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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1897)
f f " i .i i i nun i ma H ft rri l . ry ' .1. yTTTfTHT W fflHWMI rl MwfflWWBIi f i | | Er ' MORE USEFUL THAN OUR YACHTS. RECEIPTS ARE GOOD. THE NEW LAW IS DOING GOOD WORK. • Treasury Kxperts Claim Little If Anj JUclklt for September , IVativlth-tantl- lns tlm Vast Amount of Foreign Ciooils Yet in the Country. ( Washington Letter. ) The second month of the operation of the new tariff law is likely to relieve . Democratic statesmen and orators of much of the surplus anxiety with which they have favored the country in re- gard to receipts under that measure. I It is now apparent that the revenues of the second month of the operation of the Dingley law will reach twenty mil lions of dollars , which is more than that of the second month of the "Wil son law , and that there will be little , if any , deficit for the month. The revenues in the first twenty-two days in the month amounted to $15,692,455 , and it is estimated by treasury experts that the total for the month will be 120,000,000 in round numbers , while the expenditures will probably be little if any in excess of that sum. This is in marked contrast with the operations of the second month of the Wilson lavThe act went into effect , as did the Dingley law , within a few days of the close of the calendar month and its operations were thus calculated from the first day of the month follow- 'ing its enactment , as in the case in the statements which are being made with • reference to the Dingley law. The Wil son law in its second month produced a deficit of § 13,573,800 , while it now seems probable that there will be Ut ile if any deficit in the second month of the Dingley law. That the Dingley law should have been able in its first two months of operation to have pro duced as much or anything like as much revenue as did the Wilson law in the two corresponding months of its operation is remarkable , and is of it self an evidence that the Dingley law when the business of the country reaches its normal condition , will be an l ample revenue producer. During the months prior to the final enactment of the Wilson law all dutiable goods up on which the rates of duty were re duced or removed were held back by importers in order that they might come in under the operations of that law. The result was an enormous in crease in the customs revenues under that law the minute it went into oper ation. Indeed , the customs receipts in its first month , September , 1894 , were larger than in any September during its entire history and were only exceeded in total amount on two or three occa sions prior to the inrush of foreign goods which pieceded its final repeal. On the other hand , foreign goods were rushed into the country as everybody knows , at an almost unheard of rate during the five months preceding the enactment of the Dingley law , the ef- _ feet being to almost paralyze the im- I portations during the first * few weeks Ja after its final enactment. The increase | in importations of foreign goods in the i five months between the inauguration of President McKinley and the enact ment of the Dingley law was $105,347 , - 032 in excess of that for the corresponding spending months of the preceding year , an increase of nearly 40 per cent over the normal importations of the corresponding spending period of the preceding year. The occasion for surprise then , is , not that the receipts under the Dingley law • have been light , but on the contrary , that they have been as heavy as they are , up to this time , and that this act , laboring as it did under especially ad verse circumstances , should have been able to outrun the Wilson law , which came in under such especially favorable circumstances as regards the customs • end of its business. The following ta bles compare the importations during the five months preceding the enact ment of the Wilson and Dingley laws respectively and the customs receipts in those months , and show clearly the advantages under which the Wilson law operated in the first months of its existence and the disadvantages under which the Dingley law now labors in the first months of its operations. Table showing imports and customs receipts inHhe five months preceding /the / enactment of the Wilson law : s Customs Importations. Receipts. " April , 1894 . . . " ? 60,090,037 ? 10,176,691 May 56,812,727 9,798,067 June 51,783,712 8,858,876 July 65,302,065 8,427,338 August 51,697,072 11,804,914 $285,685,614 49,065,886 Table showing importations and cus toms receipts during five months pre ceding the enactment of the Dingley law : Customs Importations Receipts March , 1S97 . . $ 76,351,444 $ 22,833,856 April 101,322,406 24,454,351 May 79,358,147 16,885,011 June 83,183,021 21,560,152 July 53,790,407 16,966,801 $396,005,425 $102,700,171 It will be seen from the above tables that the importations of foreign goods in the five months preceding the enact ment of the Dingley law were $396 , - 005,425 , against only $285,685,614 in the corresponding five months prior to the enactment of the Wilson law. They also exceed the corresponding five months of the year 1896 by $105,347,032 , showing that the importations of the months between the inauguration of President McKinley and the signing of the Dingley bill were more than $100 , - 000,000 in excess of the normal. It will also be seen that the customs receipts in these five months