Heppner gazette., September 10, 1908, Image 6

Heppner Gazette
luucd Thuraday of loch Week
HEPPNER OREGON
BRIEF NEWS OF
THE PAST WEEK
Interesting Events from Outside the
State Presented in a Manner to
Catch the Eye of the Busy Reader
Matters of National, Historical
and Commercial Importance.
A strike threatens loss of a large
part of the California hop crop.
Two light earthquake shocks were
felt at Bakersheld, Cal., but no dam
age was done.
Frank P. Sargent, United States
commissioner of immigration and
labor, is dead.
An Aberdeen, Wash., man died
from having a tooth pulled. Blood
poisoning was the cause.
Governor Hanley, of Indiana, has
called an extra session of the legisla
ture and wants a local option law
passed.
Electric railway employes of New
England have voted for a general
strike. Nearly 32,000 men will be
affected.
Returns from the Michigan Repub
lican primaries would seem to indi
cate the nomination of Governor
Warner for another term.
The American collier Ajax, accom
panying the battleship fleet, was badly
injured by collision with another ves
sel while leaving the harbor at Mel
bourne.
A Pittsburg .man died from overex
ertion due to dancing.
Castro has evidence that the French
supported the Matos rebellion in
1903.
Lord Sackville West, British min
ister, whom Cleveland dismissed, is
dead.
The third squadron of the United
States Pacific fleet is now in Chinese
waters.
Mrs. Marshall Field, Jr., has mar
ried Maldwin Drummond, an Eng
lishman. It will take the official count to
decide the Michigan and Nebraska
primary results.
Colonel Henry M. Nevins, of Red
Bank. N. J., has been elected commander-in-chief
of the G. A. R.
William B. Leeds, the New York
railroad magnate, left an estate of
$30,000,000, the bulk of which goes to
his widow.
Unemployed of Glasgow, Scotland,
attempted to break down the doors of
the council chambers in order to de
mand bread of the members.
Thos. Hisgen, Independence league
candidate for president, is an inde
pendent oil operator, who has suc
cessfully fought the Standard for
years.
Fire at Cleveland, Ohio, destroyed
$100,000 worth of lumber.
Governor Cummins' election as sen
ator from Iowa is assured.
Trouble over wages has caused a
strike in some of the coal mines of
Tennessee.
The La Follette faction has defeated
John J. Jenkins, present incumbent,
for congress.
An aeronaut fell 500 feet and was
killed at Waterville, Me. The gas
bag caught fire.
Hill is to build a railroad across
Montana, connecting the Burlington
and Great, Northern.
A Japanese steamer sank off the
coast of Chiba prefecture and twenty
eight men were drowned.
Two Cornell students, one of them
from Oregon, have perfected an aero
plane that has made some remarkable
Mights.
The Nevada State Democratic con
vention has endorsed Francis G. New
lands for senator and George A. Bar
lett for congressman.
Alarming conditions are said to ex
ist throughout the Honduran republic
and Mexico has dispatched a gunboat
The director general of the Japanese
fair has resigned.
The government has been asked to
create a leper reservation.
Senator Heyburn was renominated
by the Idaho State Republican con
vention. A severe gale on the English chan
nel wrecked a number of small boats
and cost a score of lives.
Only because he was a good runner
a Chicago negro escaped lynching for
assaulting a young white girl.
Rear Admiral Henry Glass, retired,
is dead. He was commander of the
Pacific squadron for some time.
ASK NO MORE PENSIONS.
Grand Army Votes to Suspend Ap
peals to Congress.
Toledo. O., Sept. S. Not for three
years will the Grand Army of the
Republic ask congress for further re
lief measures. It appeared to be the
consensus of opinion of the leaders
that too much hammering for pension
hills and relief measures might soon
create an undignified impression in
the minds of congressmen and reflect
discredit on the civil war veterans at
the time in their lives when they
would need the most assistance at the
hands of the nation they helped to
save.
Another way will be sought by the
veterans to get before congress those
bits of legislation which they feel can
not wait. The attention of the G. A.
