University of South Carolina Libraries
ISSPED gEBH-WEEKX^^ " lTmT0RIST & soN8,~Pabii?hera!?| gT^famUg gwgtager: jjor the promotion of the goliticat, Social, gfjritnltural, and (Kontniei;riai Jnt^jsts of the google. jterms-^oo^mina acmce. ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 19QO. JSTO. 1Q1. THE MYSTE a n a i AHA By ANNA KATHA Author of "The Leavenworth Cas and Ring," Copyright, 1900, by Anna Katharine G Synopsis op Previous Chapters. In order that new readers of The Enquirer may begin with the following installment of this story, and understand it just the same as though they "had read it all from the beginning, we here give a synopsis of that portion of which has already been published: The story opens with the close of a ball after daylight in the morning. While the guests are leaving the house Frederick Sutherland dashes out frantically and disappears in the woods on the other side of the road. Agatha Webb is found up stairs murdered. The body of Batsy, the cook, is found hanging from a window. Philemon Webb, Agatha's husband, is discovered sitting before a dining table asleep, with a smear of blood on his coat sleeve. Philemon being charged with the murder, his mind, alrady feeble gives way completely. All Agatha Webb's money has been taken. Miss Page, standing on the lawn, points to a spot of blood on the grass. Frederick Sutherland, who has been a wild fellow, promises nis father to reform; also to give up Amabel Page, whom he has been expecting to marry. Miss Page tells Frederick that she followed him on the night of the murder and saw him secrete $1,000 in a hollow tree. She declares that he shall either marry her or she will proclaim him a murderer. She is about to leave him and the town when she is held as a witness. The i-kQ at h/o rtf a cat ha Wehh. Six children have been born to her and all died in infancy. It is learned that the money taken from Agatha Webb was all in new bills. A storekeeper produces one of them that a strange man with a flowing beard gave him the night of the murder. The problem now is to find the man with the long beard. Suspicion falls on the Zabel brothers. Frederick visits the hollow tree and finds the money gone. Wattles a gambler | from Boston, demands $950 of Frederick in payment of a gambling debt. Frederick secures a check for the amount from his father, pays the debt | and is about to leave home when he is stopped by Miss Page. Knapp, detective, and Abel, with the coroner, visit the Zabel brothers. They are obliged I to break into the house, and find both brothers dead. A spot of blood is found on the clothing of one of the brothers, and a miniature of Agatha Webb when a young girl is lying on James Zabel's breast. ( CHAPTER XVI. THE MONEY FOUND. The lantern gone the room resumed Its former appearance Abel, who had been much struck by cn-ontwntDr'c mvstprlnus maneuvers. drew near Dr. Talbot and whispered In his ear: "We might have done without that fellow from Boston." To which the coroner replied: "Perhaps, and perhaps not Sweet- 1 water has not yet proved his case; let us wait till he explains himself." Then " turning to the constable he showed him an old fashioned miniature which be had found lying on James' breast when he made his first examination. It was set with pearls and backed with gold and was worth many meals, for the lack of which its devoted owner bad perished. "Agatha Webb's portrait." exclaimed Talbot, "or rather Agatba Gilchrist's! For 1 presume this was painted when she and James were lovers." "She was certainly a beauty." commented Fentou. as be bent over the miniature in the moonlight "I do not wonder she queened it over the whole county." "He must have worn It where I found it for the last 40 years." mused the doctor. "And yet men say that love Is a fleeting passion. Well, after coming upou this proof of devotion. I find it impossible to believe James Zabel accountable for her death. Sweetwater's Instinct was truer than Knapp's." ~Pontnn vr uurst liiuucitu ? vmwu. "Gentlemen." Interposed Abel, pointing to a bright spot that just then made Its appearance in the dark outline of the shade before alluded to, "do you see that hole? It was the sight of that prick In the shade which sent Sweetwater outside looking for footprints. See! Now his eye is to it" (as the bright spot became suddenly eclipsed*. "We are under examination, sirs, and the next thing we will hear Is that he's not the only person who's been peering into this room through that hole." He was so far right that the flrst words of Sweetwater on his re-en trance were: "It's all 0 K, sirs. I have found my missing clew. James Zabel was not the only person who came up here from the Webb cottage last night." And turning to Knapp, who was losing some of his supercilious manner, he asked, with signiticaut emphasis: "If, of the full amount stolen from Agatha Webb, you found $20 in the possession of one man audi $980 in the possession of another, upon which of the two would you Qx as the | probable murderer of this good worn11101 w,1? 