MILES FOR COMMANDER, DURBIN'S REPLY, T. R. DENOUNCES LYNCHING, GREAT SHOW, AND H. G. CORNELL APPRECIATES THE PHILIPPINES

 

Lt. Gen. Nelson A. Miles.

Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, August 11, 1903.

MILES FOR COMMANDER.

A Possible Candidate at the G. A. R. Convention.

NEW YORK MEMBERS FAVOR HIM.

Department Commander Koster Says New York May Support Him, Although Resolutions Were Adopted Endorsing General Black—Commander Stewart Against It.

   Kansas City, Aug. 11.—lf the sentiments expressed by New York state delegates passing through Kansas City on their way to the Grand Army convention in San Francisco correctly represent the situation, Lieutenant General Miles, retired, will be a formidable candidate for commander in chief of the Grand Anny.

   Members of the delegation said they had received letters to the effect that General Miles would be a candidate and urging their support. It is said the letters were from some one apparently empowered to represent General Miles.

   "General Miles lives in our state," said John S. Koster, department commander of New York, "and we may support him for commander in chief, although we may not be a unit on the proposition. Resolutions were adopted at our state encampment endorsing General John S. Black for commander in chief, but you will understand that these resolutions are not binding on delegates to the national convention."

   "General Miles has any number of friends in the Grand Army and it may be that he will be a formidable candidate," said General Nicholas Day of New York.

   J. T. Stewart, commander in chief of the G. A. R., said: "General John C. Black of Chicago will be the next commander in chief."

   He said he did not know whether any action would be taken in recognition of General Miles. He was sure General Miles could not be elected commander in chief.

 

Winfield T. Durbin.

GOVERNOR DURBIN'S REPLY.

Answers President's Letter Commending His Course in the Evansville Riot.

   Indianapolis, Aug. 11.—Governor Durbin has sent a formal reply to the letter he received from President Roosevelt concerning the recent mob [violence] at Evansville. Governor Durbin says:

   "Dear Mr. President—Acting in accordance with the suggestion made by the secretary to the president, I yesterday telegraphed you my approval of the communication you have seen I fit to address to me under date of Aug. 6. In doing this I proceeded on the well warranted belief that the commendation you have so generously accorded to my official acts was only incidental to the broader purpose of your admirable letter, which is a moving appeal to the conscience and the patriotism, destined in my opinion to profoundly affect public sentiment on a vitally important national problem. The effect of such an appeal from such a source is certain to be salutary in its widespread influences. In this instance, as in other emergencies, you have spoken with the courage of conviction, with the eloquence of earnestness and under the inspiration of the clear understanding of and devotion to the duties and responsibilities of American citizenship.

   "I feel that you have struck the keynote of a national necessity when you say that all public men, all writers of the press, all clergymen, all teachers, all who in any way have a right to address the people, should with every energy unite to denounce such crimes and to support those engaged in putting them down, and declare the correlated doctrine that 'we must show that the law is adequate to deal with crime by freeing it from every vestige of technicality and delay.

   "Your stirring words will serve to press home upon the people a responsibility which, reaching beyond all those in authority, is after all essentially their own. To arouse the realization of that responsibility and all that it implies will be to eradicate conditions which otherwise may soon become, as you point out so cleverly, an imminent menace to the very life of the Republic."

 

August 11, 1903. [Typo error in newspaper--CC ed.]

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.

President Denounces Lynching.

   The letter of President Roosevelt to Governor Durbin of Indiana is a strong condemnation of mob violence—all the stronger because of the statement of the various evils which flow from that form of it known as lynching.

   The duty of a governor to preserve order in a state, where local authority fails, is so plain that it needs no discussion. Incidental evils may come, and often do come, through the exercise of his authority for that purpose; but he must exercise it, since the security of society depends on the preservation of order and the reign of law.

   The president in urging the duty of a governor to maintain the law remembers that the law is made for society, not society for the law, and that a government must administer justice if it is to command respect. He lays stress on the necessity for the speedy trial and swift punishment of criminals, and he suggests that such reform be adopted in the administration of justice as will do away with delay and remove every pretext for lawless vengeance. He says: "Men who have been guilty of a crime like rape or murder should be visited with swift and certain punishment, and the just effort made by the courts to protect them in their rights should under no circumstances be perverted into permitting any mere technicality to avert or delay their punishment." It is idle to deny that the action of many judges throughout the country has tended to lessen old respect for the courts; and it is a difficult task to argue a sentiment of reverence into a community. It is a thing that must be fairly won.

