Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, March 12, 1898, Page 2

: The ievald--Review.| THE NEWS RESUME By E. Kiley. GRAND RAPIDS - MINNESOTA, It does not seem the thing for Cashier Quinlan of the Chemical Bank to claim that he overworked. Doubtless, how- ever, he allowed himself to be worked. The faculty of Lombard university at Galesburg, Ill, has decided to add dancing to the regular college cur- riculum, which shows that good peaple are tired of bad dancing. Singular, isn’t it, how lucky some people are? John Owens, a liveryman at Millerton, N. Y., loaned a horse to a customer. When he returned the horse’s hoofs were balled with snow, and when the liveryman knocked the snow out from one of the broken masses rolled a pocketbook containing $11 and a small key. Dear old Dr. Abbott is saying such dreadful things! He says dancing is good, with limitations; alcohol is prop- er, with the same proviso; taste in dress is right, and so as to diamonds; and if the theatre sends you back to life refreshed and invigorated, why go and enjoy yourself. There is a new Beecher in the old man, though he ad- mits that “truth is dangerous; the only thing that is safe is platitude.” A judge says to husbands and wives ‘who want to get divorced, “Separate; live apart for six months and think it over.” If that advice were generally followed there wouldn’t be one divorce where there are six now. Indeed, the separated would resume relations with such avidity that the reunion would be as good as another honeymoon. One can do a good deal of first-rate think- ing under such circumstances in six months, The general demand for flour has been good, and while prices have ruled considerably higher in sympathy with wheat, all the markets have responded in a liberal manner to the advance. The general fear among flour buyers has, without doubt, been that Leiter held the key to the situation, and, in con- sequence, buyers short of flour are in a hurry to get under cover: before it got too late, and bought in freely at the advanced values. The lady teacher who dissected a live cat in one of our public schools the other day has resigned, but the chil- dren and public sentiment against her are still ill. If vivisection is allow- able, there is still a question wifi re- gard to its surroundings. It might be well to compromise matters by put- ting a butcher shop in every school— that wouldn’t shock anybody half as much; but it is not the purpose of teaching to make barbarians of chil- dren, “Why,” asks a writer, “do women laugh so much more frequently than men?” The writer is misinformed. They do not laugh. They giggle. They have a superficial understanding of things that ought to be laughed at, and it perishes when the giggle does. A solid, comforting, substantial funny thing that abides with a man for days is to them but the faint tickle of a fancy that dies as soon as it is born and that therefore wishes it hadn’t been born at all. In this crisis in our commercial rela- tions with that vast empire all of our consuls there,with one unimportant ex- ception, are green hands, and that at the legation, where the most delicate and difficult part of the work must be done, the only person having knowl- edge of Chinese language and affairs is the interpreter or dragoman to the legation, whose status prevents him from having any serious influence. And all this because the “American idea” of a public office is not something to do, but something to get. Every druggist who sells as harmless a patent medicine containing cocaine or other dangerous drug that makes slaves of those who take it should, by law, be sent :to jail and kept there for at least five years. Every villainous manufacturer of such drugs should be jailed for ten years, or, better still, ‘for life. The whipping post as a prelimin- ary to imprisonment at hard labor would fit the case of the scoundre! who for gain fills the land with drug fiends. ‘The keeper of a brothel is more -re- spectable and less harmful than he. A locomotive factory in Philadelphia thas just completed four engines on an order from the British government. ‘They are to be shipped to South Africa. ‘The engines were completed thirty-one days after the order was received. No such rapid work was ever done before anywhere in the world. The Philadel- phia firm received the order ‘because the British government -wanted the en- gines in a hurry, and ne British factory was able to turn them out as quickly as they were wanted. The incident seems to call attention to the folly of maintaining the protective tariff sys- tem in this country. The craze for royal ancestry has be- come so violent in Baltimore, owing to the establishment of the new Order of the Crown, that the Peabody library is overrun with persons wishing to consult its fine collection of the his- tories of English countries, which con- tain