The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-03-16

New 1ork, March io.--Nre' WA h"'N"
Buchanan. who sued Mrs. Kate NJ Foster
for $4,000 damages for alternating the al
fections OF her husband. Or. Alexander
Buchanan. has obtained a verdict in her ia
,or for the entire sum. The defense did not
call any Witnesses DR.. Buchanan died
few months ago and left his wife $50 an1
his children IS apiece by his viii. The
| residue OF his estate was left to Mrs. Eos
ter. who was named az the executrix with
| out bonds.
The Raines law is bad enough now with
out bringing additional condemnation upon
1t by inserting a clause to tax all clubs
| $500, but that Is the intention. The great
objection TO this is that 1t brings such ex-
| elusive clubs as the Union League down 10
| the mere level Of a saloon. Of course, there
are many who claim they are there now,
| but a legal Acknowledgment that such is
the case seems rather bald.
Billy Birch. the once famous minstrel
and great favorite, was arrested the other
night on the charge OF being ID and d."
Magistrate Cornell leaned over his desk
and looked long and amiaby at his pris-
oner. You were the most entertaining
minstrel ever saw" he said with a
Siiiit' DistuuTstu. blTcH Is IN SOOl
circumstances something unusual for a
good fellow and minstrel He is often
seen at Nick Engel's and other popular re-
sorts and IL the Oldest living minstrel,
with the exception OF Dan Emmett.
For hours the other day an interested
crowd watched the baby leopard at Central
Park The sleek animal had caught an uh-
fortunate rat, and instead Of killing aud
eating 1t. the rodent was put through the
most exquisite torture. The Chinese must
nave learned their mode OF torture from the
leopard, as the perfection Of their system
is to rcrd and tear the victim to the liiait
OF life. but not to kill, So the leopard de-
lighted lot Of humans, ard, sad to say.
the crowd was as greatly disappointed as
the leopard when harder blow than usual
mercifully ended the rats agonies.
The rural visitor may now wander along
the Bowory and imbibe anything he pleases,
including the agile "knocS-out drops"
but with the consciousness that the fell
low who gives 1t to him 10 at least break
Ing the law. For some years this drop has
been the stock in trade OF the Tenderloin
mug. Every night some one is "doped.'
and every day the coroner returns the
usual verdict; but up TO this time there
was no law against carrying the slender
vial that meant so much to the victim.
Now Albany has taken hold and made it a
felony TO carry the stuff, but just how an
officer is to know man is loaded with
the mixture Is puzzle that only the
Roentgen ray can solve.
Progressive eucEre on mammoth scale
for prizes has well nigh displaced the old
time church fair az n method Of reaching
the charitable. The proportions to which
the fad has grown are regarded by many
conservative people in ecclesiastical circles |
as grave scandal In Brooklyn the craze
has been raging for some time In almost |
every parish a check has come there as
far as Catholics are concerned 1t is I'M
dorstood that Bishop Mcdonnell has init |
mated to his pastors that he does not con- |
slider such gatherings in consonance with |
the spirit OF the Lenten season. and that !
until the penitentlal time is over they must
cease to be held under church auspices.
In closing his report. Roosevelt remarked:
The undoubted frequency Of cases of dis
tress shows that the work of the charities |
organizations and the charitably inclined |
generally should he extended at this time. |
but where help is not intelligently given
IL is worse man useless. But certainly the |
free soup kitchen shares with the tramp |
lodging house the doJt>si,1 honor of bens
the very worst possible solution Of that |
problem. Indeed. IT. simply aggravates il.
Mess II Is made purely temporary 10 meet |
some great and momentary emergency. 1T
surely tends to encourage mendicancy and !
to produce In our country the conditions !
which existed In Naples twenty-five years
ago. and which made Bavaria famous for
hegsars prior TO the reforms OF Count !
Rumford."
Owing to the belief that high tariff
IN will soon go through. the Importers
are making hay while the sun shines and
are rushing in goods by every ship, The |
Aurapia brought with her mail bills Of In |
voice for rich stores Of goods piled up in
the custom house which can not be re-
leased without them AS she was over |
two days late. many importers were in a
formcnt and denounced the English meth |
cd of trans Atlantic mailing. The custom |
here is 10 send outgoing mail by the fast |
est steamer sailing on mail day no mat
ter what flag she carries The British
send mail only by steamers flying the Eng
lish flag. and In this case 1t happened to |
be the slow Aurania. Wall street was ais, |
little ratified over tho delay. as the same |
ship brings in the bulk OF the securities de-
livercd at the last fortnightly settlement In |