of abnormal im portation prior to the enactment of the Dingley law were more than double those of the five months prior to the enactment of the Wilson law , and that fully $50,000,000 which under ordinary circumstances would have been col lected during the months of August , September , October , November , and De cember of the present year was collect ed during the months of March , April , May , June and July , and that the Ding ley law was thus robbed of an average of $10,000,000 per month for the first five months of its operations. That the Dingley law would be ample in its revenue producing qualities under nor mal conditions is not doubted by the treasury officials. "We have been watching it very closely , " said Assistant Secretary How ell , "and I have no doubt whatever that the new law will give us an ample revenue after the treasury business re turns to its normal condition. I have been studying these customs matters for many years in my long service in this department , and it is my deliberate judgment after a careful study of the workings of the new law during the two months that it has been in opera tion , comparing its work with that of other laws , for I have seen the work of many of them , that the new measure will give to the treasury all the revenue which it needs as soon as normal busi ness conditions return. Indeed it is surprising to me that it has accom plished as much as it has during the past two months in view of the adverse conditions under which it went into op eration , and nobody , whatever his pol itics or political views or ambitions may be , who will study "its workings thus far carefully in the light of all conditions , it seems to me , can have any doubt upon this subject. " GEO. H. WILLIAMS. Money In Their rockets. The new Republican monster not only pulls money out of the pockets of all consumers who remain at home , but it puts its paw into the trunks of all returning travelers Wilmington , N. C , "Messenger. " Under the Democratic policy of Free- ' Trade it was impossible "to pull money out of the pockets" of Americans be cause there was no money in thpir pockets. Now they are getting well lined again with American dollars and all "patriots" are pleased to contribute , their little mites to Uncle Sam's treas ure chest. • The End of It. It seems only to be a question of time when Great Britain must cease to ex port any tin plates to the United States , and that time may probably be here very soon. Iron and Coal Trades' Re view , England. We hope so. This was the intent and purport of the McKinley tariff of 1890 , and it is gratifying to learn , from an authoritative foreign source , that such a favorable result is being so quickly achieved. \ KEPUBLICAN OPINION. Reports from the manufacturing districts , North and South , continue to show increased activity. Three large cordage mills at Isaia , Ohio , whicli have been out of operation for several years , are being re-opened with a full force of men. The Wead paper mills at Malone , N. Y „ which have been idle for two years , have been re-opened ; the Bridgeton , Pa. , woolen mills , which have been closed nearly three years , have resumed operations ; two of the Ohio valley railroads have giveu or ders for one thousand new box care each , for use in the business which is being offered them , and which they are now unable to handle ; the Cleveland rolling mills report a large order for bar steel from Birmingham , England , and an Ohio paper mill reports a con tract of several thousand tons of print paper for the Japanese trade. No better evidence of the actual re turn of business activity could be found than the official reports of bank clearances for the week ending Sep tember 18. They show the clearances to be fully fifty per cent greater than at this time a year ago , and seventy- five per cent , in excess of those of the corresponding week two years ago. They are greater than at any time since January , 1893. Is it that terrible "money power" that is destroying the crops all over the world for the purpose of giving Amer ican farmers higher prices and thus showing them the falsity of the wheat-1 and-silver theory ? There is just as much sense in assuming that the mon ey power could control the wind andj weather and grasshoppers and other causes of foreign grain shortages as it | was to assume last fall that a handful of financiers located in some myste rious secret chamber in London or elsewhere could control the legislation of the greatest and most intelligent na tions of the world in behalf of the gold standard , as was asserted day to day and week to week during the entire campaign of 1896. Is it the Dingley law or the fall oj silver which is the cause of advance of all farm products in the last sixty days ? There has been no occasion in which silver has fallen more rapidly than during the month of August , and ' no time in which all farm products have advanced more rapidly than dur ing August and September. Since the Dingley law went into operation about the time that this advance came , it might be well to call upon Mr. Bryan for another paid syndicate article ex plaining the cause of this general ad vance. The treasury department has over $145,000,000 of gold in hand , and has had since the McKinley administration came in a larger gold surplus than at any time for a long period of years. This is in marked contrast with the conditions during the Democratic ad ministration , when President