110,(1 tlie ,ioa 8 share, ^Of.COprse." good. Then It is uot iu this cottage you will find the person most wanted- You must look- Rut there, first let me give you a glimpse of the tnoney. Is there any one here ready to accompauy me iu search of it? I shall have to take him a quarter of a < pjile farther up hill." 'You have seen the money? You I Know where it is?" asked Dr. Talbot gnd Mr. Kenton in one breath. "Gentlemen. I can put my hand on jt In ten minutes." At this unexpected and somewhat startling statement Kuapp looked at Dr. Talbct and Dr. Talbot looked at RY OF THA WEBB. .RINE GREENE, ;e," "Lost Man's Lane," "Hand Etc., Etc. reen. the constable, but only the latter spoke. "That Is saying a good deal. But no i rt'illi n<r tn predlt the ma i in. i am ? xkwo ?w assertion. Lead on. Sweetwater. I'll go with you." Sweetwater seemed to grow an Inch at least. "And Dr. Talbot?" he suggested. But the coroner's duty held him to this bouse of death, and he decided not to accompany them. Knapp and Abel, however, yielded to the curiosity which had been aroused by these extraordinary promises, and soon these four started on their small expedition up the hill. Sweetwatpr headed the procession. He had admonished silence, and bis wish In this regard was so well carried out that they looked more like a group of specters moving up the moon lighted road than a party of eager and impatient men. Not till they turned Into the main thoroughfare did any one speak. Then Abel could no longer restrain himself, and he cried out: "We are going to Mr. Sutherland's." But Sweetwater quickly undeceived him. "No." said he. "only into the woods opposite his house." But at this Mr. Fenton drew blra back. "Are you sure of yourself?" he said "Have you really seen this money, and is it concealed in this forest?" "I have seen the money." Sweetwater solemnly declared, "and it is hidden in these woods." Mr. Fenton dropped his arm. and tbey moved on till their way was blocked by the huge trunk of a fallen tree. "It Is here we are to look." cried Sweetwater pausing and motiouing K'n.imv turn liia Inn tern nn the snnt where the shadows lay thickest. "Now. what do you see?" he asked. "The upturned roots of a great tree." said Mr. Kenton. "And under them?" "A hole or. rather, the entrance to one." "Very good. The money is in that hole. Pull it out. Mr. Fenton." The assurauce with which Sweetwater spoke was such that Mr. Fenton at once stopped and plunged bis hand into the hole; but when, after a hurried search, be drew it out again, there was nothing in it; his hand was empty. Sweetwater stared at that hand amazed. HAn't paii fin/1 onwfhlnffV hn o c? Iro/l 1/VU I J VU UUU UUJ lUlU^ ? UV UOUVU. "Isn't there a roll of bills in that hole?" "No." was the gloomy answer, after a renewed attempt and a second disappointment. "There Is nothing to be found here. You are laboring under some misapprehension. Sweetwater." "But 1 can't be. I saw the money: saw it in the hand of the person who hid it there. Let me look for it. constable. I will not give up the search till I have turned the place topsy turvy." Kneeling down in Mr. Fenton's place, he thrust his hand into the hole. On either side of him peered the faces of Mr Feuton and Knapp. (Abel had slipped away at a whisper from Sweetwater.) They were lit' with a similar expression of anxious interest and growing doubt. His own countenance was a study of conflicting and by lie shi-w.U two rolls o 1 new crisp bills. no means cheerful emotious. Suddenly his aspect changed. With a quick - ---I i' l.t . ?. iwiM ui iii> iiiiii*, ii ii?niiuiu, uuu), ln? threw himself lengthwise ou the ground. and began tearing at the earth inside the hole, like a burrowing animal. "I ennnot be mistaken. Nothing will make me believe it is not here. It has simply been buried deeper than I thought. Ah! What did I tell you? See here! And see here!" Bringing his hands into the full blaze of the light, he showed two rolls of new crisp bills. "They were lying under half a foot of earth." said he. "but if they had been buried as deep as Grannie Fuller's well. I'd have unearthed them." Meantime Mr. Fentou was rapidly counting one roll and Knapp the other. The result was an aggregate sum of $980, just