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The Commoner.
VOLUME 3, NUMBER
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GENERAL MILES FORMALLY RETIRED
from tho head of tho army August 8. Ho im
mediately left for San Francisco to take part in
tho national encampment of the G. A. R. and en
route was given cordial receptions by the people.
Newspaper dispatches report that General Miles
was a candidate for commander in chief of tho
Grand Army and some republican papers insist
that ho is also cultivating a presidential boom.
General Miles took occasion to dony that ho was a
candidate for commander in chief of tho Grand
Army and announced that he would second the
nomination of General John C. Black. It is also
denied that General Miles has any serious thought
of becoming tho candidate for tho presidency al
though his name is frequently mentioned in con
nection with that high honor.
CONSIDERABLE CRITIC3M HAS BEEN Di
rected at President Roosevelt because' of
his failure to express to General Miles tho thanks
of the American pcoplo for his faithful services
as a soldier. On the occasion of General Miles'
retirement, the following order was issued:'
"Washington, Aug. 9, 1903. The retirement from
active service by the president on August 8, 1903,
of Lieutenant Goneral Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A.,
by operation of law, under tho provisions of tho
act of congress approved June 30, 1882, is an
nounced. Lieutenant General Miles will proceed
to his homo. The travel enjoined is necessary for
tho public service. By order of the secretary of
war. II. C. Corbln, adjutant general, major gen
eral, U. S. A." It is pointed out that this was
a studied effort to heap an indignity upon the re
tiring general. Corbin, who was in fact subordi
nate to General Miles, and who is one of tho gen
oral's bitter enemies, was chosen to sign the very
cold order of retirement. It Is said that tnis is
tho only instance where a president deliberately
insulted tho retiring lieutenant general.' On the
contrary, on all former occasions the president
has soized the opportunity to say a kind word in
farewell to the chief soldier. Goneral Miles does
not, however, appear to be suffering greatly under
the snub sought to bo administered to him by
the Roosevelt administration. Many newspapers
that have heretofore been very friendly 'to Mr.
Roosevelt have seriously criticised his conduct on
this occasion.
C ST
GENERAL MILES GAVE N INTERESTING
interview to a representative of the Omaha
Bee. The general said that his recent trip to the
Philippines had convinced him that it is a mis
take to hold on to those islands; that conditions
there are not such as are favorable to American
colonization. The general further said: "Tho
islands are densely populated and the population
is congested to a degree that is hard for the
Americans not familiar with the situation to un
derstand. Aside from the expense and inconveni
ence of the situation, the matter involves a policy
that is, I think, against our best interests. We
are forced into a position alongside of Russia at
a point where wo would be stronger if we had the
whole Pacific ocean between us. Russia is cer
tain to dominate the Asiatic coast of the Pacific
just as wo dominate, the American coast. In
event oX war growing out of he complications duo
to Russian and other European maneuvers in
China and Japan, our position in the Philippines
forces us to take part. Russia is friendly to tho
United .States and is anxious o remain on friendly
terms with us. We have a chance to bu M up a
line trade with Russia and it Is unwise to jeo
pardize this commerce for the sake of what tho
Philippine archipelago will bring to us. The pos
session of the islands is not likely to bring with it
any positive advantage to tne United States and
they will always bo a menace to peace and a
. source of expenditure evon with peace assured.
Si?Si aw b?nellof contention just now and tho
United States is likely to be drawn into the war
' situation."8 CGrtaIn t0 gF0W fr0m thQ present
VARIOUS SECTIONS OF TPIE COUNTRY
have recently been visited by enormous
swarms of mosquitoes. At Toronto, S. D., about 9
O ClOCk in tho fiVPnlTlfr nlfhnnf fV. oltU .a
ing, a dense cloud of mosquitoes settled over thi
town and for a brief time were practically in com
ploto possession. There werd billions of tho in
sects and thoy fairly swarmed about the electric
lights and in front of every building from which
a light shone through tho doors and windows.
Millions of the pests were destroyed by men and
boyB lighting newspapers and burning them. -Those
not destroyed left the town as suddenly as
they came. The next morning the sidewalks and
streets were covered with dead mosquitoes.
THAT RACE PREJUDICE IS NOT SECTIONAL
' but extends to all sections of the country as
well, indeed, to all quarters of the globe, is well
understood and yet many people will be surprised
by a statement recently published in the Wash
ington Star. This statement is credited by tho
Star to "an Indiana democrat of national promi
nence whose name, if mentioned, .would be recog
nized by every politician." This gentleman was
discussing the value of the negro vote in Indiana
and Illinois and speaking to a representative of
the Star, he said: "You would bo surprised to
know that there is likelihood of the negro vote in
Indiana and Illinois, which has been assured to
tile republicans by President Roosevelt's course,
being offset by the loss of white republican votes.
That is, however, a fact, arising out of the exist
ing race conditions in those states. No one can
have failed to observe the state of public senti
ment against the colored race in Indiana and Illi
nois. It is more .pronounced in Indiana, but it
is growing worse every day, and no one knows
where it will stop. Now we are beginning to ob
servo a sentiment among the whites, on the politi
cal phase of the situation, similar to that of the
southerners. The republican party is being looked
upon as the party of the negro, and is being de
serted by white republicans who share the race
prejudice. That feeling Is especially' noticeable
in tho small towns and crops-out in the munici
pal elections. It is a question how far that feel
ing will extend, but it is growing and will have
its weight In future elections."
