The Fair Play from Fort Scott, Kansas • 2

GORMAN FOR BONDS. Parker is soon to have a skimming! CADIZ RESERVE FLEET SAILS, What YOU Get THE FAIR PLAY April was the first month of the fiscal year during which the grain inspection department has not paid expenses. The warden of the Kansas penitentiary will soon refuse to accept any more prisoners from Oklahoma. He says there is no money in it for Kansas. In the short grass country a few days station.

Palpably the clouds are put in Kan sas skies this year for something more than scenic effect. The greatest howl for harvest hands in the history of the sun-flushed state of Kansas is coming. The Linn County Republic has some. samples of rye on exhibition which measure six feet and four inches, from head to root. A Sumner county farmer has already hired two men and.

teams at $5 a day. He wil1 keeP and hoard them'in idle ness until harvest. The girls are not outstripping the boys everywhere. Of the six graduates; of the Sumner1 county high school this year, five are boys. The Kansas regiment at San Fran- cisco has been equipped with shoes.

The boys will forth all shod and come back well heeled. Kansas people should not fret because the war doesn't sustain excitement. Fourth of July gets awful tiresome towards evening. E. H.

noag of Harvey county, will at once beSin drilling for gas. This means another long, graceful, orna. mntal hole in southern Kansas. There is every reason to believe that a11 our Kansas boys after their ex perience in war will have to come home to substantiate one another's story. "General" Hugh Cameron, the Kansas hermit, who lives in the woods near Lawrence, wants to go to war.

He made a good record for himself in the late civil war. Hermit Cameron is 70 years of age, but is strong and hearty. He calls his place "Camp Ben Harrison." The new telephone company at Ottawa is getting things in readiness for beginning work on their hew line-Two carloads of poles and a car of oth er material have arrived. The com- nanv exneets to have the new line competed and in operation by August 1st at the latest. Corn conditions in Barber county were never better.

Wheat and rye heading and alfalfa ready to cut. Ow ing to heavy rains in the southwestern and southeastern parts of the county, corn, cane and kaflirwill be Cattle are reported to be in the best possible condition. Crops of all kinds have made a won derful improvement in Ness county during the past week, owing to the! warmer and more favorable weather. Wheat and rye growing fast and rye beginning to head. Corn has been worked over once.

Forage crop plant- ing well under way, ana tae range. grass the best for a number of years. Gardens never looked better. A fine growing week is reported from the western division of the state. Th ranff" Sss is in as fine condition as It CVer UUCI1 hlllCC Hie SCLLIU- ment of the country and cattle are fat tening on it.

Wheat is in excellent condition and the early-sown is begin- ninS to head in Sheridan county. Al lalIa 18 a nne. croP ana is neany reaay lo cul" orn 1S coming up anu preuta a good stand, nernes give tne best oromise amono- the fruits. AT The rains have prevented work in the fields again this week. Wheat is growing very rank and has begun to head as far north as the Kaw river.

Corn is coming up unevenly and the fields are getting weedy. In the central counties not over half of the corn ground is yet planted. Grass generally making a good growth, but pasture ground is too soft for cattle. Gardens are doing well. Fruit is in fine condi tion, though apples are falling badly in some orchards.

The members of the Salina Bicycle club have been working for some time on a program for the state meet to be held at Salina on the 4th and 5th of Tnlv. and thev now have it arranged in ft manner that will be both satisfao- to to the public and riders Tho will all be run at night under the electric lighfct except the qualify. inwwts will late, in the Lftemoon. There will be some verv fast riders in the circuit this year of national reputation. A trick rider will be engaged to give exhibitions between races.

jn the middle division of Kansas the weather generally has been too wet for field work during the past week. Wheat is in fine condition and is head- ing as far north as the Smoky Hill river, some even beginning to head in Republic county. Corn planting is nearing completion. It is coming up and shows a better stand than in the eastern division. The first crop of alfalfa is ready to cut in the southern counties and is a fine crop.

Cherry- trees are full of fruit, but apples are not so promising. Pastures are good and cattle fattening on them. Edwards county reports good crop prospects and ground in excellent con- dition. The corn is being cultivated and looks well with a good stand all over the county. A Jewell county literary society has decided, after an extended discussion, that the strawberry has raised more church debts than the oyster.

