Evening Star Newspaper, April 2, 1897, Page 1

THE EVENING STAR. PURLISHED DAILY E eT <UNDAY. AT THE STAR BUILDINGS, 3101 Pennsylvania Avenue, Cor. 11th St, by The Evening Star V Company, Rrvaing Ser, Sevspepe Compeey Few York Gfioe, 49 Petter Building, wening Star te served to subscribers in the The By tmail—any nada —postage prepaid—50 cents per montis lay Quintuple Sheet Star, $1 per year, with $3.00. n postuge ndded, | Che Zvening Sta dat the Post ~coud-clast tamil matter. F All wail subscriptions taust be pald in advance Rates of advertising made known on application. Gossip About the Order for Her to Go to Honolulu. Distressing State of Affairs at Green- ville, Mississippi. ereeerit abe 7 | What is Snid at the Navy and Stste Departments—Surmises in BRINGING IN FLOOD REFUGEES Other Directions. Little to Hope for From the Bulletins. THE SITUATION AT Secretary Long is authority for the siate- ment that the orders of the flagship Phil- adelp to proceed to Honolulu have no significance. Also at the State Department it is said that the movement has not been requeste? by It, as would have been the case had the threatened trouble between the ia ST. PAUL pe een SE Japanese and the Hawatian government JACKSON, Miss., April 2—The Associat- | entered into the calculations ef the Navy ed Press representative at Greenville, Miss., | Department. The Philadelphia Is to re- tll am. as follows: hi the Marion, which only arrived on Al ning the station, relieving the Alert, about two The was hu! and confusion here @ Greenville’s population last in for the change is wee reason ago. it part of the city north and immediate- | said to be a belief on the part of the Sec- C ed to the Mound crevasse are toda y of th avy that from the impor- tte il the vee incident to the over- > of Honolulu commercially and oth- w erwise, the United States should have a ship er than was expected the water has | of higher class than the Marion stationed Marion is one of the ships of but the Philadelphia, while a 1 powerful cruiser, is sadly out of condition in meny respect: It was the Intention of the department just as soon as the repairs to the Baltimore were com- pceted to use her to replace the Philadel- piua as flagship of the Pacific station and io put the latter craft out of commission and thoroughly renovate her. As for the Marion, it is conjectured that she may be The i here, and at 6 o'clock this morning | there. *) to 1444) families were surrounded | th h water. There is some biiterness of eling expressed by people Hving to the th of Alexender street, through which protective levee row runs. They do not k that the ievee should have been built, will in all probability make a higher of water in this section. evening citizens in that part mited the railroad tracks in is as it sterday town dyn or eight places in order to let the | sent onward to Samoa, to show the United Ss out into the country east of | States flag in that quarter of the globe for is has checked the rise tem- | the firs . but when the outer basin fills the urances it is be- again. liev 1 great deal more sig- frem the Deerfield or Lake Lee | nifican in the orders to the Philadel- ak is already coming up slowly to the | phia than ihe administration cares to have of us, and the two floods have mct. | known by the vublic at the present time. of Greenville a skiff mail line from! in cert circles it is taken to mean abeth on the Southern railroad | that the present administration is fayor- ny een established, and camps of line-| ably disp¢ toward the project for the men are also established at convenient j annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the rc working to keep up the telegraph | United States, and that the departure of w so communication from here | the Philadelphia is a preliminary step in with the outside world will be maintained | that direction, It is argued that unless for yet. several day some action of importance, similar to that of skiffs is scouring the country | indicated, were in contemplation, there bringing in joads of refugees. | would be no special object in repiacing an nds of head of live stock are com-| oid-fashioned ship of war at Fionolulu with one of the best vessels of the modern navy. There is nothing in the present po- litical situation in Hawaii growing out of the centrove over the peaceful invasion to here from every direction. i ures of the disaster yet to ountry are being suppressed le. But the river bulletin nis as pes aused much additional alarm. | of the Japanese, said, that would ju: © of water from Cairo down, | tify interference by the United States go the continued heavy rise} ernment under its existing friendly re- . Means widespread destruction | lations with Japan and Haw Such a Delta at all points south of the] course of action as would prevent. the re break. - | Japenese from getting virtual control of rvative thinkers. people who are | the friands would, however, become neces- « their heads, fully realize the grav-| Sary in the extremely probable event of the situation. There is a calmness | the’ conclusion of a treaty of annexation e, true, but it is the lethargy of | with the Hawaiian republic. A strong ef- ute ¢ ir. fort is now being made in that direction peers with ever ion of a successful is- and Families Homeless. that active and vig- ST. PAUL, Minn. April 2.