Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, February 1, 1902, Page 2

° The erald-Beview. [DARING ROBBERY By B. C. KILEY, GRAND RAPIDS, + MINNESOTA. The advance in wireless telegraphy was the chief scientific event of last year, An essay on happiness in the Balti- more Sun resolves itself into one rule: Pay all bills promptly. Plethoric wedding fees are in sight for the St. Louis minister who is urg- ing women to do the proposing. The army and navy experts seem to think that the Gathman gun is just the thing for some other nation. Don’t eat anything. Everything you eat causes cancer. The scientific sharps say so. They never eat anything. With Iowa controlling the currency and the garden seed, the politicians of that state ought to be reasonably happy. Joaquin Miller says it is wrong to exclude the Chinese. Joaquin, how- ever, will have todo most of the blush- ing himself. Tf the American schools are not teaching English there may be comfort in the suspicion that they are creating a new language. American ‘tailors are cospiring to get hold of the London trade, but how do they expect to introduce into Great Britain clothes that fit? Somebody has figured that King Hd- ward's coronation will cost $19,025,000. And Andrew Carnegie could foot the vill and hardly know it. Multimillionaire Rockefeller frankly confesses that he would give the bulk of his fortune to possess the appetite of his landscape gardener. It hasbeen determined by the agri- cultural department that the San Jose scale came from China. Let it be in- cluded in the exclusion act. The name of the new Siamese min- ister at Washington is Phya Akharaj Oradhara. The dentists ought to be in the front rank of the reception com- mittee. Three hundred cooks have deserted the Chinese emperor. Now, if his chambermaids will give notice we may put Kwang Su right in the modern column. Chinese taxpayers have another groan coming. The dowager empress announces ‘that she will endeavor to re-establish the popularity of the court function. Sergeant Kipling has butted into the British war controversy with a prop- osition to draft soldiers from the golf links and transfer them to the scene of actual conflict. Young Corbett has decided to aban- don pugilism and become a surgeon. He will be able to take up his new du- ties with a thorough knowledge of fractures and uppercuts. It is claimed that wireless telegraphy was first suggested by the flight of a pigeon, but why this should prompt the inventor any more than the throw- ing of a brickbat is hard to imagine. Buffalo Bill has undergone an oper- ation for the removal of his hair. If the scalp had gone with it-:the small boy might in time have forgiven the Indian. He will never forgive the bar- ber. This man up in Vermont-who has a new tneory regarding the cause of the movement of the earth and other planets about the sun may be the sub- ject of long articles in all the encyclo- pedias some day. The Chicago :man who emptied a pint measure of whisky at a single drink and died in consequence was recklessly imprudent. Every Missouri colonel knows that there are two good drinks in every pint of whisky. There was never an innocent and tmproving pastime, suitable alike to the learned and tthe laity, to compare in genuine fun and literary profit with the spelling “bee.” So general has become the viee of bad orthography that signs multiply in faver of a re- vival of the “bee.” There will be a little more difficulty than ef old in agreeing upon a _ standard, but the words spelled more ways than one are comparatively few and not important. Teachers of spelling, the few tliat re- main in the schools, should be the first to encourage the jolly “bee” and are Mable not to be the last to be spelled down... Because a Pennsylvania justice of the peace, who is also president of a bank, sentenced three girl strikers to jail, the people of his town made a brisk run on his bank. The moral of this is that a justice of the peace ehotildn’t be anything else. Reports from Cuba say the people took very little interest in the election of their first president, only a small percentage of them going to the trou- ble to vote. Evidently the new presi- dent of Cuba will not have much pat- PASSENGER TRAIN oN THE: SOUTHERN RAILWAY IS HELD Ur. THEY CARRY OFF EXPRESS SAFE TRAINMEN ARE INTIMIDATED AND COMPELLED TO OBEY ORDERS. ROBBERS MAKE THEIR ESCAI BLOODHOUNDS WILL BE SET ON THE TRAIL OF THE DES- PERADOES. Branchville, S. C. Jan. 29.