Had their 63d Anniversary. West Chester (Pa.) Local News. ONE of the happiest couples in the State of Oregon is to be found in Le Grande, Union county, and among the most pleasant times in their memory are the days which they spent when both were young many years ago, within a few miles of West Chester. Robert H. and Hannah Palmer, of Le Grande, aged 86 and 84 years respectively, celebrated their 63d wedding anniversary February 4, 1898. Their seven children were with them at that time, five living in Le Grande, and two in Baker City. This aged man and wife are enjoying fairly good health. They were two of the first passengers to ride on the first railroad which was built in this section of the country, between Wilmington and New Castle, Del. Eight couples, all of whom have since died but these two persons, went down with the party to enjoy the outing. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer formerly resided at Concord, Delaware county, and settled in the West years ago. Robert has a sister living at Village Green, and Hannah has two sisters living in West Chester, Lydia P. Hall and Beulah P. Reese, of South Church street. In addition to their seven children they have thirty-seven grandchildren and eighteen greatgrandchildren. Robert has considerable gardening done this spring, and both are busy and bright for their years. Extract From President McKinley's Message. SINCE the present revolution began (in Cuba), in February, 1895, this country has seen the fertile domain at our threshold ravaged by fire and sword, in the course of a struggle unequalled in the history of the island, and rarely paralleled as to the number of the combatants and the bitterness of the contest by any revolution of modern times, where a dependent people striving to be free have been opposed by the power of the sovereign state. Our people have beheld a once prosperous community reduced to comparative want, its lucrative commerce virtually paralyzed, its exceptional productiveness diminished, its fields laid waste, its mills in ruins, and its people perishing by tens of thousands from hunger and destitution. We have found ourselves constrained, in the observance of that strict neutrality which our laws enjoin, and which the law of nations commands, to police our own waters and watch our own sea ports in prevention of any unlawful act in aid of the Cubans. Our trade has suffered; the capital invested by our citizens in Cuba has been largely lost, and the temper and forbearance of our people have been so sorely tried as to beget a perilous unrest among our own citizens, which has inevitably found its expression from time to time in the national legislature, so that issues wholly external to our own body politic engross attention and stand in the way of that close devotion to domestic advancement that becomes a self-contained Commonwealth whose primal maxim has been the avoidance of all foreign entanglements. CURRENT EVENTS. On the 11th, as had been proposed, President McKinley sent a message to Congress on Cuban affairs. It was read in both Houses, and referred in each to its Committee on Foreign Relations. The President recites the action heretofore taken on the subject of the Cuban wars by President Grant, by President Cleveland, and himself. He states in strong language the misery of the island. He insists that on at least four grounds the United States is concerned in the matter, and is bound to intervene, to end the war: (1) On humanitarian grounds, Cuba being "right at our door ; (2) we owe it to our own citizens in Cuba to afford them legal protection; (3) the right to intervene is justified by the serious injury to our commerce done by these long continued and ineffectual wars (4) the war is a continual menace to our own peace, and entails on us an enormous expense. He does not recommend recognition of the insurgents as "belligerents, belligerents," nor as an independent power, but proposes that he, the President, act in his discretion to end the war, and be authorised to employ the land and naval forces for this purpose. THE message does not ascribe the destruction of the Maine to the Spanish officials at Havana, but says that the circumstance proved them unable to afford safety to a ship of friendly power, in time of peace, in their own harbor. Meanwhile, it seems fairly well demonstrated that the mine under the ship was exploded from the shore, by electrical connection. A London manufacturer of such mines has made public that he furnished a number of them, a year or two ago, to the Spanish Government, some of which were to go to Havana. Other evidence points to this, and it appears impossible for the mine to have been exploded without knowledge or connivance It is on the part of some of the Spanish officers at ⚫Havana. alleged that Consul-General Lee has gathered important information on this subject. THE Committee on Foreign Affairs of the two Houses of Congress were closely engaged, on the 11th inst., in the consideration of the President's message