Cleve land was compelled to sell bonds every now and then to keep up the hundred- million reserve. Those people who are satisfied with Mr. Bryan's explanation of the cause in the advance in the price of wheat might do well to inquire of him about the advance of wool. He says the ad vance in wheat was due to a shortage abroad. There is no record of any considerable shortage abroad in wool , yet prices of wool have advanced sixty per cent , since the beginning of Sep tember , 1896 , while silver has fallen twenty per cent , in the .same time. The visit of Senators Mantle and Pet- tigrew to the Mikado of Japan to in quire why silver has been demonetized seems to have been a great loss of time and labor. Had they taken the trou ble to examine the report of the di rector of the mint , which covers the value of Japan's silver coins during the past few years , they would have found it entirely unnecessary to take their trip across the Pacific , though that might be a very convenient trip for al most anybody to take providing the silver trust saw fit to pay expenses. The report of the director of the mint shows that the Japanese silver yen , which was worth 83 1-10 cents in 1891 , was only worth 47 8-10 cents in 1897 , all of which should have been sufficient information for anybody who wanted cold facts without a foreign junket as an accompaniment. Senators Petti- , grew and Mantle having omitted to fav or the people of this country with the result of their interview with the Mi kado , the public may be able , to work along with the information given in the following table , until the silver states men are heard fiom : Value of Value of Year. Silver Yen. Gold Yen. 1888 75.3 99.7 1889 . 73.4 99.7 1890 75.2 99.7 1891 83.1 99.7 1892 74.5 _ 99.7 1893 66.1 99.7 1894 55.6 99.7 1895 49.1 99.7 1896 52.9 99.7 1897 ( July ) 47.8 99.7 Last week's report covering the busi ness failures in the United States is more encouraging than any which has been presented since the upward ten dency of business which came with the inauguration of President McKinley. The entire number of business failures reported last week was only 169 , which was less than half the number in the corresponding week of September , 1893 , the first year of Cleveland's second term , and vastly less than any corresponding spending week during the entire four years of his occupancy of the presi dential chair. POLITICAL SENSATION ACTING - GOVERNOR RANSo/ CHARGES FRAUD / In Ohcmi Court at Oiiuili ; . j. . ( /"tend * that Fraud Wu Committed by/overnor Ilolcomb When lie Approve/Hiirt.oy' .s j Straw IIouil Often * to Sho/that Hol- eumh Know of Ilartlny'/ Shortage Meflcrve'H Itnnd Wnrthle" Stn-ernl of III * Largest Sureties/HiiT" Left the State. / Mcservft'n Kecord h * l.cd Willow County. The condition/Of the state treasury was the one particular thing most talked about .Ay Governor Holcomb m his eampaig/for governor three years ago. He Wf/uld reform the business of the state/reasury. That's what he would. He canvassed the state and at tl/e farmer picnics he was ; i bold re former./He taught the people that the treasury had not been properly pro tected/that its funds were not proper/ ! managed , and that he was the one par ticular man who would attend to that particular business if elected. So per sistent was he in his discussion of the state treasury and so prodigal was he of brave promises that the public learned in that campaign to look upon him and to style him an "the watch dog of the public money. " Whatever grievances had b-en iu the past , Hol comb would reform the treasury when he got into power. Enough of the people ple believed in this proud boaster to elect him , and the farme.s said among themselves , "Now the i reasury is safe , for Holcomb is in the chair. " The farmers understood then , a- they do uow , that the business of securing the public money by a sound treasurer's bond was the governor's business , and they knew that if that business was properly attended to there could be no loss to the tax-payers whether the state treasurer was honest or not. The people had elected the treasurer believ ing him to be an honest man , but they did not depend upon his honesty , they depended upon the bond , and they had elected a governor whose duty it waste to require a bond , and they believed that he would perform that duty. He was commanded to do it by the law , and he would surely obey the law , but he was bound to perform this duty , and it rested upon his conscience with tenfold force by reason of his promises at the country picnics , and because he yvas no ordinary governor but a reform jovernor , the leader of a reform party , and its only representative in the state house. The treasury was the one par ticular thing which he had discussed in his campaign was the one particu lar thing above all others that needed reform and now , as he entered upon the duties of his first term the first thing presented to him for his official action- was an opportunity to reform the treasury. If any part of the public funds had been misappropriated , here was the opportunity for him to make the discovery by counting the money , a3 the law directs , and if the treasury had not been properly secured in the past , as he had charged in his speeches , hero was an opportunity for him to commence his reform and to make the treasury safe in the future. It now transpires that Bartley's half million default had commenced then , and that the governor knew it. Not