OUR AMERICAN LETTER (From Our Own Correspondent.) CHICAGO, U.S.A., November 26.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 17

OUR AMERICAN LETTER (From Our Own Correspondent.) CHICAGO, U.S.A., November 26.

It is the popular prediction, and .business activity in nearly every direction would seem:' to support the assumption, that another period of prosperity lie 3 /before the .American people. The-pdpular"'majority of 2,091;500 votes, in' favour of N Mr Koosevelt— the largest .-plurality *e*ver~ known — was such an indication of overwhelming confidence as could only presage -confident and co-opera-tive' progress. 'Every doubtful State went Republican -so far, as concerned the Presidential candidate, although' four or five States supporting Mr Roosevelt elected Itempcratic* Governors on local issues. Even the '"solid. South,' 1 which goes Democratic "always, was broken, and -the 'electoral votes of Missouri, which for 30 years ' have been given to the Democratic candidate, were•■enlisted to Mr Roosevelt's advantage. . Air Roosevelt's popular -plurality is more than twic4 as large as* that secured by -William M'Kinley in -18g6-6r 'WI9OO.1 3 The: Republican- electoral '"Vote" :srill s.b© - abotrtr 336. of- j|76r - The,;- B^publieanjinajority;" in fIW iSojuse^of Representatives ~w>tt ibe^increased fronr^i to iOOo'^The'-chahgesatt;;State"Legis-aatur«S'will result in'a Republican gain of on© member "iff the^Sapiate. .That the- critical portion of, I;he pufilfe 1 -might^be' assuEed'Tthat the ".President proposed '"tb- r remove' s at H;n© 1 outset of his term all' opportunity for 'the assertion that his acts in' any case which may arise -are controlled by -A desire for re-election, and as an assurance that he proposed to discharge on. the highest plane possible the trust imposed upon him by the American people, ' President Roosevelt- issued 4he following statement as soon as the result of bis election was known:— ** I am- deeply .sensible of the honour "done me by tho SAmerican people in~ thus "expressing their confidence in -what I -hare- done and have tried to do.- L. appreciate to the full the solemn responsibility^ this' confidence imp'dses upon me, and I sHall" do all -that in my power lies not to forfeit it. ,On the 4th March 'next I shall have served three and one-half years, and. this three and one-half years constitutes my first .term. The wise custom which limits the President" to two terms regards , the substance and not the form ; '.and - under . no -circumstances will I be a- candidate' for or aecept~affother nomination.". . - . ' - The election may be regarded as a triumph for William Jennings Bryan^ in that" the falling-off in the Democratic vote as compared with' 'l;hat" "which Mr Bryan received in his campaign, was a-djstinct rebuke ''to the compromise organisation which this year bore th© Democratic* standards, and which Mr^Bryah supported as a master of loyalty and a matter of record, awaiting" the time •when, with more chance jof success, and with the" people's stamp of disapproval of the party's essay at conservatism, and ' ' safety and sanity" well in memory, h© might 'again lead the- .party to .-battle " on _a strong and; "^Radical- platform -with positive "rather . than negative 'issues. v -The* returns . indicate that ihe>j. Social, Democratic party, increased from 100;000;in 1900 to 600,000," and'in many cases th© vote exceeded. that given to Mt" Parser.. It 'is ' probable "'that -'most 'of these voters •would have supported the _ regular Democratic ticket on a 'Radical issue. Concerning the election^ Mr Bryan, says : " Surely silver cannot be^blamed for this defeat, for th© campaign was run on a gold basis. Neither can the defeat be charged to emphatic condemnation of the .truets, for the trusts were not assailed as vigorously this year as they were four, years ago. It is evident that the campaign did not turn xipon the question of imperialism, and it is not fair to consider the result as a personal victory for the President, although his administration was the subject pf , criticism. ' The resulff waS due to the fact that the Democratic.": party attempted to be "conservative in th© presence of conditions that demand radical remedies. It sounded a partial retreat when it .should hay© ordered a charge all along the line. . . . The Republican party occupies the Conservative position. That is, it defends those who, having secured unfair advantage through class legislation, insist .that they shall rot be disturbed. The Democratic- party, cannot hope to compete with the Republican \ party for "this support.^ If it hopes to win success jt must take the side of ' the common -people. As has been previously outlined, Mr . Bryan will "now reorganise the Democratic party on .Radical lines,' advocating, the , public ownership of railroads and public utilities? as a remedy for excessive exactions mad© by large .organisations upon the-publieJ So faras the railroad* are concerned there is every evidence that .this • may beoome a. really important Issue, unless - present causes for complaint are removed during - the next four years. Congress will be' oalled upon at the next session to increase the powers of the InterState Commerce Commission, giving that body full control over all freight rates, as was 'recently given to the Canadian Railway Qrjjnmissioa. If this should ©rove ag effec-

