CUBAN CLASH IMMINENT AND NORMAL SCHOOL OPENS

 

Gen. Calixto Garcia.

Cortland Evening Standard, Wednesday, September 14, 1898.

CUBAN CLASH IMMINENT.

Independence Party Now Threaten Serious Trouble.

MEETINGS OF PROTEST HELD.

They Deem the Establishing of an American Protectorate as an Encroachment Upon Their Rights—Look With Suspicion Upon Robert F. Porter's Mission to Havana.

   HAVANA, Sept. 14.—The presence of Robert F. Porter, who is in Havana on a special commission from the United States government to study the financial and economic aspects of the situation, is regarded with suspicion by the party of Free Cuba as indicating the establishment of an American policy of guardianship. Mr Porter is preparing a revision of the Cuban tariff, which will probably be protective of Cuban industries, and is acquainting himself with every detail of local taxation. In this work he is assisted by a capable staff. For the present his efforts are only preliminary, as, until after the definite settlement of peace, it will be impossible to establish the new regime. But his efforts and inquiries, taken together with the announcement that American troops will be sent later to occupy the island—which had hitherto been doubted by many—have had the effect of provoking protests from the more rabid Cubans, who are holding meetings and adopting resolutions against "encroachment upon our rights as citizens of the free and independent republic of Cuba by the establishment of an American protectorate."

   Commenting editorially upon these developments, La Lucha says: "It is easy to foresee a clash between the two tendencies, the two forces on the political horizon of Cuba—the sentimental independent party and the party of practical annexationists. On one hand stands the Cuban sentiment which has struggled for freedom for three years; on the other is arrayed every material interest in the island, which looks first and foremost for the greatest and strongest guarantee, not only that order shall be preserved, but that there will be a future development and increase in these very interests.

   "It is too early yet to predict with which party the victory will lie; but the leaders of the National Cuban party should not allow themselves to be carried away by the natural exaltation and fiery temperament of their race. They should proceed with tact and discretion at this juncture, for otherwise, annexation may become an accomplished fact far sooner than is expected. The leaders should act with prudence and furnish an example of strength and stability. Such conduct in them may result in time in adding to the ranks of the Cuban national party a large proportion of those who now advocate annexation and in carrying with them the great landed and industrial interests of the island."

   These two problems, independence and annexation, are the chief topics discussed; and the idea of an American protectorate, with military occupation, is nowhere favorably considered. Everywhere it is recognized that the choice is between independence and annexation.

 

ELECTION IN CUBA.

Republican Government Preparing to Elect a President.

   HAVANA. Sept. 14.—Next month at the headquarters of the so-called Cuban republican government at Curitas, province of Puerto Principe, representatives of the different corps of the Cuban army will proceed to a presidential election and a definite constitution of the government. Each army corps will send eight delegates, making a total of 48 electors. There are two separate and distinct tendencies in the Cuban army, one strongly supporting the present government and the other favoring General Maximo Gomez.

   Already four presidential nomination tickets are in the field. On the first are the names of Bartolome Masso for president and Mendez Capote for vice president; on the second, the names of Mendez Capote for the first place and Jose Miguel Gomez for the second; on the third are Jose Miguel Gomez and Pedro Bentacourt and on the fourth Calixto Garcia and Jose Miguel Gomez.

   General Gomez is still encamped on the Narcissa estate at Yuguajay, Santa Clara province.

 

Maximo Gomez.

ECHOES OF THE WAR.

Military Notes and Items about the Recent Conflict.

   General Maximo Gomez, the insurgent commander-in-chief, has tendered his resignation of the command of the Cuban army to the Cuban government at Camaguay. He objects to the Cuban government's yielding the control of the affairs of the island to the Americans.

   It is believed that the principal reason why the Spaniards are so slow in arranging for the evacuation of Cuba and Porto Rico is that by delaying action they reap the benefits of the custom duties, which right now are very large on account of the long blockade.

