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About The Oregon scout. (Union, Union County, Or.) 188?-1918 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1885)
THE OEEGON SCOUT. JOMJSA: OUANCUV, I'liblldlicrn. UNION, OREGON. FACT AND FANCY. Peanuts grow to perfection in and around Yuma, Cal. In Nevada tho jack rabbits hav taken to girdling applo trees. In some parts of California gold It extracted from tho oro by cloctrlclty. Elovon organ-grinders arrived at Jacksonville, Fin., in ono day recently. By strict atlontion to business Ital ian chcstnut-poddlors make $1.50 por day. Prohibition tiokots woro nominatod in thirty Pennsylvania counties this year. Oculists think anothor half contury will seo all Americans wearing spec tacles. An El more, VL, man, 42 year old, is roportcd to havo olopod willt girl 10. Jow xorK is manufacturing; canes as big as baso-ball bats to keep tho dudes from blowing away. Ihoro aro ovor threo thousand Knights of Labor in Soattlo and Taeo ma, Washington territory. "Whito quail aro among tho curios!- tios of tho animal kingdom to bo found at Pinal, Arizona territory. J wo Mormon missionaries aro preaching In tho uppor part of Pick ons count', South Carolina. An Auirusta, Me., lady has bocomo locally notod for possessing n head of hair that is nearly live foot long. Thoro aro said to bo moro job-printing olllcos in Atlanta, Gu., than in any othor city of its sizo in tho south. Tho Connecticut lis Ii commissioners havo received applications for -l.oai acres of oyster ground sineo July 1. Flour is soiling for $1.75 por ono hundred pounds of first-class quality at various Interior points in Oregon. Tho nuthorltios of Fairniount park, Philadelphia, respoctfully but firmly dccllno the iulllctlon of a Cogswell fountain. Hawks havo congrogatod by tho hundreds to destroy tho inieo which havo boon invading tho Molds noar Tulnro, Cal. In grading n now streot railroad at Los Angeles, Cal, roeontly, a blast was iired which loosened live thousand tons of earth. At Eininottvillo, Idaho, work has beon commenced on a diteli that is to furnish water for irrigating 250,000 acros of laud. Tho colored pooplo of Mississippi proposo to oroot at Vicksburg a $50, 000 monument to comiuoniorato their emancipation. A Gorniantown Roforiuod ministor of Spriiigtown, I'n., was lately dis. missed by his church tor "fanaticism and Methodism." lho oitlzons of Jorouto aro said to hopo that when tho next census is taken that city will have moro inhabit ants than Montreal. A ltutland, Vt., pnpor has figured out that it costs $M,O0O por year to keop tho beards of tho male population of tho town In order. England's highest medical authority on (lyspopsin, uv. rotiiorgill, recom mends milk pudding and stewed fruits for dyspeptic and gouty pooplo Nineteen hotels and restaurants In Portland, Oregon, havo recently dis charged tlioir Chinese help mid aro now oinploying none but white hands juany Kinuerganon toaciiers agrofl that tho lirst choice among colors ol all children under 7 v oars of ago is yollow. This admits of few oxoop tions. j. Jvoeiviaiui, iuo., sportsman was out gunning tho other day, and mis taking his deg, a little fellow with a bushy tail, for a fox, lllled him with shot. IlamTpy, n Sacramento Chinaman, who was arraigned on a charge ol striking a woman with a hatchet, ploadod as a justilioation that she was his wife. Easter of next your falls on St. Mark's day, April 25, its latest possi bio dato. Tho Inst time this occurred was in 173G (old stylo), and it will uot occur again until 1013. A. fashion authority states that "low noekod drosses will bo dropped at tha opora this season. Tho time is fast approaching when tho opera will ho no place for respectable people tc frequent. Some yonrs ago a gontloman stop ping in Cohassot, Mass., placed a coup 'Jo of goldfish in the pond on Cohassot common. Iteceutly tho pond has been drained and oleausod, and thousand! of goldfish woro taken out. As tho holding of tho winter carnival nt Montreal is an impossibility this sea son, owing to tho provaloueo of small, pox, many prominent ottizens of To ronto aro making n strong ollbrt t ,havo tho attraction hold there. A couplo of owls havo been oaughl Jn Churohill county, Movada, wliicb