Heppner gazette. (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, December 10, 1908, Image 2

Historic Oregon Newspapers

Heppner gazette., December 10, 1908, Image 2

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Newspaper Page TextHcppner Gazette Issued Thursday of Each Week HEPPNER OREGON RESUME OF THE WEEK'S DOINGS General Review of Important Hap penings Presented in a Brief and Comprehensive Manner for Busy Readers National, Political, His torical and Commercial. Roosevelt has announced li is plans for his African hunting trip. House Democrats have elected Champ Clark as their leader. The government has launched a big colher at the Mare Island yard. General Simon has entered the Haytian capital with his army. Germany will provide several schools in the Chinese territory it holds. Internal revenue officers have seized ."O,(ioo pounds of oleomargarine at Denver. An Italian writer has denounced Americans for claiming equality with royalty. The schooner D. M. Clemson. ply ing on Lake Erie, is believed to have been lost. Rear Admiral Coughlan is dead. The republic of Salvador has put down a revolution. The Western Pacific railroad has just finished a tunnel through the sierras, which is 7,306 feet long. An Oregon boy won first honors in an oratorical contest at Notre Dame university. Ind. He will rep resent the school in the state contest. Castro is believed to have deserted Venezuela forever. The international naval conterence is in session at London. The prosecution has completed its evidence in the Ruef trial. A Pittsburg broker is charged with forging bonds for $000,000. Elks of New York City are to spend $1,000 000 on a new clubhouse. A steamer and at Portland, Me. WILL REFUSE LANDING. President Castro Will Be Asked to Apologize First. Paris. lVe. S If President Castro, n f Venezuela, comes to Bordeaux, ho will not be allowed to set foot on French soil until after ho has offered a formal apology for the fashion in which ho has flaunted France. This deeisiou was made by the cabinet, but was kept a secret, as it was expected that t'astro would disembark at !Sau taiuler, Spain. Hut should he arrive at Bordeaux, and his illness not be serious, permission to hind will bo made con ditional upon the dispatch of an official telegram of apology to the French gov ernment and the dispatch of tele graphic instructions to Caracas for the immediate execution of the arbitral award in the matter of the French claims. Pr. Domingo Castillo, the Venezuelan consul general at Hamburg, and IX Es ealante, consul general at Liverpool, massed through Paris today on the way to Sautander, presumably to meet Presi dent Castro. NEWS NOTES GATHERED FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF OREGON IRRIGATION GIVEN IMPETUS. DEPOSITS TOO LARGE. two docks burned Loss, $350,000. Montenegro has attacked an Austrian fort, and Austria is hurrying troops to the scene. Adjutant General Ainsworth reports that desertions in the army are on the decrease. A Los Angeles man has been ar rested for having dies for counter feiting money. A Chicago grand jury reports wholesale election frauds, particularly direct primary. Physicians hold out some hope for the recovery of Governor-elect Cos grove, of Washington. The Union Pacific has reduced its running time between Omaha and Portland two and one-half hours. Admiring friends want to present Admiral Evans with a house at Los Angeles, but he has taken warning from the Dewey incident and declined. Mrs. Yerkes-Mizner has started a contest of Yerkes' will. The Y. M. C. A. has erected a fine building at Seoul, Corea. An imperial edict has been issued in China guaranteeing a constitution in nine years. Los Angeles civil service employes have been forbidden to visit race tracks to witness races. Two miners were killed and three fatallv injured in an explosion of gas in a West Virginia coal mine. Miss Elkins is said to have jilted Abruzzi because she preferred Lieu tenant Andrews, of the navy. Railroads and coal companies have been convicted of conspiracy in re straint of trade at Salt Lake City. Rabbi Wise attacked New York judges for banqueting Croker on the occasion of his visit to this country. In the Standard Oil dissolution case Archbold has forgotten almost every thing in connection with the com pany's business. A Chicago man imported a lot of rugs and other articles, placing a value of $1,000 on them. Chicago cus toms officials have seized them as they were worth $15,000. Thaw's lawyers continue to fight to secure his release. Minnesota, Montana and the Dakotas are having zero weather. A Columbus, Ohio, city official has been convicted of grafting. At the municipal elections just held in Massachusetts, several cities went dry. The floods in Arkansas have not sub Bided. The property loss will be enor mous. The government inquiry into the Harriman merger has begun at New York. Four persons are dead as a result of the crush at Emperor Francis Joseph's diamond