FIRE IN THE NATIONAL CAPITOL

United States Capitol Building.

Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, November 8, 1898.

GAS WAS RESPONSIBLE.

Further Account of the Fire in the National Capitol.

METER WAS BLOWN TO PIECES.

The Greatest Damage Was Done in the Destruction of Official Records, Some of Them Over a Hundred Years Old—Law Library Not Badly Damaged.

   WASHINGTON, Nov. 8.—Examination into the supreme court room and basement in the Capitol building where the fire was, revealed that in the meter room, where the supplies to the Capitol is measured, the big meter had been blown into pieces. This satisfied most of the Capitol officials that a gas explosion was responsible for the damage, but they would not express this view openly until an official inquiry had been made.

   Several supreme court justices made a visit to the scene of the catastrophe. Chief Justice Fuller and Justice Harland walked through the various apartments, guided by a man with a lantern, while they looked at the scenes of destruction with manifest interest; they made no remarks. They spent somewhat more time in the courtroom than elsewhere. There they found the upholstery and the court's new $4,000 carpet greatly injured, but the two court clocks were ticking away as regularly and as dignifiedly as ever. The busts of former chief justices which line the walls of the old chamber were also uninjured, and this appeared to be a source of much gratification to the chief justice and his companions.

   The only damage that cannot be made good was done in the file room of the supreme court in the basement where were stored all the official records and the original copies of opinions from the foundation of the government. All these opinions have been printed but the original manuscripts were highly valued. This room was almost over the scene of the explosion, and it was one of the first compartments of the Capitol to be attacked. The documents here were stored away in an orderly manner in wooden cases and none of them had any other protection, except the records of the court from 1792 to 1832, which were encased in tin boxes. The flames appear to have completely enveloped this room, but they were only sufficiently intense to badly char the woodwork and many of the documents. Comparatively few of the papers were absolutely destroyed, but those which suffered this fate were among the most valuable in the room. They included the original opinion of the court in the early days of the republic and among them were many manuscripts prepared in the handwriting of the jurists of the days of Washington, Jefferson and Adams. There were in the list many opinions in manuscript written by Marshall, Story, Samuel Chase, [Iredell], Washington and others of the period between 1790 and 1830 and therefore prized as relics of the early days of the court. They also were occasionally referred to, to settle disputed points concerning words or punctuation marks. These papers were stored under the arch of the room and seem to have been completely consumed.

   On the other hand the official records of the court's proceedings covering the same period appear to have been preserved and probably in good condition. Those were encased in tin boxes and these in turn placed within wooden cases. The debris is in such disorder as to have rendered it impossible to open the wooden doors, but these doors were not penetrated at any place; hence the belief that the records themselves are intact.

   Many of the more modern documents including letters and opinions of recent date were also so badly burned that it will be impossible to restore them, but none of these appears to have suffered such complete demolition as befell the early opinions. No documents affecting the present docket of the court were injured.

   The library of the supreme court, which next to the congressional library is the most valuable collection of books in Washington, escaped with little damage, although it was in the very center of disturbances, the wrecked elevator shaft and upheaved stone floors being at the library entrance. It is estimated that the loss in the library will be covered by $1,500. The books escaped intact, the loss being confined to singed woodwork. The floor of the electrical room under which the explosion occurred was as completely demolished as if it had been directly over the center of an earthquake. Fortunately no one was in the room when the explosion occurred.

   Mr. Woods expressed the opinion that the damage to the Capitol building could be repaired for $20,000. "It is by no menus so serious as I first thought it was," said Mr. Woods. "I find that the foundations of the building were not damaged in the least, but that the only injury done to the structure by the explosion was done to the arched floors. These were struck from beneath and, affording the least resistance, gave way so readily that the foundation walls were not injured in any way."

   Mr. Woods believes the explosion was caused by gas, but says he has not yet been able to make a sufficiently critical examination to place the exact spot at which the ignition occurred. Some express the opinion that a broken main and a burning jet are responsible for the occurrence. None of the very valuable books in the law library was injured.

 

Jews in the Senate.

   Senator Simon of Oregon will not be the first Jew to hold a seat in the United States senate, three others having preceded him. The first was David L. Yulee of Florida, whose father's name was Levy. He was elected a representative in 1845 as David Levy, but when his term expired he had his name changed to David Levy Yulee. The second Jewish senator was the famous Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana, and the third was Benjamin Franklin Jonas of Louisiana.

