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free silver joined the group of bolters; and the smallness of the secession detracted from Mr. Teller's prestige. Governor Campbell, of Ohio, and Governor Matthews, of Indiana, are prominent as pirants, and they represent the class of men who, though willing enough to accept a free-silver platform, have not posed as free-silver apostles. Mr. William R. Morrison, of Illinois, who under different

form, and that the gold men, by virtue of the twothirds rule, will be able to prevent the nomination of a free-silver candidate. The only logical outcome of such a situation would be the repudiation of the two-thirds rule, followed by the withdrawal of the gold men from the convention. In case of such a result, the sound money Democrats would nominate a separate ticket- when the ex Republican "Tellerites," with the Populists, and the so-called Silver Party, meeting later in the month at St. Louis, would probably indorse the ticket nominated by the free-silver Democracy at Chicago. But the event is too near for any further attempt at prophesying ; and our readers will know for themselves before the middle of the month just what shape the presidential campaign is going to assume. Every one seems glad, led it be said, that there is a prospect of a fight to the finish on the silver question.

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EX GOVERNOR BOIES, OF IOWA.

circumstances would be exceedingly prominent as a candidate, is not a free-silver man, and at the same time is not known as a strongly avowed advocate of the gold standard. If the free silver men have their way, Ex-Governor Boies of Iowa will be more likely perhaps than any other man to receive the nomination. It must not be forgotten that VicePresident Stevenson has a strong following and that if he should make known his willingness to run upon a free-silver platform he might find himself, after a few ballots, the choice of the convention.

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HON. JOSHUA LEVERING, OF MARYLAND, Prohibitionist candidate for the Presidency.

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other subjects a test of allegiance. The attempt to capture the convention for free silver failed; and the platform as adopted deals only with the temperance question, taking the well-known position in favor of laws against the manufacture, import, export. interstate transport and sale of alcoholic beverages. The convention was a large one, and a test of strength between the factions was had on the question of the adoption of a free-silver plank. The proposition was defeated by a vote of 427 to 388. The broad-gauge men were led by Ex-Governor St. John of Kansas. Failing to impress their views upon the convention, this wing withdrew and nominated a separate ticket, headed by Mr. C. E. Bentley, of Nebraska, for President, and Mr. J. H. Southgate, of North Carolina, for Vice-Fresident. The platforın declared for free silver, woman suffrage and a variety of other reforms in addition to prohibition of manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks; and this faction will doubtless take a much livelier interest this year in the silver question than in the suppression of the rum traffic.

The St. Louis Tornado.

Every year, in late spring or early sum. mer, when conditions of unequal temperature in the vast Mississippi valley cause conflict between hot and cold air currents, electric storms are generated and resistless eddies on a huge scale known as tornadoes are an accompanying incident of the atmospheric disturbance. Many of these tornadoes spend their force on the open prairie, while some of them cut clean swaths through dense forests. Sometimes, however, they devastate towns and villages, and in the month of May several such calamities were recorded. The most appalling, however, that has ever visited the Mississippi valley was the tornado which culminated in St. Louis on the afternoon of May 27. It swept across the city from the southwest, wrought devastation along the river banks, and tore through the heart of East St. Louis, on the Illinois side of the river. Nearly five hundred people altogether lost their lives in consequence of this storm, and the loss of property seems to have aggregated about twenty millions of dollars, half of the amount falling upon the residents of the city of St. Louis, while most of the other half was entailed upon property on the east side of the river. The track of the tornado lay somewhat south of the principal business district of St. Louis, but a considerable portion of the comely and prosperous city was swept away. Characteristic American energy and buoyancy will quickly rebuild the mutilated area and remove visible evidences of the disaster; but the memory of it all will remain as the greatest calamity in the history of St. Louis. Naturally the tornado distracted local attention from preparations for the Republican convention which was soon to meet in St. Louis; but the community quickly recovered its equipoise, and a little more than two weeks later the vast concourse of visitors from all parts of the country was received and entertained as if nothing had happened.

Adjournment of Congress.

The first session of the Fifty-fourth Congress, which came to an end on the eleventh day of June, was noteworthy for its brevity, as compared with the corresponding sessions of recent Congresses. For little else was the session remarkable. In the first few weeks of its life an unusual degree of interest was developed in the proceedings of this Congress by President Cleveland's message on the Venezuelan question, but so far as Congress itself was concerned, the Venezuelan episode ended for the time being with the passage of the law creating the Commission. Then succeeded a long debate on Cuban belligerency, with the details of which our readers have been made familiar. It might naturally have been expected that the government's recent financial embarrassments, and the demonstrated insufficiency of the national revenues to meet the national needs, would have caused the prompt passage of some measure for the immediate increase of Uncle Sam's income. The crisis seemed to demand such action, and it was the part of broad and constructive statesmanship to secure it. But from the first it was perfectly evident that the Senate, as at present composed, would make futile every effort to amend the revenue system unless the House of Representatives could be induced to accept some proposition having in it the free coinage of silver at 16 to 1. This

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suggestion the House resolutely refused to entertain, and the result has been the utter absence of any legislation looking to present or future financial relief. In the face of this fact the wisdom of passing a river and harbor bill calling for appropriations of $12,600.000 may be fairly questioned, and yet the repassing of this bill over President Cleveland's veto shows the determined attitude of both House and

THE METROPOLITAN OF KIEFF,

Who officiated at the coronation of the Czar.
Photograph by Denier, St. Petersburg.