jubilee. At a conference of Pennsylvania Baptist ministers Roosevelt was se verely censured. Radicals will cause a storm in the German reichstag by a move to limit the kaiser's power. Many election frauds have been un covered in Missouri and indictments are expected to follow. The Pillsbury-Washburn Milling com pany, of Minneapolis, which failed some time ago, is to be reorganized. Remarkable Conditions Existing With Canadian Banks. Ottawa, Ont , Pee. S A very re markable condition of affairs is dis closed by the Canadian government's bank statement for October, just issued. It is shown that the people of this country are saving money at a very much faster rate than the banks and business men of the dominion can dis pose of in profitable investments. The result of this condition of things is that deposits in Canada increased luring October to the extent of $11, 36:!,S70, while the business of the eoun trv absorbed by way of current and call loans only $3,3:52.014 more than during the previous month. n nen u is reineiiuiereu rnat me crop movement began very early this vear, and that farmers were paid for their wheat and other products promptly, it will Lie understood 'that several million 'ollars of the increase for the month ;n deposits may be due to the plentiful ness of money in the rural districts of the dominion. Whatever the cause, however, bank ers of Canada are confronted with th- fact that they have to earn interest on -iii.Oiio.ooo of capital and $07,000,000 of deposits. Vigorous Campaign Begun by Com mercial Club of La Grande. La Grande With the avowed inten tion of running a preliminary survey from Meadow Brook canyon ud the Grand Konde river, down the river to its entrance into the Grand Konde val ley, following the proposed course of the main channel of the gigantic irri gation scheme now being fostered, and establishing the probable route of the laterals, that the land owners may be better apprised of the exact course, the Commercial club is searching for com petent civil engineers to do the work immediately. There is policy in the movement. When the preliminaries have been run, John. Smith will know how near his farm is to be from the main channel or principal lateral, and Mr. Jones will have similar information. The sudden spurt of interest and determination ex presses another highly laudable fact lethargy has been discarded for the unanimous decision to push t'he work until Union county's greatest Doon stands secured. PLAN RABBIT DRIVE. County Pests of Westerh Umatilla Face Extermination. Pendleton Spurred by the destruc tion of holds of young alfalfa and the serious injury to newly s t out fruit trees, left unprotected, set lrs in the Hermiston country are planning a rab" dii drive wnicn will help exterminate the worst pest the farmers in that end ot the county have to contend with. 1 he drive will probably be pulled off late in December. This will be the first big rabbit drive in this part of the country since H. C. nr:ii- a i i i i .... vy mis siarcea nis iamous ..rabbit can nery at Echo, several years ago, and started in to run opposition to the Swifts and the Armours. The- drives held then, in which tens of thousands of rabbits were killed, were conducted just across the Umatilla river from Hermiston. Since the days of the Willis drives, however, a mysterious plague has made serious inroads into the hordes of the long-eared pests until today there is not one rabbit where then there were hundreds. The ranch ers, however, have found that the num ber remaining is sufficiently large to cause great damage and the campaign of extermination has been arranged. With the building of the main feed canal for the reclamation project, the country in which the coming drive is to be held is almost entirely surrounded by water, the Columbia river being one one side, and the Umatilla on the other. This fact, together with the entirely open district, will make possi ble not only the almost complete ex termination of the rabbits, but will al- ; so keep the number remaining from being recruited from the outside. BRITISH GtVE PROTECTION. American Gunboats Leave During In surrection in China. Pekin, Dee. 8. Reports have been re ceived here that the Americans in the Yangtse Kiang territory are indignant on account of the withdrawal of the American gunboats, which went to Ma nila with the Pacific fleet for target practice, leaving no protection for Americans during the recent insurrec tion at Nanking. Because of this the American consul general at Hankow, illiam Martin, was compelled to ask the British representative to look after American interests at Nanking. Detailed reports of the revolutionary conditions which prevailed show that had the rebels succeeded in taking N'nnking, an insurrection would have broken out in at least three or four places, which would have put the Amer ican residents in great danger. High School Debating League. The November number of the Uni versity of Oregon Bulletin, contains