Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1891)
JFOUR LIVES GO OUT. ( iU.USTJCTTJ ! or MUItltEKKKS VIE Jtr KI.lWTlilC tTlio WorIiift ! of Clio Now York Law Trted A "Uoro yatlMfartory 'I'll a it in tin ) Ca o of Itcnimlcr AM the .Men IMo Instantly Itoport- cr Kxcliidod from Within the Walls of Mils Mnu I'rlNoii , Where the Elet tructiiiuii Took 1'lucc Slocum the JPlr t lo Die. f f I Four .Murderer * Electrocuted. , | SING SING , N. Y. , July 8. James /v- 'Slocumb , Harris A. Smiler , Joseph Wood and Schihuya Jugiro were sent to their doom at the prison hero yes- f' terday by means of electricity. The approximate time of the turning on of the current in each case was : Slocumb , 4:40 ; bmiler. 5ilO ; Wood , 5:30 ] ; Ju giro , 0:05. The prisoners had received some in timation this morning that the execu tions were to take place this morning and they were prepared for them. They went to the execution chamber bravely ami met their fates without a struggle. They offered no resistance , but they rather assisted the . keepers when they were bound to the chair. Tlie testing apparatus showed a sat isfactory strength of current and the electrician advised the warden of this fact. The warden went to one of the , great iron uoors. at which stood one of the assistants whom ho had ap- ipointed under warrant of law , and it , Vas open to permit him to pass through. Jle was gone only a couple of minutes. In that time lie had notified Head .Keeper Counaiighton , who was in the conuemneu ceil room , that the chair was reauy for the first of the con demned men. The death warrant was not read to tue condemned men in the cell , as was done in the case of Kemm- ler. The warden said ho did not know anything in the law compelling him to read the deain warrant. As a precau tionary measure he would read it , but not at the um < * of the execution some time before n possible. It was his wish to prevent the other men from knowing that the first man had been tarcen f i om his cell if possible , and so the * e.\it from the cell room was made as quiet as possible. The war- den and the head keeper walked ahead , then the condemned man between the two priests Father Creedon and Father Lynch and tnen the two guards. When the iron door had been closed behind the party Slocum stood silent and stolid. He showed no depth of interest in the ceremony in which he was to be a participant. The war den did not asic the prisoner if he had anything to bay , and he did not volun teer anything. The prisoner walked quietly to the chair and sat down. As the prisoner seated himself in the chair and leaned back the ward en's assistants stepped forward and drew across nis chest and under his arms heavy straps , which were securely fastened to the chair. Then about his wrists and over his limbs they drew another strap , which they buckled closely , so that no straining under the influence of tne current of electricity could throw tne body into ugly con tortions or move it from the position in which the two electropodes pressed against it and formed the circuit through which the current from the dynamos \\ouid be playing. His legs were quickly strapped to the legs of the chair , in all of these prepara tions the witnesses showed a great in terest. Warden Durston , particularly , as the fnrst who had superintended an electrocution , watched every move ment of the warden's assistants with interest. Dr. McDonald superintended the adjustment of all the straps. War den Brown told the correspondent two days before that he would leave all the arrangements in the hands of the scientists - entists present. The last straps to be put in place uere the new ones across the face. Tney were belts rather than straps. One was drawn across the beard of tne prisoner and partly over the mouth , but not so far as to pre vent speech. . .The other was fastened over his eyes and pressed down over his no = e. When the straps were all in place the figure " 4' ' above his head was loosened ana brought .down so that the electrode fastened to the end of it at tne base of a coil spring huncr in front of his forehead. When the sponge in the electrode was ad justed , the figure " 4" ' was clamped in place and the electrode was fastened in position by a strap passing around the head. Tneti the second electrode was put in piu-e. It was very like the first a convex brass band with a sponge stitched to the under side. The right leg of the prisoner's trousers had "been spin up tne side so that the elec trode couid be bound to the calf of the leg. It was fastened in place. This wire representing the negative nole was attached to it at the back by a small thumo