Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1884-01-31

| OF disaster. BY the WrecklnS Vi
the steamer City of Columbus,
near Boston, 100 lives were lost;
the frightful explosion in the mine
near Crested Butte, Colorado add
cd 50 deaths to the roll. In Ro-
chester, New York, 4 men were
killed and wounded by the ex-
plosion of a boiler, and in the dy-
Mantle factory near the same place
an explosion occurred killing 3
and wounding 3. In Missouri 3
men were killed outright and D
seriously injured in mill. The
above is only a partial list. Life
is as uncertain as taxes are sure.
A QUEER case has come to light
at Atlanta, GA. William Kick
Lighter, a bright little boy of ten,
, has been i'll several weeks. Dur
ing that time he has developed
into man in everything except
years. A heavy beard has come
out on his face, his voice has
changed to harsh, and there has
been corresponding physical de-
velopment. This singular over
growth has resulted in paralysis of
the left side, and he is not expect
ed to live. So the story goes.
The boy will be dead and buried,
doubtless, before an authorised
committee of investigation can
reach the scene.
The Ell Paso Herald tells the
following funny story, illustrative
of one of the peculiarities of fat
money: "At Ell Paso Mexican
dollars are worth eighty-fve cents
in American coin. At Paso del
Norte, just across the river, Amer
lean dollars are worth eighty-fve
cents in Mexican coin. One morn
ing a car river started from the
American side with a Mexican dol
lar. On his arrival at tho Mexi-
can town he took a drink of cham
lightning, which was fifteen cents,
: and received an American dollar
in change for his Mexican. On his
return to the American side he
took a drink of equally bad liquor
and received a Mexican dollar for
his American and so on repeating
the drinks at intervals during the
day and at night he closed up bus
mess with the Mexican dollar he
started with in the morning"
The Judiciary committee of the
United States senate has reported
against, and so killed, the bill to
repeal the law granting retiring
pensions to judges of the supreme,
circuit and district courts. The
committee in presenting It's objec-
tions against the bill say that un-
less allowed to retire on salary the
Judges would not resign when they
became superanuated and hence the
bench would become filed with
men unable to properly discharge
the duties of the position. There
have been several attempts to re-
peal this law, but so far all such
attempts have failed. tits posi-
BILE and highly probable that ma
Jority of the senators comprising
the judiciary committee may de-
sire to preside over one of the
courts named in the event of their
states disseminating their services
as senator's,
/ LAST Friday the United States
senate passed a resolution allow
ing each senator not a chairman
on committee a clerk, such clerk
or private secretary to be allowed
Sc per day during the session of
congress, BY the adoption of this
resolution thirty new positions
have been established and the sum
of thirty thousand dollars of the
peoples money has been voted
away. When we bear in mind that
the senate is Republican we can
not express surprise at the wanton
Isquandering of any sum OF money,
be the amount large or small.
The different committees of the
senate have each a clerk at a good
salary with little work, and what
use a senator, not a chairman of a
committee, has for q clerk ia be-
You'd Our comprehension. 1t is
true, occasionally senator distri-
butes few packages of garden
seed to his agricultural friends and
sends few congressional records
to the waste baskets of editorial
sanctums, but the work of direct
ing the packages and mailing the
records is not SO laborious as to
warrant this little raid on the
treasury.
IT will be remembered that at
the last term of the district court
a negro named Smith was tried for
the murder of Mr.. r. +. Tamplin,
in this county, and given ten years
in the ,penitentiary. He appeal
and his case has been reversed
and remanded. The following is
the text of the decision of the APP
pellate court as published in the
Galveston News:
Smith VS.. the state-From Wash
ington county. Opinion Hurt, J. l..
If at the time of the killing the
conduct of the deceased, viewed in
the light of all the circumstances,
was such as to create in the mind of
the defendant reasonable appre-
hension of death, or serious bodily