R. delegates was called by Kate
Brownless Sherwood to the status of
the pending widows' pension bill, in
which at present it is required that
applicants shall have been married a
number of years prior to the present
date. She asks that the bill may be
altered to allow the eligibility of
those who marry up to the date of
the passage of the bill and that the
matter may be placed in the hands of
the pension agents. The same plan
may be used witn regard to tne
amendment to the service pension
bill.
At the wish of General I. R. Sher
wood his dollar-a-idav pension bill
was not brought up for consideration,
and a resolution asking congress to
pay ex-prisoners of war $2 a day pen
sion was laid over.
After the installation of the newly
elected national officers, the G. A. R.
elegates decided upon Salt Lake
City as the next meeting place by a
vote of 401 to 104 for Washington.
After Salt Lake City had been chosen
for the encampment, Vice-Comman-der-in-Chief
Scott notified the en
campment that Atlanta would be in
the .field for 1910.
NEWS NOTES GATHERED FROM
VARIOUS PARTS OF OREGON
COUGARS ARE DESTRUCTIVE
REVEALS DYNAMITE PLOT.
Detective Gives Sensational Testimony
at Strike Hearing.
Chester, Pa., Sept. 7. Testimony
given by a detective, who from the
tart of the Chester trolley strike
posed as a street peddler and said h
had wormed his way into the conn
dence of the union leaders, was to the
effect that he had received from their
lips the confession of a conspiracy to
dynamite and destroy street railway
property. The testimony caused
sensation at the hearing of Patrick J
Shea, vice-president and national or
ganizer of the Amalgamated Associa
tion of Street and Electric Railway
Employes; William Stockhart, presi
dent of the Chester division, and 13
trikers arraigned before Justice of
the Peace Williamson, at Media, the
county seat.
The 15 defendants were held under
2.000 bail for court. The testimony
of the detective made out the prima
tacie case against the accused men
Estimated That 500 Will Kill 26,000
Deer Every Year.
Lebanon That thcro will soon bo no
deer to speak of in t ho Oregou moun
tains is the belief of Dan Simons, a
prominent Linn county pioneer and one
of the oldest hunters iu the state. Mr.
Simons lays the rapid passing of the
game animals to the depredations of
the cougar and will bo one of the fore
most lu favor of enacting a bounty law
on cougar scalps.
There is no one in the Btate better
qualified than Mr. Simons to speak ou
game conditions. Mr. Simons, who is
7o years of age, eamo to Oregon in 1851
:uul on October 8 of the same year en
camped on the spot which is now his
home, lie is one ot the heaviest tax
payers in Linn county and is willing to
be assessed to provide a bounty lund.
He thinks there should be a one-mill
assessment to cover the bounty.
He estimates that there are over 500
cougars in the state. A half thousand
of those predatory cats get away with
more deer than all the hunters in the
state, he says. Prom his experience
with tlrem he estimates that the cougars
will average one deer a week for feed.
Figuring further he shows that in a
year the 500 cougars will kill at least
26,000 deer in a twelvemonth. The
amount seems unusually large, but
other pioneer hunters back Mr. Simons
up in his assertions.
WATER IS IMPURE.
DISTRUSTS JAPAN'S MOVES.
At the Wisconsin primaries the Re
publicans cast the popular vote for
Isaac Stephenson to succeed himseli
in the United States senate.
Unknown persons piled ties on the
tracks of the New York Central near
Poughkeepsie, but they were discov
ered in time to prevent a wreck.
In a speech at Leavenworth, Kan.,
Secretary of War Wright said we
should be prepared for war and our
army and navy brought up to a
higher standard.
Representatives of all branches of
railway men in Louisiana have pe
titioned the state commission to al
low the roads to increase freight
rates, fearing a cut in wages if the
old rates stand.
Tacoma wants the" next national
encampment of Spanish war veterans.
China Sees Trouble Brewing Over
Chentao Boundary Dispute.
