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w IggTODSEMI-Wgggl^^ " ^ l. m grist & sons. publishers. J % Jfamitg Heicsgaper: jtfor 'M promotion of (he jjjotiticat, JSocjat, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the people. ( *?x^ciP^,RVK E' established!^ YORKVILLE, 8. C., SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1901. XoT40~ IN II * 33 "Y THOMAS 1= Copyright. 1901, by Thomas P. Montfort CHAPTER XVIII. A MATTER OF INTEREST. Never since that day on which the battle of Lexington was fought had there been such intense excitement on Possum Ridge. The people, forgetting their everyday duties, collected in little groups and all day long talked in low. hushed tones of the terrible thing tnat had happened. A thousand questions . were asked, many of them of a most ^ frivolous nature, but propounded in all ^ seriousness; a thousand surmises were made, and those who happened to possess a fragment of information relative to the one subject of absorbing interest repeated that information over and over again for the delectation of their less fortunate fellow mortals. In a little quiet place like Beckett's Mill, where but few things out of the common ever transpire, a murder is an L event of supreme importance. It is f sufficient to claim the entire and undivided attention of the people for a day and to remain the chief topic of conversation for a week or even a month. It is an eveut which marks an epoch and from which time is reckoned. Lying in state in a little wareroom just off Hicks' store was all that remained of James Melviu. Jim Thorn In nassinc throucrk Sim Banks' wood had found the body lying across a little * footpath, in almost the same spot where Melvin and Louisa had met. Thorn, in a mild state of excitement, had appeared at Hicks' store to report his find. Hicks and others had repaired to the scene and had removed the body to town. v Soon the news spread, and in an incredibly short time everybody at Beckett's Mill knew of the tragedy. Then the people came to see and to ask questions. Of course every one, man, woman and child, had to pass through the little wareroom and look on the lifeless form. Then, having looked, they gathered in little knots to talk it all over. ?. Jim Thorn, having been the fortunate one to make the find, occupied the pedestal of chief importance in the village that day. Wherever he went, whichever way he turned, there was an eager group about him. listening anxiously for every word that fell from his lips. Time aud again, and always 10 luieresicu listeners. ue repeaieu wie story of the find down to the minutest details. Aud the story Jim Thorn told was this: "When I got up this uiorniu, 1 says to my woman, says I. 'Lueiudy, I guess I'll jest step over to Joe Beckett's pasture an look at that calf of Joe's.' Joe an me's been on a trade for a right smart while, an he's been a-wantin uio to take a calf he's got over thar. Waal. 1 put on my hat an went over to Joe's, but Joe's woman told me Joe wa'n't at home, but that he'd gone off to look for a pig that'd strayed away. So I jest went an looked at the calf, made up my mind Joe wanted too much for it, then started back acrost the woods for home. Waal, I'd walked a right smart piece an was a-goin along with my head sorter dowu. a-thinkiu 'bout somethin. when all at once 1 kinder glanced up. an right thar before me, not six feet away, laid that dead man." "Lord, but 1 bet you jumped an hollered!" some one exclaimed. Thorn gave the speaker a look of mild contempt. "I bet I never," he replied. "I never moved a inch, nor 1 never give a squeak." ' \\aai, i Dot you was skeered anyhow." "No, sir, I wa'n't skeered, not nary a grain more than I am this minute." "Did you tech him?" somebody asked. "No, I didn't tech him, but it wa'n't 'cause I was afeard to. I 'lowed mebby it mouglit be ag'iu the law, an I wa'n'i tiggerin on gittin into no trouble noway." There was a short pause, after which some one said impressively: "Lord, jest to think of a feller walkiu up on to a dead man like that! My land. 1 wouldn't 'a' done it for nothin .v on earth! I bet I'd 'a' been skeered. ou I'd a jumped an hollered, too. an I reckon I'd most broke uiy neck a-gittin away from thai*. Lord!" "Land of gracious." another exclaimed, "if that had 'a' been me in place of Jim Thorn, I'd 'a' been skeered plumb ^ out of my skin, an I'd jest 'a' tore the earth up an knocked the bark offen all the trees round thar a-gittin out of them woods." If the truth had beeu knowu, (he only reason Jim Thorn didn't knock the bark off the trees getting out of those woods was because the bark was too tight to be knocked off. But that was something no one save Thorn knew, and he had no idea of mentioning It. Then Jim Thorn had to go out to Sim Banks' woods and show where the body had been found and explain in detail just how it had lain. He had to show the exact position of the head, the feet and the hands and describe in full the precise attitude of the whole body. After that he had to show just how LE HE! MONTFORT. he had