the list of officers, constitution and by laws, propositions for debate, bibli ographies, debate libraries and an nouncements for the year 1908-09, of the Oregon High School Debating league. The league consists of 34 schools, divided geographically into five districts. The Eastern Oregon district copmrises the high schools of Baker City, Crook county, Elgin, La Grande, Ontario, Pendleton, Sherman county and Union ; Columbia river comprises i Astoria, The Dalles, Gresham, Hood J . Old Patents Just Filed. River, Newberg, Tillamook, Woodburn ! Hillsboro Three old donation land and Yamhill; Central Oregon district, I claim patents were filed in the record Albany, Brownsville, Cottage Grove, ' er's office here last week. David Eugene, Jefferson, Junction City, Leb- j Walters, 160 acres, patent dated Janu anon, Salem and Silverton; Southern ! arv 18 1859; bearing the signature Oregon district, Central Point, Grants ' and seal of President Buchanan; Ed Pass, Klamath county and Roseburc. i ward Barton and wife, March, 1866, and the Coos bay district, Bandon. Co-1 issued by President Johnson, and Wil- quille, Marshfield, Myrtle Point and ! llam h- Walker, 318 acres, date of is LIVES BEYOND INCOME. England Must Appropriate Big S-jm for Stronger Navy. London, Dec. 7. Estimating that by the beginning of the next fiscal year in March, England will be living $100,000,000 annually beyond its in come, the administration is gradually breaking the news to the country that there must be a heavy increase in taxation shortly. Forced by circumstances to declare ''or a stronger navy, the cabinet has undertaken a program involving $30, 000,000 unanticipated expenditures for ships. To escape a quarrel with the vari ous religious denominations over sec tarian education in the public schools, financial concessions have been necessitated to the extent of $7,500. 100. Old age pensions, payment of which will begin on January 1, will cost at least $35,000,000. and relief of the country's idle will foot up $30.- 000,000. Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George figures on making up the deficit as follows: Income tax increase $:J0, 000,000: in creased taxation of urban land, $20, 000; increased death duties, $5 000, 000; increased cost of liquor license, $25 000,000; diversions from payments to sniKing imui maintained for grad ual payment of national debt, $32.- 500,000. Hints of the necessity for increased taxes have been thrown out from time to time for months past in speeches by the various cabinet members and m the Liberal nartv newsnaners. A lain statement of the situation has finally been made by the chancellor. accompanied by an outline of his plan lur a remedy. TAET PROPOSES LONG PROGRAM Important Points in Policy of New Administration. Tariff Revision Comes First Large Number of Measures to Govern Trusts Retorm Injunction Law Extensive Improvements to Rivers, Beginning With Ohio. . Hie the the REBEL AT ROUTING RULE. New Chicago Shippers Opposed to Regulation of Railroads. Chicago, Dec. 7. The Tribune ves- erday printed the following news ar ticle on the new railroad traffic rule: Shippers of Chicago and other cities ire considerably exercised over what thev regard as another attcmnt mi tli,. art of the railroads to deprive them if the right to specify the routine mi' reight shipments bevond the line ,u' initial carrier to which the freight he North Bend. Cabinet Timber in Wheeler. Washington, Dec. 5. William R. Wheeler, assistant secretary of com merce and labor, is suggested bv tiie politicians for a place in the cabinet of President-elect Taft. A cahinet po sition is conceded to the Pacific coast, and since the name of George A. Knight aroused discussion and opposi tion the chances of Wheeler have been discussed. Wheeler as assistant sec retary has had experience and is held to have shown himself capable of suc ceeding Secretary Straus if the latter should lay down the portfolio. Wheeler, however, has shown adapr ibility and another post in the cabi net may be his. Fleet Passes Singapore. Singapore, Dec. S. The United States Atlantic 1 attleship fleet, under Hear- dmiral Sperry. passed through the 1 arbor hero today. The stately pro cession impressed Lot b the experts and 'he many other spectators. The scout cruiser Yankton kept in constant turn munieatinn with the fleet during its passage, Tin t otherwise the battleships lid not communicate with the shore. '"re flagship Connecticut saluted the port, and the salute was returned. Manv launches ami small vessels filled with spectators went out to meet the Ameri can ships. Acres of Peach Pits. Milton The largest acreage of peach pits planted in the Northwest is just being finished by the Milton nur series. Five acres of the seeds are be ing planted, over 3,000 pounds of the pits being required. The seeds are planted in long rows about three feet apart, and the pits are dropped six inches apart in two lines about five inches from each other, the seeds