p...“ WWEMWMWM Our Commissioners Listen tolGen: A Merriti’S Report. 0—.”— PRES. 11111111113 RECEPTION 1 Reception of the American and Spanish Commissions by President Faure. Pres- ident. llIcKinlcy’s Thanks for French Courtesies. Paris, Oct. 5.~‘-'th American peace commissioners devoted yesterday’s ses- sion to a conference with Major Gen- eral Merritt, who crzivcd at the of~ fices of the commission at ten o’clock, just as our cor'imissioncrs were assem- bling. The session lasted until one o’clock p. In. General Merritt gave the com— missioners his personal views and those of Rear Admiral Dewey, geographical, physical, moral and po- 'litical conditions prevailing in the Philippine islands. His exposition of his personal views and judgment about the islands was not finished yesterday, !and he will meet the commission to- de 7; resident Montero Rios of the Span- is a commission and his colleagues wei’e =1 sy yesterday with telegraphic and ( her correspondence. The commis— : one1s denied themselves to all call- 'rs. A newspaper, Le Petit Bleu, this morning declares that it has authority for the statement that it has been de- cided that “an adjustment relative to Cuba will be first discussed at the next meeting, owing to incidents which have recently taken place in the Philippine islands." The same newspaper remarks that Senor Rios yesterday “bought three copies of a work on international law by one of our most eminent jurists. " The paper does not accept the view that the work of the commission will be concluded before December. United States Ambassador Porter will give a dinner in‘ honor of the Am- erican commission thisafternoon, and next week’ General Porter will give a dinner in honor of both commissions at the United States embassy. The Spanish peace commissioners were- received at four o'clock by Presi- dent Faure, at the Elysee Palace. The members of the commission were pre- sented by the Spanish" ambassador, Senor Leon y Castillo, and Senor Rios expressed the gratification of the com- mission at meeting: the president of France. “’At 4.45 p. m., immediately following the reception of the Spaniards, the membels of the American peace com- mission were 1eceived by President Faure at the palace. General Porter met the commlssion- ers on the steps of the Court of Honor, and they proceeded to the Grand’ Salon, where General Porter presented the commissioners to the president. after which Judge Day presented President Faure with . a cable message from President McKinley. It was dated Sep- tember 30, and read as follows: “On this occasion, when the commis- sions of the United States and Spain are about to assemble at the capital of France to negotiate peace, and when the representatives of this government are receiving the hospitality and good will of the republic, I beg to tender you my most friendly personal greeting and the assurances of my grateful ap- preciation of your kind courtesies to the American commissioners." ' President Fau1e,i11 replying, courte- ously expresse (3. his am: rerlation of the cordial scntimen .5 ';ti 1ed and hea1tily reciprocated them. Loaving Porto Rico. San Juan, Island of Porto Rico, Oct. 5.—The transport P. de Satrustegue ar« rived here on Sunday from Spain. She sailed yesterday with troops. The transport Isle. dc Panay sailed for Spain in morning with 1,200 troops 011 board. It is run .orcd that Captain General Macias will leave here on the Al 1cante, which ‘is expected daily at this port from Havana. , The Spanish troops are evacuating Caguasay, and Arccibo was delivered over to the Americans yesterday. The troops are closing in rapidly and the Spaniards are concentrating in large numbers at this place. The Spanish government’s offer of free transportation home to the fami— lies of officers has resulted in many marriages of departing officers and offi- cials.’ 1 H LLi': Govermne’ut for Porto Rico. Washington, Oct. 5.———The report of Major General Wilson 'upon thepolitil- cal, social, educational and financial conditions of Porto Rico, is in the hands of the president, who is giving . it careful consideration as his time al- lows, in order to gather information for his recommendations to Congress in the matter of the government of that island. The early evacuation of the is- land by the Spanish and its complete control by the United States makes it important that a system of government for it should be inaugurated at an early day. Tradesmen’s Bank Closed. New York, Oct. 5.