The decision was to be expected, though, be-i cause of the strawberry's superiority in numbers and the fac that Jewel! county peppje always stanc. by home products. Condemned Boilers on the Pelayo Cruisers Without Guns. Madrid, May 30. It is officially announced that the Spanish reserve squadron, commanded by Admiral Camaras, has left Cadiz.

Before going to its destination the squadron will maneuver probably for several days in the open sea, afterwards immediately sailing for the Philippine islands, Cuba or the United States, as the government may judge most opportune. The squadron is understood to be composed of ten or twelve vessels. New York, May 28. A dispatch to the New York World from London says: The chief officer of a steamer just in from Cadiz said last night: "When we left Cadiz last Friday the only Spanish warships there were the battleship Pelayo, the cruiser Emper-ador Carlos one torpedo boat and the converted cruisers Patriota and Rapido. The cruisers were at the arsenal.

"Everything bore the appearance of unreadiness. The Pelayo's boilers, recently put in at Toulon, had just been condemned by the superintending engineer at Cadiz, on the ground that they were of insufficient strength. She was, however, coaling. The Rapido and Patriota had not been fitted with guns and neither had a crew. "There wras no belief in the reports that the fleet was going to Manila or anywhere else for some weeks at least." MORTARS TO SHELL "MORROS." A New Weapon to Be Used In- Cuban Sieges.

Key West, May 30. A new weapon in modern war, and as yet one untried, arrived here yesterday. This is the 13-inch rifled mortar. They are nine feet long, and are used in shell ing high places when modern guns are useless. The old 13-inch mortar was a picturesque sort of weapon, but of not much use except on rare occasions.

The modern mortar has a range of seven miles, and its fire can be directed with rlmost as much directness as that of any of the new model heavy guns. There are eight of these mortars and thev can be landed anywhere near Morro castle, Havana, and its garrison shelled out at the leisure of the mortar battery's operatives, who can be sta tioned behind, a hill 100 feet high, whee the besieged garrison cannot see them. Captain James M. Rockwell, ord nance department, is in charge of the battery with 100 men as gunners, who understand the new arm to perfection, as thev have been practicing- with it for the last six months. The quantity of siege train equip ment and machinery for military mines would indicate that some of the "Mor- ros (wnicn means a mgn place in Spanish) are to be undermined and blown up.

This species of warfare has not been practiced since the Napoleonic sieges in the first decade of this century, and much interest is manifested in its practical workings by military engineers. OREGON HOLDS THE RECORD. No British Ship Has Equaled Her Miles Without a Stop. Washington, May 30. "I think the country should know of the great run made by the Oregon," said Captain Crowinshield, chief of the bureau of navigation.

"She is the first battleship built on the Pacific coast. The Union Iron works of San Francisco, the firm that built the Olympia, constructed her. She is 10,200 tons, with a main battery of four 13-inch, eisrht i "nch and four 6-inch rifles. She has made a run that by far exceeds any ever attempted by a similar vessel in Europe or America. The flagship of the English fleet in Chinese waters, the Bellerophon, made a run of 12,600 nautical miles, or from Portsmouth, England, to Canton, last year, and the incident was heralded all over the world as anequaled.

But the Oregon has made a run of 17,500 nautical miles and her captain reports to me that she is in absolutely perfect condition. Not even a grate bar is burnt out. "Then her speed is remarkable. She made a run of 2,600 miles averaging thirteen knots, and the distance from San Francisco to Callao, nearly 5,000 miles, was made without stopping the engines once. Not since the invention of steam-propelling machinery has this ever been equaled or attempted." A SAD FEELING IN SPAIN.

The Ilooelessness of the Situation is Growing on the Enemy. London. May 30. The Madrid correspondent of the London Times, com menting on the "feeling of sadness prevailing in Spam," says: It is less on account of ministerial discensions, which are not really serious, than on account of a fuller apprehension of the difficulties of the situation, namely that it is hopeless to expect any assist ance from Europe, even France and Russia being, since Mr. Chamberlain's speech, averse to anything to precipi tate complications.