Senate. The appropriations authorized for fortifications ($7,397,888) seem by no means extravagant when the defenseless condition of our seaports is considered, although this sum exceeds the aggregate of all appropriations for this purpose made since 1888. The naval appropriations were also liberal, as compared with those of former years, but the increase was by no means excessive. A few important bills await action at the next session, which will meet in December. Among these the bankruptcy bill, which has passed the house, and the Arizona and New Mexico statehood bills, which have been favorably reported, will probably receive early consideration. The Nicaragua Canal bill and the bill to liquidate the indebtedness of the Pacific railways to the government are also upon the calendar.

While the citizens of the United States The Coronation are preparing to elect a ruler for four of the Czar. years, the Russian nation has in a sufficiently emphatic fashion approved of the succession of Nicholas II. to the throne of his father. The splendid pageantry at Moscow has been described at such length in the daily papers that it is unneces sary to attempt to condense into paragraph pemmican the square yards of magnificent descriptions which filled the press of Europe and America. The ceremony was very gorgeous and impressive. It

cost $25,000,000, and some critics are asking to what purpose is all this waste. But a Russian coronation does not cost more, if we reckon the average life of a Czar at twenty years, than the United States or the United Kingdom will spend in a similar period over general and presidential elections. Considering the vastness of the Russian Empire, the inertness of the minds of the millions over whom the Czar reigns, and the immense importance of compelling both ruler and ruled to realize the existence of each other, it is unnecessary to regard the coronation ceremonial as excessive or extravagant. It is, indeed, more than probable that it was a very economical investment. The spectacle of the illuminated Kremlin and the swarming millions may have impressed some of the Asiatic delegates to such an extent as to nip, as with a frost, vague schemes of revolt that might have cost Russia ten times the millions squandered at Moscow.

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The Church and the Czar.

The part played by the clergy at the coronation was to Westerners the most interesting and suggestive feature of the ceremony. The coronation took place in the cathe dral. Before the Czar and his wife could take their seats, or be enthroned, they must kneel before the sacred icons. Before the coronation service began the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg confronted the Czar, and in a loud voice challenged him to make public profession of the orthodox faith before all his faith ful subjects. Not until the Czar had done this, reading the solemn declaration in a clear, firm voice, was the ceremony permitted to proceed. After he had received the blessing of the Metropolitan, the Czar was free to crown himself, and the august ceremonial went on to the end without interruption, amid the singing of the choir and the sweet voiced music of church bells. What a vista of victory of spirit over matter does not this coronation open up, and how little the fierce old predecessor of the Romanoffs, who selected the Greek faith rather than that of the Jew, the Moslem or the Roman, dreamed that the new creed would make its profession the indispensable preliminary to the assumption of the crown of Russia!

The Manifesto of the Coronation.

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Grant him, Lord, success in everything," sang the cathedral choir, "the Lord satisfy the desires of his heart and fulfill his intentions "-prayers destined not to be answered, for such boons are given to no mortal save to Polycrates, and then only as the precursor of doom. The Imperial manifesto announcing remissions of taxation and of punishment opens with a passage not unworthy the Church and Emperor of the peasant democracy of Russia:

Be it known to all ye our faithful subjects,

After we, by the will and grace of Almighty God, had fulfilled our sacred coronation to-day and had received the Holy Unction, we knelt at the throne of the King of Kings with humble and earnest imploring that He might vouchsafe to bless our throne to the welfare of our be

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loved country, strengthen us in the fulfillment of our sacred oath, and enable us to continue the work handed down to us by our crowned predecessors, of completing the Russian nation, and promoting religious faith, good morality, and true enlightenment. Inasmuch as we recognize what all our faithful subjects stand in need of, and in particular turn our eyes upon the wretched and heavy-laden, whether their case be through their own fault or through forgetfulness of duty, our heart impels us to grant also the utmost possible relief, so that entering upon the path of a new life on this memorable day of our coronation, they may gladly be able to take part in the general jubilation of my people. And so, amid great manifestations of jubilation,

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serving the million lost their heads and threw the gifts to be scrambled for. A scrimmage began, the like of which has never been known before. A great crowd in motion is one of the most destructive of known forces. There were about a quarter of a million people there; but supposing there were only 100,000 actually engaged in the scramble, and we average each person as weighing 112 pounds, twenty persons would weigh a ton, and 100,000 persons would represent 5,000 tons of solid matter moving tumultuously hither and thither. When once such a mass is in motion, it is impossible to restore its stability. So it was found in Moscow; for order

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