WILL ARBITRATE
POWERS AGREE ON THE HAGUE
TRIBUNAL
EHP OF TROUBLE IS IK SIGHT
European Powers Preferred that the
President of the United States Serve
as Arbitrator but Have Assented to
The Hague Plan
WASHINGTON The notes receiv
ed from the European governments
interested In the Venezuelan contro
versy and from Venezuela agree to
submit the question at issue to The
Hague tribunal
A note Is now being prepared by
Secretary Hay In which this govern
ment announces its hearty approval
of such a course
There appears to be no question but
that it is the general understanding
that the Monroe doctrine is not to
enter into the question of arbitration
President Roosevelt will not be the
arbitrator for the Venezuelan contro
versy
The whole subject will be referred
for arbitration to The Hague tribunal
This was the situation as it had re
solved itself at the conclusion of the
cabinet meeting Friday The meeting
was not so long as the sessions usually
are All the members except Secre
tary Root were present The Vene
zuelan question was the principal and
practically the only topic of general
conference
Secretary Hay presented the net re
sults of his cable correspondence with
the governments at London Berlin
Rome and Caracas In accordance
with the suggestion made by Presi
dent Roosevelt through Secretary
Hay President Castro was represent
ed to have agreed to submit the dif
ferences to the arbitration of The
Hague The European powers not
only consented to submit the contro
versy to arbitration but while they
had expressed a preference for an ar
bitration to be conducted by President
Roosevelt they had assented to his
suggestion that the matter be refer
red to The nague
No fear is expressed by the admin
istration that the Monroe doctrine will
be brought into the controversy in
any manner that might result in an
embarrassing situation 6f or the United
States
An intimation is given of the condi
tions which may have been imposed
by the European powers or by Presi
dent Castro precedent to the arbitra
tion It is known that Great Britain
was willing to submit the subject to
the arbitration of President Roose
velt practically without conditions
but the suggestion is made that per
haps two of the other powers involv
ed proposed some other conditions
which might have proved embarrass
ing to the president had he undertaken
the responsibility of determining the
question
It is understood that money must
pass but it also is known that the
amount of cash to be required of
Venezuela before arbitration is not
nearly so large as has been stated
It is not possible to learn whether
the allies insist upon apologies from
Castro and while it is assumed that
the blockade will be speedily raised
no arrangements to that end have been
made
MASCAGNI WILL RESUME
Will Give Another Performance in
Chicago
CHICAGO 111 Pietro Mascagni the
Italian composer will appear in Chi
cago as temporary director of the
Thomas orchestra It was also deter
mined that he will resume his tour f
of the United States and he is looking
for a manager with sufficient capital
to insure a successful journey
So many Chicagoans requested the
composer to give another performance
that it was impossible for him to re
fuse Requests came from men and
women in every walk of life The con
cert will be held at the Auditorium
theater
Y M C A in Russia
ST PETERSBURG The third an
nual meeting of the Young Mens
Christian association under the par-
gronage of Prince Cldpnburg was held
here Among those present were
Prince Plato Obelensky Senator Tag
antzey E L Nobel and Franklin Gay
lord The Russian branch of the as
sociation is nearly self sustaining and
its membership in the last year has
increased
Prince Out of a Job
LONDON On vetoing the Prince
Francis of Tecks proposed appoint
ment as a decoy partner of the stock
broking firm of Panmure Gordon
Co King Edward allowed him 10000
a year until he can get some job for
him
Vanderbilt Grows Better
-NEW YORK Cornelius Vanderbilt
continues to improve His tempera
ture is slowly dropping toward nor
mal The attending physicians are
Avellsatisfied with his progress
CATTLE DISEASE COSTLY
Will Take Much Money to Keep it
From Spreading
WASHINGTON While the impor
tance of the subject is not generally
appreciated it is still a fact that no
other matter has come up in congress
at this session which is of greater
moment than the proposition to spend
1000000 in an attempt to stamp out
the cattle disease which has broken
out in New England Thus far the
foot and mouth disease as it is call
ed is practically confined to Massa
chusetts and Vermont It was with-
out doubt brought to Boston from
Europe in the fodder of a consign
ment of horses Just as soon as the
department of agriculture learned of
the outbrealt prompt steps were tak
en to prevent its spread But it is
estimated that there are at least 15
000 cattle suffering from the disease
in the states named Many affected
animals have been transported from
place to place in railroad cars and
these cars doubtless contain the
germs which may readily be carried
