Government Estimate Lower Than Expected by Experts in Grain. WHEAT CONDITION NOW 82.2 "Winter Cereal Par Below Av rage - for Ten. Years , and High Prices May Continue. The crop reporting board of tie ! bu reau of statistics of the United States Department of Agriculture estimates from the reports of correspondents and agojits of the bureau that the average condition of winter wheat on April 1 AVJIS 82.2 per cent of u normal , against 9J.3 on April 1 , 15)08 ) , 89.9 on April 3 , 1907 , and 8G.G , the average condition for the past ten years on April 1. The decline in condition from Dec. j , 11)08 ) , to April J , 190' ) . was 3.1 points , a ; ? com pared with an average decline in the past ten years o'f G points. The aver age condition of rye on April 1 was 87.2 per cent of a normal , against 89.1 on April 1 , 1908 , and 89.2 the average condition for the past ten years on April 1. Comparisons for important winter wheat States follow : ConForty - Con dition year dition April 1 , 1008. averDec. . 1. 100 ! ) . April 1. age. 1008. , SG ! ) . " 80 5)2 Indinna os no 81 Nebraska 8(5 ( 00 80 Missouri 70 S ! ) 00 IllinoiH 70 SO 72 Ohio 00 81 (52 ( Pennsylvania 87 s : ? 87 88 Oklahoma S.'t 1)4 sr SO California oi : 88- 02 02 Texas 015 SO 00 Tennessee 0t : < ) . " 84 87 Michigan 7. ! ( > SI 74 Virginia ! > 7 00 S5 00 ainrylaud DJ ( st : S7 erse Kentucky 81 . ) . " > so Washington ! ) ( 04 i f < < > fls North Carolina ! ) : ' , 0 ] S7 Oregon ! )7 07 &S New York 88 00 RS 02 TJnited States 82.2 91. : { SG.(5 Lover Than Bxpeelcrt. Government estimates of the winter wheat condition fell below the popular estimate , although some of the profes- THE TA IEF MGET. Senator tElkins' Bitter Attack on New England Solons. The framing of the new tariff bill is proving a subject of great difficulty to our national lawmakers. Apart from the widely divergent views of the members of both houses of legislation , there is n storm of criticism of the Payne bill pouring into Washington from every section of the country. Thousands of protests from the "ulti mate consumer" against dear clothes dress goods , women's gloves and hos iery suul n variety of articles used in feeding , clothing and housing the people ple are reaching Congress by letters , petitions and complaints. These are having their effect upon.the lawmakers and are putting them in a rather nerv ous condition. While the tariff struggle in the House is causing deep anxiety , the Payne bill is also milling the placidity of the Senate. One noted feature of ( he discussion iu that body was the Hank attack made by Senator Elkins , of West Virginia , on his own party. Senator Elkins , who seldom addresses the Senate , took the floor and bitterly raked the New England senators Aid- rich , Hale and Lodge members of the Finance Committee , which is in charge of the tariff bill , lie said that the time had come when there ought to be a protest registered in the Senate against the disposition of New England sena tors to "crucify the South. " New Eng- laud. he asserted , was in favor of free trade in all products of the South which were raw material'for New Eng land , but was willing that the South should pay protection prices on all the products of New England manufact urers. Tie declared that he stood ready to protest against placing on the free Ihrt such articles as coal , iron and hides , products of the South , in order that New England might enjoy free raw materials. He charged that the three New England members of the Finance Committee were playing on the traditional tendencies of the South ern Democrats toward free trade in order to carry out the scheme of free raw materials for New England. An attempt was made by Senator Lodge to deprive Senator Elkins of the privilege of the floor by moving an ex ecutive session , but this was side tracked , and Senator Elkins resumed ENGINE DASHES INTO DEPOT I wf.vc , ifefJ r . , ! & W ? Jf VflllaBi mt THE DISASTER AT TIIE WINDSOR STATION. Six persons were killed and several seriously injured when a locomotive at tached to a Boston and Maine train crashed through the walls of the wom en's waiting room at the Windsor sta tion at Montreal. The train , which was made up of a locomotive , a bag gage car and three passenger coaches , liad few passengers. When passing ( Highland station , a few miles from Montreal , a plug blew out of the en gine , and the engineer was thrown Bional speculators were in a measure prepared for it by the unfavorable crop Deports