Spain now sees that she must trust to herself alone in an unequal struggle that can have only one end. THE BROOKLYN IN A FIGHT. stores and Ammunition Ianded Near Cienfuegos Forts Damaged. New York, May 30. A dispatch from Key West says there is a report there that the cruiser Brooklyn of Commo dore Schley's fleet landed a large quan tity of arms, ammunition and stores at Cienfuecros on Tuesday.

This is said to have been done after a fight in which the fort on the south side of Cienfue gos was badly damaged. There is also alleged to nave been a ngnt between 700 insurgents and a force of Spanish cavalry, the latter being defeated. Make a Strong: Argument In Behalf of Issuing Them. Washington, May 30. A notable speech on the war revenue measure was delivered in the Senate yesterday by Mr.

Gorman, Democrat, of Maryland. In the course of an argument in support of a tax on corporations, he denounced as "infamous" the decision of the supreme court declaring the income tax law of 1894 unconstitutional. The warning sounded by some senators that if a tax were placed upon corporations it would be pronounced unconstitutional by the supreme court had, he said, no effect upon him. A decision against such an enactment would not destroy the financial structure, but it would destroy the court which should hand it down. Mr.

Gorman took decided issue "with the majority of his fellow Democrats upon their propositions to coin the silver seigniorage and to issue le al tender notes and made a powerful argument in favor of the issuance of bonds to raise funds with which to prosecute the war. Mr. Teller, silver Republican of Colorado, concluded his speech advocating the coinage of the seigniorage, the levying of an income tax and the issue of legal tender notes, and opposed the issue of bonds. Mr. Nelson, Republican, of Minnesota presented a caregully prepared argument against the issue of legal tender notes.

In a speech of two hours, Mr. Cock-rell, Democrat, of Missouri discussed the financial question in contention between the Democratic and Republican parties. He urged that the bill as reported by the majority of the finance committee ought to be enacted into a law. BEEF IS UP AT MANILA. It Costs 82.50 a Pound Three Officers of Dewey's Squadron Are III.

Hong Kong, May 30. The United States auxiliary gunboat Seafire, formerly a British merchant steamer, but now commissioned, mounting four guns and in charge of a lieutenant commander of the United States navy, has just arrived here from Manila, having on board the captain of the first class cruiser Olympia, the flagship of Rear Admiral Dewey, and two officers wh have been invalided. The situation at Manila is unchanged. The insurgents are quiet. Reef costs $2.50 a pound at Manila.

x'le report that the commander of the Spanish boat Callao was tried by court martial and shot for not firing on the American ships which captured the Callao is untrue. WAR NEWS FROM BLANCO. Says Admiral Cervera's Squadron Is Still at Santiago. Madrid, May 30. General Blanco cables from navana that the torpedo boat destroyer Terror, from Martinique, has arrived at Fajardo, on the east coast of Porto Rico.

She intended to go to San Juan, but found four American warships cruising in front of the "harbor and changed her course. General Blanco's dispatch says that Admiral Cervera's squadron is still at Santiago, that the bulk of Admiral Sampson's squadron is blockading that port, that Commodore Schley's squadron is watching the Yucatan passage, that the American vessels have left Cienfuegos and that the American fleet of blockaders remains in sight of Havana. SAYS WE CAN'T TAKE MANILA. Ex-Captain General of the Philippines Prophesies Our Defeat. Madrid, May 30.

In the senate yesterday Marshal Primo de Rivera, former captain general of the Philippines, defended his administration of the colony. He said he could not believe his ears when he was told of the disaster at Cavite, adding: "That rag called the American flag shall never float over the walls of Manila. The Yankees are deceiving themselves," Marshal de Rivera declared, "as to the situation at the Philippines. It is absolutely impossible that they should become masters of the islands, for the natives, to an immense majority, are determined to defend the territory to the last and to maintain Spanish sovereignty." TO ANNEX HAWAII. Provisions For It Made a Rider to War Revenue Bill.

