Evening star., 1944-03-26

gun. Predictions that
Coxey on the general" would have
The March trouble with his mob be-
gan to come true, as was
evidenced from accounts en- route. The
Star of March 26. 1894, in dispatch
from Canton, Ohio. reported in part:
"At 6 o'clock in the morning the camp
was turned into veritable Valley Forge.
Small groups of men could be seen
shivering in every limb, trying to obtain
shelter from the freezing blasts which
came from the West. . . Many of the
men were heard to grumble about Mr..
Coxey taking lodgings at the best hotel
in the city and were of the opinion that
he should take dose Of his own medi-
cine. Several were interviewed at the
city prison last evening as to what they
intended to do in case the provisions
were not furnished en- route, and each
and every one of them said they would
make raid upon the farmhouses. At
the grounds this morning the most
notable thing was the absence of any,
body to command the much shattered
forces. Carl Brown, the chief marshal,
did not arrive upon the scene until 1890
o'clock, he also having taken room in
one of the prominent hotels" Later,
most of the original army dropped out
one by one. Only comparatively few
of the original starters got to Wash
ington.
Naval circles were agog over the So
called armor plates fraud. 1t was alleged
that the Carnegie Steel Co.
Defective had failed to temper armor
Armor evenly, to maintain Its
toughness, and had even
plugged blowholes in defective plates
The Star of March 26, 1894, gave long
account of the testimony and briefer
one of the results. Space does not allow
a complete discussion. Suffice it to re-
mark that the Carnegie company, when
proof was given, made good promptly,
even to the extent of paying fees to
those responsible for discovering the
defects. Officers of the company were
as much surprised as any one else that
such trouble had developed and in gen.
eral were absolved by the court of public
opinion. The fault was laid to over
zealousness on the part of minor officials,
who did not want much of their work
to go for naught and hoped for accept
ance of dubious metal.
Nowadays a silver dollar is a rarity.
But half century ago, when silver was
king, not to be dethroned
Silver for another two years by the
Dollars defeat of Bryan, such coins
were fairly common. The
Star of March "a, 1894, gave long, in
teresting account of the actual minting
of silver dollars, explaining that 49,
100000 will be turned out at cost of
cent and half apiece for workman
ship" Latest information from the
Treasury Department is to the effect
that none of these coins have been
minted since 1885.
In the same issue, March "a, 1894 The
highly disputed tariff bill,
Oddities IN though 1t Is d1fncult to
The Toriff imagine that there was
any violent controversy
over the admission of the following
items duty free: skeletons, turtles,
snails and shrimps. There is no charge
on fish skins and fossils. Fish eggs,
joss sticks, lava and pumice will not be
required to pay customs tax. Inasmuch
as there are no active volcanoes worth
mentioning in the United States, no
infant industry is threatened by the
provision on lava and pumice." The
article went on in similar vein, sug-
gesting that ice, also on the duty free
list, might be supplied by towing ice
bergs from Labrador, If they did not
get stuck in shallow water. More seri-
ously, the metal magnesium was custom
free, largely because 1t already was so
expensive, at that time being worth
more than gold.