made the discovery and how he had acted and what be had done and everything about it. All this he did by going through a rehearsal of his movements. He placed a stick across the path where Melvin had fallen to represent the corpse. Then he went a little way off and. turning, walked back slowly, with his head down, just as he had been walking that morning. At a certain point he raised his head. His eyes fell on the stick, and he stopped short In his tracks. For a minute or so he stood there, looking calmly on the stick, then Quietly walked by it on his way to the village. All these things the curious crowd drank in with open mouthed wonder, leaning eagerly forward and craning their necks in order to catch the smallest and most unimportant detail of the movements. mi u. : /I Inc.* nnr. XLlfli, UU \ ilig ttUSUlUVU luc iuol pn tide of information Jim Thorn possessed, the crowd fell to speculating regarding such things as Thorn could not explain. Sam Morgan started it by saying: "I wonder whar the feller that done the killin was when he fired the shot." Then everybody looked around in search of what might be considered a likely place, and two or three were on the point of hazarding a reply, but it was Jason Roberts who spoke. "Thar's only one place." he said, "whar the feller that done the shootin could 'a* likely stood, accordin to my way of figgerin it out." "Whar's that?" somebody asked. "Behind that big tree whar Pap Sampson killed the six squirrels is"? "Swen squirrels, Jason Roberts." Pap quickly corrected; "seven squir rels if that* was one." It was a curious fact, but in the excitement of the moment no one uoticed it, that was the first and the only time T-*__ ^---1 4-l.n +.,11. rap oampsou iuuk uutv i??m m iuc i?n? that day. He. the oracle of the village, the first always to give an opinion, lapsed into a silence from which nothing save the old force of habit of opposing Jason could arouse him. It was strange, passing strange. "Behind that tree whar Tap Sampson killed the squirrels." .Tason repented coinpromisingly, "is the only place whar the feller could 'a' been." Then he took a stick, to represent a gun. and went heliiud the tree and demonstrated just bow the murderer had hid there and how when Melvin came along down the path the gun had been thrust out and the fatal shot fired. Everybody saw and readily admitted the wisdom of Jason's conclusions, and two or three hastened to assure the others that they had formed that same i IWMW v'Jh ?. ^ / Waite listened icith interest. conclusion the moment they arrived on the ground. These last belonged to that class of ready liars who abound in every community, that large family of "I told you sos." While the interested crowd was still talking a stranger appeared among them. It was Mr. Waite. No one there knew him, for none of them had ever seen him. and the moment he appeared all conversation ceased, and everybody stood with his eyes fixed inquiringly on him. Looking coolly around, he asked: "What's the occasion of all this excitement?" T*!*ellnnno fllir A UCl C ? U? ?l IllUUICUIUI,! SUVUVVI ing which every odd turned his eyes on Jim Thorn. That worthy, understanding what was expected of him. stepped forward and said in turn: "Why. stranger, ain't you hearn?" "Heard what?" Waite asked. "Why. Lord, 'bout the murder." The stranger shook his head and looked surprised. "Murder!" he exclaimed. "Why, have you been having a murder here?" "My land. I'd sesso! I'd 'lowed ever'body knowed 'bout it before this. An you ain't hearn a word of it?" "How should I when I just arrived in the neighborhood?" "Oh. you jest now come, did you?" "Just this moment. I passed through here a few days ago and engaged board with Mr. Jenkins. Then I went on down the country.and am just now getting bade. But about this murder Who was It that was killed?" "It was a feller named Melvfn." Thorn answered. "One of your citizens. I presume?" "No, he was a stranger. Ile'd only been here a few weeks. Stopped over to Jonathan Turner's an claimed he was a-prospectin for minerai." "Oh. that's the man. eh?" "Yes. Did you kuow him?" "No. I didn't know Mr. Melvin. but that day 1 passed through here 1 stop ped at Mr. Turner's, and I rememner hearing him speak of him. So that's the man that was killedV" "That's the man." "Well, well! Do you know anything of the particulars of the murder?" Then Thorn embraced the opportunity for which he had been waiting and proceeded to repeat the story he had been telling all day. He even went through the pantomime of bis discovery of the body, not forgetting to show how calmly he had viewed it and how fearlessly he bad passed by it on his way to the store. To all this Waite listened with seemingly the greatest of Interest, and Jason Roberts was encouraged by that to demonstrate for his benefit just how the murderer must have fired the fatal shot from the sbel ter of the big tree. If any one bad been observing the stranger's face closely, he must have noticed that it became quite pale as Ja16on proceeded with his explanation, but Jason