WAR EOB , TEE WEEK. tITTLE INFORMATION FROM THE FAR EAST. Great Port Arthur Fortress Hcmains TJncouqucred Supping nnd Mining Now Taking Place of Direct Assault * Stocsscl Believed to Be in Distress. The lack of information from Jap anese sources concerning conditions Jit Port Arthur is suulclent evidence that tho great fortresses nre still uncon querable , and that further sapping tnd mining by the besiegers has taken the place of direct assaults. Thero have been neither oflicial nor seml- ftfflclal statements from Tokio , nor censored dispatches from General Nogi's headquarters , which bring in formation down later than Nov. 7. At that time the Japanese were retaining the Keekwan moat , but were suffering heavily from Russian flre. On the other hand , it is clear that if General Stoessel had had any success In driving the Japanese out of posi tions they won in attacks at the end of October we would have heard of it. The arrival of the Russian torpedo boat destroyer Rastoropny at Chefoo was the event of the week , but , what ever dispatches it may have brought , the authorities at St. Petersburg have not seen fit to make public any con taining facts of later date than Nov. 2. The Rastoropny was sunk by the Russians themselves , and such a sac rifice of a valuable vessel justified the Inference that its mission had been f one of the gravest importance. It was natural to think that General Stoessel was asking the Czar for permission to eurrender. At St. Petersburg it is in- Gisted , however , that General Stoessel FORT BLOW > TIP BY JAPS. reports that conditions are good , and that he will be able to hold out for months to come. Rumors , neverthe less , persist that he has informed the C'zar that unless he can be supplied with food and ammunition the end of bis power of resistance will soon come. The general has himself been wounded in the head , but not seriously < snough to prevent his continuing to exercise the command. Artilery duels al > ng the Shakhe River seem to be increasing in sever ity. The Russians attacked Oku on the west of the line early in the week , and later Ktiroki made an attack on the east Neither attack was on a large scale. Winter weather nas now et in , introducing entirely new condi tions for fighting A Shanghai correspondent says a steamer which has arrived from Che foo reports that three other Russian torpedo boat destroyers left Port Arthur with the Rastoropny , which was sunk by its commander in Chefoo harbor. The Japanese caught two of them , but the other escaped and has aot been heard from biiice. An official report received at Tokio states that as a result of the success of the Japanese in blowing up Soug- ehusban fort the occupation of tha "outer embankment" of Port Arthur became complete. Another official report says that a shell from a Japanese naval gun ex ploded a powder magazine on Satur day , near the arsenal at Port Arthur. The words "outer embankment" in -the first official report are believed here to mean tn.it the Japanese at last have succeeded in capturing thebain of forts constituting the "fortified eastern ridge , " including the forts on Songshushan , Erlung and Keekwan mountains. It is declared at St. Petersburg that there is every indication that Field Marshal Oyama is gradually develop ing a big movement with the object of occupying Mukden. Dysentery nnd typhoid fever have appeared at the fortress , and the deaths from those diseases average ten daily. It is stated alo that the satisfaction among Gen. Stoessel's subordinates is increasing. Snort NOTTS Notes. Gov. Odell of * ( 'u' ' ° rk , according to the New York Time * , has been offered the presidency of the Pacific Mail Steam ship Company and wUl accept after re tiring from office as Governor. At the Russian embassy in Rome th belief is expressed that the Russian sec ond Pacific squadron will go from Sues direct to Jibutil. as Massowa apd Assab , the ports of Erythrea , lack provisions , coal and dockyards ; but , if necessary for urgent reasons , there is nothing to pre- rent them from landing there if they r - pect Italian and neutrality Unlike European monarchs , who usually have a private chaplain and a special place of worship as a part of the "state church , " the President of the United States selects his own place of worship in Washington , much as would any other person who went there to live , and attends its services without ostentation of any sort. Since regular public receptions at the White House have been discontinued , the President's church is generally overrun with sightseers. Mr. Roosevelt at tends Grace Reformed Church. Its new edifice , completed since he be came President , seats about five hun dred persons ; before that he worshiped with the society