the amount Sweetwater had promised to show them. "A good stroke of business," cried Mr. Fentou. "And now, Sweetwater, whose is the hand that buried this treasure? Nothing is to be gained by preserved silence on this point any longer." Instantly the young man became very grave. With a quick glance around which seemed to embrace the secret recesses of the forest rather than the eager faces bending toward him, he lowered his voice and quietly said: "The hand that buried this money under the roots of this old tree is the same which you saw pointing downward at the spot of blood in Agatha Webb's front yard." "You do not mean Amabel Page," cried Mr. Fenton, with natural surprise. "Yes. I do. 1 am glad it is you who have named her." CHAPTER XVII. MISS PAGE SUSPECTED. A half hour later these men were all closeted with Dr. Talbot in the Zabel kitchen. Abel had rejoined them, and Sweetwater was telling his story with great earnestness and no little show of pride. "Gentlemen, when 1 charge a young woman of respectable appearance and connections with such a revolting crime as murder, I do so with good reason, as I hope presently to make plain to you. "Gentlemen, on the night and at the hour Agatha Webb was killed, I was playing with four other musicians in Mr. Sutherland's hallway. From the place where I sat 1 could see what went on in the parlor and also have a clear view of the passageway leading down to the garden door. As the dancing was going on in the parlor I naturally looked that way most, and this Is how I came to note the eagerness with which during the first part of the evening Frederick Sutherland and Amabel Page came together in the quadrilles and country dances. Sometimes she spoke as she passed him and sometimes he answered, but not always. although he never failed to show he was pleased with her or would have been if something?perhaps it was his lack of confidence in her. sirs?had not stood in the way of a perfect understanding. She seemed to notice he did not always respond and after awhile showed less inclination to speak herself, though she did not fail to watch him and that intently. But she didn't watch him any more closely than I did her, though I little thought at the time what would come of my espionage. She wore a white dress and white shoes and was as coquettish and seduc tlve as the evil one maues mem. ouudenly I missed her. She was in the middle of tbe dance oue minute and entirely out of it tbe next. "Naturally 1 expected that she hud slipped aside with Frederick Sutherland, but no. he was still in sight, but looking so pale and so abstracted I was sure the young miss was up to some sort of mischief. But what mischief? Watching and waiting, but no longer conliniug my attention to the parlor, I presently espied her stealing along the passageway. I have mentioned carrying a long cloak which she rolled up and hid behind the open door. Then she came back, humming a gay little song which didn't deceive me for a moment. 'Good!' thought I. 'she and that cloak will soon join company.' And they did. As we were playing the Harebell mazurka I again caught sight of her stealthy white figure in that distant doorway. Seizing the cloak, she wrapped It round her, and with Just one furtive look backward, seen, I warrant, by no one but myself, she vanished in the outside dark. 'Now to note who follows her!' thought I. But nobody followed her. This struck me as strange, and having a natural love for riot<v?tivp work, in srdte of mv devotion to the arts, I consulted the clock at the foot of the stairs, and noting that It was half past 11, scribbled the hour on the margin of my music, with the intention of seeing how long my lady would linger outside alone. Gentlemen. it was two hours before 1 saw her face again. How she got back into the house I do not know. It was not by the garden door, for my eye seldom left it: yet at or near half past 1 I heard her voice on the stair above me and saw her descend and melt into the crowd as if she had not been absent from it for more than five minutes. A half hour later I saw her with Frederick again. They were dancing, but not with the same spirit as before, and even while I watched them they separated. Now where was Miss Page during those two long hours? I think I know, aud It is time I unburdened myself to the police. "But first 1 must inform you of a small discovery I made while the dance was still in progress. Miss Page had come down stairs, as I have said, from what I now know to have been her own room. Her dress was. in all respects, the same as before, with one exception?her white slippers has been exchanged for blue