recently issued by a few of the States. The condition of S2.2 indi cates a total crop of 423,456.000 bush els. The promise on April 1 last year was for a winter wheat yield of about 494.000,000 bushels , or over 70,000,000 bushels larger than the present crop. [ The finally harvested yield was 437- 908,000 bushels , after there had been BU abandonment reported in May of 1,318,000 acres , or 4.2 per cent of the area seeded in the fall of 1907. The decline of only 3.1 points in con dition from that of 85.3 reported last December , as compared with 6 points as the average winter loss of the last ten years shows that the percentage of abandoned acreage this year is like ly to be small. The report is likely to bave a far-reaching effect both at home and abroad. The present scar city of winter wheat even from a much larger crop than is now indicated for 1909 promises that supplies will be re duced to a small total at the beginning of tbe crop year , and that the new crop will bave to go at once toward the replenishing of empty bins. Sparrow'Started. Fire. A sparrow building a nest in the trough on the house of John Taylor , of Terre Haute , Ind. , incautiously tried to use a match as part of the building ma terial with the result that in pecking it to make it fit in the structure the match was lighted and the straw of the building material was set on- fire , sta rting a blaze n the roof. from his cab. The fireman tried to stop the train , but the brakes would not work. Arriving at the Windsor station , the train plunged through sev eral barriers and a brick wall , landing in tbe women's waiting room an.d crashing through the floor. The fire man was pinned beneath the wreck and instantly killed. A man at work in the room below the waiting room also was killed. Another victim was a girl who was sitting in the station his speech long enough to call the New England senators ' 'alert , adroit , like tigers , dominating the Senate. " He sharply criticized the unfair treatment accorded the South in the make-up of the Finance Committee , it being en tirely ignored while New England bad three representatives on the commit tee. TRADE AND INDUSTRY. Figures compiled at Reading , Pa. show that there is sufficient anthracite coal on ttie surface to supply the trade for the next eight months in the event of a coal strike. The published tariff rate of a railroad on an interstate shipment must be col lected by the railroad , according to a decision in the district court at Marshall- town , Iowa , by Judge J. M. Parker. Over 20,000 acres of agricultural land in Koochichiug County , Minnesota were thrown open to settlement. The rush at the Cass Lake land office was so great that many homeseekers were almost ex hausted by the long wait before they could file. , Attorneys for the steel corporation have purchased from an English syndicate , Isle Royale in Lake Superior , the largest isl and in fresh water in the world. It is believed that the trust intends to cut the timber on the island and to exploit its abandoned copper works. : J. Ogden Armour , the Chicago meat packer while in Atlanta , was quoted as . follows : "Meat is high , too high at pres ent , but this is because of the increased : cost of feeding stock just now. This sum mer we expect the price of corn to go down and then mer * will be cheaper. " S WEEKLY , ' JL 1 / / > - 1000 Henry Hudson sailed from Hollanc in search of the Northwest passage. 1774 The hill for closing the port of Boston received the royal assent. 1773 New York Colonial Legislature held it.s last sc.-sion. ' 1799 The New York Legislature passed a law for the gradual abolition of slavery in that State. 1801 A French cruiser blockaded the port of Charleston , S. C All the territory ceded to the United States by the State of Georgia , north of the Mississippi territory and south of Tennessee , annexed to Mississippi by act of Congress. 1812 Congress passed an embargo law for ninety days Badajos , an im portant barrier fortress in south western Spain , surrendered to the French under Marshal Soult. 1829 A large section of Augusta , Ga. , destroyed by lire. 1830 Survey made for laying out the city of Chicago. 1841 The foundations of the Mormon temple were laid at Nauvoo , 111. 3850 More than 400 persons perished in the wreck of the steamer Royal Ade laide off Margate , England. 1852 Trcmont Temple , Boston , destroy ed by fire. 1854 First treaty between the United States and Japan signed..A com bined force of Americans and En glish attacked and routed a Chinese imperial army of 10,000 at Shanghai. 