ELECTION OF A KING, FOR A STRONG NAVY, COLUMBIA AND THE PANAMA CANAL, AND GADDING GIRLS

 

King Peter I.

Cortland Semi-Weekly Standard, Friday, June 19, 1903.

ELECTION OF A KING.

Servian Parliament Took Up the Matter Today.

DESIRE FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION.

Murdered Premier Resigned A Few Hours Before His Assassination. Differed With the King as to Arrest of Opposition Leaders and Editors. Autopsy on King’s Body.

   Belgrade, June 15.—Politicians and members of the skupschtina have been holding conferences, and while there are rumors of minor differences the election of Prince Karageorgevitch appears absolutely assured.

   The skupschtina and the senate met jointly at 9 o’clock this morning. It is stated that the ministry desired that the skupschtina should immediately proceed to elect the king by acclamation. The members of the senate and the skupschtina, however, would prefer that a new constitution be adopted first.

   The Radical leaders have prepared a platform for the new constitution on the lines of that of 1888. The chief points are: the King shall not be the commander of the army; the civil and military authorities must swear allegiance to the constitution and not to the king; universal suffrage and the abolition of the senate.

Liberal Constitution Approved.

   The constitution of 1888 is of a very liberal character and its adoption was approved at a conference held Sunday of the ministers and many deputies.

   The provisional government has received reports from all parts of the country stating that order prevails.

   Congratulatory addresses have been received by the ministry from a large number of country districts expressing in the warmest terms thanks for its patriotic action at such a critical moment and hoping that it will carry matters to a successful ending.

   The foreign ministry has also received satisfactory dispatches from London, Paris, Berlin, and Rome, all saying that the governments there have not the slightest intention of intervening in Servia’s internal affairs and expressing the hope that peace and order in the political situation will soon be restored.

   It is now known that the murdered Premier Markovics resigned his portfolio only a few hours before his assassination. His action was the result over a difference of opinion with King Alexander concerning the meeting of the skupschtina.

   The king, fearing disturbances, proposed to the premier that the leading members and the editors of the opposition parties should be arrested before the opening session of parliament, and later tried on the charge of lese majeste, or disturbing public order.

   M. Markovics did not oppose the arrest of these men, but objected to the after procedure and therefore resigned. On returning home he told his wife that he brought good news; that he had resigned his post.

   Many people visited the cemeteries and the royal vault Sunday afternoon and persons were heard saying that what had happened was good and necessary for the nation.

   Twenty graves were dug by the troops immediately after the assassinations but only the bodies of two officers and that of General Petrovics were buried therein. At his widow’s request the remains of the general were afterwards removed by night to his family vault. The bodies of Premier General Markovics and his son-in-law Captain Milkovics were buried in their own graves. The widow of the later was accouched of a son almost at the moment her husband was murdered.

Queen Lived In Deadly Fear.

   It seems that Queen Draga in an audience with the foreign minister a few weeks ago said she lived in deadly fear not knowing what day or night might bring forth. She knew, she added, that she was hated by the people and that King Alexander was also detested by his subjects, and she was convinced that the country would prove too strong for both of them.

   Various reports are in circulation regarding the value of the queen’s estate. It has been said to amount to $2,200,000, chiefly invested in her sister’s name in Switzerland and Belgium. A commission is now engaged in making an inventory of the property of the royal couple and it is thought probable that the total private estate of both will be found not to exceed half the sum mentioned.

   The autopsy on the king’s body showed that he had a skull of extraordinary thickness of 11 millimeters, whereas the skulls of the strongest men usually measure only six millimeters. The brain was found to be in a catarrhal state and the liver unusually large and surrounded by fat, indicating that the king was an excessive eater and drinker.

 

Theodore Roosevelt.

FOR A STRONG NAVY.

Purport of President’s Speech at University of Virginia.

   Charlottesville, Va., June 17.—President Roosevelt wound up his tour of the continent in a visit to the University of Virginia. It was alumni day and the occasion was made memorable by the presence of the president and many men distinguished in public life, some of them graduates of the university. The reception accorded the president was a particularly warm one.

   The president when he arrived was escorted direct to the university grounds and in the famous rotunda building, standing near the statue of Thomas Jefferson, the father of the university, he held a reception. Thence he was escorted to the public hall where he delivered his principal address. Later at a luncheon in the gymnasium he responded to the toast: ‘The United States.”

   Others who replied to toasts were Senator J. W. Daniel, “Virginia;” W. R. Meredith, Richmond, “Our Alma Mater;” Ambassador McCormack, our representative in Russia, “The Louisiana Purchase;” Henry P. Pritchard, president of the Boston School of Technology, “Our Sister Institutions,” and Thomas Nelson Page, “The President.”

   At the conclusion of the luncheon the president and Mrs. Roosevelt mounted horses and rode out to Monticello, the home of Jefferson, where they and others were entertained and at 7 o’clock the special train left for Washington.

