The National Tribune from Washington, District of Columbia • Page 4

THE. NATIONAL TRIBUNE: WASHINGTON, D. 0., THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1885. he National Tribune. (Established 1877.) PUBLISHED WEEKLY.

6110 Dollar per Year, Suvariably in Adanco. Six months, 75 cents. No subscription for a period received. SrECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. MONET sent vr, othcrtcisc Uian by registered letter, postal notes, money order, or draft, mi New Tori; rcill be at the rhh of the sender.

AGENTS. Wccmjdoy no agents. The Natiosai. Tkibujo: has many volunteer canvassers, and they are generally honest and faithful; but persons tcho confide their stfliscriptions to them tnusl be their oicn judges of their rapoiMbility. The paper will be sent only on receipt of the subscription price ADDRESSES, RENEWALS, Etc Address mil be cliangcd as often as desired, but each subscriber sliouldin cvciycascgicc the old as tccJl as new address.

In rcnetcing, subscribers should beenreful to send us the label on the jxrprr received, and specify any corrections or cJiangcs they desire made in name or address. COEHESrONDENCE. Correspondence is solicited from crcry section in regard to Grand Army, Household matters, and letters to the 1 Alitor tcill always receive-prompt attention. Write on ONE SIDE of the paper only. We do not return communications or manuscripts unless they arc accompanied by a request to Vial ejrccl and the neceseary postage, and under no circwnslanccs guarantee their publication al any special date.

Address all communications to THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, Washington, D. C. EKTCRED AT THC AJHts8TOl POST OFrtCE AS SCCCO CttS UXTttK. The National Tribune. WASHINGTON, D.

A TOIL 2, 1SS5. To any person who will scud us a club of ten new subscribers to THIS TllIBUXE we will present a new "WatcrburyAvateb, inclosed in a handsome satin-lined case, and warranted to keep accurate time. General Sherman on Tho Tribune. HEADQUAKTEKS ARMY OF THE U. Washington, D.

C. To the Editor National Tribune: -x- From the nature of the articles published in the numbers of The National Tribune sent me, I observe that it is published in the interest of the soldiers of the civil war. In this you have my hearty sympathy, and I will endeavor in my own sphere of action to co-operate with yon in all practicable measures to that end, without money and without price. With great respect, Your obedient servant, W. T.

Sherman. GEN, GRANT. HISTORY OF THE DYING HERO, HIS CAMPAIGNS AND VICTORIES, IN NEXT WEEK'S PAPER. In next week's National Tribune we shall give an extended and carefully written history of Gen. Grant, "which will be the most complete thing of the kind published in any paper.

It will be illustrated by engravings, maps, and portraits, and be something that every soldier and student of the war should have. It will be something worthy of careful preservation. Those desiring extra copies should send for them at once. THE BATTLE OF ATLANTA. Hood's Desperate Attempt to Turn the 'Flank of Sherman's Army.

IrT OUR ISSUE OF APRIL 16. By John W. Fuller. Undoubtedly the hardest fought engagement of the long Atlanta Campaign was the battle before that city on tho 22d of July, 1864. Gen.

Hood, after a stratagem to induce Sherman to believe that he was evacuating the city, suddenly lanched his columns oat on his right and fell with overwhelming force upon our left. He was only beaten off after the mobl desperate struggle, in which the losses on both sides were heavy and on ours included Maj. James B. McPhcrson. The division which received the brunt of the assault was commanded by John W.

Fuller, who went from Ohio in command of the 27th Ohio, and proved himself one of the best of the very many good soldiers sent from that State. The leader of the rebel attacking column, Gen. Walker, of Mississippi, was killed directly in front of Gen. Fuller's position. We have long solicited Gen.

Fuller to write us an account of the engagement, and he has at last done so, and a masterly production it is. It is not only good because it is the account of a man who took a leading part in the engagement, but it is good from its admirable literary style. It will appear in our issue of April 16, and be illustrated with carefnlly drawn maps showing the position of thetroops at different periods of the fight. It will be beyond doubt much the most important article that has ever appeared on that great.battle. THE RED ACORN.

Every soldier of the Army of the Cumberland or of the Ohio, or in fact every man who served west of the Alleganics, should have a copy of Mr. John McElroy's "Red Acorn," a spirited story of the war, full of love, adventure and fighting, which makes a moat fascinating story. It tells the history of the campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee better than a history doe3, and through the woof run golden threads of fancy, love and sentiment. It is snch a book every one will prize, and costs, with The National Tiub-UNE for one year, but 1.75. Those already subscribers to The National Tribune can obtain it by sending us an additional 75 cents.

RECRUIT THIS O.A.K. The best work that any man can do is to bring in recruits to the G.A.R. The best way to serve the country is to build up tho most purely patriotic organization that this or any other land can boast of. Tho best way to help every comrade in distress, and every comrade's widow, dependent parents or helpless orphaus, is to aid in strengthening the noble society which is the shelter and protection of every man who did his duty to his country in its day of trial. Every honorably discharged soldier should be .1 member of the G.A.R.