1855 Bronze equestrian statue of uen. Andrew Jackson unveiled in New Orleans Gore expedition left St. Louis to explore the headwaters of the Powder River in Montana The State prison at Nashville , Tenn. . destroyed by fire The electric telegraph between London and Bal aclava completed. ISO ! South Carolina convention ratified the Confederate constitution. 1SG4 House of Representatives adopted resolutions declaring that France would not be allowed to form a mon archy in Mexico. 1SG8 Michigan voted against negro suf frage. 1870 A bill re-admitting Texas to rep resentation in Congress was ap- . proved. 1872 Earthquake at Antioch , resulting in the loss of 1,000 lives. 1873 Nearly 5CO lives lost in the wreck of the steamship Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia. 1875 Riots of striking coal miners in Pennsylvania. 1881 Decennial census of the Dominion of Canada showed the population to be 4,324,810. 1882 Steamer Golden Gate burned near Memphis , with loss of twenty lives . . . .Jesse James , noted desperadOj killed by the Ford brothers , at St. Joseph , Mo. 1883 Ship of war Hawk burned at Port Discovery , Washington. 1884 House of Representatives passed a bill for the redemption of the silver trade dollar. . . .Rioters attacked and burned the court house in Cincin nati. 1888 Four thousand persons killed by earthquake at Yunnan , China. 1892 Mormon temple at Salt Lake City completed. 1894 President Cleveland vetoed the Bland silver bill. 1895 The Iowa Supreme Court sustain ed the construction of the mulct law of 1894. 1900 Queen Victoria visited Ireland , landing at Queenstown The Ken tucky court of appeals declared Beck- ham Governor. 1903 Statue to William E. Gladstone erected in A restminster Abbey. 1901 Chicago voted for municipal own ership of street railways. 1908 The Czar dissolved the Finnish diet for expressed sympathy with the Terrorists The Fifth Avenue Ho tel of New York closed its doors General suspension of bituminous coal mining occurred pending settle ment of new scale. PRAIRIE DOGS TO BE POISONED. Coated Wheat In to Be Fed to Enemy of Farmers in the "West. Poisoned wheat is to be used as bait to kill off the prairie dogs , the stockmen's enemy , that now infest Arizona and New Mexico and have become a menace to the forest ranges there. On ranch lands prai rie dogs have been destructive to wheat , grain , potatoes and sugar beets ; while on grazing lands they destroy so much grass that the grazing capacity of the land is reduced to 75 per cent. Last spring a successful campaign was waged against the prairie dog and this year it will be conducted on a larger scale. The poison is prepared by coating the wheat with a preparation of strychnine , cyanide if potassium , anise oil and molasses. Births in America Decreasing ; . According to figures compiled by the 1'ensus Bureau , the birth rate in this country has fallen off , decidedly. In 1790 he average family in this country con sisted of 5.8 persons and in 1900 it was mly 4.0 persons. The ratio of children .o women since 1790 has been cut in lalf , the number being in 1900 one child o each woman over 16 years old , the ame as the ratio in Great Britain at hat time. In France it was , and in Sermanv 1.1. CENSUS SHOWS RACE SUICIDE , Average Pamily in the United States Has Decreased. The size of the average family in the United States has decreased from 5.8 persons in 1790 , the date of the first census taken in this country , to 4.G in the 'same area in 1900 , according to a volume no\v being published by the census bureau. Of especial interest from a sociological point of view are those statistics in the book which deal with family life. In 1790 families com posed of no more than three persons represented but one-fourth of the entire number of families , while in 1900 fam ilies of similar size made up nearly ' 40 per cent of all the families. Fam ilies composed of six or more persons represented in 1790 more than one-half , but in 1900 scarcely more than one- fourth of the families enumerated. On the basis of the proportion shown iu 1790 there would have been in conti nental United States in 1900 , 39,500,000 children , whereas there were less than 24,000,000. The number of children under 1C years of age to each white family was 2.8 in 1790 , as compared with 1.5 in 1900. The ratio in 1790 of two chil dren under 1C years of age to each white female 1G