was claiming everybody's attention at that moment, so no one saw. "What do you think?" Jason asked when he had finished. "Don't you b'lieve I'm right, stranger?" Waite gave a little start. "Eh?" he exclaimed. "Oh, yes, very likely you are right; yes-s, very likely." "Bound to be." Jason said. "Ain't no other way it could 'a' been done." "I guess that's so," Waite admitted. "But what was the object of the murder, do you think?" Pap Sampson, who had followed the crowd about all day in silence, listening to all that was said, leaned forward and waited expectantly for the answer to this question, "I don't know," Jason said. "I ain't no notion." "Do you suppose it was robbery?" "No. His money an his watch an ever'thing was found in his pockets untouched." "Humph! He couldn't have had an enemy in this section. He was a stranger here, I believe you said?" "Yes." "It seems to be rather a strange case. You have no idea who the murderer could be?" Sam Morgan looked down at the ground and trembled, while Pap Sampson leaned forward again and waited breathlessly for the reply. "I ain't no idea in the world." Jason said; "not a ghost of an idea." mere was a snort pause, men .nni Thorn spoke, saying significantly: "I wonder whar Sim Banks is." Sam Morgan started and turned pale. Pap Sampson walked away, leaning heavily on his cane, murmuring: "It's come at last! Oh. my Lord, it's come! I was a feared of it all the time. I Pore Sim! Pore Sim!" TO BE CONTINUED. I Scraps of goal Xustoni. REMINISCENCES (IF YORK. Valuable Bits of Local History Proserved by a Septuagenarian. l)r. Maurice Moore In The Enquirer of 1.N70. In 1822 or 1S23. Paddy Carey came from Rogersville. East Tennessee, to Yorkville. He was a printer, and was brought on to South Carolina by Rev. Robert Davis, to print the "Lectures on the New Testament," written by his father?Rev. Wm. C. Davis?the founder of the sect called Independent Presbyterians. After his residence for awhile in J Yorkville, Carey conceived the idea of publishing a weekly newspaper, as a private enterprise, for at that time there was no paper printed in the state, above Columbia. The undertaking was generally encouraged and promised to be a success. Carey got up a subscription list, fixing the price of the paper at $3 per year, to which many readily! signed their names. There was much debate about the name. Carey asking! and rejecting suggestions of different appellations, until he made it quite a| village topic. We all thought he had j decided on calling it "The Spirit of '76," when lo! one morning "The Pioneer" surprised us by its modest presence: and all had to confess the suitability of its title and a good omen of its fu* /"V,vr>\' l-?oi-inor hoornn with cn happy a hit. The first issue was about j the size of foolscap writing paper. The | type was set by a little boy named j Smith. The other hands were too busy j about the book to be able to spare time; for this new work. It grew in size gradually, and in its maturity was a paper of respectable dimensions and much merit. James Edward Henry, after its enlargement, became a valued contributor to The Pioneer's columns. His was "the pen of a ready writer," and his articles much enhanced the popularity of the paper. One of his stories: "Myra Cunningham, a tale of the Revolution," was a pleasant little novelette much admired, ran through number after number for several months. However, one of his best pieces almost got Carey into a serious scrape. The relation will serve to show how well Major Henry painted everyday pictures, and how human nature is alike the world over. On the Fourth of July we had a ball in Yorkville. It passed as such things a usually do, with its modicum of com- g pliments and cuts?a pleasure to some, J a disappointment to others, and it was over; but the next issue of The Pioneer had "A Description of a Fourth of July Ball," under the new and singular nom de plume of "The Wasp;" and it had a sting, for it was surely '.'our ball" depicted. Home actors were certainly drawn: and so well, too, the take off could hardly be called a burlesque. "Maj. Doublehead," was undoubtedly meant for Major Darwin: "Becky Biter" was a true portrait of one of our village beauties, whose tongue, alas! many of us knew to our cost, "cut like a two-edged sword." The Misses Eggleston, admirable young ladies, was a deserved compliment to the Misses McMahan; as too, was the description of an accomplished young gentleman of very fine manners and appearance, which was certainly Donom Witherspoon. "Mr. Fudge," was Charley Coggins, and no one hesitated, it was so plain who was meant, to say mat tne vinegar taueu nine gin ues- < cribed as "Betsy Cruit," was Miss Bet- s sy Chambers. "As good a little thing, "3 if she was sour looking," uncle Ben ? Chambers swore, "as was in town," and 1 no one could put her derisively in the papers with impunity?he'd break every bone in Carey's trifling carcass." -j Carey had put forth one wasp and ? found himself in a nest of them. More -i than one individual went to ask him ? what