Pekin, Sept. 8. Contrary to her
agreement to maintain the status quo
pending a settlement of the Chentao
boundary dispute with China, Japan
has recently done a number of things
in this territory which arouses the
apprehension of the rekin govern
ment. She has occupied the residence
.buildings recently completed at Yen
chi Ting in the disputed district; she
has brought into this town a joint
civil and military commander and
I.O'iO eendarmes and she is proceed
ing with the organization of the ex
isting system for the government of
the Corean population. China has
protested to Tokio and to the Jap
anese diplomatic representative here
but with no result whatever. The ar
rival of a battery of Japanese field
guns near the border has renewed the
fears of China that Japan proposes to
precipitate some action.
New Jersey Troopers Win.
Seagirt, N. J., Sept. S. Rifle and
revolver experts from all parts of the
country took part in the lth annual
shooting tournament of the New Jer
sey State Rifle Association, which be
gan Friday and will be in progress
until Saturday evening, September 15.
The prize-winners in the tyro com
pany team work were: Second Troop,
New Jersey, first. 140; First Troop,
Philadelphia City Cavalry, second,
129. The company team match was
won by the Second Troop of New-
Jersey, with a score of 307.
Three Bankers Indicted.
San Francisco. Sept. S. After sev
eral days of intermittent investigation
into the fiffairs of the defunct Market
street bank, the grand jury has re
turned indictments against A. F. Mar
tcl. pre-idt-nt of the bank; W. P.
Nash, a former cashier and director.
and L. P.. Haven, the cashier who suc
ceeded Na-h. The indictments charge
the return of a t'ah.c report to the
bank commissioners. Martel. Nash
and Havens are held under $10,000
bonds in each case.
Eugene's Proposed SupplyJUnfit for
Domestic Use.
Eugene. A bombshell was thrown
into the camp of the adherents of the
plan of securing a water supply for
the city from Ritchey creek, 25 miles
east of Eugene, when a report from
the state board of health on samples
of water from the creek was received
here. The board declared that the
water was unfit for drinking or do
mestic purposes. Mayor Matlock, who
has been at the head of the movement
to secure the water supply from
Ritchey creek, secured the samples
returned and shipped them to the
state health board about 10 days ago.
He was greatly surprised when the
report came that the water was im
pure, and gives it as his opinion that
it was contaminated in some manner
after having left his hands. It has
been the general opinion that the
water in Ritchey creek, a mountain
stream, was absolutely pure. Old
residents of that section have used it
for domestic purposes for years, and
no cases of illness have ever been
known.
Packing Plant for Albany.
Albany. The largest independent
meat packing plant on the Pacific
coast, to cost a quarter of a million
dollars, will be built in Albany, and
work will commence within the next
90 days. O'Shca Bros, formerly
owners of the Union Meat company
in Portland, are behind the under
taking. In conversation with one of
Albany's business men Mr. O'Shea
said: ''We will build a large independ
ent meat packing plant in Albany, and
it will cost at least $25(1,000. I have
looked over the situation here thor
oughly, and am convinced that this
city is the ideal point for establishing
our plant."
Develop Applegate Mine.
Grants Pass. John Longwell and son.
southern Oregon prospectors, after pa
tient and persitent work in the Apple
gate district near Provolt, twelve miles
south of Grants Pass, have uncovered a
five-foot ledge that carries values of
from $50 to $200 a ton. Some of the
ore is thickly shot with gold and runs
up into the thousands. It is one o?
the richest strikes made in southern
Oregon this season. The ledge has been
traced for a long distance on thA sur
face, and though opened by shallow
shafts and cuts only, the general char
acter of the quartz and the contact
prove it to be a permanent proposition.
"Several claims have been locntoil. nnd
tlie' property will be deeply developed.
HOPS LIGHT IN CLACKAMAS
Crop Not Expected to Average Ove
500 Pounds to Acre.
Oregon City. The rains of the last
few days have geeil generally bene
ficial to the hops of this section.
though the crops is not so far along
as it was last year at this time.
A large amount of hop acreage ha
been plowed up, and in the yards that
remain the cultivation has been no
ticeably insufficient, and it is expect
cd that the crop will be very short
not averaging more than 500 pound
to the acre. In most of the yards
picking will not commence until the
early part of next week, and even
rater in some instances.