to every state in the union It will
cost the federal government more
than 500000 to pay for the cattle
which must be slaughtered and buried
in New England alone Should the
disease spread ten times that sum
would scarcely pay a tithe of the cost
which the government will incur in
enforcing the provisions of the law
applicable to cattle disease
ROBBERS LOOT MISSOURI BANK
Vault Blown Open and Entire Con
tents Secured
UNION Mo The Bank of Union
was robbed Saturday morning the
vault blown open with nitro glycerine
and 50000 the entire contents were
stolen
The robbers were two in number
and are believed to be professionals
They escaped
About 1 oclock a loud explosion
was heard and shots were fired around
the public square Most of the citi
zens who heard the noise supposed it
was caused by boys out on a lark
celebrating Christmas and paid no
attention to it
Oscar Busch a hardware dealer
who lived across the street noticing
that the bank was being robbed went
to the window to look out but was
covered by a revolver He then kept
quiet Others in the vicinity of the
bank were also kept quiet by a dis
play of revolvers
About fifty shots were fired to ter
rorize any who might want to venture
out Some say seven men were seen
around but Mr Busch says but two
men left the bank after the robbery
The wreck was Complete the vault
door and the safe being completely
demolished as was the whole interior
of the bank The glass front of the
building was also completely destroy
ed When the work was finished the
men left town walking toward Hart
man
F W Hartman cashier was called
after all was over He estimates the
loss at about 50000 The bank car
ried 10000 insurance against burg
lary There is no clue
MRS GRANT WRITES STORY
Leaves Interesting Manuscript of Per
sonal Reminiscences
WASHINGTON Mrs Grant has
left a very interesting and valuable
manuscript of personal reminiscences
which she began when her distin
guished husband was writing his me
moirs and has added to it from time
to time as her health and disposition
permitted It consists of 300 or 400
pages of typewritten matter sufficient
for a book of ordinary size and neat
ly tied up in chapters with blue rib
bon She describes many incidents in
her domestic experience beginning
with the time of her marriage and
gives important facts concerning Gen
eral Grant that have never been pub
lished Her stories of army life
events that occurred while she was
living in the White House and her de
scription of the attentions which the
general received during his tour
around the world will be a valuable
contribution to history
Illinois Governor is Weil
SPRINGFIELD 111 Gov Yates
who is now in Florida for his health
did not spend Christmas in Cuba as
expected A message received at the
executive office states that the Gov
ernor and Mrs Yates will return to
Springfield next week as he is greatly
improved in health and is now able
to assume charge of state affairs
Postmaster Suicides
SPRINGFIELD 111 C T Greening
postmaster at Cornland Logan coun
ty committed suicide after a postoffice
inspector had checked up his accounts
and found him to be 1400 short
Greening was found dead in a barn in
the rear of his residence with a bullet
wound over his right eye and a revol
ver clutched in his hand
Mrs Fremont Dead
LOS ANGELES Mrs Jessie Ben
ton Fremont widow of General Fre
mont died at her home in this city
Saturday night
LIVES ARE LOST
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT ON GRAND
TRUNK RAILROAD
TWO TRAINS CRASH TOGETHER
Number of Derd Reaches More Than
Thirty Responsibility for Accident
is Believed to Rest on Telegraph
Operator
LONDON Ont A train wreck
bringing death to over two score of
passengers and terrible pain and suf
fering to about thirty five occurred at
1010 oclock Friday night at Wan
stead Canada a station on the Sarnia
branch of the Grand Trunk forty
miles from this city when the Pacific
express flying westward at the rate of
fifty miles an hour and crowded to its
capacity with passengers returning to
their homes from holiday visits
crashed into an eastbound freight
The latest estimates of the fatalities
is thirty killed and thirty five or more
injured
The darkness of the night and the
raging of a blizzard added horrors to
the wreck
Fire broke out in the wreckage of
the day coach but it was smothered
with snow which was thrown on it
before it gained any headway
The Pacific express is a fast train
Last night it was delayed two hours
by the heavy travel and at Wanstead
it was speeding to make up time The
freight was working slowly east under
orders to take the switch at Wanstead
and allow the express to pass
In the blinding snow storm neither
engineer saw the other train approach
ing apparently and the freight had
just commenced to pull in the siding
when the passenger train came up
The shock was awful In a second
the baggage and express cars of the
passenger train telescoped into the day
coaxm This day coach was reduced
to splinters and fragments back to the
last three windows As it was crowd
ed the results were terrible Fire that