No valid reason no reason worthy a moment's consideration can be given for his remaining outside. ITo should place himself in lino and touch elbows with his comrades, just as ho did 20 years ago. Then it was dishonorable in him to lag behind. Then, to be fonnd out of ranks while his comrades moved forward was to shirk his share of the duly and the danger, and throwaheavier burden uponhis comrades. It is much the same thing now.

The G.A.R. is organized to do a' meriloiious and much needed work for the country and for the stricken survivors of our armies. It is a work that needs all who can engage in it; the nnmber of thoso that can so engage was fixed 20 years ago, and can not now be increased. Therefore, who over fails to oiu in it, fails to do his clear duty, fails in maintaining his own part, and docs what is akin to the skulking and shirking of 20 years ago. The Order is growing finely, but this is not sufficient.

It should be made to grow as did the tree which sprang from a mustard seed, which towered up toward heaven, and spread its branches out toward the four corners of the sky, for the protection of all who might take refuge thereunder. The rate of increase of other societies will not do. They can afford to wait the course of time. The G.A.R. cannot.

Every year death makes sad inroads upon the Order's actual and probable members. Every year calls moro loudly for all to join in helping those who are past helping themselves. The Order has now a quarter of a million of members. It should have at least four times that many. There are at least men in the country who properly belong inside the G.A.K.

Their place is on its muster-rolls, and they should be put there before the end of this year. With practically every living soldier in its ranks, the G.A.R. will do a work that will excite the admiration of the world. It is doing a magnificent work now. What would it not do with its membership quadrupled, and its power for good increased tenfold? Commander-in-Chief Kountz is doing all that burning zeal, great ability and knowledge born of long experience can do to build up tho Order.

lie is succeeding grandly. The growth is continuous and strong, but it is not all that it should be. There should be 10 recruiLs taken in every week where one is now. lne comraacs can secure ima by every one of them making it a matter of personal interest that every proper man in his neighborhood bo gathered into the fold. If this good work is made a matter of personal concern by all comrades, the year will close with every living soldier of the war of an active member of the G.A.R.

Comrades, let us adjure you by all your love for your country, and for those who bore the burden of tho strife with" you, to set your hearts upon this most-desired consummation. ji THE SIKHS AND SEPOYS. The news from Egypt is that the Sepoys in the English ariny have behaved rather badly in the face of the enemy, while the Sikhs acted in a very creditable manner. This is a matter of much moro importance than would seem from the casual mention. The iSepoj-s are made up of the better class of the inhabitants of Hindostan.

At one time they were almost wholly high-caste Hindoos, but they have now quite an admixture of Musselmans also. In appearance they are ideal soldiers slender, well made, wiry, and capable of enduring an enormous amount of fatigue. They make as imposing a body of men as ever were seen under arms. They were first employed as soldiers by the East India Company, who disciplined, uniformed and armed them according to European A methods, and made effective use of them in fighting and conquering their compatriots of the great Hindostan Peninsula. Up to Captain they have their own officers, but the superior officers of the regiment are always English.

At the breaking but of the great Sepoy rebellion of 1857 tho East India Company had over 300,000 of them in its service. It will bo remembered that tiie precipitating cause of that rebellion was the introduclioii of the Enfield cartridge The story went that these were greased with tallow from cows, an animal which the Hindoos regard as sacred. Tho Mahometans among tho Scpoya understood tlial the grease was tho fat of hogs, to touch which a Mahometan regards as pollution. After the rebellion had been conquered tho East India Company was dissolved, and the Eng lish Government took actual control of the country. The Sepoys were reorganized, and there are now about 128,600 in service.

Except the rebellion of 1857, they have usually been very faithful to their masters, and have done some splendid service. The Sikhs, on the other hand, arc a hardy people of the hill provinces, who belong to the agricultural caste, and whose religion is a mixturo of Mahometanism and Brahman-ism. They were developed into a great warlike peoplo by the renowned Runjeet Singh, and fought the British very stubbornly for several years. Alter their subjugation they became one of the most loyal peoples in the British Empire. What is of most importance in this matter is the test of the real value of the Sepoys according to modern requirements of soldier- ship.

If the test ho is now undergoing will demonstrate he is a soldier capablo of meeting the French, German or Russians, England will become at once tho foremost military nation in the world. There are 200,000,000 Hindoos, and with such an immense reservoir of people to draw from, supposing them to be the military equals of Europeans, England would lower up so far above any other country as to make a contest with her hopeless from tho outset She has more money than any other nation in tho world, and can, if the emergency requires, put more troops in the field than any possible combination of nations against her. Tho millions of men which Russia, Germany and Franco combined could call to their standards could be overpowered by weight of tho numbers drawn from the "teeming womb of Asia." Even if it took five Hindoos to meet three Europeans, she would still have such an enormous preponderance as to make contest with her almost hopeless. Thi3 problem seemed once on tho verge of solution when Disraeli ordered some Sepoy regiments to Constantinople to confront tho Russian column which was advancing to that city. If not solved by the present operations in Egypt it will probably soon bo by tho almost inevitable contest of the Russians and tho Sepoy troops in tho mountains of Afghanistan.