long genealogical lists and show just where various royal lines shot out dubious connections with the Smiths, the Joneses and the Browns. All kinds of kings are in demand, but, accord- ing to the Baltimore papers, any old king will do for most of those who seek woyal descent. DIGEST OF THE NEWS FROM ALL PARTS CF THE WORLD. A Comprehensive Review of the Important Happenings of the Past Week Culled From the Tel- egraph Reports—The Notable Events at Home and Abroad That Have Attracted Attention. Washington Talk. The house judiciary committee has made a favorable report on the Hend- erson bill concerning the jurisdiction of United States courts. The house committee on patents has faycrably reported the Corliss bill, ex- tending the trademark privileges to casks, bottles and other receptacles. The monthly treasury statement of | the public debt shows that the debt, $1,010,106,216, a decrease for the month of $1,597,1 This decrease is accounted for by a corresponding in- crease in the cash. Senator Clark gave notice of an amendment he will offer to the sundry | civil appropriation bill, suspending un- til March, 1899, the executive order of Feb. 22, 1897, establishing forest res- ervations in the States of Wyoming, | Utah, Montana, Washington, Idaho and South Dakota. He also gave | notice of an amendment striking out the present law prohibiting the survey of forest reservations. R Casualties. G. H. Griffin of West Superior was injured about the head and shoulders by being thrown from a sleigh. Con- cussion of the brain is feared. Lay- | ton Taylor, a boy, had three toes | crushed by a street car. Fire that broke out at midnight in four-story tenement house, 171 Harri. son avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., damaged property to the tent of $30,000, ren- dering venty families temporarily homele: Several smaller tenement houses were burned. Several persons were slightly injured by the falling wal Criminal. Mermon Malcolm, who cut his throat mes, Iowa, has died‘ from his in- s. He was eighty years old. A. C. Frost, a traveling salesman for the dry goods firm of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., Chicago, committed sui- cide at St. Louis. A tramp is supposed to have started the fire which burned up the large tap houses at the Lucas & Co. coal shaft, Cnerokee, Kas. Jack Biehn, aged twenty-one years, | formerly of Prairie du Chien, Wis., committed suicide by hanging himself at Highland, Wis. He left a letter saying he was tired of life. After wading out into a pond for the purpose of committing suicide, the aged wife of Wenzel Keeler of Atchi- son, Kas., changed her mind, but was | drowned in trying to reach the bank. The motion for a new trial made in behalf of ex-Banker 1eodore Schnitz, recently convicted of embezzlement, was overruled by Judge Waterman of Chicago, and Schnitz was sentenced to | an indeterminate term in the peniten- tary Ofticer Louis Keller engaged in a pistol fight with a gang of burglars at South Bend, Ind. He was shot dead, but not until after he had mortally wounded Jack Burke of New York. Four more of the gang were captured. They are Robert Powers, James Burn Frank O’Conner* and Frank | Monroe. The six gambling houses which opened simultaneously at Omaha, re cently, were closed up by the police j and twenty-two arrests made. For a while it was thought they «culd be al- Jowed to run unmolested, in conside! tion of the large sums of money fur- nished by the ga nblers toward the ex- position fund. ‘ Sporting Items. Kid McCoy offers $10,000 for a fight with Fitzsimmons, A twenty-round go has been ar- ranged between Frank Erne and Del Hawkins, to be decided some time in April. Ikach member of the Harvard fresh- men foot ball eleven has received from the athletic committee a cup in recogni- tion of the team victories last year. It is announced that Rush, the West- ern sprinter, now at Princeton, will meet b. J. Wefers in a forty-yard race at the Boston college games next Mon- day. Boxers are beginning to steer clear of Buffelo. Tommy White was to be matched with George Dixon there, but the club would not guarantee a purse, and the match has fallen through. The talk about bringing Kid McCoy and Gus Ruhlin together is likely to amount to something. The latest is that the pair will meet in a limited | round bout in-a few weeks. cing season East prom- ses to be a lively one, and several ap- plications from coaching parties have been received by the Brooklyn Jockey stat for choice positions on handicap jay. Pillsbury and Showalter, the two American chess players, now playing for the American championship, have fallen to a degree of sportsmanship far below the lowest American prizefighv er, by declining to allow any xeporter or newspaper representative to have a line of news about their match, ex: cept for pay. Who ever thought the | exponents of this great and .aristocrat- ic game would sink so low?