ATTEMPT A BREAK
Seven Convicts at Folsom Make
n u f i !I 1 "
THREE ARE KILLED BY GUARDS
Four Are Fatally Wounded and One
Slightly Two Guards Hurt by
Bullets of Comrades.
Folsom, Cal., Dec. 31. A break that
was clever in plan and bold in execu
tion took place at the penitentiary
here this afternoon. The guards obeyed
the standing orders of the warden to
shoot regardless of the danger to free
men, and as a result seven of nine
convicts, who had planned to get away,
were almost riddled with bullets,
three being now dead and three in a
critical condition.
The break was similar in general
plan to that of last July, but the fact
that . it was made within the range of
the guns of seven reliable guards, all
-dead shots, and one of those within 50
feet, makes it more bold and desperate.
. The convicts who engaged in the
break were all employed on the rock
crusher, where 325 of the most desper
ate prisoners were at work. Captain
Murphy was acting as general overseer
about the rock crusher,, and four other
attaches, L. Daley, M. Hogan, Charles
Taylor and Charles Jolly, were employ
ed as "pushers" to keep the men at
work.
'' A large sledge hammer was thrown
into the crusher, causing the ponderous
machinery to come to a standstill.
This attractedjCaptain Murphy, Charles
Jolly and Taylor to the place immedi
ately. Thereupon the desperate con
victs rushed to seize Murphy, Jolly and
Taylor. They succeeded only in catch
ing the two first mentioned. During
this time the scene of trouble was under
cover, and the guards on the outside
could not see the struggling men, al
though they soon had an intimation
that something was wrong. Five of
the gang surrounded Captain Murphy
and two others had Jolly The con
victs had knives in position for imme-
liat execution, should the guards at'
tempt to free themselves. The convicts
were very bold as they approached
Guard Harris, who stood ready to act
according to the standing orders to
shoot regardless of consequences.
When within 40 feet of the outside
i guards, one of the convicts gave the
command: "Hand out your gun, or we
will stab Murphy to the heart.
Instead of handing out his rifle, Har
ris sent a bullet into the fellow's body,
and he fell to the ground. In quick
succession Harris fired at each of the
remaining convicts, who were trying to
shield themselves behind Murphy and
Jolly. .
In the meantime bullets from other
posts were flying thickly about, many
of them striking the convicts..
Captain Murpny was strucK by one
of them, a slight wound being inflicted
in the leg, and Jolly was struck in the
neck, the bullet coming out through
the cheek and inicting a very serious
wound, though probably not a critical
one. Two of the convicts, named
Campbell and Ford, intended joining
the others, but their courage failed
them when the shooting began.
Santa Claus to World.
New York, Jan. 2. The United
States played Santa Claus to the world,
according to reports secured from the'
money order division of the New York
postoffice. From December 1 to De
cember 24, the night before Christmas,
no less, than 334,084 international
money orders were forwarded to other
lands from this city, and these orders
called for $4,667,692.. The remittances
were the largest in the history of the
postoffice. . The figures show an unus
vial distribution, too.
Moors Commit Outrage.
New York, Jaan. 2. In a garden
a British subject, only one mile from
Tangier, a bold murder has been com
mitted by Moorish robbers, according
to the Herald correspondent of Tangier
The Moors entered the garden and car
Tied away four cows belonging to the
British owner, after murdering a Span
iard working on the place. One of the
robbers was severely wounded by the
wife of the Spaniard. It is rumored
from Tetuan that the garrison there
has deserted and fled from the town
Two months' pay was due them.
Storm Destroys Jetty.
Astoria, Or., Dec. 31. Five thousand
leet of jetty superstructure was carried
away in an 80-mile-an-hour gale off
; the mouth of the river yesterday morn
mg, leaving only 500 feet of the outer
end remaining. To Tepair this work
together with the nortion that was
carried away by previous storms, will
take several months, so that it is un
likely that there will be any extension
of the jetty until late next summer,
at all during the' coming year. .
Tried to Reach Vladivostok.