FOR MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS THEO
doro Lafflin, living near Mlshawaka, Ind.,
has labored in the preparation of a book en
titled "Tho Lost Children of Israel Found Beyond
the Arctic." A Mishawaka dispatch to the Phila
delphia Press says that day and night Lafflin, who
was practically a hermit, studied and prepared
manuscript His hope was the solution of the
problem concerning the destination of the lost
tribes of Israel. He failed to secure publication
for his work and on August 8 died -of a broken
heart
IT &
THAT BEAUTIFUL SONG, "THE HOLY CITY,"
Is known the world over, and many will be
interested in learning from the New York Press
that the first voice who raised the inspiring cry of
"Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Sing, for the night is
o'er," was that of Mrs. Florence Maybrick, now
confined in an English jail under the charge of
murder. "The Holy City" was composed by
"Stephen Adams," who In rea1 life was Michael
Maybrick, a baritone vocalist and a, brother of the
man whom Mrs. Maybrick was convicted of mur
dering. The Press says: "The May bricks wore
sons of a wealthy Liverpool manufacturer. Tho
younger, Michael, chose a 'musical career, while
tho elder remained in commerce and married a
young Amorican girl. He was an enthusiastic
yachtsman, and aboard his elegant little vessel,
usually moored in the Mersey, many enjoyable
musical evenings were spent, Michael, the com
poser and singer, often being of tho merry party.
It was on one of these occasions that Mrs. May
brick's brother-in-law produced the manuscript of
a now song he had just composed. It was "The
Holy City." Sitting at the piano in the little
cabin, he prevailed on his si3ter-in-law, Florence,
to try it over. She was a good musician and read
at sight. Thus her voice was the first ,to sing the
song which afterward achieved phenomenal sue- '
cess. But this did not come at once. The occa
sion referred to was about the year 1888. Michael
Maybrick tells the story of how the publishers
rejected "The Holy City" again and again because
It was too somber in tone. From him they wanted
another "Nancy Lee" or "Blue Alsatian Moun
tains." Meantime the woman who had .first sung
it was convicted of murder, sentenced to death
and finally sent to prison for life." h
PROVIDED IN THE RULES OF THE DULUTH
i, JMIL'.police dQPartment is "compulsory"
baseball." A correspondent for the New York
Tribune, speaking of this novel rule, says- "Tho
patrolmen are to report for baseball tto same as
for target practice or drill. This outdoor exercise
is expected to keep the officers in fine physical
trim, working off surplus flesh, hardening the mus
cles, and, incidentally, teaching them to catch
whatever comes their way. 'One veteran of the
department objected v.ery strenuously to the new
order. He had never been in a game in his life
yet ho performed a feat at tho preliminary game on
Saturday that probably had never been equalled
in the history of the great national game. There
wore three men on bases and two strikes on him
Then he cleared the bases and brought in four
runs without so much as touching the ball. He
got his base on balls -and, not having played be
fore, started to steal seconu, despite the fact that
there was a man on that base and another at
third. The opposing team of police got so excited
trying to get him out that every man on the patch
was able to cross the plate, and the kicuing vete
ran was informed that he had made a home run
without hitting the ball."
r &
ONE OF THE MOST INEXPLICABLE MYS
teries connected with the forbidden city of
Peidng is reported by the Boston correspondent
for the San Francisco Chronicle. According to
this corresponuent, the famous sacred jeweled tree
belonging to the imperial family of China has ap
peared in the Boston art museum. The Chronicle
correspondent says: '"For more than two centur
ies this treasure, .made of, native Chinese precious
stones, standing two and a half feet high and
radiating a brilliant mass of colors, had been
closely guarded day and night, few persons know
ing of its existence or where it was kept. Thn
Its disappearance several years ago caused a furor
among Chinese officials, who searched the empire
and then the world .for it, but without success.
Recently the tree appeared suddenly in the Bos
ton art museum, arriving there as mysteriously
as it had disappeared from China. An effort has
been made to have it returned to China, but as
it was stolen years before the Boxer trouble, it
is lost to the Chinese forever."
GREAT DIFFICULTY HAS BEEN EXPERI
enced in Greece in obtaining executioners
for the death penalty. According to a writer in
the Chicago Chronicle, these difficulties were at
last surmounted by giving to a murderer the choice
between his own death or acceptance qf the office
of permanent executioner. The man lives alone
in an old tower built by Venetians on an islet out
side the port of Nauplia, where necessaries are
taken to him every morning by the boatman, who
la careful to exchange no word with him. Twico
a year a steamer calls for him and his instruments
of death, and he leaves upon a tour of executions.
A DELICATE OPERATION WAS RECENTLY
performed in the Massachusetts Homeopathic
hospital. By this operation a woman was saved
from total blindness. The Boston correspondent
lor the Chicago Chronicle describes the operation
in this way: "Frog skin was grafted around her
eye, where the flesh is most sensitive, and the pro
cess was attended with great danger. The flesh
about the eye had become bruised and the skin be
came affected. Both to save tho eyesight and to
prevent the socket from having a bald, hideous ap
pearance the graft had to be made. Frog skin
was used because no human skin was available.
Grafts from the white skin of a frog were taken
and applied to the eye. The patient ha. fully re
covered. The natural skin and frog skin have
coalesced so as to be indistinguishable the one
from the other."
tr it
GREAT BRITAIN'S POSTOFFICE REVENUE
for the fiscal year ending in 1903 amounted
J? ,024,690, s rePresents an increase of
?2,G95,340 over the preceding year. During the
same period the expenditures amounted to $54,
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