jhavo hnlr on their faces like n moukoj 'and eyes nnd oyobrnws like a human .bolug. Tho body of ono is( speckled Jlko a trout, aud that of tho other ii yollow. Mr. Cable, tho southern novolist, gives in his adhesion to woman suff Irsge by saying: "If our mothers art not fit to vote, liioy ought to stoj bearing sons," lly this brilliant loglo, an our fathers don't boar sons, tlioj will be deprived of the r.'jjht of voting Knock Infra Hole In a River's Bert. About fifteen miles north of King wood, West Va., along tho Cheat river, can bo seen some of tho most, rugged and inspiring scenery to bo found any whero in "West Virginia, if not any whero in North Americn, cast of tho Rocky mountains. On cither side of the river, for probably ball a mile, there is a perpendicular wall of solid limestone about .'lf0 feet in height. From tho top of these walls, or cliffs, on the east side of the rivcr,thecrngay and timbered mountain, with a slope of about 00 dog. looms up moro than 12,000 feet. Near the top of this mount ain has stood for unknown ngts a great rock, measuring twenty feet fnom -lie top to bottom, and averaging about eighteen feet in thickness. It contained about 0,180 cubic feet of hard, flint-like limestone, and nllowing 100 pounds to each cubic foot, tho weight of the monster was 01 8,000 pounds or .'521 tons. It was deter mined by the people in the neighbor hood to give this rock a start down tho mountain. A treo was cut down that stood ngainst the stone, and tho earth dug away. A correspondent nays: I was up the mountain prob ably twenty yards from tho rock to get a good view of its course from the river, nnd was watching closely for the start. "Now she goes!" camo to my cars, nnd I could see tho top of the great rock going out from tho mountain now slow, now faster.now a crash, and then crashes upon crashes. Tho scer.o presented by that rock tearing and thundering down tho mountain can bo imagined, but it cannot bedescribed. Ifc had a tendency to confound tho sense and bewilder the reason. Great f rees were torn from tho earth and hurled into tho air like twigs in a whirlwind, and tho trunks of main moth oaks were torn and slivered in quick succession. On and on it went, making a clean cut rond from tho start. The mountain trembled, and tho spectatorsstood spellbound. Tho rock gained in speed as it nearcd tho river, which wns in view at tho lower end of tho great limestone walls. It now struck tho last, precipice, and, after going outward and downward moro than "00 feet it fell into tho river with a roaring sound. After tho dust and leaves and living pieces of limbs had settled wo could seo a peculiar action of tho wnter.but wo were too far oil to discover the cause, A walk or moro than a mile around, as it wns next to impossible to go straight down the mountain from where wo were, brought us to the river, bub instead of seeing the rock wo saw tho water rushing from every direction down into a huge hole prob ably thirty feet; square During tho halt hour wo woro thoro not less than ten saw logs Were drawn into tho whirl and disappeared. It. is supposed that tho cave extends under tho river, ana that the weight of tho immense rock coming down with such force and rnpidily caused the roof to give way. Whether or not tho water will soon fill the hole up and the river flow on as before will de pend upon the extent of tho cavern nnd the existonreof an out let to carry tho water from tho cavern to somo of her stioani.or to sonio other part of tho country. When 1 left that district tho water was still rushing down the hole, car rying saw logs and every other floating substance. thestntc as if it were a sheet of water Tho groves constantly interrupt and break its force." "It seems almost incredible that so radical a change should havo occurred so soon." "Yes, I would not believe it if I had not seen it nnd felt it. You can judge for yourself whether wo are troubled to raiseerops. Wehavchad five successive years of them. Last yenr the railroads themselves were dismayed at the corn to bo moved Away out, 1 50 miles to tho west of here, in Phelps county and Gnsper,and -unicorn, me cultivation is going on so it is north of tho Platte, and also south of us in Kansas. ' in Changes in Western Climate. "When 1 camo hero in IS72," said President David U. Perry of Deano college, Crete, Neb., to a correspond ent recently, "ninny pooplo wore in credulous of the growth ol this state. Tho atmosphere wns excessively dry and it was aountlul whether corn or t nine grass or fruit-trees would grow. The sod was tough and stubborn, nnd sited the little rain that fell quickly. Wo hnd interminable wind storms. It would blow, blow, blow, day after day, till the din was unbearable. 