only had the default commenced , but the gov ernor , knowing it , permitted Bartley on entering his second term to file a spurious bond , from which not a dollar can be collected , and he permitted this defaulting treasurer to continue in office two years , himself remaining 3ilent , refusing to count the money as the law directed , holding out to the people by his certificate on the bond that it was genuine. A few days ago , at Omaha.Hon. Frank , T. Ransom , pop ulist senator from Omaha , president pro tem. of the populist senate , chair man of the so-called free-silver re publican state committee , while acting governor , charged in open court that Governor Holcomb had committed this fraud , and gave that as a reason to the court why the innocent sureties who had signed the bond should be ex cused. "A fraud has been commit ted , " said Ransom. "That fraud was committed by the governor cf the state of Nebraska and by Joseph S. Bartley. " John H. Ames , one of the sureties , stated to the court that he had signed the Bartley bond relying upon the gov ernor , that he was a lawyer and knew his duty , that he was an honest man who would keep his oath , that he had counted the money as the law directs , and that the condition of the treasury was then sound. Here we have Act ing-Governor Ransom charging a fraud upon Acting-Governor Holcomb which calls for his impeachment and removal from office. The last republican state convention denounced Bartley and Moore who had betrayed the republican party. The republican press of the state has been unsparing in its criticism of these re publican betrayers , and no republican voter has offered to excuse or palliate one iota of their guilt. In this the re publican party shows its honesty of- conscience. "We will now see whether the reform press and the voters of the reform party -will longer stultify their reform cause by covering up and apol ogizing for the governor's rascality , as they have covered up and apolo gized for this shameless administra tion from the very hour which it took charge of the state government the first of this year. But this is not the only bond fraud which Governor Holcomb has perpe trated upon the Nebraska people. Meserve's bond is as rotten and worthless as Bartley's second bond. The governor knew it when he ap proved it and when he certified to the people the falsehood that it was a gen uine bond. Not only was it worthless when it was presented by Meserve and approved by the governor , but nearly ail of the larger signers have since dis posed of their property , and several of them have abandoned the state leaving - I ing no available assets behind. Not ' only this , but Meserve's career prior ' " ' his taking charge of the state treas ury is such as to arouse suspicion auu call for the closest scrutiny of his sure ties His induction into the county trcasuryship at McCook was brought about by his creditors there , to whom he was heavily indebted , and the rec ords of Red Willow county show that within the space of a little more than a year while he was county treasurer he paid off $24,000 of indebtedness , although his salary was but $2,000 per annum. Who is carrying this indebt- cd-fess jdw ? He paid sis privnte cred itors ; that much appears from the J/coupcy records. Where did he get the money ? What would have been his relation to Red Willow county had ho not been elected state treasurer ? What would bo hlB relation to the state to day if the governor should require of him an accounting now ? Will the governor require this accounting ? 'Will he require a new bond in lieu of the worthless bond under which the state treasurer now holds office ? There must bo somewhere some con science among the rank and file of populist voters. If this election passes" without a manifestation of this higher conscience in the populist party it can never again lift up its head and ask for the respect or the votes of Ne braska people. Several times In the history of Ne braska the republican press has united in scourging republican offenders and making their actions odious be fore the public. There never has been at any time in the history of the state what could be justly styled a subservi ent republican press. At no time when the republican party was In power has it been dominated by a state house ring so powerful that not a single re publican paper dared to lift its voice in protest. A year ago now the re publican press was outspoken against Bartley's influence in the republican party. The republican newspapers voiced the demand of republican voters all over the state that Bartley should not be a controlling factor in shaping the party politics. All this Is fresh in the mind of the people to-day. When Bartley's shortage was first hinted at but not fully established , not a single republican attempted to shield or ex cuse him. Republicans with one nui- versal voice said : "Let no guilty man escape. " In all this the republican party shows its conscience and its natural instinct for square politics and honest administration. What has the populist press said or done to purge the reform party from the actions of the rotten ring at the state house ? Look at the disgraceful spectacle presented by the last reform legislature. Look at the infamous re count fraud , and the governor's con nection with it. To carry out this bold plot they ousted four republican mem bers from Omaha and one senator , making no pretense that there was any reason except that they needed that many votes to pass the recount measure with the emergency clause. Did any populist newspaper utter a word of protest against this infamous thing while it was being carried on ? It would be difficult to find in history an instance where there was such uni versal and general consent by a polit ical party and all its officials and its press to a plot that was revolutionary and lawless in every feature. That recount matter will always remain a dark spot in Nebraska's history. It is all the darker for the reason that the populist press was silent and littered no protest against it. Take the ? 