—The Missis- tiations for the annexation of sippl river here has reached the stage of waii wili be pre 1 by Hawaiian 16 feet, and fs still rising slowly. This is| Mitister and the annexation commission highest point reached since the great | ROW in this city oon as the tariff bill f 1881. The residents of the flats | iS Gut of the way and the President and mple warning to save them-| the Secretary of State ere relieved from their propert present tremendous pressure for of- Minneapolis ad St. Paul 1,000 ave been made homeless the —-——-+ e+ —__ y lived on the flats along the TENURE OF POSTMASTERS. and in the lowland of West St ee families that lived to the left} 4 Cane Afford n Preceden er-urban bridge in Minneapolis n driven out, and a vast body of hess os the spot where the| A case that afford a precedent for sed to be. It has swept away n by the nt administration ts th On the west side the water at Jeckscn, in Butts county, ¢ ¥ on the Robert street bridge. E We aaa > ts in the flats are free from = = ae er, those only for three square Hichael, r adu ly water, hot ing up. and is ¢ > lowlanc re w pinted post- ident Clev ler n each succeedi land April 1s. when d@ him. f old west side with a hou: > pier math ake, his term expired on the eve of a change of adminis- , In order to keep the office in tl er the same political faith, the idea on the cast side $ awoke this mor nd their yards, and in some cas flooded. They tmmedtately By a sudden rise of tb proposes that where there St. Paul last night 130 sheep | two appointments under the previo There were Si.) sheep in | Iuimis:ration, and the last one was tt = that point which were being | With a view to continuing tenure of office to other yards. Millons of fect | the family or party, the case will be acted iber got away from the boom com upon on . The policy of the de- » the north and floated over St stated, is to give the Falls. The Mississipp! and Rum t to the last commis: som Company estimates its loss at capable and satis- ry § s that outh simaster, with such ex d and similar causes. ver, which are to be con- eir merits,” are said to make hird of the presidential case eptions ‘These SAW, ni ml. swolle April 2—Heavy the Des Moine i threatening further de- property. rb _— river, ualf of the fourth-class offices. Mississippi near offi is out of its obsery ei e people re fleeing from the P bent is a satisfactory oftic aking a a stock wt the question of change of personnel a tracts of land within t not be considered until the four-year tenure ering greatly from deep | i. over, situation is growing more seri- pees ee Pee = BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, MISSISSIPPI STILL RISING. Sse = : Difficult to Find a Successor to Ad- Keports to the Weather Bureau From miral Ramsay. the Flooded Districts. win orts ha cretary Long is having considerable re. n received difficulty in selecting a successor tw Ad- e necharze | miral Ramsay as chief of the bureau of s E navigaticn, who retires for age next Mon- Mississippi rising slowly | gay. He orfered the place to Capt. Taylor, © Janger line indicated | commanding the battle ship Indiana, but Alton by Saturday night th bre latter asked to be excused as he much rred to remain on sea duty for the m lands now a! | present. Capt. Sampson, chief of the bu- With | !eau ef ordnance, was favorably consider- danger | ed for the detail, and he also begged to be excused. He has been selected to command the big battle ship Iowa and he did not care to continue any longer on shore duty. it ts also seid that Commodore Sicard, commanding the New York navy yard, ahr prernstilgs practically declined the bureau offi He Morniag. Levees at Cain ¢ : z HL, coutiie in good enn, | desires to retain his present assignment for a few months longer, at least, in the hope -No breaks have oc-| that he may be chosen to succeed Admiral are probable no of | Bunce in command of the North Atlantic eita is fast Hiling 1 !| squadron. Admiral Bunce’s tour of sea ander duty has nearly expired. He 1s considered a possible successor of Admiral Ramsay as chief of the bureau of navigation. Other ofticers mentioned in the same connection are Capt. Kantz, Capt. R. B. Evans, Com- modore Howison, Capt. Picking and Com- r did erlay; not rise f rose one te last ne No breaks on this side since mander Davis. Capt. Evans has been a a yickateia stuns candidate for the place for many yoars, vees reported. ‘The pri sses in| und is regarded as having an excellent nes . ‘ es , ferred io levees below 2 cieoaa chance of selection. It is said that he is indorsed by Senator Hanna of Ohio and Senator Platt of New York, but it ts not betieved that the Secretary will he moved by political influence ‘n this matter. Secretary Long told a Siar reporter this afternoon that ro one had yet been select- ed fer the office and he did not think an ses abov having relie He riv at Vicksburg : ary, robably rise abcut two fect from ter from Yazoo later. Stock bei there from threat-ned distr! : ‘ appointment