tive ■ tive step in the- 1 direction of ~ the growing • public clamour . Mr Bryan will have been robbed of ' an issue which otherwise may, prove to be of just the importance he desires for his chief contention. For it is coming to be better understood in railway, circles ; that the public is "determined to have a hand in the government of the railways, and" 1 A it depends largely upon^ the way these semi- - public corporations are. managed in future ' whether that control shall take, drastic form" or otherwise. - - ,: . " ', In_ Colorado, while' the election returns t showed a contribution to" Mr" Roosevelt's 1 success, a sharp contest has' developed between' the two parties over .'.the governor ' ship. On' the faee r "of'the returns, Governor 1 Adams, the Democratic nominee, was | elected by 10,000' majority, and this" was ■ generally regarded as the voters' rebuke of the -military policy employed by Governor ' Peabody in the recent labour troubles axising out of a dynamite plot. /Some indications of fraud in the balloting in certain precincts," however, may result in these pre- ... oincts being thrown , out entirely. If the ;, courts order all precincts counted out in there isiany indication of,;fr|Lud, it- is <-*-!n&w believed Governor- Beabodjr, will. occupy' ' *fcliekGovernqr's chair -for twcff^earsCmore, as '-.r^th^'frauds^oc'c^rre^ivtihiefly^in.Ah'e sluxn.' disIss^6t§: fc -VTh«{-Steting^rM%VAHiaiM\'wquld-ibe, Nflie signal ""f or ..the return >sto their 'homes of ••(-the tta r e-/V?esj£rn "Federation of I .^Mhiersj -, ma>x/^fc.'-whom' v were. . summarily "~ /deported by the State Militia" atHhe Gover-' - nor's order. When ; -it- was believed that '^Governor Peabody had been defeated, Mr ! John Mitchell, president the United Mine Workers of America, declared that . citizenship had won the day in Colorado. [ "With the people of the State it was a question of humanity, and the people finally prevailed over the arrogant demands of capital and its tools. Ido not wonder that men of both -parties .joined in rehjiking Governor Peabody by the Ballot— the t only weapon the American citizen really has — for his infamous' course.'* - Adjutant-general Bell, who „. had a hand "in the Colorado • trouble,' declares that, with the deported ; miner' back in Cripple Creek, that region", would be the' powder - magazine ' of the country. He believes that if civil war ever ( starts in .the United -States between Labour ' and Capital, it will.'start in Cripple , Creek. „ •-" Peace and prosperity." he ! said, " have been restored by Governor Peabody's course, .. whereas, if he had ' with the' • Anarchistic elements, -war would have been _th& consequence." Governor-elect Adams declared ' thai? 1 within ,30 days after taking the Governor's qhair the persons responsible for the dynamite outrage that started the 'trouble would be ' in gaol, and that this would b© accomplished with* none of the lawless and * general deportation .methods employed by Governor Peabody. J ,The Prohibition party appears at present j ma very bad, light. The national organ of j the 'party- openly accuses the chairman of 1 "th& organisation with, .having, used^ a oon- , siderable part of the campaign fund for >f\ his own profit. x The attempt is being made- | to unseat the 'chairman on^this charge,. an3 i I it is possible 'that a disruption of the organi- f- '.] 'sation."wilL -result. In 'its origin the contest , between Chairman 01iver\W. Stewart and, , John' G. Woolley'-dates- back, it' Js stated, i to .the Rational Convention at Indianapolis and much 1 , farther. - .. Mr Woolley endea- • voured to secure the nomination of General Nelson A. . Miles for President. "" Mr , x Stewart opposed -the plan, and finally defeated ifc, naming Mr Swallow instead. Th&n came the campaign, the raising of a fund, and the distribution thereof l>y Mr Stewart in a manner to which Mr Woolley , and other opponents took exception. : The twenty-fourth 7 annual Convention of I the American Federation of Labour has been_held at San Francisco. Four" hundred and eighty delegates, including all th© national leaders, weve in attendance. President ~ Compers, in his annual report, favoured the iise qf public school buildings throughout the country as meeting-places for labour unions, recommended that union printers be accorded the support of the federation in the campaign for an eighthour day, protested against the National • Arbitration Bill now before Congress, which, ' he v asserted, contemplated a species of "compulsory compliance with the award." and delivered an arraignment of Governor Peabody and his lieutenants in tho Colo- ■■ rado labour troubles. He reported a great gain in membership in the past year of organisations affiliated with the American . Federation — a total pf 443. charters having ' been issued. Although organised labour was 1 confronted .with an industrial reaction, its ' efforts- in . ve3i sting wage reductions, tho speaker said, had resulted in success. Ho r seemed- to infer that the action of the • labour, unions was responsible for the fact > that th© industrial situation had become less acute, much idleness and poverty i having been prevented, and the era of industrial stagnation, as compared with p. former periods, having been shortened. He : * urged delegates to continue tKe policy of resisting all efforts at lessening th& incomes of wags -earner*. Tbg failure Qf itrikes m