ones. This seemed to show that they had been rendered unserviceable, or at least unsightly, by the walk she had taken. This in itself was not remarkable, nor would her peculiar escapade have made more than a temporary impression upon my curiosity if she bad not arterward shown an unaccountable and extraordinary interest in the murder which had taken place in the town below during the very hours of her absence from Mr. Sutherland's ball. This, in consideration of her sex and her being a stranger to the person attacked, was remarkable, and. though perhaps 1 had no business to do what 1 did. 1 no sooner saw the house emptied of master and servants than I stole softly back, and climbed the stairs to her room. Had no good followed this Intrusion, which, I am quite ready to acknowledge, was a trifle presumptuous, I should have held my peace in regard to it; but as I did make a discovery there which has. as I believe, an important bearing on this affair, I have forced myself to mention it. The lights In the house having been left burning. I hud no dilliculty in finding her apamnent. I knew it by the folderols scattered about. But 1 did not stop to look at them. I was on a search for her slippers, and presently I cuuie upon them, thrust behind an old picture in the dimmest corner of the room. Taking them down. I examined them closely. They were not only soiled, gentlemen, but dreadfully cut and rubbed, fn short, they were ruined; and, thinking that the young lady herself would be glad to be rid of them, I quietly put them into my nnrl enrried them to mv own ? home. Abel has just been for them, so you can see them for yourselves, and. If your judgment coincides with mine, you will discover something more on them than mud." Dr. Talbot though he stared a little at the young man's confessed theft, took the slippers Abel was holding out and carefully turned them over. They were, as Sweetwater had said, grievously torn and soiled and showed, besides several deep earth stains, a mark or two of a bright red color quite unmistakable in character. "Blood." declared the coroner. "There is no doubt about It Miss Page was where blood was spilled last night" "I have another proof against her," Sweetwater went on. In full enjoyment of his prominence among these men who, up till now. had barely recognized his existence. "When full of the suspicion that Miss Page had had a hand in the theft. If not the murder of Mrs. Webb. I hastened down to the scene of the tragedy, I met this young woman issuing from the front gate. She had Just been making herself con spicuous by pointing out a trail of blood on the grass plot. Dr. Talbot, who was there, will remember how she looked on that occasion, but I doubt if he noticed how Abel here looked, or so much as remarked the faded flower the silly boy had stuck In his buttonhole." "I did not." ejaculated the coroner. "Yet that flower has a very important bearing on this case. He bad found it, as he will tell you. on the floor near Batsy's skirts, and as soon as I saw it in his coat. I bade him take it out and keep It, for. gentlemen. It was a very uncommon flower, the like of which can only be found in this town In Mr. Sutherland's conservatory. I remember seeing such a one In Miss Page's hair, early In the evening. Have you that flower about you, Abel?" Abel had. and being Glled with importance, too, showed It to the doctor anrl tn Mr EVritnn It was withered and faded in hue, but it was unmistakably an orchid of the rarest description. "It was lying near Batsy," explained Abel. "I drew Mr. Kenton's attention to it at the time, but be scarcely noticed it." "I will make up for my Indifference now," said that gentleman. "I should have been shown that flower," put in Knapp. "So you should," acknowledged Sweetwater, "but -When the detective Instinct is aroused it is bard for a man to be just to his rivals. Besides, I was otherwise occupied. I bad Miss Page to watch. Happily for me, It had been decided that she should not be allowed to leave town till after the Inquest, and so my task became easy. This whole day I have spent in sight of Mr. Sutherland's house, and at nightfall I was rewarded by detecting her end a prolonged walk in the garden by a hurried dash into the woods opposite. I followed her and noted carefully all that she did. As she bad just seen Frederick Sutherland and Miss Holliday disappear up the road together, she probably felt free to do as she liked, for she walked very directly to the old tree we have Just corue from and, kneeling down beside It, pulled from the hole underneath something which rattled In her band with that peculiar sound we associate with fresh bank notes. 