—A care- fully planned and audacious express robbery took place about 7 o'clock last evening on the Southern railway when the passenger trein from Charleston reached nearly the exact site of the successful robbery of two years ago, five miles from Branchville. Seven or eight ‘men were riding on the platform between the engine and baggage car, concealed by the darkness. None were masked. At the fifty-five-mile board two men crawled over the tender and covered the engineer, John Reynolds, with ‘Winchesters. They fired two shots, one ball passing through Rey- nold’s cap. Fireman Cobb escaped by jumping off. Conductor Black, who ran out, was covered and ordered back. By order of these men a brakeman uncoupled the express, mail and bag- gage cars, which were taken to fifty- eight station, leaving the rest of the carson the main line. Here several shots were fired into the express car and:one man climbed up, covered Ex- press Messenger Hall with a Win- chester, and compelled him to open the door. Three men entered the car and stripped the local safe. After threat- ening Hall with instant death if he did not open the through safe, and finding he knew nothing of the combination, the Safe Was Rolled Out on the platform. Then the engineer was ordered to return with the three cars to the train, and he obeyed, bringing the train without further in- cident to Branchville. Nothing was seen of the men or the safe on passing Fifty-eight. There was a small amount of booty in the local safe, and no one here knows the contents of the through safe. No mail or baggage was touched and no passengers were molested. The robbers took their pistols from the only employes who were armed and resis- tance was out of the question. No measures have been taken so far to follow the robbers, 1t is hoped that blocdhounds will be on hand soon. The leader is supposed to be Barton ‘Warren. Warren was arrested, charged with having, single handed, robbed the Southern express car just below Branchville in the fall of 1899. The case resulted in a mistrial. Bail was furnished. A few days before the next session of the court, five months ago, he killed Thomas Watson, his former friend, but one of the principal wit- nesses against him. Warren has been at large since, and some say that he has been seen in Brauchville at night several times since, though $800 reward had been offered for his capture. Since the killing it is said there has been another attempt before the daring per- formance of last evening to rob the express train between Branchville and Orangeburg. TO ENFORCE ELECTION LAWS. Southern Republicans Are Prepar- ing a Measure. Washington, Jan. 29, — At a caucus last night of Southern Republicans in congress steps were taken looking to the preparation of a measure to be in- troduced in both houses comprising an amalgamation of the best features of the bills already presented in the house by Bartholdt of Missouri and Gibson of Ternessee for the enforcement of the election laws. Senator Pritchard of North Carolina presided, ard after the matter had been thoroughly discussed, he designated Mr. Gibson to prepare the proposed measure, whose features were tentativeiy agreed upon. These Senator Pritchard says provide for the honest enforcement of the state elec- tion laws, the right of minority repre- sentation and means by which the ag- grieved party contesting an election case may be heard by the state can- vassing board. If he is disappointed ‘with the result he is to have the right of appeal to the district judge, who is clothed with power to hear and try questions of law and fact a novo raised before the canvassing board and to issue the certificate of clection to the Person having the highest number of votes. This is to constitute prima facie evidence of his election upon which he may be sworn in by the ‘house. : GETS AUSTRALIAN WEALTH. Good Fortune of the City Engineer of ‘St. Ignace, Mich. St, Ignace, Mich., Jan. 29.