National.

The ceremony which presented to the world the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis was performed April 30, with the dignity and splendor befitting such an occasion. There was a parade of eleven thousand soldiers down Lindell Boulevard to the Exposition Grounds. Sixty thousand people crowded into the big auditorium of the Liberal Arts Building to hear the dedication addresses by President Roosevelt and ex-President Cleveland. There were present besides the President and ex-President, an imposing company of diplomats, Governors, Senators, Congressional Representatives, Government officials, and representatives of the Exposition. The day was the centennial anniversary of the signing of the treaty which transferred the Louisiana Purchase from France to the United States.

The War Department has made public that portion of the report of General Miles which refers to the misconduct of officers and soldiers in Philippines. The Secretary of war has regarded the report as confidential; but receiving requests for it, and finding that General Miles was willing that it should be made public, he has accordingly given it out.

"As the result of my observations it is my judgment," says General Miles in his report on the Philippines, "that the discontinuance of the liquor feature of the canteen has been beneficial to the army. Now that the temptation has been removed from the immediate presence of the young men of the army, they are less likely to indulge in the use of liquor."

Foreign.

Russia has failed to withdraw from Manchuria at the stipulated time agreed to in the treaty with China. And she is now reported to have made certain demands of China relative to Manchuria which, if true, are in contravention of solemn treaty obligations and abrogate the principles of the "open door," territorial divisions, and international comity.

It is reported that China has refused to grant the demands of Russia. It is said, however, that the Board of Foreign Affairs has consented to the retention by Russia of seven million dollars now in the Russo-Chi-nese Bank as indemnity for the maintenance and repairs of the Shanhaikwan New-Chang Railroad during Russian occupation. Russia gives assurance that her course in the affair is only to safeguard her interests, forestali possible "Boxer" troubles, to maintain the principle of the "open door" policy, to respect the integrity of the Empire. Russia is strongly intrenched in the province and her influence and interests are paramount. It seems to be a forgone conclusion that while Russia may compromise in her demands, her hold in the territory will remain him

King Edward arrived at Rome from Naples April 27, and was received at the station most cordially by King Victor Emmanuel in person. The city had been elaborately decorated under the direction of Signor Bifarello, the sculptor, and Signor Matalome, the painter. Great crowds filled the streets and British and American flags were displayed in great numbers. When King Edward had entered the Quirinal Palace, the fifty thousand people who packed the plaza below acclaimed his Majesty enthusiastically until he was obliged to appear twice on the balcony. The next day he visited the Pantheon and placed decorations on several tombs. On the 29th he had an audience for twenty minutes with Pope Leo. Later in the week he visited President Loubet at Paris where he received a very cordial reception from the people and press.

The Royal Academy, London, this year exhibits 788 paintings in oil, 517 in water-color and miniatures, and 186 in sculptures, etc. Over fifteen thousand were rejected. The average merit of the pictures is higher than that of 1902. The good, sound work by women artists is notable.

At the Royal Academy, Berlin, there are on exhibition eighty paintings by American artists. At the request of Emperor William an American section was formed, although other nations are represented only by works by individuals instead of national groupings.

The Old Salon, Paris, which is also open now shows a great invasion of English and American art.

The Paris Temps has published the full text of an elaborate and sensational scheme for the separation of Church and State, signed by twenty-one Radical Socialist and twenty Socialist supporters of the Government, including MM. Millerand and Jaures. The bill has been drawn by M. Pressense, who expresses the conviction that in the course of the existence of the present Legislature or after the next general election, Republican France will declare her will to see the reform carried out.

The reconstruction of the famous Campanile of St. Mark, which fell to the ground July 14, 1902, after standing for over a thousand years, was commenced April 25, by the laying of the foundation-stone by the Count of Turin, representing King Victor Emmanuel. The picturesque ceremony was attended by the ministers, a number of prelates, and by the civil and military authorities. An enormous crowd of people was present.

Industrial and Commercial.

A locomotive that marks a striking departure from the standard English pattern has just been built after designs by the chief mechanical engineer of the Great Eastern Railway to handle the heavy suburban traffic centering around Liverpool and Fenchurch Streets, London. The engines hitherto used have been capable of attaining a' speed of only twenty miles an hour in thirty seconds from a standstill with a train of fifteen cars weighing two hundred and twenty-five tons. The new "decapod" is expected to draw a fifty per cent heavier load and attain a speed of thirty miles an hour in thirty seconds with a train carrying twelve hundred people. The engine is carried on ten wheels all or which are coupled.

Representatives of the United States Steel Corporation are said to be purchasing options on lands on the Birmingham Mineral Railroad, between Boyles and Mount prinson, in Jefferson County, Alabama. It is also said that the corporation will expend something like ten million dollars in the erection of furnaces, coke ovens, steel mills, and a steel rail mill in Alabama, besides opening coal mines, ore mines, and rock quarries.

The largest coal land sale ever made in Washington County, Penn., and the most extensive in western Pennsylvania for several years, has just been consummated there by the purchase from farmers of seven thousand acres of the Pittsburg vein of coal, lying in West Bethel and Amwell townships, by Pittsburg, New York, Cleveland, and Philadelphia capitalists for about seven hundred thousand dollars.

A number of gentlemen around Waco, Texas, are experimenting with Peruvian Cotton. The cotton in Peru grows to be a regular tree nearly twenty feet in height, and has to be planted only once in twenty years. The seed has been planted in bottom lands, uplands, postoak ground, sandy soil, and the black waxy, and results will be awaited with interest.

The New York and New England Steamship Company, with an authorized capital of $3,000,000, has been incorporated in New Jersey. The company is to build and operate steamships.

General.

The largest and most powerful express engine now in existence has just been built for the Chicago and Alton Railway by the Baldwin Locomotive Works from special designs. These new engines are designed for the heavy passenger trains that will be run by that road during the St. Louis Exposition, and are capable of hauling a train of twelve coaches weighing with passengers and baggage 675 tons 1101/2, miles in 2 hours and 24 minutes of actual running time, an average of 46 miles per hour. The total weight of engine and tender is 187 tons.

The Hancock Tavern, Boston, an old land-mark, is being torn down. This tavern was first opened in 1634 by Samuel Cole, ninth charter member of the Ancient and Honor able Artillery Company, and Captain Wads-worth, who has just closed the tavern, is also a member of the same ancient command. The tavern was remodelled in 1780. One little room in the house, with crude paintings of the Boston Tea Party on its plaster walls, is said to have been the scene of the first meeting of those who took part in that famous raid.

It is reported that vast coal fields in central Illinois are to pass to the control of a corporation with a capital of $80,000,000, and that they will be operated in connection with the Hill system of railroads. The president of the Great Northern Railway Company is said to have financed the scheme, and the Burlington and Great Northern and the Northern Pacific railroads will open markets for Illinois fuel in the Northwest. The territory acquired by the combination extends through forty miles of the richest coal lands in the State.

P. A. B. Widener the well-known collector, has offered to give to the city of Philadelphia his entire art collection provided an art museum is erected at the Green Street entrance to Fairmount Park. Mr. Widener says that the collection of Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Wilstach will be added to his. The proposal has been submitted to the mayor, and it is probable that it will be accepted. Mr. Widener's collection is one of the most important private collections in the country.

Teams representing Vassar and Wellesley met at the College Chapel at Vassar April 25 to debate the question, "Resolved, That, economically, it is not advantageous to the United States to possess territory in the tropics." Vassar upheld the affirmative and was given the decision by the committee.