CENTHAL AMERICA. The little strip of mountainous territory which is tho scene of Scnor Barrios's ambitious performance would have exceedingly little interest for us or the rest of tho world were it the barrier through which must bo cut tho ocean highway for moro than half, the world. We say must bo cut" advisedly for a canal across that country is a certainty of the unrcmote future. In these days of rapid transit and shortest routes the world will not endure tho long and tedious voyages around Cape Horn for many more years. It is now only a question of who shall dig the canal, and who shall control it after it is dug.

Tho French will most assuredly dig one across tho Isthmus of Panama, unless we speedily set about forestalling them by the construction of one through tho State of Nicaragua. Probably they will go ahead with their work even if wc conclude to construct ours, for they havo already expended too many millions to desist from a strenuous attempt to make thoso millions a profitable investment. There is no doubt, as Admiral Jouclt says, that the French arc tho instigators and backers of Barrios's demonstrations. Such a statement has every presumption in its favor. To stir up tho turbulent Spanish-American peoplo to resist the extension of our power over the Isthmus would seem to be the most expedient way of checking tho construction of an opposition canal by this country.

Even though we havo to fight France, we cannot relinquish our right to control the waterway between tho two oceans. Wo cannot allow any nation to gain a position where it can interfere with the free passage of our war and merchant vessels from ono part of our country to tho other. We can no more allow France to control the canal through the Isthmus than wc could permit Canada to exercise sovereignty over one of the Great Lakes. Central America is a narrow, crooked strip of land, between 800 and 900 miles long, and from 30 to 300 broad. Tho whole is traversed by a mountain chain, tho peaks of which rise occasionally to enormous bights ranging from 11,000 to feet Politically, tho country is divided into five Republics, with area and population as follows Square Miles.

ropu- lution. Costa Rien 21.195 180,000 1.100.751 351,700 230.000 431,520 uuaicmaiu Honduras Nicaragua 57.000 Sau Salvador 7.335 17J.C97 2,392,971 The country was settled in 1523 by tho Spaniards, who established seaports and highways across the mountains to transfer the plunder they brought up from Peru. In 1825 the five Colonies broke away from Spain and formed a confederation in imitation of the United States. Tho confederation was broken up in 1839, and continual efforts have been mado ever since to restore it, but these have been thwarted by tho personal ambitions and jealousies of tho politicians. At present Barrios seems to be supported by his own State Guatemala and Honduras, and to be opposed bj the other three States.

Supposing these to be solid for the sides they espouse, this would make about 1,550,000 people supporting Barrios to opposing him. But Barrios's enemies have the active support of the Mexican Government, with a moral backing from our own. TENSION FEE LEGISLATION. There is no man in the United Stales bettor posted in regard to pension fee legislation than Gen. Geo.

S. Lifcrrill, Fast Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and at present Chairman of the National Committee on Pensions of the G.A.R. From the very first, Gen. Merrill has given the subject great attention, has studied it in all its aspects, and has been greatly interested in all pertaining to it Many of tho most beneficent regulations that now appear on the statute books or in the practice of the Pension Office were suggested or advised by him. This is what he says in the Lawrence American, of which ho is the editor and proprietor, in regard to the proposed legislation on the subject of pension attorneys: The fee bill for pension agents, which tho National House of Representatives last week refused to gntnt consideration, seems to have been quite generally misunderstood by newspaper writers commenting thereon.

This was an act in effect repealing tho existing law, which allows, by permission of the Pension Department, applicants for pensions to contract with their attorneys to pay tho latter, when successful, not exceeding 625; tho former bill, which it has been proposed to re-establish, allowed only a fee of S10. but this was to be collected in advance, and must bo paid whether the pension wia granted or" refused. It having been ebowu that tho pension agcnlswcro quite Interested In tho procurement of the $23 bill, a clamor hns at once been raised against it as unjust, and as taking a large sum from "tho poor pensioners. While it is truo that the chitting law was desired by pension agents, it is equally clear that it was alike advantageous to tho claimant and the Government. Tho old billi allowing only S10, but in nil cases, whether successful or not, was a direct premium to unscrupulous attorneys to pick up any possible case, good or bad, file tho preliminary papers, collect the $10, and then it was little matter what became of the application and so the Pension Ofllcc was sure to bo Hooded with bogus ca3cs, filed solely for tho fco, to tho impediment of the causes of lcgitimato applicants.

As only about two-thirds of tho applications are finally allowed, tho avcrago fee, if confined to successful cases only, would bo less than S7, and as those involving arrears reach an average amount of above S1.000, the utter paltriness of such rale of compensation is apparent. Tho present law allows 525, if tho claimant so contracts and tho pension officers ngrco, to be paid onl in successful cases. This law, so manifestly just to the agents, advantageous to claimant and the Government, was recommended by the Secretary of tho Interior, and has been found to work satisfactorily. Tho clamor for its repeal is based alono on tho supposition that tho pension agents aro favored by it. True, but so is the pensioner, who can in a majority of cases better afl'Ord to pay S25 out of the pension when nllowcd, than to deposit from his oft-timo poverty S10 in advance; and it serves to confine the efforts of agents to tho presentation of cases only in which there nre good grounds for believing the claims valid.