1 havo seen people fairly worn out with tho incessant, strenuous, wcarisonio blaststhut so relentlessly kept a whirl and racket about them. And thoro used to come, in summer, occasional hot blasts from tho south that would wilt our grain, especially our corn. Hut thoro has come a most remarka ble change. The atmosphere is not nearly so dry. Ladies have to guard within doors, against ntildow occa sioned by dampness much as they do at the east. ohavomuch morerain, and it is much ntoreovenly distributed over tho year than it used to bo. Wo have fewer and fewer wind storms, nnd tlio heated winds that did such mischief do not trouble us at all. Seo for yourself the crops we raise! Look at thntcorn-lleld. There aioL'OO solid acres us fine as any in tho world." "Well, but what has induced soat eat a change? Are you sure it is perma nent?" "I am sure it is permanent because I know what bus caused it. Hundred of thousands of acres, year after year, were "plowed up and the soil rendered porous. You know we aro tho great soldierstato. There wns a vast army of men at the close of tho war, who went Home to imd their old places occupied and their occupation gone. They canioout here. Thoyputin their homestead and timber claims for government land and went vigorously to work at tanning, 't ho people at Heatrico have a Grand Army reunion shortly nnd they count on 00,000 ol boys being, thero. Such wide spread tillage of wholly new land has prepared the surlnco soil to receive una retain moisture. Tho corn itself, by itstdmdo, prevents rapid evapora- mill, sin uu our count nsss groves. Arbor dnj is a great institution out litre, as you can anywhere and every where see." "And you think tho moisture in tho earth increases tho rain-full?" "Most certainly. Tho influence of tho clouds and soil becomes reciprocal." "Hut what should effect the winds so remarkably?" "This same circum stance of a more moist atmosphere. The air is heavier, loss volatile. He sides the groves are very important in u.icir luiipouep in ureuKiiig me ioivo ol the wind. It cannot now sweep across The Most Beautiful Woman the World. From tho Louisville Courier-Journal. They were sitting, a number of kin drcd spirits, spinning yarns in the law oflico of Cox ifc Gl ider tho other after noon. The conversation liad turned upon the subject of beautiful women nnd whero the handsomest women were to be found. There was a great diversity of opinion expressed, tho majority stoutly maintaining, of course, that tho girl par excellence was not to be seen outside that glori ous sovereignty of old Kentucky. "Gentlemen," remarked the old Col onel who bad been appealed to for his views of tho fcltu;:tioii, "tho most perfect figure nnd prettiest face I over saw were m the wilds of Arknnsa'w party ot us were out minting, over m the swamps between tho Whito and Arkansas Hivers. Toward sunset we came to a deep and muddy bnvon. which we knew at a glance it would be inipossiblo to ford. On tho on posito side a canoe of the "dug-out" pattern, indigenous to tho country, was moored. Away behind tho trees a blue wreath of smoke curled quietly heavenward, marking tho place where some settler had built his cabin in tho lonely waste. After a series, of yells irom our guuio that would havo re fleeted credit on a Comancho brave about to take the war-oath. a. woman glided down to the bank on tho other side, gracefully seated herself in the canoe and commenced pnddhng to wards us with strong, swift strokes As she- nearcd tho plnco whero wewero standing wo all saw sho was young not more than 19 and with a face of surpassing loveliness. Her complexion wns of that peifect brunette tyyeonly to bo found in those whoso ancestors formany generations havo lived-beneath sunny skies; her