would be made for two or xorieans, La. { use continues | three days yet. During the past fourteen ni strong nahi belive saaatinue in- | years the office has been held by but two Ai pe made all along | omcers, Admirals Walker and Ramsay, and line to hold them. Plucky fight being this, despite the fact that appointments to = to aeld the Bayou La Fourche le- it are for a term of four years only. Tennessee, Cumberland, Arkansas SSIS, Red rivers have The Mississiop tire lengch and in t Applications at the State Department. The concentration of office seekera on the State Department, caused by the extension of civil service rules to most of the good places except ministries and consulates, is iustrated by the fact that up to-yesterday the applications received for appointment to places of this character numbered 1,960, and this list is constantly receiving acces- sions. risen and the Ohio has risen tbhrough- pt a slight fall vicinity of the cre- of an inch of rainfall in the basins of the Ten- ee and Cumberland rivers, and about ro-tenths In the basta of the upper Mis- sisstppi. WILLIS L. MOORE, Chief of Weath WASHINGTON, D. ©. FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1897-FOURTEEN PAGE PEOPLE IN DESPAIR|THE PHILADELPHIAIAGAINST REMOVAL The Proposed Transfer of the General Post Office. WHAT THE OFFICIALS ASSERT Danger in the Loss of Valuable : Records. eS QUESTION OF FLOOR SPACE In the sundry civil appropriation bill Passed by the last Congress, but which falied to receive the signature of the Presi- dent, and which has since March 4 been passed by the House of Representative and is now being considered by the Senaie committee on eppropriations, is an item of $10,000 to pay the expense of removing the Pest Office Department from its present building to the new city post office building on Pennsylvania avenue. Unless prompt action is taken to prevent this legislation the Postmaster General will be obliged in a short time to move his entire department into quarters which it is claimed are wholly inadequate for accommodating his force, and which, at the best, will be but a tem- porary home for his department, Through- out the Post Office Depertment employes of the government are commenting upon the unbusinesslike method that will be pursued if this legislation is adopted. The move- The Present P. 0. D. Building. ment for the removal of the department into the new city post office building was inaugurated at a time when Postmaster General Wilson was about to retire from the postmaster generalship. and is being carried out before Postmaster General Gary is hardly settled in his new office. It is generally regarded in the department that under no other circumstances would this project for moving the department have made the headway it has. Reasons Against Removal. There are many reasons given old officials of the department why the cotlice skould not be removed as proposed. The most forcible of these reasons Is the fact that the various bureaus of the Post Ofti Department in this clty cecupy at present Si] square feet of floor space, exciusive of corridors. It 1s well known that many pertions @f the official force are crowde into space wholly inadequate for the commodation and that there is imme need for additional floor space without c by sidering the yearly growth of the depar ment, which is constantly under the nec sit Y of adding to its accommocatio: standing these facts, {t is propo: to the department into a building which Dace, n will give It but 146,500 feet of floor exclusive of corridors. In other werd Mr. Wanamaker's Plan, proposition is to move this most important department of the government into a buiic- ing where it will have 27,20 square feet oF floor space less than-the various branches of the department in this city are now oc- cupying. It is argued that the utinost nec- essity exists for having all the branches of the department under one roof. ‘This will be utterly impossible if the project fe moving into the new city post office build- ing {s carried out. Not only are the above facts in the est mation of people who are thoroughly a quainted with the needs of the Post Uftic Department urged as amply sufficient to pronounce that project as unsatisfactor: but the city post office, which will be lo- cated on the first two floors of the building, will be cramped for space and will allow absolutely no opportunity for expansion us the city grows, unless additional space 1s obtained by the removal of the gene post office from the building in whole or in part. Many senators and representatives are hardly aware of the fact that the general post office Is to be removed. A number of them who have given this matter consid- eration are commenting on the unne«essary amount of inconvenfencé that such a re- moval will cause them fn looking after gov- ernment business which comes ore that department. As it is now, members of Congress after going through the State, War and Navy and Treasury artment buildings, go down F street, visit the In- terior Department, cross over the street to the Post Office Department, and then go down to the pension office building, finding in these several public