   The president has done well also to denounce the brutality of lynching in recent years, especially where colored criminals are concerned, and to utter a warning against hideous punishment for hideous crime as specially demoralizing, since it makes a whole people for the moment as inhuman as the murderer or the ravisher. He is wise to argue moreover, against the reasonableness of lynching, which is so often defended as if it were a method of infallible justice, whereas it is a method in which the innocent are doomed to death more frequently than the guilty. As the president says, there is no opportunity for investigation or discrimination, and mere suspicion in a passionate crowd passes rapidly into condemnation and execution at the stake. Men who were in California at the time of the vigilance committees, and saw many lynchings have not hesitated to say that in nearly every instance the victim was innocent,, or at least not guilty of a capital crime.

   The president, while making a manly and generous demand for the fair treatment of colored people accused of crime, makes an appeal to their right feeling and self interest, which they ought to consider. It is to this effect—that on them lies a double obligation to avoid crime, which every citizen owes to society, and that which each one of them owes to his race. They are all, so to speak, on trial as to fitness for citizenship, and while the probation may be unreasonable, it is no less a fact; and he who commits a crime, or sympathizes with a crime, discredits his own people. They are struggling against the tide; and to succeed, they need more than their share of virtue and ability. The president has shown himself the staunchest of friends; and he has given the best of counsel.

 

IT WAS A GREAT SHOW.

Many Thousands Saw it and Were Delighted With it All.

   Barnum & Bailey's mammoth circus exhibited to two large audiences yesterday. The attendance in the afternoon was especially large, nearly 16,000 people witnessing the performance. The attendance in the evening was smaller, as is the case in every city with population of less than fifty or sixty thousand.

   The crowd began to wend its way to the circus grounds during the noon hour, the number increasing as the hour approached at which the show was scheduled to begin, and at 2 o'clock the great tent was well filled, nearly every seat being occupied. In the evening this was repeated on a lesser scale.

   The show itself was all that could be desired. The first act, the grand display and drill of four hundred people, representing so many historical characters all correctly costumed, including Philistines, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Arabians, etc., as well as knights, priests, warriors, fan girls, dancing girls, pages, etc., was alone worth journeying miles to see.

   The ring display and acting of the trained elephants was wonderful, especially in the great battle scene. The elephants also kept step to music and in a series of diverse tricks, illustrated the marvelous versatility of these mountains of flesh and blood.

   The acrobatic and equestrian work was first class and the aerial feats absolutely thrilling. There was also some good juggling. The bicycle act, although short, was exciting, the equine act, where seventy trained horses formed concentric rings, is one of the most difficult ever attempted and was well executed.

   The hippodrome was interesting and contained many excellent features, among which may be mentioned the chariot race, high jumping by horses, dog race and a running race between a man and a horse. The entire show was in fact full of thrilling and brilliant features.

   One of the marked examples of the discipline under which everything in connection with the big show is done is the rapidity with which apparatus is packed up, tents taken down, etc., in preparation for moving. Even before the evening performance begins the cook tent, press tent, grocery store, meat market, etc., have been taken down, their contents packed away and all are on their way to the trains.

   While the main show is in progress the cages and "led" stock are taken to the cars and the menagerie, stable, and side show tents with their contents are removed to the trains. As soon as the performers are through with any apparatus it is removed and at once loaded into the wagons. So large a number of men are employed and so rapidly do they work that by the time the hippodrome begins the rings, stages, apparatus for the aerial, acts, etc., has all been removed. While the concert which follows the show is in progress, the seats, chairs, supports, etc., are being removed, the stakes are pulled up by machines especially designed for the purpose and all are loaded upon wagons which are driven right into the tent. The main tent it the last to come down.

   By 12 o'clock last night everything was off the grounds and nearly everything loaded upon the cars, which had been the scene of very active operations for several hours. The loading is accomplished rapidly and quietly, there being no delay and no confusion. One after another the four sections, comprising ninety-two sixty foot cars, pulled out and the circus, so far as Cortland is concerned was over. The last section to leave carried the performers and laborers in fifteen Pullman sleeping cars.