It is significant that while the demand is made for aohango in the present laws, solely, so far as wc havo seen, because the pension attorneys favored it, the Secretary of tho Interior and tho Commissioner of Pensions, tho Commander-in-Chief and the Chairman of tho National Pension Committee of tho Grand Army of the Republic, the two latter speaking for their hundred thousand veterans, arc strenuously in favor of tho existing law, as unquestionably in the interest of pension applicants. THE MEXICAN PENSION BILL. To the EniTon: with thousands of other veterans, am pleased with your assertion that in the matter of the Mexican Pension Hill with amendments you "havo enlisted for the war." I would suggest iulhis connection that you publish a synopsis of tho bill as it now stands amended. lam aware that you did this a few months ago; but even in this village Tim National Tjiihune is read by (borrowers included) more than 100 people who, nt the time that statement was published, had never seen the paper. In proof that the provisions of the bill as amended aro not as generally understood as they should be, I cite the fact that at the Department Encampment, composed of tho representative men of the Grand Army throughout this State, it was objected to, and some of tho amendments had to bo read from the platform boforc a unanimous vote could bo obtained requesting Congress to pass the bill.

J. A. Cook, Clayton, Jefferson N. Y. The first seven sections of the bill provide that any soldier who served regularly in the Mexican War for 1-1 days, who is now 62 years old or disabled, and who is receiving no pension, or less than a month, shall be given that sum.

Corresponding provision is mado for the widow of such a soldier. But he cannot receive the pension if his disability is the result of his servico in aid of the rebellion nor can Jefferson Davis receive the pension. Section 8 provides that any soldier or sailor who served three months during the rebellion, was honorably discharged, is now disabled from some causeinotdue to his own gross misconduct, and who is dependent upon his own labor for support, shall receive a pension of $24 a month where totally disabled for manual labor, and a proportionately smaller amount where the disability is less than total. It will be observed that the obnoxious phrase, "and such election shall be final," is omitted from the clause permitting tho applicant to choose at any time under which law he will make, his claim. Section 9 provides that the pensions of widows shall be raised from to $12 a month.

Section 10 provides that upon the death of any pensioner his widow and children under 16 shall be entitled to an original pension in their own right, without the necessity of proving that the husband and father died from cau? fi "iorxi xtelwit1 hi t-jrvice. THE TRIBUNE SEWING MACHINE. A sewing machino has now become almost as necessary to tho management of a household as a cooking stove. Tho amount of money and labor saved yearly by the use of a machino would indeed bo hard to estimate, and there is now no reason why any house should be without one, as wo can furnish tho most excellent ono at a price within tho reach of all. For $18 wc now offer a machino which, for finish and workmanship, is not excelled by one costing double the price, and a year's subscription to The National Tribune.

We also make an offer by which enterprising persons can procure one of theso superb machines without any outlay of money. To the geller-up of a club of 125 prepaid subscribers we will present one of these most useful and indispensable articles. This offer on tho part of The National Tribune also opens an unexcelled field for practical charity among comrades and others. There is probably no moro certain or genteel manner for a woman to earn a living than by sewing, and a machine does away with nine-tenths of the fatigue, besides turning out a vastly larger amount of work. In most communities will be found the dependent wives, sisters, or other female relatives of deceased soldiers, and what better means could be found of putting them in an independent xosition than by presenting them with a sewing machine? If a number of comrades should really make up their minds to get up a club of 125 subscribers they would not find it a very onerous task, and if they made tho diposition of the machine suggested they would certainly have done an act of charity Which they would take pleasure in contemplating for years to come.

Department Commanded R. B. Brown, of Ohio, forcibly outlines in his Circular Order, which comes withjour correspondence from National Headquarters, the needs and possibilities of the Grand Army in every Department within its jurisdiction. It is a ringing appeal from a comrade who is himself tho embodiment of soldierly zeal, promptitude and energy, and should not only inspire the Ohio ranks with new enthusiasm, but send a tinglo of responsive sympathy all along the line. These Spring months should add thousands to the recruiting rolls of the Grand' Army.

The National Tribune Cotts Only Ttvo Cents a Week. TUB G.A.K. WATCH. When a reliable and handsome timepiece can bo obtained without any outlay of money, and with but a small expenditure of time, there is certainly no reason why every man should not carry about with him the mean3 of ascertaining the time. The Grand Army watch, made by the celebrated Wator-bury Company, and which cannot bo surpassed for accuracy and neatness by one costing far more money, wo offer to any person sending us a club of 10 prepaid subscribers, which any energetic person can do by a very little canvassing.

Wo also offer this reliable timepiece and ayear'ssub3cription to The National Tribune for $3.50, and as that is the price of the watch alone, a present of a year's subscription is made to every purchaser. Wo will send you sample copies to aid in canvassing for subscribers if you will notify us. The telegraph announces tho death of Miss Amanda J. Stokes, Librarian of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Xenia, O. She died last Saturday night, at the age of 65, after a brief illness of two or three days.