concerning Cuba, and the preparation of resolutions to be reported in reference to it. At this writing it is not clear precisely what form these resolutions will have, but it is expected they will demand independence for Cuba, and will authorize or perhaps direct, the President to employ the land and naval forces in support of this demand. Unless Spain can bring herself to completely abandon the island, she will no doubt regard this as casus belli, (cause of war), and hostilities will begin. The American fleets are described as in complete readiness. Consul-GENERAL LEE left Havana on the 9th instant, arrived at Key West next morning, and reached Washington on the 12th. He called, on leaving Havana on CaptainGeneral Blanco, who declined to see him. The commercial interests of the United States in that city were left in charge of the British consul, named Gollan, who "is a Spanish sympat hiser,'' and refused to take charge until peremptorily ordered to do so by the Government at London. A large number of American citizens went on board steamers, and left Havana at the same time with Consul-General Lee. All other United States consuls in Cuba have left their posts, or are doing so. On the 9th inst. the Queen Regent of Spain issued an order for an armistice, —a cessation of fighting by the Spanish soldiers in Cuba. This, it was stated in Madrid, was upon the request of the Pope. Announcement of the armistice was made at Havana by General Blanco. The exact meaning and result of this move are not very clear. It is practically certain that the insurgents will not agree to suspend hostilities except upon a basis of independence, and unless they do, and the Spanish troops are not withdrawn or driven out, the war will continue. SPANISH merchants have bought two steamships of the Hamburg-American line, (sailing between New York and Hamburg). They are probably intended to be used as privateers to capture American merchant ships. It is likely that privateers will be extensively employed by the Spanish in case of war. THE Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee have agreed upon a plan that will raise more than $100,000,000 additional revenue annually in the event of war with Spain. The committee has also agreed to authorize the issuing of $500,000,000 bonds in amounts of $50 each, making a great popular loan to be taken by the people. To tide over the emergencies the Secretary of the Treasury will be authorized to issue Treasury certificates. A DISASTROUS snow-slide occurred about noon on the 3d inst., on the trail over the Chilkoot Pass, near Dyea, in Alaska. The first dispatch stated that thirty-one men were killed and a large number of others were injured more or less seriously. "The dead were crushed under an avalanche of snow and ice which came down from the mountain side upon the left of the trail, midway between the Scales and Stone House.' A later dispatch says the magnitude of the disaster increases upon fuller information. ་ ་ "As the work of rescue proceeds it becomes more apparent that many more lives were lost than at first thought possible. Sixty-nine bodies have been recovered so far, and the work of excavating is still progressing. The place where the slide reached the greatest depth has not yet been touched." The avalanche covered the trail for several hundred yards, at a depth of fifty feet in many places. "Seventeen employes of the Chilcoot Railway and Tram Company, who went up to the summit on the morning of the slide to work, are missing and it is feared that they are among the lost.' The report of the United States Department of Agriculture, issued Fourth month 1, makes the average condition of winter wheat 86, against 81.4 last April, and 77.1 on April 1, 1896. The leading winter wheat States report averages as follows: Pennsylvania, 92; Ohio, 80; Michigan, 92; Indiana, 87; Illinois, 75; Missouri, 81; Kansas, 101; California, 62. "There are few sections of country from which a very satis IT BRINGS GOOD factory report as to the condition of winter grain has not been received, the winter over a large part of the country having been mild and dry. The lowest averages from important winter wheat States are those of Illinois and California." The mortality of farm animals, both from exposure and other causes, has been below that of the preceding winter. REPORTS of the United States Consuls stationed in Cuba were sent to Congress by the President, with his message, omitting, however, parts marked "confidential." The reports dealt mainly with the condition of the "reconcentrados, the failure of autonomy and the relief from the United States. Consul General Lee estimated that 400,000 peaceable people, who had taken no part in the insurrection in any way, had been driven from their homes into the fortified towns, and there left to perish from hunger and resultant diseases. The deaths he estimated at 200,000. The recent relief measures of the Spanish are said to be ineffectual. ALL kinds of antiquities are manufactured in Egypt or elsewhere for the benefit of pilgrims. Even mummies, it is said, are now made to order. THE Cremation Society of England forbids any inspection of the process of cremation by the friends of the deceased. In this country such inspection by a representative of the friends is required. A LITTLE girl was sent out with some HOOPESTON, ILL., a town of 3,500 saloons.