1:1 i > Gov , Holcom'Q Goes to Washington in Its Interest , ADVISES MUSTERING OUT. Steps to Bo Taken AHO to Secure n 1'rompt Settlement of the Claims of Nebraska Against tlio General Govern ment. Lincoln dlspatcn : Governor Hoi- comb left last night for Washington , D. C. , where he will give his personal attention with Colonel Stark to secur ing a prompt settlement of the claims of the state against the general gov ernment on account of the mobiliza tion of troops in Nebraska for enlist ment in the volunteer service. Ho will also urge on the president the advisa bility of returning the Third regiment to Nebraska to be mustered out of the service. The governor Is impelled to this ac tion on account of the alarming in crease in sickness in the regiment , the abnormal death rate , and at the re quest of many hundreds of the rela tives and friends of the enlisted men. Letters from the regiment Indicate hat more than nine-tenths of the private soldiers are anxious to be mustered out , having enlisted for the war with Spain , and not for police duty in time of peace. The condition of the regiment has been made known to the governor each day through the reports of Colonel Bryan , made in compliance with a re quest for this information made by the adjutant general to the command ing officers .of both the Second and the Third on August 19. The first daily sick report from the Third was for August 20 , just one month ago. This showed that there were twenty-one sick men in hospital and twenty-six sick in quarters at that time. The report for September 20 was received today , and this shows that there were today 127 sick in hos pital and 176 sick in quarters , a total of 303. The report does not include the eighty-one men who were sent home on the hospital train last week , nor those who are absent on sick leave or furlough , and who left at other times. The last list is estimated to include about twenty-five or thirty names. If this is near correct there are now in hospital or otherwise unfit for duty by reason of sickness over 400 out of a total of 1,328 men and officers in the regiment originally. The death list of this regiment al ready includes nine names. Second Nebraska Hoys. These are quiet days in old Fort Omaha , writes a correspondent , as so many of the boys are absent. For those who are here , whether officers or men , there is plenty of work. The officers' are busy scriving to straighten out their records and account for the men who were sent home on sick fur loughs preparatory to the final muster. It seems to be the general impression now that the regiment will really be mustered out when the boys return from their furloughs , October 10. Two days after that date the boys are ex pected to participate with the Twenty- second United States infantry in the great peace jubilee. These two regi ments promise to attract much atten tion then. The Twenty-second re turned with eleven officers and 178 men out of 510 which left here less than five months ago. Those woreturned look worn and weak from disease , and the regiment is but a ghost of itself. When they march down Farnam street , if they do , they will attract much at tention. Of course the Second Ne braska volunteers will be there. It is expected that they will be in good con dition , as those who are ill will have recovered and the entire regiment is expected to be in line. Wants to Find Ills Brothers. William Kealey of Edgar , Clay coun ty , has written the governor and asked the latter to assist him in finding his two younger brothers , Try and Gibbey. 4Tho story , as told by the letter , is that in 1885 the three boys , William , 6 years old , and Try and Gibbey , at that time 4 and 2 years respectively , were sent to the home for the friend less at Lincoln. In a short time Will iam was taken out of the institution by a Mrs. Kilpatrick , and from that time he has never been able to hear from his brothers or get any informa tion that would satisfy him as to what became of them. He says that officers of the home have brought only the answer that no trace had been kept of the children. He asks the governor , if possible , to help him in his quesL Thlrtccn Have Died. Two more deaths have been reported in the Second Nebraska volunteers. The first was Private Johnson , of G company. Private Paul Jenkins , of company A , died in Leiter hospital at Chickamauga. Two more are expected \ to join the innumerable caravan from the hospital at Fort Crook very soon. Eighteen are sick there yet , and six teen will recover. One or two are ex pected to die in the Omaha city hos pitals. The death rate has been very low in the Second. Thirteen men out of 1,323 officers and men does not form a high percentage. It is , perhaps , the smallest number of any regiment in the service. Many of the boys who are away on sick furloughs are writing in regarding them. Some are reporting for duty , but the majority are taking extensions. Arrested on a Serious Charge. Albert Herman , a farmer living six miles southeast of Columbus , near the Colfax county line , came in and caused the arrest of Charles Booth , a young man who had been working