—The Tradesmens’ National Bank, at West Broadway and Beach street (Wool Exchange build- ing), did not open for business yester- day morning. As a result of an examination Mon- day evening by the clearinghouse com- mittee, the bank examiner, W. H. Kim- ball, took possession of it, pending the receipt of instructions from the comp? trailer of the currency. One Hundred Drowned. London, Oct. 5.—'A special dispatch from Bombay states that a ferry boat was capsized yesterday while crossing the Indus at Mittunkote, a town of the Punjaub,' on the west bank of the river,» and one hundred passengers drowned. Act Again»: Anarchists. Rome, Oct. 5.—The powers having ac- cepted Italy’s proposal to call an in- tern’ational conference to devise ‘meas- ures of common action against anar- chists, Venice has, been decided upon as the place of meeting. ‘ regarding the . GENERAL GARCIA'S EREAND ' Ho. ls Sent Out to Pacify the Cuban Insurgents. Santiago de Cuba, Calixto Garcia; his son, Carlos Garcia, and three or four other prominent Cu- bans, have left for the interior to en- deavor to allay the restlessness among the Cuban armed forces, which is daily becoming more menacing to the peace of the province..‘ y The party has received rations from the 'American cominissary, and it is said by persons whose sources of in- formation are good that General Gar- cia goes as an American commissioner. The party has rations for a three weeks’ trip, and will keep in commu- mication with Geneial Lawton jGeneial Wood. } General Garcia believes that through his great personal influence he can al- §lay the popular clamor against the Americans. His plan is to visit Guan- tanamo, Jiguani, Glbara, Baracoa, El Cobre and other places where large bodies of Cuban soldiers are congre- gated and tell these men of a plan he has decided upon of going to the United States later in the fall to endeavor to induce the Washington government to secure a Cuban loan sufficiently large to pay them some of the money due them for their three years’ service in the field. General, Lawton and General Wood have assurances from good sources that the payment of $1,500,000 to the Cuban troops throughout the island will satisfy the many recalcitrants and cause them to return to their homes and go to work. and FALSE REPORTS ABOUT GEN. MILES Not Summoned Before the Commission as Reported." Washington, Oct. 5.-It is a mystery to General Miles and all his friends how any report should have got out representing that he had been called before the war investigating commis- sion, and had tried to keep out of the way. Nothing of the kind has occurred. He had never been summoned or even invited formally. If he were summon- ed it would not be either his place or disposition to put any obstacles in the way. If the president wants him to go before the commission he will go, as a. matter of course. Meanwhile, the circulation of reports putting the general in the attitude of a recusant witness, and representing members of the commission as repre- senting themselves in condemnatidn of his course, seem to be merely parts of. a carefully calculated scheme to make trouble for him with the commission, and discredit him with the country. They are on a par with the stories set on their travels a few weeks’ago, in which the president was represented as prOposing to degrade General Miles by abolishing his present official position. This report failed of its effect because there was neither fact nor law to sup- port it, but it was evidently planned simply to make mischief. THE YELLOW FEVER The Siiuatiox in iouisiana and Misslsl sippi. New Orleans, Oct. 5.——Dr. Souchon has announced the following as the daily report of yellow fever for Louis- iana: New Orleans—Six new cases and one death. Franklin—Twelve new cases and two deaths. Lutche1——Two new cases. Baton Longs—Four new cases one death. Wilson—Twenty new cases and one death. and Jackson, Miss, Oct. 5.—-Only one new case of yellow fever developed here yesterday. At Madison, twelve miles north of here, a Mr. Todd died M011- day. Practically all the 250 inhabitants have been exposed. Other reports are as follows: Oxford—Sixteen new cases and ore death. Water Valley—Two new cases. Woodvillc—Two new cases. Port Gibson—Two new cases. Min's er \VII at the State Department Washington, Oct. 5.