1 had approached her as near as I dared aDd was peering around a tree trunk when she stooped down again and plunged both hands into the hole. She remained In this position so long tliat I did not know what to make of it But she rose at last and turned toward home, laughing to herself in a wicked but pleased way that did uot tend to make me think any more of her. The moon was shining very brightly by this time, and 1 could readily perceive every detail of her person. She held her hands out before her and shook them more than once as she trod by me, so I was sure there was nothing in them, and this Is why I was so confldeut we should find the money still in the hole. "When I saw her enter the house, 1 set out to find you. but the courthouse room was empty, and it was a long time before I learned where to look for you. But at last a fellow at Brighton's corner said lie saw four men go by on their way to Zabel's cottage, and on the chance of finding you among them I turned down here. The shock you gave me In announcing tuat you unci discovered the murderer of Agatha Webb knocked me over for the moment. but now I hope you realize, as 1 do. that he could never have had an active hand in her death notwithstanding the fact that oue of the stolen bills has been found to have been In that wretched man's possession, for ? and here is my great point?the proof is not wanting that Miss Page visited this house as well as Mrs. Webb's during her famous escapade, or at least stood under the window beneath which I have just been searching. A footprint can be seen there, sirs, a very plain footprint, and if Dr. Talbot will take the trouble to compare it with the slipper he holds in his hand he will find It to have been made by the foot that wore that slipper." The coroner, with a quick glance from the slipper in his hand up to Sweetwater's eager face, showed a decided disposition to make the experiment thus suggested, but Mr. Kenton, whose mind was full of the Zabel tragedy, Interrupted them with the question: "But how do you explain by this hypothesis the fact of James Zabel trying to pass one of the $20 bills stolen from Mrs. Webb's cupboard V Do you consider Miss Page generous enough to give him that money?" "You ask me that, Mr. Kenton? Do you wish to know what I think of the connection between these two great tragedies?" "Yes: you have earned a voice in this matter. Speak, Sweetwater." "Well, then, I think Miss Page has made an effort to throw the blame of "A footprint can be seen there?compare It with the slipper." ber own misdoing on 0110 or both of these unfortunate old men. She is suf hciently cold blooded and calculating to do so. and circumstances certain"y favored her. Shall I show how?" Mr. Kenton consulted Kuapp. who uodded his head. The Boston detective was not without curiosity as to how Sweetwater would prove his case. "Old .lames Zabel ltad seen his brother sinking rapidly from inanition. This their condition amply shows. He was weak himself, but John was weaker, and in a moment of desperation he rushed out to ask a crumb of bread from Agatha Webb or possibly?for I have heard some whispers of an old custom of theirs?to Join Philemon at his yearly merrymaking and so obtain in a natural way the bite for himself and brother be perhaps had not the courage to ask for outright. But death had been in the Webb cottage before him. which awful circumstance, acting on his already weakened nerves, drove him half insane from the house and sent him wandering blindly about the streets for a good half hoqr before he reappeared in his own house. How do 1 know this? From a very simple fact. Abel here has been to inquire, among other things, if Mr. Crane remembers me luue we were ijin^iug ai iuc girai house when he came down the main street from visiting old Widow Wal ker. Fortunately he does, for the trip, trip, trip in it struck his fancy, and he lias found himself humming it over more tlmn once since. Well, that waltz was played by us at a quarter after midnight, which Qxes the time of the encounter at Mrs Webb's gateway pretty accurately. But. as you will soon see. it was 12:50 before .lames Zabel knocked at Lotou's door. How do 1 know tills? By the same method of reasoniug by which I determined the time of Mr. Crane's encounter. Mrs. Loton was greatly pleased with the music played that night and had all her windows open in order to bear It, and she says we were playing 'Money Musk* when that knocking came to disturb her. Now. gentlemen, we played 'Money Musk' Just before we were called out to supper, and as we went to supper promptly at 1:45 you can