being left alternately, so that about every three inches along the row a tree is ex pected to grow. The planting is done with great care, each seed being placed by hand at exactly the same depth under the surface. In this way it is expected that practically a growth of tiny trees will result. sue, 1869, signed by U. S. Grant, were the instruments filed. The Walters patent was issued while Oregon was yet a territory. These patents have lain in the family strong boxes all these years, and some of the places have been conveyed by the owners, long since dead. ot rail- full Report of Southern Pacific. Salem The gross income to the Southern Pacific from its Oregon and California divisionn between Ashland and Portland during the year ending June 30, 1908, according to the report filed with the Oregon Railroad commis sion, was $2,714,600.25. Salaries and mantenance amounted to So. 968. 81: accrued taxes, $188,770.34; net in come, $2,519,861.10. From this amount current expenses are deducted, making what is called the net corporate income in Oregon the past year $949, 813.76. The report also shows that re ceipts from the sale of lands held by the Southern Pacific in Oregon amount- i ed to but $12,963.87. I Rails for Eagle Valley. Maker City. Several earloaf steel for the new Eagle Vallev road have arrived in this city from the cast, the steel being hauled along the grade that is completed for several miles into the country. Thousands of ties are on the ground, also a large quantity of bridge timbers. A. B. Ja cobs, head of the construction depart ment, states that it will be hut a short time until a construction train will be running in and out of Baker City. $30 Per Acre. Klamath Falls The cost of the wa tt r under the first unit of the Klamath irrigation project has been announced at $30 per acre and 75 per acre yearly for maintenance fee. The first unit extends from Klamath Falls to Merrill and comprises 31,153 acres. The orig inal estimate was $18.60 per acre, but this was later qualified, and it was stated the cost would go higher, on ac count of labor and other conditions. PORTLAND MARKETS. delivered. l'his quest ion has been the subiect of a long-standing controversy be tween the shippers and the roads. Its renewal at the present time is caused by a rule in the new west bound transcontinental tariff, effective in January. This provides: "The rates therein are subject to the absolute and unqualified right of the initial carrier to determine the routing of freight beyond its own lines." If enforced strictly, this rule is re garded as apparently in conflict with the administrative ruling of the inter state commerce commission. Railroad officials said yesterday 'hat under the commission's ruling the rule could not be enforced liter ally, but the fact remains that it is stated in black and white in the tariff md the shippers are wondering how far the roads will go when the tariff takes effect. The .National Industrial Traffic league, which since its organization has insisted on the right of the ship per to control the routing, is now preparing an amendment to the Hep burn law securing this right, which will be presented to congress at the coming session. DEATH LIST GROWS. Ferry Crashes Into Mole. Oakland, Dec. 8. Missing her slip in 'he almost impenetrable fog that had settled down upon the bay and blotted everything from view, the ferry steam er Berkeley, crowded with commuters returning home from San Francisco at :L'S last night, crashed into the bulk lead at the end of the Oakland mole with such force that one of the passen gers' was fatally injure), three serious ly and a score of others crushed and trampled upon in the panic that followed. Flood Threatens Town. Pine P.lpff. Ark.. Dee. 8 A con- inued rainfall and the consequent soft nirg of the already crumbling hanks is renewed apprehension that it is not improtalle that considerable additional property loss may occur, not wit list and 'r:r the rapid recession of the Arkansas ivi-r, wlreh at nightfall had fallen a ''"'it. The embankment protecting the vho'esnle district and county court house are impaired to such an extent hat it is feared they will give away. Run Mill Night and Day. Marshfield- The C. A. Smith Lumber company, of this city, has begun run ning night and day. The night shift gives employment to many millmen and will al3o increase the business of the company's lumber camp. The total daily output of the mill, with the night shift on, will be between 40,000 and 500,000 feet of sawed lum! er. This will make the mill one of the largest producers of lumber on the coast. In crease of orders makes necessary the 20-hour day. Baker Prepares for 300. Baker City. At least :aiq deb-gates are expected in this citv IVremher is wt - - v - to attend the irrigation congress. Ar- . . i , r.tiiKi-ini-iiiM arc iiemg made to enter tain the delegates with a banquet and reception and probably a drive through Powder valley, where there is much irrigated