Shanghai,' Jan. 2. According to pri
ate advices from Sasebo received here
today Commander Pelem, of the Bus
sian torpedo boat destroyer 'Rastoropny
and another officer of that vessel have
been identified among those on board
the captured British steamer Nigretia
BILL BY ELKINS.
Its Object Is Regulation of Railroad
Freight Rates.
Washington, Dec. 31. Senator S. B.
Elkins, of West Virginia, chairman of
the senate committee on interstate
commerce, is busily engaged in fram
ing a bill for the purpose of carrying
out the views of the president in rela
tion to the abolition of freight rebates.
The senator, in. discussing the subject
today, said among other things :
"There should be some power in this
country to declare what rates should be
on the railroads. - The United States
supreme court has decided that the fix
ing of a railroad rate is a legislative
and not a judicial power. So we can
not depend upon the interstate com
merce commission to fix these rates,
and, in fact, no commission or other
court can be depended on for that im
portant function. What we can do is
to empower a court to declare when a
rate is excessive and in that way send
the rate back to the railroad to be low
ered.
I do not think we need fear that
the roads will attempt to evade the ex
ecution of such instruction in good
faith, by attempting to come baek
again with another rate, slightly low
ered, so as to result in no benefit. We
can depend upon public opinion as a
power to force them to accept this
method of regulating the rates m good
faith. If the lower rate they fix is not
low enough, it can again be declared
to be too high and would go back to
them. .
"For several reasons I think the . in
terstate commerce commission is not
the proper tribunal for the fixing of
rates by this method. It should be
done in a circuit court of the United
States, and that court should be , pre
sided over by a justice of high char
acter, who ought to receive a salary of
$10,000, $12,000 or $15,000 a year.
Such a judge would, of course, be ap
pointed for life, and would be m a po
sition to fix these rates. He could . de
vote his entire thought to the questions
that would come to his attention.
"Just think what might happen if
these powers were placed in the hands,
of a commission, the members subject
to reappointment by the president,
with limited terms. Such a proposal
would not meet the approval of the
conservative men."
CHOATE COMING HOME.
To Resign as Ambassador to England
After the Inauguration.
Jjonaon, uec. 3J. Wnile numerous
statements have been published here
that Ambassador Choate is about to
retire from diplomatic circles, it can
be stated that Mr. Choate has not sent
his resignation or any communica
tion on the subjcet to President Roose
velt or the State department, nor has
he received any inquiry either from
the president or Secretary Hay concern
ing his future plans. It can be safely
asserted, however, that it is Mr. Cho-
ate' s intention to tender his. resigna
tion soon 'after the inauguration of
President Roosevelt. -
"Six years is a long time slice out of
the life of a man of my age," said Mr.
Choate, recently, to friends here, "and
while I have enjoyed the life and peo
ple I have met in England, I have de
termined to go home and devote the re
mainder of my time to looking after
my own affairs."
Dredges Stop Work. ,
Portland, Dec. 31. All but two of
the river dredges operated by the Unit
ed Estates engineers m the Columbia
river and its tributaries are laid up for
lack of funds with which to carry on
operations. The W. S. Ladd, on the
lower river, will probably continue in
operation for a month yet and then will
quit for the same reason. ; The dredge
Willowa, on the Snake, is also still in
operation, but the Columbia dipper
dredges, No. 1 and No. 2, and the snag
boat are all out of commission, as the
engineers have not sufficient funds with
which to operate.
Mail Service in Bad Shape.
Chicago, Dec. 31. As a result of
storm conditions, trains on nearly every
railroad entering Chicago were one to
four hours behind schedule today.
Great difficulty was experienced by
railroad officials on securing tele
graphic reports of the movements of
trains. Wires were down in many
places. Points in the northwestern
states could be reached cnly by circuit
ous routes. . The mail service of the
entire middle west is in bad condition
Transfer connections with a number of
outbound trains were missed. " x
Neutrality of Dutch Ports.
The Hague, Dec. 31. In connection
with rumors of a possible infringement
of the neutrality of ports in the Dutch
East Indies, it is officially pqinted out
that the neutrality of Sabang- and other
ports will be maintained. Two Dutch
battleships, two cruisers and five small
er warships sre now in - those - waters,
while twq additional vessels are ready
at Nieuwe-Diep, Holland, to reinforce
them if necessary.