-The Voice. All the others I am desirous to obtain. These "Extracts" are no doubt in existence, somewhere. Will not those in charge of collections of such old documents look them over? I will take the best possible care of any handed me, and return them with little delay. HOWARD M. JENKINS, 921 Arch Street, Philadelphia. A SUDDEN severely cold spell of weather occurred in this region last week. On the 5th snow fell, accompanied by low temperature, the thermometer being about 20 on the morning of the 6th, and rising but slowly in the next two days. How much damage was done is scarcely yet ascertained, but some fruits, especially peaches, were no doubt seriously hurt. Peach growers in the vicinity of Dover, Delaware, believe that nearly one-third of the crop escaped, but that the fruit will not be as good as expected, as the trees that bear the poorest fruit were damaged the least. NEWS AND OTHER GLEANINGS. AND now, it seems, Fashion has adopted the old-fashioned "sun-bonnet "'! It is known as the "golf-bonnet. golf-bonnet." It has come to stay, Harper's Bazar says,-meaning, we may presume, one season. The Bazar adds: "In cut and finish, set and shape, the bonnets are just like the old-fashioned sunbonnet. There is the same well-stitched or slatted hood, the gathered crown, the full-cape, the streamers that tie under the chin or go a-flying, just as the wearer chooses. Dimity of pure white or rose pink is the material most often chosen, though fabrics with a dainty pattern of their own are also used. One great charm of the bonnets is that they are so made that a day in the laundry makes them as fresh as ever. It is likely to be much worn in the country this year for bicycleriding, not to say strolling and driving. A pretty girl never looks prettier than when her face is in the half-shadow of a sun-bonnet scoop, and it is to the credit of latter-day fashions that there should be a revival of so fetching a mode." -Coney Island, New York's famous summer resort, opened on Sunday, March 20, with 20,000 people present. Total disregard of law characterized the day. Liquor was openly sold without even a Raines sandwich, gambling went on under the very eyes of the police, and dance-halls were in full blast.—The Voice, N. Y. The ancestral home of President McKinley's Irish forefathers is to be reproduced in Cincinnati at the German and Irish fair, in that city. The little dwelling stands in the county of Antrim, and has been occupied by the McKinley's ever since 1688. It is a little farmhouse, built of rough stone, with narrow, small-paned windows and a low, picturesque doorway. -Justice Mitchell, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, delivered an opinion on the 11th inst., reversing the judgment of the Superior Court in the case of the Commonwealth against a man who had been convicted in the Quarter Sessions Court of selling skimmed milk. When skimmed milk is sold candidly under its own name, the opinion declares, “there is nothing legally or morally wrong in the transaction." -A dispatch from New York, 11th, says, "the effect of the war scare on European travel, especially on American steamers, is shown by the fact that only twenty persons are booked for passage in the first cabin of the steamer Paris, sailing on the 13th. of brands which are genuine) and Pure Linseed Oil, and give your painter time It will pay. enough to apply it properly. It will If any shade or color is desired it can be easily produced by using the National Lead Company's Pure White Lead Tinting Colors and Pure White Lead. Pamphlet containing sample shades, and Philadelphia. giving directions for mixing and applying, sent free upon application. Cleveland. Salem, Mass. KENTUCKY Louisville. National Lead Co., 100 William St., New York. A GOOD INVESTMENT. One of the safest of all investments is the bond of a good Pennsylvania water company. Recent decisions of our Supreme Court have determined that when a town has given such a company the right to supply the town with water, the franchise cannot be withdrawn, except for good cause. The Muncy Water Supply Company, of Muncy, Lycoming Co., has just issued First Mortgage Gold Bonds, to run forty years, which are now offered for sale to investors at par and accrued interest from April 1st. They pay FIVE per cent. interest. They are free from State Tax. Interest paid in Philadelphia at the office of the City Trust Company, 927 Chestnut Street. The present revenues of the Company, with about 400 more houses yet to be supplied with warer, are sufficient to pay all expenses, including interest on the bonds, and still leave a surplus. A Sinking Fund has been provided sufficient to pay off all the