 

The Price Family.

   The annual gathering of the Price family will be held at the Cortland park, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1903. All the relatives and friends of the family are cordially invited.

 

Uniform Examinations.

   The uniform examinations for teachers' certificates and entrance to training classes will be held at the Normal school building, Cortland, and at the Academy building, Homer, Aug. 13 and 14. The program will be as follows:

   Thursday—Morning—Arithmetic, geography, drawing, history of education.

   Afternoon—English composition, grammar, physiology and hygiene, current topics.

   Friday—Morning—American history, algebra, bookkeeping, orthography.

   Afternoon—Civil government, school law, physics, methods and school management, reading.

   Normal entrance examinations will be held on Thursday, the first day of the above dates for the regular uniform examinations. The program will be as follows:

   Morning—Arithmetic, geography, American history.

   Afternoon—English composition, grammar, orthography.

   The examinations begin at 9 a. m. and 1:30 p. m.

   All candidates must attend examinations in the school commissioner district in which they reside or in which they are teaching, or first obtain the commissioner's consent to attend elsewhere.

 

APPRECIATES THE PHILIPPINES.

Chief Barnes Has a Letter from a Former Resident of Cortland.

   Chief of Police Barnes has received a letter from H. G. Cornell, formerly of this city, who is now in Manila. It is quite apparent that the writer thoroughly appreciates some characteristics of the place and the people and that he has a very large vein of irony running through him. The letter is interesting reading, though doubtless the reader should not give full credit to every thought expressed. It is as follows:

Manila, P. I.

June 8, 1903

   Friend Bloss—I have just got back from my vacation, having taken a trip around the islands on one of the Coast Guard steamers, and as I know you to be quite a reader and like to keep posted, thought I would write you regarding some of the conditions.

   The Philippines are a bunch of trouble gathered on the eastern horizon of civilization. They are bounded on the north by rocks and destruction, on the east by typhoons and destructions, on the south by cannibals and earthquakes, and on the west by hoodooism and smugglers.

   The soil is extraordinarily fertile, producing large crops of insurrections and teachers. The inhabitants are very industrious and their chief occupations are trench building, cock fighting, three card monte, theft, and stealing. Their diet consists of fish, frogs, grasshoppers, boiled rice, fried rice, stewed rice, cooked rice, and rice. The Philippine marriage service is very impressive, and the wife has the privilege of working as much as her husband. The beast of burden is the carabao (water buffalo). The rivers are serpentine in their course, their currents running in opposition to all known laws of gravitation. Manila, the capital, is situated on Manila bay which is a large landlocked body of water, full of filth, sharks, Spanish wrecks, and submarines. Cavite, the next city of importance, is noted for being a very fine naval station, and for its large number of saloons and Chinamen. The principal imports are American soldiers, arms, ammunition, beer, and chewing tobacco. There is plenty of good tobacco here, but Filipinos do not know how to make chewing tobacco—they chew betel nuts. Malaria is so prevalent that the islands have been known to shake, and Luzon (the island I am on) looks like a pair of Bryan's old boots. Communication between the islands is very slow at present, but it is said that mosquitoes are soon to take the places of carrier pigeons which are now being used. The costume is a flour sack tied around the waist and children under 12 years of age wait until next year for their costume. The towns are an aggregation of carabao, dirt, dogs, dirt, cats, dirt, ponies, dirt, pigs, dirt, chickens, dirt, and children sleeping together on terms of equality.

   There is no milk to be had anywhere in the islands. One man attempted to run a dairy, and brought over a lot of cattle from Australia, but they all died of Rinderpest in less than two weeks. He did not lose all his money though, for he sold the dead animals to the natives for $10 a head. They will eat anything that has life or ever did have life.

   Love of gaudy finery is the utter passion of the Filipino, if it may be truthfully said that he has such a thing, over and above his love for idleness and the cockpit. Today I saw two specimens of this tribe, one driving a garbagecart, and the other, an employee of the system, both of whom wore "beyutifool" white gloves. They were consciously proud and happy, and the ruin of the gloves by the stuff the men handled, in no wise interfered with their entire enjoyment of their ludicrous hand dress.