Snow Is Ten Feet Ieeo.
La Crosse, Wis., Dec! 31, A drop
in the temperature of : 40 degrees fol
lowed the blizzard which ceased at
midnight. Snow is drifted to - the
height of eight - and ten feet in the
streets, and a large gang of men are en
gaged in shoveling snow from the street
railway tracks, so traffic can be re
sumed. J
BEFORE GRAND JURY
Senator Mitchell and Represent
ative Hermann Appear.
WERE CALLED BY GOVERNMENT
Congressmen Were Not Informed Be
fore They Entered Jury Room of
Testimony Against Them.
Portland, Dec. 29. The Federal
grand jury listened to the testimony of
Senator Mitchell all of yesterday morn
ing and for a part of the afternoon.
The rest of the time was taken up by
Representative Hermann, who was in
the jury room when the session was ad
journed for the day. He will resume
his examination this morning and will
in all probability finish by noon. In
spite of the fact that both Senator
Mitchell and Mr. Hermann had an
nounced that they would not appear
before the jury unless the names of the
government witnesses and the charges
to be made against them were shown
prior to their entrance to the jury
room, both congressmen were ready to
answer the call of the government at
torneys when it came. (
Senator Mitchell went into the room
at 10 o'clock in the morning and re
mained until noon. ; The senator is
much chagrined at the notoriety he is
receiving as the result of the land fraud
investigations and does not take kindly
to any of those who are conducting the
case. Before entering the room in the
morning he was silent and distant.
He emerged at noon tired and showing
the strain which the ordeal had ap
parently been to him. Upon the. con
clusion of his testimony in the after
noon he left the building for his hotel.
The afternoon with the jurors might
have been a session of congrses, how
ever, tor all tne enect it had upon Mr
Hermann.
He appeared shortlv afteirt
2 o'clock in the afternoon and went in
to seclusion in the inner office of the
district attorney, after he had greeted a
few acquaintances in the outer office
and the hall. When called to the jury
room shortly before 3 o clock he shook
hands with those whom he knew in the
corridor and patted Mr. Heney heart
ily on the back as he entered the door
When the session had closed for the
afternoon, Mr. Hermann remained in
the jury room for some time conversing
with Mr. Heney and the jurors, among
whom he found several whom he had
known in various parts of N the state.
These he gave cordial handshakes.
PRESIDENT TO GIVE HIS VIEW
No Railroad Administration Measure
. To Be Sent to Congress.
Washington, Dec. 30. President
Roosevelt embraced the opportunity to
day to take up with the members of
the cabinet many questions - of detail
in departmental administration, the
semi-weekly meeting of the cabinet
being longer than usual. At the con
clusion of the meeting the members of
the cabinet said in response to inqui
ries that little business of serious im
portance was considered. .
After other members of the cabinet
had left the executive offices, Attorney
General Moody discussed with the pres
ident some phases of the railroad
freight questions. Both the president
and the. attorney general recently have
devoted much time to that problem
The iatter is giving particular , atten
tion to the legal side of the question,
so that- he may be prepared to advise
with the president on the subject and
with such members of congress as may
wish to consult him. It is understood
not to be the intention of the presi
dent and attorney general to prepare
and press the consideration in 'congress
of an "administration measure," deal
ing with the railroad freight problem
Such a bill, it is thought, (to quote
a member of the cabinet), would be
destined to defeat.
Burning Their Cotton.
Fort Gaines, Ga, Dec. 30. The
farmers and merchants of this county
met today at Fort Gaines and . decided
to burn their share of 2,000,000 bales
of surplus cotton A smarter was made
today when a bonfire was made on the
streets.. It is not yet determined where
it will stop. The farmers have decid
ed to set the pace, and are moving de
terminedly. A large crowd paraded
with much spectacular ceremony. The
object is to show that the farmers are
ready to sacrifice a few bales for the
benefit of the masses.
Panic in Jute Mills.