—New York Sun. People Talked About. John Robertson, a prominent paper Rp re died at Palm Beach, t. Capt. Marcy B. Randall of Murray, Idaho, well known mining expert, died at Jacksonville, Fla. Retired Chief Engineer William H. Ktutherford, U. S. N., died at Harris- burg. Pa. Col. Thomas Scharf died at his resi- dence in New York of paralysis of the heart and pneymonia. Mrs, Mary Vanderver de Hart, widow of Capt. W. C. de Hart, who was chief of staff for Gen. Winfield Scott in the Mexican war, died at her home at Elizabeth, N, J., aged eighty- seven years, i Peter Christensen, a wealthy bache- lor farmer who died a few weeks ago on his ranch near Waterloo, Cal., left an estate worth upwards of $100,000, and, so far as known, no heir of his resides this side of Denmark. Hon. George B.. Sage, judge of the United States court, Southern district of Ohio, who has served fifteen years and is entitled to retire, has fixed Aug. 26 as the close of his service. At that time he will kave reached seventy years of age. Daniel Levi Boone, son of Dr. Levi Boone, one of the early mayors of Chicago, and grand-nephew of the noted Daniel Boone, is lying danger- ously ill at his home in that city. He is the last surviving male descendant of the famous Boone family. Col. John Thomas Scharf died at his residence in New York city. Co). Scharf was born in Baltimore in 1843, and was graduated from Georgetown university. In 1861 he joined the Con- federate forces, and was wounded in the second battle of Bull Run, Among other works which he published were histories of Maryland, Baltimore and the Southern states, Foreign Notes. England will add 23,000 men to her army at an annual cost of $2,000,000 more. Emperor William arrived at Wil- helmsbaven to attend the ceremony of swearing in the naval recruits. The German warships Gefion and Deutschland, under command of | Prince Henry of Prussia, sailed from Singapore for Hong Kong. Col. Matthew C. Galloway, founder of the Memphis Avalanche, and after- ward editor of the Appeal, died in Memphis in his seventy-eighth year. A dispatch from Buenos Ayres says it is reported there that the govern- ment has obtained a loan of £10,000 in London, secured by the tobacco and aicohol revenues. ‘The British steamer Bonny has start- ed from Liverpool for the Niger with a party of officers, three hospital | nurses, a quantity of military stores and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition. The triot cropped out in Russell Sage yesterday aud he expressed such indignation at the destruction of the Maine in Havana that Wall street was amazed. Georges Clemenceau and M. Dru- mont, editor of the Libre Parole, fought a duel with pistols at Paris. Six shots were exchanged without re- sult. George Clemenceau and M. Drumont, editor of the Libre Parole, fought a duel with pistols at Pare aux Princes, France. Six shots were exchanged without results. The dispute was over an osrticle on the Zolt trial published in the Libre Parole. In the Bohemian diet, Herr Lippert, in the name of his German colleagues, referred to the marked federalist tend- encies of the diet’s address to the Em- peror Francis Joseph on his approach- ing jubilee, and said the Germans re- mained true to the constitution and took no further part in the diet. Then, amid cheers for the constitution, the Germans marched out of the house. People who are so fortunate as to be asked to visit Miss Ellen Terry, the great actress, at her home, are not permitted to sit and twirl their thumbs in idleness. The philanthropic actress has a basket ef werk always on hand, It is filled with unfinished garments for the poor, and every feminine visit- or is requested to choose between sew- ing and knitting. Otherwise. Laplanders with 530 reindeer have arrived in New York for Alaska. The steamship Trave, sailing for Eu- vope from New York took out 325,000 ounces of silver. Mayor Oscar F. Price of Jamestown, N. Y., has hade a general assignment for the benefit of his creditors, An overload of real estate was the cause. The First National Bank of Chicago Was approved as a reserve agent for the First tional Bank of East Grand Forks, Minn, The directors oi the Commercial Cable company have declared the usual quarterly dividend of 13-4 per cent, payable April 1. The Niagara Cycle Fitting Company of Buffalo, N. Y., has made an as- signment. No statement of assets or liabilities is given. The friends of Richard Croker have been informed that he will leave New York for England, to look after his racing interests there, about April 1. At a meeting of the Warwick Cycle company’s stockholders at Springfield, Mass., it was voted to go into ixsol- vency. Canadian Pacific earnings for the week ending Feb. 28 were $377,000; for the same period last year, $306,000, an increase of $71,000. The