   In replying to the toast “The United States” Mr. Roosevelt said in part:

   “I want to say just one word to you in reference to our foreign relations. I want the United States to conduct itself in foreign affairs as you of Virginia believe a private gentleman should conduct himself among his fellows. I ask that we handle ourselves with a view never to wrong the weak and never to submit to injury from the strong. Another thing, a gentleman does not boast, bluster, bully; he does not insult others. I do not wish us ever as a nation to take a position from which we have to retreat. Do not let us assume any position unless we are prepared to say that we have got to keep it.”

   The president then made a strong plea in favor of a powerful navy, in this connection saying:

   I ask that there be no halt in the building up and keeping up of the navy. Not because I wish war—I most earnestly wish and will strive for peace—but because such a navy is the surest guaranty of peace and if, which Heaven forbid, war should come, the guaranty furthermore that the war shall end leaving undimmed the record upon which is written the feats of Americans in arms. I ask you for your assistance in continuing to build up the navy.”

   Continuing the president said:

   “I hope and believe that we shall not as a nation in our time ever have to go to war, and the surest way to invite war is to be opulent, aggressive and unarmed. Now we are opulent and aggressive. Let us avoid being unarmed. Let us so conduct our governmental affairs that it shall never be said that we made a threat which we were unable to back up. Do not make threats at all, but if it becomes necessary to say what in a certain contingency we are going to do, say it and then do it.”

 

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.

Columbia and the Panama Canal.

   The opposition on the part of Columbia to the ratification of the Hay-Herran treaty for the construction of the Panama canal seems to have taken a new form. It is not reported from Bogota that the anti-ratification party will claim that the French canal company had no rights and consequently nothing to sell to the united States.

   When the original concession to the French company expired in 1898 it was renewed by President Saclamente for seven years for a consideration of $1,000,000. It is now claimed that this bargain was never ratified by the Columbian congress, and hence there was no sale, although the money was paid and the goods delivered. An emergency clause of the constitution gives the president the right in time of war to do what he deems best for the general welfare. Columbia was at that time at peace with all foreign nations, though a revolution was in full blast within her own borders.

   Even if it should be held that this latter condition was a state of war and that the president was thus acting within his legal rights, it is further urged by the anti-ratification party that, according to the constitution, all emergency acts of the president must be ratified at the next session of congress. There has been no session since the renewal of the French concession, and this is taken as another ground for asserting that the French title is not valid and that all French rights and property revert to the Columbian government under the terms of the original concession.

   Apparently certain Columbians think they see a chance for the government to pocket the $40,000,000 which this country agreed to pay for the French franchise instead of the smaller sum agreed upon in the pending treaty. According to the terms of the extension, the canal must be completed in 1905. Failing that, Columbia would succeed to the French company’s rights and privileges and be at liberty to dispose of them as she saw fit.

   To a country whose normal condition is bankruptcy this sort of argument appeals with much force, and it remains to be seen whether it will be effective in preventing the ratification of the Hay-Herran agreement.

   It is well, however, that Uncle Sam has two strings to his isthmian canal bow. If the negotiations with Columbia fall through, the deal can be made for the Nicaragua route, as that country would welcome rather than obstruct the construction of the waterway through its territory.

 

William Allen White.

GADDING GIRLS.

What William Allen White of Kansas Thinks on this Subject.

   People who have noticed the congregation of young girls and boys who frequent Cortland’s streets in the evening will read with interest how William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, Kan., handles this subject out West:

   “The mothers of this town have had a lesson—but it doesn’t seem to have done them any good. There are just as many girls gadding around town after school now, getting their mail from private boxes in the postoffice as there were ten days ago. Two years ago The Gazette went after the mothers of Emporia for neglecting their daughters, and the result was that half a dozen private mail boxes were discontinued and a lot of little girls that were in the habit of gadding too much were kept in for a time.

   “These girls are now developing into fine young women, but another crop of gadding girls has come on and The Gazette hopes no one’s modesty will be shocked by saying that these little hussies ought to be spanked good and red. They are between 14 and 17 years old and are just so everlastingly boy-struck that they can’t sit still. If their mothers knew the type of boys and men—young human pups—these girls are running with their mothers would throw fits.

   “But their mothers know nothing of the situation. They think their little girls are so sweet and pure that nothing can harm them. The truth is that these children are made of the same kind of mud that we all are made of and they are just as liable to temptation as older people and a thousand times less experienced. And their mothers let them gad Commercial-st. after school and flirt with all kinds of men, and then their mothers wonder how the devil got them and think the girls must ‘take after’ their fathers.

   “There are just two things that will keep girls straight at ‘that age;’ one is plain clothes and the other is home duties. The girls who make fools of themselves in Emporia are invariably overdressed. They were duds that women of 30 should hesitate about wearing.