   April and May are the hottest months here. The dry season is about at an end, and rain will be welcomed, for the roads are frightfully dusty and the crops need rain. Grasshoppers are about the worst enemy to the crops. They are larger than the American grasshopper, can fly like birds and at times are so thick you can not walk about without pushing them away from you. The natives catch them in nets, dry them in the sun, and keep them the year around to make pudding and pies out of. They can be bought in the markets at any time by the bushel. Children feast on them alive during the season.

   The bureau of agriculture recently received a consignment of garden and vegetable seed and gave out word that any one could have some by applying. I sent my muchacho (boy servant) after some and had him dig up the ground in the rear of my shack, where I planted the seed. In the course of a month or so everything was looking lovely, the vegetables being nearly a foot above the ground, but one morning when I looked out I found the ground entirely bare, not even a root of the stuff being left. I asked the muchacho what had happened. He replied that he thought the deer must have come in from San Lazaro during the night. I looked around and told him I could see no deer tracks. Then he said the ants must [have] done it. Just then I noticed a well trodden path which had not been there the day before. It was two feet wide, and I followed it up about fifty yards, when l came to an immense ant-hill, fully fifty feet in diameter, with an entrance leading to it one-foot in diameter. I had the muchacho bring the hose, and I turned the water into the entrance. The first thing that came up was a six-foot snake with a double head, or rather two heads, one being where his tail should be. The snake was quickly dispatched with a bolo, and I asked the boy what it was. Oh, he said, that is a snake that lives with the ants. They bring in the food, and he eats it all up. After the snake, came my vegetables of all kinds, leaves of trees and large ants.

   But Manila is a good place to make money in. When I came here there were twelve thousand Americans in Manila. Now there are less than five thousand, many having died of cholera and bubonic plague, others having been scared away. But the more who go, the more chances there are for those who remain.

   I hope your people are all well. Give my best regards to Mrs. Barnes and Doris, and write me when you get a chance. News from the States is very welcome to a man on another planet. 

   Yours very truly,

   H. G. Cornell.

 

BREVITIES.

   —Regular meeting of L. C. B. A. tomorrow night.

   —The regular meeting of the A. O. H. will be held tomorrow evening.

   —Ground was broken Saturday for the new Y. M. C. A. building at Oswego.

   —The new $10,000 Carnegie library at Canastota was dedicated yesterday with appropriate ceremonies.

   —Cortland's ginseng growers were all in Tully to attend the convention of ginseng growers which was held there today,

   —Medina had a $50,000 fire yesterday afternoon that for a short time threatened to destroy the entire business section of the village.

   —The new display advertisements today are: The Peck Furniture House, Furniture, page 6; Walters Shoe Store, Oxfords, page, 6; A. S. Burgess, Clothing, page 8,

   —A large number of people who were in Cortland yesterday to see the circus remained in town over night. Quite a delegation left for home on the 8:40 p. m. train over the Lehigh.

   —L. N. Hopkins of Cortland, who was badly injured last Friday morning by his launch [motor boat] falling on him near the Lehigh Valley [railroad] station, is resting very comfortably and it much better. Mr. Hopkins is at the home of his cousin, H. C. Fairbanks in East State-st. He is not a yet able to walk.—Ithaca Journal.

 

WORK OF ANARCHISTS, LOUBET AND THE ST. LOUIS FAIR, MAYOR'S VETO, BARNUM IN CORTLAND, AND HEARD THE SPEECH

 

Jean Louis Combes.

Cortland Evening Standard, Monday, August 10, 1903.

WORK OF ANARCHISTS.

M. Combes Fired at Twice In His Carriage.

ATTEMPT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL.

Police Had Difficulty In Protecting the Man Who Fired the Shots—His Companion Drew a Knife and Escaped In the Confusion—Believed to Be an Italian.

   Marseilles, Aug. 10.—As Premier Combes was returning Sunday afternoon to the prefecture from a banquet given by the Friendly Society of Teachers, two pistol shots were fired at the carriage in which he was riding. The premier was untouched and none of those accompanying him was hurt.

   The attempt upon the life of the president of the ministry caused great excitement and the crowd pointed out to the police as the author of the attempt a man dressed in fisherman's clothes. His companion drew a knife but the police quickly disarmed him.