federal convention has adopted the proposal] that the capital of A tralasia be federal territory, like W: ington, the existing capitals being ex- cluded. The. Ohio senate has passed the Jones bill, to require coal to bd weighed before screening, and it is now a law. The measure was urged by the miners of the state. The Canadian Pacifie railway has announced a cut of $5 in the fare be- tween Portland and the East, making the rate the same as_ that between Puget Sound points and the East. The circuit court at Maryville, Mo., has awarded J. Michael Corcoran $1,- 500 mages against the Chicago-Great Western railway for injuries resultiug from the too sudden stopping of a ca- boose on which he was riding. A steamer just arrived at Seattle from Juneau reports that shortly be- fore sailing from Juneau the steamer Rustler returned from a second unsuc- cessful search for any possible surviv- ors of the Clara Nevada catastrophe. An epidemic of measles has been rag- ing at Kingston, Mo., for two or three weeks. The disease is of a very dan- gerous form, and several deaths have already resulted. A ten per cent reduction in wages avent into effect in all departments of the Boston Manufacturing eompany’s cotton mills at Altham, Mass. The 800 operatives aecepted the eut. The police commissioners of Wichita, Kas., have refused to make an ite=- ized report of all funds collected, as provided by law, and a committee of the eity council will make an investi- gation of police affairs, THECOURT SREPORT ip SECRETARY LONG WANTS TO KNOW WHEN IT WILL 3E READY In Reply to an Inquiry From Seere- tary Long, Admiral Sicard Re- plies That It Is Not Known When the Court Will Be Rendy to Make a Repert—Purchase of Warships by Spain Causes Excitement in Naval Circles—Spaniards Say the United States Cannot Make the Maine Disater a Pretext for War, Key West, March 2.—Lieut. Blandin was before the court’ for about an hour. The naval officers sat in Judge Locke’s private chambers. No ma- rines were on guard but all the doors were closed. Those who were called as witnesses before the luncheon recess were Lieu- tenants Blandin, Heed, Jungen and Blow and Cadets Bronson and Bovd. No enlisted men were examined at the morning session. The court of inquiry reconvened at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Lieut. Holman, who testified at Havana, was again called. Lieutenant of Ma- rines Catlin gave his evidence quickly and was followed by Boatswain Lar- kin, Gunner Hill and Carpenter Holmes. The two latter were on shore at the time of the explosion and could tell little of value. At 3:10 the court adjourned over till 10 o’clock in the morning. Capt. Sampson seemed satisfied with the day’s work but said nothing could be given out. After the court room was cleared for the day Capt. Sampson held a short interview with Rear Ad- miral Sicard and then returned to the Iowa. Capt. Chadwick and Lieut. Potter were taken on board the New York. Few know more than was known in the morning. An officer of the Maine, however, who had been ex- amined by the court during the day, talked at length with the correspond- ent of the Associated Press, “I can’t tell you,” he said, “what line of questioning was adopted, but the court will find, I believe, that the Maine Was Blown Up by Design, though I don’t think it will be able to ascertain exactly how. ‘The court’s findirg will be based or negative rath- er than positive evidence. By this I mean that all of the testimony heard so far has, bit by bit, upset the theories of those who think the explosion was of internal origin. This negative evi- dence is so strong and so general that I see no possibility of the court decid- ing that explosion was internal. The only alternative then left for the court is to fall back on evidence which points to the intentional blowing up of the Maine. This, I think, will be done, unless the court formulates a theory of its own or declares that it does not know how the disaster occurred, both of which conjectures I think improba- ble.” As bearing on the value of the opin- ion of the officer in question, it must be borne in mind that he was before the court for about fifteen minutes only, and that he has at all times ex- pressed himself as confident that the explosion was not due to accident. Members of the court, when the sub- stance of the interview was brought to their attention, declined to have any- thing to say. All the high naval and military officials here, when asked crucial questions, positively profess ig- norance. : Washington, March 3.