   “A little girl with too many and too costly clothes on her back gets self-conscious and vain and loves admiration—and you grown-up women know the next step. A simple pure-hearted girl who has a place in a home and home duties has her heart there and no boy can steal it. Only when maturity comes and a real man comes and a real affair of her heart comes, will such a girl leave home, and then only after heartaches and heartrending. But a girl whose place in the home is at the table and in bed won’t love that home.

   “Work makes things sacred. The child whose home memories are not hallowed by work, who is not needed and does not feel the need, will not love home. And if she doesn’t love the home of her girlhood she will love no other. She will go anywhere for anything. Home will mean nothing to such a woman, and if she is respectable she will only lack the opportunity to be a bad woman, and is good only through circumstances or by the necessity of an ugly face.  She will curse any man she marries. The mothers of this town who are responsible for the girls who gad Commercial-st. should stop and think what they are doing. These girls are no longer children. They are at the impressionable age. Where will you have their impression come from—from the riff-raff of the street or from home? It is for the mothers of this town to settle the question.”

 

WAR REMINISCENCES: CHAPTER 22

 

Captain William Saxton, Company C, 157th Regiment, New York Volunteers.

Wikipedia map.

Cortland Semi-Weekly Standard, Tuesday, June 16, 1903.

WAR REMINISCENCES.

By Captain Saxton of the 157th Regiment, N. Y. Vols.

THE SPRING CAMPAIGN OPENS.

Roads Lined With Surplus Baggage—The Geographical Location Near Chancellorsville—A Captured Rebel’s Diary—General Hooker’s Fatal Error, Thought There Was Time Enough—Preparations for Battle of Chancellorsville.

CHAPTER 22.

   To the Editor of the Standard:

   Sir—April 27, 1863.— Our company had been sent on picket the night before, but we took everything with us, besides eight days’ rations in our haversacks and knapsacks.

   This morning the pickets were called together and joined the column as it marched by. We marched west and camped at Hartwood church.

Throwing Away Baggage.

   We had just come out of comfortable winter quarters and the boys had taken along overcoats, blankets, and a good many other things they did not like to abandon. Then too we had eight days’ rations, eighty rounds of cartridges to carry, a sufficient load in itself. The day was very warm, and as we trudged along the load seemed heavier and heavier. When we stopped to rest the time was occupied by the men in looking over their belongings and seeing what could be dispensed with, and when we marched on, the roadside was lined with all sorts of abandoned articles that the soldiers upon second consideration had decided they could get along without and were not actually obliged to have. This culling process continued all that day and the next, and I do not think I exaggerate a particle in saying that I saw more overcoats, blankets, clothing and trinkets thrown away on the first two days of that march than could be stored in all the store rooms in this town. When the army had passed by, this abandoned property in most part was gathered up by the few inhabitants in wagon loads and a great part of it eventually found its way into the rebel army. I clung to my overcoat, wool blanket and rubber blanket and our boys roasted me for carrying such a load, but I can assure you that when the all night cold rain of May 5 came, the same boys who had not been killed or wounded and were with the regiment, were wonderfully glad to share the protection that these blankets and overcoat afforded.

Strategic Position.

   At this time General Lee’s lines extended from Port Royal fifteen miles below Fredericksburg to a few miles above, along the Rappahannock [river]. Jackson’s corps occupied the extreme right, but the bulk of Lee’s army was behind entrenchments south of Fredericksburg. Longstreet with two of his divisions, Hood’s and Picket’s, and some artillery was away south of Petersburg. Lee had 60,000 men and 170 pieces of artillery. Stuart’s cavalry was mostly on the upper Rappahannock guarding the fords and scouting. General Hooker had seven infantry corps with accompanying artillery and one corps of cavalry. His force of all arms amounted to about 120,000. These men were encamped within a radius of ten miles around Falmouth, a little hamlet half a mile up the river from opposite Fredericksburg.

Proposed Movement.

   It was General Hooker’s intention to send General Sedgwick and the Sixth Corps together with the First Corps (Reynolds’) and the Third Corps (Sickles’) below Fredericksburg, cross the river and make strong demonstrations as though the whole army were to cross there and make the main attack. While this was being done he would march the Eleventh Corps (Howard’s), the Twelfth Corps (Slocum’s) and the Fifth Corps (Mead’s) rapidly west on different roads back out of sight of the enemy at Kelley’s ford, twenty miles above Falmouth, there to cross the Rappahannock, then march east twelve miles, cross the Rapidan river at Germania ford and concentrate at  Chancellorsville; Couch with two divisions of the Second Corps, Hancock’s and French’s, was to march to the rear of Bank’s ford ready to cross when Hooker’s move had uncovered it. Reynolds’ and Sickles’ Corps to be taken from Sedgwick and marched to United States ford to join Hooker as soon as that crossing would be uncovered. General Stoneman with two brigades of cavalry, Averill’s and Beauford’s was to cross at Kelley’s ford, move south and capture Gordonsville and Culpepper, then move east and cut the railroad between Lee and Richmond. Stoneman’s other brigade of cavalry, Pleasanton’s, was to accompany Hooker. This movement, as I have previously noted, commenced on the part of the right wing on Monday morning, the 27.