buildings nearly every government official with whom they ordinarily have business. They c'aim that with the post office on Pennsylvania avenue they will be greatly inconvenienced by the additional distance they will have to travel in visiting the departments. Annoyance That Would Be Caused. But ft is not only the members of Con- gress who are annoyed by the change of location in the department. Thousands of people visiting this city have business with the department, and no place is better known to men throughout the country who occasionally come to Washington nor more easily of access than is the present Post Office Department buliding. In addition to these reasons officials of the department claim that only incon- venieace will result from mixing up the chy post office with the General Post Cffice Department. They are annoyed quite enough now by men coming to them on business about which they should visit the city post office, and with the two branches of the government in the same building they fear there will be an unusual amount of annoyance and consequeni loss to the ernment. If the new city post office Bullaing were to be the permanent home of the department the question would assume altogether another aspect. But it ts only intended as a temporary expedient. No sooner will the department be installed in its new quarters than an effort will be made to provide a better place for it. There is no appropriation yet made for the pur- | Fose of fitting up the post office building as @ proper home for the department, and the result is that shelving, file noses, furniture and carpets made to fit the places in which they now stand will be moved into the new building, the whole arrangement of which would be merely a makeshift. Officials of the department say that few people realize the importance and danger of moving a great quantity of government Gocuments. Upon these documents which are now filed in the Post Office Depart- ment buflding depend thousands of claims egainst the government, and it is feared that the very fact of the removal of the records will give rise to claims which wili come before Congress, and which wiil cause the toss of thousands of dollars to the gov- ernment, the plea of the claimants being that valuable documents that would have proved their claims have been lost or mis- placed during the removal of the depart- ment. Mr. Wanamaker's Suggestion. ‘Those government officials who have the best interests of the government in mind declare that either the present Post Office Department bullding should be enlarged ac- cording to the recommendations of Post- master General Wanamaker, by the addi- tion of three stories on the present stru ture, or it should be provided with a new ard commodious building, which will be ample tor the needs of the department for a hundred years to come, making pt 1sion for the natural grewth cf so important a branch of the gcvernment service. They say that such a building should be ar- ranged and fitted up with a spe 1 view to the needs of the department. T! office of the Postmaster General and the assistant pestmasters general, and all ther officials who are resorted to by people doing busi- tess with the department should be made readily accessible, while the whole arrange- ment of the offices should be made with a view of transacting the public business with the least friction, which would mean the least expense. > Facts for Senators. Although these facts are so well known to people acquainted with the needs of the Post Office Department, they seem to have heen wholly overlooked by senators and representatives who have been interested in the removal of the department. As stated above, the sundry civil appropriation bill is now in the hands of the Senate committee on appropridtions, and a slight change in that bil woulg result in defeating the businesslike method of temporarily plac! 4 the Post Office Department in a building wholly inadequate for the purposes of t branch of the government. There many portions of the government service now quartered in rented buildings in this city which could be ac nodated in the new city post office building. Their accommode tion there would save many thousands of dollars which are now annually being paid in the form of rent. By thus taking care of them the government would utilize ever foo: pace in the handsome building it has erected on Pennsylvania avenue. It would also, in the estimation of public of- ver a great mistake being made . rying out of the plan as now proposed in the sundry civil appropriation bill. E ACCIDENT Mr. Robert L, Bains Impaled on an Iron Picket. i He Lost Control of His Wheel White Entering the OMce Court Yard and Was Badly Hurt. A serious and most pecullar bieycling a cident occurred at the Post Office Depa ment about 1 o'clock this evening. The clerks in the department keep theic whe in the court yard which they enter fr the driveway on Sth street. it is general habit to ride down Sth street at a lively pace and trust their mementum to cerry them up the sharp rise over the Belgian pavement leading into the court. Riding in this way today on his return from lunch at noon Robert Lee