land. The Vale Commercial club has forwarder! ,Vi in vitation to the entire congress to visit that citv lintnei hate v aitrr tl in Baker i-i completed. flu- work- Electrocution on Trial. Trenton, X. J., Dec. 8 County ''ii ysieian Frank "!. Senmmell an nounced today thpt he would try to resuscitate Iho next man electrocuted n the New Jersey state Coos Bay's Appropriation. Marshfield- Coos bav nennln m,, relieved when, in answer to an in quiry, a wire was received from Wash irg on stating that the recommendation of a $500,000 appropriation for Coos bar improvements had not been over looked. The published budget of the army engineers did not irclude the Coos bay matter and explanations were asked. Mining Project Meets Support. Albany The Albany Commercial club of this city has indorsed the prop osition to erect a smelter in fV caa rei i , . . ,. "uiu prison. Me 1 . - me itonn ftan- ill do this in an effort to d isprovo i tiarn country. It is the op'nion of the 'he claim of physicians that electron!- i c'uo members that the building of a tion does not kill. John Mnntazanna smelter in this district would be an in is under sentence to be electrocuted valuable asset to Albany, as that coun- lurir.g the week of December 21. try is tributary to this city. Fruits Apples, $75cO$2 per box pears, $1(11. zo; grapes, iwi.ou per crate; quinces, $101.25 per box; cran berries, $12.50 per barrel; huckleber ries, 1 OftToe per pound; persimmons $101.25 per box. Potatoes i off 85c per cwt. ; sweet potatoes, 202'4c per pound. Onions- $107 1.10 per cwt. Vegetables lurnips, jlf'U.zo per sack; carrots, $1; parsnips, $1.25; beets, $1.25; horseradish, 80 10c pt r pound; artichokes, 90cff$l per dozen; beans, 100 14c per pound; cabbage, li,('il?.ic per pound; celery, 50(1 85c per dozen; cauliflower, 75cff$l per dozen; cucumbers, $202.50 per box; eggplant, 11c per pound; lettuce, $10. 1.25 per box; parsley, 30c per dozen; peas, 12J.jc per pound; peppers, 150 20c per pound; pumpkins, lfflj4c per pound; radishes, 30c per dozen; spin ach, 2c. per pound; sprouts, 90i 10c per pound; squash, Iff 1 Lie per pound; tomatoes, 50c0$1.7o per box. Wheat Bluestem, 96c; club, 900j 91c; fife, 90ff 91c; red Russian, 88c; 40-fold, 91c; valley, 91c. Barley Feed, $26. 75 per ton; brew ing, $27. Oats No. 1 white, $31.50 per ton. Hay Timothy, Willamette valley, $14 per ton; Eastern Oregon timothy, $16ff17.50; clover, $12; alfalfa, $i2 ff12.50; gra n hay, $12,50613. Butter City creamery, extras, 360 37c; fancy outside creamery, 32b.0 35c pr-r pound ; store, 17ff20c. Eggs Oregon selects, 40ff45c; East ern, Jjyn.Jz.'oC per dozen Poultry Hens, 120 12bj'c per pound; spring, 1 1 i-idi l '..c; ducks, 140 lfc; geese, 9ff 1 0c ; turkeys, 16c; dressed turkeys, nominal. Veal Extra, 810 9c per pound; or dinary, 707Jac; heavy, 5c. Pork Fancy, 7ja'c per pound; large, 5of'6c. Hops 1908, choice, 8c; prime. fi(S 7Lj'c; medium, 5(f6c per pound; 1907, 20 4c; 1906, lOlc. Wool Eastern Oregon average best, 100 14c per pound, according to shrink age; valley, 150 16c; mohair, choice, 18c. Storm on Upper Atlantic Coast Gets Many Victims. Halifax, NT. S., Dec. 7. More than .Vi .seamen have lost their lives off the upper North Atlantic coast during the last few days as the result of a storm of unprecedented severity. The ci Mining, itemized as accurately as he meager reports will allow, fol lows: December 3 -Seventeen members of the crews of three fishing schoon ers drowned otf t.he New buuiidland ii iast. December 4 Twenty-eight mem bers of the crew of the schooner Soo City, which is believed to have sunk in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. December 5 Seven members of the crew of the barge No. ()t. which went down" off the coast of Nova Scotia. Free Leather Scare British. London, Dec. 7. The threatened abolition of the tariff on leather is worrying Lnglisli bootmakers I'licy have decided to hold a meeting to discuss means to be adopted in rase e change should be made. English leather, which is considered the best in the world, combined with American manufacturing ability, lead ing dealers admit, would let the Amer icans establish a British trade that would drive the Englishmen out of business. They would be able to put hoes on the market at a price nearly i fourth lower than that now charged. Hot Springs, Va., Dec. 5. World is able to present here principal legislative program of Taft administration: Tariff revision is the primary rea son for the extra session that will be called immediately after March 4. l'JOO, but the next President sees no reason why, during that extra session, the Sherman anti-trust law should not be so amended that railroads may make rate agreements under the strict supervision of the interstate com merce commission. It is not likely that more subjects than the tariff anil an amendment to the Sherman act will be named by Mr. Taft in calling the extra session, though he may de cide later to mention all of the prin cipal laws that he hopes to sec en acted. These are: 1. Putting a limitation on the issu ance of interstate bonds and stocks. 