The Lay of the Land.

   In order to clearly understand the movements that led up to the battle of Chancellorsville it will be necessary to study the map of this part of Virginia somewhat. The Rappahannock at its usual stage is fordable at several points. Bank’s ford is about five miles above Falmouth. The United States ford is about five miles above Bank’s and one mile below the junction of the Rapidan with the Rappahannock, which joins from the southwest. Kelley’s ford is ten miles above the United States ford. The Rapidan has two fords—Germania at Germania Mills, twelve miles southeast from Kelley’s ford, and Ely’s ford, two mile further down the stream. From each of these fords there is a road leading to Chancellorsville, distant about ten miles. Chancellorsville, which consists of the Chancellor houses and buildings only, is about ten miles west of Fredericksburg, and five miles south of United States ford.

   April 28, Tuesday.—Reveille sounded at 3 a. m. with orders to move at 4, but we did not go till daylight. Passed by Grovewood church. It commenced to rain before noon and we had a hard march.

   Camped two miles north of Kelley’s ford on the Rappahannock. I hunted up the One Hundred and Fifty-four New York and found my cousin Henry Gould.

The Army on the Move.

   When I got back I found our regiment was striking tents. We marched down near the ford and lay down till the pontoon bridge was completed.

   One brigade was already guarding the ford since Stoneman’s first move. The pontoons were unloaded in a creek behind a bluff out of sight. Part of the One Hundred Fifty-fourth New York and the Seventy-third Pennsylvania pushed across the river in boats and drove away the pickets; then the balance of the two regiments crossed over and held the banks while the pontoons were being laid.

   We crossed the Rappahannock about midnight expecting to run amuck Mr. “Johnny Reb” but did not. We marched until 3 a. m., then lay down till daylight.

   That night the left wing moved from its camp and took up a position two miles below Fredericksburg where Franklin had crossed in December.

   April 29, Wednesday.—Got breakfast at 6. Saw a squad of rebel cavalry on a hill to the right taking observations. The colonel galloped toward them about half way, took out his field glass and looked them over, when they made a dash and chased him back.

A Captured Rebel’s Diary.

   The Twelfth Corps crossed over, followed by Stoneman’s cavalry and the Fifth Corps. The wagon trains were sent back and parked near Bank’s and United States fords. Pleasanton with two regiments of cavalry and one battery of horse artillery marched directly to Germania ford on the Rapidan, surprised and captured a picket of fifty of Stuart’s cavalry boys. Among them was an engineer officer in whose diary it was stated that Jackson, Hill, Early and Stuart had had a council previously and concluded that the next battle would be fought at Chancellorsville and that that place must be prepared.

   We marched on at noon, struck a plank road toward night, passed a few houses where women stood in the doorways and told us we would be marching the other way in less than a week. Crossed the Rapidan at 11 p. m. on some timbers that had been laid from rock to rock.

   The Fifth Corps (Mead’s), preceded by one regiment of cavalry, crossed the Rapidan at Ely’s ford nearer the Rappahannock. General Couch marched two divisions of his Corps (the Second) from their camp to the rear of Bank’s ford. Stoneman’s cavalry, with the exception of Pleasanton’s brigade, started on their raid.

   Down on the left wing before daylight Brook’s division of the Sixth Corps crossed the Rappahannock in boats two miles below Fredericksburg and Wadsworth’s division of the First crossed a mile further down at Pollock’s Mills in the same manner. Bridges were ready by daylight and the remainder of the two corps were marched over and some entrenchments thrown up on the plain protected by artillery from the north side.

The Halt at Chancellorsville.

   April 30, Thursday.—It rained during the night and we got quite wet. We marched on at 11 a. m. My feet got dreadfully sore and blistered. Halted for the night in an open field about two miles west of Chancellorsville and eight or ten from the ford.

   The three corps were massed around Chancellorsville that night where Hooker made his headquarters and said “I have Lee’s army in one hand and Richmond in the other.” He promulgated the following order:

   “General Order No. 47, Headquarters Army of the Potomac, camp near Falmouth, Va., April 30, 1863. It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the commanding general announces to the army that the operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly or come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground where certain destruction awaits him.

   “The operations of the Fifth, Eleventh and Twelfth corps have been a succession of splendid achievements.

   “By command of Maj. Gen. Hooker, S. Williams, Asst. Adj. Gen.”

Didn’t Read His Bible.

   Probably General Hooker had not read the twentieth chapter of Kings for his lesson that morning. In the eleventh verse it says, “Let not him that girdeth up his harness, boast himself as he that putteth it off.”

   We had marched in between Stuart’s cavalry and Lee, and Stoneman’s raid had prevented their communication.