She offered her services at the beginning of the war as a nurse, and performed a work in that capacity second to that of none of the noble women who went to the front to alleviate by the tenderness of woman's caro the miseries of the hospital and battlefield. She had about $1,000 when she began her noble work, but gave every cent of it to the suffering one3 whom she ministered to. Once, while on the battlefield among the wounded, she suffered severely from an accident which affected her brain and from which she never recovered. The G.A.R. of Ohio took quite an interest in her case and made extraordinary efforts to secure her a pension, which was at last brought about by a special act of Cqngress, something like a year ago.

Through the efforts of tho G.A.R. the office of Librarian was created and she was appointed to the office. There will probably be a very general turn-out of the Order in the neighborhood of Lebanon, whither her remains have been taken for interment. Another man who did splendid service daring the war has come to sorrow. Thos.

C. Fletcher, who served as Colonel of a Missouri regiment and was a gallant and faithful officer, has disappeared from his home in St Louis under circumstances that warrant tho belief that he has committed suicide. Col. Fletcher was elected Governor of Missouri in 1864, and administered the affairs of the State during the stormy Reconstruction period. At the close of his term the State debt was found to havo been increased some 18 millions, but as he continued poor, even his enemies could not charge that any of this sum went into his pocket Of late years he has lo3t a fine law practice and other means of living.

Ho has been a candidate for the Collectorship of St Louis. When it seemed hopeless that ho should obtain this ho became exceedingly despondent, and finally wandered away no ono knows whilher. There will be a very general regret at this termination of an honorable and useful career. An important change in our export trade is announced in the rapidly-increasing proportion of wheat reduced to flour before it is exported. For years there has been more and more of tho breadstnffs bought by Europeans from this country taken in the shape of flour, but the increase of late has been astonishing, and the railroads are said to be behindhand hundreds of thousands of tons in their flour orders.

This means that European buyers are figuring so closely that they want to cut off the expense of carrying the wheat "offal" across the ocean. The effect is said to be inimical to the grain business of Chicago, as tho European dealers show a tendency to go by Chicago and buy directly of the millers. Since the memorable row between the Monitor" and the "Mcrrimac" knocked England's navy higher than tho famous kite which Gilderoy flew, she has spent on war ships, but admits now that she has a very inefficient sea armament This ought to go some ways toward consoling us. Wo haven't much of a Navy, but then wehaven't spent a great deal of money on it A. R.

Lawton, the new Minister to Russia, was tho Quartermaster-General of the Southern Confederacy, and tho man for whom tho prison-pen near Millen, Ga. called, officially, "Camp Lawton," -was named. TRIBUNETS. Even tho Massachusetts Legislators nre devotees of Cotton Mather's grave has trees more than a century old growing over it, or -uuch things would never be. KKWNINGS.

I doo not lye awake o' night, My braino I do not frett. And wonder just whom hec will put Into liys Cabiuet. 1 doe not even wonder what Will be hys polieec. But oh and ah, yo pryeo of coal It ys that gravcltetli me. I doo not know, doe not care, What valorous Englishman Will smash ye Mnhdi and subdue Ye turbulent Soudan.

I doo not care if all ye East In bloodie war ys blent; I wysh I knew where I might fynd A'liltle lower rent. I care not if Reform shall winno, I reckon not if yt lose; I wonder where I'll fynd yo tinno To pay my water dues. I worry not that all ye Stated To wracke and ruin goe; I only wysh I could stand off Yo tradesmen what 1 owe. llobirt J. Burdelle.

It was only the other day. so to speak, that tho Sandwich Islanders killed Capt. Cook. Now they me so advanced in civilization that roller-skating rinlcs are as plentiful in Honolulu as in Chicago. Newman Independent: Through tho Telephone.

"Is that you, doctor?" "Yes, who is it?" "Mrs. Moron y. doctor, what shall I do for baby? lie has swallowed a dime." "Well, you suiely don't want to spend $2 "to get a dime, do you?" And the telephone ceased to work. Jloslcn Journal: "My dear," said a husband to is wife, "lam unable to get any sleep. I havo tossed over sinco I came to bed.

I wish you would get up and prepaid mu iitllo laudaiumi." "It's hardly worth while now," sho replied, couilthuj her watch; it's almost time to build the kitchen fire." Then lie sank into a quiet, restful slumber. Texa.t Biftings: Cleveland has a very good voice, but it has not a silvery ring. Puck: Secretary of the Navy "Whitney "I've come to lake chargo of tho Navy. Where i3 Watchman "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know' 1'vo only been here 12 years." EL Louis Globe-Democrat There havo been two eclipses this year a partial eclipse of the sun, and a total eclip-o of Tom Hendricks. Exchange: Advertising has carried to snch an extent lately that a clergyman, on selecting a chapter of the Bible to read in church, first look3 at the end of the last verse to make suro that no patent medicine advertisement is hitched on.