Bains, chiet of the returning division of the dead letter office, lost control of his wheel and dashed into the messive marble wall of the post office building. If the shock of striking the wall had been the only consequence Mr. Bain vould have escaped lightly. But the pneumatic tire of the wheel gave a frightful recoil which threw the rider up several feet in the air. He fell beside the fron fence, which at that point jo’ the building. As he fell his went over the fenc nd his chin came down squarety on the sharp point of ene of ihe iron picke 2 The cruel iron pierced the jaw, broke it and knocked out four teeth. A str nger passing by jumped to his assistance, and, with the aid of a colored man, Mr. Bains was en to Williams’ drug store, and from there the Emergency Hospital wagon took him to the hospital. Phe picket narrowly eped tearing the windpipe, and cut a gash several inches long. The wound bled terribly.and M: Bains was unable to speak. At the hospi. tal the gaping wound was sewed up and everything done that could be to afford re- lief. The wounded man first concern seemeti to be to convey a message to those about him, and when pencil and paper were given him he wrote: “Don't let my wife hear of this just yet; she Is iil.” Mr. Bains was handsome, popular young msn, and his misfortune was a Shock to his many friends In the depart- ment, > RESIGNATION, MR. An Opportunity for 1 New Solicitor of the State Depnriment. Mr. Walter Faison of North Carolina, solicitor for the State Department, nas placed his resignation at the disposal of the President, and a nomination to that office 1s among: the early probabilities. Alihough the duties of the office pertain entirely to the business of the Staté Department, it is, in fact, a branch of the Department of Jus- tice. It is usually filled, however, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of State. to whom the incumbent acts as a legal ad- viser. Mr. Faison won the office on merit by civil service promotion, and has made a good official. He was formerly chief cf the censular bureau. Mr. Van Dyne, his as- sistant in the solicitor’s office, 1s being con- sidered in connection with the prospective Vacancy. He is a native-of New York, and has rendered clerical service in the War and State popartnee He is a graduate of law, and is qualiffed in that respect for the duties of the offi¢e to which he aspires. Will Appoint’ Sheridan's Son. President McKinley has_promised Mrs. Sheridan, widew of Gen. Sheridan, to ap- point her son, Phil. Sheridan, a cade: at the West Point Military Academy next year. The young man is not at present eligible for admission to the academy by reason of the fact that he has ‘not yet yeached the age of seventeen years. The President, mereover, has no vacancies at his disposal wnttl next year, when one of the cadets of the tél whom he is per- pan ted té keep at thefacademy will grad- ze, . for China, ~ United States Co: Read at Tientsin- has supplied the State Department with a copy of a call iseued by the imperial rati_ ways of Ni for 10,200 tons of raircad rails, ‘with quantities of plates, bolts and spikes. The consul says the only chance American manufacturers have to bid is by telegraph, through some resident firms, whom he names in his ré- 0) 3 Ohio Men Not Having Much Show in Appointments. NEW YORKERS THE MOST NUMEROUS Col. Fred Grant Declines the As- sistant Secretaryship of War. we TODAY’S CALLERS All of the first-class d ments have now been President except the missions Spain and Turkey, and there is likely to be a scrambie for these choice plums, which the President will dispose of before arother month. It is not thought thi places, however, will be taken up the President until the last of next week. The next big batch of appointments will con- tain assistant secretaryshiys, audt I and places of that kind. A number of these places, it is said, will be settled by the 9th or 10th. The many jocular remarks about the great number of Ohio politicians who want office and the large number who were slated to get office have given way to more serious observations of the division of the patronage up to date. A study of th shows that Ohio has so far got little. Th four big places abroad went to of the country which were supposed have been most bitterly hostile to Pre dent McKinley when his fight for the re publican nomination was‘on hand. New York gets two of the ambas: Massachusetts gets another. and trict of Columbia the fourth. ‘The next best place, the mission to Austria, went to Pennsylvania. This had been the tomatic appoint- to Russi: sections to as to other good positions. I the cabinet places, Ohio has y but one appointment so far. That w plonel Krigham, as assistant secretary of agriculture. Major Butterwort appointment ioner of patents is not considere yas chargeable to Onio. if Co. Fred Grant will accept the post of ass’ ant secretary of war w York would have got more from dent McKinle Pr state out of the remaining appointments. Of course all that New York has ve so far cannot be said to represent the ma- chine politicians, but the state is ready to aim them. From a money view, the two which went to New Y orth. Baxter