   Pleasanton captured a courier from Lee to McLaws saying he (Lee) had heard that the Union army had concentrated around Chancellorsville and asked why McLaws did not send him word and ordered him to report at headquarters.  

Procrastination the Fatal Error.

   Pleasanton gave Hooker the engineer’s diary and this message from Lee at 2 p. m. and advised him to anticipate Lee’s attack and march three or four miles on towards Fredericksburg which would take him out of the woods into more open country. This move also would have uncovered Bank’s ford, which would shorten the distance to Sedgwick ten miles. Hooker considered it would be time enough to make the move in the morning. When morning came the conditions had changed and Hooker had lost a great opportunity. At night Pleasanton agin went to him and suggested that he move the Eleventh Corps out of its miserable position in the woods and send them to Spotsylvania 8 miles south in more open country and form a line of battle from there to Chancellorsville, to which he did not acquiesce. Pleasanton then suggested that he send some cavalry there and see what was going on outside, to which he consented, and the Sixth New York, under Lt. Col. McVicar, was sent there after dark. They met nothing in going, but in coming back they found the Fifth Virginia cavalry with Stuart and his staff thrown across their patch to prevent their returning. The charge was immediately sounded and they cut their way through and returned to camp, losing their commander—killed. The result of this reconnaissance was reported to Hooker in the morning.

   General Couch with two divisions of his (Second) corps moved up to the United States ford and crossed. At night the Third Corps under Sickles was detached from Sedgwick’s left wing and ordered to march via the United States ford and join Hooker.

A Study in Geography.

   The country around Chancellorsville is uneven and covered with stunted underbrush, in some places very difficult of penetrating—a veritable wilderness with here and there an opening or a small farm. To the north is an opening named White House. Looking south around Chancellorsville is an open space called Fairview. This opening extends to the southwest and connects with another on somewhat higher ground called Hazel Grove. Two miles west of Chancellorsville there are three or four small farms; in the south part is Dowdal’s tavern, at that time occupied by Melzi Chancellor and family. General Howard had his headquarters here. A little further north of Dowdal’s is the Wilderness church, and Hawkins’ farm is a little northwest of this. To the west of Dowdal’s is Tally’s. We camped on Hawkins’ farm near te church. The openings were altogether too small to handle the army of the Potomac. A turnpike road comes in at Dowdal’s from the direction of Germania ford and continues through Chancellorsville to Fredericksburg. The Orange Plank road from the southwest comes into this pike at Dowdal’s and continues to Chancellorsville, then turns south through Fairview and bends around to the southeast coming in again near Tabernacle church about 3 miles east of Chancellorsville and 7 miles west of Fredericksburg. A road also comes in to Chancellorsville from the northeast from Bank’s ford. On the north of Chancellorsville a road comes in from Ely’s ford and one from United States ford which unites at White House and running on through Chancellorsville and Fairview, and continues southwest through Hazel Grove to the Catherine furnace a mile and a half south. Here was an east and a west road which came into the plank road farther east. Still Farther south was another parallel road at Wolford’s farm.

   I speak of these roads and openings because they were utilized to a great extent during the next few days. So please reread and get them properly located in your mind. W. S.

 

ASSASSINATED, MERCILESS MISCREANT, AND PHILLIPS FREE LIBRARY

 

Cortland Semi-Weekly Standard, Tuesday, June 16, 1903.

ASSASSINATED.

King Alexander and Queen Draga Machen.

MURDERED BY MILITARY MOB.

Murmurings in the Evening—Mob of Soldiers Rushed to Palace and Killed the Rulers—Others Also Put to Death—New Government Proclaimed.

   Belgrade, June 11.— King Alexander and Queen Draga Machen were assassinated during a military revolution which broke out at 2 o’clock this morning in the streets of Belgrade. A proclamation was posted in the streets shortly after, stating that their majesties had been shot.

   This morning’s trouble was precipitated by Alexander’s high-handedness under the influence of Queen Draga. Public opinion, especially in army circles, has been seething for months past and the king’s act in stifling the popular voice at the recent election by a forced ministerial success was the last straw.

   The first intimation of serious trouble, however, was not manifest until last night, when murmurings began to be heard, which gradually increased in volume until, with a roar, the army at 2 o’clock this morning, broke all bounds and started a revolution. The palace was their first point of attack and thither the military mob rushed.

   Various reports are current as to the manner in which the king and queen died. One has it that both were shot by members of the military, while another story has it that the king, seeing the end was inevitable, first shot the queen and then turned his revolver on himself, committing suicide.

   The mob, made thirsty by their taste of blood, then made its way to the apartments of Premier Zinzar, and Colonel Markovitch, the commander of the king’s guard. Both with their wives were shot down in cold blood. In all eight persons lost their lives.

   Immediately after the assassination of the king, the mob proclaimed Prince Kara-Georgovitch, the pretender, in Alexander’s stead.