10 , - 000 investigating committee. Here are five members of the legislature draw ing pay for two years at the rate of § 1,500 per annum , and for this they render no equivalent to the public , and make no pretense to usefulness except as they trump up political capital for the reform movement. The members of this committee make no pretense that they are qualified for the business of examining records or accounts. What a spectacle this man Mutz has made of himself as chairman of this investigating committee. And yet no populist newspaper has offered to crit icise him. Look out over the state and you will see a trail of defalcations wherever populists have been in county offices , but you will read no criticism against these defalcations in the populist press. In Lancaster county the populist clerk of the district court robbed the county , but no populist newspaper nor no pop ulist convention has condemned him. In Custer county , the home of Governor Holcomb , a populist plundered the county treasury , but because this treas urer was Holcomb's friend , no word of censure has ever been uttered against him by any populist newspaper or any populist convention. Another county official in Custer county defaulted. The default was published by the commis sioners , the public knew it , but the re form party in Custer county carries the name of that official to-day as its can didate for county judge. The reform county committee out there have de manded his withdrawal from the ticket , but because he is Holcomb's friend , he remains on the ticket and the populist voters there are whipped into line by the bosses demanding his support. In Merrick count } * , the home of Secretary cf State Porter , the treas urer plundered the county to the amount of § 30,000. but neither Secre tary Porter , the populist press , or the populist conventions of that county have dared to criticise it. In Platte county , the home of Judge Sullivan , the treasurer stole $30,000 but neither Judge Sullivan or the other democratic officials of the county have lifted s ' much as a little fineer to nrocpru4- * ' offender. Not only does this Platte county defaulter go scot free from prosecution and free from criticism , but his brother , who was intimately associated with him when the default was committed , has been promoted tea a public office at the state house under Land Commissioner Wolfe , because he is the son-in-law of United States Sen ator Allen. A populist treasurer robbed Hamilton county and his son was indicted for burning the court house there , but through the influence of Congressman Stark and others the prosecution was nollied and the guilty man allewed to escape ; not only to escape punishment , but to escape criticism from the populist press and the populist conventions of that county. In Gosper county a populist plundered the treasury and burned the court house and the records , escaping without punishment and without criti cism. There is not space here to re count the long list of populist defalca tions which have occurred in the last four or five years. In York county four township treasurers defaulted , but you do not read of these defalcations in the populist press , and you do not hear of them in the resolutions passed by the populist conventions there. Where is the conscience of the re form party ? Where is its honesty ? t Wherein does it show the reform that | t promised the people ? Where is the reform that was promised us as to ' pass-grabbing and junketing ? No political - litical party , no set of politicians in any state , have made so disgraceful a spectacle as the populists have made In this state in the last few months along this line , and yet no mention of this is made in any populist paper erIn In the resolutions of any populist con- veiitiou. Theao state ofllcfal * liavo I 1 junketed in all directions. Look at the j $ disgraceful conduct of the state autl'h Hot. What reform paper 1ms criticised JF him ? What reform convention 1ms M denounced him ? Where- are the fraudulent - * $ L ulent tally-sheeta of the fraudulent * a b recount which Hcdlund exposed , and fE tor which ho was removed by the , A governor from the recount commls- % ' slon ? Where is the Investigating committee - W mitteo with its ? 