Exchange: Wish you'd feed your horse before he comes out." "Eh why hang it! What do yon mean?" IIo's always trying to eat my-lwots. He evidently thinks there's some chance of getting a little corn?" Exchange: Miss Rosebud. "Arthur is very low." Mr. Grand. "What Arthur?" Miss Rosebud.

Momctcr." (Dies horribly.) A member of tho Texas Legislature has been expelled for stabbing a newspaper man. That Is right the line should be drawn somewhere. Shooting negroes. Greasers. Indinus, and cattle-thieves, only show spirited playfulness, but sticking an 11-inch bowie into an obnoxious reporter is disorderly-conduct that should bo rebuked.

Norristown Herald An agricultural journal says "Spring is tho best time of the year to move It may be; but if a bee settles on your neck, or any other portion of your anatomy, in the Fall, don't wait until tho Spring to move it. There is a good reason why you shouldn't and you will discover what that reason is soon after the bee alights. California is full of undeveloped resources. Even the newspaper liar does not have to depend upon the worn-out snakes and fish of his Eastern competitors, but he can get up a yarn like this, which appears in the Vallcjo Chronicle "When the Lolita was coming down a Crankhorn slough at Cordelia with the tide last week, they were surprised to see a heavy 10-foot timber coming up toward them against the current. On getting nearer they found the timber to be in tow of four beavers." Minneapolis Tribune President Barrios may have to come to the conclusion by this time that he encompassed with his incisors more than he could masticate with his molars.

THE PENSION OFFICE. The ctt Commissioner Ottiwj Settled Don-n to Work. Tho new Commissioner of Pensions Gen. John C. Black enters upon his duties with a zeal and clHcicucy that seems to justify all the complimentary tilings that havo been said of him by his friends, associates, and former comrades.

He is certainly winning golden opinions from all sorts of people" here in Washington by his energy in attacking business, his capacity for disposing of it, and his uniform courtesy to all. Tho happiest results are predicted of his administration of the great Bnreau of which he is the head. Among his acts for the past week are the following decisions and opinions Clerls Must ray Their Bells. DnrAKTMENT OF THE Pk Washington, D. Circular It becomes my unpleasant duty toscato that lam in receipt of numerous complaints regarding the non-payment of debts contracted by employees of this office.

In many of these cases it appears that the indulgences granted by the creditors were based upon the fact that the debtors were employed by tho Government, in receipt of stared salaries regularly paid, which, in tho opinion of the former, placed them in a situation to promptly cancel the obligation made. It is not my intention to permit this office to ho used as a collecting agency, nor to be the refugoofany one who deliberately contracts debts upon the strength of his official position, and then neglects to pay the same. (Signed) John C. black, Commissioner. Case JSTo.

152,210, David Smith, I'ritate Co. 113A III. Tho soldier claimed pension on account of in juries caused by his beingstrnck on the head with a gun-barrel in the hands of a cotnradcuamed Foss. It appears from his own statements, and other evidence iu tho case, that he and Foss had an altercation in regard to some peaches that had disappeared from claimant's tent while he was on picket duty, or some other trifling matter, (the witnesses do not agree as to the cause of dispute) and after some word3 had passed Foss hit Smith over the head with the barrel of his gun, fracturing tho skull and producing injuries on account of which he was soon aftor discharged fiom the service. Ou this state of facts the Commissioner decided that the claimant's injury grew out of a personal quarrel, and that ho was therefore not in tho line of duty.

Tho Commissioner added that the claimant was no moro in tho line of duty than if ho had been ono of two principals in a duel his disability did not grow out of an act or condition that was incident to his service in the lino of duty. Afulavit in Case No. 307,123. In this caso an affidavit is filed by Harlan P. Bennett, executed before Daniel 31.

White, a Justice of the Peace and tho attorney of ''record, who states that at tho timo of the taking of tho affidavit said Bcunctt was in artiado mortis, and that his reason for taking the deposition of tho affiant was from fear that he would not bo able to leave tho dying man and return with another Justice aud receive the acknowledgment of affiant. The death occurred at a very remote point in tho State of 'it is ordered that if the said White shall filo in tho case in this offico a written renunciation of all his interest in the case as attorney and otherwise, and shall makuailidavit of the statement contained in the letter sent by him to Senator H. W. Blair, dated March 2G, 1S35, and shall add such statements as will convince the Commissioner that said Harlan Beunetfc was of sound mind, and absolutely understood tho entire contents of tho affidavit presented in his name at the timo tho sanio was signed aud reported to be so signed by him, and that the said affidavit was signed by said H. P.

Bennett, then and in that event tho affidavit of said Bennett shall he received in tho case as duly authenticated. Jluling on an Injury Received a Camp Fight. A soldier was upon picket duty. During tho time he was so dctailod he returned to camp to get some coifec. While in hi3 quarters he became engaged in an altercation with a comrade, a member of tho same regiment, which altercation resulted in a fight, during which the sol-dior who had remained iu camp struck the man who had relumed to camp over the head with a gun-barrel, producing tho injury resulting in tho disability for which ho claims pension.