see Just bow my calculation was made. TO BE CONTINUED. IRON IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Forges and Foundries In Olden Times?PoS' sibilities of the Future. We have received from Mr. John S. Norwood, of Dresden, Abbeville county, South Carolina, a sample of very fine magnetic iron pre, of which he says there is an abundant supply in that county. Col. J. L. Black, of Blacksburg, Cherokee county, South Carolina, has furnished during the past year or two considerable quantities of the same kind of ore to the Cherokee furnace of the Empire Steel and Iron company at Greensboro, N. C. The existence in South Carolina of iron ore of excellent quality has long been known. In our "Iron in All Ages," we have full details of an active iron industry that existed in that state in the last century and down to 1856, soon after which year the last fire in its various iron enterprises was put out. In the northwestern part of South Carolina, including the counties of Union, Spartanburg, Cherokee and York, are valuable deposits of magnetic ore. and here the first iron works in the state were erected by Mr. Bufflngton in 1773, but were destroyed by the Tories during the Revolution. Soon after the revolution both furnaces and forges * ' ' A 1 ? Tf " ?1 - ???.?*?. ?-? ? ? /I n Kniif were ou1ii in lolk iuuiu;, ciiiu ciuuue 1815 there was a sheet mill in thecounty: also a nail factory. In 1802 an air furnace was erected on a neck of land between Cooper and Ashley rivers, where pood castings are said to have been made. Tench Coxe enumerates two bloomeries in Spartanburg county in 1810, four in Pendleton county, two in Greenville county and one in York county?nine in all. He also mentions one small nailery and one small steel furnace in the state. He makes no reference to blast furnaces. In the census of 1840 there were four blast turnaces in South Carolina and nine bloomeries. forges and rolling mills. In 1856 South Carolina had eight furnaces?one in York, one in Union and six in Spartanburg county. They are described by Lesley. Four of these furnaces were then in operation, but the other four had been virtually abandoned. In 1856 there were also three rolling mills in the state?one in York, one in Union and one in Spartanburg county. all of which were active in that year. Owing to the entire absence of mineral fuel it is perhaps too much to hope that South Carolina will soon see a revival of the manufacture of iron within its borders, but it is not at all improbable that in the near future its valuable deposits of iron ore will be mined and shipped on a large scale. Better railroad facilities than now exist would hasten this end.?Bulletin Iron and Steel Association. iHiscrUanmts ^tradint). I 1 THE LITTLE FELLER'S STOCK IN', f . Oh, it's Christmas Eve, and moonlight, fl ! and the Christmas air is chill, 3 And the frosty Christmas holly shines * and sparkles on the hill, And the Christmas sleigh-bells Jingle, 1 and the Christmas laughter a rings, As the last stray shoppers hurry, tak- $ in' home the Christmas things; And up yonder in the attic there's a little trundle bed ' r Where there's Christmas dreams adancing through a sleepy, curly p head, n And it's "Merry Christmas," Mary, once again, for me and you, With the little feller's stockin's hang- v ing up beside the flue. f d 'Tisn't silk, that little stockin', and It p isn't much fer show, And the darns are pretty plenty round about the heel and toe, And its color's kinder faded and it's sorter worn and old, . But it really Is surprisin' what a lot of love 'twill hold; And the little hand that hung it by the ' chimbly there along Has a grip upon our heart strings that n is mighty firm and strong; p So old Santy don't forget it, though it 0 isn't fine and new, c Tnat plain, little worsted stockin' hangin' up beside the flue. ? s And the crops may fail, and leave us tl with our plan? all gone to ti smash, , And the mortgage may hang heavy and the bills use up the cash, But whenever comes the season, jest 1< so long's we've got a dime. p There'll be somethin' in that stockin'? t< won't there, Mary??every time. And If, In amongst our sunshine, there's a shower or two of rain, n Why, we'll face It bravely smilin', and k we'll try not ter complain ii Long as Christmas comes and finds us here together me and you, With the little feller's stockin' hangin' up beside the flue. 1 , , , k FEATURES OF SHIP SUBSIDY BILL. !! a Nine Million Dollars and American Vessels e In Foreign Trade. n These are the principal provisions of 8 the ship subsidy bill, now being push- a ed through the senate: Subsidies to American vessels in for- c elgn trade, based on gross tonnage of ' ships and mileage, i Subsidies are calculated to offset the difference in the cost of building and navigating American vessels compared with British vessels. American vessels already built are subsidized for ten years; vessels to be " hereafter built for. 20 years." The maximum subsidy payable in any one year is $9,000,000. At the pres- ( , ent time the expenditure would be about $4,500,000 a year. When $9,000,000 is reached subsidies * , are to be reduced pro rata as American shipping increases. 