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The Commoner.
MAT 16, 1903.,
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emdnow tho onco hidden "9" appears as dis
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THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL AT-WASHING-ton
is being repainted, and tho Washington
correspondent of tho Philadelphia Public Ledger,,
in describing the event, says: "It is nine years
since the huge structure was painted, and the
-work is being done as much to protect the iron
from corrosion as to preserve its whiteness. It
takes 1,000 gallons of paint to cover the dome."
DURING THESE DAYS OP STRIKES AND
labor disturbances, not the least interesting
is the account of a strike that recently took place
.in Athens. Tho Kansas City Journal gives an in
teresting account of the event in these words:
"Fifty young women, wearing the picturesque
costume of nurses, marched in. procession through
the principal streets and finally went to tho gov
ernment palace, where they asked for an audience
with the mayor. They were the nurses employed
in the foundling hospital, and they had gone on
strike because they had not received any salary
Gince the beginning of November. When the
mayor received them they told him they had
sent a formal petition to the manager of the
hospital, but that he had paid no attention to it.
The mayor, in reply, assured them that if they
would return to work their salary would be paid
without further delay. They toojc his advice, and
' that evening they received the money duo them.
The incident made ,a great sensation in Athens,
and an immense crowd followed the nurses dur
ing their march through the city."
THE WASHINGTON POSTAL AUTHORITIES
were recently much interested in a story of
genuine feminine pluck, in connection with the
rural free mail delivery service in northern Wis
consin. The -heroine of the story is Mrs. Nellie
Clapp, whose husband was the carrier on a route
that is twenty-five miles long, serving 125 famil
ies daily and about 600 persons. Near this route
is another traveled by another carrier, who was
too infirm to face the weather during a severe
blizzard that recently raged in that country. Mrs.
Clapp insisted tLat her husband cover the latter
route while she took her husband's route with
which she was familiar, and this was done, the
route covered in safety and the mail delivered.
Mrs." Clapp has received an official letter of thanks
from Washington.
PAUL BELLONI DU CHAILLU, WHO DIED
on May 1 at St. Petersburg, at the ago of
8 years, has been before te public nearly half
a century in the character of explorer and it
might also be said of a discoverer. The St. Pet
ersburg correspondent of the St Louis Republic
gives an interesting account of the life and work
of this great explorer and author, saying: "Mr.
Du Chaillu was the son of a merchant, and his
birthplace was New Orleans, and not Paris, as
it was once believed. When scarcely 20 years
of age he fitted out an expedition at the French
settlements on the Gabbon river, in Africa, where
his father had a consular appointment In 1855
he explored territory on the. west coast of Africa,
on both sides of the equator, accompanied only
by natives. Ho made' a journey of 8,000 miles in
sl country which was practically unknown, and,
although he made no pretensions as a scientist,
he added sixty species of birds and twenty of ani
mals to the then known zoology of Africa. His
most important achievement in zoological re
search, viewed in the light of developments, was
the discovery of the gorilla. His vigorous descrip
tions of the ferocious apes called down upon him
many attacks, and, although there were persons
-who compared him with Bruce, the Abyssinian
traveler, an,d with Baron Munchausen, he insisted
that the gorilla existed, and wrote a book to
prove It"
A LONDON CABLEGRAM TO THE CHICAGO
Inter-Ocean makes the interesting state-
"ment that the recent earthquake in Palestine
Which took place on March 30 seems to have been
most severe in the Valley of Jordan and around
the Dead sea. The level of the Dead sea has
fallen considerably, and now, according to re
port, the Jordan pours Its waters into the lake
from an elevation, wherea3 formerly it was nearly
on the same level. Evidently the bottom of. the
Dead sea must have subsided during the earth
quake. The whole region of the Valley of the
Jordan near the sea is volcanic.