New York,Dec.30. Engineer Charles
J. Hebe was instantly killed, his, as
sistant, Daniel Ferer, probably fatally
injured, and the lives of hundreds of
young women endangered today, when
the cylinder head of the great power
engine in the Chelsea jute mills in
Brojklym blew out. The noise of the
explosion threw into a panic the 1,200
young women at work in the building.
Many of them were badly bruised and
hurt in their efforts to escape.
Big Dock for the Navy.
Washington, Dec. 30. The bureau
of-yards and- docks, Navy department,
today awarded the contract for the
completion of the drydock at the Mare
island navy yard to the Schofield com
pany, of. Philadelphia. The amount
of the contractus $1,385,000, and the
drydock is to be completed in 33
months. This drydock jrill be the
largest in the United States navy.
VESSELS IN VERY BAD SHAPE
Russ Says They Would Not Be Able
to Reach the East.
St. Petersburg, Dec. 29. In an out
spoken article, in reply to a recent
letter of Admiral Bierileff , which ap
pealed to Russians not to criticise the
condition of the navy openly, the Buss
today declares the time is past for si
lence, in view of the fact that the "old
system of concealing facts is responsi
ble for the loss of 150,000,000 roubles'
worth of warships and has covered us
with shame and grief. It would be
absurd to hide the defects that can still
be repaired in the ships which remain
at Cronstadt and Libau. We have al
ready criminally wasted enough time."
The Russ enumerates the defects in
the ships still in Russian waters, aver
ring that the" "peculiarities of structure
of several of the- vessels destined for
the Far East make the voyage danger
ous, and the torpedo boats are in such
shocking condition that it is a matter
of surprise that the authorities accepted
their delivery. Torpedo boats intend
ed to reinforce Vice Admiral Roiest-
vensky must clearly not be dispatched
with the numerous defects which have
been proved to exist in them.
HiVen u Admiral isoiestvensuy is a
clever leader and his 12,000 comrades
areieroic sailors, everyone knows that
we have, imposed upon them an almost
superhuman task in consequence of our
not being furnished with a true account
of the gravity of the events which have
occurred since the fatal night of Feb
ruary o.
WILL TRY SEVEN.
Federal. Grand Jury Files New Indict
ments in Land Case.
Portland, Dec. 29. The Federal
grand jury .made its second public ap
pearance yesterday afteronon, at which
time it returned indictments against
Salmon B, Ormsby, of Salem; William
H. Davis, of Albany; Clark E.Loomis,
of Eugene; Henry A. Young, George
Sorenson, of Portland; John Doe and
Richard Roe. The charge is that the
indicted men entered into a conspiracy
on December 29, 1901, having as their
object the defrauding- of the govern
ment ot tne united States out ot a por
tion of its public lands in township- 11
south, of range 7 east, and that by
means of false and forged affidavits and
proofs of homestead entry and settle
ment, some in the names of real and
some in the names of fictitious persons
tne government was induced to issue
patents to the lands.
It is charged that m furtherance of
the conspiracy William H. Davis wore
to an affidavit before S. B. Ormsby in
which he said that he had resided upon
the claim taken by him as by law re
quired, and it is also alleged that the
conspiracy was a part of the one entered
into by S. A. D. Puter, Horace G. Mc
Kinley, D. W. Tarpley and Emma L.
Watson.
IN FOG AND ICE.
Great Storm Rages from Rocky Moun
tains to Atlantic.
Chicago, Dec. 29. One of the sever
est storms of recent years has raged
throughout the territory lying between
the Bocky mountains and the Great
lakes since early this morning, and has
caused much trouble to street car com
panies, railroads and telegraph com
panies. - The latter were the greatest
sufferers from the blizzard, which
swept through the West and Northwest
during the last 24 hours, and which
was preceded by a heavy fog and driz
zling rain, which made the wires almost
unworkable. , s. '
The intense cold and terriffic gale
that followed close upon the fog coated
the wires with ice, and later in the day
threw poles to the ground, crippling
the companies badly. Railroad trains
were., badly delayed all through the
west, some of them being 24 hours late.