Washington, May 30. The Hawaiian annexation question assumed definite shape in the Senate yesterday, when Senators Lodge and Morgan offered amendments to the war revenue bill bearing directly upon the subject. Senator Lodge's amendment is in the words of Newland's resolution, and provides in direct terms for the annexation of the islands. Balloons Will Now Be Used. New York, May 30.

There were shipped to Governor's island 3-esterday from the pier from the French line of steamers two tig balloons and equipments which th government has purchased for use in army operations. War Helping: Missouri. St. Louis, May 30. The sum of 81,455,400 represents the money paid out by Lieutenant Colonel G.

C. Smith, chief commissary U. S. to St Louis merchants and Missouri farmers for supplies since war was declared. Polo Goes to Tienna.

Viknna, May 30. Marquis de Hoyos, the Spanish ambassador to Austria-Hungary, will be succeeded here by Senor Polo Barnabe, late Spanish minister to the United States. When You Buy Medicine Is a Mat- ter of Great Importance. Do you get that which has the power to eradicate from your blood all poisonous taints and thus remove the cause of disease Do you buy HOOD'S Sarsaparilla and only Hood's? If you do, you may take it with the utmost confidence that it will do you good. Remember Hood's Sarsaparilla Is America's Greatest Medicine.

six for $5-Hood's Pills cure indigestion. 25 cents. SAMPSON'S SAN JUAN Had No Intention of Reducing the Porto Rican City. Washington', May 2 8. The following bulletin was posted at the navy department to-day: The following is a copy of a report' made by Rear Admiral Sampson, concerning' the action of San Juan de Puerto Rico: "Upon approaching San Juan it was seen that none of the Spanish vessels were in the harbor.

I was therefore considerably in doubt whether they had reached San Juan and again departed for some unknown destination or whether they had not arrived. As their capture was the object of the expedl-" tion, and as it was essential tnat tney should not pass to the westward, I determined to attack the batteries de fending the port, in order to develop their positions and strength, and then, without waiting to reduce the city or subject it to the regular bombardment which would require due notice returned to the westward. "I commenced the attack as soon as it was good daylight. This lasted about three hours, when the signal was made to discontinue the firing and the squadron stood to the northeast until out of sight of San Juan, whenl the course was laid to the westward, with the view of communicating with tht. department at Port Plata, and to learn if the department had obtained information as to the movements of the Spanish vessels.

"At Cape Ilaytien I received word from the department that the Spanish vessels had been sighted off Curacao on the 10th instant. 'As stated in my telegram, no serious injury was done to any of the ships, and only one man was killed, and seven wounded slightly." MEXICAN DOLLARS. The Government to Use Cut Rate Moneyr on the Philippine Islanders. York, May 28. The New York: Pess says: One of the most interesting preparations for the outfitting of" the Manila expedition has just been announced.

The government has pur--chased 25,000 Mexican silver dollars which General Merritt will take along' to defray the expenses of the expedi-: tion. This amount is not expected to last long, but more will be sent him from time to time. By purchasing Mexican dollars a great saving is made. It is possible to obtain Mexican dollars at forty-six cents each, thus obtaining for one American dollar two Mexican ones, and leaving eight cents toward the purchase of a third. They are bought in San Francisco.

In the Philippines a Mexican dollar will buy more than an American dollar, thus the expense of "General Mer-ritt's expedition, after it once lands in. Manila, will be less than one-half what they would otherwise be. The soldiers will be paid, according to law, in American money, but the paymaster will give each soldier two Mexican dollars for every American dollar due him on pay day. SPAIN HOLDS A BRITISH SHIP. The Adnla Not Permitted to Leave Port at Cienfuegos.

New York, May 28. A dispatch to the Herald from Kingston, Jamaica says: Cable advices have been received here from Cienfuegos, Cuba, stating that the British ship Adula on her arrival there was stopped by the Spanish authorities. A search was made, and it was found that there was a man on board, whose name is not given, and who had gone on the ship surreptitiously. His name also did not appear on the ship's papers. The Spanish authorities -declare that his object was to go into the town and carry back information as to the blockading fleet, and that his presence was a breach of the neutrality The ship was then seized and Captain Walker and his officers were put in confine ment.