„ the past year was, due, he thought, to the failure of the ,strikerjs to provide them- . selves in times of peace' with treasuries strong enough £0 continue the contest successfully. In a report of the Executive Council ..unions everywhere were cautioned to-be more conservative . in. .their actions ■ relative to placing firms on^the-' unfair list, and it was recommended that such cases be referred to the federation for investigation before a boj-cott should be declared. ' The federation overwhelmingly voted its" disap-.-proyal of certain, resolutions of a Socialistic tendency offered by"" the Radical- .el emeo. •Tha^, union men work persistently -for the passage of a law preventing " government -by, court ." was urged. " Discussion -has been (aroused Doth in^ 'tlie United States and, through the Spectator, in "iJondon by an exposition of murders and homicides in the "United States presented by'S.,B. M'Clure in M'Olure's Magazine. The "author states that there are at present four ami one-half times as many murders and/homicides for each million "of people in the. United States as there were in 1881. Conimen>ts upon the prevalence of- crime and J lawlessness from repr.esentative~*arid serious newspapers arid from , the 'published statements N of judges and- citizens form the supporting - evidence.- '-.Mr-'jVI/Ckire makes"- a startling showing of 'the, 'increase of 'lawlessness -in this-^eountry,' slid offers 'se-vere criticism 'of <the reign of a "criminal oligarchy/ of .chronic infraction of;'the law l^ 1 'many classes', and- of general failure^ of the enforcement, of • statutes, to which^ causes the condition is attributed. ' Conditions in Chicago ■are strikingly- set forth by comparisons with the 'criminal 'records 'of the two leading cities of Europe. London, with an area of 688 square miles and a population of 6,500,000, had 24 -murderers last year, all of .whom were arrested- except v in four cases where they committed suicide. Chicago, with less than one-third of the population and area ; covered by the London metropolitan police, j had 128 homicides. In 18* cases the murderers were. killed at the time" of the crime or committed suicide, four other cases were those of officers who^ did< the killing in the performance of\ their duties, v leaving ip& cases for- the police to work upon. Out of that number ,34 convictions were secured. ■ while \in- 19 cases no,.arrest was ihade, and 53* "arrests did, not result, in conviction. In that period only /One man'ln Chicago suffered i the v death .penalty.. In Paris only 15 murders |.or attempted, murders" were committed. In the United States last year there .were 8976 murders and homicides in a' population of about 80,000,000. In' 1881, when the popula- ; tion was. -51,316,000, there were 1266 crimes jof this class. The. high record was reached j ia. 1896. when there were' lo.6s4 murders' and ' homicides in a population of 70,000,000. In i three years the homicides in the United I States numbered 31,395. This is compared j with the British loss in the Boer war \of J 22,000 and with the number -killed on railroads in the^ame period — 21,847. The article says : " Pittsburg reports 26 murd&rs between January 1 and November 12 last. <*In 12 case's' there *was no arrest. In San Francisco i since October- 14, 1898, there have been 114 ] murders, exclusive of Chinese -.kilHngsl No on a has been seniT.to the> igiallows,' and in 47 cases jSh'ere has been' no- . In recent | years there have been 28Xa»ga'ssinations in ("oner; county in Kentucky. >£&>ut]v. Carolina ; had 222 homicides in 1903./ J A Georgia judge , recently declared from the .bench that more V homicides were committed in that State j than in the whole of the British Empire. There on© person in a hundred is convicted arid punished, while in England one in three is made to suffer. " Can a body of policemen engaged in blackmail," continues the article, "in persecution, and in shielding law-breakers make a community law-abiding? Can a body of policemen engaged in criminal practices prevent pthers from committing crimes? Can a board of aldermen who for private ,gain combine to loot a city govern a city well? The criminal oligarthy consists of tjhree classes : (1) Saloon keepers, gamblers, and others who engage in business that degrades ; (2) contractors, capitalists, bankers, and others who can miake money by getting franchises and other property of the community cheaper by bribery than by paying the community ; (3) politicians who are willing to seek and acoepi office with the aid and endorsement of the classes men- • ticned." Chicago is interested in the annual stock sliov/ now being hold. The stables have been fiHed with horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep — fancy-bred animals sent from, all parts of the country and from abroad to compete for prizes. One of the principle objects of interest was the s group of horses entered in tbe name of King Leopold Il^of Belgium. 