TO RAISE OLD GLORY

Japanese cruiser Naniwa.

Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, July 13, 1897.

TO RAISE OLD GLORY

At Once in Hawaii If Japan Takes Aggressive Action.

   NEW YORK, July 13.—A special to The Herald from Washington says: Any aggressive interference on the part of Japan will result in the landing of blue jackets and marines and the hoisting of the American flag over the Hawaiian Islands with or without the ratification of the pending annexation treaty.

   The administration, realizing that some crisis might arise while the treaty still hangs fire in the senate, has taken steps to be prepared for any emergency. Rear Admiral Beardslee will have, when the next steamer arrives in Honolulu, instructions giving him power to act in the manner indicated above at the first sign of aggression on the part of Japan, or trouble of any kind with which the local authorities are not able to cope.

   It was not until after the receipt of the last mail advices from Hawaii that the officials considered it necessary to issue any specific instructions to the American minister and the naval commander at Hawaii regarding the course to be pursued in the event of trouble. These advices were of such a nature as to cause a conference between the state and navy department officials which have resulted in the instructions, which contemplate the landing of marines and the hoisting of the American flag over the government buildings in Honolulu on the first sign of interference by any foreign nation.

   While believing the reports concerning the possible aggression by Japan were unnecessarily alarming, the authorities have considered it prudent

to have the American representatives in Hawaii clothed with all necessary authority to act promptly and forcibly if the occasion should arise. They do not now believe that Japan, knowing the positive purpose of the United States to annex the islands, will go beyond a little diplomacy to prevent the consummation of that policy.

   Rear Admiral Beardslee will be given sufficient force to carry out any program that events may force upon him. It is definitely settled that the battleship Oregon, now en route to San Francisco from Seattle, will be dispatched to Hawaii as soon as she can be prepared for the voyage. This will give Admiral Beardslee three vessels—the Oregon, Philadelphia and Marion. Japan has at present only one vessel in the harbor at Honolulu, the cruiser Naniwa. She has another cruiser at San Francisco awaiting orders which may take her to the Hawaiian Islands.

   Members of the senate committee on foreign relations, having been informed of the purpose of the administration to assume control of affairs in Hawaii in the event of Japanese interference, do not consider that the annexation treaty is endangered by delay. The treaty will be reported to the senate, but unless some unexpected emergency arises it is not the present intention of the committeemen to press it to a final vote during the present session. They are seemingly not at all worried by the protests and threatening manner of Japan.

GENERAL BANDERA DEAD.

Noted Insurgent Leader Meets Death During a Battle.

   HAVANA, July 13.—Reports from Sancti Spiritus confirms the rumor that General Quintin Bandera, who commanded the insurgents in the engagement on July 5 at Papaya Heights, was killed during the fight.

   Captain General Weyler, who left Sancti Spiritus in the latter part of last week with the Asturias battalion surprised a camp of the insurgents near Jarico, and a sharp engagement took place. Among the killed was the well-known Dr. Hernandez.

   The Yberia squadron, while reconnoitering near Guanabana, on the north coast in the province of Pinar del Rio, encountered a large band of insurgents, killed 19 and captured 2.

   The Spanish destroyed the huts at the salt mines and a sugar mill.

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

State Camp at Peekskill in an Uproar.

CORPORAL M'DONALD KILLED.

Many Other Soldiers Are Badly Torn, Burned or Rendered Unconscious—

McDonald Was to Have Been Married on Saturday Evening Next.

   NEW YORK, July 13.—Lightning struck in the state camp at Peekskill. One man was killed, and many others were badly hurt.

   The storm at Peekskill was a terrific one. Rain fell during the entire day, and as a result, the men did not have many duties to perform. A number of them gathered in the Young Men's Christian association tent, which was commodious and occupied generally by those who had reading or letter writing to do.

   There was a blinding flash of lightning, and in a moment the tent was down and in flames. A general alarm was sounded, and the guardsmen and ambulance corps came at double quick.

   Almost every man who had been under the canvas was shocked by the lightning.