The British consul has made a protest, and the English authorities here are moving in the matter. It is believed that the person on board was the agent of a newspaper correspondent, as the Spanish consul absolutely refused to permit the ship to leave if any reporter was allowed to go. EXPRESS OFFICIALS ARRESTED Omaha Men Charged With Embezzlement of Large Amounts. Omaha, May 28. William F.

Bechel, auditor of the Pacific Express company, and nomas sudoorougn, his chief clerk, have been arrested on charges of embezzlement while connected with the company. The amount alleged to be involved is variously stated, going as high as 8150,000. A DAY OF PRAYER IN HAVANA. The People Fear the Arrival of the Amer ican Army. Tampa, May 28.

Havana news up to last Friday has been received at Tampa. The city is in a state of wild excitement over stories of the Ameri can army that is coming to besiege the city. The archbishop has ordered a special day of fasting and prayer, that By Fair Play Publishing Co. Published weekly at Fort Scott. Kansas.

Subscription: tl per year; 10 cents per month. FORT SCOTT, KANSAS KANSAS ITEMS OF INTEREST. At Pieasantpn a patriotic lady has ptit down a carpet of red, white and blue. In Mitchell county the other day 69-year-old gentleman led a lady of 71 to the altar. In all the Kansas "opera houses" the villains in the plays have already tak en on a decided Spanish aspect.

Wheat, oats and barley are looking well in Thomas county. Corn is com ing- up and shows a good stand. It has rained so much in western Kansas that'the bottom of the farmers' trouser legs bulge marinely over night. The women of the Red Cross at San Francisco presented each Kansas vol unteer with a California rose when the regiment arrived there. Twenty townships in Butler county have planted corn without much delay.

Half the corn planted in this county before April 1G will be replanted. -Oil Inspector Wharton's report for April shows that he collected $.1,083 and paid out $347, the balance, amounting to $735, beincr turned into the treasury. A bank in McPberson county offers home money for investment, and an Atchison real estate dealer advertises that he has $50,000 which he is anxious to invest. Adam Treat of Tlays City celebrated his 101st birthday recently, lie was one of the committee of Masons that received. Lafayette when he made his second visit to America.

Peter Holler of Rome, Italy, came all the way from tho head and center of the Catholic church to be ordained a priest in Kansas. The ceremony took place in Wichita last week. -the old saying that a plague of rats is a Sign of bountiful crops counts for anything, Smith county-will be in it by. a large majority this year, as never before has that country been so pestered by rats. Assistant Attorney General Snelling has written an opinion in which he holds that the law providing that com missioner districts shall be the same in.

counties having three representa tives as "the legislative districts is un constitutional. Every Monday morning 4,000 pounds of butter are loaded into a car from the Jensen branch house at Osborne. At which is the company's headquarters, the car is filled and sent east to people who know good butteirwhen they see it. Ninety-five per cent of the officer and over thirty-five per cent of the non-commissioned officers, and privates of Kansas volunteers have bank accounts in their home town. It is a safe ten to one shot that no other state in the union has sent volunteers to the war with such a good average financial record.

Wheat is heading in fine condition in Reno county but the oats is poor. Corn is growing slowly and there is said to be a poor stand, and much has been replanted. Millet, cane and kaf-fir sowing is now in progress. Strawberries are beginning to ripen. Slight damage by hail to wheat and fruit is reported.

The members of the graduating class of the Atchison high school did a very sensible thing in making up the program for the exercises. In place of holding forth on a lot of highfalutin' subjects that no one cared to listen to they presented a series of papers on the history of the town, its development and business which it was really a pleasure for the audience to listen to In these days a man would rather miss a meal than his daily paper, especially if living in a small town with a train once a day, with no news obtainable aside from that brought by the dailies On a western Kansas road the other day the postal clerk carried by a sack of papers, and to prevent a riot the section boss pumped his hand car up to the next town, got the sack and brought it back. The state is short a lot of militia uniforms. Several captains paid no attention to the order to send them in, and now. their bonds will be sued on for their value if they are not promptly paid for.