Street-car traffic in all the cities of the
West and Northwest was practically at
a standstill at some time during the
day.
In its extent the storm was the most
widespread of any during the last 15
years. Counting the fog as a com
ponent part of the storm, it stretched
from the Rocky mountains to New
York, and from Winnipeg to New Or
leans". - '
Will Make Lots of Money. -
-Portland, Dec. 29. It was decided
yesterday that the offer from the gov
ernment to install two eoin machines
in the government building at the fair
will be accepted,, though" the cost of
operation will fall on the management
of the exposition. The machines will
be run by electricity and an .expert will i
be sent from Washington to take charge, i
All the workings of a large mint will I
be shown in this exhibit, and the meth- i
ods of making coins displayed. It is !
expected to be one of the chief attrac
tions of the government buliding. .
Porter Is To Retire.
New York, Dec. 29. The Herald
will say tomorrow : It has been defi
nitely decided that General Horace
Porter, of New York, shall retire as
ambassador to France and he will have
his resignation in the hands of Presi
dent Roosevelt before his inauguration.
This announcement was received by the
Republican state leaders.; "General Por
ter's successor to Paris will be George
Von L. Meyer, the present ambassador
to Italy.
Hurry Work on Black Sea Fleet
Sevastopol, Dec. 29. The dockyard
laborers have been released from their
obligation as members of the reserves
in order that they may continue the
work on the vessels of the Black sea
fleet, which is being pushed with great
energy.
. . The Bust Child.
I have so many things to do,
don't know when I shall be through- '
To-day I had to watch the rain
Come sliding down the window pane.
And I was humming all the time,
Around my head a kind of rhyme. .
And blowing softly on the glass
To see the dimness come and pass. .
made a picture with my breath,
Rubbed out to show the underneath.
I built a city on the floor;
And then I went and was a War.
And I escaped from square to square
That's greenest on the carpet there.
Until at last I came to Us;
But it was very dangerous.
Because if I had stepped outside.
made believe I should have died!
And now I have the boat to mend,
And all our supper to pretend.
I am so busy every day,
I haven't any time to play.
Pittsburg Press.
studded
Upon V
little. docN
, UncAea-
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I'd
like To
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me please
All Have Their Toys.
There isn't a place in the world
where the children have no toys. Even
in Australia among the degraded and
animal-like bushmen, the children have
toy fire sticks which they rub to pro
duce flame. In the Polynesian islands
the baby savages have toy blow guns.
Eskimo land is a perfect Santa Claus
land of Ivory and bone toys, many of
which are made to move, so. that the
little Eskimos have dogs harnessed to
sleds and little seals and whales and
canoes which are so carved that the
tiny man in them bobs back and forth
as if he were paddling, and will even
throw a harpoon.
nut all savage cnlldren try to copy
new things. Now, in the very heart of
Africa, travelers find the little negroes
playing with pieces Of wood that they
have carved Into imitation of the rifles
that they have seen the white men
carry. They even stick a ball of cot
ton in the muzle end to imitate the
smoke. -.
The Siamese Twin Puzzle.
Here is a lot of fun which some of
our younger readers have perhaps
never tried on their friends. Look at
the picture, and see if you can find
out a way for the two boys to get
apart. Two small girls who were tied
together in this -manner rode home in
a street car together, slept all night
over it and did not guess the riddle
BTBTJGGLING TO GET AS ABT.
until after breakfast the next morn
ing. The antics which they cut up In
trying to get apart furnished fun not
only for themselves, but for a whole
room full of people.
To -maKe it. reaiiy exciting, a num
ber" of couples should be set, going at
once and a prize1 offered to the pair
who first get apart Such a wriggling
and twisting Into all sorts of absurd
positions as this will result in could
hardly be equaled by a nest of boacon-
strictors.
And the problem Is, after all, quite
r
LITTLE STORIES
AND INCIDENTS
That W10 Interest and
Entertain Young
Readers.
easy of solution. The center of one
of the handkerchiefs has only to be
slipped under the loop made by the
other handkerchief where it Is tied
about the wrist, and the loop thus
made carried over the hand.
