St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-02-22

ltBtQ lIldL lllODl Va VIC aAhANiHfill1 maui
by Mr.. Deavitt are wholly untrue ant
made through malice and intended t.
bring the officers Of the department into
disrepute with the old soldiers. His ac-
ton is direct violation Of the rules anC
regulations under which he was permit.
ted to practice before the department
and ii has been decided that action shall
be taken against him, and to this end
he has been cited to show cause whoy
he should not be dsbarred from practice
and his name stricken from the roll Of
attorneys. Mr.. Deayitt appears to have
been very loostAlnd reckless in the man
ner of making assertions, and he Will find
trouble in proving them. lie charges
among other things that President Nc
Kinley appointed a Wall street banker
who was opposed to pensions secretary
Of interior" Senator Bliss was never a
banker, and there has never been a sec
retary Of the interior more liberal In
constituting the pension laws and helping
the old soldiers to get their pensions.
Intended to Promote Temperance.
The decided stand taken by Secretary
Long, aboishing "canteens" at the sew
eral navy yards and prohibiting the sale
of malt or spurious liquors within the
limits Of said yards barracks, or arse
nails, has pleased very much the ultra
temperance element, who are loud in
their praises. and strong in their COM
mendation Of the action taken. Naval
officers are divided on the question
whether the effect will be productive of
good to the sailors and marines, many
maintaining that the canteens have had
an excellent effect in that the men who
were disposed to drink could do so while
practically under the eyes Of their Off
GERS, instead of going outside of the
yards and becoming intoxicated and dis
orderly. These officers assert that the
canteens were conducive to Temperance,
and more trouble will now be experienced
with men than formerly. Other officers
take exactly the opposite View, and say
the abolition of the canteen will result
in improving the morals of the sailors
and marines, and enable them to save
money, which has been squandered in
drink. Considerable interest is mani
tested as to whether the war department
will adhere to the canteen system in
the army, or follow the course of the
navy department and abolish it. There
will be hot fight to prevent any action.
The Proposde Pension to General Palmer.
The senate recently passed bill grant
ing a pension Of 500 to General John, NJ
Palmer of Illinois. General Palmer was
a good soldier, has been governor of his
state and served six years in the United
States senate. He is upwards of so years
of age and it was stated that he was
almost entirely blind, and without dol
lar in the world. The house would not
vote 500 a month, but reduced the pen
sion to $50 a month. The senate refused
to accept the reduction, so the bill was
sent to a committee of conference.
1t is now charged that General Palmer
has an income of $500 year from a
farm which belongs to his wife, and an
attempt has been made to prejudice the
conference committee against reporting
favorably the senate bill, and strange
to say, the opposition is of political
character, and based on the fact that
General Palmer was a presidential candi-
date in 1896 of the democrats who would
not support Bryan.
Denies Charge of Having Cruel Instinct.
Surgeon General Sternberg of the
army, in communication to the senate
takes exceptions to certain allegations
upon him personally, contained
in senate document, in that he is
charged with having cruel instincts for
having innoculated rabbits while carry
ing on scientific Investigations in the in
terests of science and humanity. DR..
Sternberg says that the great progress
made by scientific medicine during the
past 30 years has been, to great eX-
tent due to experiments upon the lower
animals, and that our knowledge ac-
qured with reference to the cause and
prevention of infectious disease Is based
upon innoculation experiments made
upon small animals. If he had hunted
rabbits with dogs, he says, there might
be some foundation for the charge of
cruelty, but so long as laws are not passed
to prevent the wounding and killing of
hiiiiiitio iOI SPOl tHC Ilidl Sc VI tIuGlly
cannot be laid at his door for using small
animals to discover means to alleviate
and prevent suffering and death to the
human race.
General Schofle1d to Receive French
Decoration.
In 1881 Major General John M, Scho-
field of the army visited France on the
n wi a Of
attend the maneuvers of the French army
that year AS proof OF good will to
General Schofield, the President of France
conferred upon him the Gross Of Com
mander of the National Order of the
Legion of Honor" Under the constitu-
ton and laws Of the United States, Cen
eral Schoneld could not accept the deco
ration without the sanction of Con-
gress. The secretary of state in 1882 made
application to congress for permission
for General Schofield to accept the deco
ration, but no action was taken upon the
request Now, after the lapse of is
years. there is fair prospect that the
necessary authority may be granted
General Schofield by Congress. The
house committee on foreign affairs have
taken the matter up and reported bill
favorably and recommend It's passage.
Had General Shcofield been a political
and not fighting general, he would have
had the decoration within short time
after 1t was conferred upon him by the
president of France.
The great storm-or the effects of it
are just beginning to be looked upon as
something of the past. Although rail.
road communication was only inter.
rupted seriously for three days, loca
trade seemed to be paralyzed for fully
10 days. Advantage was taken by many
produce dealers, butchers and coal deal
| org To nhNnncn tni.innr frnt,, 1nn A.. onn ~.