The Russellville Democrat., 1885-06-04
State News.


 Ft smith has electric lights.
 Washington county grows rye seven and one-half feet high.
 Beavers are daming up the creeks and branches in Drew county
 A change Tn the river channel threatens to make HeleEa an island city.
 Argenta is soon to have $35, 600 ice factory, with capacity of seven teen tons per day.
 MT. A. Opp, of Helena, has the largest apiary in Arkansas, and sup plies hundreds of stands of bees.
 The contract has been let for hand some additions and improvements to the State House, at Little Rock.
 The total increase in the assess ment of the railroads of the state over last year is about $4, ,00o, GOO
 A Mrs. Moore, of Conway county, recently gave birth to triplets, tse;z combined weight being 29 pounds.
 The wife of Supreme Judge Eakin died very suddenly at Washington, Hampstead county, on Friday last ot paralysis.
 4 nugget of copper ore weighing 370 pounds was recently found in Searcy county, and has been sent to New Orleans.
 Secretary Lamar has ordered the stopping of payments on the work of improving Hot Springs creek. Of the appropriation of s600,000, over $40,000 have been ex- pended.
 The locusts and grasshoppers are ravaging the wheat and barley fields l in eastern Arkansas. They are de- scribed as marching droves of mil lions and like Goths and Vandals, leaving no sprig of green behind. The Arkansas Chatauqua Assem- bly, will convene at Siloam Springs on June l3. The citizens of that place are making extensive prepara tions for the reception of guests and will have their houses in gala attire.
 Col. Blackburn has rechristened the Free South the Little Rock Re publican. He proposes to conduct l 1t as a republican paper as of old, and may be relied cn to continue hitting hard blows in battling for any cause he espouses.
 Two bottles of milk, tightly cork ed were lowered into a well in Lynchburg during the war, and lately found there as the well was I being cleaned, the milk sweet and in as good a condition as when placed there. Southern Standard. I J. E. W. Kirk, who was tried at I Little Rock. Wednesday, for horse stealing, was convicted and sentenc- ed to the Penitentiarv for five years. His affianced, who was waiting in court to marry him upon his acquit- tai. was quite broken hearted over the result.
 The depository for the United States Government funds In this State has been changed by the secre- tary of the Treasury from the Mer- chants National to the German Ma tional Bank. The former, of which Hon. Logan H. Roots, ex member oi Congress, is President, has been the depository. ever since the war. I For the year ending May ', 1885 the State has received for convict la bor $29, ,640 At present there are 5SS convicts; l99 of them are white, 3S4 black and 5 Indians. Of the white and black there are 14 women They are confined in the penitenti ary, worked on farms and in coal mines.
 1 W. E. Walker, a Searcy lad, at tempted on Friday night last to de stroy the family of Mrs. W. J. Mur- phy, widow lady of that place, by thoroughly saturating the room they occupied with chloroform. The time ly arrival of neigbors prevented them from being suffocated. Walk ! CT wanted to wed one of Mrs. Mur phys daughters, and the old lady would not agree to it, hence his de sire for vengeance.
 c. A. Guthrie, of Searcy County exhibited nugget of copper ort weighing 340 pounds in Little Rock few days ago. He has, he thinks found large lead on his land, twelve miles north of Marshall, Searcy County, and has gone to New Or leans to submit the ore to analysis He had also other besides the mug get, weighing, altogether, abou 2,000 pounds, and says there is plen ty more in the ground from whicf his specimens were taken. The State Electic Medical Socie ty. in annual session in Little Rocl elected the following officers for th' ensuing year: Dr. J. W. Pruitt President; Dr. J. w. Warren, frs Vice President; Dr. R. l.. Browning third Vice President; Dr. E. H Stevenson, Recording Secretary; Dr J. NJ. Parks, Corresponding Secre tary; Dr. K. H. Gardener, Treasurer