Tie two of your friends together in
this way and follow the directions
given. You will soon catch the idea of
how to quickly separate them. ,
Children of the Wilds.
Captain Jermann, of Rio De Janeiro,
who recently returned from, a journey
into the rubber districts of east Bo
livia, almost in the heart of Central
America, visited a town in the very
interior, so far from civilization that
It required a horseback ride of three
days to get to it. There he found two
schools for boys and one for the girls
of the place, but only one teacher,
who was an old half-breed. -
But," says Captain Jermann, "the
children were just as good and well
behaved as if they were enjoying the
best educational chances In the world.
They were as polite as the most cul
tured people In the outside world, and
were eager to show me attentions,
without, however, pressing them upon
me. They never entered a house, not
even a shop, without knocking at the
door or the side and obtaining permis
sion to come in. -After this permis
sion was given they always took off
their shoes, which they left outside."
He Had a Coincidence.
"Johnny," said the teacher, "can you
tell me what a coincidence is?"
"Yes, ma'am," answered Johnny.
We've got- one at our house."
"Well, what is it?" asked, the teach
er.
"Twins," was the prompt reply.
, Teeth that Would Not Ache.
'What shall I get you for your birth
day?" asked a father of his 5-year-old
daughter, who was suffering from
toothache
"I'd like some teeth like mamma's.
so I can take 'em out when they ache,"
replied the observing miss.
A. Grass Widow.
Little Margie Mamma, the lady up
stairs is a widow, isnit she?
Mamma Yes; that is, she's a grass
widow.
Little Margie Why, mamma, did
her husband die of hay fever?
AMERICANS IN CUBA.
Large Industries Passing Into Hands
of Progressive Business Men.
The real estate and mines of Cuba,
as well as new manufacturing indus
tries, are going into American hands.
Some Spanish-speaking Americans,
American born, but naturalized Cu
bans, have told the writer that already
40 per cent of the Cuban land is owned
by Americans. This probably is an
overestimate, but the truth lies In that
direction. During the terrible war
owners of large plantations of from
5,000 to 10,000 acres were driven by the
butcher, Weyler, into the cities. Sup
piles arose to starvation .prices, for
200,000 people starved to death. Their
plantations were useless. Spaniards
burned their sugar plantations, de
stroyed their buildings, and even cut
down their mango trees, leaving noth
ing to support life. Rich planters
mortgaged their land to the utmost to
get the necessities of life. Once the
war was over, they found themselves
prostrated, unable to get from under
mortgages. The result has been that
vast tracts of the best land In Cuba
have been on the market for one-tenth
their value fifteen years ago. Ameri
cans with capital have bought thou
sands of such plantations, as well as
smaller ones, In some instances sub
dividing and selling tc smaller invest
ors, in others turning by their own in
dustry a wilderness into fruitful fields.
At Banes is the second largest sugar
plantation In Cuba, operated by capi
talists from Boston. It shipped last
year 150,000 bags of sugar of 320
pounds each. A number of others are
measurably as prosperous. There are,
at present, no sugar refineries In Cuba.
All sugar is shipped out crude. But as
refined sugar costs much more In Cuba
because of shipment to the United
States and return, plus the price of re
fining, already plans are on foot for re
fining plants there, where sugar cane
grows sixteen feet high, needs plant
ing but once in twelve years, and two
crops a year are cut. In Havana are
three shoe factories, the first in Cuba,
where shoes are made by machinery fit
for a man to wear for a Cuban shoe
is an instrument of torture. In all Cu
ban cities are many factories for mak
ing shoes by hand in Cuban fashion.
One of the proprietors of uiese com
plained to the writer that the Havana
factories were ruining his - business, .
and would that of all his fellow crafts
men. For the good of humanity, one
would say who had tried to wear a Cu
ban shoe, may they do so speedily!
The celebrated copper mines of San
tiago Province, one of the richest
known, have recently passed into the
hands of an American syndicate. Pil
grim. :
A' statesman often is good at repar
tee but the politician is generally quick;
at figures.
A miser is known by the money ha
keeps. . . . .