--City En- gineer Forristel has learned that he is one of the heirs to the $15,000,000 estate of a grand uncle who amassed a for- tune in the gold flelds of Australia. ‘The mother of the St. Ignace man was a niece of the deeeased, John McCor- mick, whose wealth was left to his nearest of kin, nieces and mephews, five in all. BELLE PLAINE FIRE. Early Morning Blaze Licks Up Gen- ernl Store end Stock. Belle Plaine, Minn., Jan, 29,—Fire at 4 o'clock yesterday morning destroyed’ property worth $30,000. The double brick building owned by Dr. G. R. Maloney and occupied by Samuel Mell as a general store, was burned to the ground, together with the contents, The building was also oceupied by F. C. Irvine’s law office and M, C, Fel- ton’s photograph gallery, SIX WERE KILLED. (ee Supply of High Explosives Lets Go, Causing Great Damage. New York, Jan. 29.—The reserve sup- ply of high expiosives stored at the Park avenue shaft of the Rapid Tran- sit tunnel, now in course of construc- tion, blew up shortly arter noon yes- terday. The giant blast killed six per- sons, injured a hundred others and seriously damaged all the property reached by the flying debris and the vibration of the shock. The irregular square formed by the Murray Hill ho- tel on the west, the Manhattan eye and ear hospital and the Grand Union ho- tel on the east, and the Grand Central railroad station on the north, was the scene of the explosion. The buildings named sustained the greatest damage but the area affected extended for sev- eral blocks in the four directions from the center. J Roderick Robertson of Nelson, B. C., was killed by debris | burled with the Foree of Artillery into his room at the Murray Hill hotel. He was general manager in Canada for the British Columbia Gold Fields company, limited, and a prominent citizen in the community where he lived. The sunken approach to the street railway tunnel used by the Mad- ison avenue line cuts through Park avenue and the shaft for the rapid transit subway was run down beside it at the intersection of East Forty- first street. The street railway ap- proach was housed over with a super- structure used for the operating plant of the rapid transit contractors, Tem- porary buildings for storage purposes were thrown up against the superstruc- ture at the mouth of the shaft, and there the explosion occurred. It tore a great gorge in the street, demolished the temporary buildings and part of the superstructure, and sent a mass of earth, splintered* timber and twisted ron High in the Air. Much of it went battering against the front of Murray Hill hotel, and al- though the walls and main structure of that building stood the shock, nearly every room in the front of the house was wrecked. The Manhattan eye and ear hospital, on the west side of the avertue, fared nearly as bad, and had to be abandoned by the management. The Grand Union hotel lost all of its windows and glass partitions and prac- tically every front window in the Grand Central station was shattered. The great clocks on its front towers were blown from their cases. Thou- sands of windows, some of them seven blocks from the tunnel shaft, fell in fragments. It was the shower of broken glass and falling debris that in- jured the greatest number. General alarms brought firemen, police reserves and every available ambulance to the district and the injured were Speedily Cared For. A majority of the injured were treat- ed on the spot and the white-coated ambulance surgeons worked for an hour in the debris-strewn streets. The cause of the.explosion and the quantity of explosives that blew up are not definitely known. It will probably take an Official investigation to reveal the true explanation. District Attorney Jerome visited the scene and made an investigation to guide him in the official inquiry and possible criminal prosecution that will follow. Ira A. Shaler, engineer in charge of the work at Park avenue; John Brack- en, a foreman, and Martin McGrath, an assistant foreman, were placed un- der arrest and charged with homicide. The damage may exgeed $1,000,000. MERGER CASE UP. U. S. Supreme Court Listens to Argu- ments by Both Sides. ‘Washington, Jan. 29. — The question whether the United States supreme court will assume jurisdiction of a suit in equity to enjoin the Northern Securities company is now before the court, The question was presented yester- day by briefs and oral arguments. Minnesota was represented by Attor- ney General W. B. Douglas and M. D. Munn of St. Paul and the securities company by William D. Guthrie of Philadelphia and John W. Griggs of New Jersey, former attorney general of the United States. Attorney General Douglas presented the case of the state on the petition for leave to file the bill. He gave a history of the laws of the state and of