CONTRARY TO THE USUAL ORDER OF
things, there is an asylum for indigent old
people near Paris that is. haying difficulty in. ob-
tainlng inmates. A dispatch to tho Chicago Inter
Ocean under dato of Paris, May 2, says: "A
curious stato of things is reported from Chalon-nes-sur-Loire,
where, with tuo money left by a
rich landed proprietor, an asylum for indigent
old people has been built Everything is now
ready and the asylum will bo opened this mentis
The prefect and all tho local authorities had ar
ranged to bo present, and a high functionary
from Paris was to grace the inaugural proceed
ings. Only one thing was wantingthe Inmates.
Although every effort has boon made to find old
people who will accept tho hospitality of tho
asylum, tho institution is still without thoso for
whom it was built, and it is now feared that tho
opening ceremony will have to bo indefinitely
postponed."
9 JC
ANOTHER THIRTY YEARS' WAR HAS
been ended by tho Dutch conquest of tho
ancient emplrd of Atjen, which lies in the north
ern isthmus of Sumatra. Tho war raged up to
the beginning of this year and has cost enormous
ly In both men and money on both sides., Tho
sultan of Atjeh n,nd his son recently surrendered
to the military governor of the province, General
Van Heurtz, and in grateful recognition of his
services in bringing the war to a close Queen
Wilhelmina has conferred upon him tho highest
distinction that can bo conferred upon a soldier.
This war has drawn heavily upon the resources
of the Dutch government, it being said that there
is scarcely a family in the land that has not had
some relative either in active service in tho
Dutch Indies or lost during tho long struggle.
A NOVEL AND PLEASING GIFT WAS RE
cently made by tho German emperor to tho
empress. According to tho Berlin correspondent
of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, the empress has ex
pressed so much delight over this gift that she
declares she will wear it to her dying day. Tho
Berlin correspondent says: "It consists of seven
discs of solid California gold of the purest qual
ity, each disc being about the size of a silver 25
cent piece, but three times as thick. Tho discs
bear enameled portraits of tho imperial children,
each disc being enclosed in thickly set diamonds
Hanging from the bracelet is a heart of solid
gold weighing about two ounces, on which is a
portrait of the emperor."
AN INTERESTING STORY OF A 'TES.T RE
cently made of the endurance and flying
capacity of birds was recently told. The Borlin
correspondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean says:
"A Warsaw journal relates the following story of
an experiment made by a Polish nobleman to as
certain how far storks migrate during the win
ter. He caught a stork and attached a plate
to its neck on which were inscribed tho words:
'Haec ciconia ex Polonia' (the Stork comes from
Poland.) In the following spring the same stork
wasfound in the nobleman's park with a bundle
round its neck, containing several precious stones
of great value, and the metal plate with these
words on the other side: "India cum donis re
mittit Polonls" (India sends him back with pres
ents to the Poles)."
THE NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT OF THE
Chicago Record-Herald writing to his pa
per recently, made the statement that it is ex-
pected that by July 4, In connection with tho
opening of the new cable to the insular posses
sions of the United States, an effort is to be
made to circle the globe in forty seconds. Tho
message will be sent from the main office of the
company in New York, and it Is hoped will be
received on the opposite side of the room within
forty seconds after tho operator sends it on
the other. This feat will immediately follow tho
exchange of messages between President Roose
velt and Governor Taft at Manila. The message
will probably travel over only two lines. These
will be the land and ocean wires of the Postal
and the Commercial Cable company, which may
be considered one, and those of the Eastern Tele
graph company. The message will go from New
York to the Pacific coast by the land lines of tho
Postal, and thence to Manila by the Commercial
Cable lines. At Manila it. will be taken up by
the Eastern and hurried on to London, where it
will be again turned oyer to the lines of the
Commercial Cable for transmission under the At
lantic. To make the time calculated on there
will have to be instant communication between
the various relays.
THE VILLAGE OF JASPER, N. Y- WILL
probably soon be known to fame as the seat
of a new educational institution "known as the
McKinley memorial collpge. ""This -institution will
be operated somewhat after the plan of the Tus-
Icogoe normal Instltuto, Booker T. Washington's
famous school in Alabama. Its object Is to glvo '
an opportunity to young men and women to ob
tain a college education by "working their way."