 

Gen. Calixto Garcia.

GOVERNMENT FOR CUBA.

One is Probably Now Being Formed by the Assembly.

PROGRAM OF THE BUSINESS.

The So-Called Cuban Government Will Be Approved and a Commission Selected to Go to Washington. Spanish Troops Embarking For Spain.

   HAVANA, Nov. 8.—The latest advices received here from Santa Cruz del Sur fixed yesterday as the definite date for holding the convention to be presided over by General Calixto Garcia. The general opinion is that the convention will be limited to two or three sessions, at which the message of the so-called Cuban government will be unanimously approved without discussion.

   It is further said that the instruction to be given to the commission which is to go to Washington will be discussed secretly. The convention will then adjourn to Playa Marianao near here, and await the result of the work of the commission which will be sent to Washington. It is reported that this commission will consist of General Calixto Garcia, Senor Gonzalez Lanusa, who is a lawyer, and a Cuban general who has not yet been chosen.

   President Bartolomeo Masso will afterward retire to private life and will take part in improving the condition of the property which he owns near Manzanillo.

   General Roloff has been commissioned by the so-called Cuban government to make a statistical report on the personnel of the Cuban army. This report which is already far advanced shows that half the enlisted men can read and write.

   Colonel Williams, the chief quartermaster, and Chief Clerk Caldwell, who have been suffering from fever, show slight improvement, but F. T. Stewart of the quartermaster's department is very ill.

   The French steamer Los Andes has sailed for Barcelona, Spain, with 75 Spanish officers and 1,366 soldiers on board. The Spanish steamer Satrustiqui also sailed for Spain via Gibara, with 281 soldiers on board.

 

PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.

Uniformity of Divorce Law.

   The animated discussion of divorce in the general Episcopal convention, which recently closed its sittings at Washington, has called fresh attention to this subject, one of the most important which society is called on to solve. The laws relating to marriage and divorce being made by the different state legislatures, it need scarcely be said, are widely divergent, and this involves a crowd of evils which at once suggest themselves to thought. Why a national law of marriage and divorce, prescribing the fixed conditions under which the dissolution of the marriage vows shall become legal in every state should not exist like a national bankruptcy law is one of the curious anomalies existing under our triform political system.

   The facility with which divorce may be obtained in some of the states is well known and has frequently drawn the attention of social reformers. The privileges of these laws are not only bestowed on the real citizens, but extend to temporary sojourners, who have resided there for 60 or 90 days. No discussion of the presumptive ethics which are invoked to justify such laws is necessary. It is a question not so much of any alleged evil in the fact itself as of the wide variety of law by which a couple are a divorced pair in one state and married in another while, even if a dissolution of the bond is admitted in practice, a moral stigma attaches to a new marriage, and all kinds of complications arise, which radically affect the social, if they do not touch the legal condition.

   The wide difference of opinion which exists as to the theory and purpose of marriage is of course the root of the difference in state legislation. This makes it a question of importance that there should be enforced harmony of conditions, for it is the result on the great body of social life which is to be looked to. A constitutional amendment would of course be necessary to make a uniform divorce law possible. The constitution forbids that one state should impair the legal contract made under the laws of another state. Whether this can be stretched to cover dissolution of contract, as well as the making, is possibly debatable. The question should be thrashed out by persistent agitation. Even those favoring lenient divorce laws recognize the great evils which come out of the widely divergent legislation on this great question. It is probable that a great majority of the citizens of all the country, including those of the liberal divorce states, would be glad to have a uniform law throughout the land.

 

Machinery and Labor.

   Mr. Carroll D. Wright, commissioner of labor, in his report for 1898 presents very interesting statistics respecting the effects of machinery on labor in his annual report. The deductions to be drawn from his researches are rather suggestive than conclusive, but anything which throws light on this important subject will be read with avidity. Figures are given in a tabulated form concerning 84 different branches of manufacture, and in agriculture, mining, quarrying and transportation. A contrast of hand and machine labor is shown in a total of 678 articles, showing fluctuations at different periods. Only the broad, general features of Mr. Wright's report can be here summarized, in brief, and on those points most pertinent to the immediate welfare of the working classes.