in a chapel less than half as commodious. Presidents Orant , Hayes and McKinley attended Methodist churches ; General Garfield , during his long Congressional career , as well as after his elevation to the presidency , was identified with the " " " " Their "Disciples , or "Christians. present church , one of the strongest in the city , is called the "Garfield Memo rial. " President Arthur was an Epis copalian , and attended St. John's , just across Lafayette Park , which is but a few steps from the White House. Ben jamin Harrison , as a prominent Pres byterian , found his religious home at the Church of the Covenant The Fifty-eighth Congress will ex pire amid the excitement of the inau guration ceremonies at noon of March 4. The short session of an expiring Congress is usually full of accomplish- I meut. Things move more rapidly than in the longer session of the pre ceding year. Young members have now all had a winter's experience. The House of Representatives passes its appropriation bills more speedily in a second year , since the questions in dis pute are naturally "fought out" the first time they come before its mem bers. Legislative measures which have made progress , but have not reached enactment will be taken up where they were left last spring. Com mittees which had been directed to mako special inquiries will report on the opening day of the session. All bills which are not passed by March 4 will be lost , and must be introduced ngain in the next Congress. A treaty does not expire at the end of a Con gress , since it is for the Senate alone to consider. It may be taken up where it was left the year before , regardless of whether there Is a new Congress that has come in. or merely another session of an old one. " * " An important opinion , which will set a precedent of great interest to all Federal officials who are appointed by the President , has been rendered by the comptroller of the treasury. The decision establishes the title of officials to draw pay until their successors qualify. The point was raised bp Melvin Grigsby , of South Dakota , who was district attorney for the Nome , Alaska , district. Mr. Grigsby resigned and his resignation , to take effect June 30 last , was accepted. His successor was appointed , but he failed to qual ify until July 20. Mr. Grigsby , who had been occupying the district attor ney's office between the time of his j resignation and the qualification of his successor , contended that he was en titled to twenty-nine days' pay , al though his resignation had been ac cepted and he was considered out of office. The comptroller decides that Mr. Grigsby's claim is proper. t It is said that immediately upon the Inauguration of President Roosevelt on March 4 there will be a shake-up that will overshadow that made by Mr. McKinley when the Republicans gained power after the Cleveland ad ministration. Very few of the old Mc Kinley appointees are to be retained in oflice. Mr. Roosevelt wants his own administration to be one of his own personal selection. The official chop ping is to be begun in the cabinet , and will extend doAvn to consular po sitions of comparatively minor import ance. It will include hundreds of postmasters , internal revenue collec tors , customs collectors , commissioners of Immigration , consuls , diplomatic agents , and In fact official positions in every branch of the government ser vice. The United States mails carry In a fear 8,500,000,000 pieces of matter at a cost of $150,000,000 , and if the rural delivery service , which now serves one-seventh of our people at an ex pense of $22,000,000 , were eliminated , the postoffice would be self-supporting. The postoffice was not established to make money , but even without any re trenchment it would make money , probably , if the cheap parcel post were introduced here as it exists in other progressive countries. ' - " When the President attends church he Is allowed to leave the building at the close of the service , before the rest of the congregation leave their pews. The ushers see that this rule is re spected. Considering the country's unfortunate experience with assassins , It is a very simple precaution. Two secret service men are also in attend ance. President Roosevelt almost In variably walks to his church , which IB less than a mile from the White House. CHICAGO'S HUGE SUBWAY PLANS Bores Once Intended for Wires Are to Become Arteries of Trafiic. A complete rovolution of the methods of handling the freight business of prac tically all of the railroads having ter minals in Chicago is promised by the Chi cago Subway Company , which has been incorporated in New Jersey , with a capi talization of $00,000,000 and immediately came into possession of the Chicago Tun nel