years of age and over declined to one in 1900. Of 3.171,000 white persons enumerated in 1790 , ap proximately 2,000,000 survived thirty- years later , 11,500 in 1880 , while in 1900 there were twenty-three persons who reported their ages as 110 years and over , so that at the census of 1900 it is possible that there were still liv ing persons enumerated in the first census , taken 110 years before. In 1790 the Smiths led all the rest , there being 33,245 of this ubiquitous family in the country , while other fam ilies followed in the sequence given : Brown , Davis , Jones , Johnson , Clark , Williams , Miller and Wilson. These names represented about 4 per cent of the total white population of 1790. RUMS mm mm mam IN mm sm Prince Michael Iliikoff , whose death has been reported from St. Petersburg , had a romantic life story. Successively a dis satisfied young man on his fath er's estates , a poorly paid labor er in a Philadel- p h i a machine shop , an employe of a contractor who was building a railway in South Amer ica , the manager of an Argentine rail way , a student in an English locomo tive building shop and engine driver and locomotive superintendent in Rus sia during his earlier years , he rose to be the czar's minister of public ways and railways , a high oflice he held for eleven years. To his energy and skill is ascribed much of the success of Rus sia in building the great Trans-Sibe rian railway aud in sending more than 300,000 troops across the GG77 miles of this line within ninety days , togeth er with enormous quantities of provi sions and army supplies , during the Russo-Japanese war. "I am a good bit of a Yankee my self , " was Prince Hilkoff s greeting to the members of the World's Columbian Exposition , committee on transporta tion when meeting them in western Si beria on their trip around the world. "Here is further proof , if you want it , " he added , with a smile , raising his hand up to the tuft K iron-gray beard that grew on his chin "Uncle Sam" fashion. This tuft he wore from early manhood to old age. He was a Yankee in more than appearance ; for many years he had studied closely the won derful development of the United States and had striven to adopt meth ods in use in this country to the rail way problems of Russia. A clockmakers' union was recently or ganized at San Francisco , Gal. Work is being done in the matter of unionizing the brewers in El Paso , Texas. The Gas \Vorkcrs' Union at Sacramen to , Cal. , has made an application to be come affiliated with the State Federation of Labor. The San Francisco ( Cal. ) Journeymen Stone Cutters' Union has under consid eration a proposition to establish a sick benefit fund. A union of hard soldercrs of New York has been organized. The name adopted is the Independent International Union of Hard Solderers. Many pastors in Brooklyn , N. Y. , have promised to help the grocery clerks in their movement for a shorter workday and Sunday closing. A dispute has occurred in a section of employes in the lace trade in Nottingham ham , England , which , it is feared , may lead to an extended strike. Sixteen hundred men employed in the collieries at Aberaman , Wales , are locked out. Among nut and bolt workers in Penn sylvania the returns of the chief factory inspector show the fatal accident rate during ten years to have been 5.4 per 1,000 and in miscellaneous steel and iron work 4.3 per 1.000. A co-operative company has been or ganized by workingmen of Brooklyn , N. Y. The name of the company is the Brooklyn Mechanics' Co-operative Com pany , and the announced object "to start operations for mutual benefit. " Wabash , Ind. , Massillon and Toledo , Ohio , Struck by Tornado and Lives and Property Lost. MANY HOUSES AEE IN EUINS Northern Mississippi Visited by Gala Which Causes Death of at Least Nine Persons in One Place. Death and destruction were wrought by tornadoes which swept the Missis sippi Valley States , the States in the great lake region , and the lower portion tion of Canada Monday , Monday night , and early Tuesday. The storm struck northern Missis sippi Monday night in a tornado that attained a velocity estimated at from seventy-five , to 100 miles an hour. Nine persons are reported killed , fifteen were injured , some "of them fatally , and thousands of dollars' worth of damage done to buildings and crops. Great Losses In Tenne.snee. This tornado , passing north into Ten nessee and Kentucky , caused heavy damage to buildings , wrecking a school