he meant by personalities so r pointed. In vain he declared the arti- ? cle was sent to him two weeks before s the ball, and he had delayed its publi- ? cation. He got no credence. The ver- g diet "was that he was lying out of the matter." I In the midst of this "tempest in the r teapot," a gentleman from Chester rode into town. In giving the news of \ the day from Chester, he mentioned r that The Pioneer had been received a t little while before he left, and the peo- r pie were quite indignant over a des- h cription it contained of their "Fourth of July Ball." He then began to enu- c merate the different individuals with I whom Carey had taken the unwarrant- e ed liberty of showing up in a ludicrous \ light to the public. Chester, too, had r "Maj. Doublehead," "Mr. Fudge," and 1; 'Miss Becky Biter." The excitement n at hand began visibly to decline. We t were forced to subside and believe Ca- c rey's statement, and felt very sheep- t ish that we had been fitting caps on e our neighbors. t "O wad some power the giftie gie us s To see ourselves as others see us!" I< Carey, fortunately, had dodged Ben a Chambers until the denoument, and c saved sore bones if not broken ones. Paddy Carey was fond of his cups. Alns' thpv wrniurht his ruin, and over; them he was apt to grow pot valiant. I One night Carey and Abernathy were; in Joe Martin's office. A decanter and S glasses had been put down on the table. and as they socially drank, they > busily talked. From their accounts, J they certainly had not held the doc- > trine of Hudibras, that ls """He who fights and runs away, j h Will live to fight another day;" |s for Carey told of a difficulty he once' e got into while he lived in Tennessee.1 ji It was during the war of 1812?he said 1 a ?a recruiting officer was stationed in1 f, Rogersville. and some men he had were !f( a good deal disposed to bully the citi- t] zens. One day three of them?Carey said?got into a dispute with him, tried ^ to "hector" it over him; but he told them he was not the man to take anything off of any man, much less their " insolence. With that, one of them:" made at him. and?Carey said?he just took him a cuff on the butt of the ear 0 with his fist that made turn a somer- b sault equal to a circus man. Another of them came at him and he gave him a such a blow in the chest that he didn't & draw a long breath in a week. The d t'nirri crii/?ior cApine' his comrades set- k ting such rough handling, sprang to f, aid them, but?Carey said?he boxed jr him right and left till he learned him y manners to his betters. "They" \verejjr all?concluded Carey?"bigger, heavier : t( men than he was, but I taught them! j a lesson that they, I don't think, they forgot soon." 1 Abernathy said that Carey's fight re- " minded him of one he had about the p same time. He was in service?he said P ?in the war of 1812, and part of the k time, on duty at Point Peter, Georgia, ri While there he got into a row with $4 some sailors. There were four? tl he said?in their party, and he ai was alone. They all came at him w at once; but he clubbed his gun and i jr knocked two into the sea: but his gun j n; breaking in two, he dropped the pieces |}) and caught one of the other sailors by j t the throat with his left hand and choked him into an apoplexy, and with his j light hand gouged the other fellow until he cried " 'nough" in right good n' earnest. Joe JIartin listened to these tales of remarkable prowess in silence. Not ^ having been in the war, he had naught to match them. Suddenly he jumped Pi up. and going to his desk and opening tr it. took nut a dirk, stuck it hurriedly in tl the breast pocket of his coat as if con- w cealing it: but carefully leaving the tr handle exposed to the view of the two worthies at the table. Then he walked ]a with decisive tread across the room to ? the door and locked it, and turned and ?p advanced to the table. As he did so, p; Carey and Abernathy, who had watch- re ed him with growing apprehension, asked simultaneously, "What do you rg mean, Joe?" "I mean to dirk a little," said Joe. vehemently, with the same breath blowing out the candle. Carey c forthwith got under the table by which ai he sat. and Abernathy found his way to an open window and jumped out into Cf the street. Joe had his jest, so he tt quickly relighted the candle and ran to 10 the window to call Abernathy back, for ti< Mrs. A. was a termagant and Joe was ri ifrald of her tongue; but he could not ;et Abernathy to come in. "Oh!" said oe, "It was all in fun, Abernathy? lothing but a joke; come back, come lack." "Joke, indeed," said the ci-deant sailor; "if it had not been for the abin window, blast my eyes, but you rould have had my light out." Carey emerged from the cover of the table ather crest-fallen, and ever after was lot apt to boast of deeds of valor in he presence of Joe Martin. The publication of the Davis MSS. vas interrupted by the death of Rev. Robert Davis, to whom his father had riven the copyright; but Carey's newsjaper still gave him an occupation In forkville. His career, however, was lownward. Yielding to the fatal love >f drink, frequent and disgraceful ?cenes of debauchery sank him below ill former associates. His wife, worn >ut with his dissipations and worthessness, left him and went back with ler children, to their friends in East rennessee. She afterwards joined the Shakers, and gave her children to the aTe of relatives while she devoted herielf to her sect. In 1845, Carey, too, left forkville, to return to his native state, ind further I know no trace of him. 