The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-12-06
The Week.

action In regard to that festival taken u.
rhe Plenayy Council of the Catholic chur'h
now in session at Baltimore. Regarding II
in the light of puritanical, or At least ..
purely Protestant observance, unknown I"
the calendar on usages of the church, the
Catholic, of this country had hitherto PAID
little or no attention to the day, never heed.
ing the executive admonition $40 assem- hle
themselves at their USUAL places ot W"F-
ship" &c The Plenary Council at Balti'
more decided on step that viii prooapiy
change all this They resolved that II hlS
Holiness the Pope approve the decree the
day shall henceforth he SaCrcdly observed
by the Roman Catholic church OF the
United States, and to give emphasis 10 us
meaning, the council decided al once 10
give their decree practca! effect by mold
ing a special Thanksgiving service IN the
Metropolitan Cathedral in Baltimore All
the members Of the council being IN al
tendance AS well aS an immense lay con.
gregatiou The sermon Vas preached ny
the eloquent Bishop Spaulding, OF Peoria.
and was "fullof interest and in spirit OF
pood will To all who call them selves Chris
tians "-ltmay be noted in this connection
that the common idea that ThankS givinG
day is a festival of puritan origin appears
to be an error, Bradford who has lately
written an admirable history of New ork'
shows that the puritans found the festival
already centuries old, in Holland during
their short forced Sojourn there, and that
the Dutch settlers on Manhattan island had
habitually observed the day long before it,
adoption by the Plymouth colony
The postmaster general reports the eA
penditures of his department for the iiScal
year a, $46, 404, $50, and the ordinary reven.
ues at $43, 33S, l2,. The cost OF the service
over the revenues for the past year was 50,
2O4, 4S4, and for the current year the de
pa,tmen, asks for S5S2G,349 from the treas
ury. A reduction of the postage On local
letters a. | cent is recommended, "a also
the establishment of u 10 cent special de
livery BY means of messenger boys.
r
The people of West Virginia have shown
their good sense by rattying an amend
meut 10 their state constitution doing away
with October elections If Ohio now would
manifest the same good sense, the country
would be rid Of the October nuisance, II
is limited. however, that the political bum.
mers OF OHIO found the carnival in that
state last October So profitable in dollars
and cents that any proposition to cut off all
future harvests of the kind woold be over.
whelmingiy voted down.
*.*
The newspapers continue 10 bring har
rowing accounts of THE Cumberland
Plague" as il Is called-the strange disease
that tor the past SIX weeks has been attliCt
ing four or five counties in the Cumber.
land mountains In southwestern Virginia
and southeastern Kentucky. Taking Mt.
Pleasant in Harlan county, Ky. as about
the center, the disease is said TO rage over
"A teyritory about - miles wide by 20 miles
long. The whole region is in the noun.
tains aud very thinly :, ttled--ths entire
population not over 5000, ami of these it
Is believed tenth have fallen victims
They are first taken with violent gripinss,
followed by raging headache and fevers
and seldom linger beyond two days Nor
one in ten attacked RECEIVERS There i A
general agreement that the disease is
caused by mineral poiSons in the water
This Is evidenced by the fact that the nor
tality among horses, cattle and sheep is
even greater than among the people. For
months the region has been afflicted with
drought Wells and ciSterns are all dry and
springs no longer yield aSupply of water
The streams alongwhich the diseaSeprevails
find their beginning in the mountains
among rocks containing olkali, ar>entes
and other poisonous minerals The streams
having dried up SO ~ only here aud there
to leave stagnant pools, the water left weS
powerfully charged with these poiSon> and
their Use resulted in the epidemic, A.
there la, not yet been sufficient rain inth
country to purify the water, the rayageS of
the disease are Ivy no means at an end
though the mortality and High, have great
" lessened the amount of material To oper.
ate upon
Gov. Hamilton. in document that would
fill page OF the FREE TRADER, order,
the issue of certificate 81 election "a LIE.
man, as state senator in the 9Th Chicago
district. where the local Canvtsser> had IN
expected'y discovered majority in favor
of Brand A the GovernOT> functions in
the matter were purely ministerial, there
was no call for any argument 10 Justify his
course. AMI the only inference from his
having made such m argument must he
that he felt that his action IN the matter