Tho Commissioner holds that pensionable injuries must bo thoso which arise in tho lino of duty, and that the injury in this caso was in no wiso incident to tho servico tho claimant was rendering the Government; that a pension could no moro bo granted in this caso than if two officers had quarreled, and in fighting a duel ono of them had injured the other. Be holds that pensionable injuries are thoso arising in tho line of duty. Ruling in the Case of a Blind Afn. A soldier attached to a Kansas regiment was an applicant for a pension which had been delayed for many years. Tho oviueuco showed that ho had served faithfully and well for two years, and had then been discharged becauso of threatened blindness; that during tho two years of his service he had been a good, faithful soldier.

The testimony was conllioting as to the condition of tho soldier's eyes at tho time of his enlistment. The Commissionei holds that tho fact that ho had been received in tho service of tho United States, and for a period of two years had been able to perform all tho duties required of him, was sufficient establis lunent of his sound condition at tho time of entering tho service, and that a pension eertificato should be issued to him, it having been shown that after leaving tho servico his afiliction had increased until total blindness had supervened. Appeals to tho Secretary of the Interior. A practice ha3 grown up in tho offico of tho Commissioner of Pensions by which, after appeals had been takon from the Commissioner's decision to the Secretary of tho Interior, cases were recalled at the will of persons in tho Pension Bureau before decision had been mado by tlie Secretary of tho Interior, upon tho pretext of reconsideration or tho condition of ovidenco filed In tho opinion of tho now Commissioner this gave opportunity for tho practice of frauds upon the Government and imposition upon the claimant by means of pretended settlement, compromises or piopositions made iu the. case Intehior, ksion Office, March 31, 1835.

wliilo in transitu betweon the Bureau and thQ Secretary's office. Ho has therefore decided that when an an peal is taken from his decisions in tho grant-inpc or ratim; a pension or refusing it, nothing further shall bo done in the caso in tho office until the caso ha3 been passed by the Secretary of tho Interior, and formally returned with tho Secretary's decision. xl iromnn Cannot Receive Tixo Penaiws. A father and son were each enlisted in tho army. This son died leaving a mother claim iu to be a dependent Tho father survives his son and became a claimant for pension.

Pending tho claim of tho dependent mother and surviving invalid, father, tho father died. His widow, the dependent mother, filed a petition undor tho statute asking to be allowed to prosecute a claim for the pension doo her late husband. Tho Commissioner holds that sho might havo an election as to which ono of tho two claim3 she would perfect, bnt that she could not bo allowed to claim tho pension of her son and husband both, neither of them having been granted at the timo of the mling. OBITUARY. Invasions of Death In tho Hanks of Our Comrades.

Wade. At Maiden. March 20. Thomas F. Wade, U.

S. Retired. lie was a merchant captain at the outbreak of the war. when ho volunteered in the Navy, and served throughout as Lieutenant. Ho was made a Lieutenant-Commander in 1S70.

and retired in 1877. MAcnicc At St. Augustine. March IS. Capt.

Thomas D. Maurice, 2d U. S. A. He entered the service in 1SGL as Captain in the 1st Mo.

Ho was appointed Major of the 1st Mo. Art. antl served as that during the remainder of the war. Ho waa commissioned Second Lieutenannt. 2d Art, Feb.

23, 1S0C, and became Captain, Oct. 2, Sharp. Committed suicide nt Fort Tottcn.Dak.. March 21. Capt.

Thomas Sharp, 17th Inf. He enlisted at the beginning of the war in Co. A. 7th and in IWJ3 was promoted to Captain in the 65th D. S.

(colored); was commissioned Second Lieutenant in tho 43d July 2G. IhCO, and become Captain iu the 17th Inf. Nov. 26, lbSX GEN. JAMES Gen.

James McQuadc died at Utica, N. on tho 25th ult. Gen. McQuade was a native of Utica, where he was born April 27. 1S29, tho eldest of a family of nine children.

He was Captain of tho Utica Citizens Corps at the outbreak of tho war of the rebellion. The day after tho firing on Fort Sumter the corps offered its services to Gov. Morgan, and enlisted as a company of volunteers under the first call for troops, April 17. 1361. The corps left Utica April 21, 1861, being enlisted for two years.

It remained at Albany for sonio time, where tho l'lth Reg't was formed, and mustered in May 17. Tho corps became Co. and Capt.McQuadb was chosen Colonel of the regiment, which consisted of 10 companies. At the battle of Malvern Hill Col. McQuade acted in command of the brigade to which his regiment was attached, the Colonels of the 62d Mass.

and the Uth Mich, having been killed during the fight. He act in this capacity to the close of his term of service a period of 13 months. For his bravery and gallant services he was recommended by Gen. McClellan for promotion to Brigadier-General, but tho appointment was not made. For 10 days previous to the battlo of CUauceUorsviUe Gen.