crew of brass. The wire ran dov. n through the fioor and into the executioner's closet , to the wall of which it was fastened. The wire from the figure 4 hung from a covered rod extending over the top of the closet and hanging above the pris oner's head. The prisoner made no sound during the-e preparations , but went through Them stohdiy. giving the deputy war dens such assistance as he could by placing his arms and iegsjn the desired positions as they were indicated. Dr. 3IcDonaid , who was in-full charge'of the scientific features of the electrocu tions , stood directly behind the chair as the preparations were completed. One of tne attendant doctors took a can of salt water in his hands. It was -a long necked can with a handle On the side , such'as is Used by engineers for oiling.Vlthit : he wet the sponges ' at the two-ekcirodes.- prepara- ' tions consumed only two or three min utes.nen everything uas in place ' Dr. Daniels and Dr. Southwick lo'oked over the straps.Vhilo the doctors wore looking over the straps Warden. Brown stood nside , a mere onlooker. The law required him to be present , but he regretted the necessity and only carried out the letter of the law by hardly more than lending- his presence to the occasion. Through all these preliminaries the witnesses stood at a respectful dis tance , "their eyes fixed on the prisoner. The warden had clothed Slocum in a new suit of cheap black bayonet cloth , trousers of a dark pattern , a white shirt * turn down collar and black cravat. Dr. McDonald fixed his eyes on the stop watch in his hands and watched it tick off minuo fractions of seconds. When it marked twenty seconds ho nodded to Electrician Davis , who stood with his hands still on the switch wait ing for the signal. It had been de cided that to wait for the executioner in the closet to respond to a sipnal would mean a loss of time which would make the duration of the current un certain and destroy some of the scien tific value of the experiment. So the electrical apparatus had been so con structed that when the current was turned on the chair circuit it could be thrown out of both the chair and the executioner's closet by the operation of Electrician Davis' lever , so that when Dr. McDonald nodded to the electrician he threw the switch bar across the board and the current ceased to fiow through the apparatus of death. From the chair Slocum's remains were carried to an adjoining apart ment , where they were laid out on one of the long tables for the autopsy. The next man chosen was Smiler , the Salvation Army bigamist who mur dered one of his wives. To summon Smiler the warden had to pass the cell of Wood , but in front of all the con demned men's cells iron screens had been drawn so that none of them knew before his time which of the others had been summoned. The warden passed around the screen which shut in Jugiro's cell and then he came to Smiler. He came out supported by Kev. Mr. Edgerton on one side and Rev. Mr. Law on the other. He be trayed no fear as he faced the curious eyes of the witnesses in the execution chamber and looked for the first time on the death chair. The contact in this case , as in the others , ( with perhaps some almost in appreciable variation ) was twenty sec onds. The current measured some irfleen hundred volts. At the end of twenty seconds the current was turned oil , but only for a minute. The chest of the man in the chair began to heave and the current was turned on once more , until , as in the case of Slocum , it burned the ilesh. Wood was the third to be executed , lie came willingly , accompanied by the two priests , and went through the ordeal bravely. The first contacts in Wood's case , as in the others , did not seem final , and it needed a second , and was continued until the flesh was singed , satisfying the physicians that he was dead. In Kemmler'3 case the burning ol the body was ascribed in part to the fact that the sponges at the electrodes were not well wetted. In all fourcasea today the sponges were wetted in stantly and still the body was burned. The reason for this result will have to be sought elsewhere. The fourth man to meet death was the Japanese Jugiro. It had been ex pected that if any of the prisoners made resistance to being placed in the chair it would be he. The brute na ture which broke out in violence many times during the course of his confine ment might have- been expected to make a supreme effort at the last to thwart the law or annoy and injure its administrators , but the long term of his confinement had bowed Jugiro into tame submission. When the warden and the keepers came to him in his cell he