of York is undoubtedly thought to be for third assistant postmaster general. York City New Applicants. It is said by heads of departments ana the clerks ‘in charge ef applications at the White House that there have been more New York city people to appiy for pos® tions than from the whole state of Ohio. ‘The President hasn't enough good places left, if he gave a large part of them to Ohio, to caualize what New York has re- ceived. The New England states have d well and are still scheduled for more. surprise would be 0c here- after to see some Ohio men named in the batches of nen to the Senate. President Me number of stanch friends he would like to provide for if he can do so without the arge being made that Ohio is getting it Ex-Representative D. K. W of these and another fs to be fou! Boyle, the young newspaper has for five ears been his pr. secretary. Mr. ebeen joned for sever. ad, and it is known that Mr. will be provided for. The | ce the latter gets the more be hundreds Pn him. Mr. nds of letters applying 7 positions which go to the While Hous The simple partaking of lunch wita Pre dent McKinley yesterday by Judge Nathan wT has started a run of spe as to his future. It is 8 FOE has a all, one James wh men- sociate Justice Field rei H be given his place, and then it is said that he will become Atto: y General on the promotion of Mr. MeKenna to Justice ce. All this is exploded when themsei Tae fir: 1 1s a Pacifle coast m and will pe suc : Section, bably Mr. ick 4 is the cabinet a: friends of the he will probably ator to udge Goif re: The close nia jurist say that ome a candidate for ceed Senatur Faulkner, dem- Grant Declines, It Grant would ac was unde tcod here that Col. Fred. ot the position tendered President yesterday, but a dispatch from New York today say Col. Frederick D. Grant has decided to decline President Me S offer of ihe position of tne first assistant secretary of var. He arrived froi hington early nd went immediately to his uome street. Grant sent the following telegram dent McKinley today, declining the him by the position: “Although you were pleased to urge me to think over the matter, it is impossible for me to consider the position of assist- ant secretary of war, which you were good enough to offer me. I, therefore, de- cline with thanks the appointment, at the same Ume regretting that I am’ not to serve your administration, for which I worked earnest!: Mr. Grant declined to be Interviewed be- yond giving out the foregoing telegram to the President. Senator Spooner is hot after the consul- ship at Vienna for a constituent, and saw the President today. The constituent is Julius Goldsmith. He has the support of the Wisconsin delegation, and there is a belief that he will get what he wants. Gen. Stewart L. Woodford. Despite the limitations imposed by reason of being cabinet day, there were numerous caMers at the White House between the hours of 10 and 11 o’clock, the hour for the cabinet to assem! General Stewart L. Woodferd of New York was numbered among the prominent callers. His visits recently have been watehed with interest because his name has been connected with the mission to Spain. The probability, however, that New York has now received her share of good places has lessened the chances of another New York man going abroad. General Woodford was in a high- ly pleasant humor when he left the White House. In his most affable manner he told the newspaper men that he wanted nothing and believed he would get it. He then explained that he intended to leave on a foreign trip in a short while. He will leave for Japan with a friend about the Ist of May. He does not want any- thing in the gift of the President. Col. E. A. Buck, the Georgia leader, does not deny that he wants to go as minister to Japvan.. He was at the White House to arrange for a conference tomorrow with the President. He says that he is now interested in Georgia affairs and is not ready to go abroad if the President should nominate him at this time. It is said that Col. Buck is closer to the Japan mission than any other man. Representative Wilson of New York wants Wm. Rardeli of his town appointed zs consul to Nuremberg, Germany, and in- troduced the applicant to the President. Mr. Wilson ts also interested in the fight for collector of the port of New York, the leaders in which are Frank R. Moore and (Continued on Ninth Page? TWO CENTS. Senate Finance Committee Simply Studying the Tariff Bill, The Measure That Came From the House Will Re Gene ty Reconstructed. The Senate finance committee have made ho actua! progress with the tariff bill. Up to the present time they have been devot- ing themselves to a careful study of the bill as it came from the House, and it will be some days yet before they can complete this preliminary survey.