   The police had much difficulty in protecting the man who had fired the shots. He struggled desperately but was soon overcome, handcuffed and taken to the prefecture, where M. Combes had already arrived.

   The first interrogation of the prisoner took place in the presence of the premier. The man said his name was Sauvaire Picolo. He spoke very bad French with a strong Italian accent.

   He denied that he had fired the shots, but when searched a revolver was found with two chambers which had been freshly fired. It is believed that Picolo and his companion, who had affected his escape during the confusion, are both dangerous anarchists. The presence of a number of anarchists in Marseilles is known to the police.

   The following official version of the attack upon Premier Combes has been issued:

   As the premiers carriage was passing the corner of the Avenue Capelette and Rue Saint Eloi five men began throwing tomatoes. Only one of the missiles reached the carriage, striking the coachman in the eye. The detectives aided by the local police started in pursuit of the men who fled. Being closely pressed and seeing themselves about to be overtaken the men drew knives and revolvers and engaged in a struggle with the police who fired, seriously wounding three of them. One of those arrested succeeded in passing his revolver to an accomplice. Another was arrested a few minutes later. One of them named Picolo has already undergone five previous arrests. One of the others is named Datino.

   Premier Combes, accompanied by Minister of Marine Polletan, left Marseilles last night for Paris.

 

Lt. Gen. Nelson A. Miles.

Ovation to General Miles.

   Cumberland, Md., Aug. 10.—General Miles, enroute from Washington to San Francisco was given an ovation upon his arrival here. The Union Veteran Legion and members of the Grand Army of the Republic were at the station in large numbers and cheered General Miles. Many women were in the crowd.

 

Emile Loubet.

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIALS.

Loubet and the St. Louis Fair.

   The St. Louis Globe-Democrat thinks that it ought to be easy for the officials of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition company to induce President Loubet to visit the fair in 1904. The intention is to ask him to be there around the time of the Bastille fete on July 14, so that he can participate in the festivities. The fete in 1903 had a wider and more enthusiastic celebration in St. Louis and other important towns in the United States than it ever had before. Of course 1904 will see a much wider observance of the day in this country, especially in and around the world's fair city. The presence of the head of the French republic would necessarily add greatly to the pleasure and the profit of the exercises.

   It is asserted that an especial effort, therefore, will be made by Mr. Francis to induce President Loubet to come here during the fair and take part in some of the festivities in honor of his country. M. Loubet is in the habit of going outside of France every year or two. He has recently been in England. Last year he was in Russia. It is true the United States is farther away than is either of those countries, but in these days of ocean greyhounds the Atlantic trip has been materially shortened. The distance certainly ought not to keep him away.

   The whole country as well as St. Louis hopes that the French president may visit us next season. If he comes he will receive a greeting such as has not been extended to any other resident of the old world since America's early friend Lafayette came back to visit old friends and old scenes three quarters of a century ago.

  

The Tide of Undesirable Immigrants.

   Immigration statistics for the past fiscal year lately made public by the chief of the immigration bureau, have caused renewed demands in the press of the country for prohibitive or at least restrictive legislation, and no doubt the subject will receive early attention in the coming congress.

   The note of alarm expressed is not due to the numbers of immigrants—857,046 in the past year—but to the large proportion of undesirables among the new arrivals. Ten years ago Italy, Austria-Hungary and Russia sent us but 71,000 immigrants, while 353,000 came from England, Ireland and Germany. Last year the immigration from Russia, Italy and Austria-Hungary reached a total of 672,000, while the desirable element, composed of Germans, English and Irish, fell to 109,000.

   With alien arrivals at our ports increasing at the rate of a quarter of a million a year, more than two-thirds of whom are undesirable additions to our population, it would seem to be about time to call a halt.

 

THE MAYOR'S VETO.

Disapproves of Resolution for Telephone Franchise

ADOPTED BY COMMON COUNCIL.

Mayor Says the Resolution is Contrary to Statute, is an Unfair Discrimination Against a Local Company and Local People, is Opposed to Best Interests of City, Will Lead to Monopoly and May Cause Telephone- Rates to Advance—Action was Taken Hastily and Without the Exercise of Careful Judgment.

   Mayor Charles F. Brown has vetoed the resolution adopted by the common council of the city of Cortland at its meeting last Tuesday evening granting a franchise to the American Telegraph and Telephone Co. to erect its poles and string its wires in this city, and he states his reasons for that veto in the following communication addressed to the common council.