   Corporal J. J. McDonald, of Company A, Twenty-second regiment, was dead. Half a dozen more men were unconscious.

   The body of Corporal McDonald was the first taken from the ruins. The surgeons worked over it for an hour or more, but their efforts were fruitless. Those who were knocked unconscious were revived, some of them only with great difficulty and one or two of the men are still in a serious condition.

   Those who suffered the most are:

   Private H. Pringle, Company E. The bolt struck him on the right leg above the knee, badly marking it. The flesh at the ankle was blistered and the shoe torn off. The whole leg was paralyzed.

   Private A. Sylvester, Company I; struck on the left leg, leg badly burned.

   Private A. D. Schaffer; no visible marks but suffering from shock.

   Private J. W. Crawford, Company A, general shock. He was seated beside Corporal McDonald, and was struck unconscious.

   Private J. F. Lutz, Company C, burned along the right thigh and ankle, was unconscious when taken out. He was suffering from shock and nervous prostration.

   Private J. L. Duncan, Fourteenth Separate company, burned on the left forearm and hand; right wrist burned.

   Private Wagner, Sixteenth Separate company, right side and foot burned.

   Private Fred Gerber, Forty-seventh Separate company, shoe torn from right foot.

   Walter Francis, negro, badly bruised and left arm burned; Francis was thrown through the tent by the shock.

   Manager Schefield of the Young Men's Christian association, general shock.

   Benjamin Steamer and J. Owen, both negroes, waiters in the restaurant, suffering from shock and slightly burned.

   Everything possible was done hastily to make the men as comfortable as possible, and the most of them are progressing favorably.

   For a short time the whole camp was in an uproar and it was feared that the fatalities would number more than one.

   Corporal McDonald's body was placed in a tent and a guard assigned to do duty over it. The colors were placed at half-mast.

   Corporal McDonald lived with his mother at 447 West Thirty-fourth street, this city. He was 22 years old. He had been a member of the Twenty-second regiment since 1893, and was looked upon as an exemplary soldier. He was to have been married next Saturday evening upon the return of the regiment from camp.

   The letter which McDonald had just written was found. It was, as supposed, to the young woman whom he was to have married. It was signed, "Yours until death, Jim."

   He is said to have been in the act of addressing the envelope, having just signed the letter, when the bolt struck the tent.

Killed by Lightning.

   GENEVA, N. Y., July 13.—During the heavy thunder storm that passed over this city Thomas Rue was struck by lightning and killed instantly. Rue was employed as a laborer in one of the local nurseries. He was lowering a window to keep out the rain when the lightning struck him near his shoulders. The current passed down his legs and through his feet, burning the flesh and tearing his shoes.

Walter Wellman.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM.

Gathered From the Sea of Washington News.

UNCLE SAM'S DAMAGED STAMPS.

A Chickamauga Belle—Attractive Southern Girls—Information For the Fair Daughters of the North

—Land So Poor That It Will Not Raise a Disturbance.

   WASHINGTON, July 18.—(Special.)— Many complaints have reached the postoffice [sic] department during the past month concerning the quality of the adhesive gum used on postage stamps. In the excessively hot weather which has prevailed throughout the country many business firms and individuals have suffered loss or annoyance through the sticking of postage stamps to other objects than the letters for which they were intended. Every one knows how provoking it is to buy a lot of stamps at a postoffice or agency and to find them all run together when they are wanted for use. It is believed that if a better quality of adhesive glue were used there would be less trouble of this sort. The postoffice department has authority to redeem spoiled postage stamps, and in an average year $250,000 worth of damaged stamps are replaced by new ones. But the authority to do this does not extend to "stuck" stamps—only to those whose face has been ink-marked or accidentally canceled, so that they could not be accepted in the mails.

Uncle Sam's Finest.