MeQnado had been ill, but when tho battle began he was taken in an ambulance to the field, where he mounted hi3 horse and commanded his troops throughout tho fight Tho battlo over, he fell from his horso exhausted, and was confined to his tont two weeks afterward. Ho returned to Utica with his Tegiment May 21, lfc83. He was bre-vetted both Brigadier-General and Major-Gcn-eral by President Johnson, lie was one of tho founders of tho Loyal Legion, organized Gcorgo Washington Post, G.A.B., in Utica, and was selected Department Commander of tho Grand Army of the Republic in New York in 1S79. Gen. McQuade was twice elected Mayor of Utica, once as a Republican and again as a Democrat He was appointed Postmaster of that city by President Johnson, but served in that offico but a few months.

He was Inspector-General on tho staff of Gov. Hoffman, and served two terms as Quarantine Commissioner at the Port of New York, being succeeded by Thomas C. Piatt In the Presidential campaign of 1363 Gen.McQuado was one of the Presidential electors ou the Democratic ticket. Ho did not meet with the Electoral College, however, M. M.

Jones serving in his stead aud voting for Horatio Seymour. He was a Tilden Elector in 1S76, and served as Secretary to the Electoral College. He was appointed one of the managers of the State Lunatic Asylum in 1572, a position which ha held up to tho time of his death. His wife died two years ago. One son and two daughters survive him.

GEN. ANSON STAGER. Gen. Anson Staser, who for some time past has been suffering from a number of complaints, including Bright's disease, died at Chicago, 111., ou the 26th. He was born in Ontario N.

April 20, 1325. Ho began life as a printer. In 1316 he was a telegraph operator in Philadelphia. He took a prominent part in organizing various lines aud interests leased by and consolidated with the Wtstern Union Telegraph Company, and upon the organization of that company ho was made its General Superintendent In 1S61 he was appointed by tho Secretary of War as chief of the United States military telegraph. He organized tho military telegraph, aud was commissioned Colonel and Aid-de-Camp and assigned to duty iu the War Department, aud was brevettcd Brigadier-General at the close of the rebellion.

At the eloso of tho war he resumed his position as General Superintendent of the Western Union, which post he retained until the consolidation of tho Western Union and the American Union Companies. Rebellion iu Canada. Tho greatest excitement prevails iu Canada on accouut of the uprising of Louis Kiel aud a large body of followers, who are now in possession of tho country eastward of Carlton, and are armed with Winchester and Remington rifles. Kiel is well known iu connection with the Red-River rebellion, 19 years ago. He has in his command 1,500 half-breeds, and others aro joining his ranks rapidly.

Several whites have been placed in custody by tho rebels; among tho number being Mr. Lash, the Indian Agent at Duck Lake, and Mr. Hilliard, a merchant. Many Indian chiefs and tribes havo joined in the uprising. Those already known are Lucky Man, Big Bear, and Little Insinc.

The Northwest Mounted Police, who havo been sent to suppress the half-breed uprising, number 500 troopers. They arc scattered in small detachments all over the Territories from Calgarry, at tho base of the Rocky Mountains, to Edmnnton and Princo Albert, tho two most northern immigrant settlements iu tho Dominion. Their principal bnsiuess has been to prevent tho sale of whisky to tho Indians, and to watch the whisky smugglers from this side of the line. A son of tho late Charles Dickens is an officer of tho force. It will take them two weeks in sleighs to reach Princo Albert from Rcgina, from which place a detachment of them has already started.

The settlement at Prince Albert docs not contain more than souls, the town not more than S00. The settlers aro principally Scotch, and tho land for a hundred miles on three sides of it is said to be excellent Loui3 Riel, who has organized tho rebellion, is tho man who mado Lord Wolseley a British General and a Peer. But for Kiel's rising in 1570 Wolseley, then a Lieutenant-Colonel in Canada, with small hopes of preferment, would havo missed his chanco of leading tho Red River expedition, which brought him first into notice aud led to all his subsequent preferment Tho half-breed grievance at Princo Albert is i simply a demand for moro laud. When tho Territory became part of Canada they received, grants on a pretty liberal scale, but now they want moro in proportion to the numberof their families. As there is plenty of land and to spare in tho Canadian northwest, there should have beeu no difficulty in granting any reasonable demand for it that tho half-breeds might make, but red tape seems to have delayed tho redress of griovauccs, and the half-breeds, tired of waiting, havo taken tho law into their own hands.

Licut-CoL Irvine telegraphed on the 27th to tho Canadian Parliament as follows: "Tho party under ray command hayo just arrived. When near Fort Carlton I found that Maj. Cro-zier, with a party of 100, had gone to Duck Lake to securo a largo quantity of supplies. They were met by somo hundred rebels, who fired upon Maj. Crozier's-forces.

Maj. Crozier, owing to tho disadvantage at which he was taken, retreated in good order, arriving at the fort at the same time as my party. Ten civilians of Prince Albert and two policemen wcro killed and four civilians and seven coustablea wcro wounded. The number of rebels killed is not known." Tho Canadian Government is now actually engaged in getting troops to the scene of the revolt as it is now rumored that the ludians aro preparing to go on tho war-path in coniuuo turn with Riel. EH.