was seated on the floor. He sprang up as though he met the sum mons gladly and he surveyed his guards quietly. He was dressed like the others in a black coat and vest , daric trousers , white collar and black ties. He took his place quietly , suf fered the attendants to bind him with out protest and stolidly awaited the shock. It came to him as to the others and with like results. The first con tact did not destroy all appearance of life and the second burned the flesh The Kansas Alliance Move. TOPEKA , Kan. , July 11. A call has been issued for a general convention of the farmers' alliance and all indus trial organizations in the state at Topeka - peka , August 20 , for the purpose of organizing a co-operative association for the control of all farm products and exchange of suoulies. The call was signed by J. F. French , secretary of the farmers' alliance ; Senator Peffer , S. McLallin. editor of the official alli ance paper ; W. F. Wrightmyer. sec retary of the national citizens'alliance , and Fred P. Biiey. general manager of the Mutual Protective association. The alliance lenders would not explain the objects of the convention further than to say that it was for the purpose ol taking steps to promote the scheme of co-operation among all classes of pro ducers. t Mr. French , secretary of the alli ance , denied that the scheme was in any way connected with the alleges farmers' trust outlined in the Chicago dispatches or that the intention was t devise schemes for withholding grain from- the market. A co-operative sys tem of life and fire insurance will be perfected. Fred P. Bailey , of Wichita , who prepared the call , is general man ager of the Mutual Protective associa tion , an organization just perfected for preventing saies under mortgage fore closures. All members of the associa tion are the owners of mortgaged farms and assist each other in fighting the attcmuted foreclosure. -JP > , THE ELECTEOCDTION. IS XJIJSyiWl'LAXJXrjtKTTEK TIT.1A' : OLD XKTUOD'f The Opinion of a Ulcdlcnl Gentleman In that Wo Have lUade No Great Gain In Employing Electricity to Take Human X Ifo The Late Electrocu tion * at Mnjj Sin ; ; IUcii ied The SeiiMatloiial Story of a Now York Jle- porter Who Viewed the Body ofOuo of the Electrocuted. ITIedlcal Opinion on the Late Electro cution * . KEwYoitK. July 10 When Keram- ler was electrocuted at Auburn Dr. George F. Shrady was one of the state's invited witnesses. In asking Shrady to bo present Warden Durston not only acknowledged the ability of the emi nent physician who prolonged the life of Gen. Grant , but he therefore ac knowledged the right of the medical profession everywhere to know what transpired. Dr. Shrady was present only in a personal capacity , but he represented his profession , being the editor of the Medical Record. When Dr. Jenkins began the autopsy on Kemmier's body Dr. Shrady , who is a shorthand writer , made the running notes of the progress of that inquest. The same night , Dr. Shrady having been vleft alone in the work , reduced his notes to writing and thus the As sociated press was enabled to lay the description of the autopsy before the public with the story of Kemmier's execution. Dr. Shrady was not pres ent at the Sing Sing executions. Mr. Warden Brown is reported as having said ho did not think of asking him. In this week's issue of the Record , however , Dr. Shrudy has editorial ref erence to the Sing Sing executions , and the following extracts are most pertinent : 'It is with a feeling of general re lief that one hears that success has this time offset the horrors enacted last year at Auburn and that science , which heretofore has so nobly lent its best efforts to saving and prolonging life , has at last succeeded in showing its power to kill effectively , quickly and almost pleasantly. There was a grim humanity about the proceedings of repeating the shocks in quick succession which relieved the minds and cdijscienco of those who guaranteed the criminals against un- necessarv suffering. It is asserted that no burnt sacrifices resulted. "No official has been report yet re ceived regarding the details of the kill ing and there is nothing beyond the mere results in death which have at present any scientific interest. The extra precautions taken to prevent the sxpression of independent personal views will necessarily detract from the value of the verdict when finally ren dered. The enforced secrecy of the proceedings will strike every fair- minded person with a surprise and suspicion which it will be ex ceedingly difficult to offset by any carefully worded official docu ment. It can scarcely be be lieved that a party of