Reasons for the Veto.

   "To the Common Council of the City of Cortland, N. Y.:

   "Gentlemen—For the first time during my official term I find it my duty under the authority given by the charter of the city of Cortland to exercise the power of veto upon a resolution adopted by its common council.

   "That resolution is the so-called telephone franchise or license adopted by your body at its last meeting, the approval of which by the mayor is necessary before it can have any force or effect. Such approval I cannot give, and this memorandum constitutes the reasons for its official veto by me.

   "For more than twenty years telephone and telegraph companies have without written or perpetual franchise been allowed by its municipal officers to place their poles and string their wires in the streets of this village and city, without objection and with common benefit and profit, both to such companies and to the patronizing public. But during this time frequent applications for perpetual or irrevocable franchises have been persistently and invariably refused by a long line of public officials.

   "In the year 1890, the legislature of this state passed an act known as the transportation corporation law (Chapter 566, Laws 1890), whereby all telephone and telegraph companies were given by direct act of the legislature, a franchise through all of the public highways of this state, subject to such restrictive legislative control as might be imposed by the legislature from time to time; and in the year 1900, the supreme court of this state, in the case of Barbite against the city Rochester, as I understand, decided that under that act no municipal authorities of any city in the state had any power or authority to grant such license or franchise.

   "Notwithstanding this law, the present applicant, as early as 1890, made repeated and persistent applications for such franchise, and later, the Empire State Telephone Co., made similar application for irrevocable or perpetual franchise, and these were both refused by the board of trustees of the then village of Cortland. Again in the year 1900 and soon after its incorporation as a city, the so-called Home Telephone Co., concurrently with other company or companies, made similar applications to the common council of this city, and was refused by its common council under the legislation and decision above referred to and upon the written advice and opinion of the city attorney, to whom it was then referred for advice, as to the power and authority of the common council in the premises.

   "By that refusal, the local Home Telephone Co., officered, organized and financed by eminent citizens of this city, as well as other company or companies offering valuable and substantial considerations for the grant of such franchise, were alike denied.

   "For under the laws of this state and under the decisions of its supreme court, which both you and I must obey, this right was not and is not the subject of municipal grant.

   "The present franchise, or license so called, purports to grant to the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., in violation of the statutes of the legislature, and contrary to the decision of the supreme court of this state, the right by perpetual and irrevocable franchise, over and along the entire streets of this city, by an instrument presented by that company, it agents or attorneys, and contrary to the advice of the attorney of this city.

   "Aside from its invalidity for the reason above stated, were there power in the common council for its enactment, the reasons for its veto are abundant:

   "1. Unseemly and ill-advised haste in its adoption by the common council, at its first presentation, notwithstanding the request of the mayor for deliberation and fair delay for hearing discussion and investigation.

   "2. The granting to a foreign corporation not indentified with our local interests, a right gratuitous, perpetual and irrevocable, when the same right had been recently denied to our own home people or company, and had been denied to others willing and offering to pay a substantial consideration for its grant.

   "3. The lack of that caution and deliberation to adequately guard and protect the telephone using public against a possible monopoly in telephone rates in the future.

   "The present applicant, the American Telephone and Telegraph Co., is, I think, generally understood to be interested in the local Empire State Telephone Co., and is stated to be in negotiation for the purchase of the local Home Telephone Co. of this city.

   "Have you no fear, that if this corporation shall have secured a monopoly of telephone service in this city, local and long distance, that telephone rates will advance?

   "Do you credit the statement made for this company that it does not expect to secure by this franchise any greater rights than the law now gives it? Do you believe that it employs a local attorney in procuring this measure only to obtain nothing additional by its grant?

   "These are questions for you to answer by your vote when again you shall consider this matter with greater deliberation, in passing or rejecting this franchise over the mayor's veto.

   "That you should grant this franchise, which has been so jealously guarded by this city and village for the last twenty years, gratuitously, as a gift to this stranger company under these circumstances, I would fain believe does not voice your mature and deliberate judgment, but is the result instead, of action hasty and inconsiderate, which is always mischievous in the administration of public affairs.

   "I, therefore, place this veto upon it. In so doing I believe that I am discharging a public duty so palpable, that its propriety can be neither the subject of argument nor question.