1 Tliey are in gold-trimmed harness, and are stationed near horse's sent from. France and 1 Germany. ' j The Department of Cbnimeroe and Labour i has undertaken a general investigation of the petroleum industry of the United States, and this is interpreted as an inquiry into tho business methods of the Standard Oil Company, which recently has been the centre of interest on the part of stoidents of industrial and commercial economy, as . a result of the attacks made upon the coavcany

by Thomas W. Lawaoji in his storjr . ''Frenzied Finance." The investigation jusi begun will cover several months, and will follow the 'methods pursued in- the beef inquiry. Standard Oil officers say that the •company's business is being conducted in strict accordance with thevlaw, and the investigation will be assisted in_.by the company in every way. In the latest instalment of, his story Mr Lawson deals vith the wholesale buying, and selling of senators and representatives in the "State of Massachusetts, making H, M. Whitney, brother of ' the late- William C. Whitney, and one" of the' substanital business men of Boston, chiefly responsible.^ for. this fcature s of the corruption which ait'enaett the financiering of and franchise getting for the varioue gas company organisations in w;hic'i Mr Lawson was allied Avith, the Standard Oil Company and other interests. In large type'he repeats this statement: "The Massachusetts 'Legislature is" .bought and sold as -aie sausages and fish at the market and wharves. The largest, wealthiest, and most prominent corporations , in -New England, whose 11 affairs , are conducted by outmost^ representative citizens, habitually corrupt the Massachusetts Legislature, and the ' man' of wealth among thenuwho would enter '^■protest against the iniquity, would be looked ;on as a 'class anarchist.' I will go further' . and say that' if in New /England a man of' the type of Folk, of Missouri, can .be, found who will '£ive.aovej.-, six, months 'to turning . up the legislative and Boston '"municipal sod j of th© last 10 years, who 'does not exposes ; to the worlii a condition, of rottenness, more ' rotten than was ever before exhibited in any ; community of the ' eivilise'd ' world, it will , be became he has been suffocated by the stench of what he exhumes." The story also proceeds to the discussion of the " most potent" factor in the " tremendous correlation of financial institution's and forces-" which he calls the "system," that is theNew York Life, Mutual Life, and Equitable ; Insurance Companies' wild stock plunges he ! -discusses. Another coup of the magazine editor is Florence Elizabeth Maybrick's "A Travesty of Justice,: the Story of Fifteen ' Lost Years," now appearing in th© Saturday ! Evening. Post, in which she describes in del tail her trial and long imprisonment in the 1 English prisons for the murder of her husband. This personal story of a famous : case jvhioh has had .intermittent public, •"attention, since her conviction -owing to the, , fact of her being an American woman and that a considerable estate, awaiting her in the. United States could not be settled during her incarceration-, together with the belief in her innocence on the part of a large number of persons and the united efforts of American women for her relief, is being followed with considerable interest and curiosity, although it is of a somewhat morbid character. President ,'JRoosevelt recently departed from -the usual custom' of a President "and 1 consented to introduce a, lecturer to his audience. The ■ audience wa» the Young Men's v Christian^ Association of Washington, and , the lecturer, the "R..ev. Charles Wagner, author of "" The ' Simple Life," who is visiting this country. ThVPresident said:^ " This is the first' and will be/the only time during my .Presidency that I" shall ever intro-' j duce.a speaker to an, audience, and I ami. -, more than -glad to do •It in. this instance, becajise if there is one book which I should like to have read as a tract, .and also, what I is not invariably true of tracts, as an inter- ! esting tract, by all our people, it is ' The Simple Life.' I like the book because it does not merely preach to the rich and does not merely preach to the poor. It is an easy thing to address a. section of the community in reprobation of the forms of vice to which it is prone. What we need to have impressed upon ua is that it is not usually the root principle of the vice that varies with the variations in social conditions, but that it is the manifestation of the vice that varies, and Mr Wagner has well brought out the great fundamental truth that the brutal arrogance of a> rich