The pickers will work on a strictly
weight basis this season, and in most
cases the growers will pay $1 a hun
drcd, but it is reported that some of
the growers in the Butteville district
will pay only 70 cents a hundred.
The low market price of hops has
discouraged hopmen, so that in many
sections very little care has been
given the yards.
FRUIT PRICES WILL BE HIGH
Growers Expect Quotations to Soon
Advance in East.
Medford. Fruitgrowers have rea
son to feel hopeful as to prices to be
realized for pears and apples this fall
according to L. D. Harris, ex-man
ager of the C. H. Lewis orchard here
who has just returned from a visit
through the East, where he has been
carefully studying Eastern market
conditions. He says the East and
Middle West have not yet fully re
covered from the effects of the flurry
last November, and as a consequence'
there has not been the call for large
shipments, as heretofore. Bartlctt
pears, he believes, will net the grow
ers about $1.50 per box, and as local
pears are about three weeks later
than those grown in California
thinks the growers here will realize
better prices than California fruit-
men.
Hoppickers' Wages Fixed.
Eugene. The hopgrowers of Lane
county met here last week to con
sider the hop situation. It was de
cided to pay only 75 cents a hundred
for picking this year. Growers from
all parts of the country were in at
tendance. Some of the yards that
have been cultivated may not be
picked if the hop market does not
look better when the crops are ready
A number of growers have begun
picking, but most of the yards will
not be ready until about September
10.
Another Road Projected.
Salem. Articles of incorporation
have been filed with the secretary of
state for the Rogue River & Oregon
Southern Railway company, with a
capital stock of $1,000,000. The com
pany proposes to construct a railroad
from Grants Pass to Waldo, in the
southern part of Josephine county,
tapping a rich territory. The road
would traverse the Rogue river valley
and tap large timber holdings in the
Siskiyou mountains.
Preparing for Apple Fair.
Albany. President E. W. Langdon,
of the Albany Commercial club, has
appointed the following committee
to work in conjunction with a com
mittee named by the Linn County
Horticultural society to manage the
Albany apple fair this fall: Owen
Beam, chairman; E. H. McCune, II.
Bryant and J. A. Howard.
PORTLAND MARKETS.
Rain Ruins English Hops.
Maidstone. Eng., Sept. . The ex
cessively wet weather, accompanied
by a high wind, has completely ruined
i large part of the Kentish hop crop.
Thousands of hop-pickers who came
down from London are suffering
acutely. The huts wherein they are
uiartered are flooded and in many
cases they are without sufficient food
Writes History of Columb'a.
Pendleton. Professor W D Ly-
man, who is writing a complete his
tory , of the Columbia river and Co
lumbia river navigation, has secured
dozen photographs from Major
Lee Moorhouse, the photographer of
this city, to use as illustrations. The
work being prepared by Professor
Lvman will be complete in everv de
tail, giving the exact history of the
development of navigation on the Co
lumbia from the earliest times to the
nresent. It will be published in New
York within the next few months.
Frosts Do Damage.
Grants Tass. It has been found
that the frosts which visited the melon
and tomato fields along Rogue river
-itt week have done more damage
than was at first believed. On several
farms the vines were completely killed
nd the fruit badly damaged. The
frosts were confined to the river bot
tom lands, and did not reach the or
chards and fields of the mountain
ides. Thi is the first time in thirty
crirs that destructive frosts have oc
urrcd in August.
Boost for Coos Bay Line.
Portland. Oanghren. Winters. Smith
& Co. of Spokane will be recommended
as the lowest bidder for the construc
tion nf 14.0fiO feet of the felilo canal
on which bids were opened a few dnys
igo by Captain James McTndoe. T'nitcrl
States engineer corps. Following were
the bids: Cauchren, Winters, Smith &
Co.. $530,005; Twoliv Brothers. l4.V.t5;
Hobert Wkefieh & Co.. $002,370; p
?et Sound Bridge & Dredging company.
$710,348; North American Brewing
company, $722,420; Johnston P. Porter.
750.100; Cclilo Construction company.
$502,330.
Wheat Club, 88c per bushel; forty
fold, POc; Turkey red, 90c: fife. 88c
blupstem, 92c; Valley, 88e.