   "It is, moreover, a satisfaction to me that I am thereby affording to you an opportunity of yourselves correcting any error you may have unwittingly made, by a greater deliberation, and a more careful determination of this important measure, when you shall again vote upon it.

   "The eyes of the public are upon us. The trust reposed in us by that public is a sacred one. For my own part my discharge of that trust is a veto of this measure. I condemn it with a voice neither hesitating nor uncertain.

  "The rest is for you. With you still remains the opportunity for correction of any error or inadvertence, which has occurred.

   "Respectfully submitted, Chas. F. Brown, Mayor.

   "Dated, Cortland, N. Y., August 7, 1903."

 

GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

Now Exhibiting in the City of Cortland.

IT ALSO SPENT SUNDAY HERE.

A General Cleaning Up Day-Fast Day for the Wild Animals—The Commissary Department—Differences Between Europe and America—Parade Abandoned in Europe—The Great Parade Today.

   Barnum & Bailey's greatest show on earth arrived in Cortland at an early hour Sunday morning, the first section reaching here soon after 4 o'clock. In this section are all the "led" stock comprising the elephants, camels, zebras, musk-oxen, many of the horses, etc. The animal cages are also on this train. It is the last one to be unloaded. The second section came in between 6 and 7 o'clock. This is called the flying squadron and is the first section unloaded, as it carries the commissary department, cook and stable tents, etc.

   The other two sections followed in quick succession and, although being Sunday, everyone took his time, the work of unloading was rapidly and quietly accomplished.

   On arriving at the show grounds on Owego-st. there was great activity. The commissary and cook tents were soon up and men were busy preparing breakfast. The commissary department is perhaps the most interesting part of the mammoth show. When abroad it excited the wonder and admiration of Emperor William to such an extent that he issued an order that the officers in the garrison at every town the circus visited should attend the show and pay especial attention to the work of the commissary department.

   The cook wagon is one of the very first upon the grounds. In this are the ranges, upon which the cooking is done. In separate small tents are found the grocery store and a meat market. The meat was ordered last winter from Armour & Swift and is the best that can be obtained. Two thousand six- hundred-forty pounds per day is the amount required to feed the host which makes up "the greatest show on earth." The bread is obtained from a local baker, from 600 to 700 loaves a day being consumed.

   The dining tent will seat 840 people at the same time. The entire personnel of the circus eat in this tent. All have the same fare, the only difference being that the tables for the officials are but twelve feet long, instead of seventy-two, as are the others, and are provided with better linen and dishes. The food is as clean and wholesome and as well served as at any hotel, as the writer can testify since he was a guest at supper last evening of Mr. Bowes, the genial and efficient press agent.

   The show itself is all that the owner and press agents claim for it. Just returning from a successful foreign tour it possesses the most excellent features of both continents. A comparison of the difference in the two countries is interesting. One of the things that seems strange to an American is the fact that the parade had to be abandoned from early in 1900 until April 21, 1903. The people would see the parade and go away satisfied, many of them thinking they had seen the whole show.

   In France and other countries the circus exhibited seven days in the week, Sunday being the biggest day. They also exhibited the year round.

   Yesterday the wagons and cages were washed and all the tent poles painted. The large main tent, or in circus parlance the "Main top," was not raised till this morning.

   Yesterday was fast day for the carnivorous animals. In their wild state they often go hungry for days and it has been ascertained that when in captivity they are in better condition if this custom is followed. The meat for the different animals is carefully weighed, the lions for instance receiving eighteen pounds per day and the tigers twenty-two pounds, this, as Mr. Bowes said "being a case of the tigers getting the lion's share." In all there are about 2,000 mouths to be fed. Friday morning about 1,100 men had breakfast, 600 horses, twenty-three elephants, nineteen camels and the other animals make up the 2,000.

   Many of the men with the show have been with it for years. Quite a number were here when the tent blew down upon the same plot several years ago, injuring so many people.

The Great Parade.

   The parade this morning fully justified the claim to the title of "The Greatest Show on Earth." Nothing like it was ever seen in Cortland before. There have been fine circus parades, but this overtopped them all. The horses were magnificent specimens. And one secret of this is that all the old worn horses were left in Europe for Buffalo Bills troupe to use over there, and thus save ocean transportation, since the two shows are now under one ownership. When the Barnum & Bailey show was to start back for America and advance agent was sent here to secure new horses, the best that could be bought.