   Uncle Sam has a very nice little trust in the postage stamp business, and he ought to turn out a more satisfactory article. At the present time the cost of manufacturing and delivering postage stamps to any part of the country is only 6 cents per thousand, and as a thousand twos are worth $20 it is easy to see that the government has a wide margin of profit. Notwithstanding the apparent difficulty of working off to advantage bogus stamps, frequent attempts are made to produce counterfeit postage stamps. The secret service makes a number of arrests every year for this offense. In a single year the bureau of engraving and printing here turns out more than $80,000,000 worth of stamps, and about $12,000,000 worth of stamped envelopes are also used. It is a remarkable fact that there is enough carelessness in this country to make it possible for the government to sell in a single year $450,000 worth of postage due stamps, principally ones and twos.

   While President McKinley and his party were at Chattanooga last month General Grosvenor of Ohio was approached by a one armed Confederate veteran. The old fellow had for sale bullets and other souvenirs of Chickamauga battlefield. He warranted them all genuine. One piece of flattened lead he placed in General Grosvenor's hand, with the remark that he had himself cut it from a tree on the battlefield.

   "Was it a Federal or Confederate bullet?" asked General Grosvenor.

   "Federal," replied the veteran promptly. "We didn't shoot at trees."

   General Grosvenor bought the relic as a reward for the old fellow's wit.

A Decided Attraction.

   Among the Chattanooga gentlemen who escorted the presidential party over the field of Chickamauga it was discovered that of nine in one group seven were from the state of Ohio, and all seven had served in the Union army, most of them having been present at the battle of Chickamauga.

   "How do you account for so many Ohio soldiers coming back to Chattanooga after the war was over to find homes?" I asked.

   "Well, I guess it was in part because we liked the scenery of this beautiful spot," replied one of the gentleman, "but in my case I am willing to confess that it was a southern girl. I met her while I was soldiering here, and I told her that after the war was over and the rebels had been whipped I should come back to claim her. She said the rebels never would be whipped, and that if they were and I came back here she wouldn't speak to me. She was so much of a southern woman that one day she was up there on Lookout mountain and she begged the artillerymen to let her pull the lanyards of a gun. They consented, and she fired a gun at the Union troops in the valley below, of whom I was I one."

   "And you came back after the war was over?"

   "Yes, and the girl said that inasmuch as all the other Confederates had surrendered she was going to stay with them and surrender too. We have been married now for a quarter of a century."

   This little story brought out the interesting fact that of the seven Ohio men who had returned to Chattanooga after spending some time there as soldiers five had been hired back by the wiles of Tennessee maidens whom they had met while doing duty as young soldiers in the town between the hills. To this day one can understand why a man would be willing to give up his home and his family and his party, and if necessary conceal his convictions, in order to take as wife one of those fair southern girls.

The Glories of Dixie.

   It is rather odd, though, and of the fact I am assured by a good many people in Nashville, Chattanooga and other southern cities, that the southern young men have a weakness for northern girls. Whenever a northern girl goes south to visit relatives, she may as well make up her mind that she is going to be married. It would be ungallant to say that northern girls purposely hunt up southern relatives and hint for an invitation to pay them a visit, but the large number of matrimonial ventures indulged by northern girls and southern young men has become a well recognized social tradition in Dixie.

   Henry Clay Evans, now commissioner of pensions and one of the most popular men in Tennessee, tried to explain to President McKinley what a rich and productive country Tennessee was. After he had dilated for some time on the glories of his native state Mr. Evans was a little surprised to hear the president ask:

   "Haven't you any poor land in Tennessee?"

   "Oh, yes, Mr. President," replied Evans, who well knows the value of apparent sincerity when he wants to have a tall story believed. "Oh, yes. We have a leetle land in this state which is said to be so poor that the people can't even raise a disturbance on it."

   WALTER WELLMAN.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS

Decided Upon by the Board of Education Last Night.

   The [Cortland] board of education held its regular monthly meeting last night. The resignation of Miss Eleanor E. Miller as principal at the Central school was accepted. Her successor has not yet been named. The revised course of study was reported with the approval of the state superintendent of public instruction, and was authorized by the board. The new course provides for one more year's work in the Central school, that is, a forty-eight count Regents' certificate for graduation, and also for admission to the Normal.