Company. Behind this definite an nouncement of purpose is said to lie a strong possibility that ultimately the street railway systems of the city will be provided with subways in the heart of the city , aad thus further relieve the congestion wlnoh has been complained of for years. It is strongly hinted that the construc tion of a subway directly above the tun nels is contemplated at some time , and that a controlling interest in the Illinois Tunnel Company was achieved in order to avoid litigation and embarrassment during the construction period. Here are some of the things promised when the full scope of the scheme is in operation : Freight traffic will be diverted from the streets to the tunnels , and the streets thus relieved of the dirt incidental to teaming. Railroad freight yards will be removed ten or fifteen miles from the central part of the city , thus leaving valuable veal estate available for other business uses. All freight will be handled more expe- ditiously , the cars to which freight has been transferred at the outer yards com ing into the city by the tunnels and elec tric motors. With the passing of freight locomo tives the city will be relieved of SO per cent of the smoke nuisance. The necessity for tearing up pave ments will be practically overcome when telegraph and telephone wires , gas pipes , water pipes and other public utilities are placed within the tunnels. Mail will be handled more quickly when letters and parcels can be dropped directly into the tunnels through mail boxes , and thence conveyed directly to the postoflice. FULLER MAY RESIGN. Chief Justice Slated to Quit His Oilicc After March 5. Chief Justice Melville , W. Fuller of the Supreme Court of the United States plans , it is said , to re iiru his oflioc on March o , 190.J , the day after he has ad ministered the oatli of ollice to Presi dent Theodore Roosevelt. In this event it is conceded that Secretary of War i'ULLhlt AND HIS GKANDCHILI ) . Taft will be appointed by the President to the vacancy on the Supreme bench. Chief Justice Fuller will be 72 years old on Feb. 11 , 1905 , and will then be en titled to retire from the bench and enjoy a salary of ? 10. . > 00 a year as lone ; as he lives. No chief justice of the Supreme Court has ever resigned. All have died on the bench. Chief Justice Fuller ha ? administered the oath of ollice to four Presidents , Harrison , Cleveland and Mc- Kinley twice. lie was appointed April 30 , 1SSS. m Am f -s - } 5j * . _ Petroleum shipments from the coast of Texas during August amounted to 1,104,151 barrels. Additional reports are received almost every week of the adoption of electric motive power by steam railroads for part of their service. Mississippi authorities have granted a new charter to the Natchez and Gulf railroad , which is planned to extend from Natchez to Gulf port. The telegraph block system has been put in use on the Cleveland and Pitts- burg , between Cleveland , Ohio , and Alli ance , fifty-seven miles. A machine shop containing thirteen acres under one roof has been planned by the Louisville and Nashville for con- etruction at Louisville. It will cost $2- 500,000. Journals of the lumber trade express considerable satisfaction and encourage ment at the number of orders placed by railroad companies within the last few Weeks for lumber. A construction company has been formed in New York to build the recently incorporated Mobile and Western Ala bama railroad , for which surveys have already been made. The gross earnings of the railroads of 'Alabama for the year ended June 30. 1901 , were .S2.-J.222.S29.72 , compared to | 27G15Go7.99 for the previous twelve months , the increase being $ G07,21G.72. Rules affecting every railroad system In the United States were discussed by the American Railway Association at its fall meeting in Philadelphia. Out of a membership of 273 lines , operating 217- 372 miles of railway , 90 lines were repre sented by 130 delegates. Nearly $500,000 was spent by the Louisville and Nashville during 1904 for equipment. Of this , $213,302 went for freight cars ; ? 