house at Buutyn. Tenn. , and imperiling the lives of 300 children. Meager re ports as to fatalities couie from these sections , owing to the wrecking of tele graph wires , but several deaths are re ported , not verified. Passing into Indiana and Ohio Tues day the cyclone destroyed factories and other large buildings in its pathway. At Massillon , Ohio , the high wind , tearing the roof from a foundry , menaced the lives of 400 employes , killing one. At Wabash , Ind. , the havoc was wide spread , the loss being estimated at from $100,000 to $200,000. Two dozen dwell ings were demolished , while their in mates fled for their lives. A woman , with her children , was pinned under the wreckage of her home , which caught fire , and she will die from burns. The city's electric service was wrecked and the toyn was in darkness through out Tuesday night The wind was fol lowed by a cloudburst , and many bridges are washed aWay. Many fami lies are homeless. Fifteen are injured , two fatally , in Toledo. jVortlieru Indiana Suffers. In northern Indiana the storm lafy Tuesday night killed one man at Al bion. Two hundred houses were de stroyed in small villages. At Cleveland the fishing tug George Floyd with seven men aboard and the snndsucker Mary II. with a crew of nine men are missing , while the barge Norman Kelley , with a crew of four persons , three men and a woman , near Sandusky , was rescued after a desper ate struggle as a result of a fierce wind storm which raged on Lake Erie. In Michigan a boy was killed by the flying roof of a house at Brighton , two boys were drowned in a small boat in the Detroit River , and three fishermen were drowned by the capsizing of their boat near Wyandotte. Lightning killed a child at Ionia and set fire to thou sands of dollars' worth of farm houses and barns. A child was probably fatal ly injured in Detroit by flying debris. At Jennings , Mich. , three young men were killed by being caught under a wall that was blown down by the wind. The damage to roofs , chimneys , plate glass , etc- . , probably will reach $75,000 in Detroit. Wisconsin IN Wind Swept. A terrific wind storm swept Wiscon sin Wednesday. Many boats were re ported overdue at various ports along Lake Michigan aud at Milwaukee , while the northern Michigan copper country reports from five inches to two and a half feet of snow. Southern Canada was a heavy suf ferer from the storm , incomplete and unverified reports showing that the loss in small towns will reach the hundred thousands. Six persons were injured and one young child fatally hurt and property loss of $75,000 entailed at New London , Out. At Buffalo , N. Y. , the gale reached a velocity of seventy-five miles an hour. Four persons , badly injured by flying bricks and debris , are in hospitals , and several ships have been beached , while a dredge was sunk. One man was crushed to death by a falling cornice. The wind reached a velocity of sixty- eight miles per hour in Pittsburg. It is estimated that damage done throughout the city will be in excess of $100,000. About thirty persons were hurt , and two of them are so badly injured that they may die. An airship owned by the Eagle Aero plane Company of Pittsburg was about ready for flight when the gale struck the tent it was kept iu and blew both tent and airship away , demolishing both. Woman Admits Theft $ End * Life. Leaving a confession of the theft ok $3,000 worth of silks and laces taken from a dry goods house in San Bernardino dine , Cal. , where she was employed , Mrs. Clarence Allen committed suicide by tak ing carbolic acid. 15OOO Bushels of Wheat Burned. Fire supposed to have been of incen diary origin destroyed t e flour mill of J. A. Hinds & Co. , hi Rochester , N. Y. , together with 15.000 bushels of wbeatr The total loss is $100,000. CHICAGO. Aside from the few labor troubles , tvhlch are responding to mediatory ef forts for settlement , the business con ditions generally indicate seasonable advance. April payments through th * banks reflect an enlarged use of money and the record breaking total of clearIngs - Ings for March testifies to substantial recovery in the leading activities , al though some branches of production , have not yet completely reduced their Idle capacity. March permits for exclu sively commercial structures and exten sions were fifty-three In number an S $2,316,500 in value , and compare with fifty In number and $517,450 in value for March , 190S. Other investment of capital is seen