—The Chinese minister was at the state department yesterday and had a short talk with Secretary Hay. The secretary said af- terwards that th e was no change in the condition of hinese affai1s so far as he knew, and no late official dis- patches. It was thought that the minister's call might have had some relation to the critical condition of affairs in Chi- na, and the dispatch of American war- ships to American ports. But Mr. Wu said his visit had no con- nection with the general situation in China, but related to pending routine affairs. He had received an official dis- patch, but it brought no news concern- ing the reported death of the emperor or of the disturbed condition of the for- eign element at Pekin. Forty Seventh for Porto Rico. It was anounced at the Army Build- ing yesterday that the Forty-seventh Regiment of Brooklyn, which has been doing garrison duty at Fort Adams. Newport, R. I., had been ordered to (Porto Rico, and would leave on either the Manitoba or Mississippi, probably Wednesday next. Sloop Crocodile Ashore. Westerly, R. 1., Oct. 5.—The sloop yacht Crocodile, New York, from New. port to Port Jefferson, is stranded half a mile south-southeast of Quenocon< ta 11g life saving station, in a bad posi- tion. she went on in a fog Monday even-- ing. Her crew of two men were res‘ cued. Gold from the Klondike. Vancouver, B. C., Oct. 4.-—The steam. er Fastnet has arrived from Skaguay with half a million in dust and with news that a million more was on the way. There will be but one more boat from Dawsdn, the Columbia, which will bring down a large amount of treas- ure. Oct. 51—General -. ' Hichborn balanced LAUNCHING THE ILLINOIS A Great. Crowd Present at Newport New- to “witness it. Newport News, Va., Oct. 5.~—Newport ' News was thronged with visitors from ‘ far and near yesterday, who came to witness the launching of the battleship Illinois. Chicago and Washington were rep- resented by large delegations of promi- nent men and women, and the nearby cities and villages sent thousands of spectators. A conservative estimate placed the crowds of visitors at fully twenty thou- sand, and it was believed that fully thirty thousand persons witnessed the ceremonies. The battleship was put in the water at about .30 p. m. Among the prominent persons from Washington was Assistant Secretary of the Navy Allen, who came from Portsmouth, where he had been in- specting the navy yard. He was on board the dispatch boat Dolphin. ' The steamer Newport News brought down from Washington the following invited guests: Commodore and Mrs. M. T. Endicott, Captain A. S. Crownin- shield, Paymaster General Edwin Ste- wart, Engineer-in-Chief George W. Melville,~Surgeon General W. K. Van Reypen and wife, Chief Constructor Philip Hichborn and wife, Captain Samuel C. Lemley and Mrs. Lemley, Secretary of Agriculture Wilson and lhiS daughter, Assistant Secretatry of War George D. Meikeljohn, Martin Knapp and J. D. Yoeman and their wives. Governor Tanner’s party arrived at .Old Point at ten o’clock on Monday night. The preliminaries began at ten o'clock and the official party passed through the immense throng gathered around the red hull of the Illinois at 10.30. The weather was fair. The hour set for the launching was 11 a. m., but it was 12.33 p. m., before the vessel slid from the ways. Miss Nancy Leit’er of Chicago named it the Illinois. The dimensions of the Illinois are as follows: Length on load water line, 4368 feet; beam, extreme, 72 feet 2 1-2 Iin'ches; draught on normal displace- ment of 11,525 tons, 23 feet six inchesj ,maximum displacement, all ammuni- tidn and stores on board, 12,325 tons; maximum indicated horse power (esti- mated), ~10,000; probable speed, 16 1-2 iknots: normal coal supply, 800 tons; coal supply, loose storage, 1,200 tons; ifull bunker capacity, 1,400 to 1,500 tons; rines, etc.. 449. The main battery willconsist of Tour thirteen-inch breech loading rifles, in turrets, oval in shape, and placed in the center line of the vessel, and fourteen six- -inch rapid fire guns.“ The secondary battery will consist of sixteen s‘x- -pounder rapid- fire guns, four one pounder rapid-fire guns, and two field guns. 