'Oh! that men should put an enemy in Their mouths, to steal away their brains." Carey, in his day, did a good work in fork. The enterprise begun by him las been well sustained by others, fork has always had good reason to >oast of her "Weekly." It is with jrideful satisfaction I undo the ample olds of her paper, so superior in its ilze and style to those of our up-counry towns, and not excelled by any iheet in the State. Truly, the "spirit" of Carey's little ^ioneer has been given in a "double >ortion" to The Yorkville Enquirer. My friends, you who, week after veek, have read a Septuagenarian's eminiscences, and hearkened to my ales, will meet me in The Enquirer io more. I have done. The scraps? listorical, anecdotical and biographical -I essayed, are ended. Hundreds of thers crowd into my mind, but I fear shall grow wearisome. If I have givn the pleasure I have received in reiving old memories, I am happy. In iaught have I thought to offend. Truy, all was written in love. The old nan of three-score-ten-and-flve has >rought back the days when the rosy oloring of youth tinged life. Now wi!ight falls, the "windows are darkned" as I look out on its shades, and hough by reason of the "great trength" given me, I am still here, ere nng the genial warmth that lingers round my heart and throbs, will be hilled, stilled and silent forever! THE END. MOORE WONT PAY. pnrtnnlinrK Farmer Get* Caught In Cotton Speculation. Tews and Courier, Wednesday. J. H. Parker & Co., members of the few York Cotton exchange, have filed uit in the United States circuit court ere against W. A. Moore, a farmer of partanburg county, for $4,333.71, alleg- j d to be due on cotton contracts bought, i October, 1900. In the complaint it is lleged that the brokers had orders J rom Moore to buy 1,200 bales of cotton or future delivery, and that soon after, tie purchase the market began to de- I line and the firm was forced to sell at j tie loss named in the suit. The answer j led by the defendant states that it was j lerely a gambling venture, which was! nmoral, illegal, contrary to public pol y and against the laws of South Carlina. The claim of the New York rokers is denied. The case is interesting to speculators nd others. The complaint of Parker : Co., sets forth that in October the i efendant. Moore, requested the firm to J uy the 1.200 bales, to be delivered as illows: 400 bales in January, 300 bales i March and 500 bales in May, of this i ear, the purchase to be made accordlg to the rules of the New York Cot-, >n exchange. The plaintiffs allege! lat they entered the market and i ought, the defendant agreeing to take, le prices which were then on and to' ay any loss that might acrue to the | laintiff.- After the purchase the maret dropped. Prices went down at a ipid rate until the contracts had lost 1,333.71, which sum the plaintiffs claim icy were bound to advance and did fivonfo to those from whom the cotton as purchased, in the meantime notify1 g the defendant and asking him to lake good. At his failure to put up. the laintiffs claim that they were forced > close and sell the contracts. As a >sult of this transaction they allege lat they are now due the amount amed from Moore, as well as interest om October 24, 1900. In the answer filed by Mr. Stanyarne .'ilson for W. A. Moore, the defendant, is alleged that prior to October the arties had dealings and business ansactions in no wise different from lose of the month of October, all of hich, it is alleged, were gambling ansactions, immoral, illegal, contrary i public policy and against the statute w of South Carolina, to wit, Article Chapter 59, Revised States of 1893. he answer goes on to say that the apirent contracts for purchase were not >al ones, but mere covers or guises for le illegal contracts; that the business ilation of plaintiff to defendant was as broker of the New York Cotton exlange, to .bring together the defendit and other dealers on said Exchange ir the sole purpose of making illegal mtracte and for the personal gain of ; le brokers, who realized $10 on every 0 bales; that the plaintiffs were parceps criminis in such gambling in the j se and fall of the price of cotton, and i that In this the plaintiffs realized large sums. It is furthermore alleged that the business was speculation upon chances, the cotton existing only in imagination, no delivery being contemplated or preparation therefor ever made by either the buyer, seller or broker; that the intention was to settle the"differences" in the market; that it was a venture on the turn of