   Generals Cebreco, Castillo, Pedro, Perez and other Cuban insurgent leaders have turned over their commands to General Lawton. General Perez has 8,000 men in the vicinity of Guantanamo which he will disband this week by order of General Castillo.

   Colonel  Hood's regiment, which has been doing garrison duty' in Santiago, will this week be relieved by the Fifth regulars, the volunteers going to a camp yet to be selected on the San Luis railroad.

   The number of sick among troops in Porto Rico, 1,886; about 18 per cent; 177 typhoid, 447 malaria, 1,262 other diseases. There has been two deaths from yellow fever at Ponce.

   The muster out of Camp Meade is almost completed and General Graham expects to have his corps soon organized for service in Cuba.

   Camp Thomas at Chickamauga is almost deserted, there being only one regiment there, the Sixth United States volunteers.

 

Luigi Lucheni.

THE ASSASSIN INTERVIEWED.

Says He Was the Executor of the Oppressed—Conscious of his Guilt.

   NEW YORK, Sept. 14.—A dispatch to The World from Geneva says: The World correspondent has seen and interviewed the assassin Lucchesi.

   Instead of a sullen Prendergast, who killed Carter Harrison of Chicago, or a defiant Vaillant, who threw the bomb in the French chamber of deputies, there was brought upon the scene in the antechamber of the palace of justice a smirking wretch, effusive, garrulous and beaming.

   Lucchesi is small and gaunt but athletic with blue eyes, a reddish mustache and dirty brown hair, cut short and unparted. He smiled and tittered as he talked, cheerfully answering all of the correspondent's questions. His demeanor suggested an unhinged mind, but his replies indicated a clear and full consciousness of his crime, in which he gloried.

   In answer to a query Lucchesi said: "I killed the empress because I am an anarchist. We have not, we eat not, we drink not; therefore we must make the rich and powerful think about us. I have simply executed a mission."

   "Why did you select the empress? Why not have killed a real ruler—a king or a president?"

   "Destiny placed her in my way," he answered simply and with apparent truthfulness. "I was not looking for her life in particular. She was here and I struck her. She was one of the oppressors."

   "Had you any accomplices?"

   "My accomplices are all those who suffer. I am the executor of the oppressed."

   "Would you prefer life imprisonment in Geneva or death in Austria if you had the choice?" he was then asked.

   A look of annoyance passed over his face as he answered: "As you wish." Then he made a sign as if cutting off his head and added: "I should prefer the French way."

   Lucchesi declined to answer further questions and the interview ended.

   Judge Leche asked Lucchesi: "Where were you on Aug. 30 when the empress arrived at Territel?"

   "I was employed in building the postoffice," he answered.

   "Did you strike the empress with your left hand?"

   "Certainly not; I always use my right hand, and I dealt this blow with my right hand." This with an ugly grimace, and then be bent down and showed how he dealt the blow.

   The judge next asked: "If you had been able, would you have murdered King Humbert or Crispi?"

   "Humbert? Oh, yes, with pleasure. But not Crispi; Crispi is a thief; he stole half a million lire. I should have taken more in his place. I take my hat off to thieves; I would never murder a thief."

   Here the assassin laughed aloud. Then he said to the judge: "I asked for cigars. Shall I get them?"

   "We will see," said the judge as he ordered him back to prison.

 

Main Street, Cortland, N. Y.

THE NEW PAVEMENT.

Some of the Specifications —Stone Crusher at Work.

   But few people in Cortland realize the power and authority vested in Engineer Henry C. Allen, who has charge of the paving on Main-st , as a court of last resort to settle without appeal all questions arising between the village and the contractors.

   The specifications and contract make Mr. Allen arbitrator in all matters of difference between the two parties and his decision is final and conclusive.