checks had that indescribable tint so often seen on tho sun-kissed side of a ripe poach; her mouth was exquisitc.witli pouting lips like twin cherries; her hair floated down her back in silken, shining wave lets neaily to tho ground; nnd her eyes! ah, gentlemen, how shall I de scribe tlie midnight splendor or tho transcendent glories to bo seen in the liquid depths of those dark orbs? "As sho stopped lightly out on the bank and stood holding the 'dug-out' for us to get into," continued tho old gentleman, "sho displayed the most ravishiiu'ly perfect figure I over behold. Sho wns dressed in the single cotton garment,. fashioned out of coarse 'fac tory, which is worn by the females of her class in those distant wilds. It had evidently been made a yen-r or two be fore, for she hud outgrown it to such an extent that it imperfectly perform- a the duties lor which it had been constructed. It revealed a bust, with which in art istic outlines the famous Venus do Medici could not for a mo ment compare. The short skirt per mitted a glimpse of her ankles that were absolutely faultless, and " "I have a book here, gent lemon, which 1 should like to show- you, if you will permit me, said a dapper little fellow, stepping briskly into the room. lie was met with a howl of dissent from the major and the judge nnd the captain and t ho old squiro.so wild and fierce that ho novcr stopped running uiuii no was uown ine stairs. "Go on, colonel; oh, go on!" wns tho unanimous demand of his listeners. Tho old judge stepped quietly over, closed tho door nnd locked it, remark ing, his American heart would bo dad hinged if lie proposed that story would bo interrupted any moro if the court knew herself, or words to that elTect. "I don't know that I havo any moro to tell," wns tho reply. "Colonel," solemnly said the ven erable Major, "if you leave that poor-les- girl standing there holdinga canoe on the bank of that niuddybnyou, I'll hold you personally responsible 1 will, as sure us thero is a God in heaven." " oduln't leave her thore," respond ed the Colonel. "Sho paddled us across thestream, and when we asked what sho charged, sho said, 'Oh, nuthin', I reckon; pop went a b'ar hun tin' this mawniu' an took all the tor backer with him ef one o' you fellers'll give mo a chaw I'll call it squur'.' Wo gave her a chaw and went on about our business. I never saw her again." "I beliovo you're a liar," vociferat ed tho Judge," as ho unlocked tho door; ''an infernal old bald-headed liar." "So do I," chimed in each of tho listeners as tliey passed out and fol lowed tho irate loader down tho stairs the streets below. Tho question of which State pro duces the most beatiful woman is still before tho house. ABD-UL-UAMID. The MUcrnble KxIMencn of tlio Sultnn of Turkey. His Majesty the Sultan of tho Otto man Empire is a most high and puis-. pant monarch. His will is law nnd his nod is death. He has many pal 'aces; ho rules despotically over a vast empire; ho makes quantities of Pashas cross their fawning hands whenever he looks nt them; ho hns the power to do anything to anyone of his faithful subjects except recall him to life after ho has killed him. Put social pow er ho has none. His lifo is passed in an endless round of official drudgery, nay, positive servitude. Each minut est detail of business, from tho high est visions of diplomacy down to f he opening of a new cofleo house on tho shores of tho JJosphorus, passes through his august hands; and each incident of every transaction forms a focus of intrigues which, in their conglomerate mass, it would tako twenty Sultans with a hundred times Abd-ul-liamid's power to dis arm nnd defeat. What time, there fore, can ho have to spare for society? The Commander of the Faithful may be seen any week as he goes to his Friday's prayer. Then, before tho gaze of an adoring populace, through lines of splendid troops, crowds of brilliant aides-de-camp and pashas, fair veiled ladies, brnyingbrass bands, and screaming dogs there passes a thin faced, long-nosed grizzled-bearded pale man in a half-closed carriage.nervous- ly fluttering his hands before his face by way of salute, and receiving the low salaams ot all in return, lie hur ries into tlie mosque, scarce giving nimselt