Arizona silver belt., 1900-05-03

' The latter Items includes Sl34 ,bo0, l4l
 worth of coffee S33, 5sS worth of ! teas and million dollars worth Of
 cocoa. The whole represents yearly
 per capita expenditure for beverages
 of Sl5.09 assuming that the popula.
 ton of the United States last year
 was little over 76 million.
 Thos E. Watson, whom the Georgia
 populists named for first place on the
 presidential ticket replied to the con.
 yention announcement by saying:
 Under no circumstances would
 accept any nomination or any office. l Please number me among the polite. ally dead and let me henceforth rest in
 peace.n
 The most destructive fire oft the year
 occurred at Hull and Ottawa, Ontario,
 Canada, on April 26 Oyer five square
 miles of territory burned oyer, more
 than 2,0OO buildings destroyed: seven lives lost; seven thousand men,
 women and children homeless and a
 property loss of Sl7 ,O00, 900, according to the latest estimate, insured for about half its value. are the results.
 Six ships of the United States navy are to go out of commission because there is not a sufficient number of officers to furnish complements for the vessels actually required There are fully l60 vacancies in the line of the navy, and the total number of off cers is less than it was fifteen years ago, notwithstanding the great in- crease in the number of ships.
 Out of SS,0OO civil employees of the government of the United States whose names appear in the blue book, 2,5S2 bear the name of Smith, and 474 the name ofJohn Smith. The Joneses are next in number, ], ,j23 being on the pay roll, with ,l02 Browns and l,004 Johnsons Eighteen people of the name of George Washington are serv. ing their country in official positions and fifty-two ordinary Washingtons.
 Waco, Texas, was flooded on the 27th ult., as the result of a tremendous rainstorm. Homes were swept away and number of persons drowned. The property loss in Waco is put at $50, ,0OO, Much damage was done in other parts of the state also, particu- larly to crops At Blum, Tex, tor nado passed over the town, demolish- ing several houses. Seventeen per sons were injured, two fatally.
 Contracts have been let for the cree ton iE New York city of an office building that will dwarf into compar- ative insignificance any of the massive skyscrapers recently erected. The mammoth structure will be located on the southeast corner of Broad street and Exchange place Nos. ? to B Brood street, Nos. fl to 5s Exchange place. It will cost S7,JO0, GOO. The building will be twenty stories high, with all the most desirable modern improvements.
 A portable schoolhouse to relieve the overcrowded condition of several St. Louis schools is the odd innOva- ton which the school board has established. Tho building is of frame, contains one room, to accommodate nearly loo pupils and will be in the same yard with the overtaxed perma- nent structure. When the conditions change the annex will simply be moved to point where needed. This plan is considered an improvement ever the old method of renting rooms. Nine portable schoolhouses are to be put into operation.
 The House Committee on Indian affairs has directed favorable report on the bill allowing Indians in the Indian Territory to emigrate to Mex ico, the emigration to be under the direction of the Secretary of the In- terior, and in bands of 300. Mexico gives the Indians an opportunity to return to their .ribal relations and nomadic habits, and they prefer this to the restrictions now imposed upon them, and also as a means of avoiding the spread of tuberculosis and other diseases which have decimated them of late.
 The new Cunard steamer, Ivernia. which arrived at New York on April 24, brought LOO steerage passengers, who are the first immigrants to enjoy what are practically palatial quarters. The berthS are fitted with all the con- veniences and most of the luxuries of a first class cabin or palace car. The steerage accommodations of the lver- nia have excited considerable favora- ble comment among steamship and men, to whom the lavishness of the expenditure is a matter of sur prise.
 The first detachment of the regular troops that have seen two years of active service in the Philippines, to be returned to this country, arrived at San Francisco April 26, on the trans port sherman from Manila, via Nag