1 Uniform subsidy to all American ves- ! sels of one and one-half cents a gross ton for each 100 nautical miles, not exceeding 1,500 miles, sailed outward bound. The same rate for each 1,000 e sailed homeward bound, and one cent " a gross ton for each additional 100 nau- v tical miles sailed, on each entry, not n exceeding 16 in any twelve consecutive months. J3 Special rates to faster steamships, graded according to their speed, to oft- a set the mail subsidies paid by foreign a governments, varying from 5-10th of one cent a gross ton for vessels of more ^ than 2,000 gross tons, and of twelve knots and less than fourteen knots speed to 2 3-10th cents a gross ton for vessels of more than 10,000 gross tons and of 24 knots and more speed. a A 10-knot ship, with a mileage of 42,000 per annum, would earn $48,300. A j* 15 knot ship, with a mileage of 63,000 ? miles per annum, would earn $41,750. n m 1..Ai n.liU A OO OAA ^ ?1 kiiul amp, wilii a mileage ui oo,ii/v miles per annum, would earn $304,290. n Admits to American registry all for- 13 i eign steamships owned by Americans a : on January 1, 1900, and entitles such e' steamships to half subsidies. Before these foreign-built steamships can be h ' registered and receive subsidy, owners 1 must build in the United States corre- p ' spondlng steamships, as In the case of a the New York and St. Paul. All vessels receiving subsidy are required to carry the ocean mails of the w 1 United States free of charge, and may i be impressed as auxilliary cruisers and transports. The Canadian system of bounties for deep sea fisheries is also included in Tl i the bill.?The Ship Subsidy Bill. HOW CHRISTIANS WERE SLAUGHTERED. e: w Startling Story Told by a Returned American ri Missionary. ri Mrs. J. S. Grant, a missionary at Nlng Po, China, tells in a letter just g received by the missionary society of jc the Livingstone avenue Baptist church, of New Brunswick. N. J., of the way ^ missionaries were slaughtered in Shan c< Si province, China. The account says: "When the first batch of mission- tc aries was brought in, Yu Hslen ordered ai them to be brought straight to his fl: yamen and placed them standing a few ir feet apart. w "The sanguinary governor then re mnnnred a horse. Takine a lone sword S? from an orderly he galloped to the p< other end of the ground, and as he tl swept past them carried off four or th five heads with his sword. Yu Hsien's tt horse then balked so that he had to w dismount. lo The remainder of the unhappy mis- la slonaries were slain by the Boxers th present." T Dr.. Willis C. Noble, who was sta- ki tioned at Pao Ting Fu, by the Amer- se ican board of foreign missions, and cc made his escape shortly after the first th uprising of the Boxers, lectured here K on China last night. He said: h* "There is no telling how the negotia- A; tlons with the Chinese officials are go- ai ing to result. No document signed by y< the empress or stamped with the great hi seal has yet been received by the rep- ai resentatives of the powers. sa "Indeed, there is nothing in the at- e\ tltude of the great foreign nations involved in this trouble that shows they i really purpose to reinstate the young th emperor, although all acknowledge that e> ?e is the only hope of the nation's salration. "And the reason is that the rein- * itatement of the young man would be mpractlcable. He is so under the inluence of the empress dowager, and he is so hostile to foreign Interests, hat this re-enthronement would be he result of bringing ultimate discord , .nd corruption. "With Pekln divided and patrolled by ifferent foreign nations, there is little Ikellhood that the court will ever "be e-established there. "In my mind the only solution of the , iroblem is the dismemberment of Chla among the powers. Whoever may ave doubted this before will believe rith me now on hearing that the antioreign element has again issued inuenoes threatening the lives of all forieners. PRINTING IN THE SOUTH. Newspaper Man Discusses Some of the Difficulties of Honest Journalism. A demand is sometimes made for ewspapers that tell the