time to tnrowalialf-friglitened glance round, nnd so is lost to view before ho can well bo seen. When one considers why that face is so worn and pale, why thoso hands are so nervous. how tho heart behind that blue mili tary coat, must bo beating like a roll of drums, one feels grateful that one is but a private individual, and not his niijjuiim uijusi. , liiu (?iu win ivuu-iii- Ilamid II., living as ho does, in perpetual fear of assassina tion. Tho head of tho state neither ciiring nor during to assume hi3 posi tion in society, no other Turk essays tho rolo of social leadership. Not only might such an attempt cause him to bo unfavorably regarded by his sovereign, but tho Turk lias neither by temperament nor custom any in clination to mix in European society. It is too gay, too animated for him. He is a quiet, sober, reflective creature, who, after his day's work likes tore turn to his house, put on his old slip pers and his old coat, and, alter his evening meal, devote liunselt to con templative smoking among his women folk and children. Or, if lie is in a more social mood, he will perhaps in vito somo ot Ins intimates to smoke, and chuckle over childish Btories with them in tho outer chamber. Again, he cannot return hospitality; the harem system puts thnt out of the question. Filially, ho likes to go to bed and to rise early habits incom patible with social duties. The Fort nightly Review. A well-informed correspondent, who is said to bo officially connected with tho German general stall, has during tho last two months contributed to the Herliner Tageblatt aperies of ar ticles on thonriuedstrongthof Kurope. In the event of war, the disciplined soldiers that could within three months be sent into the field by these countries niny be numbered as follows: Houinunm, hil'.ooo; ervin, 73,000; Hulgaria, 712,000; Greece, 01,000; Eastern Houmelia. 23,000; Montene gro, iM.ooti; Turkey, tiril.UUO. Tho same authority ostunntes that tho maximum available strength of the great powers for warlikeoperations in l.iiropeau 1 urkev within three months of tho outbreak of hostilities would be: Hussia, 810.000; Germany. I'M).. 000; Franco. It'JO.OOO; Amstriu-llun-gary, Jt'JO.OOO; Italy, 1207,000; mid Great Britain. 80.000. A Sudden IJise In Fortune. So many stories are told about tho rise ot men in Wall street that they seldom attract as much attention now as they did years ago, when specula tion wns carried on with caution. Ono of the most amusing specimens of an street men is to Do seen every tiny on ms wav to tlie "street" m a brougham of his own, with a magnif icent team of bays and an English coacliman on the box. Within the brougham sits tho speculator leaning on his eaneand lookingthouahtfullvnt his well-gloved hands, lie has a palo nnd almost elleininato face, and his manner is reserved and austere. Ho is very much more exelusivo and e!e gnnt in the manner of his personal en joyment, L' t years old. and in deport mum miuo iiigumeu Ulllll MV. UOUUl, -Mr. tonnor, or Henry ( lews most ot whom go ui) and down in tho elevn ten, or in yeuow cans, Tins vounc man mm charge ot a certain depart- .iim.f- i ..itli.,.. .. i! X 1.1. iiiuiiu ui Hntio in H mill uu 'iiori.il stieet, and made all tho way from $15 to $25 a week. He lived in a board ing house on Twentv-sccond stieet. on terms of special friendship with tho ii.. .1.. x inuuimiy. i us iat nor had pertormed the marriago ceremony for tho land lady in earlier years, and she kept her eye on the clergyman's son nnd fed him dutifully for $8 a week. Ho had often "played" the bucket shops nnd often madovery tidy little winnings. The landlady had rawed $1,000 dur ing her many years of l o'ping board ers and wns about to devoto it to paying off a mortgago on her houso when tho solemn little clergyman's son succeeded in persuading her to invest somo of it in Wall streot. Sho wns a cautious woman and agreed to lot htm havo $200 every Monday morn ing for fivo successive weeks. This is not n great amount of money, but he happened to catch tho market us it rose, and ho is with it yet. His prof its tho lirst two weeks were enormous and the landlady threw all of her money into the pool. Now ho is liv ing in bachelor's chambers in tho Cumberland, dines regularly