broke out was quickly smothered but
the fire was scarcely more dangerous
than the cold For three hours or
more injured passengers were pinned
underneath wreckage crying piteously
for help while they suffered from ex
posure to the elements
Exposure probably hastened tne
death of some of the injured and
caused the death of some of those who
might have been saved if it had heen
only a question of extricating them
from the wreckage
The Pullman cars stayed on the
track and were comparatively unin
jured although the passengers in them
were severely shaken in the shock
Andrew Carson the operator at
Watford the first station east of the
wreck whose failure to deliver or
ders to Conductor McAuliffe of the
Pacific express to pass the freight at
Wanstead is said by the Grand Trunk
officials to have caused the wreck
made to the Associated Press his
first statement since the wreck He
says he received the order for No 5
the express to pass the freight at
Wanstead at 948 oclock but de
clares positively that a few minutes
later Dispatcher J G Kerr at Lon
don called him and ordered him to
bust or cancel the order He said
About 954 after calling Wyoming
and ascertaining that the freight was
there the dispatcher called me rapidly
a half dozen times When I answered
on the wire he told me to bust this
order I wrote bust it across the
order just as McAuliffe came in and
asked me what the order board was
out against him for I told him we
had had an order for him but the dis
patcher had busted it He asked me
to hurry and write him a clearance
order which I did After the train
had started and was out of my reach
the dispatcher learned that the freight
had left Wyoming I told him I could
not stop No 5 as it had left He
immediately began calling Kings
Court Junction the station between
Watford and Wanstead on the rail
road wire and I tried to raise them
on the commercial wire We both
failed to do this however until after
the express had passed the Junction
Carson admitted that he knew that
It was against the rules to cancel a
train order without sending a substi
tute for it but said that the dispatch
er was his superior officer and he dis
liked to question his order or dispute
his authority to take this action Dis
patcher Kerrs order book in the local
Grand Trunk office does not show
that the order was busted or can
celled as Carson claims According
to the book it was still in force and
should have been delivered to the
conductor of the express Kerr has
not made any statement even to the
railroad officials and will not until he
takes the stand at the inquest
Division Superintendent George D
Jones of Toronto says that the rule
against cancelling or busting train
orders is the strictest in the companys
cede I do not believe he said
that it has been -violated since the
standard dispatching rules went itno
MOORS PUT TO ROUT
The gates of Fez at present are shut
Shops there are closed and the popu
lation is greatly excited but there has
been no disorder
The European colony of Fez em
bodying about 500 persons is taking no
steps to leave the town and appears
to be satisfied that it is in no imminent
danger although the situation is re
garded as serious It is said that the
pretenders followers have received nu
merous additions since his success and
he is already negotiating with the
tribes of Wedmaweb valley The pop
ulation of Fez is reported to be gen
erally hostile to the sultan and ready
to acclaim any pretender who will
guarantee the town from pillage
No details of the imperial losses
have yet been received here but it is
rumored that 2000 of the sultans sol
diers were killed or wounded The
authorities here are trying to minimize
the disaster It is said that a section
of the imperial troops sent as rein
forcements deserted to the rebels and
aided in driving the local troops back
to Fez
ASKS FOR ASSISTANCE
Caleb Powers of Kentucky Says His
Means Are Exhausted
GEORGETOWN Ky Ex Secretary
of State Caleb Powers who has had
two trials and now awaits in jail here
his third trial for complicity in the
murder of the late Governor William
Goebel issued the following appeal to
the public
I have had written a number of
letters to different states asking for
financial aid in my coming trial for
alleged complicity in the Goebel
der A portion of the press has
through a misunderstanding of the
facts attempted to thwart my plan for
raising the much needed money with
which to defend myself by circulating
a report that these letters were not
genuine because signed by different
persons for me
It is true that many of the letters
were signed by different persons he
cause it was impossible for one person
to send them out in the limited time
before my next trial but all of these
letters are genuine
I have been continuously in the
jails of this state for nearly three
years My means are exhausted The
generosity of Kentucky has been taxed
to the utmost in my former so called
trials In a few weeks I am again to
be tried for my life Hence my appeal
now to my friends outside of Ken
tucky
W J BRYAN IN MEXICO
Visit Varied by Sight Seeing and Offi