   Wages have constantly increased since the introduction of the factory system, which substituted machine for hand labor, but it is almost impossible to decide whether this increase is the outcome of a higher standard of living or the increased productivity of labor supplemented by machinery, or to other causes or to a combination of various causes. There is always, however, the basic fact that the most unintelligent manual labor has increased proportionally in wage value. Mr. Wright sustains the conclusion that machinery has lowered the cost of products. Under the machine method, too, there is increased demand for labor in the aggregate, though there may be temporary depression and loss of employment from special causes. Indeed the epoch of machine labor has been subject to the same fluctuations in the labor market which existed in the days of hand labor—now a surplus, now a lack. The same fluctuation exists in the variability of wages, and during the periods of depression there can be no question of a decrease not only in rates and earning power, but in the number of operatives employed; but the day of machines permits this fluctuation, it may be added, to be more frequent and more violent. The enormous power of machine production, in a word, easily brings about the overstocking of the market, which is one of the chief causes of labor interruption.

   The statistics show three conclusions which cannot be dodged, if we trust the figures. In the first place, machine production has lowered cost of goods in every line of manufacturing. In the next place, it has increased the number of persons required for the production of articles needed to meet the demand. Thirdly, there has been a concurrent tendency of wages to appreciate, in spite of fitful depressions. What part the organization of labor in trade unions and similar protective methods has had in the working out of conditions to results is not considered. On the whole, however, Mr. Wright's evident conviction is that there has been a notable advantage to the cause of labor by the greatly added power which mechanical device gives to its productiveness.

 

HEAVY VOTE POLLED.

Voting Began Early and Continued at a Rapid Rate.

   NEW YORK, NOV. 8.—Weather conditions at the opening of the day were all that could be desired by voters. The air was clear and fresh and the temperature about forty-five degrees. The polls opening at 6 o'clock, many citizens took an early morning walk to the polls, deposited their ballots and returned home to breakfast with the consciousness of a duty performed, leaving them free for the rest of the day for their business pursuits or for recreation and pleasure.

   The early morning vote was quite up to the best averages. Nowhere had any trouble been reported during the first three hours of balloting. There were comparatively few votes challenged, and in all but a few instances the person challenged swore in his vote and went about his business. The blanket ballot has become familiar to most New Yorkers and the marking of it occupied but little time. At the last state election 122,000 blank or defective ballots were cast, but it is not likely that there will be even approximately as much waste paper deposited in the boxes this year. Party lines are most closely drawn than they were in 1896 when Democrats were divided on the currency issue. In that year, there is reason to believe many ballots were invalidated by the attempts of voters to scratch without being fully informed as to the effect of their marking.

   It cannot be said that any particular vote—Democratic or Republican—showed itself distinctively in the early hours of the day. The merchant and the mechanic, the clerk and the day laborer were in evidence at the polls just about in the degree that they were in the early hours of other recent Election days. Almost all the manufacturing concerns shut down for the day, and banks and brokers and insurance offices were closed. Many of the large department stores, on the other hand, were open for business the entire day, but even in those concerns employees who are voters were given time enough to go to their several polling places and deposit their ballots before the close at 5 P. M.

   Over one-third of the vote had been cast in the city at 9:30 A. M. and it is stated at both the Democratic and Republican headquarters that the full vote registered would be cast. No serious trouble occurred up to 10 o'clock, though there had been about a dozen arrests on warrants.

   ITHACA, Nov. 8.—The weather this morning is all that could be desired. The indications point to a full vote in this city.

   SYRACUSE, Nov. 8.—At 10:30 o'clock fully half the vote of this city had been cast.

 

[CORTLAND] VILLAGE TRUSTEES.

Public Business Transacted at the Session Last Night.

   When President Stilson called the meeting of the board of village trustees to order last night at 8:20 o'clock, Trustee O'Leary of the First ward was the only absentee, but he came in later, and remained during the most of the session. The first matter to receive the board's attention was a communication from Attorney B. A. Benedict concerning the conveying of water from Madison and Schermerhorn-sts., north to Otter creek through sewer pipe laid in private grounds. The proposed sewer passes through a few feet of ground at the bank of the creek, and Mr. Benedict asserted that he would expect all work to cease at once, or he would feel compelled to enjoin the village by action. Trustee White said that Mr. Benedict said he wanted $100 for the privilege, and he thought that too much. On Mr. White's motion, the communication was laid on the table.