1G5,972 for locomotivesand the balance for passenger car equipment , team wrecking cars , and machinery pas- enger cars , and 2,844 freight cars bought SECRETARY HAY TO REMAIN Ifr THE PRESIDENT'S CABINET \W John Hay , who will continue in the cabinet as Secretary of State , was born at Salem , Ind. , Oct 8 , 1838 , was gradu ated from Brown University in 1858 , and later was admitted to the Illinois bar. Mr. Hay served as one of the private secretaries of President Lincoln. He also was a colonel of volunteers and as sistant adjutant general. He has been secretary of legation at Paris , Madrid and Vienna , and in 1897-8 was ambas sador to England , previous to which time he held the oflice of first assistant Sec retary of State. lie has been Secretary of State of the United States since 1S9S. MYSTERY OF AUTO RIDE. Professional Chauffeur Slain on a Lonely Country Road. In the darkness of a lonely country road , John W. Bate , Jr. , a professional chauffeur and son of a wealthy man , prominent in the automobile world , was slain the other night. The scene was on a road paralleling the Joliet electric line , two and a half miles southeast of Lemont , UK There Bate was found lean ing forward in the front seat of the au tomobile with a bullet wound in the back of his head. The automobile had been turned about. A revolver lay on the scat. scat.A A carefully laid scheme is believed by many to have preceded the murder. So lution of the midnight crime , presenting elements of mystery worthy the genius of a Sherlock Holmes , seemed to baffle the efforts of the police. That young Bate \\as the victim of bank robbers , an angry passenger or a pedestrian was advanced. The woman motive was taken by Morris Stokes , employed with Bate , who says that for weeks Bat1 had been receiving pushing love letters from an infatuated society woman who had ridden with him. An unsigned letter found upon the body idently had been written by a jilted woman. The police theory was that two men planning a bank robbery tried to force IJate to carry them to Joliet and that he rebelled. This rebellion , in the minds of the police , determined the safe blowers to make way with a man who had be come dangerous to thorn. Therefore , af ter a bitter quarrel , they shot and killed the chauffeur while he was bending over his steering apparatus It is urged in opposition to this theory that the rob bers and murderers did not denude the machine of identification evidence the number 278. Daniel Canary. Bate's em ployer , after he had heard all the de tails , supported this theory. Opponents of the desperado theory con tended that Bate was slain by some one over whom he had almost run 1'is ma chine. This is the view taken by the coroner of Will county , who contends that Bate had been running his automo bile recklessly , had probably lost his way after taking a fare to Lemont and nar rowly escaped killing a pedestrian. ' 'Everybody knows the residents of this locality are quick enough to shoot , " said tho coroner's assistant , "and it requires no big stretch of the imagination to find a farmer of this neck of the woods pull ing out a gun and taking a shot at an automobile which had nearly run over him. " It is believed that the chauffeur was shot while the machine was still in mo tion and that the person who fired the shot experienced difficulty in bringing the machine to a standstill. CHURCHES JOIN TO SAVE BOYS. Reign of Crime in Brooklyn Starts Unique Kelijjrious Crusade. The misdeeds of hundreds of young men connected with well-known families in the Bedford section of Brooklyn , N. Y. , which began several years ago by the formation of the "Bedford gang" and finally led to many of them and their recruits being connected with criminal cases , much to the disgust of residents in that quarter , has caused the inaugura tion of a remarkable religious campaign for the purification of the youths who passed their time about the street cor ners. ners.The first night of the "campaign of evangelization , " as it is called , began with a street parade in which tramped 2,000 men with banners , with the band of the Twenty-third regiment playing hymns at the fore. The mile of frock- coated paraders moved through Bedford avenue to Hancock street , where hung a great banner. There they held an open- air meeting. Ministers from fifty churches of all Protestant denominations were in attend ance and many of them made short ad dresses. Every church in the district ia joining in the movement. The street corner meeting ended , the brass band again headed the procession , and it marched to the Central Presbyte rian church , where a meeting for men had been called. The church has a ca pacity of 1,300. Every seat was taken and hundreds were turned away. Six ministers made short addresses , telling the purposes of the movement , which , it was announced , will continue throughout the winter. Marvelous Kscape from Injury. Joseph Schmidt of Ed\vardsville , Mo. , recently had a thrilling experiencewhile at work for the Edwardsville Pressed Brick Company. He was caught by a pulley belt , raised to the ceiling , jerked and whirled around and beaten against the wall , until nearly all his clothing was torn from him , and then hurled fifteen feet through a door. He alighted on the ground and when he picked himself up found that 'he was not injured in tho least. Old papers for sale at this offlc * . STRUGGLE FOR PEACE. Japan Making Desperate Efforts to Force Russia to Cry "IJiicujrh. " Tokio report declares that the Jap anese K0 ° II ( ! are anxiously awaiting the coining of % . 