   Clause B of the contract and specifications for paving reads as follows: "To prevent all disputes and litigations, it is further agreed by and between the parties to this contract that the engineer shall be referee and arbitrator in all cases to decide upon the amount, quality, acceptableness and fitness of the several kinds of work and materials which are to be paid for under this contract, and upon all questions which may arise relative to the fulfillment of the contract on the part of the contractor, and to decide all differences, disputes, controversies and questions that may arise at any time under this contract, and all such questions that may at any time arise are hereby expressly referred to and submitted to said engineer as sole referee and arbitrator and his decision on all such matters shall be final and conclusive on all the parties hereto; and his estimates and decisions shall be final and conclusive and such estimate and decision in case any question shall arise shall be a condition precedent to the right of said contractor to receive any money under this agreement; and also that said engineer by himself or by his assistant or inspectors acting for him, shall inspect the material to be furnished and the work to be done under this agreement to see that the same strictly correspond with the specifications hereinafter set forth."

   In consequence of this full and unlimited authority it is evident that if Main-st. is not paved with the best of material and in the best possible manner no one will be in fault but Engineer Allen. That gentleman has a long and well established reputation for knowing what good paving and good work is and for holding men up to their work. In fact, because of this characteristic he has earned the name in Syracuse, his home, of "Straight Line" Allen, and it is safe to believe that Cortland will have a first-class piece of work done here.

   The contractor, the Warren-Scharff Asphalt Paving company, is storing its cement under the coal dump at John C. Seager's yard near the Lehigh Valley station, and it is taken from there as fast as needed. Portland cement made in Germany is used in the concrete foundation for the brick pavement in the railroad strip. Rosendale cement from Rosendale, Ulster county, will be used in the concrete foundation for the asphalt pavement. The concrete foundation for the railroad strip is 9 inches in depth, while that for the asphalt pavement is 6 inches. The proportion of parts for each foundation is the same, that is, one part cement, two parts sand and four parts broken atone. There is quite a difference between the two brands of cement. The Rosendale cement test for fineness requires that 90 per cent shall pass through a sieve of 2,500 meshes per square inch, and 90 per cent of the Portland cement must pass through a sieve of 10,000 meshes per square inch. Sufficient water to mix the sand and cement to the consistency of good mortar for masonry is used in mixing each foundation.

   The broken stone used on the street is in irregular shapes, varying from one to two inches in diameter. The engineer's estimate places the amount of broken stone needed at 500 cubic yards. The paving company crushes and uses the cobblestones from Main-st., and pays the village 10 cents per wagon load of 27 cubic feet for them. But the cobblestones from the street form only a small portion of the amount required, so the paving company purchased at Perryville enough crushed stone to make up the deficiency. The purchase was made through J. C. Seager of Cortland, who has the stone unloaded from the cars in his coal pockets from which the teams get it through the shutes the same as coal wagons are loaded with coal.

   The Main-st. cobblestones are crushed in a Crusher set up by the company near the Lehigh Valley station. The crusher runs by steam power, the engine being located a few feet away. The top of the crusher is reached by a wooden bridge up which the stones are drawn in wagons and after unloading, the team and wagon goes down the bridge on the opposite side. Five men keep busy shoveling the stones into the hopper of the crusher, and the stones are crushed by a revolving cylinder inside the wall of the crusher. The size of the broken product can be regulated, something as the fineness of coffee from a coffee mill is regulated. As the broken stone comes from the mouth of the crusher, it is caught in buckets attached to a carrier similar to a straw carrier connected with a threshing machine. At the top of the carrier standard these buckets empty their contents into a hollow cylinder, which is all the time revolving. The cylinder is full of round holes of three sizes in three sections of the cylinder. The holes in the first section of the cylinder are half an inch in diameter, those in the second section one inch in diameter, and those in the third section two inches in diameter. The different sizes of stone of course fall through the revolving cylinder, and into pockets on boxes underneath, and are let out into the wagons the same as coal from a coal pocket. The stone is then delivered on the street for mixture in the foundation for the pavement.

   After the foundation is mixed, laid and properly tamped down, the specifications require that it shall be allowed to set for not less than five days if foundation for brick, and not less than ten days if for asphalt before walking over or working upon is to be allowed. Before the brick portion of the pavement is laid, a one half inch layer of clean, coarse, sharp sand is to be spread on the foundation, and the brick laid upon it on edge. When laid, the brick pavement will be rolled, and the joints filled with a grout composed of one part of first-class Portland cement and one part of coarse sand.