10,000 appropriation. * J that it has not investigated thl3 fraud , brought out so conspicuously before f the public , pointed out bo explicitly by \ Hcdlund , and attaching Its wicked con- ' • I splracy to the very person of the gov- n I ernor ? All these things are in line y I with the governor's conduct as to - I Bartley's spurious bond and the other I spurious bond of Meserve. What set I of party leaders have before shown I such utter disregard for the rank and file of the party ? Thcso reform otll- clals treat their followers as It they were dumb cattle ; as If they had no self-respect ; as if they would follow blindly any set of politicnl shysters It only they posed as reformers. They promised to raise the valuation ( of railroad property. They taught the people for six years that railroad property - B erty was assessed too low. They made H the people believe it. It was a lie , but H they made the people believe it. There / has never been a year since Nebraska- H had railroads that the railroad property - * H erty was not assessed at a higher valuation - H ation in proportion than otjicr prop- H ert3\ and yet these reformers pretended - tended that the people had been. H wronged in this matter , and that they H would right the wrong as soon as they H got into power. Did they do it ? No ! / H When the opportunity came they pettifogged - / ' tifogged and caucused and pretended , for a whole week that they were H gravely considering how to carry out H the pledges they had made , and then M ended their Tarce by leaving the railroad - M road assessment as it had been bo- H fore. They pretended that they would M control the corporations as to rates. M They would regulate telephone and H telegraph companies. They would reduce - M duce telephone rates for the benefit of | the down-trodden farmer , who never M uses a telephone. But have they done . jH it ? They passed a law authorizing the H state board of transportation to regulate - M late these things , but they have not H enforced the law , and they make no M pretense of enforcing it. They cannot H enforce It. It was unconstitutional M when they passed it and they knew it. M Their law provides a fee to the at- | torney general for every case which he M brings against the railroad , and this M thing alone makes it unconstitutional , M because the constitution says that no M state officer can have his salary raised | while he is in office. They knew that V this railroad law would be heid uneon- B stitutional , and the railroads winked the other eye when it was passed. I These boasting reformers think that they can fool the people year after a year by advertising what they are going to do. and by pretending to do something which they know will be I unconstitutional , and then they appeal I to the people and say that they were 1 hindered by republican courts and by 1 injunctions. , And now the question of Meserve's straw bond is knocking at the door. What will the governor ' ) about it ? What will he do about the ugly charge which Acting-Governor Ransom has J made against him in open court ? Will J he go on counting his annual passes J and his Pullman passes , arranging for I another junket to the "red apple I country ? " And will he attempt to - H sooth Nebraska people with another V sWJ chapter from Mutz , the investigator ? * m1 How much of this Mutz will populist 1 voters endure without protest ? How 1 long will they endure the humiliation I which the state house gang is heaping : I upon them without making some demonstration - I onstration of their disauoroval ? ' TOOK A MEAN ADVANTAGE. j .Engaged Man Insisted on KN-ilng nu j I'lancce In a Street Car. Aj-oung-man and a young-woman changed from a Belt Una to a Four teenth street car at the aven ' ne , Washing-ton , and sat in one of the seats in the first car. He was carrying ingan overcoat and a satchel and was evidently goingaway. . She wore a shirt waist and dark skirt , as if start- inr out on a shoppingexpedition. . J M Just before they reached Sixth street 1 he leaned over her an'i said quietly. I so quietly that only the reporter baelc I of them could hear " I : "I am going-to- " kiss you good-by when I leave the I car. " I • Oh , please don 't , " she said appealingly - I ingly ; "not before all these people. " I But he decided I was and said persistently - sistently : "Yes I shall ; so raise yonr I veil. If you try to resist people wilL I see it and wonder ahout you , and I * they will look at yon all the way uptown - I town after I get off. " M She glanced up shyly and then I slowly raised her veil. lie bent over I her and kissed her an I no one in the fl car looked up. A few people won- fl dered why she was so anxious to show | the diamond ringon the left hand , | butn body but the reporter appre - | ciated.the fact that she was trying to | justify the kissing by meano of anTeri- | gagement rinsr. H TrouI > Ie. .ome Cracked -Silver- Coir * . H The stamping machines at the gov- | eminent mints , embodying as they do | all the bast inventions obtainable , yet | do not do their work with absolute perfection - M fection in every instance. Occasionally | a. silver dollar is turned out with a a | trifling- defect , and then the coin causes 1 more trouble , many times over than it S is worth. This imperfection is a slight H crack in the edge of the coin , which is S Likely to escaoe the notice of any ordi- H tiary scrutiny , but like the rift in the Into of which the poet sings , it makes JM -he dollar s music mute. ; j H The commonest way to test a silver * H : oin to find out whether it is a counter- H eit or not is to drop on a table or 1 : ounter. If it has a clear rinit i 1 .upposed to be good. As a matter of B act some counterfeit coins , now cur H -ent. which are ma e of antimony and ' B in haye a sound almost identical with hat of a real silver dollar. What H nakes this test more uncertain is th 1 act that a real silver * dollar with the fr iropped. The opening H destroys it * < ingle just as t crack dcstrbVs i JL wtWiS nelodiousneas ot a bell. * * H