   Clerk Crombie read a communication from the Warren-Scharf Asphalt Paving company stating that the company's construction bond covers everything, including the construction of the curb, and protects the village from all legal steps that might be taken against it, and asking that the village provide for payment for the curb. This matter was referred to Kellogg & Van Hoesen, the village attorneys.

   The paving company also asked an extension of time until Nov. 20, and this also was referred to the same attorneys.

   T. E. Courtney of the law firm of J. & T. E. Courtney presented a claim of Edwin D. Woodbury of 14 Pomeroy-st., who alleges that in September he fell through a defective walk on Pomeroy-st. opposite the Garvey property, receiving serious injuries. He wants $5,000. This was referred to Kellogg & Van Hoesen.

   The board of health recommended for sanitary reasons that a new sewer 430 feet in length be laid in Graham-ave. running north from Prospect-st., and the board authorized the sewer board to have the sewer put in at an expense not exceeding $172.

   Engineer Allen submitted his monthly statement of expense of the new pavement to date, amounting to $25,470.78 after deducting what had already been paid. The engineer stated that the work had all been executed according to contract and specifications except as to the curb, and in this respect the contractors had failed to furnish evidence of the extinguishment of the patent right. On motion of Trustee Nodecker, payment for the pavement, less 25 per cent, as per contract was ordered, excepting for the curb and gutter.

   Several sidewalks were ordered rebuilt and repaired, and it was decided to open bids for putting a steam heating apparatus in Fireman's hall Thursday night to which time the board adjourned.

   Bills were audited as follows:

   Jas. F. Costello, salary, $25.00

   Reider & McLaughlin, supplies, 20.08

   Police force, 189.00

   Delos Bauder, 2.00

   Street commissioner's payroll, 298.10

   James Grant, labor, 13.00

   E. A. McGraw, labor, 8.30

   Savings bank, interest, 59.75

   H. F. Benton, lumber, 60.68

   Electric lights, 396.85

   W. J. Moore, examination of reported smallpox at McLean, 25.00

   E. A. Didama, health officer, 21.00

   H. C. Allen, engineer, 789.13

 

CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW.

Hopkins' Greenhouses Visited by an Admiring Public.

   Hopkins' chrysanthemum show opened at the North Main-st. greenhouses last evening, and was attended by a very appreciative company. The greenhouses were lighted in a pretty way with Japanese lanterns, and the whole effect was indeed very fine. Mr. Hopkins has a larger variety of chrysanthemums than ever before, and it was the special delight of the ladies last night to admire them. The violet and carnation houses also had their admirers, and indeed they looked very beautiful. Each of these houses has been doubled in size since last season. The rosehouse was attractive for many of the visitors. The greenhouses as a whole are scrupulously neat and clean, and Mr. Hopkins is certainly to be congratulated on the beauty of his exhibition this year. The show continues each afternoon and evening of this week, and the public is cordially invited.

 

Cemetery Association Meeting.

   The annual meeting of the Cortland Rural Cemetery association was held at the office of County Judge J. E. Eggleston last night, and Messrs. A. L. Cole, C. P. Walrad and A. D. Blodgett were reelected trustees to succeed themselves. Treasurer C. P. Walrad reported a surplus of nearly $11,000 in the treasury, and Superintendent B. B. Morehouse reported that the whole of what is known as the Corwin tract in the northwest part of the cemetery is graded and that lots are ready for sale. The trustees will meet at the cemetery next Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock to look over the premises.

 

BREVITIES.

   —The Ladies' Literary club will meet to-morrow afternoon with Mrs. N. H. Gillette, 20 West Court-st.

   —The Fortnightly club will meet tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 o'clock with Mrs. Edward Stilson, corner of Owego and Union-sts.

   —The ladies of the Farther Lights society of the First Baptist church will meet for work at Miss Grace Stoker's, 13 Church-st. Wednesday evening, Nov. 9, at 8 o'clock.

   —New display advertisements to-day are—Davern & Co., Trimmed Millinery, page 6; Palmer & Co., Prices Can't be Matched, page 7; Model Clothing Co., Dress Suits, page 4; McCarthy & Sons, Shop by Mail, page 4; Opera House, Ferrer-Phillips Concert Co., page 4; Baker& Angell, Jenness Miller Shoes, page3.