2. Authorizing railroads to make rate agreements which otherwise would be in violation of the anti trust law, subject to the approval of the interstate commerce commission. 3. Defining particular cases in w hich temporary restraining orders may is sue without notice, and prescribing proceedings limiting their operation to the very shortest day. 4. Such amendments to the law or ganizing the bureau of corporations as shall require certain large corpor ations doing an interstate business to submit to the scrutiny and examina tion of agents of the federal govern ment. 5. Reorganizing the department of justice, the interstate commerce com mission and the department of com merce and labor in respect to the jur isdiction exercised by them over in terstate corporations, both railroads and others. It is Mr. Taft's idea that the three departments should work harmoniously, so that no one shall be going over ground covered by another and so that there shall be no conflict of authority. Ultimately cases han dled by these departments must now go to the courts, but it is Mr. Taft's idea that a large number of cases can be disposed of finally and equitably by the departments under the right sort of law. 6. Reform in the monetary and banking systems of the country. This is recognized as one of the great problems before the new administra tion, but it is not expected that it will be taken up at the extra session 7 fV.r, . : - r .1 . . i. wuaii i.iiiuii hi wie natural re sources of the country, including the Appalachian bill. The question of the constitutional power of the federal government in this matter is not yet clear. It can be said that Mr. Taft is m sympathy with the end to be ac complished, but that he will recom mend no legislation until he is satis fied as to the exact length to which the federal government can go. S. Improvements of rivers and har bors. The new administration is com mitted to an energetic policy of im provement, particularly of inland waterways. The Ohio river nine-foot channel from Pittsburg to Cairo is to the front at present. It will cost 0(10,000, and the next president fivors the issuance of bonds to push the work. BEGINS HOSTILE ACTION. Dutch Warships Make Demonstration Off Venezuelan Coast. Willemstad, Dec. 5 Having been unable to obtain amicable set l lenient of outstanding differences with Veil eznela, The Netherlands government has begun a naval demonstration off the coast of the South American re public, and since Wednesday vessels flying the Dutch flag have steamed from J'uero Cabello to La Guayra. at a distance of aouo yards from the shore. Miles to Tour Africa. Paris, Dec. 7. General Nelson A. Miles leaves Paris in a few days for m extended automobile tour of Al geria and J uiiisia. rrcneh possessions in Africa, and hones to be able to oisli iii into Morocco, if the he nth oi ns traveling companion, .Colgate iyt. will permit the journey. Later neral Miles will gratify a long-cher ished wish to visit Corsica from one nd to the other and then sail from icnoa tor noinc in t lie soring. C'li'-'fc's Official Santa Claus. Chicago, Dec. 7. Postmaster Camp bell yesterday received from the post master general an official letter that, in effect, makes John M. Hubbard, assistant postmaster, official Santa Clans of Chicago. The letter con tained a letter addressed to Santi Clans, care the postmaster general. Local merchant have made arrange ments to have all these letters for warded to them, with their guarantee that every one will be answered. i Will Not Admit Charge. Wilmington, Del., Dec. .1. E. A. Dtipont, secretary, and Edward M. Mead, treasurer, of the several powder companies against which suit has been brought by the government, were examined today before United States Commissioner Mahaffcy, by the gov ernment counsel in regard to the pur chase of competing companies by the Dutiont company, and an effort was made to show that, during several years when no dividends were de clared, the money was used in pur chasiii" other companies, but they would not admit this. Finds Infernal Machine. Stockton. Cab. Dec. r. What is 1,e lieved to b- an infernal machine was found in the Western Pacific con struction yards today bv a workman under a pile of tics. It consisted of a two-gall, m can of dynamite, to which was attached a blasting fuse live feet long. The workman took the infernal machine to an open field and set it off. the explosion shakino- the buildings within a radius of ten miles. There was enough explosive in the can to have blown a business block Seventeen Die in Storm. St. Johns. N. E., Dec. 5. Seventeen persons have perished in a storm which has lashed the New Foundland coast for 4S hours. In all ten fish ilia- vessels have gone ashore, most of them breaking into fragments on the rocks. The storm caused murli ilnm. aee to wharves and boats in the nu merous harbors.