'She will car— ry four torpedo tubes. The armor belt, which extends from the stem to abaft the after turret, is to be 16 1- 2 inches thick at the top and 9 1- 2 inches thick‘ at the bottom, ex- cept at the forward end, where it will be tapered to four inches at the stem. r—v— CHINESEIEMPERPR’S PLOT? It is Reported That He Planned to Have the Dowager Empress Removed. London, Oct. 5.—-A dispatch to the Central News from Shanghai says that the emperor, trusting to the loyalty of Yuan Shiskai, gave written orders, which he placed in Yuan’s hands, to have troops brought from Tien-Tsin to surround the palace of the empress dowager and remove her to a place where she would be unable to interfere with his majesty's reforms. Yuan showed the orders to the vice- my of Tien-Tsin, who immediately in- formed the empress. Her majesty immediately ordered the emperor into her presence. She accus- ed him of want of filial piety and of in— gratitude, concluding her denunciation of his conduct by showing him the or- der which he had given for her abduc- tion. .. The emperor was crestfallen and ashamed to say a word in his own defence. The empress told him there was only one way to clear himself, pointing at the same time to a cup on a stand nearby. The emperor took the cup and swal- lowed its contents. It is presumed the cup contained poison. This is one of the numerous stories of the alleged suicide or assassination of the emperor, but it is still as im- possible as it has been from the first to say whether the emperor is alive .or dead. Saw the Battle of Manila Bay New York, Oct. 5.—The Nova Scotian ship Jane Buirill arriVed yesterday from Manila. Captain Robertson said that hisship was at anchor in the har- bor of Manila on the morning of May 1 when Dewey sunk the Spanish fleet. "We had no intimation of war,” said the captain, “but we were aWakened early in the morning by the boom of a gun. Rushing on deck, we saw the American fleet steaming toward the Spanish men of war. It was a grand sight to see the Yankees polish them off. They battered away until break? fast time, after which hey went at them againhammer and tongs, and soon finished them. I heard after- wards that only one Spanish shell struck. That hit the Boston’s funnel, but failed to explode.” Filipinos Make Their Bequest. Washington, Oct. 5.—Agoncillo, the delegate of Aguinaldo's so-called- re- public, called at the state department yesterday, accompanied by his secre- tary, Lopez. They wanted to see Sec- retary Hay, but he was at the cabinet meeting, so they sent their names to Second Assistant Secretary Adee. Mr. Adee. and the Filipinos had a. long talk about the request of the dele- gates to be permitted to represent Aguinaldo before the Paris peace com- mission, but the result of the effort cannot be ascertained. Kaiser Frederick Lowers Record. Southampton, Oct. 5.—The steamship Kaiser Frederick of the North German Lloyd line arrived at this port Yester- day and proceeded to Bremen. days and ten hours. against her pre- vious best time of nine days, two hours and six minutes. The officers were greatly pleased that the ship had de- veloped something like her true speed. complement of Officers, 40; seamen, ma-” She made the voyage in about Isix, T BEE v Eh .1 no G AzE '1 r E the light of torches.‘ I ’ l ROSARIES NOT'i-‘oié CATHOLICS ONLY ’1‘ Without the Cross They Are Used by the Followers of Buddha. The prevailing idea in regard tour rosary is that it belongs solely to the fellowers of the Catholic religion. But take away the cross that is hanging to the beads and we find that one must turn to the dim, mysterious East for the origin of the rosary, for it is among the temples of India, China and Japan that the first sign of the prac- tice is to be found. Ancient pictures of the Hindoo gods depict them with Chaplets of beads in their hands, and it is believed that this method of keep- ing count of their many prayers was in use among the Hindoos before the e111 of Buddha, or at least B. C. 500. The use of the iosary seems espe~ cially suited to an Eastein clime and to the repose of an Oriental mind. The Buddhists are fond of using very smooth beads of glass, polished jade or coral, and it has been thought that the smooth, cool beads gliding through their fingers as they murmur the holy name for thousands of times help them to arrive at that state of holy abstrac- tion