cial Calls
MEXICO CITY William J Bryans
visit has been varied by sightseeing
and official calls He has been re
ceived in audience by President Diaz
and Minister of Finance Limantour
Mrs Bryan and the children visited
the shrine of the Virgin of Guada
lope
Last evening the Bryan party took
a train for Cordova whence they
will travel over the Vera Cruz Pa
cific road to Alfred Bishop Masons
haccienda The party will return here
Tuesday morning
The government people have not
sought Mr Bryan for information on
silver as his views are well known
here
Gobbled by the Trust
LOUISVILLE Ky According to
the Courier Journal Harry Weissing
er president of the Weissinger Tobac
co company of this city has closed a
deal which has been pending for sev
eral days for the sale of his plant to
the Continental Tobacco company for
2500000 The papers have been
signed and Mr Weissinger will leave
for New York to complete the details
of the transaction The company is
one of the largest independent con
cerns of the kind in the country
Cervera is Honored
MADRID The appointment of Vice
Admiral Cervera who surrendered to
the American fleet off Santiago de
Cuba to the post of chief of staff of
the navy has been published in the
Official Gazette
effect Dispatcher Korr Is one of the
best and most efficient dispatchers In
our service He is the operator who
accompanied the train -bearing the
duke and duchess of York on the
royal tour of Canada a year ago I
have every confidence in him
Two Thousand of Sultans Troops
Killed or Wounded
TANGIER Morocco On December
22 10000 Shereeflan troops command
ed by a brother of the sultans minister
of war received orders to concentrate
and take the offensive against the pre
tender at Taza Before the Shereefi
ans moved upon him the pretender at
tacked them with large bodies of cav
alry The imperial army was sur
rounded completely routed and fled in
disorder toward Fez abandoning all
materials of war The first fugitives
arrived at Fez on the morning of De
cember 24
BEN HUR COMING TO OMAHA
No dramatic spectacle ever presented on the stage In this country has
aroused the favor thut Klaw Erlangers stupendous Ben Hur has cre
ated wherever It has been seen It comes to Omaha next week for eight
performances and large crowds will no doubt uttend from this vicinity
The production Is a notable one In every way In ull 350 people are re
quired twelve horses and three camels are used In the chariot race and
the Star of Bethlehem tableaux and seven carloads of scenery and effects
are carried complete The company travels In two special trains each
composed of three parlor conches and four tourist cars and altogether It
Is considered the most pretentious and massive undertaking ever attempted
In America
For the convenience of out-of-town patrons special reduced rates and
additional train accommodations are announced on all roads during Ben
Hur week and mail orders for seats are carefully filled In the order they
are received when accompanied with remittances
Arabian Coffee
The Arabian coffee maker having
prepared his fire of charcoal and
placed it near a huge pot containing
water takes a few handfuls of green
coffee berries carefully culls out all
Imperfect berries and foreign sub
stances and then places the best of
the berries In an iron ladle held over
the fire The berries are permitted
to roast until they begin to smoke and
are then while still uncharred placed
in a small mortar and carefully brayed
with a pestle closely fitting the cup
of the raortar The berries are not
however reduced to a dust While
this process has been going on a small
pot has been half filled with tepid
water from the large pot and placed
over the fire When the water in the
small pot has begun to boil the broken
coffee berries are thrown In and the
boiling is permitted to go on for a
short time the decoction being stirred
with a spoon when it shows signs of
boiling over The coffee is then
served in small cups without cream or
sugar
Fishermans Strange Catch
While trolling for bass the other
afternoon near San Francisco J
Brunz felt a tug at his line and squar
ed himself for a battle with his finny
prisoner The struggle was a royal
one and Brunz sighed with relief
when he was finally able to haul in
the line and bring the fish alongside
the boat As it came to the surface
however the start which he experi
enced nearly caused him to let go the
line and snatch at an oar in self
defense In weight the fish tipped the
scale at five pounds The body fins
and tail were those of a striped bass
but the head resembled that of a seat
with an under jaw projecting in front
at least an inch beyond the upper
Brunz has been an enthusiastic fisher
man fcr years and has seen all forms
of denizens of water both fresh and
salt He and his associates assert
that it has never been their misfor
tune to hook such a monstrosity hith
erto
Remarkable Monolith in Chill
A remarkable monolith more than
5000 feet in height was recently dis
covered in Chili The base of this
stupendous undersea needle is barely
240 feet in circumference yet it rears