THE PROJECT OF CONNECTING BUENOS
Ay res with Santiago and Valparaiso in
South America with a railway lino that will nec
essarily have to cross tho Andes mountains, is as
suming activo shapo according to a report re
cently submitted to tho stato department by Con
sul Mansfield stationed at Valparaiso, Chile. A
bill was passed by tho Chilean congress which ad
journed in February, providing for tho construc
tion of this lino. Tho Argentine government has
already begun tho work of building a railroad
from Buenos Ayres which will connect with tho
lino from Valparaiso, and It Is expected that tho
lino will be completed within a fow years.
AS AN INSTANCE OF THE GREAT CARE
that Is taken in Franco to protect trade
secrets against all foreigners, tho Paris corre
spondent of tho Chicago Tribune cites a law that
is In force In that country. This correspondent
says: "A law still obtains In France, according
to the Patrle, under which any workman who di
vulges Information regarding a secret process prac
ticed In any Industry to"tt foreigner, or even to a
Frenchman resident abroad, commits a penal of
fense, and for such Is liable to a sentence rang
ing from two to ftvo years' Imprisonment and a
fine of from $100 to $4,000. Ho Is furthermore sub
jected to from five to ten years' police supervi
sion after his release from jail. Even the com
munication of such information to another
Frenchman resident In Franco is punishable,
though the sentence In this case Is not so severs,
tho sentence varying from thrco months' to five
years' imprisonment, accompanied by a fine rang
ing from $3 to ?40. On tho other hand, a French
employer is ontltled, without reserve, to any in
vention or discovery made by a workman In his
employ that is within the scope of tho work un
dertaken at tho factory."
A NOVEL MEANS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION
was-recently 'recorded In England. A Lon
. don cablegram to the Chicago Tribune says: "A
coroner's inquest at Shrewbury this week revealed
a remarkable case of suicide. Mrs. Roberts tho
buxom wife of a small farmer, died In the Shrew
bury infirmary. A post mortem examination re
vealed the fact that the deceased had swallowed
thirteen darning needles, two ordinary needles,
twelve pins, five safety pins, a hat pin, a boot
protector, a button hook, two screw nails, twelvo
wire nails, eight short nails, thrco tacks, a piece
of the stem of a clay pipe, two bits of colored
chalk, a Manx coin, an English farthing, twelve
fragments of glass, and other articles, 122 in all."
AN INTERESTING POINT IN LAW WAS RE
cently brought out in an Alabama county,
according to the Kansas City Journal. Two
weeks ago, runs tho story, a negro was hanged
for murder in due process. The body was cut
down and pronounced dead by the physician at
tending, and was then turned over to tho rela
tives, who took it away. They observed signs of
life In it, whereupon a physician was called in,
who applied restoratives and the man came back
to his former existence, In which he now abides
in health and strength. The question Is whether
the law can again lay hands upon him for that
crime, since officially he has paid the full pen
alty, and stands as dead In the legal records of
the case. At any rate, nothing has been done
looking to his rearrest
DURING THE YEAR 1902 THE NUMBER OF
immigrants who left Irish ports was 40,401
or 9.1 per 1,000 of the estimated population. This
was an Increase of 531 over the emigration of
1901. The Dublin correspondent for the Phila
delphia Press says: "Of the total emigrants 40,
190 were natives of Ireland and 211 were persons
hnlondnc to other countries. The number of
males was 18,893, and the number of females 21,
508, and nearly half the emigrants were between
twenty and twenty-five years of age. The United
States received, 33,249 of the emigrants, Canada
, 732, Australia 496, New Zealand 74 and Great
Britain 4,718."
IRVING M. SCOTT, WHO BECAME FAMOUS
as "the man who built the Oregon," died
at his home in San Francisco April 28. Mr. Scott
was sixty-six years of age. He was born in Bal
timore" county, Maryland. He has been in poor
health for. many years.
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