—The main in- terest of the day in connection with the Maine inquiry centered in a state- ment by Secretary Long, following the eabinet meeting, that in his personal opinien any ofticial participation by the Spanish government in the blowing up of the Maine was now practically eliminated from the situation. This statement was not of a formal or of- ficial character, and was made by Mr. Long as he walked away from the White House. As usual the various cabinet officers were besieged with in- quiries as to the questions before the meeting, and in response to these im- portunities the secretary rather casual- ly summed up the situation in a few words, stating that most of the time had beén given to the outrages on coi- ored postmasters in the South. Nat- urally the Cuban situation had been gone over, he said, but there were nu actual developments, and he felt that public excitemert over the subject had materially abated. Then he added the statement, in the same passing way, that any participation by the Spanish government in the blowing up of, the Maine was practically eliminated, in his judgment. This last remark was speedily given wide circulation apart from the quieting references which had accompanied it. Persons occupy- ing the closest relations with the sec- retary said that the opinion expressed was such as any one might give with the facts now at hand. It was not in any sense, it was explained, a con- clusion drawn from new evidence, not made public, either from the court of inquiry or any officer now concerned in the inquiry. Neither {acts or intima- tions have come from such sources, it is said at the department, which would serve as the basis of an opinion. The Official Declaration of Senor du Bose, the Spanish charge d'affaires, that no mines or submarine defenses exist in the harbor of Ha- vana had come to the attention of Sec- retary Long, and this statement from the authorized representative of the Spanish government was felt to have been given its due weight in the opin- ion expressed by the secretary. It was poirted out by persons bearing close relations to the secretary that the language used was “official participa- tion” on the part of the Spanish gov- ernment, This, it was said, had no bearing on the question of Spain’s re- sponsibility. The ‘official participa- tion” of Spain was one thing; while the responsibility of Spain in case the disaster proved to be of external origin, was quite another thing. The secretary’s statement was restricted, it was explained, to exculpating Spain from direct, official knowledge and participation in the affair. In case it was shown that the act was due to some fanatic or person not connected with the government, then the ques- tion of Spain's responsibility would be still open. ' é No dispatches of any character from Key West, where the court of inquiry “tures and prophecy concerning is sitting, were given out during the day, and as the rule of publicity is still an foree, presumably nothing came from that quarier. The ‘vessel move- ments anwounced during the day were devoid of sigrificance. Orders went out from the navy de- partinent to put the ironclads Mian- tonomah and Katahdin into comuis- sion by the i0th inst. They are now at the League Island navy yard, where they have been laid up for a year or two past. It is said at the department that the purpose of putting them into commission is to make berths for the survivors of the Maine now at Kev West awaiting on the court of inquiry which, without doubt, will have fin- ished with them by the 10th inst. Havana, March 4.—Without adding unnecessarily to the surmises, conjec- the finding of the court of inquiry, it is fair to say that, as a matter of fact, most of the naval officers here and at Key West incline to the opinion that the court will find that the disaster to the Maine was caused by the explosion of a floating submarine mine under the port side of the ship, forward. Opin- ions agree, not only as to the existence of mines in the harbor, but that this one was iaid purposely near the buoy where forcign war vessels were direct- ed to moor, and was fired from an electric battery on shore. It is believed barely possible that the explosion of the mine was the result of the care- lessness or ignorance of Spanish of- ficers in charge of the mine station keys when testing the circuit, but the latter supposition is not felt to be prob- able. It is further regarded as settled by the evidence before the court that the port side of the hull forward was completely blown to pieces, and the only explosion on the Maine, except of isolated cases of fixed ammunition, Was that of 2,000 pounds of saluting powder, stored forward, and of which no trace can be found. These views are gathered from officers who « Talk With Great Reserve and only upon the assurance that their identity will never be revealed. The fact remains that only the members of the court of inquiry know all the testi- mony elicited, and no one is authorized to make public matters in advance of the final judgment. A good deal of surprise was ex- pressed here at learning that the Spanish divers were to be permitted to make an examination of the wreck of