'le Baltic fleet , so that Togo may crush it. Confidence of this sort has its home in Japa . What Togo did to the Port Arthur squadron will be re peated upon the arrival of ihe Baltic fleet , Tokio believes beyond a doubt. Lon don encourages this belief. Moreover , the view ( a largely held in America that Japan will preserve her naval supremacy. The reason that Japan is a favorite does not lie in the number and superiority of her ships , but in the excellence of their manipulation and in the greater effective ness of Japanese gunnery. The world at large has a small opinion of the Rus sians as sea fighters. The North sea in cident hurt Russian naval prestige almost as seriously as the dismal show of the Port Arthur squadron against Togo and the Vladivostok fleet against Kamimura. Moreover , the Baltic fleet will arrive in Asiatic waters in a fouled and racked condition , and , from all we know , at a time of year when it will be impossible to make Vladivostok for cleaning and re pairs. And yet , Bays a correspondent of the Chicago Daily News , Tokio Is wrong to regard the destruction of the Baltic fleet as certain as its arrival within strik ing distance of the capable Japanese ad miral. Togo himself has been weakened by the hard service of the year , and his losses , while small in ratio to the dam age administered , are at the same time greater than the world has been given to understand. He will have to face a pre ponderance of battleships and a sea force that has everything to win and no shores threatened or armies cut off if it lose a force that has the example of its prede cessor by which to profit and a prize of incalculable value for victory. With Togo , on the contrary , rests the life of his nation. A thousand junks will rush into Port Arthur if he lift the blockade. If he is whipped the Jap anese army is cut off ; the shores of the island are left unprotected and com merce , the vitality of Japanese finance , is destroyed. Togo is the pericardium of Japan. Tokio believes that the destruction of the Baltic fleet will put Russia in a frame of mind in which she will gladly listen to proposals of peace on terms ' satisfactory to Japan. The Jiji Shimpo , highly representative of the Japanese press , urges Japanese arms to push the conflict with such fury that the enemy will have to sue for peace. Tokio prays i that the continuation of the battle of ! the Shakhe river will result in the com plete shattering of Kuropatkin's forces , so that Russia will be forced to desist from hostilities. Japan wants peace bad ly. She is terrified as the game unfolds , mile after mile. The monster that she has driven and pummeled will not stay whipped , but quietly and without nerves or noise , augments and returns to the fight. Japan perceives the unsubstan- tiality of England's support ; that it is of the press and not of the treasure house. English bankers make her pay exorbitant interest for the money she borrows. England is not yet in her dot age : she is for England still. Japan is fighting for peace , and fight ing magnificently ; but her enemy , unless rent by civil war , will not be the one to cry "enough ! " This is not Russia's way. She knows that years will crush Japan if her troops cannot. She real izes vividly that if she lies down to Japan now the integrity of her domain will not long stirvivo China's. ROOSEVtLi t > AYS GUARD HOME. Slakes Address at a "Washington Catho lic Church Anniversary. Speaking at the 110th anniversary of the founding of St. Patrick's church in Washington President Roosevelt said : ' 'While in this country we need wise laws , honestly and fearlessly executed , nnd while we cannot afford to tolerate anything but the highest standard in public service of the government , yet in the last analysis the future of the country must depend upon the quality of the individual home , of the individual man or woman in that home. "We have grown to accept it as an axiomatic truth of our American life that the man is to be treated on his worth as a man , without regard to the accidents of his position ; that this is not a gov ernment designed to favor the rich man as such , or the poor as such , but that It is designed to favor every man , rich or poor , if he is a decent man , who acts fairly by his fellows. "The field for charitable , philanthropic , religious work is wide and that while a corner of it remains untilled we do a dreadful wrong if we fail to welcome the work done in that field by every man , no matter what his creed , provided only he works with a lofty sense of his duty to God