'this school was established in May, 1639.
During that year David Thompson had settled
upon Thompson's island, off the coast of the col
ony town, and in 1638 he gave the island to tho
town on tho payment of 12 pence yearly rental.
Having transferred the island to the town, tho
town council met May 20, 1639, and adopted the
following order: "It is ordered tho 20th day of
May, 1639, that there shall be a rent of 20 a year
Imposed forever on Thompson's island, to be paid
by every person that hath propriety in said Isl
and, according to the proportion that any such
person shall from time to time enjoy and possess
there, and this toward the maintenance of a
school in Dorchester. This rent of 20 a year to
be paid to such schoolmaster as shall undertake
to teach English, Latin, and other tongues, also,
writing. The said schoolmaster to be chosen from
time to time by the freemen, and ii(is left to the
discretion of the elders and the seven men for the
time being whether maids shall be taught with
the boys or not. For the levying of this 20 year
ly from the particular persons wtio ought to pay
it according to this order, it is further ordered
that somo man shall be appointed by the seven
men for tho time being to receive this, and on
refusal to levy it by. distress, and not finding dis
tress, such person as so refuseth payment shall
forfeit the land he hath in "propriety -in said Isl
and." Here, the first teacher was the Rev. Thomas
Waterhouso.
THE CREW OF THE UNITED STATES REV
enue cutter Seminole wpre recently treated
. tq. an Inspiring- scene. 'This vessel was lying in
the Boston narbor'arid oho of tho seamen indulged '
In a torrent of abuse upon things in general and
finally referred to tho United States flag as "a
dirty rag." This remark-was reported to Captain
Rogers In command of tho Sominolo. Tho captain
summoned all hands and after addressing them
upon tho seriousness of tho offense committed by
this seaman, compelled tho offender to kiss tho
flag six times and publicly obligate himself never
to speak disrespectfully of tho flag or to allow
any one elso to do so in his presence.
A STRANGE STORY COMES FROM THE ST.
Petersburg correspondent of the Chicago Iri-ter-Ocean.
It Is related that in tho vicinity of tho
village of Kovsovska, a father, mother and child
were driving in a sleigh when they were overtaken
by wolves. Tho father, seeing tho situation was
desperate, suggested to tho mother that they throw
the child out, and that while tho wolves wore sat
isfying themselves with its body they might es
cape. This the mother resolutely refused to do.
The father, becoming desperato as tho wolves woro
closing in, seized the woman and child and throw
them out of tho sleigh. .By f miracle they tum
bled into a ditch hidden by the snow. Tno wolves
swept past whero the woman and child lay, and a
moment later had torn tho horse and man to
pieces. The woman, after awhilo, emerged from
her place of refuge. The wolves had gone and
she and her child reached their village to tell tho
tale of their strange escape.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ABOUT TO
engage In tho snako business if the Middle
town, N. Y., correspondent of tho Chicago Inter
Ocean is to bo relied upon. This correspondent
says: "Because of his extensive knowledge re
garding snakes, Ichabel Crandall of Pike county,
Pennsylvania, has been engaged to go to tho
Philippines and capture specimens of all kinds of
snakes in the islands for tho United States gov
ernment museum at Washington. Crandall has
spent all his life in catching snakes, and Is be--lieved
to be better posted regarding tho various
specimens than any other man in the United
States."
If
IT IS REPORTED FROM LONDON THAT MRS.
Florence Maybrick, whose trial and. con
viction for tho murder of her husband, James
Maybrick, ha3 attracted general attention in
America and in England for tho past fourteen
years, will soon be released from prison. This
announcement is made by authority of tho home
secretary and has caused rejoicing among tho
many people in this country who, believing in
this woman's Innocence, have for years exerted
their efforts in her behalf. Mrs. Maybrick was
formerly Miss Florence Chandler, daughter of
William G. Chandler, a banker of Mobile, Ala.
She was born in Mobile in 1862.
THE INTERESTING STORY .RELATING TO
this unfortunate woman is told in a graphic
way by a writer in tho Chicago Record-Herald.
William G. Chandler, her father, died in 1863 and
tho widow, accompanied by her daughter Florence,
removed to New York and subsequently to Ger
many, where she was educated. Returning to
America in 1878, Florence Chandler, then but six
teen years of age, met James Maybrick, an Eng
lishman, who was visiting in this country. May
brick was forty years of ago, twenty-four' years
the senior of the girl whose hand he sought Al
though the Chandler family vigorously opposed
the marriage, tho Englishman was successful in
his suit and he marriage took place in London in
1881, the husband then being forty-three years of
age and the bride nineteen. After spending sev
eral years in America, Mr. and Mrs. Maybrick
returned to England and took up their residenco
in Liverpool. In 1887 Mrs. Maybrick, who had
lived a rather retired life, began to go into so
ciety, but her existence was quite uneventful un
til the fatal occurrences in April, 1889, when Mr.