Barley Feed, $24.50 per ton; rolled
$27(?C2H: (rowing, $26.
Oats No. 1 white, $2727.50 per
ton; gray. $2fi26.50.
Hay Timothy. Willamette Valley,
$14 per ton; Willamette Valley, or
dinary, $11; Eastern Oregon, $16.50;
mixed. $13; clover, $9; alfalfa, $11;
alfalfa meal. $20.
Fruit Apples, new, 50c(rT$1.75 per
box; peaches. 50(J85c per box; pears,
i5ert7$1.50 per box; plums, 7oc per box;
grapes, horfrt $I.o: per crate.
Potatoes 00c(Tr$l per hundred;
sweet potatoes, 2 'i (a 2 e per pound
Melons Cantaloupes. 90c((?$2.00 per
crate; watermelon.!, $1 (ft; 1.2a per 100
loose; crated. per pound additional;
casnbas. $2.2u per dozen.
Vegetables Turnips, $1.50 per sack;
carrots, $1.75; parsnips. $1.73; beets,
$1.50; artichokes, G.jc per dozen; beans.
5c per pound: cabbage. 2c per pound;
cauliflower, $2.50 per crate; celery, 75c
fft$l per dozen; corn. 25(7)30c per dozen;
encumbers, 30fft"40c, per box; egg plant.
$1.75 per crate; lettuce, head, 15c per
dozen; parsley, 15c per dozen; peas, 0c
per pound: peppers, (?10c per pound;
rndishes. 12'jC per dozen; spinach. 2c
per pound; sprouts. 10c per pound:
ociiiash, 40c per dozen; tomatoes, 35fft
50c.
Put tc T'xfms. 31' per pomd;
fancy, 27''e; choice. 25c; store. ISc.
Eggs Oregon extras. 20(f72"ii,c:
firsts. 24."25e; seconds. 2f"23c tMrds.
15(7i.20c; Eastern. "4f725e per dozen.
Poultry Mixed chicVcri". 1 1 ''
r.er pound; fnvv hens. 12i712'f-c: roo
ters. 10c; spring. IZfn'Me; ducks, old
12(W12,-jC; spring, 14 'ft' .)'r: peee
old. 8c; young, 0c; turkeys, old, 17fo
18c: yonn. 20c.
Veal Vrtrn, 8ftOc per pound; or
dinary, '(n.'iUp; heavy. 5c.
Pork F"ncy, 8c per pound; ordinary,
0c: large. 5c.
Mutton Fancy. Hft$c.
Jfnps 1907. prime and choice. 4(nl
5c per pound; olds, l(i'e; contracts,
7fT8e.
Wool Eastern Orepon average best,
lOtflOVJe Pt ponnd. according to
shrinkage; Valley, 1515e; mohair,
choice, 1818V4c.
RAWHIDE IS BURNED.
Nevada Mining Town Almost Wiped
Out by Conflagration.
Rawhide, Nev., Sept. 7. A fire that
started Friday in Dr. Garner's office,
a veritable firetrap, spread with lightning-like
rapidity and, despite the vig
orous efforts of the lire department
and 500 miner volunteers, eight
blocks, comprising all ' the business
section of the town, were a mass of
flames. The fire-fightcrs soon discov
ered their efforts were of no avail
against the fire, so they began dyna
miting adjacent buildings. Over a
ton and a half of dynamite was used.
At 11 o'clock the total area was a
mass of ashes and smoldering embers.
Among the first buildings to go was
Collins' hardware store, which con
tained two tons of dynamite, which
exploded with terrific force, hurling
burning planks and boards a great
distance and setting fire to numerous
buildings simultaneously. This ca
tastrophe led the firemen to fight the
flames with dynamite, which prompt
action saved the outlying portions of
the town. A sTrong wind was blow
ing, which swept the flames south
ward across Rawhide avenue and east
across Nevada street.
The buildings destroyed will alone
result in a financial loss of $750,000,
with no insurance. The contents of
the buildings are a complete loss and
will swell the total to considerable
more. Many people were slightly in
jured by flying debris, but none are
reported seriously hurt.