at Del nionico's and lives in a state of 111113 nillcenco suitable to a millionaire. The ole or Wall street men aro im mensely amused nt tho spectacle, for they say that a single stump of tho market will wipe him out of existence as completely as though ho had never lived. Brooklyn Eagle. The Passing of the IIotc.l Clerk. Charles Dudley Warner in the November Harper's. Tho hotel clerk has disappeared, or is disappearing. Tlie faithful cliron icier must note this significant chango in American life, for it means the pass ing away of a whole order of things And ho notes it witli a certain saiV ness; for, though this clerk was feared by the general public, he was the ad miration of the humorist. There was never anything in tlie world before an swering to this resplendent autocrat of sleeping accommodations, this dar ling of the flnshingpin, perfumed locks, impudent eves, nnd lottv condescen sion. He wns t he ono being in existence before whom the free-born American otmiled. Wo have so little real aris tocracy in thiscountrvthat this dom inating person stood out in relief; he had power to abase the proud, and to make the humble crawl into a hole. Hut Ins hour lias struck and tie is passing away, not absolutely, for the traveler can still find him hero and there, generally only in those gorgeous palaces whero civilization is new a id has tho appearance otn lacquer, and is not 01 the substance of the Hie. In fact, tho kind of civilization that produced the hotel clerk is gone, or is going also. He belonged to nn era of smartness and pretension which the foreign traveler did not recognize as .a growing development of churncter.btit mistook for vulgarity. He belonged to what might becalled the steamboat period, when tho steamboat was as gorgeous and asa barber's saloon, nnd its clerk had the fine manners and tho striking attire of the gambler, lie be longed to the era of the table in the hotel dining room a quarter of a mile long, whero tlie waiters were all drilled to move like clock-work at a signal trom tho first officer, who stood nt tho bend of tho table. We can seo them now facing tho table in a shining linc.hnlf wheeling nt tlie signal stretch ing out simultaneously over tho head of the submissive guests a hundred arms, seizing the tops of tho vegetable dishes, nnd then, tramp, tramp, witn the step of tho soldier going down the echoing floor.disappearing through swinging dooi-Sj and anon returning with thoKnme military precision to de posit a plate that weighed two pounds, with a bang, before eacli awed occu pant of a seat. As a military evolu tion it was nearly perfect, and tlie American people were rather proud of it. It wns a magnificence which some what crushed them, but they felt they were somehow a part of it, and it is doubtful if any foreign potentate was ever served exactly in thnt way. It was very cheap at fivo dollars a day, and if thero had been anv dinner to match the evolutions, we might still be 111 thnt showy period of our nation al developement. The hotel clerk had so subdued tho spirit of the traveler that ho had not perhaps much appe tite, and rather preferred magnifi cence to comfort. Hut in time, with other standards of taste, this pa geantry vanished, and the traveler be gan to assert his manhood. Of course there are still traces left of tho old civilization, nnd when the traveler finds them they awake a train ot reflections upon the singu lar development 01 democratic lite. in America. M. K. Like, of tho Tinted States Hotel, Saratoga, says that tho busi ness at that resost last summer gave no indication of hard times, It was noHcoable that a huge number of Southern pooplo visited Saratoga this year. Before tho war that used to be a favorite resort with them and now they aro begining to return in largo numbers. Singular Marriage Ceremony. A singular marriago ceremony oc- curedat Churchill during tho cruise of the Arcticstenmcr Alert (which has just arrived at Halifax) nlong the shores of Hudson's Buy. Tho missionary, Key. Joseph Lofteshouse, is tho only minister there. A Miss Falding of Sheffield, England, arrived out on tho Hudson buy bnrquo CannOwen, to be come Lofteshouso's wife- Hut when sho arrived there was nobody to mar ry tnein, tnero uemg no