to be exceptionally large in real estate transactions , bonds and stocks , local securities showing increase in aggregate sales of 150 per cent over this time last year. Local deposits con tinue at the highest level , but country withdrawals are unusually small , co H siderlng the spreading of farm worJc and expenditures for spring planting and Improvements throughout the in terior. Failures reported in the Chicago dis trict number 21 , against 34 last week , 16 in 1903 and 13 in 1907. Those wit * liabilities over $5,000 number 4 , against 9 last week , 3 in 1908 and 3 in 1907. * Dun'a Review of Trade. NEW YOBK. Trade and crop reports are irregular and business the country over is stlD quiet as a whole. There are , however , evidences of a growth in optimistic feel ing , partly due , no doubt , to more spring-like weather conditions. Cur rent demand at wholesale Is of a be- twesn-seasons character and Jobbing distribution is confined largely to fill- infj-ln orders , but there is reported in several markets a disposition to take hold more freely for next fall. Exports from leading industries are not materially different from last week. Wage reductions are more numerous , but strikes are not frequent. In irott and eteel there is more business re ported , but evidently at the expense of prices. Pig Iron is dull and lower. A strike and lockout has been avert ed in the anthracite coal trade , and the usual spring reduction in prices is an nounced. Bituminous coal Is still dull and weak. The shoe and leather trades are quiet , with little business yet book ed for the fall season in shoes. Business failures for the week ending with April 1 were , in the United States , 204 , against 226 last week , 247 in the like week of 1908 , 137 in 1907 , 151 in 1906 , and 170 in 1905. Canadian fail ures for the week number 23 , whicbT compares with 35 last week and 32 in 1908. Bradstreet's. Chicago Cattle , common to prime. $4.00 to $7.25 ; hogs , prime heavy , $4.50 to $7.15 ; sheep , fair to choice , $3.0Q to $6.75 ; wheat , No. 2 , $1.25 to $1.27 ; corn , No. 2 , 64c to 66c ; oata , standard , 51c to 52c ; rye , No. 2 , 79c to 80c , hay. timothy , $8.00 to $13.50 ; prairie , $8.00 to $11.50 ; butter , choice creamery , 25c to 29c ; eggs , fresh , loc to 20c ; potatoes , per bushel , 85c to 95c. Indianapolis Cattle , shipping , $3.00 to $6.50 ; hogs , good to choice heavy , $3.inJ to $7.25 ; sheep , good to choice , $2.50 to $6.15 ; wheat , No. 2 , $1.29 ta $1.30 ; corn , No. 2 white , 63c to 65c ; oats , No. 2 white , 51c to 52c. St. Louis Cattle , $4.00 to $7.10 ; hogs , 4.00 to $7.10 ; sheep , $3.00 to $6.50 ; wheat , No. 2 , $1.35 to $1.40 ; com , No. 2 , 65c to 67c ; oats. No. 2 , 53c to 54c ; ryen No. 2 , 79c to SOc. Cincinnati Cattle. $4.00 to $6.25 f hogs , $4.00 to $7.25 ; sheep , $3.00 tu $5.75 ; wheat , No. 2 , $1.31 to $1.32 ; corn , No. 2 mixed , 67c to 6Sc ; oats , No. 2 mixed , 54c to 55c ; rye , No. 2 , 82c to 84c Detroit Cattle , $4.00 to $5.50 ; hogs , $4.00 to $7.00 ; sheep , $2.50 to $5.oO ; wheat. No. 2 , $1.28 to $1.30 ; corn , No. 3 yellow , 67c to 68c ; oats. No. 3 white , 56c to 57c ; rye , No. 2 , 81c to 83c. Milwaukee Wheat , No. 2 northern , $1.15 to $1.17 ; corn , No. 3 , 65c to 67c ; oats , standard , 53c to 54c ; rye , No. 2 , 79c to SOc ; barley , No. 1 , 64c to 65c ; pork , mess , $16.50. Buffalo Cattle , choice shipping steer * $4.00 to $7.35 ; hogs , fair to choice , $4.0(1 ( to $7.20 ; sheep , common to good mixed $4.00 to $4.75 ; lambs , fair to choice $5.00 to $8.50. New York Grfttle. $4.00 to $6.65 ; boss. $3.50 to $7.20 ; sheep , $3.00 t 54.75 ; wheat , No. 2 red , $1.27 to $1.28 ; corn , No. 2 , 74c to 75c ; oats , natural white. 57c to 59c ; butter , creamery , 25 to 29c ; eggs , western , 17c to 21c. Toledo Wheat , No. 2 mixed , $1.27 U $1.29 ; corn , No. 2 mived , 66c to 68c { oats. No. 2 mixed. 54c to 5. > c ; rye , No > 2 , 83c to 85c ; clover seed , $5.45. For the first time in fifteen years thi Hamburg-American Steamship line hai failed to declare an annual dividend. Th depreciation in the company's earnings it is stated , is due to the depression in tht ocean-carrying trade felt in all parts oj the world , but in addition the directors refer to 'the deadly competition forced 05 the German line by the two giant floating palaces of the English line , the Lusitanij and Mauritania. They say that the com Ktruction of these boats has precipitate an era of the most overburdeusome pans * .