for him , on the charge of adultery. He alleges the act was committed with Mrs. Her man. Booth was arraigned before County Judge Robinson , and the case continued. His bond was fixed at foOO , fix in default of which he was committed to jail. None of the parties are over 30 years of age. The whist club of Hastings has been reorganized. I "x. Look Out for the Swindlers. Ashland dispatch : Iho principal subject of conversation on the street today is the collapse ot the "flour bin" scheme. The first step had been com pleted , and all the preliminary work done , but the plan was punctured be fore it reached completion , and the p'ersons managing it left hastily en the midnight train last night. About two 'months ago two very smooth young gentlement , Messrs. Borders and Braw- ley. came to Ashland and made the acquaintance of the business men , rep resenting that they intended to remain some months and canvass the country for a patent flour bin and sifter com bined. They boarded at the best hotel , hired livery teams and canvassed the town and country for orders. They agreed , it is alleged , to take any kind of produce or goods if they could make a sale , the purchaser signing a contract to take the flour bin about the 1st of October. They took about four hun dred orders at $5.50 each. Last week they hired an office , fur nished it and a new man appeared whoso duty was evidently to bring the scheme to a climax. Substantial farm ers who had sons were brought into the office or visited with the purpose of Interesting them. They were shown the vast number of orders that had easily been taken in so short a time , and the great profit there could not fail to be in it Propositions were then made to sell territory , and a num ber of men were already on the string. It was working finely , many of the business men , however , suspicious of the whole thing and did not believe It legitimate. Within the last day or two some letters from Washington , Kan. , were received by residents of Ashland describing a great scheme that had been worked in that locality by flour bin men during the past spring. They claimed it was the same two men , Messrs. Borders anl Brawley , and they were looking for them. JTojf Cholera In Nebraska. Columbus dispatch : The old time hog cholera has again made its appear ance in Platte county. 0. D. Butler , a farmer living within a few miles of town , has lost some forty head re cently , and he says it affects both the old hogs and the pigs , and no remedy seems to check its ravages. Several others have lost some , but not in such numbers as Mr. Butler. Those who have seen the hogs say it is the real old thing. About two weeks ago John Foreman , a farmer living in Burrows township , had all of his stacks destroyed by fire just after he had commenced thrashing. He only saved about forty bushels of oats , which they had just thrashed. The fire caught by sparks from the en gine. He at once brought suit against the owners of the machine Stineholz & Fetters for the amount of his loss , and yesterday in Justice fuller's court recovered a judgment for the full amount. It Is believed that the judg ment will stand , and that no appeal will be taken. Something over two years ago George Smith of this cry run a cat fish horn into the bottom of his right foot. Physicians at the time removed what they thought to be the bone , but the foot always gave him trouble , and at times he could scarcely walk. Yes terday he went to a physlc.an and ap plied the X-rays to the foot and the bone was plainly visible. An incision was made and the bone removed , which was just one and a quarter inches in length. He thinks he will have no further trouble. A Boy In -cmtentlary. . Charles Kennedy , a 15-year-old boy , was received at the penitentiary last week , having been sent up by the dis trict court of Gage county for eighteen months for horse stealing. It seems that the boy , who is very slow wittcd , fell in with a traveler , who has since turned out to be an exconvict from Missouri. The man had a horse he was driving , and seeing a better one in a pasture near the road , made the ex change without consulting the owner of the other horse. When captured neither the man nor the boy made any defense , and they pleaded guilty at the trial. The boy seems to be inof fensive , and much surprise is ex pressed at the Gage county authorities sending him to the penitentiary instead of to the reform school , and it is prob able that an effort will at once be made to have the sentence commuted. The boy has relatives at Hastings , Beatrice JOIBI aqi VB SUIACT ' 110 ODUAVEJ PUB place is his grandfather , L. M. Ken nedy , who has several times been an inmate of the asylum. Murder Over the Boundary Alliance dispatch : Trouble of long standing culminated in the murder or N. L. Slyvester , in Sheridan county , twenty miles northeast of this city , last evening , death resulting instantly from a Winchester bullet fired by John Krause. The fatal quarrel was the result of a dispute over the bound ary line across a hay meadow , Sylves ter coming on the Krause side and re fusing to quit. Krause started ! for