the work to consolidate the roads, and opened the argument by a short discus- sion of the legal points involved. Gen. Griggs and Attorney Guthrie followed with their arguments against the right of the court to consider the case. Munn of ©t. Paul in behalf of the state, with an argument directed at the con- stitutional aspects of the case. Dur- ing his argument Mr. Munn was fre- quently interrupted with questions by | Chief Justice Fuller and Justices Har- lan, Brewer, Gray and White. The question of jurisdiction is first to be decided by the court, and it is | mot expected by the attorneys that such decision will be reached within two or three weeks. PETITION TO THE GOVERNOR, Request That Merger Action Be Sus- pended. St. Paul, Jan. 29.—Gov. Van Sant yes- terday received a petition signed by thirty-six business firms of Minneapo- lis requesting that he take no steps against the Northern Securities com- pany, but that he give the company @ fair chance to show what it is. The document states that it is an open question whether competition gives greater benefit than co-operation. The competitive method has been tested with unsatisfactory results. Better re- sults, says the -petition, may be ob- tained by co-operative management, subject to supervision by the federal and state commissions. The petitioncrs think the experiment worth a trial. If the Northern Securities company proves unsatisfactory, there is still re- course open to the United States su- preme court, it says. The petition ar- gues that the state should encourage the investment of capital; that railroad development should be fostered, not impeded; that opening trade with the Orient will be of advantage to the be Ni and that co-operation means 1 They were followed by attorney | NO MERCY SHOWN GEN, CHAFFEE IS DEALING OUT JUSTICE WITH A STERN HAND. / FILIPINO MURDERERS MUST HANG TEN NATIVES ARE TRIED BEFORE ‘THE MILITARY COMMIS- SION. ¢ DEATH FOR ALMOST ALL OF THEM IN EVERY CASE EXCEPT ONE THE PERSGN MURDERED WAS A NATIVE, Washington, Jan. 28.—Maj. Gen. Chaffee is dealing out justice with a stern hand to natives ot the Philippines who have been indulging in murder and pillage under the pretense of fight- ing for ingependence, ‘The official mail from Manila just re- ceived by the war department contains the orders in ten cases of natives tried before military commissions for mur- der. In every case except one the per- son murdered was a native. The one exception was that of an American sol- dier whose body, strangely enough, could not be identified by the military authorities, Nearly all the accused were sentenced to death and in a ma- jerity of cases the sentences were ap- proved by Gen. Chaffee. In a case where the native convicted was sen- tenced to twenty years’ imprisonment, Gen. Chaffee expressed the opinion that the sentence was inadequate. \ One of the natives tried, Augustin to their death as the result of an explos- locos, Luzon, was a leader of the Fil- ipino secret society known as the San- datahan. He was charged with killing Antonio Abaya, who was supposed to be an American spy. On the witness stand Aguilar gave as a reason for the murder that the community wanted to get rid of Abaya because he had “‘a bad sickness.” Aguilar’s sentence Was death, but Gen. Chaffee commuted it to imprisonment for life. JUMP ON SCHLEY. “Hero of Santiago” May Have to Face Another Naval Court. Washington, Jan. 28.—Admiral Schley may face another naval court for his alleged letter to George E. Graham, au- thor of “Schley and Santiago,” in which Admiral Sampson is by inference criti- cised for not having been present when the Spanish fleet was destroyed. The matter was brought to Secretary Long’s attention yesterday and he will give it consideration. He would not say whether or not the offense of the admiral on its face constituted a sub- ject for court-martial or reprimand, but the Gpinion here is that if the Samp- soniies can arlange things Schley will be put to all the annoyance possible. The secretary discussed the incident in- formaily with Judge Advocate General Lemly, but no dctinite line of action was determinei upon. Admiral Schley’s letter to Mr, Graham was dated Nov. L4, 1901, and was writ- ten from the Arlington hotel, this city. The sessions of the court of inquiry had then been conducted several days, but this, ‘accerding to the navy depart- ment’s authorities, does not affect