Answer.—Perhaps it is because they are too closely cooped and have not sufficient exercise. Give them plenty of sunlight; keep them dry; bury a share of their grain in their dusting-place so that they will have to scratch for it; scatter the rest of their food so that they will have to exercise in order to get it and can not eat too fast; give them a variety of dry and cooked food, including cooked meat and vegetables in the morning and grain at night; and the probability is that you will see a marked improvement.
THE SULLIVAN-HANFORD MURDER.
Chicago, Ill.
When did Alexander Sullivan shoot Francis Hanford, the Chicago school principal? When did his trial take place and before what Judge? Was the Judge impeached for his course on that trial? Is it certainly so that this is the same Sullivan who is now at the head of the Irish National League of America? One friend says it is and another says that this latter Sullivan is a New Yorker.
Inquirer.
St. Helena, Neb.
Is the Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago, elected President of the Irish National League, recently organized in Philadelphia, the same man who some years since killed Francis Hanford, the Chicago school principal? Why was that Sullivan acquitted?
John Martin.
Answer.—Alexander Sullivan shot Francis Hanford, Principal of the North Side High School, Chicago, on Aug. 7, 1876, under the following circumstances: In an anonymous paper read that afternoon in the City Council it was charged that Mrs. Alexander Sullivan had procured the appointment of her husband, as Secretary of the Board of Public Works, through undue influence over Mayor Colvin. It was also charged that she was the moving spirit in a corrupt ring that dictated the management of the public schools. Mr. Sullivan was told that the author of this paper was Mr. Hanford. At 7 o’clock that same evening, himself, wife and a younger brother drove up in front of the Hanford residence as that gentleman was sprinkling his grass plat, while Mrs. Hanford sat on the door-step looking on. Sullivan demanded an immediate retraction; after a few words he knocked Mr. Hanford down. A scuffle ensued which ended in Sullivan’s drawing a revolver and shooting Mr. Hanford dead in the presence of his family. He afterward claimed that during the fracas, when Mrs. Sullivan came up to separate them Mr. Hanford had struck her. On the trial the prosecution claimed that if this were so, the blow was not directed or intended for Mrs. Sullivan, but came about in Mr. Hanford’s efforts to protect himself from Sullivan’s attack. The first trial of Sullivan began Oct. 17, 1876, and ended Oct. 27 in a disagreement of the jury. The public was greatly exasperated, and, believing that the disagreement of the jury was due to the rulings and charge of Judge McAllister, there was a loud call made by the most respectable citizens of all classes for his resignation. When the news reached the Board of Trade such a scene was witnessed as seldom occurs in such a place. By unanimous consent all business was suspended. In ten minutes a petition was prepared, asking Judge McAllister to resign at once. In half an hour it had received 500 signatures, and by night there were 1,200 names appended, all of members of the board. The Judge treated this petition and the unanimous condemnation of the press with silent contempt. Sullivan’s second trial opened Feb. 26, 1877, before the same judge, and closed March 9 with a verdict of acquittal. Judge McAllister was never impeached before any legal tribunal; but at the bar of public opinion he suffered the condemnation of the intelligent, order-loving element of the entire country. This Alexander Sullivan is now the President of the newly organized Irish National League of America.