   A new government was also installed by the military authority, with M. Avakomovitch, of the Independent Liberal party, as premier. With the proverbial speed of Servian [sic] politics, the new premier immediately convoked the National representatives, who were elected under the constitution of 1901, to meet here immediately and arrange a new government and constitution.

   The city of Belgrade, after the assassination of the monarchs, quickly returned to a state of comparative quiet. While immense crowds were gathered in the streets discussing the news and arguing the right and wrong of the revolutionists’ acts, there were no signs of further disturbances. The general public, who have been lashed by the whip of Alexander’s intolerant and high-handed way of carrying things his own way, did not appear to feel any particular sorrow for his untimely end, but on the other hand, generally expressed a feeling of relief. Despite the comparative quiet, however, a strong guard has been posted about the palace to preclude any further attacks there.

   A notable coincidence of the affair is that on this date, in 1868, Alexander’s great uncle was also assassinated.

The Final Chapter.

   This morning’s tragedy is the final chapter in an eighty year contest between the Kara-Georgovitch and Obrenovitch families. The Kara-Georgovitch family came into power in 1807, when Kara-George, “Black George” who, beginning his life a peasant, gathered his own class about him in an insurrection, drove the Turks from the country, and had himself recognized as prince. He held the throne until 1817 when the Turks again secured control of the country, and placed Miloch, the first of the Obrenovitchs on the throne. Miloch was ruler until 1839, when he, in turn, was deposed by Black George, and forced to flee to the country. After a few years the Obrenovitch family again secured the upper hand and Black George was murdered. After the Obrenovitch rule had lasted for some years, the people became tired of their rule and elected Prince Alexander, the son of Black George, to the throne. His rule lasted for seventeen years, during which time in 1865, by the treaty of Paris, Servia was taken under the collective protection of the European powers. King Milan, of the Obrenovitch family, secured the throne in 1878, but abdicated in favor of his son King Alexander in 1889. Alexander was the last of his race.

Cause of the Revolution.

   The causes precipitated this morning’s revolution were many, but back of it all could be seen popular hatred for Queen Draga. Ever since her marriage to Alexander her hand has been manifested in the rule of the country, and inasmuch as she was but one of the ladies of the court, and held a more or less subservient position at that, jealousy got in its work among the other court dignitaries, and quickly spread to the common people. Added to this was effort on several occasions to have one of her brothers appointed successor to the throne. While the Servian people had no serious objections to a change in dynasty now and then they did object strenuously to any of Draga’s family ruling them.

   To add to the irritation growing in the popular mind, Alexander, on several occasions, took things completely away from the hands of the Skuptschina, the Servian parliament, even going so far recently as to completely abolish that body. He discovered his mistake in this matter however, and immediately reinstated the body. This salved the sore feelings of this country for a time, but urged on by Queen Draga, the King again took things in his own hands at the recent elections to parliament and by coercion and forged ballots secured a body which was purely ministerial. This, as has already been said, was the last straw and the outcome was appalling tragedy of the early morning.

 

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.

“A Merciless Miscreant Among Nations.”

    “A merciless miscreant among nations” is the term which the Brooklyn Eagle uses to characterize Servia [sic] in commenting upon the terrible atrocity that occurred in that country on Thursday night, and the appellation is well chosen. Continuing The Eagle says: A great deal is required to shock the world. It was, however, tremendously shocked by the assassinations at Belgrade on Thursday. A king, a queen, her two brothers, the ministry or cabinet of the kingdom, and the guards defending the persons of the rulers were killed in the national capital. The broken accounts to not agree as to the numbers slain. The estimate varies between twelve and twenty. News is history in the making. History will eventually give the correct details of the terrible event of which the accounts now naturally differ.

   Agreement will be universal that the deed was as murderous, as thorough, and will be as profitless as cruel. It is called a revolution. It was really wholesale slaughter. It had none of the remedial character of a revolution. It changed no form of government. It executed no national mandate. It acted upon no progressive or reformatory, or even reactionary principle. It sought to affect a change of rulers which could have been done by exile. Extermination was substituted in defiance of every precedent of the nineteenth century and the twentieth in civilized Europe. Charles X was bowed out. Louis Philippe found exit easy. The life of the first Napoleon was not taken, and the third Napoleon died in his bed in the order of nature.

   One has to go back to the Roman Empire or to recall the early period of the Romanoffs, or to recur to the palace intrigues by the Bosporus to find parallels of what was done at Belgrade on Thursday. The only compensation statesmen, journalists, moralists, and historians can find in the affair will be the full reporting of it. It will be advertised to an immortality of infamy. It already has been. All the world is incensed as well as amazed. Servia has written “outlaw” among nations on her own forehead.

