The News

J.he annual meeting of the American forestry congress was held in St. Paul, Minn., on the Sth Inst. A terrible hail storm visited the Nishnabotna Valley, Iowa, recently. Hail fel! to the depth of Bve f eet in places. One woman was killed, and several seriously injured. The loss to property and crops wlll exceed $500,000. Loud complaints are made by the managers of the Western Union of their wires beingcut and dis i!;,-:. I, Scv York about 89 wires were on ¦ d inone nigui receutly. The,, h . .. .ud to striking ine men. Detectives are at work to ferret ut the perpetraters, buï thus fur have been unsucccssful. Strik, rs have resumed work in ne or two offices, but as a body they still holcl ut. The suit brought by a large flrm in the ast for damages was decided in favor of tlu peat monopoly. Numeróos inquiries are received at ie post office department respecting the date n which the new postal notes will be ready for se. Many of the letters come froin postmasters at the smaller offices, who do not yet eem to underetand that the postal notes are to e issued only from the money order offices. It ill undoubtedly be a great dlsappointment to hem, as well as to many of the patrons of mail post offices, when they learn that such is ie case. The inquiries show that the issue of ie new notes is awaited with general impa ence. On and af ter Monday, September 3 the ostal notes can be obtained at any money-order ' ost office in the United States. The commissioner of the general land fflce in the case of the application of Petigrew nd Brown, Dakota. for the return of supreme ourt ecrip isBurd in payineut of locations or ntries which have been eanceled on the round that the pre-emptors' affidavite were alse and fraudulent hjs rendered a decisión iu which he holds that scrip used in payment for land is money within the meaning of the law and has all the attrihutes of legal tender. The commissioner says : It was the price of land. It would seem that whenever a eiven thing is by law made receivable in payment for lands et a stated price the cansideration is equivalent to money within the meaning of the statute and that if the eiitry is fraudulent the coneideration is forfelted. GENERAL ITEMS. The Nile is falling, and uu danger of a flood ie apprehended. Twenty soldiers were expelied irom fie Soldieiv Home at Dayton, Ohio, the other day. Four persons were drowned by tbe sinking of a sehooner ofT Point Lookout, near Baltimore. The property in Boston is assessed at $682,3(9,300, and the rate of taxation is $14 50 per $1 C30. The Creek Indian troubles have been settled in a manner satisfactory to all eoucerned, and peace i6 assured. The attorney general of Ohio decides that social clubs where Jiquors are dispensed must pay the $200 license under the Sccttlaw Thu little village f Cottage City, Martha's Vineyard was nearly all tlestroyed by flre a few days ago. The loss is estimateJ at nearly $300,000. More bloody work is reported by the Apaches Indiaas. Seven men who wtre ou on a, prospecting expedition were killed and a number of valuaole iior.e?. At the farm of L. N. Carter, five miles eait of Kok uno, Ind., bis boy sei flre to hay in the baru. The bain was coubumed and a girl of 2 ytars burned to deatli. The wife of Seafttol' AMion of lowa eommitted r.ulcide tbe oioemigiit, 'jy c'ron'nDgliovself ia the Uiselsslppl ïiver. She had ren under Lrea oieat ior mejital disease. The citizens o' Woomington, Ind., lave ' 00 ' ward erectiag a ireproof buildi, ... a a Uuiversity, n place of the on„ .v!i xx, nctntly bunuslTbe suif s 5 ai'ónted by rfi. Louis liqnor dealers agrinst iiev.' ,n--v and strect iiiiïw:is ander tbe Suuday law, wh ch especiaüv effect" .he saloon keepers, are not. proving as succees 'al as expected. Arrangemeuls bave been made for the manufactu-e o! gun cotton for the navy a the torpedo siation at Ncwpoit. Heretofore the govei'niiient has liad to depend on foreigu makeri a-)d dealers. Mrs. U. E. Little of Indianapolis, who recovered her riason aftcr confinemeut in a lunatic aBjlum for twenty-eeven years. has brought suit for possen-ion of real estáte in that city, now divided between thirty-thrte owners. Mrs. William O'Keefe of Little Rock Ark., stepped on a paper with which a lamí had been lighted. The expiring flames Ignitei her skirts and burned her so badly that deatl eusued. W. W. Pyne, formei'ly a botel-kecpei in Dubuque, Iawbohaslately becomedemcDted. ¦ nteied the chapel at the cathedra!, proelaime. tiiinself the Savlor, and r rdered the pricst t' 'eave. The unfortunate man was placed i' ihecounty all. Great excitemert prevails in tbe region about Rich Hl'.], Mo., over the discoverj of petroleum in large quantities. Lai d is be sold at alniost fubulous priees, and the excite ment far surpasses anything ever known ii tae Pennsylvania oil región?. The schooner E. G. Irvin has beeu se'zed at Richmond for violatiou of the neu trality laws. She had on board two cannon. boxes of ammunition, and large number of I carbines and pistola. One oí the crew states that for two days at sea sbe lay to and ignaled for anather vessel, which failed to ppear. The Tribune of Duluth, Minn., says: A. McGinnls, an explorer just returned from Itaska county, reporta Bmall-pox making terrible work among the Indlans in that country. He relates fearful stories of suffering and privatlons. They are entirely without medical aid, and the disease has full sway. In two small towns eighty-five deaths were reported. The Chicago Times publishes an article in which it is asserted that secret agents of the Canadian government have been in the city some time ehadowing prominent Irish nationali6ts, and that they have positive information of a premeditated design to destroy the Weiland canal by use of explosives. It is further asserted that