man who_ looks down upon a* poor man because lie is poor, and the brutal e-nvy and hatred) felt by a poor man toward a rich man* merely because he is rich are at bottom twin: manifestations of the same vice. No Reipublic can permanently exist when ' it becomes a Republic of classes, where the ! man foels not the interest of the whole [ people but the interest of the- particular class to which he belongs, or fancies that he belongs, as being of prime importance." j The question whether women should be entirely disenfranchised on the ground that' they do jnot care to vote has been raised in ' Illinois. _In 1894, the first year in which l women in Illinois were allowed part euf- I frage, 24,000 voted in Chicago, but in the? i last election only 1000 voted. Mrs Gathering I Waugh M'Cullooh, one of the leaders of equal suffrage, says that if a decrease is found there is reason* for it. In 1894 womeiii were permitted to vote for university trustees. They proved themselves capable l the first year. Voting is a kindergarten experiment with women. They have not? 1 been promoted. The only reason many of I them Vote now is to keep mi training idP

preparation for an extension of their rights. If it is desired to see what us© the women would make even of their limited suffrage let either party nominate (or university trustee a thoroughly disreputable candidateThat will bring out th© vote. Official* declare that the- exfcm expenditure madja to enable women to voi-n makes this the most , expensive election luxary which the State has. s " < - The growing tendency of owners of apartment buildings^ in large cities jbo refuse to rent "flats" \o families having "children: •has caused, "'enough inconvenience and« ' humiliation at times to have rwCeeted itselfi in protests in the ma#«izines'and press. The 1 story- is now told of a well-to-do cabinetmaker in NeAY_Ybrk City, who, with his wife, five children, and two* grandchildren, has been forced to live , in a tent pitched on a vacant patch "of. ground he cannot fiud any landlord who will rent- hinn apartments. He had /roaid a deposit ' v on" r a. flat, but when he arrived to take' possession the landlord, seeing his numerous children, refused to admit him, and returned . the money. ' Having .no place to take "Ihe * furniture ifc was, unloaded v in.; a; vacant, lot. There the family has remained, unable' 'to secure"" a home. During; ah address given recently,, in.' ;, Chicago,^ Mr Jojhn Barrett, United States^ Minister*" to Panama;-.- stated thaf by the" completion/ of th© Panama Canal .700,000,00(1" " people s will be mad© Tdirectly accessible .to . ships r loaded^ %with^' the products -of "-th» ■ Central 1 *- States. ~ To , reach "population at present requires long railroad journeys; costly transhipment to steamers, and roundabout voyages through.the Suez' Canals and: across the Indian Ocean, or around Capa Horn. To supply market many, new! factories would be opened, and he believed that many of them would be located in Chicago because of the easy access which -this city has, by the lakes and, by rail, to the supplies of raw materials. Another way " in which Chicago would profit, ho believed, would come as the result of & demand for « an all-water route from th& great lakes to the Pacific Ocean. This could be accomplished -by a* deepening of the Chicago drainage canal and the dredging and keeping open of a deep waterway -through the 'Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, so that all classes of merchant vessels loaded bM ports on ihe great lakes could sail direct for any port in South or Central America, Australia and New Zealand, and Ea stern Asia. Mr John F. "Wallace, chief engineer of the Panama Canal, has pronounced such'

i waterway feasible, and has expressed the Relief that it could be opened at oomparaiirely small cost. The unexpected Republican triumph in Missouri was 'made- the most of by.. a committee appointed to ask Koose-' velt to lay aside the duties of State long ■enough to -make % visit to the Exposition. 'fne President met the committee with a very broad " smile and capitulated at once, expressing Mmseif as -'" dee-light-ed," as the newspaper- always say. Tuimioaey of Ills greetings. The President, accompanied by Mrs JEtoosevelt and Miss Alice Roosevelt, arrived in St. Louis in November, and awoke early in the morning to find-3ns-car jmrke'd in the rear of the transportation building, within sight of the Administration building. The President's tour of the grounds is described as somewhat resembling a cross-country steeplechase. He is declared to have seen the exposition at the rate of an acre a .minute, «nd an exhibit a second," and to have worn out completely two troops ol cavalry, one platoon of mounted" police, .one board of World's Fair Commissioners, one regiment* of United States infantry, a•' number Joi eecrfet service operator's and detectives, 20 carriage drivers, one board of lady-.mana-gers, several- score of~, distinguished "person^ ages, and 200,000 pairs of legs belonging ! to the miscellaneous spectators.. During the ] day he received large numbers* of "gifts from! other nations^ ' proposed toasts to the con; tinued peace with , and prosperity -of these j nations while calling at their various buildings, watched the manoeuvres of the new Filippino troops, saw a football game, between two teams of American Indians, banqueted in th© Tyrolean Alps, and finished the day " doing the Pike." He expressed .himself charmed and delighted' ■with his' sntertainmeht. .