itself solitary and alone to the height
of nearly a mile its culminating point
a flat circular surface no bigger than
a cartwheel reaching to within less
than 600 feet of the surface No such
natural phenomenon on any such stu
pendous scale could possibly stand
alone on dry land freed from its sup
porting and protecting envelope of
perfectly still water But even sup
posing that it were possible to lift it
bodily from the depths of the ocean
and set it up on land storm heat
and frost would cause it to crumble
to pieces in a very few years
A London newspaper man said to
he capable was suddenlv called upon
to write an obituary of Bret Harte
With a mind full of something else
we are not told what he wrote a
column and a half and sent it to the
printer When it came back in proof
he was horrified to find that he had
written a lengthy article about Mark
Twain It was too late to re write
the obituary and he was obliged to
change the name and the titles of the
books and let the article go in
The Champion Liar Turns Up
Such a long time has elapsed since
anything has been heard heard from
Joe Mulhaaon the worlds champion
liar that he is generally supposed
to have been dpad for years There
fore when he suddenly turned up in
New Orleans a few days ago his
friends greeted him as one returned
from the dead He has been mining
in Arizona for eight years and in all
that time has been practically lost to
the world A number of new liars
have appeared during my absence
says Joe but they had better look to
their laurels I am tired of mining
and will now take to lying again
Wax from rees
The wax palm of the Andes is a
vegetable wonder It grows to
height of nearly 200 feet and thrives
not only on the plains but the moun
tains The wood is tough and durable
and is employed in carpentry The
wax comes from the pits between the
trunk and fronds It is yellow or
grayish white is as pure as beeswax
and is used for making candles A
peon climbing the tree can gather
from 20 pounds to 30 pounds from
each
A Heathen Rite In Russia
A curious account is given In a Ka
zan Russia paper of a heathen sac
rifice recently offered up to idols In a
Chuvash village in the Province of
Kazan Contributions of butter mlllt
salt and meal were requisitioned oy
the priests from the villagers axd on
a propitious day the whole people
turned out to the river bank where
prayers were offered up to the god3
for rain and a swallow having been
caught and smeared with butter was
released to fly upwards to carry our
prayers to the ears of the gods The
proceedings closed with a feast after
which the priests began pusning one
another into the water and then
flinging water over the assembled
crowd The story is baldly told with
out the least Interest in what appears
to be some relic of old age ceremonial
which may be worthy of the attention
of the learned in such matters Lon
don Standard
An insectivorous Iffumfnant
Here is an insect that carries a Ian
tern at night It is called the lantern
fly and is found in South America
Its huge head Is hollow made of thin
and papery tissue and painted red
and yellow like a toy At nfeht the
flv is Tinftnrnnl in hnhif tha hnorl ia
r
illuminated like a lantern affording S
quite a brilliant light
i
V
Frenchman Fond of His Tomb
An eccentric old gentleman named
Chapelain has just died at Monhoudou
in the Department of the Sarthev
France He was very rich and had
caused a monumental tomb to be built
on a piece of land adjoining the ceme
tery
In this tomb he has for twenty years
past spent several hours a day often
sleeping there in order as he said
to get used to his future dwelling
place
At this house he kept the coffin in
which he was to be buried and used
it as a bed while he invariably had
his winding sheet or shroud laid on
the table in the dining room in lieu
of a tablecloth London Express
Clay Butter
It is not generally known that in
many parts of the world clay is eaten
on bread as a substitute for butter
This is termed stone butter and is
used in many parts of Germany In
northern parts of Sweden earth 13
often baked in bread and is sold in
the public markets on the Italian
peninsula as well as on the island of
Sardinia Persia Nubia and other trop
ical countries Health says this
practice probably had its origin in the
knowledge that all earths have some
kind of flavor and take the place of
salt a necessary ingredient hi all
kinds of food
Spitrack
Before the invention of ovens meat
was roasted on spits as here shown
which constantly turned the joint to
the fire
For the first time in the history of
Yale unverisity a president of that
institution has entered actively into
athletics A few days ago President
Arthur T Hadley as a member of
the faculty tennis team played against
the regular Yale team His side I05L
by five matches to three but- Mr
Hadley defeated his youthful antag
onist He was attired in conventional
tennis custom and proved to be an
adept winning easily in straight sets
Rev Anson Pehlps Stokes secretarv
of Yale was not so successful and
was badly winded at the close