- They are not dis posed to take the bill on faith, and ft is a great labor to analyze and measure the effect of the several schedules. They are deavoring first to find out exactly—or near as may be—what revenue the whole will produce, and how the incre of revenue ts distributed through the sev- eral schedules; and second, how various business interests will be affected by the change of rat receiving great many communic s upon the sub ject, and are giving them all careful con sideration. This work is extreme borious, as the committee have to | their own data and make timates themselves, with the aid of an expert. A General Reconstract if they intended to put the House through the Senate as a party me this work would be unnecessary, but such is not their intention. The examination oi the schedules which they are now making is preliminary to a general reconstruction of the bill. As.soon as the committee get a thorough understanding of the measu’ it_now is, calculating tarefully wha effect_on revenue and on business will be they will take up the schedules from the beginning and go over the entire hedule by schedule, making change: they go along. As far as they are ab Judge from the study of the bill which they nave made, these changes will be so numer ous as to amount p ally to an entire They have not yet m character, and it is imp: tell how long it will take them > their work. They are not going their report unnecessa but realize that such a thorough Yy contemplate cannot be ma Ail the lules hang so togeth bill as Se one upon another, that whe ‘hanges are made it is hard to teil where they will wind up. One chang another, and the work become lative. No Deal With Silver Republicans. Their desire is, if possible, to make the average rate of the schedule somewhat tower than it is in the House bill, but at the same time to increase a few sched- ules. There ts a mistaken impression as lo the efforts that will have to be made in order to make the bill acceptable to a ma- jority of the Senate. Speculation on this subject has been based on the theory that the support or opposition of some of th ex-republican senators would depend upo! the amount of protection given to pro- ducts cf Uneir state. ‘This is probabl m the case. At ail events, the republicans of the finance committee will probably not cater to the ex-republican senators in this matter. Their effort will be to make as gGod a bill as possible, which will sacsfy the senat of their own party, and se cure © { republican vote. being don will stand their chances tor gett bill through without at deal with the silver repub- tempting any If any of the latter see fit to vote AS. for the bill, all right and good, bnt the: will be left to take whatever course they please, and assume responsibility for their own actions. If every republican will vote for the Dill, there are enough svotes in sight without taking the silver repubii- cans into consideration at all. Demands their Own ° Party Alone. The gene on the v or three republican ral bellef is that they can count s of Kyle and of probably two mocrats, but even if none but cast for the bill, it can be pas hout trouble, for the rea- son that the opposition are afraid to take the respon for defeat, and it is € thors stood that a number will refrain from voting, witheut claiming pairs, to reduce the number of votes ne sary to carry, well within the republican strength. This being the case, the repub- licans will consider the demands of their own party only in the reconstruction of the bill, and it is believed that party disci- pline will be strong cnough to overcome when the commit individual ch the point where they ha his ts final and must go. = it GEN. RUGER RETIRED. ve to say shifting of Department Commanders and Promotions. Secretary Alger today issued an order placing Major Gen. Thos. H. Ruger, com- manding the department of the east, at New York, on the retired list, on account of age. His retirement will necessitate a large number of promotions and the shifting of several of the department commander: though the orders have not yet been iss; ft is settled that Maj. Wesley Merritt, commanding the department of the Mis- souri, at Chicago, will be transferred to the command of the department of the east, and that Brig. Gen. Jno. R. Brooke, commanding the department of Dakota, at St. Paul, will succeed to the command of the department of the Missouri. Brig. Gen. Frank Wheaton, commanding the depart ment of the Colorado, at Denver, who will become a major general in a few days, has expressed his desire to remain where he is until he retires early in May. The vac- ancy in the command of the department of Dakota, at St. Paul, will go to Gen. Cop- pinger, now in command of the department of the Plaite, at Omaha, if he desires to make a change of station. Otherwise, it will be filled by the detail of Col. Shafi-r of the, Ist Infantry, who ts booked to suc- ceed to the vacant brigadier generalship. When Gen. Wheaton retires next month, it is probable that he will be succeeded in command of the department of Colorado, at Denver, by Brig. Gen. E. 8. Otis, now commanding the department of Columbia, at Vancouver barracks. Gen. Brooke, now the senior brigadier general, will be pro- moted to a major generalship on the retire- ment of Gen, Wheaton, The Battle Ships. The battle ship Iowa came out of the dry dcck at the New York navy yard at 10 o’ciock this morning. She has been put in thorough order for her speed trial, and will leave at once for Boston, where she will take on the trial