prices, no money being invested except so much as was necessarily required to cover a margin, as at the delivery time one party would pay the other the difference in the market. The defendant says that, according the method of gambling, to purchase or sell 100 bales of cotton required a margin of only $100 and $10 as broker's commission, to make a bona fide contract, and that while for future actual delivery it would require a capital of $4,000 or $5,000 for every 100 bales, or 12 times that amount of money for 1,200 bales. The defendant admits that he is a farmer and his only desire or interest in the transaction was speculation. In conclusion the answer says that the plaintiff had no power or authority to or did not make the defendant their debtor by putting up margins for him after the amount in their hands to his credit had been exhausted by the course of the market; that even if they chose to do so they had no right to close out at me uuLiuui ui ine iiiaiKei anu Liiexeuy prevent him from rising with it upon its recovery soon thereafter; that if the plaintiffs sustained any loss, which the defendant does not admit, it was due to their own unauthorized assumption of power, followed by their timidity, mismanagement and unconcern about his interests, and he, the defendant, is in no way liable therefor. Parker & Co., are represented by Messrs. Duncan & Sanders, of Spartanburg, and Mr. Staryarne Wilson is counsel for the defendant. MAY GROW IT AT HOME. United State* Mny Become Independent of Foreign Countries For Coffee. The prospect of a return of permanently peaceful conditions in the Philippines and present conditions in Porto Rico and Hawaii favorable to American commercial enterprises, says a Washington dispatch, lends additional interest to some figures just compiled by the treasury bureau of statistics regarding the coffee consumption of the United States and of the world. The people of the United States are sending out of the country more than a million dollars a week in payment ? for coffee consumed in this country, all of which could be readily produced in Porto Rico, Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, which have already shown their ability to produce coffee of a high grade, commanding high prices in the markets of the world. Porto Rico coffee has long been looked upon as high grade and for many years has commanded high prices in the markets of Europe, and the developments of coffee culture in Hawaii during the past few years have also been very satisfactory in the quality produced and the prices realized. In the Philippines the product is of high grade, and the fact that in physical conditions and climate the islands are very similar to those of Java, the greatest coffee producing islands of the world, suggests great possibilities to those who desire to see American money expended under the American flag. The fact that the United States is by far the greatest coffee consuming country of the world, and is steadily increasing her consumption further suggests that American capital and energy may turn their attention to the promising field now opened in the islands where American enterprise can safely enter upon business undertakings. Our coffee importations daring the nine months ending with March, 1901, amounted to 617.340,000 pounds, with a value of $45,218,000, a sum nearly $5,000,000 in excess of the value of the coffee imports of the same months of the preceding fiscal year, indicating that for the full fiscal year the total value of the coffee imported into the United States will be about $60,000,000. Even this is somewhat below the annual average cost of coffee imported during the decade just ended, the reduction in total value being due to the fall of about one-half in the import price, though during the past few months the price has again materially advanced, and 017,344,000 pounds imported in nine months of the fiscal year 1901 cost $45,218,000, while 633,500,000 pounds imported in nine months of the preceeding year cost but $40,508,000. Still no Answer.?Nobody has yet been able to point out error in McLaurin's Charlotte speech. Not a single newspaper has set up claims to having brains enough to answer a word of that speech. In acknowledgment of the want of brains, as well as for the want of facts, some newspapers have declined to talk of that speech; but, in tinue to repeat that old story about his effort to organize a Republican partv in this State. And then they resort to the refuge of charging him with the face of his disavowal, they connoting with the Republicans." There are very few men in this State who will not endorse the ratification of the treaty of peace whereby we acquired Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands. The hypocrisy and dishonesty of his accusers in charging him with voting for the ship subsidy is exposed in the act whereby some of these same politicians approved the proposition to subsidize the Charleston Exposition, the Southern railway, and the Louisiana sugar planters.?Abbeville Press and Banner.