scientific gentle men could submit to be gagged by a prison official and be prevented from expressing an opinion regarding scien tific phenomena of which they were the selected and skilled witnesses. They are placed in the humiliating po sition of a jury having a nominal pow er without a voice and presumably helpless in combating foregone conclu sions. But if we must have capital pun ishment , what advantage have we gained by electricity over hanging ? We have seen that it may fail horri bly unless extraordinary precautions are taken. It has been claimed by those who appear to know that the torture of Iveinmler was grossly exag gerated. We can testify to the con trary and assort that no adjectives are strong enoug-i to do justice in the aw ful scene. T-jio most we can hope for is that histoit may never repeat itself in that direc'So.-i " sensational . < iVy in Connection With the Ilc9r-it Electrocution. * Ninv You ] July 9 The following is printed in.Sjp-i extra edition of an evening pap < ' " * iiere : The body of mur derer Harris _ \ . Smiler was brought to this city ti s afternoon by Under taker Hulberg of 565 West 125th street on the train which left Sing Sing at 1SO o'clock. The body had been claimed by Smiier's widow , the woman he married and deserted for the woman whom he afterwards killed. The body was taken off the train at the station at Fourth avenue and 125th street. It was then conveyed to the undertaking rooms. Three or four hundred neoule were gathered to witness the arrival of the body. . By a previous arrangement with the undertaker a reporter was in waiting at the rooms to see the body of the executed murderer. The coffin was taken into the basement and the lid was quickly taken off. exposing the dead man's face. The reporter stood close by and was horrified at the sight that met his eyes. Smiier's face had been burned and seamed by the electric fluid until it presented the appearance of having been broiled. The hair on the front of the head , the moustache and eye brows had been singed and burned off. The face was furrowed and scarred as though with a hot iron. These marks were 110 $ those of a scanel of dissecting knife ; they were palpable burns. Pressing closer to see the dead face plainer the reporter attracted the at tention of the undertaker's assistants and they seized him by the shoulder and compelled him to leave the place before any other portion of the body was exposed. To repeated requests to be allowe3 to see the body the reporter was in formed that nobody but the undertaker and his assistants would be permitted to see it until it had been fully pre pared for burial. It was learned through one of the undertaker's assistants that Smiier's left leg was burdod to the bono through the calf and the eyes were also badly burned. Following the above is printed a Sing Sing dispatch from a correspond ent who had been directed to question Warden Brown about the alleged con dition of Smiier's body. This dispatch is as follows : ' Warden Brown said when asked as to the burning of Smi ier's body : ! still adhere to my de termination to make no statement whatever. I will neither deny nor confirm the report. No influence can bo brought to bear upon mo to induce me to aay anything whatsoever regard ing the electrocution beyond the sim ple statement that on July 7 Slocum , Smiler , Wood and Jugiro were exe cuted according to law. " Father Cree- dou is quoted by a priest from another village who rode down town with the reporter today as saying that when the whole story came out it would be dis closed that all the doomed men were burned by the electrodes , but that they had been so mutilated by the surgeon's knives that it would bo difficult of proof. The priest , who particularly desired to keep his name out of print , said he had been told the same thing by a layman who had seen the bodies , presumably a prison employe. " Con firmation of the above is not at hand. Expelled 3IlB > Ioiiarieii Arrive. SAN FKANCISCO , Cal. , July 11. The Chronicle's Honolulu advices states that the missionary steamer Morning Star has arrived there with some of the American missionaries expelled by the Spanish forces in Ponape , which are endeavoring to strengthen their sovereignty over the Caroline Islands. Chief Naupei of one of the more prom inent tribes of Ponape accompanied the missionaries and will appeal to the American people for assistance on be half of the islanders , whom he claims can make no advancement in civiliza tion under Spanish rule. The Ameri can mission buildings were destroyed by the Spanish , who shelled the islands , and American Consul Hand is on his way to