Many acts of heroism were enacted
and were it not for the cool-headed
ones among the fire-fighters several
fatalities would have resulted. Fren
zied men, whose fortunes were going
up in flame, rushed madly forward in
their attempts to save their belong
ings, and would have perished had
not restraining hands detained them
COLOR TESTS
FOR WARSHIPS
Navy Department Will Try a Green
on the Yankee.
Invisibility Is the Object Sought by
Officials White Painted Vessels
Can Be Seen and Their Identity
and Power Established as Far as
Glass Can Reach.
LAND GRANT SUIT BEGUN.
Government Seeks Return of Tracts
Given to Railroad.
Portland. Sept. 7. Suit by the
United States to cancel the Oregon &
California land grants has been filed
in the United states court for the
district of Oregon. The government
asks for the forfeiture of all lands in
cluded in the two grants to the de
fendant railroad company, valued at
$40,000,000. If this relief is denied
plaintiff requests the appointment of a
receiver to take charge of all unsold
lands, included in the grants, and the
disposition of the same under the re
ceivership in tracts not exceeding 100
acres to each purchaser and for a
consideration not exceeding $2.50 an
acre. If this petition is rejected, the
plaintiff asks for a mandatory injunc
tion requiring the defendant corpora
tion to sell all of the unsold lands re
maining in the grants in quantities of
not more than 100 acres each and at
a price not exceeding $2.50 an acre.
It is also asked by the government
that the defendant company be re
strained from asserting any further
claim to the land, making any further
sales of the property or trespassing
thereon. An accounting also is asked
from the railroad company to the
government for all money realized by
the defendant company from its sales
of the lands.
FIGHT WITH JAPANESE.
Men From British Cruiser Stand Off
Brown Men.
Shanghai, Sent. 7. Outnumbered
ten to one. bluejackets from a British
cruiser in this port put up a desperate
battle with Japanese non-commts-
sioned men and a motley Japanese
mob, until the police broke up the
fight by the free use of revolvers, fir
ing repeatedly into the mob. Many
Japanese civilians were wounded, but
were carried away by their com
anions.
The fight started over the arrest of
Japanese officer for a particularly
atrocious assault upon a low-class
huropean woman, which was resented
by the English jackies. A well-organized
riot came simultaneously with
the publication of a letter from the
Japanese consul-general to the mu
nicipal council, which was of a highly
recriminatory and incendiary charac
ter, and defended the ruffianism of
his own people and the failure of hi
court to assist in maintaining order.
The feeling between the I'.ritish and
the Japanese is intense, and further
outbreaks are feared.
Boston, Mass., Sept. 5. The famous
"white squadron" of the American
navy may become a "green squadron"
as a result of a series of tests that
were commenced this week with the
big auxiliary cruiser Yankee off the
Massachusetts coast. Early in the
week the Yankee left the Charlestowu
navy-yard, where every portion of her
exterior had been painted a deep slate
green. The cruiser was then sent to
sea for a series of tests to determine
at what distance she would be dis
cernible in the new color, and how it
would act in various sorts of weather.
Later the Yankee will be painted
other shades of green, and the same
experiments will be made. The re
sults of the tests will not be an
nounced until the experiments have
been completed, though it is pretty
well understood that some one of
the shades will be selected. The
navy department recently decided that
the white-painted warships were too
easily seen at a distance, and their
identity and power were clearly dis
closed as far as the eye or glasses
could reach. Acting on the advice
and recommendations of the general
war board, of which Admiral Dewey
is chairman, it was decided to have
a series of practical experiments to
absolutely prove the advantage of a
more somber color and to test, by
practical methods, the various shades
of green paint as a method of hiding
a ship's approach. The carrying of
the painting scheme to the masts, ven
tilators and every exposed portion of
the ship's exterior above the water
line is a new idea.
INDICTSJTHREE POLICEMEN.
Springfield Grand Jury Harshly Re
bukes Cowardly Officers.
Springfield, 111., Sept. 5. The spe
cial grand jury called to probe the re
cent race war adjourned tonight,
after returning 17 more indictments.