   The directors of the show also voted a half million dollars last winter to re-equip the show, and this has been expended in a discriminating way with excellent results. The splendid band wagons are marvels of art and the floats are a fine feature. All of these are hand carved out of wood, produced by carvers who were paid $7 a day for their skillful workmanship. A great contrast was presented between the first and the last band wagon in the parade. The first was drawn by the forty-horse team and was new just before the show started for America. The last band wagon, the one drawn by eight gray horses with blue plumes, is a relic of the days of P. T. Barnum. It was a marvel in its time, but is now small and frail in construction in comparison with the magnificent structure that leads the parade. It is kept as a relic and souvenir of former days.

   The parade was headed by Mr. James A. Bailey, himself, on horseback.

   Following came the great forty-horse team upon the first big band wagon. The horses are all bright bays driven four abreast. "The proudest man in Cortland today," said Press Agent Bowes, as the parade passed, "is Jim Thomas, the driver of that big team. Some one offered the suggestion a while ago that these horses were not driven, but had been taught to follow a leader. This is not so. They are driven. Thirty of the horses had never been driven in a big team till this spring. When the Mardi Gras was celebrated in Paris during the winter the city authorities asked Mr. Bailey to contribute something to the parade and he offered the forty-horse team and band wagon. The authorities of the city were so delighted with this and so impressed with Jim Thomas' wonderful skill as a reins man that they presented him with an immense gold medal which he wears now on all public occasions.

   We weighed the reins a few weeks ago that are used upon his teams and they weighed eighty-two pounds.

   Following the band wagon came five open cages of animals, tigers, lions, pumas, leopards and hyenas; then other closed cages. There were a host of them. There were six bands in the parade and fine bands too. There were numerous riders, and Chariots, and floats representing different allegorical, historical and mythical characters. All looked bright and clean. The costumes were very handsome. There were eighteen camels and dromedaries. There are twenty in the circus, but one was in the hospital this morning, and a second was retained to keep him company. There were twenty elephants in the parade, and four more were left at the grounds. The baby elephant did not appear in the line; he is such a young fellow.

   He is now a year old and growing, but he is still nursing. His mother stayed in the tent to take care of her youngster. And Jip remained behind, too. Jip is 62 years old and Mr. Bailey bas owned him for forty years. He is given as easy a life as possible and is not sent out on parades. The first elephant on the right in the doubles as they appeared was Columbia, the first elephant to be born in captivity, and his companion was his mother.

   The steam piano concluded the parade of which the Philadelphia Record said after it had appeared there: "It has acquired a foreign accent while abroad," the piano being badly out of tune when it appeared in Philadelphia.

   The parade made ą circuit of the principal streets and returned to the grounds followed by a crowd that numbered thousands. One exhibition was given this afternoon and another will be tonight.

 

HEARD THE SPEECH.

And it Was General Schemmelfennig who Was Quoted.

   To the Editor of The Standard:

   Sir—Captain Saxton in his reminiscences of the One Hundred fifty-seventh regiment says that after the battle of Chancellorsville Saturday night General Schurz made a speech to the One Hundred fifty-seventh regiment. He is mistaken in the general. It was General Schemmelfennig who spoke and he said "One Hundred and fifty-seventh, you have done well. You have done all you could do." I stood within thirty feet of the general when he spoke and heard him distinctly.

   David R. Shults,

   Late of Co. E, 157 Regt.

   Cortland, N. Y., Aug. 10, 1903.

 

BREVITIES.

   —The Normal school building will be closed to visitors this week on account of oiling the floors.

   —The patrons of the Bainbridge creamery were paid $45,000 on a recent Monday for one month's milk.

   —The new display advertisements today are: Chas. F. Brown, Olive oil, page 6; First National bank, Bank accounts, page 5.

   —By way of variety at the fair at Rome, N. Y. in September this year there will be a joint debate on the [Erie] canal question. Prominent speakers on both sides have been secured.

   —The annual picnic of the Brown and Holden families will be held on Thursday, Aug. 30, at the home of L. H. Austin, one mile from Harford on the Virgil road.