   The discrimination which opinion shows is suggestive. Concession that the King and Queen who were killed were a bad lot, admission that they came from a worse lot, conclusion that the dynastic set to be bayoneted in are no better, are not more marked than the conviction that none of those facts amounts to an extenuating circumstance in the fearful battue. That conviction is a gain. It stamps murder as no remedy, and misrule as no justification for murder. It stamps murder as n necessary or tolerable element in the right of revolution. It brands assassination as the crime of crimes, personal or public, political or individual. A recurrence to the fifteenth century in the twentieth arouses an indignation which shows that the moral opinion of mankind is sound.

 

PHILLIPS LIBRARY.

The Gift of the Late Hon. George W. Phillips of Homer, N. Y.

DEDICATED IN HOMER THURSDAY.

The Father's Plans Carried Forward by the Daughter—Impressive Ceremonies— The Presentation—The Acceptance—Remarks by Library Inspector—The Dedicatory Address by Rev. Wm. A. Robinson, D, D., of Middletown, N. Y.

   Homer, June 12.—Although the weather last evening was not propitious, the citizens of Homer were present in large numbers at the dedicatory ceremonies of the Phillips Free library held in the Congregational church. The body of the church was well filled, while many were seated in the galleries. After the organ prelude by Mrs. W. H. Forster, Rev. Cyrus W. Negus, pastor of the Baptist church, offered prayer, taking the place upon the program of Rev. B. W. Hamilton, D. D., pastor of the M. E. church, who was unable to be present.

   Mrs. A. L. Knight followed with a contralto solo, Longfellow’s “The Day is Done,” which she sang in a very effective and pleasing manner.

The Library Presented.

   Rev. W. F. Kettle, pastor of the Congregational church in a few words then made the formal presentation of building to the board of trustees. He recalled how, some five years ago at the close of a Sunday service, during which he had pointed out the good men of wealth might to their fellow men, George W. Phillips came to him and requested an interview the following day. During the interview Mr. Phillips disclosed his lifelong ambition of giving to Homer a good public library. As Mr. Phillips’ wealth was not as great as it was generally thought to be it seemed impossible for him to erect a suitable building, and at the same time provide for its permanent maintenance. The matter was discussed for a time and then dropped from the public notice. About this time Mr. and Mrs. C. O. Newton, desiring to give some worthy institution to the town as a memorial for their son, Frank M. Newton, decided that they would like to build a library and present it to the town. When Mr. Phillips learned of their intention,  he declared that if they erected the building, the cherished ambition of his lifetime would be crushed. Accordingly he went ahead and made plans for the structure, which his daughter Miss Ellen Phillips has bought to a successful ending. In behalf of Miss Phillips he presented the board of trustees of the library building, giving the key to the president of the board, C. O. Newton.

The Acceptance.

   Mr. Newton, in behalf of District No. 1, Union Free School, accepted the gift in a few happy remarks. His words of acceptance follow.

  Ladies and Gentlemen, Girls and Boys:

   Standing her as your representative, I, for the trustees of the Phillips Free library association, accept the gift made by Miss Ellen Phillips in the name of her father George W. Phillips. It is the intent that it be opened to the use of the whole community and, being a free gift, it is hoped and desired that it may be used freely.

   In accepting the gift we do so with the understanding that we assume all of the responsibilities that go with it, one of which is the endeavor to procure means of support. That in part has been done by the liberality of the taxpayers who have consented to give $750 each year until a permanent endowment fund is provided. The people of Homer have always been generous in their response for promoting instruction, and it is hoped and not doubted that this call will be fully met.

   From small things greater ones grow. This library which we are here to dedicate to public use is the legitimate outgrowth of early beginnings. This town was  settled largely by people from New England—the Keeps, the Hobarts, Hitchcocks, Bennetts, the Kingsburys, Samsons, and Bradfords, the Stones, Carpenters, and Barbers, the Pierces, Chamberlains and many others—and they brought with them the idea of free schools and free libraries—and soon both were established. Each school district had its small library. Among others there was one in the district at the north end of Main-st. This is the case in which the books were kept. (The case was shown on the platform.) Sixty years ago S. D. Newton was librarian, and the library at his home just opposite the schoolhouse was often visited by girls and boys. The difference between this case and the present new building is significant, and nothing shows more clearly the growth of the demand of library extension than this comparison. The seed has grown.

   And now what is to be the fruit of this early planting? The answer lies in the hearts of our girls and boys for, if they use the privileges here opened for them—as it is expected they will—it will do much to help them fit themselves for future usefulness.

   In the name of the trustees of the Phillips Free Library association, I return thanks to Miss Ellen Phillips who has so generously and successfully finished the plans begun by her father, and the people of Homer, and the girls and boys can in no way show their appreciation of so worthy a gift than by using it for purposes intended by the donors. Long may it stand in their remembrance with increasing helpfulness in the years to come.

Letters of Regrets.

   At the close of these remarks Mr. Newton read a few letters of regrets at their inability to be present from former “Homerians,” including one from Theodore T. Munger, and one from Andrew D. White.

   Herman W. Carver sang Bevan’s “The Flight of Ages” with fine effect.

Library Inspector Eastman.