minister or magistrate within many hundred miles, and Lofteshouse was, of course, unable to marry himself. Cant. Gor don of tho Alert was called upon to act in the emergency, and, although having no legal authorization to tie thegordian knot, thought that being captain of a Government steam'er lie would bo justified 111 performing tho ceremonies, and that nn entry to that efleet 111 the ship's log would sufficient ly legalize the murrage. Thereupon me contracting parties and other 111- nauuauisoi 1110 pose assembled on board tho Alert, and the sacred rite was performed by Cap. Gordon read ing the ceremonial of tho Church of England amid a gale of wind. The marriage contract and certificates were entered 111 tho log and dulv signed. OF INTEREST TO SKTJL'liKllS. A Jtullng by Coinmlssloacr bparKS Baling 1111 Important Hearing. Tlio Turning ofnti Unlry Into 01 I'ro Gliiplloii TIi nn .Tin lie Illegal. Preventing rrnlntttm in Citm. Commissioner Ppnrkfl.wiys a Washington ( tliHpntcii, linn recently tjinile 11 ruling which in probably destined to have an important influence upon tlie course ot transaction in public IiuhIh. He Iiiih decided, in substance, that tlio commutation ot 11 homestead Is, in effect and in law. a turnina of the entry into a pre-emption, anil, n such, is Illegal when tlie claimant lias previously had the benefit of tlio pre-emption law. Since tlie pnssnsje of tlie homestead law it ha be come tlie almost universal practice for set tlers to secure claims under lioth that and tlio pre-emption law. in addition to which tliey have usually taken tlio benefit of the timber culture law, thus ncreat in? under tin-so las a maximum estate of ISO acres to each settler. It lias bnn custonmrv to take up a pre-emption and "treo rlnim'1 nt once, and tho lapse ot the shorUMt neces nary interval to mortgage tho farm tor enough to pay the government ju ice of it, when, lm vim; secured tho title, tlio settler was at liberty In movo awuy and take thu benefit of thu homestead law. The ruling of tlio commissioner is calculated to put an end to this practice. It leaves the act tier still the right to secure either n pre emption or a homestead in additioirto his "treo claim," nnd as far as tlio rule itsrU goes, it loaves him tho right to secure a pre emption claim in tlie usual way, anil then secure a homestead by living upon the land fivo years. Hut the latter right Gen. Sparks does not concede. ft has been stated lie has made a ruling to tlio effect that no person is entitled to tlie IsjiiefitH of both pre-emption and home- stead laws. This is incorrect, no such ruling having been made. There is no reason to believe, however, that uhen this question conies before 111111 111 a way to de mand a formal ruling on tlie subject, ho will hold that in passing the homestead law congress intended to give tlie choice to set tlers of limited means by affording them a method of obtaining 100 acres of land without other outlay than tlie payment ol customary fees in the place of purchasing under tlio pre-emption law. Such ruling he says would be in concurrence witn tlio views which have inspired tlio movement . in congress to repeal tho pre-emption law outright, and should tho timber culture law be repealed, would havo tho effect of , restricting tlio area ob tainablo by a single claimant to oniMpinrtcr section. Gen. Sparks holds that the two iawu thu homestead and tlie pre-emption standing together and interpreted iih tliey have been, offer a temptation to fraud and place a premium upon it. The hope, of securing a second clainf is field out by tho ono law as an inducement to make settlements nnd improvements upon tlio lirst claim of tlio most temporary and inexpensive character, simply designated to make a false show of good faith and to "swear by," us immediately after tlio final pre-emption or commutation, as the case may be, tliey are to bo abandoned and another residence established upon claim number two. Gen. Sparks holds that if congre.sn do- signed to give some settler tho benefit ot both laws it would not havo imposed upon him requirements toestnblish :t temporary homo in a place, only to bo abandoned for another within a few months. Should tho ruling indicated, as probable never to bo