truth. Some eople refer slightingly to the contents f newspapers as being of suspicious haracter so far as its veracity is conerned, and say that newspapers should tick closely to facts and tell the truth, he whole truth and nothing but the ruth. It does not always suit to tell the ruth. The truth is sometimes better ift untold. The same people who cornlain because the newspapers do not ell the truth also criticise the newspaers for being too sensational. If the ewspapers should print what they :no\v, there would be some sensations tideed. They would state sometimes hat "Colonel Blank, one of our promient citizens, is ill at his home with he jim jams," when Instead they very indly say that he is indisposed, or nwell. They might also chronicle that Miss Sallie Smithers, the homeliest nd sourest tempered woman we have ver seen, has at last managed to get larried," when they considerately decribe her as beautiful and amiable and s the belle of the town. If they wanted to tell the truth they ould say that the Rev. Long Wind, /ho preached an hour and a half, bored his congregation nearly to eath," when instead they describe his ermon as a magnificent and powerful iscourse, which deeply moved his earers and held their rapt attention. Vhen a husband or wife dies they light sometimes say that a "cat and og existence has terminated," but the re of the couple is described as one ing, sweet dream. Then again there are many domesIc scandals that come to the ears of he newspapers, and many personal itficulties, and many rumors affectig the integrity of various citizens hat are probably true that never find heir way into print because it will not. 0 always to tell the truth. Serious appenings are sometimes minimimlzd and unimportant events magnified .'hen the newspapers know perfectly / ell their news value, but they canot always tell the truth. It is not he truth that is wanted. The newspaers sometimes cannot afTord to tell he truth and the people cannot affford to have it told about them, nd the truth is, therefore, omlt?d. Some politicians say the newsapers will not tell the truth about hem. For this they ought to be proDundly thankful, for if the truth were Did about them, some of them would nd their political careers at' an end nd reputations seriously impaired. And all this consideration and supression of truth when it is damaging, 1 rarelv anreclated and the crv is for ewspapers that will tell the truth. It rould take but one issue of such a ewspaper to raise a cry louder tnan efore to handle the truth cautiously nd in small quantities and well glossd over. Knock down and drag out ghts, damage suits, broken noses, earts and fortunes would be the fealres of the day, and the truthful ne^wsaper would be suppressed, if It took constitutional convention to accomlish it. The newspapers make their ving by printing what their readers ant to read and that is not always the ruth.?Spartanburg Evening Journal. CHURCHILL IN AMERICA. he Famous British War Correspondent Talks About South Africa. Winston Spencer Churchill, whose xploits in the war in South Africa, hich Included an escape from Pretoa, where he was a prisoner of the otfrs, wiueiy neidiucu tii inc nine, 01ved here on the steamship Lucania hursday morning, says the New York un. He comes to lecture under Ma>r Pond's auspices on the Boer war. Mr. Churchill is a young looking lan with reddish hair. He wore a mg blue overcoat with an astrakhan )llar and a square topped derby hat. e said regarding the war: "The Boer and English armies have irn things up down In South Africa rid it is going to take a long while to k things up. I don't believe in makig the Boers pay for the war?that ould paralyze the chances of the Boer rpublic for the next hundred years. I ly let England pay her own war exposes. The cause of it all was that le Uitlanders came in and developed le gold mines at great cost, and when ley were fairly working, the Boers ould come in and build a fort overoking the town and make the Uitnders pay up. It is too bad that le war is still going on down there, he war is over, and the Boers do not now it?that's the trouble. I hate to e a prize-fighter or a nation keep >ming back for more punishment?all le more after he is hopelessly beaten, itchener is an able man, but a very ird one. I don't like htm personally, s for the charge that English soldiers e burning houses I may say that if )u have a right to kill a man you ive a right to destroy his property id scatter his children if It is necesiry. I deplore suoh a necessity, how-er. ar President McKinley has warned ie party leaders that he will call no :tra session after March 4. .