Those that have been lost are largely those worn to Topeka by recruits who failed to pass the examination. They brought no other clothes and had to wear them to their homes, but neglected to send them in again. Lawrence sent some men to the war whose names are mighty good things to have on the bottom of checks, and the amount written in the body of them need not be small, either. Tho short grass people are not the only jhillionaires in the state this year. The early-sown wheat and rye heading ip Sheridan county.

The later-sown doing well except where weedy. Ninety per cent of the corn. is planted in this county and it is coming up nicely. The fruit crop never looked more promising, ago Rev. Mr.

Nessley decided to make his victory over satan short, sharp and decisive by saying to his audience, it will ram every day in heaven." Major Harvey lieutenant-governor of Kansas, writes from Falls Church that all the boys in the twenty-second are well. At Parkersburg an old man with a squirrel rifle stood at "present arms' while the train bearing the Kansas volunteers passed him. The wheat acreage of Mitchell coun- ty this year is a little over 80,000 acres. This is an increase of over 50 per cent over last year. And every acre of it promises the best yield ever known, and this is why the Mitchell county people are proud.

Frank n. Logan, of Norton county. who wants to be state superintendent! has lived in th Northwest twelve years teaching and superintending schools. He has served as county su- perintendent of Norton county and is now teaching at Loan. vjiicj' vi lit: is arranging ior a viiau tauqua assembly to be held June 27 to July 6.

A very promising array of tal ent has been secured for the occasion embracing such names as Dr. Quayle, Rev. Sam Jones, Dr. Robt. Mclntyre, Eli Perkins and Henry Watterson.

It is expected that others will be secured but the list already criven promises a most entertaining assembly. The shell game, which is as old as the hills, and which any person with a lick of sense ought to steer clear of, is being worked to a frazzle by a gang of crooks who are traveling with a show in the short grass district. The course of the show is marked by a trail of suckers all along the line. A man who bites at the shell game is not deserving of any sympathy, no matter how largo a sum he loses. A gang of fakirs is at work in Nema ha county soliciting orders for a fence machine.

The order reads all right, but after it has been signed the grafter tears off one end of it, and the portion left reads like the most approved form of promissory note. Kansas farmers are long suffering, or they would make such an example of some of these fel lows that none of their brethren would ever dare to come within the borders of the state. James Conway has been pardoned from the penitentiary, ne was sent up in 1895 for six years for burglary. Some time asro one of the elevators in the penitentiary coal mine got caught in nnoecor one to climb ud fully 200 feet from be- i a i nt io iun auu icittioc viic vaiu. vsx a large I nnmner of eonviets.

Conwav was the onlv one who volunteered to do this. and his pardon is given him as a re- ward for success in his undertaking. II Uncle bam wants to get some more men in Kansas he had better be open ing his recruiting offices at once. If he delays doing so two weeks longer the farmer will enter into competition with him and make him hump when it comes to offering pay for services. The farmer will need harvest hands more man uncie bam will neea soldiers, and will offer young men of am bition greater inducements to enlist in nis cause.

The members of the state board of health of Illinois were in Lawrence on May 27th for the purpose of inspecting the course of study in the preparatory year worn done in meaicme at tne Kansas university. This is done in ac cordance with the action of the board of regents at its last meeting in order to give the medicine school work done at Kansas university official standing so that graduates can get credit for it at other institutions or places where hey Wish to pass examinations. County Superintendent Dayhoff is authority for the statement that there I will be a dearth of teachers in Reno county this year. There are several causes for this scarcity, the main one being the raising of the standard and the harder examinations. Another reason is tnat several of tne male teachers enlisted with the Twenty-first Kansas regiment, and, of course, will not return in time to take their schools even though the war should prove a short one.

Superintendent Dayhoff is quite sure that the normal will not furnish enough teachers for the county schools. Teachers outside of the county who desire to get into the Reno county schools should attend the nor mal at Hutchinson. The cloud of hard times, when it ifted in Kansas, found many carpen- ers, oiacKsmitns, masons, many pro fessions in fact on farms, and it will be a hard thing to get them to return to their old vocations. The State Agricultural college can not loan its funds on farm mortgages, according to an opinion by Attorney General Boyle. The law provides for investment only in stocks and bonds of a certain value.

The objection to farm oans is that the security is variable in value, I the calamity may he averted..