   On top of the foundation for the asphalt pavement is to be laid what is called a "binder" course, one inch in thickness, composed of broken stone of such a size as will pass through a one inch ring, and an asphaltic cement. The pavement mixture itself, two inches in thickness, is then to be spread.

   The north section of North Main-st. between East Main-st. and Arthur-ave. is now nearly ready for concrete. A 5-ton steam roller yesterday rolled that part east of the railroad strip, and this afternoon was working on the west side. The concrete mixing gang on the railroad strip passed Lincoln-ave., and the curb-makers are rapidly approaching the Cortland House. Yesterday they laid nearly 500 feet of curb and gutter.

  

TROUBLE AT ITHACA.

Renwick Park Fenced in—Street Railroad Company Shut Out.

   The Ithaca Journal of Tuesday devoted over two columns to an account of trouble that has arisen between Mr. H. Bergholtz, owner of Renwick park, and the Ithaca Street Railway Co. The difficulty grew out of a lawsuit between the two parties, and now Mr. Bergholtz has put a fence around the park and shut the public entirely out. The railroad is not interfered with and cars can run to the end of the line, but there is no use in carrying passengers there as they can't get off. In consequence the Tioga-st. cars now stop at Percy baseball field.

   Mr. Bergholtz said to a Journal reporter that he had practically waited till the end of the park season before assuming his right to shut up the park, so that the railroad company would not have much further use for the park this season. He says he may plant onions in the park next spring.

 

Cortland Normal School.

THE NORMAL OPENED.

MANY NEW STUDENTS IN All DEPARTMENTS.

Intermediate and Primary Departments Crowded—Advance in Scholarship all Along the Line and Its Consequences—New Seats in Normal Hall—The Kindergarten.

   The Cortland Normal school reopened this morning for its sixtieth term under most favorable auspices. There was an unusually large number of new students, 112 presenting credentials upon which they expected to gain admission. In the old days of entrance examinations where all new students were expected to appear the first day, even then this would have been a large number, but since the admission has come to be more and more by credentials gained as a result of previous work or examinations, until the present time when there are no entrance examinations whatever and when credentials alone are accepted the new students have more and more got into the habit of dropping in during the first three days of the term, or even a little later. So that there is a likelihood of the number of new ones running up to 150 or over within a week. A large number of old students was a [seen] back this morning.

   Arrangements had been made for the reseating of Normal hall during the vacation, opera chairs of an approved design and fitted with bookracks and armrests for writing being selected to take the place of the old desks. With the new seats there will be nearly double the seating capacity of the old arrangement. This work was all to have been done before the opening day, but it had not been entirely completed this morning when the school assembled, though Dr. Cheney publicly stated that it was through no fault of the local board or the committee having the matter in charge. The failure to complete the contract within the specified time caused a little inconvenience, but was not more serious than that, for chairs were carried in to take the place of the missing seats. A large proportion of the opera chairs are already in place, and the others will be before the end of the week.

   The rostrum has been moved from the west end to the north side of Normal hall, and this is a great improvement, for it brings all the seats which are arranged in a semi-circle before it nearer to the center of things than was possible in the former way, and oftentimes it was difficult to hear distinctly and always it was hard to see clearly from the rear of the long hall. The pictures upon the walls have been rehung and rearranged to conform to the new order of things.

   All the members of the faculty were present this morning at the hour of assembling except Miss Curry, who was at Union Center for the day assisting at a teachers' institute. There were two new faces on the rostrum, and one other face familiar to the school and well known in Cortland which was new to that place, due to Miss Bishop's promotion from critic in the intermediate department to be the teacher of methods. The faculty took their seats upon the rostrum in the following order: At Dr. Cheney's right hand Prof. Banta, Prof. Cornish, and Prof. Booth at the end. At Dr. Cheney's left, Miss Hendrick, Miss Booth, Miss Bishop, Miss Goodhue, Miss Alger, Miss Hamilton, a vacant chair for Miss Curry, Miss Wright and Miss Rathbun at the end.

