The Forrest City times., 1897-08-13
CURRE T TOPICS.
THE NEWS IN BRIEF.
PERSONAL AND GENERAL.

DAN MCTAGGART, ex-state senator from Montgomery county, Ia., and prominent as a republican politician, was shot and killed at McTaggarts mill, near Liberty, Kas., on the 4th, by Henry Sheesley, lessee of the mill.
 PLANS have been perfected for a railroad to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and construction is to begin soon from point on the Santa Fe Pa cific at Flagstaff or Williams, Ariz.
 DURING the burning of a grain elevator in Chicago, on the 5th, a ter rife xplosion-whether of a boiler or mill dust is not known-occurred, as . result of which five persons are known to have been killed, and large number of others severely injured by flying debris. Several small fires were started by burning embers scattered for squares in all directions.
 THE London Evening News pub fishes letter from Calcutta volun teer, reiterating the statement that during the recent rioting there the ar tillerv fired point blank at mob of 5000 mill hands who were marching to join the rioters with the result that ,500 of the natives were killed.
 LETTERS received in New York city recently from Japan state that a strong anti-American feeling still exists in that country, and that Americans are being boycotted on all sides by the Japanese.
 RAINS fell, on the 4th, "a Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and parts of Missouri. The rainfall seemingly was general throughout the corn belt, and it came in time to save the crop.
 IT is semi-officially announced in Yokohama that Japan has suggested that Belgium be selected to act as ar bltrator in the question in dispute be- tween Hawaii and the Japanese gov ernment.
 ON the 5th, Hugh White, a coal miner, on banter, made the perilous leap from the summit of the railroad bridge at Clinton, Ind, to the water, 100 feet. After the leap he swan 150 feet in his heavy clothing, climbed to the top of the bridge again and repeat ed the feat.
 E9 lecturers of the American Flint Glass Workers union have settled the wage scale for the coming season. The only change in the scale is an advance of six per cent. on grinding ware.
 TIE Michigan Salt association, com monly known as the Salt trust, has de- cided to invade the Kansas field, and will construct manufacturing plant at Hutchinson with a capacity of l, ,000 barrels daily. The company has pur- chased a tract of 40 acres adjoiping the city as a site for the works.
 NEWS has reached Seattle, Wash, of the death, last April, of Charles A. Blackstone, George Botcher and J. w. Malinque, miners, who went to Alaska in 1896, and were frozen to death in trying to make their way back to Seattle. They were last seen alive March 27.
 Campbell held Theo A. Figel to answer to seven charges of embezzle- ment and two of forgery and fixed his bail at S36, GOO.
 THE sprinkling of railway track with crude petroleum has been foun d to effectively lay the dust, and is being adopted by some of the eastern roads
 A DISPATCH from Key West, Fla, on the 9th, said: ''Casala and Mendaz, two insurgents who surrendered, will be shot in a few days by order of Gen. Weyler"
 ALFRED PACKER, convicted at Den yer, Col, of killing five companions who were lost in the mountains with him in 1873 and eating their flesh, and sentenced to the Colorado penitentiary for 40 years, has applied for pardon. lie claims that four of his companions were killed by the fifth, who had be- come crazy, and that he shot the mad man dead as the latter was rushing at him with a hatchet.
 FORTY persons were killed outright, 60 fatally and many others seriously injured by an explosion in a cartridge factory at Rustchuk on the Danube on the 7th. Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria visited the sufferers at the hospital, and caused money to be distributed to the families of the victims.
 THREE persons, composing the family of Peter Veth, residing at 327 East Huron street Chicago, were seriously burned, on the 7th, in fire started by an explosion of gasoline. Mrs Veth was more seriously injured than her husband and child, but she will prob ably recover.
 THE Cunard line steamer Etruria ar rived at New York. on the 7th, from Liverpool and Queenstown, beating her best previous record across the Allan tic in a service of nearly IS years. She made the run in } days, 2l hours and 10 minutes, actual time.
 IT is now said to be the intention of President Mckinley to overhaul the personnel of the various departments. with view to weeding out members of the same family, married couples and women who have been married since being appointed, but who have neglected to inform the government of the fact.