Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-12-25
NEWS IN BRIEF.

Roscoe w. Derby. a mechanic, As, ex-
terminated his family at Cleveland Ohio,
Sunday by shooting his wife, his three
children and then himself. The crime
is believed to have been due to despond-
ency over the impoverished condition of
the family purse and the near approach
of Christmas.
Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton
Ohio, made a successful trial with their
dying machine at Kitty Hawk. n. c.,
recently. they have been experimenting
there the past three years. and when the
machine was finally started it rose to a
height of 60 feet and covered a distance
of three miles against a wind blowing q
miles an hour, and finally landed without
damage in spot chosen by the navigator.
Formal complaint that slavery exists
I'm Alaska is made to the Interior depart
ment by VIM. \. Davis, principal of
public school at Unalaska. The depart
ment Of justice will be called upon to
investigate. Mr.. Davis declares that in
Unalaska there are a number of pitiful
forlorn little Eskimo girls held i'm bond
age. They are slaves Of rich families
and made to labor as drudges, deprived
of association with free children and for
hidden the first vestige of education.
The missing wealth known to be pos
sessed by the late Pope Leo XIII. was ac-
counted for Friday. when Cardinal Gott
turned over to Pope Plus Y. So, 900 900.
This was entrusted to him by Pope Leo.
In presenting this vast wealth Cardinal
GOtu said: Your Holiness. the lamented
Leo just before his death confided to me
the money which | now lay at your feet,
saying that if | succeeded him ! was to
use it as | thought best but if another
took his place l was to turn the money
over to him after period of four months
had elapsed. This l now do in the pres
ence of Mgr. Marzoini, who has been the
only other person to share the secret"
John a. Benson, a wealthy San Fran
cisco real estate operator, charged by
the interior department with being the
head of the alleged land frauds, extend
ing over dozen western states and ter
ritories, to which Secretary Hitchcock
referred in his annual report was ar
rested Sunday at the Willard hotel in
Washington by Secret Service Officer
John \. Burns, just as he was prepar-
ing to leave the city for New York. The
charge on which the arrest was made
was bribery, it being alleged i'm the af-
fidavit of Mr.. Burns and in the warrant
that Benson had paid $500 to Woodford
ID. Harlan. formerly chief of the special
service division of the general land Of
nee and now a clerk in that office. on
March Is of that year. for the purpose of
extracting from him information regard
ing the investigation Of his operations
at that time being made by the land Of
flee.
The four safe blowers who escaped af
ter robbing the Metropolitan coal COM
pany in East Boston last Thursday morn
| ing. are still at large The gang Of five
men broke into the office. overpowered
and pounded the night Waterman, and
then blew open the safe. securing 5000.
/ Policemen Auhons and llankard Of the
/ Boston force. who We're searching for the
men. found the five together and in the
| darkness all of the robbers opened fire.
| The policemen dropped upon the ground
and escaped. They fired three times in
/ return and Killed one of the robbers, one
| bullet piercing his heart and another
/ lodging in his brain. The dead man was
( about 50, strongly built, and wore old
| ragged clothes. lie clutched in his hand
| revolver which proved to be the one
| taken from \. :. Nixon. night Waterman
! in Merrimac. Mass, when he was over
powered the night of Nov II by several
men who locked him in cell and then
| blew Opcn a safe Nixon also identified
! the body as that of one of the men who
attacked him. 1t is supposed that the
men who were in East Boston made sew
eral breaks in Eastern Massachusetts.