   The school joined heartily in singing the national hymn, "America," with Miss Alger conducting and Mr. Harry Jennison at the piano. Dr. Cheney led the devotional exercises, reading the 27th Psalm and offering prayer.

   The doctor then spoke a few words of greeting to the new and old students, and explained briefly to the former the credentials which they must have to enter upon. The new students then passed out to the musicroom, where they presented their credentials to Prof. Booth for inspection and approval. The A and B classes were the first to be entered by the principal and then they went to meet the teacher of methods to arrange for their practice work in the training schools, while the work of entering the remainder of the students proceeded.

   In the intermediate department Prof. McEvoy was as usual in charge, and his assistant is this year Miss Grace K. Duffey, who succeeds Miss Bishop, but who is not a stranger to the work of the school as prior to last year she was for four years the principal of the department.

   There have been 58 applications for admission to the intermediate department, but so far only eight have been received. The room will seat 212 and only this eight was required to bring the number of students up to the limit. A number of the students of the department are trying examinations for admission to the Normal department, and if they pass there will be an opportunity to receive into the intermediate more of the new applicants.

   Owing to the raising of the standard of admission to the Normal department this fall the highest class in the intermediate of last term is not received en masse into the Normal department this term. Its members can take the state examination of nine subjects, in which they must pass eight subjects with a minimum standing of 75 per cent in each subject to get into the Normal, or they can take the faculty examination of twelve subjects in which they must pass every subject with a minimum standing of 80 per cent. Failure to reach this per cent in any one of the twelve subjects would prevent admission to the Normal department. In the former case the examination questions are prepared by the state authorities, in the latter by the Normal faculty, and the latter examination is said to be the more severe.

   The requirements of professional training in teachers are every year becoming more and more severe, and because of this advance in grade the standard of scholarship is constantly advancing. By reason of the advance of this fall the highest class of last term in the intermediate which passed all its work in the department of last year is now trying the advanced examinations for the Normal. Those who pass will be admitted to the Normal department. The balance will be retained in the intermediate as a tenth grade till they are ready for admission to the Normal, probably at the beginning of the winter term.

   In the primary department the new principal, Miss Skidmore, was at the helm, assisted by Miss Gale and Miss Ormsby. The primary is overflowed with new applicants, but can take only about two hundred. The standard of admission between the primary and intermediate departments has also been raised for this fall, and as a result the last year's fifth grade is to be retained in the primary department for six months longer before admitting it to the intermediate.

   The kindergarten department does not open till next Monday. A large number of applications have been received, but the fortunate children will be chosen by lot. The list of names will be published. A new floor has been laid in the kindergarten room, making quite an improvement in its appearance.

 

[McGRAW "letter" continued.]

Secretary—H. R. Greenman.

Financial Secretary—O. Cooper.

The company now has a membership of thirty.

 

BREVITIES.

   —A dozen genuine African ostrich eggs in the north window of the drug store of Sager & Jennings attract considerable attention.

   —There will be a regular convocation of Cortland Chapter, No. 194, R. A. M., to-night at which the Mark Master degree will be conferred.

   —J. H. Audrus is not working on the paving job for a few days because of the smashing of the end of a finger which was under a heavy box when it came down.

   —New display advertisements to-day are—Dey Bros. & Co., Ready for Fall Business, page 8: Baker & Angell, Hygienic Shoes, page 7; Opera House, The Brosnahan-Jackson Comedy Co., page 5.

   —The STANDARD is indebted to Prof. A. B. Ingalls of Oahu college, Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, for a copy of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser of that city of Aug. 13, 1898, containing a graphic account of the flag raising upon the islands the previous day. A huge flag of red, white and blue occupies nearly the whole of the first page, and over this occurs the regular printing in black ink showing through the colors of the flag.