Ponapo from Honolulu to make a protest. Pilfered from Uiielc Sam. NOKFOLK , Va. , July 11 James S YanVrankin , postmaster's clerk in the general store house of the Norfolk navy yard , and J. H. Crcston , a clerk in the same department , were arrested yesterday for the alleged stealing of composition metal and other goods from the government to the estimated value of several thousand dollars. An Opinion Regarding Celestials. WASHINGTON , July 11. Assistant Secretary Spaulding has given an opin ion on return of Chinese who are in the United States. The letter says : In my opinion under our laws Chi nese persons found to be unlawfully in this country may be returned immedi ately to China unless they shall show that they are not the subjects of China and that they are the subjects of some other foreign power. " The Servia Ketiirn * . NEAV YOUK , July 9. The steamship Servia arrived this afternoon , having been towed into port by the steamship Chester , assisted by several tugs. The accident happened Saturday night when the steamer was about 210 miles east of Sandy Hook , and consisted in the breaking of the crank pin , which dis abled the engines. The sea was calm at the time and but little uneasiness was felt among the passengers. Prince George of Greece will be transferred to the City of New York tomorrow , on which he will sail for England. Cotton Growers Not Snti fied. CHAKLESTON , S. C. , July 11. The low prices of cotton are causing great dissatisfaction ! among the farmers of this state and various propositions have been made to limit production by a decrease of acreage by plowing up one- fourth of the growing crop and by other devices. The farmers' alliance of Marlborough county , in this state , has adopted resolutions in favor of limiting the acreage and recommend ing a convention of cotton growers. Kansa * * ' Eiijht Hour Law. TOPEKA , Has. , July 10. The su preme court on the statement of fact presented in the mandamus proceed ings against the board of directors of the penitentiury , held that the eight hour law did not apply to any of the state institutions. This settles the question of an extra session of the leg islature , as the appropritaions are suf ficient to run these institutions under the old law and no extra session will be necessary. "The Lady of Fort St. John , " the new serial which begins in the July number of the Atlantic Monthly , is a story of one of the lords of Acadia , Charles de la To.ur. The novel opens in an Arcadian fortress at the mouth of the river St. John. Within the walls of this fortress , over which Madame de la Tour , the Lady of Fort St. John , presides , is gathered a curious family a noblewoman , formerly of the Eng lish court , a Swiss lieutenant , a dwarf witch-woman , a Dutch gentlewoman , and two Jesuits priests. There is a good deal of dramatic intere.-t in the first installment , which ends , as all well-regulated serials should , in a sit uation which piques the curiosity of tbe ; reader. Houghton , Miffiin &Co. , Boston. Hon. J. B. Packer died suddenly of heart failure at Sunbury , Pa. Bank Examiners Faunce and Brown have been sent to Philadelphia to make a thorough investigation of the Key stone and Spring Garden national banks. 1 A COENEfi IN WHEAT. A CIJICUZ.IK 0 > ' ADl'ICi : TO TJIK 1'AKMEKS' Ar.l.IAXCi : . A movement In the Direction of S e- eurlii < r Hetter 1'rlcc * for l roduct Judge Hotklii on the Ulurder of Sam Wood A Bravo Locomotive Engi neer Scientific DemonatratloiiM in the Direction of 1'roilucliij : llain Henry Clew * , the Banker , on the Country' * Financial Outlook. Cornering Wheat. CHICAGO , July 9. A circular of nu- vice issued through accredited official channels of the farmers' alliance to all members of farmers' organizations in the United States urges them to com bine and withhold this year's wheat crop from market until the farmers can get their own price , or at least a price considerable above the average. The circular , which is presumed to bo a secret document , is now ready for mailing , and it will bosent , to the 200 members of the farmer's' alliance and industrial union , the 1,000.000 mem bers of the colored nationalfarmers' alliance , the 1,000.000 menjbers of the national farmers' alliance of the north , the 800,000 members of the farmers' mutual benevolent association , the 600,000 members of the patrons of husb'andry. the patrons of industry , and ? the 150,000 members of the farm ers' league. The farmers' organiza tions now apparently feel in a position to make demands calculated to yield pecuniary profits to the agricultural classes , and they propose to begin with a jngantie combination