the Maine, especially as it was also said that American naval officers would give such divers all consistent facilities and would throw no obsta- cles in the way of a thorough sub- marine inspection. That the permis- sion was not accorded until after the court of inquiry had finished its work here and gone to Key West is regarded as significant. It opens a wide field for speculation. Some assert that the court now has no »bjection to a Span- ish inquiry for one of two reasons: Either the court has sufficient evidence already of accident or malice—evidence that cannot be controverted by the Spaniards—or, after a diligent search, the mystery remains at deep as ever and the court does not think the Spanish will reach a conciusion where the Americans have failed. That any important testimony before the court has found its way to the public is very unlikely. Some of the witnesses have told certain correspcndents of ar leged testimony, but in every case in- vestigation has showed their stories to be wildly improbable and controyerted by known facts or else absolutely ir- relevant. There are no signs of dem- onstration against Americans. Weegee Washington, March 5. — Secretary Long said at the close of his day at the navy department that no word had been received from the court of in- quiry and that no orders had been, or would be given as to the movements of the court from Key West, as the court was fully authorized to shape its own movements. The original orders to the court were issued by Admiral Sicard, as commander of the ficet to which the Maine belonged, and it has the technical status of an admiral’s court, reporting directly to him, both as to its movements and as to final report on the cause of the disaster. The understanding here is that the court has not concluded its work, but will return to Havana to take testi- mony which has been delayed by the difficulties in the way of the divers. That Admiral Sicard expects this move back to Havana was shown by a dispatch from him a few days ago sug- gesting that arrangements be made for a vessel to take the court back. As the lighthouse tender Mangrove had been doing the service the treasury depart- ment was asked to assign the Man- grove for the return of the court to Key West, and this was done. With these arrangements concluded it is said at the navy department that the court will proceed without consulting of- ficials here. Their Mission of Charity. Arrangements are being made for the trip of the cruiser Montgomery and gunboat Nashville to Cuban ports with relief supplies. Chairman Barton, of the Central Cuban relief committee, has advised the state department that donations are coming forward in great abundance, not only in money, but more particularly in the form of provisions, from all directions. The Maine relief fund, under Mr. Long's management, has reached a total of $3,113. The only telegram relating to the Maine disaster that came to the navy department during the day was the following from Commander Forsyth at Key West: “Bache arrived. Brought one body unidentified, and Paul Lof- tus, private marine; Jeremiab Shea, coal passer; John Heffner, ordinary seaman; Thomas J. Waters, ordinary seaman, wounded, from Tortugas. '’ne wounded will be sent to the army hospital. he funeral of the body has started for the cemetery.” During the course of the day similar inquiries to that made by the Japanese legation as to the number of her sub- jects aboard the Maine, came to the navy department from the German and Swedish legations, and it is ex- pected that others will follow. Nearly every nationality was represented in the Maine's big crew. ees Washington, March 6.—It. was de- veloped yesterday afternoon through telegraphic correspondence between Secretary Long and Admiral Sicard that the court of inquiry is unable to fix an approximate date of the con- clusion of its investigation into the- disaster to the Maine. Sharing the general anxiety for some information on this point, Sec- | retary Long, at the instance of the ¢ cabinet, sent a telegram to Admiral: Sicard asking him when it was prob- able that the report of the court would be made, and late last night the fol- lowing reply was received: “Have talked with the president of” the court of inquiry and agree with. him that it is not yet possible to fix a date for the finding as so much de- pends upon the progress of the divers and wreckers and the results they ob- tain. Every effort is being made to- advance the inquiry. ‘Lhe court ee turns to Havana this evening, having about finished the inves’ tion {ab Key West. —Sicard. Admiral Sicard’s message is regard- ed officially as disposing of the re- ports that the court has as yet ob- tained positive or conclusive informa- tion bearing upon the object of their investigation. It is takea to mean that upon the testimony or discoveries. of the