and his duty to his neighbor. " A winter which will try the soul of the innocent bystander is threatened in Muk den. Turkeys are so plentiful this year that their price will be higher than ever be fore. In looking for a place to make his last stand Gen. Stoessel finds the standing room scarce. Gen. Nogi has a faint idea as to where he will eat his Christmas dinner if he cares to do so. Russia is going in for reform and can stand a lot of it without feeling any particular surfeit. In taking Port Arthur the finishing touches appear to be about as difficult as the preliminaries. St. Louis wants to run the fair while the weather permits. That should be all winter along the Pike. In other words , 'Gene Ware is going to mount his old reliable Pegasus and canter back to Kansas. Perhaps Port Arthur has nad so much practice in not falling that it does not know how to do the falling act. Everybody has to tread lightly in the vicinity of the French cabinet these days , for the slightest jar might upset it It Is a pity that Harry Thaw's mother did not have a barrel stave at hand ami th ability and inclination to use it. a One Hundred Years Ago. Tho expedition under Lewis ami Clark went into winter quarters at Fort Mandan , on the Mi.ssouri River. General Armstrong , Americanmin ister to France , presented lis creden tials to Napoleon Bonaparte. Major General Philip Schuyler died at Albany , N. Y. Insurrections occurred in the inte rior of Spain , caused by the scarcity of food. In some places the pe ple had been without bread for three and font days. The English were carrying on a large fur trade along the Missouri River , all the fur being sold in Can ada , where it brought a high price. Fifty thousand French soldiers were advancing into Holland , witk orders to take possession of Hamburg am' Swedish Pumerunia. Seventy-five Years Ago. General Bolivar's attempt to estab lish a monarchy nnd place a. crown on his own head was frustrated by the Venezuelans. Prince Leopold , of Saxe-Coburpr , was chosen for the throne of Greece. Adrianople was evacuated by the Russians. A prize of $2,10 was awarded an American by the Paris Industrial So ciety for the invention of a machine to remove fur from skins. A tcrand ball was given by tin ; French ambassador at Constantinople , all of the Sultan's court and repre sentatives of foreign powers beinj ? present. The city of Camden , S. C. , was al most entirely destroyed by fire. Fifty Years Ago. Mr .Soule. American minister to Spain , left Bordeaux for Madrid. Thirty-five ships belonging to Ed ward Oliver , of Liverpool , r.-ere sold at auction. The fire of the allies on Sevastopol \vas almost entirely suspended. Domingo Elias gave battle to the Peruvian general , Moran. Of Elias * 100 troops , 3,200 were either killed or wounded. General Espartcro offered his resig nation , with that of his ministry , to the Queen of Spain , but ske refused to accept it. Advices from Constantinople an nounced an entire change of ministry in Turkey. Forty Years Ago. Wheat sold on the Chicago board at ? 1.SS and corn at $1.40 a bushel. General Grant left New York City for the front after a quasi secret visit of a few days. Fighting between Union and Confed erate forces near Knoxville , Term. , re sulted in the repulse of the Confeder ates. Sarah Jane Smith. 10 years old , a. Confederate spy , was sentenced to death at St. Louis for cutting four miles of government telegraph lines. The capture by a Union vessel of the Confederate Florida in a Brazilian port was the subject of di/lom.itic ne gotiations between the United States and that country. A report that Sherman had captured and burned Macon , Ga. , caused excite ment throughout the North. Fhirty Years Ago. China introduced breech loading rifles as the arras of a portion of the imperial troops. Railway mail clerks from ail parts of the country met in Chicago and formed a national organization. A meeting of the cabinet decided to hands off the Garland-Smith keep - gov ernorship controversy in Arkansas. The Turkomans attacked a town , killed eighty Russian residents , and carried away their wives and children. Two hundred delegates representing sixteen States attended the first ses sion of the National Temperance Con vention , which opened at Cleveland , Ohio. A hurricane swept the Atlantic coast of the United States , causiag l ss o. ' life and property damage. Twenty Years Ago. At the third plenuary council at Bal timore Bishop O'Farrell , of Trenton , N. J. , denounced divorce as worse than Mormouism. There was much feeling in Washing ton , D. C. , over the pardon of Flem- ming and Loring , of "Fund W" fraud fame. The Illinois State Board of Health adopted measures to prevent Asiatic cholera from infesting the State-