iu wheat. Judiro Holkin Talk * . TOPKKA , Kan. , July 9. Judge The- odosius Botkin. who is charged by the people of Woodsdalo with being re sponsible in a measure ior the death of Colonel Sam Wood , who was shot and killed two weeks ago by James Brennan , was hero today. In an inter view with a reporter he said : "A meeting has been held in Woodsdale , tne avowed object of which was to dis pose of me. When it was called to order the chairman stated that that was its purpose , but before anything was done one of those present stated that there was a person in the hall 'who was not worthy of being entrusted with the secrets of Woodsdale and an adjournment was taken. Another meet ing was held July 4. The call for it was published in the Sorinjrfield Re- publican and was to the effect that the meeting was for the purpose of taking steps to see that the officers of the court did their duty in Brennan's case. My friends are not of the kind to stand by and see me murdered. * ' How a Brave Engineer Died to Save CHICAGO , July 9. A sensational train wreck is being investigated by the Chicago , Milwaukee & St. Paul road. The wreck occurred near Lan sing , la. , July 4 , and has up to this lime escaped publication. A prisoner was today taken into custody at Lan sing and the officials are on the tracic of his three confederates. The McGregor passenger train bound for LaCrosse , Wis. , with several cars heavily loaded with passengers , when near Lansing , struck an obstruction that was placed upon the rails and the engine was hurled over the bank into the Mississippi river. Fortunately the cars remained on the track , Engineer Charles Toad giving up his life to save the passengers. The fireman jumped and saved his life. The engineer re versed the lever and opened the sand valve so that the cars mightstay on the rails. His first question when rescued from the ruins of the engine , badly scalded and writhing in agony , was if any passengers had been hurt. Upon receiving the negative answer from the passengers who crowded about him Toad smiled as he looked around and said , ' -Well , this is a glorious fourth we are having. 1 am afraid wo had too many fireworks. " ' Todd died short ly afterwards. The culprits are said to be farmers. Clew * on the Outlook. NEW YOKK , July S. In his weekly financial review , Henry Ciews , the great stock expert , says : "It is very many years since we have witnessed such a disorganized condition of finan cial relations between this country and Europe as has recently developed. Such is the distrust prevailing at the foreign centers that numerous bills heretofore considered good drawn here on European houses have become in a large measure , unnegotiable , and the consequent scarcity of negotiable ex change compels a continuation of the shipment of gold long after the balance of our accounts with the outside world has ceased to rule aganst us. A condi tion of things calculated to check business and To enforce liquidation in foreign commerce could hardly be con ceived. "Even if there were no real reason for this distru = t toward bills of ex change , this sort of discrimination is calculated to cripple importers and ex porters in ways that can hardly fail to disturb confidence and produce embar rassments , which is dangerous treat ment , under present conditions. It is undoubtedly a gratifying e\idenceof strength that we have been able , with out any signs of suffering , to so long endure the withdrawal of the European banking balances , which are usually allowed to rest here , and to pay tnem off in cash without a wince : but when our export bills become unsalable be cause of the distrust directed against the foreign houses on whom they are drawn , we encounter a kind of gold drain of a much more serious nature : and yet nearly ail the June shipments , amounting to nearly 20,000,000. have been oi this forced character. Aml-Sub-Trcaury. Four WOKTH , Tex. , July 1.1. The anti-sub-treasury state convention ol the farmers' alliance adopted the fol lowing resolutions having a national bearing : llesolvcd , That wo denounce the sub-treasury , the loan schemes and government ownership of railroads as a violation of the first principles ol good government , as paternal' to their character , as centralizing in their ten dencies and if enacted into law they would create such a horde of national officeholders that would fasten the clutches of the party in power upon the throats of the people so strongly that the voices of the honest , patriotic citizens would no longer be heard in the control of government affairs. Wo demand that those men who are not farmers bo removed from