divers will depend the finding, the examination of the officers and crew of the ship having been insuf- ficient to enable the court. to even form. an idea as to what lines may be opened up from the investigation of the wrecix itself. It is probable that the-Olympia, flag- ship of the Asiatic squadron, and the peerless queen of the cruisers, will come home to San Francisco. The navigation bureau has this movement under consideration, and, in view of the fact that the ship has been three years away from a nevy yard, en- gaged in hard cruising service, even if there were no other reason, it is prob- able that the order would be given. ‘rhe Olympia is a protected cruiser of extraordinary speed and endurance, with a battery strong enough to over- power almost anything short of a bat- tleship, and speed enough to run away from that or anything else she does. not care to fight. Na officials are deeply interested in the reports of the Purchase of Warships by Spain, and make the reports of these transacticns the text for com- plaints of the inability of. our navy de- partment to do likewise. However, as. to the report from London of the pur- chase of the Amazonas by Spain, it is: said at the department that this vessel sailed for Brazil several months ago and has been delivered to the Brazilian government. Her sister ship is near completion in the Armstrong ‘yards. The other two ships building for Bra- zil in France, which are also reported to be about to pass into Spanish hands, are presumed to be the Deadero- and the Floriana, which are building at La Seinne, Toulon. These are small but powerful little battleships. The London reports also caused com- ment at the state department. In some quarters the feeling was ex- pressed that, pending the finding of a court of inquiry on a case having the international phases of the Maine ex- plosion, the obligations of neutrality were as strongly imposed on Great Britain and Brazil as in time of war. The precedents apply only to a condi- tion of war and _ not to conditions: which may eventually lead to war. In the Geneva award, however, unfriend- ly acts by Great Britain prior to the breaking out of the rebellion consti- tuted part of the cause on which heavy damages were awarded against her. But as a general rule foreign governments are free to sell warships either directly or through their citi- zens up to the actual date of hostili- ties, Things were very quiet, at least ex- ternally, in the r department.. gli SSE DECORATED THEIR GRAVES. Touching Tribute to the Memery of the Maine’s Victims. Havana, March 6.—At Colon ceme- tery the graves of 161 who perished in the Maine d er were decorated with two large floral wreaths and a cross in the presence of a score or more of Americans, including Consul General Lee, Capt. Sigsbee and Chap- lain Chidwick. Chaplain Chidwick offered a brief prayer and Mr. George C. Mages of Chicago made brief re- marks. At the Hotel Inglaterra the following brief memorial has been signed by all the Americans and will be left as @ nucleus for the register of future vis- itors: “The undersigned Americans have to-day decorated the as yet un- finished graves of the American sail- ors and marines who perished Feb. 15, 1898, in the destruction of the man-of- war Maine. May the modest first decoration day become an annual demonstration in Havana of America’s: remembrance of America’s dead.” —o— Work of the Divers. Havana, March 6. — The Americam divers. having examined more or less thoroughly the ward room of the Maine and the senior and junior of- ficers’ mess rooms, are trying to ef- fect an entrance into the petty officers’ compartinent in the hope of finding some bodies there. However, each day the belief grows stronger that few, if any, more bodies will be recovered. In the meantime work on the minor de- tails of the wreck will proceed. with all possible speed. The Spanish divers were down for some time, ae CALM AT MADRID. Opinion That the United States Can- not Make the Maine Disaster a Pretext for War. London, March 6.—The Madrid cor- respondent of the Daily Mail says: In contrast with the clamor in America there is almost absolute calm here, and that, too, even on the bourses, where the falls are due to foreign selling. The general opinion is that the United States dare not make the Maire sus- picion, which is unsupported by evi- cence, and is abhorred by Europeans, the pretext fcr war. The distress in various parts of the country occupies the public mind far more than Ameri- can relations. Notwithstanding the re- duction in the grain duty, a famine threatens. Englishmen Decline, London, March 6.—The reply to the Cambridge University Athtetie ciub to the challenge of the Intercollegiate Athletic association for a_ series o: international contests this scmm should haye reached the United States seycral days ago. +t is a refusal, | t