Rushville this morning to give himself up and the body of Sylvester lies where it fell , awaiting the arrival of the coroner. Slyvester's reputation , it is alleged , is not the best , and as he is said to have made threats against Krause , public sentiment seems to excuse the latter. Instantly Killed. Joseph Kompost , a young Bohemian farmer , living south of Crete , was in stantly killed by falling into the cylin der of a thrashing machine while feed ing it. The whole left side of the body was terribly lacerated. Deceased was a member of the Z. C. B. J. , a benevo lent Bohemian society , under whose auspices the funeral took place. Note ? . Three grandchildren were born In the family of a Mapleton man within one week. The accidental discharge of a shot- Kun will very likely end the life of Earl Mann , the delivery boy for the Pearl laundry of York. Mann , in com pany with three other young me'n , was hunting. On their way home they hailed a handcar coming in on the Elkhorn - horn railroad. While Mann was standIng - Ing on the car the hammer of the shot gun struck on the edge. Part of the abdomen wa ? carried away- Daily Ascensions at the Trans = Mis = sissippi Exposition Grounds. Among the many interesting feat- tires of the United States government's exhibit at the Trans-Mississippi Ex position at Omaha , none is attracting greater attention than the war bal loons. Besides the monster captive balloon which was used by the Ameri can forces at Santiago , there are fcur other large balloons , each with a ca pacity of 21,000 cubic feet , sufllcient to carry three or four persons , and a score of small signal balloons. In charge of the balloons and the half dozen carloads of apparatus accom panying them are Captain A. Warren Yancey and a detachment of twenty- feet an excellent view of the exposi tion grounds , the cities of Omaha and Council Bluffs and the surounding country is obtained. A building forty feet square on the ground1 and fifty feet high has been erected on the north tract to house the balloon overnight. It costs in the neighborhood of $80 to inflate , and it is cheaper therefore to retain the gas from day to day than to generate fresh gas for every ascension. In order that the gas may not be allowed to escape it is necessary to protect the balloon from the weather , for the varnished silk of which it is made , is very quick ly ruined when a little rain gets to it. GOVERNMENT WAR BALLOON. three members of the United States Volunteer Signal Corps , of whom about one-half were engaged in the opera tions before Santiago. The big balloon used at Santiago is an object of intense popular interest. One or other of the balloons makes several ascensions daily from the ex position grounds. These balloons , as stated above , have a capacity of 21,000 cubic feet of gas. This is sufficient to raise about 1,800 .pounds. The balloon itself , with the car and ropes and cable , weighs in the neighborhood of 1,200 pounds. Each balloon can carry four persons of aver age weight. The balloons are equipped with com plete telephonic and telegraphic ap paratus , communication with the ground being obtained by means of in sulated -wire paid out as the balloon ascends. Captain Yancey has with him at Omaha two coils of this wire , each 2.500 feet long. The wire is five- eighths of an inch in diameter , and consists of twelve strands of copper. It is used for the double purpose of holding the balloon and of establish ing telegraphic or telephonic communi cation with the ground. The wire is wound on a reel , connected with brass bushing and so arranged that the com munication Is not interrupted as the balloon ascends or descends. The daily ascensions are made to about the limit of one of these coils of wire , and from a height of from 2,000 to 2,500 INDIANS AT THE EXPOSITION. Graphic Account of the Sham Battle In "Which Tiiey Engage. Not less than 10,000 people witnessed the sham battle between the Indians yesterday afternoon , says the Omaha Bee , and when it was over and the dead and wounded carried away it was pronounced a great success. It was fought along substantially the same lines as some of the others that have been put on , and was carried out in every detail. The great fight of the afternoon was started off by Captain Mercer march ing all of his Indians up in front of the reviewing stand. The first detachment was composed of the interpreters , who clad in their new suits consisting of brown corduroy trousers , blue flannel shirts and light brown slouch hats made a very neat appearance. Then came the squaws of the different tribes , each band coming up separately. They in turn were followed by the Indians , marchins in the same order , after which the horsemen appeared on the scene , tribe after tribe riding up at full gallop and yelling their war whoops. Behind each band rode its chief , and as they reached the seats , the name of the tribe as well asthe name of the leader was announced. Old Gsronimo appeared to be the lion of the occasion , and was cheered from the time he started unti he halted his animal in front of the stand. The old man rode like a general , and