the ease. Secretary Long’s special order that naval officers should not discuss the Sampson-Schley controversy for publication is held to have been in ef- tect. Secretary Long was in conference with the president for cver an hour last night, presumably in regard to the appeal or Rear Admiral Schley from the findings of the court of inquiry, which was referred by the executive of the navy department for ‘‘comment.” The s¢cretary was accompanied by sudge Advocate Lemly and Solicitor Hanna, who conducted the case before the court. They met at Secretary Long’s apartments, «nd when they de- parted for the White House they had with them bundles of papers which had the appearance of legal documents. Secretary Long declined to say any- thing for publication regarding the con- ference. SMALLPOX WAR ON, Inhabitants of an Indiana Village Are Wildly Excited. Kokomo, Ind., Jan. 28.—A smallpox war is raging at Greentown, ten miles tast of here. Isaac Murphy, whom the officers of a dozen Indiana towns have been pursuing for ten days on suspicion of spreading smallpox, was captured at Greentown Friday night. Murphy was ordered quarantined at the home of William Somers. The vil- lagers objected to sheltering Murphy in their midst and appealed to the au- thorities to have him removed to an- other place. This was refused, and at 2 o'clock yesterday morning a mob as- sembled at the Somers’ home and or- dered Murphy out*of town, under pen- alty of violence. Murphy dared the crowd, and, raising a shotgun, began firing into the mob. One shot took ef- fect on Officer John. Poole, who had just arrived to quell the riot The shot was not intended for the officer, his presence being unknown to the occu- pants of the house. Fifty birdshot pen- etratd his lower limbs, but the injuries are not fatal. The crowd then dis- persed, but declared they would return and finish the job. In anticipation of further trouble last night the house was barricaded. So far the assailants have not again shown up and it is thought the vigorous fight displayed by the two men has scared them out. BOERS JOINING BRITISH ARMY. Gen. Vilonel Notifies Steyn That a Force of 1,500 Will Fight Against Old Comrades. Pretoria, Jan. 28.—Lord Kitchener has authorized Gen, Vilcnel, a surrendered burgher, to raise an addittonal Boer corps of 1,500 men. Gen. Vilonel has written a letter to ex-President Steyn, warning the latter of his intention to form such 2 corps and adding that the Boers in the concentration camps are REUNITED AFTER YEARS. Aged Couple Cause an Unusnal Scene in Court. Mattoon, Il, Jan. 30. — An aged couple estranged for years, were re- united in the circuit court at Charles- ton last evening. Spectators and law- yers applauded and the presiding judge waved his specticles above his head. Al Latta is a wealthy retired business man. Fourteen years ago he married Mrs. Lang, a widow with three children. The couple disagreed over the method of rearing the children and parted. Mrs. Latta received $500 and the household furniture for waiving all claims to her husband's estate. Re- cently she became penniless. Her eye- sight failed in the hard work she had given them while sewing to make a living. Her children were married-and she was alone. In despair she sued for sepqrate maintenance. The case was heard by Judge Van Sellar. While Latta was on the witness stand his lawyer asked him if he would live with his wife again. He answered “Yes.” Turning to the.wife the lawyer asked the same question. She, too, said “Yes,” and the estranged couple were soon in each other’s arms. The suit was dismissed and th: happy pair drove home together. LET THE PRESIDENT CHOOSE, Mr. Spooner’s Bill Places Canal Question in Roosevelt’s Hands. Washington, Jan. 30. — Just before the adjournment of the senate yester- day Senator Spooner introduced a sub- stitute for the Nicaragua canal Dill. The new bill is a practical authoriza- tion to the president of the United States to choose between the Panama and the Nicaragua routes. The first provision looks to the acquisition of the franchises, right of way and other property of the new Panama Canal Company of France, including the company’s control of the Panama ralil- road. The president is authorized to pay $40,000,000 for these “provided a satisfactory title can be obtained.” The bill also carries an alternative pro- vision authorizing the president to proceed with