-The calamity ■which occurred at Buffalo when President M'Kinley visited- the exposition had no chance of recurrence. The "public generally was kept back by the troops, so that the movements of the Presidential party - might be unhampered. Th© President jwas greeted everywhere, however, with cheering. The suggestion of Sir TSdward Clark at the American thanksgiving banquet at London that the. term "American" was inappropriate* as applied strictly to the United States for the reason that it implied -the domimion of the United States over the whole Western Hemisphere, and suggesting that " Usona," as signifying the United 6tates of North America, has received somewhat more criticism here than it had at •the banquet. Sir Edward Clark's suggestion ,was th© first public criticism of an order of Secretary .Hay -that all embassies of the United States shall hereafter be designated ■''American." "Ambassador. Choate, replying, passed over the subject with the statement that the United States was 'well satisfied .with the title, and alluded to the evergrowing friendship, .between Great Britain and America as reason for thanksgiving. Some hare taken the trouble to explain here that the name adoptedby the colonies j in ,the Constitution was " The United States of "Amerioaj" that Canada is known' as th© [Dominion of Canada, the full name of Mexico is United States of Mexico, ' of Columbia the United States of Columbia, of Venezuela the United States of Vene«p«l*i that these cou.ntries call themselves

Mexico, Columbia, .Venezuela, the adjectives being Mexican, Columbian, and Venezuelan, leaving 'the United States .the only nation using the word American. One paper has "interviewed some college presidents on the subject, and .reports that they universally said l *bosh" to the suggestion ol Sir "Edward Clark. Someone suggests it -was a joke, and that Americans are becoming " dense." President Uoosevelt has written to his old friend Professor " Mike " Donovan, 'boxing instructor at th© New York Athletic Club, asking him to Washington to "try him out " with the gloves. The President has been too busy Tecently to continue his boxing i exercise, and wants "to get into what he considers proper condition. | The TTrada, a curious egg-«haped life- j boat has just arrived at New York Harbour from Norway on its way to the Exposition. The vessel arrived recently at St. John's, Newfoundland, after a most events ful 100 days' trip, in which it once narrowly escaped destruction from an ocean liner and was at another jbime chased by a Norwegian whaler, which supposed 'the craft was a whale. * An explosive bomb was about to ,be fired when the crew" signalled. The UradJ voyaged by • th© Shetlands, , Faroes, Iceland; ' Greenland, and. Labrador, and, met prolonged periods of stormy weather, which tested her seaworthy qualities to the utmost. Crossing "south of Greenland she narrowly escaped being sunk by an' ice-floe, with which she became emmeshed during the night. ". Five weeks before* reaching land she was dismasted by a storm, and drifted towards land with small sail and the aid of currents until sighted and towed into port. The craft was designed and built by Otto Brud© to compete for th© prize offered by the Exposition for the best lifeboat. Only a small part of the vessel's hull appears above water. It has a glass turret for navigating, and is steered from within. One hollow steel mast is fixed in the decE, and also forms a ventilator. The saloon can hold 30 persons, fresh water is carried in ballast tanks and j stores of provisions in lookers. The vessel left Norway on August 7. The probable changes in President Roosevelt's Cabinet are already being" discussed. All the members of th© present -Cabinet are expected to remain, however, until the inauguration of the President on. Maroh 4, and the exact nature of the changes then to be made are not yet -out of the problematical stage. It is stated that General Nelson A. Miles (retired) has become interested in an Americam Rice Cereal Company, in the welfare of which one of the railroads participating in the rice traffic is also concerned, and that he has b&en induced to make an extended tour of Europe with a view of taking up with European Governments th© value of rice as an army food. ' j Milton B. Marks.

A man, who >gay& the name of Clancy, made a .determined attempt to commit suicide at'Oakleigh (Victoria) on December 33. Th© man lay with his neok on the railway line as a train was approaching, and refused to move, the train having to be stopped and the driver having to use force to remove him. The man, who was subsequently arrested, was supposed to be suffering from delirium treniens.