the national and state offices of our older , and that none but those who have their interest in fanning be allowed to fill such places. Wo now appeal to all honest members of the alliance throughout the United States to unite with us in putting down this common enemy and the disgrace of our order. To this end wo most earnestly recommend the brother alliance men of the United States to meet in national convention at St. Louis on the third Tuesday of September , 1891. Resolved. That we most heartily en dorse the course of Hon. M. S. Hall , president of the state alliance of Mis souri , in refusing to concur in the ac tion of the case of C. W. McCuno at 1 Ocala in opposing the sub-treasury scheme , etc. Resolved. That wo earnestly pledge Hall our support in the noble and man ly effort to rid the order state and national of all shackles which will retard its strength. Dakota Crop * Improved. HUKON , S. D. , July 13. Although the past week has been below the av erage , reports from all parts of the two Dakotas sent to the United States weather bureau shows great improve ment in all crops. The rainfall has been in local showers , where moisture was ample. Wheat , rye , barley and potatoes made marked advances. Con siderable barley and rye has been cut in South Dakota and some of the early wheat is nearly ripe and all is holding off satisfactorily. Considerable hay ing has been done. A little 4smut is reported in oats in Brookings and Kingsbury counties. Sugar beets at Hitchcock , Mitchell , Huron and Aber deen are in excellent condition. At Aberdeen 200 experimental patches T | are growing nicely. Some damage has been done by hail in North Dakota. Lisbon reports the damage at less than , ? 7,000 , the maximum being 50 cents per acre. Corn has made fine pro gress in both states , notwithstanding the cool weather. A few localities in North and South Dakota need rain , but crops are notsuffering. Altogether the outlook continues to improve and the prospects for a large harvest hero , have not been so good for years. mortgaged Farmers. TOI-EKA , Kan. , July 13. A sub committee of the farmers1 alliance is in secret session here perfecting a plan ' by which the farmers who will be com pelled to. meet their mortgage indebt edness next fall can borrow the money ; o do so. President McGrath , C. S. Hiatt of Leavenworth and A. P. Collins of Sa line constitute the committee. The committee was appointed at the last innual meeting of the alliance with in structions to organize so that the alli- ince could operate directly with the money lenders in the east and not be placed at the mercy of the agents. President McGrath this morning de clared that this action in itself was a complete refutation of the charge that : he alliance farmers propose to repu diate their indebtedness. It will bo the business of the committee to draft a plan by which farmers in need of money can raise the necessary sum. The organization will protect itself igainst irresponsible farmers ' 03 * a close examination into their past methods of doing business and their present financial responsibility. The vhole scheme is but carrying out the plan of co-operation among the indus trial classes which every move of the alliance within the past two months has made so patent. OThe committee was in session all day discussing plans for the new scheme , but had come to no definite decision when tney adjourned for the day. The perfection of the plan wui probably consume two or three days. Tne com mittee is undecided wnether it shall attempt to negotiate the loans in the name of the alliance , pledging the en tire organization to the payment of the note and interest , or make each appli cation stand upon its own footing. . * . President McGrath = aidIt will take us some time to perfect the plan. It is a big undertaking and will require a great deal of careful thought. This much ia certain we will attempt to relieve every worthy farmer in the state. Those who have shown a dis position to rush into farming and try- to get all they can out of the loan com panies. without any thought of the manner in which payments are to-be met , will be let severely alone. " Secretary Husk wiil leave Washing ton at an early day to be abaent four or five weeks , during which time he wiil visit a number of Grand Armv post meetings and attend some of the state agricultural fairs. The remain 1 der of his time will be spent at his home in Wisconsin. Drs. Austin Flint. A. C. Brown and Robert Mosiey as commissioners , with a sheriff's jury , held an inquisition into the mental condition of Herberi \ Victor Newcomb , the Wall street bear , \ and judged him insane.