made that already made prohibiting com mutation of homestead claims by persons who have previously been ire-ciui)teis will still, ho believed, havo an important result in preventing to a considerable extontspec ulation in claims. Tho obligation to live five years upon a claim is a te-tb of good faith to which only actual farmers who do- sire land for their own cultivation will euro to submit. King Alfonso Dead. A dispatch was received by tlio London foreign oflico from Madrid stating thatiKiug Alfonso died at !) o'clock on tho morning of tlie-oth of consumption, accelerated by dysentery. Six doctors from Madrid and two physicians of Kl I'ardo were in con stant attendance upon the Kin;. Tliey de cided Tuesday morning that tho king was in a dangerous condition. Kits continued throughout that day, and tlio king died at S: Io tlio next morning. Tho pope's bene diction arrived be f oro ho expired. All olli cors or state and the cabinet ministers ex cept tlio ministered war and minister of tho interior were present at tho moment of dis solution. Tlio cabinet met immediately and tlio queen wns appointed regent in ac cordance with law. Tlio members of tho cabinet havo tendered their resignation lint will remain ni ollice pending tho regent's pleasure. Tho body of Alfonso will bo buried in tlie palace of the K.-curial. Postmaster General Nomuro, of Japan, who is visiting this country, has not yet quite caught on to tho immediate delivery fybtcm. THE MARKETS. Drunkenness in Switzerland. The people of Switzerland have be come alarmed at tlio great increase of drunkenness among them, and nie moving to secure a moro stringent le gal regulation of tho traffic in intoxi cating drinks, with a strong feeling in in favor of a high license system. Tlio excessive tiso of alcholic beverages has caused a great increnso in the number of insano patients in tlio asylums maintained at tho public clinrgo, tho ratio to tho whole homo by those duo to alcoholism being ."7.U per cent. Of tho deaths in thocountry one in every sixteen is said tn ln chnrgenblo to overstimulation. Thir ty years ago the nonulnco consumed scarcely anything 111 tho way of bev erages but light wines; now tho middle and lower clnsses are great users of whisky, brandy and gin. The reports of tho reform schools' show that from hi to oO per cent, of all the bovs and girls were tho children of dissipated parents. It will require tho adoption of a constitutional amendment to bring tho high license system into use. Tlie property of France, stored in the Garde-.Moublo in Paris, is said to have a value of round HO.onn nnn francs. It consists chielly of furniture, glass, and china and contains among other pieces of historical interest the oeu and writing desk of Louis XVI. OMAHA. WnnAT-No. 2 1!aiiu:v No. 2 Hve-No. 2 C'oiin No. 2 mixed. Oats No. 2 , HuTTKii Fancy creamery, IIuttek Choice dairy HuTTKii Itest country Kaos Fresh Chick t:xH Dressed per lb Teui:i:vs Dressed per lb. Ducks Dressed per 111 , Oeesb Dressed por tb I. kmons Choice Bananas Choice. Oiianoks Mesma Hkans Navy s Onions Per bbl Potatois Per bushel. Giikkn Arn-us Per bbl Seeds Timothy. Seeds llliie Grass... jiav Haled, per ton llAV la bulk lloas Mixed packing IIeuvus r eeders. NEW YOHK Wheat No. 2 red Wheat Ungraded red to UN No Oats Mixed western. I'ouk I.AllD CHICAGO Fi.ouit Choice winter Flouii Spring extra wheat l'erbushe Cons Per bushel... Oats Per bushel I'ouk Laud Hons Packing A shinning. f 'atti.e Stockurs SiiEcr Medium to good.... ST. LOUIS Wheat No. 2 red. ConN Per bushel Oats Por bushel, 4 'attle S tockers it feeders SiiEEi' Weutcrn 51 (io 40 g 28Wu) 70 47 2HX 20 (a) 1 25 M 27 12 la 12 M 15 20 (a) 22 7 8 10 13 30 (ri) 31 11 32 0 25 (a) 0 50 2 75 (a) 3 50 3 00 (a) 4 50 1 25 (a) 1 50 4 00 (S 1 75 10 (a) 45 .... 2 75 3 24 2 30 (a) 2 40 1 75 (a) 2 00 5 50 0 00 (i 00 W) 7 00 3 15 3 35 3 10 60 3 CO 00 54MfiL 02 54J$ 37 10 50 .6010,75 i -iH tJ) U -14 4 75 .1 r. 87X 12,'iG) 28 0 00 0 15 3 U5 2 25 2 00 37 2(iU(i 2 40 2 00 KANSAS CITY. Wheat Per bushel. '.'ohn Per bushel Oats Per bushel... tUm.K Exports. ions 'Ai-sorteU jiiEEi Common to uood. 71 ( 28JG 22 id 5 05 & 3 55 a 1 50 S 5 00 4 00 88 43 ' 28S' 0 50 0 17 3 85 3 75 . 3 75 95 37M 27 3 75 2 25 72Ji 20 23 6 20 ' 3 70 2 75