This makes a total of 117 during the
session. Among the indictments re
turned this afternoon, four were
against Springfield policemen. They
are indicted iff alleged failure to sup
press the riot when detailed for that
duty.
Sheriff Warnock, Chief of Police
Wilbur Morris, Captain Charles S.
Walsh, of Troop D, Springfield, and
other officers are commended by the
grand jury. The report condemns
alleged "cowards" among the officials
and says:
"After the most diligent inquiry we
condemn in unmeasured terms the
cowardly, contemptuous action of
those members of the police, who,
having taken the oath of office, failed
to do their duty."
GIANT TREES SCORCHED.
Sails From Melbourne.
Melbourne, Sept. 7. Punctually at
S o clock .Saturday evening the Con
necticut, flagship of Rear-Admiral
Sperry, commander-in-chief of the
American Atlantic fleet, weighed an
chor and pointed her prow down the
bay. With clock-like precision 14
others of the white-hulled craft fol
lowed in her wake and began the
cruise to Albany, West Australia
The New Jersey remained in the har
bor to convey the American mail,
which is expected shortly, to the fleet.
s the vessels passed down the bay
many salutes were fired.
Phosphate Found on Pacific Isle.
San Francisco, Sept. 7. Two com
missioners of the French government
Mbert Bonnel de Meziere and John
Stephens, are in this city on their re
turn from the exploration of an island
in the Pieuniotu group, near Tahiti.
winch is said to be enormously rich in
hosphatcs, rivalling the deposits
wned bv the British on Christmas
n f I. They will go to Paris and
(turn with sufficient capital to begin
the work of developing.
Japanese Town Burns.
Tokio. Sept. 7. Fifteen thousand
people are homeless as the result of
i fire which almost entirely destroyed
'he city of Xiigita. IS miles north
vest of Jiere. It is estimated that
5.000 buildings were destroyed. The
town has a population of 40,000. The
government has been asked for aid
md tents are beinc supplied. Food
depots will be opened at once. So far
is is known no lives were lost.
Threatening Fire at Calaveras Grove
Now Under Control.
Stockton. Cal.. Sept. 5. Informa
tion from Mr. Whitesides. owner of
the Calaveras grove of big trees at
Big Trees today, is to the effect that
the fire which has been raging close
to the grove for the past three days,
is now under control, though still
burning to the north of the grove on
the ridge toward Gardner's. No fur
ther alarm is felt at the grove, and
unless something unforeseen should
occur all danger as far as the big
trees are concerned is past.
Tlfe latest reports are that the wind
has abated. Last night the fire fight
ers got the better of the flames, and
they are now under control. Men are
still working in isolated portions of
the grove, extinguishing the last
sparks, so that the flames mav not
break out afresh.
Abdul Aziz Victorious.
Tangier, Morocco. Sept. 5. The
reorganized army of the deposed sul
tan, Abdul Aziz, has defeated the
army of Mulai Hafid. the usurper, in
a trrrifie battle, according to advices
received here today, but with such
heavy loss that he will be unable to
follow up his advantage. The suc
cess of Abdul was decisive, it is said.
nut tne opinion prevails that sooner
or later he will have to abandon linn,
of regaining the Moroccan throne.
Alulai has sent a strong detachment
from the city of Morocco to the si-nnn.
to reinforce the defeated forces.
Germany Can't Understand.
Berlin, Sept. 5 The action of Ger
many concerning Morocco, it was ex
plained today, is limited to the sug
gestion of the signatories to the Al
geciras act that the time has arrived
to recognize Mulai Ilafid as sultan
of Morocco. Official wonderment is
expressed at the agitation of the
French and English newspapers over
the occurrence. They act as though
Germany had done something outside
her powers instead of something that
one of the signatory powers must do.
$4,000,000 Given to Charity.
Oswego. N. Y., Sept. 5. More than
$4,000,000 are left the charitable in
stitutions, the Metropolian Museum
of Art and Yale University by the
will of Frederick Cooper Hewitt
died at his home here last Sunday
To relatives and friends less than
$500,000 is left. The estate is pctl.
mated to be worth $5,000,000 to $6-000,000.