   Rev. W. F. Kettle then introduced William R. Eastman, M. A., library inspector of the board of regents, whom he had previously met while inspecting the library at Newark, N. Y.

   Mr. Eastman, in a short address, said that he joined most heartily in the rejoicings over the library. He thought the location of the new structure opposite the time-honored academy a happy one, as one institution is the complement of the other, and neither is complete in itself.

Dr. Robinson’s Address.

   At the conclusion of the address, President Newton introduced Rev. W. A. Robinson, D. D., of Middletown, N. Y., formerly of Homer, who made the dedicatory address. An outline of his impressive address follows.

   Ladies and Gentlemen, Girls and Boys:

   Permit me at the beginning of this address to congratulate most heartily the people of Homer upon the possession of this building. When this address was prepared I thought it was to be delivered in the library building. Standing here, where I stood for nearly twenty-one years, (not continuously but occasionally) seems like standing in one’s home and talking. Many changes have taken place since I last stood here. A new organ is in place, new windows have been put in; one thing remains the same and that is that there are good folks in Homer.

   To return to the subject, I rejoice with you that the donor and his like-minded daughter have translated into so stately and attractive a reality those ideals and plans of by-gone days. Regret and sorrow are felt by us all, that he who planned and worked to make this dedication possible, in God’s ordering, is not permitted to be present.

   There are three modern types of monuments to the memory of public benefactors: the memorial of a large endowment of school or college; the founding or endowing a hospital, or the providing for a public library. More durable than marble or brass are such monuments. Is it not a noble monument to the memory of Hon. George W. Phillips which his large-hearted public spirit and the generous and filial fidelity of his daughter have here erected? There is a striking fitness in the fact that in this place such a memorial should help to perpetuate the name of this public benefactor. Dr. Robinson then gave a little outline of Mr. Phillips’ career as teacher, superintendent of schools, successful business man, trustee of both village and academy, supervisor of this town, and [state] assemblyman. An earnest tribute was paid to the donor’s life and character, the speaker summing it up in the words, “One who feared God and kept his commandments.”

   There is inwrought in this munificent gift, the profound convictions and noble ideals which the giver had gathered from his long and useful life. There is a value in dead building material, yet that value is small by the side of that material when touched by the genius of the architect and shaped by the skill of the builder. But a building like this has, not only such value, it has that other more inestimable and priceless value of the generous purpose, the noble intention and ideal, the broadminded aims, and the intelligent and well considered plans of the giver.

   Let us then, as is fitting today, give attention to some of the benefits that flow from the existence and generous maintenance of a good free library in a community.

   Such an institution at least helps to protect society from many evils. It provides the means of occupying the time and interest of many, and especially the young, with that which is wholesome and nutritious instead of that which is unhealthful and dissipating. If as David Harum intimates, it is better for a dog to have a few fleas than to brood over being a dog, it is bad for men or women to have nothing to take their attention from the routine and treadmill weariness and monotonous and unillumined life. People in this day will read something. Shall it be the poor trash which a teeming press casts out for the public? Or shall there be the ready opportunity and public intelligence which may set the fashion of reading the books which benefit and enrich the life? Then, further, I count it one of the great advantages of a good free library that it furnishes ample books of reference and treasures of systemized knowledge for the use of all.

   Then again, a good library helps give range, and outlook and inspiration to many. Schiller has said well, “In a narrow circle the mind grows narrow. The more a man expands the larger his aims.” The quaint writer William Byrd declares the practical realm of fact, good reading, offers such a glass to the humblest and most shut in of its disciples.

“My minde to me a kingdom is;

Such perfect joy therein I finde

As fain exceeds all earthly blisse

That God or nature hath assigned;

Though much I want that most would have,

Yet still my minde forbids to crave.”

   At the door or window of this building one may look forth across Main-st. upon the green, the schoolhouse, and the churches of one of the fairest of villages in Central New York. But the intelligent reader, who shall avail himself of the outlook furnished even by a small library, can bring within the range of his mental vision all ages and all lands.

   And all which I have tried to say signifies this, that the Phillips Free Library will promote intelligent, broadminded, and true manhood and womanhood. Because of the assured worth of the Phillips Free Library in the better training of manhood and womanhood, we may well recognize the debt of gratitude due from this attractive building, and heartily may we join in unfeigned appreciation of this noble gift of Hon. George W. Phillips and family.

   The benediction was pronounced by Dr. Robinson at the close of his address. At the close of the services large numbers availed themselves of the privilege of inspecting the Library building.  

 

BREVITIES.

   —Greenport, L. I ., is about to build a $25,000 addition to its high school. Frank J. Squires, formerly of Cortland, is the principle of this school.

    —Sixteen Cortland ladies enjoyed a trip to Solon, N. Y., Thursday in two of Alderman Yager’s carryalls to visit the home of Miss Elizabeth Hatheway and to inspect her rare collection of paintings and curios.