bonds at maturity, or purchase any that may be offered before maturity, at a price not exceeding 105 and interest. The bonds are in denominations of $500 and $1,000; they are either coupon or registered, as preferred. This is an excellent opportunity for a safe, profitable, and convenient investment. WILLIAM P. HUSTON, 103 Girard Building, Philadelphia. A regular meeting of Young Friends' Tem perance Workers will he held in the meetinghouse at Girard avenue and Seventeenth street, on Seventh day, Fourth month 16, at 8 p. m. Among other interesting exercises will be a discussion on the question, "Resolved, That more can be learned by travel than by reading.' All are cordially invited to attend. Jos. C. EMLEY, Pres. The following compose the Committee to assist in securing homes for strangers in attendance at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting: Charles E. Thomas, 868 N. 26th street. The Wilmington Monthly Meeting Min *** Quarterly Meetings in Fourth month are. 19 Western, Londongrove, Pa. 23. New York, Brooklyn, N. Y. 25. Nebraska, H. Y. M., Lincoln, Neb. JOSIAH G. WILLIAMS, No. 13 N. Eleventh Street, near Market, (Formerly of 1027 Market Street.) In the spring the housewife's thoughts turn to the renovating of things. This is where my long experience and training enable me to be of help. I will re-upholster your furniture, and can make it look as well, sometimes better, than when it was new. I make and hang curtains and *** First day School Unions in Fourth month draperies of all kinds, and awnings. occur as follows: 16. Abington. Western *** Abington First-day School Union will be MARY H. FORMAN, Clerk. CLEMENT A. WOODNUTT, 1728 GIRARD AVENUE. Telephone 66-99-A. And I charge only moderate prices. Brass and enameled bedsteads are coming to be greater favorites every year. They are very handsome and convenient—but that's only part of the reason. They're clean-they're safe; there's no room for doubts and suspicions. It's a wise housekeeper who knows what is in her own mattresses. I know, because it is all put in here in the building, under my own eye; I don't sell factory-made To make sure, rip open an unexpected corner, you like, and peep in. mattresses. if Come and see the new styles, and get prices. Household Linens, A clearing out of the Linen Closet, which is now due in most households, will likely reveal the need of Table and Bed Linen, or Towels. The Wm. Heacock's Son, variety of best Scotch and Irish PHILADELPHIA & READING RAILWAY. ANTHRACITE COAL. NO SMOKE. makes is largest here, and our superior buying ability along Linen lines is very generally recognized, even by merchants. I Heavy Cream Table Linen, 66-inch, the HEAVY STEEL RAILS. STONE Heavy Cream Turkish Bath Towels, 24 by BALLASTED. SWIFTEST AND SAFEST TRAINS IN THE WORLD. ute Book Women's Branch), commencing Royal Blue Line to New York. **The Philanthropic Committee of Burling ton Quarterly Meeting will hold a meeting in Friends meeting-house, at Rancocas, N. J., on First-day, Fourth month 17, at 3 p. m. Invitation is extended to all interested in the work. F. S. ZELLEY. Clerk. **First-day evening meetings (Philadel- Royal Reading Route to phia), this month are held at Race above 15th street, at 7.30 o'clock. It will be a great satisfaction to have general attendance of our members. *The Visiting Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting have arranged for the following Meetings in Fourth month. 17. Pipe Creek and Drumore. Circular Meetings in Fourth month: 17. Chestnut Ridge. AND COMFORT. SAFETY AND Best Shoe YOU CAN GET. We have the Best $3, $4, and $5 Spring and Summer Shoes. Samuel Dutcher, 45 N. 13th St. THE GUARDIAN SECURITY, TRUST AND DEPOSIT CO., No. 7 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Md. The Provident Life and Trust Company of Philadelphia 409 Chestnut St. INSURES LIVES, GRANTS ANNUITIES, RECEIVES MONEY ON DEPOSIT, ACTS AS EXECUTOR, ADMIN- All Trust Funds and Investments are kept separate and apart from the assets of the Company. PENN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY This Company furnishes ALL DESIRABLE FORMS OF LIFE AND ENDOWMENT INSURANCE at actual NET COST. It is PURELY MUTUAL; has ASSETS OF THIRTY MILLIONS, and a SURPLUS of over 32 MILLIONS. ITS POLICIES ARE NON-FORFEITABLE AND INCONTESTABLE. Vice-President, President, HARRY F. WEST, GEORGE K. JOHNSON. THE GIRARD Secretary and Treasurer, $500,000.00 Benjamin Green, 250,000.00 50,000.00 25,592.95 Interest allowed on Deposits. Titles to Real Estate insured, and conveyancing done. Loans made on Mort gage and Approved Collateral. Surety entered for Ad- WALL PAPER of ministrators and others. The Company also acts as Administrator, Guardian, Trustee, etc. Safe Deposit Boxes to rent from $2 and upwards, per annum. JOSEPH R. RHOADS, President. JOHN F. LEWIS, Vice-President. ROBERT MORRIS EARLY, Sec'y and Treas. Popular Prices Attractive Styles Samples Free to any Address A. L. Diament & Co., 1624 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, Pa. |