the construction of the Nicaraguan canal in case he fails to secure the necessary concessions from Colombia or a satisfactory title from the Panama Canal company. SCHLEY’S RIGHT HAND LAME. Admiral’s Admirers Are Too Demon- strative. Louisville. Ky., Jan. 30. — Rear Ad- miral Schley, who, under the chaperon- age of the board of trade and the Knights Templar, will be Louisville's guest until Friday next, arrived here over the Monon road at 7:15 o'clock last evening. He was greeted by an admiral’s salute and a shouting crowd of many hundreds at the depot. He was escorted to his carriage by the full committee representing his hosts and driven to the residence of Marion E Taylor, president of the board of trade. Here the admiral and Mrs. Schley spent a. quiet evening. They met only a few people, as the com~- mittee had appreciated the likelihood that the admiral and his wife would be fatigued upon their arrival. The trip from Chicago was one long ovation, and so vigerous were some of the hand clasps which the distinguished sailor received en route that his right hand was nearly “out of business,” as the admiral explained. MURDERERS HANGED. One Thousand People See the Last Act in the Drama That Began With a Death, c Harrisburg, Pa., Jan. 30. — Weston Keiper and Henry Rowe were hanged at 10:40 yesterday morning in the pres- ence of 1,000 persons. Rowe and Keiper for several years worked in and about the mines at Lykens, Pa. During the morning of March 13 last they visited the Halifax National Bank of Halifax, this county, and, with drawn revolvers, commanded of Cashier Charles W. Ry- an the cash in the vault. They quick- ly gathered into a satchel the loose money in the cash drawer, amounting to about $8,000. While one of them was fastening the lid of the satchel he laid his revolver on the cashier's desk. Mr. Ryan seized the weapon and in the struggle was shot in the breast, dying several hours later. Rowe and Keiper were captured by citizens. Within two weeks they were tried and convicted of first degree murder. Frank R. Sholey, an accomplice, pleaded guilty as an ac- cessory, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. DESPERATE FIGHT WITH KNIVES. Rivals in Love Fight Duel Almost to the Death. Crawfordsville, Ind., Jan. 30.—Arch Gentry and Charles Groscarp, both liv- ing near Linden, fought a duel almost to the death. The men used knives, and afte: a terrible battle lasting nearly fifteen minutes Gentry fell to the ground, his antagonist having slashed him with his xnife until he fell’ almost lifeless in the snow. The two men were rivals in a love affair and had sworn vengeance against each other. By agreement they met alone about 2 mile from town, and after Gentry had fallen his rival returned io the city and notified his friends where to find him. Groscarp, who lives in Kentucky, then made his escape. Gentry is in a serious condition and may not recover, POLICE SPIES. jan System of Espionage at the . Capitol City. * Stockholm, Jan. 30. — Gov. Bobrikoff has doubled the police force in Hel- singfors, the Finnish capitol, at the ex, pense of the local rate payers. He has also ccmmanded every house owner to employ a porter whofly subject to the direction of the police, in order that the doings of the tenants may be reported. ARGENTINE [S DIRTY, Declines to Approve of Sanitar. Measures. Mexico City, Jan: 30. The Pan- American conference yesterday ap- proved the international sanitary meas- ures. The Argentine delegates refused to have anything to do with the project owing to theiryobjections to sanctioning the creation of an international sani- tary bureau with headquarters in Washington. They have ibatted the same idea in connection with other pro- posed conventions. — aay CAPT. PORTER’S MARINES SUFFER ACUTELY FROM STARVA- , 5 TION. ATE RAW FLESH OF TWO DOGS , SUFFER TERRIBLE HARDSHIPS AND ARE WITHOUT FOOD FOR DAYS. ARE DELIRIOUS WHEN RESCUED t RENEGADE AMERICANS LEAD AN ATTACK IN BA- GAS. Manila, Jan. 30. — Gen Chaffee cur- tailed his trip and returned here yes- terday morning. He says he found the conditions satisfactory everywhere ex- cept at Samar, where continuous rain during the past two months has re- tarded the campaign, especially against such an elusive enemy. The condition of Capt. David D- Porter’s marines, who took part in the expedition into the interior of Samar, is much worse than previously de- scribed. They suffered