evidently appreciated the ovation , as he doffed his hat and bowed as gracefully as a Chesterfield. This part of the program having been carried out , the Indians filed off over the field toward the east and back to the starting place , from which the horsemen rode in a body , yelling in a manner that made some of the timid white people feel like tak ing to the wood. After the sounds of the yells had died away , a volley was fired and everything was ready for the fight. As the story goes , a Sioux Indian. Grass , had been over in the territory of the Blackfeet trapping beaver , and as the tribes were not on friendly terms , ho had been doomed to die at the stake , a slow fire doing the busi ness. Of course this was simply the play , and in order to carry it out there had to be a battle. After the parade the Sioux and their allies , under command of Goes-to-War , took up a position on the east side of the grounds , while the Blackfeet and their allie'J , led by Big Brave , went out into thp space at the west end of the grounds. Then everything was ready for business. In from the west came a little band of Indians leading a horse , on which was mounted Mr. Grass. He looked.sad , and his every action indicated that he was ready to expect almost anything. It was not mort than a minute before 100 Indians , painted and ornamented with feathers , hustled in from the sa&e direction as came the men with the Indian who was to be tortured. They whooped like mad. and one of their number , Cut Nose , made a speech. He told a tale of cruelty perpetrated by Grass , ! In addition to the quarter of a hun dred balloons , large and small , Cap tain Yancey has with him at Omaha two stationary generators and one portable table field generator and portable boiler , two gasometers , one of which was made in Omaha , and 250 tubes each of which will hold about 150 cuoic feet of gas compound. Of almost equal interest with the balloon ascensions are the daily exhi bitions of visual signaling which are given by Captain Yancey's men. Every member of the United States Signal Corps is an expert slgnalist either with the telegraph or the helio graph or with the flags. The flag sig naling , or wigwagging , as it is termeu , is very interesting to watch. The sig nalmen are provided with small col ored flags with which they do their talking. A dip to the right or the left or some combination of such move ments represents each letter of the alphabet in accordance with what is known as the Myercode. The two squads of men are separated by the lagoon at sufficient distance to prevent any verbal communication , but near enough for the public to watch both operators at the same time. The ex hibitions with the heliograph , or sig naling by means of sun flashes , are also of great popular interest. It Is interesting to note that both the wig wagging , or the heliograph system of signaling were .derived from the In dians. and opined that he ought to die like a dog. Grass smiled and told his captors to do their worst , as he" was ready to die. Then some of the fellows who were not singing war songs com menced to gather grass and straw that was lying conveniently around , wait ing to be gathered. Grass was pulled from his horse and roped to an electric light pole. The next act in the war drama was to tie him good and tight. After that a circle was formed about him and the war dance was put on with a war song accompaniment. About the time the Blackfeet were ready to fire the straw around Grass' feet a runner came in and reported that two Sioux were out in the bush taking observations. Big Brave se lected a dozen of his most trusty war riors and sent them out to bring in the two men that they might be roasted with Grass. Th.e Sioux got wind of the proceedings and scudded over the prairie , but one of them was not sv/ift enough and was captured and scalped , while the other managed to get back to his camp. "V.hen the scalp was brought in the Blackfeet and their allies proceeded to have a jolifl- cation , and then started a fire around Grass. Their fun , however , was short lived , for about this time the Sioux caine upon them pell mell , firing into their ranks and knocking : out a dozen cf the best men. The Blackfeet were routed and driven off , after which the Sioux had their fun. They brought in ten prisoners , and after releasing Grass , bound them all to the same elec tric light pole. Then there was a Sioux Avar song and a dance that went with it , and for a time it looked as though there was to be a high time in the camp for several men , and un doubtedly there would have been had not the Blackfeet gathered up a lot of reinforcements and renewed the at tack. They came in like the wind and engaged the Sioux. They had but one motto , and that was : "When you see a head hit it. " The hitting process worked with both sides , and for a time it was hard to tell which side would carry the day. \VI11 Work Neit Week. The president is making progress In the matter of preparation of the com mission for the investigation of the conduct of the war , so far as it re lates to the war department , says a Washington dispatch , and he stated to members of the cabinet today that ho had so far completed the commission that he had invited the members to meet him for a conference at the White House on Saturday next , with a view to beginning their work next week. Seven of the nine members of tns body have definitely indicated their ac ceptance of the president's invitation , and he expressed himself today as be ing very confident of being able to se cure the services of .the other two gentlemen necessary to complete the quota of nine by the time set for the men who have been Invitee to serve conference. The names of the new men who have been invited to serve were not siven out. CAPTDEING JIAEKETS. GERMANY'S POLICY OF TRADE EXTENSION. Dor Tremendous Development of Mor- ohant. Shipping ; Facilities Contrasted with the Tardy and Neglectful Coarse Pursued by the United States. Some consular reports of exceptional value and interest have just been re ceived at the state department in Washington. Consul Covert , writing from Lyons , deals at length with the subject of the French bureau of for eign commerce , recently established. The abler division of this bureau will devote its attention in large measure to the Orient. The plan is said to be patterned after Russia , which has two foreign ministries , one for the East and the other for the continent of Europe. This bureau will be in close touch with the French boards of trade. The French are aiding Russia to de velop her resources , and a large part of the report referred to is taken up with the details of this aid , which is a benefit to France , of course. The consul says that the work of the Lyons commission , sent to China by the business men , is being followed up vigorously. France is trying to keep up with England and Germany in ef forts to supply China , a nation which , to quote from a great European au thority , "is the most potential market in the world. " He adds : "Whether this tremendous market shall be a feeder to Russia's trans-Si berian railroad , to England through Hong Kong , to Germany through Kiao-Chau or to France from Tonquin is the momentous problem of the com ing century. " Consul Monaghan writes from Chem nitz in two reports just given out. One , concerning Germany's shipping , and the other , concerning her machin ery export , throw much light on a ' . Compiling great trade rival's operations. piling his figures , it is seen that there was an increase in 1896 over 1895 of 13.70G ships and 600,000 tons. Com pared with twenty years ago the fig ures show twice the number of ships and three times as much tonnage. There was an increase of 83 per cent in the number of laden ships and 152 per cent increase in the number of regis tered tons of vessels that went out laden with the empire's products and brought in foreign raw materials. Taken as to the number of voyages , too , the growth is almost 10 per cent for the last period 1896-95 for which figures are accessible. The consul eays : "If we are to take part in the trade with South America and with the East we must emulate this empire in the matter of ships. Of all the ships that came into and went out of German ports in 1896 72.4 per cent bore the empire's flag. Of the steamers , 6S.3 per cent were German. " Germany , like France , is catering to the Russian trade and supplying that colossal country with manufactures. Russia is Germany's best buyer of ma chinery. Consul Monaghan says : "It is in Eastern , Russian and South American markets that we must make our greatest efforts to meet Germany. We should improve our transportation facilities to South America and inau gurate an energetic policy of making foreign markets. " The contrast between Germany's tre mendous activity in the development of her shipping facilities and the slug gish , neglectful policy of the United States is not flattering to American pride. Neither is it suggestive of fruit ful results in the field of American trade expansion. Germany is captur ing the world's markets by means of German ships manned by German sail ors. What time Germany has been ef fecting an increase of 83 per cent in the number of her laden ships and an increase of 153 per cent in the regis tered tonnage of vessels carrying her goods to foreign markets and bringing back cargoes of raw materials , the United States has steadily retrograded , until at present something less than 6 per cent of our foreign trade is carried in American ships. That is not the way to compete successfully for a share in the great markets of Asia and South America. You cannot build up trade by employing a rival's vehicles in the delivery of your goods to customers. NO OTHER WAY. noiv Competition with Cheap Foreign I'nyrolls May I5e iVIet. In a sound and thoughtful editorial article on the subject of the possible migration of the iron and steel indus try of the United States to countries where labor is cheaper , which recently appeared in the New York "Commer cial , " the question of the effect of free- trade upon an industry which is by many people thought to be no longer in need of defensive duties is carefully considered. Very forcibly the conclu sion Is