from earthly things which is so much prized among the followers/,ol“ Buddha. ' The favorite Japanese rosaries are made of polished wood, crystal, onyx and chased silver, and the Japanese Buddhists repeat in endlessdevotion “Numa Amida Butzu” (Save us, Bud- dha), while their Chinese brothers have the blessed name “O-Mi-to-fu” forever on their ips. A rosary of very great size was recently brought from a temple in Kioto, Japan. The largest head is about six inches in diameter. and the rosary entire is about twenty—four feet long. The huge beads are of dark brown polished wood. They are hollow and have each a fig- ure of a god inside the little shrine, which can be seen through a lattice of brass work—Cincinnati Enquirer. The Hindu Child Wife, A Hindu child-wife divides her year 111 two intervals, one of which she spends with her parents, this being a sort of vacation time, and the other she spends at the house of her hus- band’s parents, this being the time of daily downright drudgery. Vii. lage girls in Bengal blacken their teeth with mishi, a coloring powder. The lips are black also, ‘and this is supposed to make them excedingly charming. Writing letters, especially to her husband, is thought to be a fearful immodesty in a Hindu girl; and she has no chance of improving her mind by intelligent conversation with any one. She must write to hot husband, though she has to do it by stealth in the night. The moon is her lamp, :1 stick out of the domestic broom her pen, the juice of the puin berry her ink, and probably the dried leaf of the banana her paper. A Hindu girl ' must always keep the inner apart- ment of the house. She is only let out when she goes to draw wate1 for the household either from the pond or the well or the river. Hence the W2].- terside is a great feminine resort, :1 sort of women’s club, where there is much gossiping and plenty of stolen leisure—Christian Register. -._.—_— CUBAN LAND CRABS AS FOOD. Disgusting as The; Look, Soldiers Mil! It If'l‘h-ey Reject Them. “Loathsoine, lepruus and horrible”— so the correspondents have described the 11111111 crabs seen by the American troops in Cuba. This makes West Indians smile, and probably the soldiers are now laugh- ing at the fear these monsters at first , inspired. The land 01 ab of the Antilles yielu’s about half a pound of dainty meat. If one dislikes the appearance of the animal, it is well to bear in mind that the sea crab and the lobster are mere buzzards of the shallows—salt water scavengers. The land crab, however, is futtened by the natives on a diet of grass, cane-tops and corn meal, mixed with molasses. Kept in cap- tivity for a week, he is plump, lively and ready for the cook. The land crab is hunted at night by It is then that the crustaceans come from their holes to graze on the young cane tops, for they are vegetable feeders of the most cleanly sort. In the torch’s gleam a white claw is seen to thrust itself warily from a hole till 'then invis-ible.. The hunter keeps perfectly still until he can pin the crab’s four hind legs to the ground with a short stick. Then he seizes the crab‘ by the body behind its run-- ners, where the strong claws cannot reach to bite. The next operation is to tie the claws with a strip of fiber torn from the nearest banana. bush. Sometimes a crab, too' lightly held, escapes to his hole. The hunter car- ries a calab'ash, and pours water into the hole. The crab hates water, and will run out, apparently strangling, and is an easy capture in his con- fusion. Every plantation in- the West Indies —-every hut, for that matter—has a peu‘to keep the captured crabs in. This is a rather deep well, lined with mor tar, to keep the crabs from burrowing out. In okra soup, called ‘fgumbo” by the natives, the land crab is particularly delicate and appetizing. First, tanya leaves are chopped fine and boiled un- til tender. Then the okra is added in thin slices, with onion, tomato and a bit of salt pork. Then the crabs are added—one for each perSon is not too much—New York Journal. « Lady (engaging a new cook) Can you. clean bicycles? , Cook—No, lady, but I can give you the address where I have mine clean- ed—Fliegende Blatter. c ‘_‘:-‘~. BEGI THE YEAR BY FOR THE AND BOTH-i PAPERS Sent to anv Ad'dresS » , Eon 11311111551111.1101 Iii-11.5.1TOIeMM I ‘ , (r? «’11, I'M,
Norwalk Chronicler