Maybrick was taken ill and died in great pain from
arsenical poisoning. Soon after his death Mrs.
Maybrick was" suspected of having poisoned her
husband, and the suspicion was soon followed by
an open charge preferred by the dead man's
brothers, who moved heaven and earth to produce
tho necessary evidence. It was shown at tho trial
that the deceased was in tho habit of using ar
senic, and had always kept a supply of that drug
by him. The day before his death ho had at
tended the spring races, and had been caught in
the rain. The drenching he received was fol
lowed by a fever, and he had been in bed but a
short time when he died. The crown made out a
strong case, and the accused was found guilty and
sentenced to dea'thr- Public sympathy,, however,
wan bo warmly exorted in tho favor of the accused
that tho punishment was commuted to imprison
ment for life.
& JC
THE FRIENDS OF MRS. MAYBRICK IN ENG
land as well as .in America at onco began a
fight to obtain for her a pardon. That fight has
been waging for fourteen years, tho services of
tho most prominent men in England and Ameri
ca being enlisted in Mrs. Maybrick's behalf. Thou
sands of potitions woro received by the British
authorities Evidence throwing now light on tho"
death of Mr, Maybrick was presented, but this did
not move the authorities. An organization called
tho Florence Maybrick association was established
by tho leading women in England, with branches
in tho United States, tho purpose of which was to
secure Mrs. Maybrick's . pardon, but Queen Vic
toria was obdurato, and it was finally concluded
that so long as tho queen lived all efforts in Mrs.
Maybrick's favor would prove useless. On tho ac
cession of King Edward, however, hope revived
and tho work was renewed with increased vigor.
Tho Maybrick case was the occasion of consider
able diplomatic correspondence between tho Brit
ish government and tho United States, in which
Secretaries Blaine and Foster and Lord Salisbury
figured. The last petition to Queen Victoria was
made In 1899, at which time tho homo secretary
declared that tho queoh would not Interfere In any
circumstances whatever -with Mrs. Maybrick's sen
tence. Several months ago it was falsely reported
that King Edward had pardoned Mrs. Maybrick,
but it was understood at that tirao that tho king
had promised to use clemency at a later data It
Beems that tho British authorities wero finally
moved to promise release because of a number of
law suits involving valuable lands in West Vir
ginia, Virginia and Kentucky In which suits Mrs.
Maybrick Is interested, and she Is to bo released
in order that sho may defend her interest In
those proceedings. It is believed that her lib
eration will take place at the latest by July, 1904.
K
AN ELOPEMENT OCCURRED. RECENTLY AT
Morristown, N. J. The details of tho affair
wero interesting, but they are not to bo com
pared with the manner in which tho Morristown
correspondent for the Now York World described
tho affair, instead of writing a dry .report of tho
elopement, .this, correspondent took his pen in
liand and finally sent over tho wires this graphic
description: "Susie Hulbert, young and fair, with
hazel eyes and golden hair, rosebud mouth and
dimpled cheek, her whole apearance sweet and
meek, has left tho town with young Frank Dey, a
youth of aspirations high, but barely old enough
to, wed; so village gossips all havo said. She's
sweet sixteen, ho twenty-one, and now they're
dodging pa and gun; for yester night they ran
away, riding on the dapple gray. A church af
fair was in full swing, and Frank said, It's the
very thing; we'll shake the town this very night,
and give the old folk quite a fright.' So off they
went upon the nag which papa used with plough
and drag, and that's the reason he's so mad it's
knocked him out of farm-work bad. Susie's grand
' mamma says she'll all forgive if they'll return
and-with her to, live. She's sent that word to all
near by, but up to dato has no reply from either
Suo or Mr. Dey."
THE FATHER OF WATERS, A STREAM
that has frequently played pranks upon
various communities, has onco more condescended
to permit the city of Vicksburg to become a river
town. Vlcksburg's Interesting 'experiences with
the Mississippi are related by a writer in Les
lie's Weekly. This writer says that "until about
tho beginning of the last decade, all the geog
raphy classes in our schools were taught, and
correctly, that the city of Vicksbujg, Miss, made
historic during the civil war, was situated on tha
bank of the Mississippi river. This statement,
however, ceased to be a fact .some ten cu more
years ago, when the Father of Waters, in one of
his erratic moods, forced a now channel for himself
and left Vicksburg perched on a high bluff, several
miles inland. Tho town, which had been one of
the most Important steamboat ports on the big
stream, was thus suddenly deprived of much of
tho traffic that had caused ifto prosper. Strangely
enough the misfortune was an echo of the fam
ous siege of Vicksburg, and General U. S." Grant
was primarily responsible for it In order that
the union gunboats might run past the shore bat
teries unharmed, Grant sought to divert the wa
ters of tho Mississippi away from the city by dig
ging a new channel. The great river refused at
the time to take the new course marked out for
it, but "it eventually did so, more than thirty
years after such action could bo of any use to
- the union army.- -