set forth that the absence of protection would in time compel our manufacturers of iron and steel to transfer their plants to countries where the element of labor cost is from one- half to one-fourth what it is in this country. It is urged , in support of this view , that the present superiority of American processes and methods of manufacture will not always be a con trolling factor , but that foreigners will In time adopt these same processes and methods , and in that event their cheaper labor will enable them to un dersell us in both our own and foreign markets. Under these conditions , says the Commercial , "migration for our manufacturers will be their only resort unless we increase their present pro ' tection. " There is one escape from this alter : native of which no account is taken In the Commercial's view of the quesa tion. It Is a solution of the problem of successful competition with foreign cheap payrolls , which free-traders have Invariably had in mind in their fight against the principle of protection , and a solution which one may be very euro would be chosen in preference to the alternative of migration. That Is , the reduction of the American standard oC wages down to a level where open , competition can be successfully main-- tained. There will be no migration , no abandonment of extensive plants to- disuse and decay , when the production of iron and steel in the United States shall be left to the tender mercies of free-trade. The mills and furnaces will keep right on and American labor will pay. the cost of the unrestricted competi tion. There is no other way. NOT ALL DEAD. Fools Enough toft on Earth to Keep the Schoolmaster Busy. Truly , the Dingley tariff advocates prove too much when they give facts and figures showing that such tariff has enabled American manufacturers to secure a considerable part of the English and other European markets. Cohoes Dispatch. This is. the free-trade slogan of the current campaign. It is heard in so many parts of the country as to sug gest something more than a coinci dence of ideas. It started in the more influential Cobdenite organs soon after the astonishing trade balance of $615- 000,000 was made known as the result of a year's foreign trade , eleven , months of it under the increased duties of the Dingley law. Now the cry is taken up in all quarters , with the ob vious intention of keeping up the fight for free-trade on the ground that pro tection has outlived its usefulness and henceforward is to be treated as an obstruction and a burden which cannot be too quickly removed. Certainly the fools are not all dead yet. There are apparently enough of them left above ground to make con siderable mischief among the unthink ing masses. There is still much need for schoolmasters to combat the igno rance and folly which are capable of longing for a return of the disasters and sorrows of the free-trade epoch of 1894-1897. His Staff and Support. Dingley Tariff's First Year. The object of a protective tariff is , of course , to' stimulate manufacturing to supply the home market and to in crease exports of manufactured goods to foreign countries. The figures sent out by the bureau of statistics tend to show that the present tariff has done all this within the first year of its ex istence. The decreased importations of manufactured articles show that our home market must have been supplied by our own skilled workmen , and at the same time they have met a foreign demand for manufactured goods amounting to nearly 300 million del lars. Seme of the democrats assert that the present tariff is a failure ; bat it will be difficult to convince a level headed ' people that a law that so evi dently promotes industrial activity that enables cur skilled workers to meet the home demand and at the same time to successfully compete with the manufacturers of France , Ger many and Great Britain in their own markets , is not a good thing for the country. People who remember the drain of gold to foreign countries and the increase of our national debt in a. time of peace under the Cleveland ad ministration and the Wilson tariff are not likely to feel bad when they learn from the official figures that the first year of the new tariff shows a balance of trade of ยง 615,000,000 in our favor. Wellsboro ( Pa. ) Agitator. All Frolt and No Loss. The exports of woolen goods from the Bradford district , the center of English woolen manufacturing , have decreased over fifteen million dollars in the first six months of this year , which is largely attributed to the Ding- ley law. In place of the goods formerly exported to this country from Brad ford , our own woolen mills have been busy supplying our people , and thou sands of citizens have profited by the change , while it has inflicted no loss 3n our people who bought the goods. Faccma Ledger. Trade with Cnnadn. In the first eleven months of the Wilson law United States exports to Canada amounted to $37,370.825 , and 'or the corresponding period of the Dingley bill the exports had increased o $46.251,228. The increase was al nest entirely In manufactured good is Canada raises her own foodstuffs.