board. After the rerge boats have taken their places she will run over the course from Cape Ana to Cape Porpoire. Orders have been sent to New York to put the battle ship Massachusetts imme- diately in the dock and fit her with bilge keels. These are metal fins projecting two feet from either side. about half way between the true keel and water line. The experience of the department has shown that they restrain very much the roll of the big ships, and not only insure better gun fire in @ seaway, but also reduce the chance foe ee “turning turtle” or start! suns and turrets loose, . The Indiana herself will go inte the dock just a= scon ‘as the work on the Massa- chvsetts is completed, which, It is expected, Stats the course of six weeks or two mcni and granted sick leave; Passed that smallpox is raging in Cuba, and th conditions are such that ft is fally expecte who contemplate a tour of Eurcpe a as well as those who are secking to extend the privileges now atcorded by municipal- ities and railways to wheelmen, is to be found in a special report to the State Department Heyre. Anticipating many inquiries he has caused to be prepared a complete state ment of the conditions Imposed upon for- eign cycles brought into the different Eu- ropean countries giving the duties, rules for bonding, rules of the road, local regu- lations and “Want” in The Star pay because they bring answers. advertisements THE WHITE HOUSE|N© ACTUAL PROGRESS| MISSISSIPPI LEVEES —— Their Value as Protection From Floods Discussed, REPRESENTATIVE CATCHINGS’ VIEWS ——.---- Money Already Expended by the Government Commission. a. WHAT Is N D es aie The unprecedente righ water Mis sissippt river, which has eo much damage and threat tom * su of the subje much gressional circles becaw propriations which Conery years been for “f that here i ssippt are appointed by juty it is toh su us stre river commiss: the to approve of 7 done, and sliced by the The plan now INN”, and t was made in rot lar grown Pres to al governs In oper: first Iss2. lopted in appropriation The sum end the outs b they in size until th ment become a liberal contri taking. mier i Were have has under at Money Al dy Bapende The questions now heard 1 lais io penditure of this ney Hasi nv ly expended? Has permanent good accomplished by it?) Or has flood demonstra that ¢ is inadequate to meet the valley and the wishes the work on the ri eleven millions of the been spent on et pment=d by t . ime) contributed by the The subject is inter which is nate, carr for the pussion of the p place, M mi at Mr. Catching’ V Congressman Catehin an authority on internal from long service on the river bers committee, and he length teday with a the present flood a “It must be remembered,” si Catchings, “that this five feet the highest i of the river. had heavy the lev erely try against t the levees have sual t Upon it remarkably And to a local rains t soft, and very eir sid em in po ment began extending its a that ed ne 1 between Cairo « while now a ed NOT Excerci My own s the chief sutt+ anc verely. At same time it that the lev has It only ne: protection that the inhat ley need and should have s the Pe General Catchings was : the assertion that {t is id) the M ing levee issippi within it “That ake highest a s indorse the pian. Much bh rp) As much mere can bs a by-no- expendi same mea t bread ar ry aud enable the nparatively aking of th us ts, General Cate The question in it analysis of protecting the people in. the 1 hest portions d be uninha! levees are ne not make them the not be expect As liberal people oxy four dollars to the E uld vote to levee the river, wherever necesse Paul to the mouth, and wou! money wisely expended.” STATE DE Officiain Se m of Any Outsider Learning 1. The State Department scouts the sugees- tion that any unauthorized px 5 0b- tained a knowledge of the communications passing between the department and Con- sul General Lee at Havana. It is said that even if such a person bad come session of the cipher code of the ment In which the cablegrams a couched, {t would not avail him in le the contents of the dispatches of the State Department is one of the most inscrutable cryptoxrams in the world, and It is so framed that the key word changes automatically by prearrangement between the parties to a correspond nh into pus- depart- , or may be changed at a moment's notice, so thal the third party having a copy of the code would be at a loss to use it successfully. ————_+e._ oa Naval Orders, Rear Admiral F. M. Ramsay, retired April 5; Assistant Surgeon D. H. Morgan, from the naval laboratory, ‘w York, to the Naval Academy; Lieut. Commander W. J. Barnette, to the coast survey; Lieut. G. T. Emmons, from the Michigan Assistant Paymaster F. T. Arms, from the League Island navy yard and prepare for sea dut News has reached the State Department that with the beginning of the rainy se son, about the middle of the present month, the dread scourge, yellow fever, will also make its appearance. It is believed that this is the reason Gen. Lee has sent his family back to the United States, Of Value to Cyclists. A compendium of great value to cyc by United States Consul other valuable information.