fearful hard- ships and were without food for several days. The natives who accompanied the marines claimed they were unaple to distinguish the edible roots, which the marines did not believe. The anger of the marines against the natives is intense. None of the latter returned with the marines. The marines suffered so acutely from starvation that they ate, raw, the flesh of two dogs. When Capt. Porter and the first three of his: men staggered into camp They Were Delirious and difficulty was experienced in as~ certaining the whereabouts of their compenions. Williams, of the First in- fantry, headed the relief expedition in the face of a torrential rainstorm, which flooded the rivers. He succeeded in reaching the remaining ten men, who would otherwise have certainly perished. He found them all delirious. Two of the men were discovered in the branches of trees barking like dogs. Some of the marines are so ill that they are not likely to recover. Gen. Chaffee has endeavored to ob- tain full details of the trip of the ma- rines, but Capt. Porter is not yet able to lucidly explain matters. The expedition into the interior of Samar, Jed by Capt. Porter, numbered thirty-six men. It had been absent two weeks. The marines had been pro- vided with rations for only five days. On Jan. 21 Capt. Porter and twenty-six members of his party reached the coast of the Island of Samar. The other ten men were missing and little hope of their safety was entertained. Work of Renegades. The general outlook in Batangas province is decidedly favorable. A party of insurgents, led by two rene- gade Americans, recently entered Alangulang, in Leyte province, claim- ing they were constabulary, but not yet uniformed. The imposters were taker. to police headquarters and were royally entertained by the native ser- geant in charge. At a given signal the renegades and insurgents fell on the police, who, ‘though outnumbered more than two to one, fought desperately and drove off their assailants after a hand-to-hand fight in which bolos were the chief weapons. The victory was notable, as the police were com- pletely surprised and so outnumbered. They lost two men killed and one man wounded. The insurgents left one man dead. CHANCE FOR PEACE. jab dey Proposal For = Settlement of the War in South Africa. Londen, Jan. 30. — In the house of commons yesterday afternoon the Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, first lord of the treasury and government leader in the house, announced that the government of Holland had made proposals for peace between England and the Boers in South Africa last Saturday, which proposals were now under consideration by the British cabinet. Mr. Balfour’s statement surprised the house, although nobody had given cre- dence to the diplomatic denials of the significance of the recent visit of Dr. von Kuyper, the Netherlands prime minister, to London. The report im- mediately gained belief that the Boers had abandoned their claim for inde- penderce, and were putting an imme- diate general amnesty in place of that claim. There was a marked Feeling of Optimism in the lobbies, where it was believed that a proclamation of amnesty might be expected at once. Mr, Balfour's statement did: not reach the city until the stock exchange had closed, but an excited market begen in the street, cul- minating in a scene of disorder and excitement. It was impossible to ob- tain quotations. Operators everywhere are insisting that the end of the war has come, and a heavy boom may set .in at any time now. Most significant of all is the admis- | sion of the first openly announced over- tures for peace fave come direct to the British government from an inde- pendent neutral power, and not from the ccmmandoes in the field to Lord Milner, as they would come from a de- feated force to the official representa- tives of its conqueror. BOER'S DONT KNOW IT. lave Made or Authorized No Peace Proposnls, Brussels, Jan. 30. — The Petit Blue, which is generally regarded as receiving information from the Boer delegates, de- clares this evening that the delegates have formulaged no peace proposals and have not charged anybody with the for— mulation of them. They do not know the nature of Holland’s communication to Great Britain and they have nothing to do with it, It is Ro atk pee how- of frien ever, that Holland f do oa: Scien THEIR FOOD b= . oad }—}, rom 1 - — poh Figg oe