a request has been made on the United States government to assist in thwarting the alleged consphacy. In the inqnest held at Troy, N. Y., the otber day relative to the disaster on the Troy i& Boston railroad, Johnson, the nightoperator, testiBed that he did not remain awake oights to wait for trains, but slept, and was Hwakcned by mi'ans of a string tied across the track and attached to his chair in the office. When the train came along it would knock t-r the chair, and wake hlm. Thie explains how six persons loot their livee. The Federal authorities of Chicag iz il the ilr;fes anil otuer wesrini; app'arel of Mrs. L. N. Parish on the giound that thcy hal uieu inipurtctliu diüiiuceof tue ¦. uj.uds laws. Thj woman ha3 made ..wenty trips across the ncean 'o pureuase sceond-hand dresses from the nobiüty, and succeeded in havix hor trunks passsd fiee of duly, ofEerinj as an explanation tbat the dresses were o!d wearing apparel. The authorities here assert that the case is not an isolated one, and have sworn out a warrant for her arrest on the grouud of perjury. The fire at Vineyard Haven. Martha's Vineyard, Mass., was eheeked only by the almost superhuinan efforls of the firemen. The village is a sad siïht, and is being visited by thousands from all parts of the island and from tlie m.i'uland. The loss is estimated at 190,000, insurance $61.200. All the stores in be place but one, are buiued. The wife of Jarr.es Daviit an aged citizeu., died fiom excitement upoa the ñre. A reliet committee has been iippoioL?d, anu an appeal made for aid. Fully fSO,COO are nceded for the in.mediate wants of the suffereis. The Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator of re cent date says another victiin of the ill-fatcd Asia was picked up b ( John Walloce and other fishermen at Sruaw Island, Georgia Bay, a few days ago. The head had fallen off, but the clothing had kept the body together. William Beton, of Arrau, whose sou and wife and two children were on board, had sent a description of the clothing vrorn by bis son an! a pair of boots which were newly vamped. all of which corresponded exactly with the clothing on the body. The sum of $140 was found in bis pocket in a good slate of preservation, wldch was handedto the bereaved father. A eupposed incendiary fire cansedthe estruction of Pa6savant Hospital, Twentyfirst and State etreets, Milvraukec. An old building adjoining the new structure was still íi use as a hospital and twenty patients there?i Lad a narrow escape, as the root took fire from the burm'ng building. " ie bospital was just under roof and valued in its picseat oondition at $08,000. Tlie loss is estimated at $40,c;d, with ld insnrancs. Tue buildlsg was umder charge of Arcliitcet Charles Brickner, oL Fort Wayne. Dr. P.is3avant is in Pittsburgh, where he uas a similar ipslitution. He alsohas hospitals at Cleveland and at Sp: ingGeM, 111. Plunibc vs were at woik on the buidingthe day tefore, but were not a'Jowed to tal'e their flropts iuto the buüdinir, which leads the contractors to t'aink the fire was incendiary. Many of the inmates wei e severeiy burnel. Dr. Büjd, proprieloi of tae instiluticn, was killed while attemplirg lo save the Uves nf patients. Hia son al6O pes'aedin the flames. Concerning important opium sinuggling cases on trial in San Francisco, before tLe United States circuit court, an official t the United States treasury informed an associated press representativo that during the last 10 years over $6,000,000 worth of opium h8 been smugglcd to that port. Tbe business has heen systemntically conducted bv a ring of smuggltrs as;isted by government officials who have been receiving 30 per cent., the smugglers getting 70 ; that ir. addltion to 30 per cent. offl¦ ¦ials bave received bribos varyiflg lrom $30,000 to $5,000, and it is a notorious fact that many men 1 1 that city reported to be wealthy made their money through smuggling opiur1 The present stock of opium in the market, large as it is, ia not more thaii thrce mmths supply, so under the stimulus of increased duties smucrg'.ing will be greater than ever. The treasury agent says that $1,000,000 worth can be smugaled easily, aud unless the government takes decided measures to suppress it opium smugeling will continue to be a gold mine for 6ome officials and their tools. Secretary Lincoln, who is with the P csident's party on his western trip, remained at Fort Washakie to press the ''bond" scheme. The "bond" 6cheme is a move of Gen. Sheridan, who has long been working unsuccesefully to secure the transfer of the Indians from the interior to tkc war departments,andfailing hit upon this uew method to attain his ends. l'his startling Indian policy was presented to tbe assembled red mer, at Fort Wasbakie when the President was there the other day. It prowses te do iway with all reservations as Mich, ind the Indian Jageneii'nJ and agents. In the jjlace of lands thus taken the government to ¦ssue bonds btarine interest the same as any itlier government bonds. These bonds to be ssued in payment for all property lost and the 'iiterest paid semi-annually. Under this act he Indians would be obüged to take up homevi ads and live oh the Intcrests of the bonds ¦ d the praduct of the farms thus seoured. The interests on the bonds would be payable at eertam convenient forts bv the United States officials in the same way as the army is paid. This would effeetually release the Indians from the control of the interior department and place them absolutely at the mercy of the department of war. There would be no agencies, but the citizens would be protecWd hy existing lines of forts. The scheme will bc presented to all the Indians before congress meets. The Indians, at the grand council on tbe 8th inst., promised to take the matter into consideration.