   Some of the school buildings and grounds will be improved. A new porch will be provided for the Pomeroy-st. school, the grounds about the Owego-st. building will be nicely graded, and minor improvements and changes will be made in the other ward schools.

BREVITIES.

   —There will be a joint meeting of the session and board of trustees of the Presbyterian church at the pastor's study to-night at 8 o'clock.

   —A special meeting of the A. O. H. will be held at Empire hall, Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock to make further arrangements for the excursion to the Thousand Islands.

   —At a special meeting of the Epworth league of the First M. E. church last

night, Mr. C. F. Weiler was elected president in place of Mr. J. G. Marshall, resigned on account of leaving town.

   —New display advertisements to-day are—D. McCarthy & Co., University Bicycles, page 6; C. T. Brown, Ideal Photographer, page 4; A. S. Burgess, Summer Shirts, page 8; D. E. Shepard, Life's Lessons, page 4.

   —While "Hawk," the proprietor of the Chinese hand laundry on Clinton-ave., was out on an errand Saturday evening, some stranger entered his place of business and relieved the money drawer of its contents, between $2 and $3 in change.

   —The Congregational church and Sunday-school who are to picnic at Sylvan Beach to-morrow will doubtless read with pleasure the weather report to-day "Tuesday night and Wednesday fair." The special train leaves the Lehigh Valley station at 9 o'clock.

   —The funeral of Abram F. Lewis will be held from the home of his nephew, L. Huguenin, 187 Port Watson-st., at 8 o'clock to-morrow morning. The remains will be taken on the 9:48 A. M. train over the Lehigh Valley and interment will be made at Tribe's Hill.

   —The Northern Pacific Railroad company's land car is at the D., L. & W. station to-day and is being visited by large crowds. This is the same car that was at the Lehigh Valley station some weeks since and which was then described in detail in The STANDARD.

   —Miss Jennie Bell, who was so seriously burned April 29 at Judge Eggleston's by her clothing catching fire from contact with the flames while burning waste paper in the yard, was able to be removed Saturday night in Beard & Peck's ambulance to her home near East Homer.

   —The attention of baseball enthusiasts is called to the table of standings of the State league clubs, which is absolutely correct according to the president of the State league, and which agrees with the record kept by The STANDARD, showing that the record has been correctly kept, while that published by other papers has been incorrect.

McGRAWVILLE.

Crisp local Happenings at the Corset City.

   Floyd Ensign and Miss Florence Baker of Centre Lisle were at Miss Baker's uncle's, A. A. Borthwick, on Sunday.

   Mr. Ensign called on his grandmother, Mrs. Alma Ensign, who is reported as no better.

   Rollo Dibble returned Monday evening from a brief trip to Binghamton and Westville. Mrs. Goodell and daughter Julia will remain for a few weeks.

   Mrs. Elizabeth Snyder Roberts of Syracuse spent a few days with Miss Corey last week. She is arranging the program for the Round Table at Tully [Lake] Chautauqua assembly which promises to be more interesting than ever before.

   Rodney Morse, who is having great success in selling the Champion threshers, is in Stella, N. Y., on business connected with that machine. Among those sold by him last week was one in Marathon.

   William Gleason has just finished the erection of a large barn for Watts O'Brien which speaks highly for the ability of the master workman.

   Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle of Syracuse are guests of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Harvey.

   A. P. McGraw has in his grove in the rear of his residence many fine trees which have reached a size to be enjoyed during sultry midsummer days, but of all the varieties there is none equal to a splendid magnolia tree now full of the most fragrant blossoms. Your reporter's sanctum still bears the perfume of a large cluster with which he was recently favored.

   Rev. N. S. Burd and family left Monday for a two weeks' visit to his mother in Hornellsville.

   Merton Hammond of Bridgeport, Conn., who is visiting his parents here, received a reminder of the friends left behind which proved their remembrance of him as well as their ideas of art.