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^ ^ ^ XSSUKD SKIWCI-WEEISI-"!!^^ ^ ^ ^ i. m. grist's sobs, publishers. J %^amilg Jltirspaprr: Jfor (ht promotion of the political, #otial, ^ritultaral, and (Commecrial Jntqrqsts of the jptoglt. {TgRM^-^oo^jfg^RjM ADVAseE. established 1855. YORKVILLE, 8. P., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 19Q3. ISTO. 76. By WILL N. HA Copyright, 1902, by Harper Bros. Ail r CHAPTER XXVII?CONTINUED. 'Miller laughed as if highly amused at the complication of the matter. "They are bound, you remember, only so long as you hold their note." "Then I tell you what to do," proposed Wilson. "Go back and tell them liUl IU uuiuci auuui iv<. u a.v.? days, anyway, and that we will soon tell them positively whether we will pay their price or not That's fair, Isn't it?" "It might seem so to a man personally interested in the deal," admitted Miller as the introduction to another of his blows from the shoulder, "but as lawyer for my clients I can only obey orders, like the boy who stood on the burning deck." Wilson's face fell. The remote clicking of the typewriter seemed to grate upon his high wrought nerves, and he went and slammed the partly opened door, muttering something like an oath. On that slight Journey, however, he caught an Idea. "Suppose you wire them my proposition and wait here for a reply," he suggested. Miller frowned. "That would do no good," he said. "I'm sorry I can't explain fully, but the truth is this: I happen to know that they wish for reasons of their own to take up the note you hold and that nothing else will suit them." At this Juncture Wilson lost his grip on all self possession and degenerated into the sullen anger of sharp and unexpected disappointment. "I don't feel that we are being fairly treated," he Said. "We most naturally assumed that your clients wanted to? to extend our option on the property for at least another six months. We assumed that from the fact that we had no notification from them that they would be ready to pay the note today. That's where we feel injured, Mr. Miller." Rayburn threw his cigar into a cuspidor. His attitude of being a noninterested agent was simply a stroke of genius. Behind this plea he crouched, showing himself only to fire shots that played havoc with whatever they struck. *'I believe my clients did feel, I may Bay, honor bound to you to sell for the price they offered, but?now I may be mistaken?but I'm sure they were under the impression, as I was, too, that you only wanted the property provided you could build a railroad from Darley to it, and"? "Well, that's true," broke in Wilson. "That's quite true." "And," finished Miller, still behind his inevitable fortification, "they tell me that you have certainly shown indifference to the project ever since the note was given. In fact, they asked me pointedly if I thought you meant business, and I was forced conscientiously to tell them that I thought you seemed to have other fish to fry." Wilson glared at the lawyer as if he wanted to kick him for a stupid idiot who could not do two things at oncework for the interests of his clients and not wreck his plans also. It had been a long time since he had found himself In such a hot frying pan. "So you think the thing is off?" he said desperately, probably recalling several purchases of land he had made in the section he had expected to develop. "You think it's off?" "I hardly know what to say," said Miller. "The old gentleman, Mr. Bishop, is a slow going old timer, but his son is rather up to date, full of energy and ambition. I think he's made up his mind to sell tnat property." Wilson went to his desk, hovered over it like a dark human cloud and then reluctantly turned to the big iron safe against the wall, obviously to get the note. His disappointment was too great for concealment. With his fat, pink hand on the silver plated combination bolt he turned to Miller again. "Would you mind sitting down till 1 telephone one or two of the directors?" "Not at all," said Miller, "if you'll get me a cigar and the Constitution. The Atlanta baseball team played Mobile yesterday, and I was wondering"? "I don't keep track of such things," said Wilson, coining back to his desk with an impatient frown to ring his call bell for the office boy. "Oh. yes. I believe football is your national sport" said Miller, with a dry 6mile. "Well, it's only a difference between arms and legs?whole bones and casualties." Wilson ordered the cigar and paper when the boy appeared, and, leaving the lawyer suddenly, he went into the room containing the telephone, closing the door after him. In a few minutes he reappeared, standing before Miller, who was chewing a cold cigar and attentively read ni{5. ntf luuut'u up m vv iieun ausiraciedly. "Bully for Atlanta,!" lie said. "The boys made ten runs before the Mobiles hud scored"? "Oh. come down to business." said the New Englander, with a ready made smile. "Honestly, I don't believe you drowsy southerners ever will get over your habit of sleeping during business hours. It seems to be bred in the bone." Miller laughed misleadingly. "Try to down us at a horse race, and we'll beat you in the middle of the night. Hang it all. man, you don't know human nature, that's all! Hew can you expect me on my measly fees to dance a breakdown over business I am transacting for other people?" "Well, that may account for it," ad "D "D17 KT Author of LlS-DIMN , " Westerfelt." ights reserved. mitted Wilson, who seemed bent "or being more agreeable in the' light ol some fresh hopes he had absorbed from the telephone wires. "See here, I've got a rock bottom proposal to make to your people. Now listen and drop that paper for a minute. By Jove! If I had to send a man from your state to attend to legal business, I'd pick one not full of mental morphine." "Oh, you wouldn't?" Miller laid down the paper and assumed a posture Indicative of attention roused from deep sleep. "Fire away. I'm listening." "I already had authority to act for the company, but I thought it best to telephone some of the directors." Wilson sat down in his chair and leaned toward the lawyer. "Here's what we will do. The whole truth is we are willing to plank down the required one hundred thousand for that property, provided we can lay our road there without incurring the expense of purchasing the right of way. Now if the citizens along the proposed line want their country developed bad enough to donate the right of way through their lands, we can trade." There was a pause. Then Miller broke it by striking a match on the sole of his boot He looked cross eyed of tho flamo aa ho nnnliod it tr? hln k "Wellf" he asked, almost under his breath. cigar. "Don't you think your people could stand whatever value Is appraised by law in case of refusals along the line?" "No," said Wil60u. "The price for the land is too steep for that. Your clients have our ultimatum. What do you say? We can advertise a meeting of citizens at Springtown, which is about the center of the territory involved, and if all agree to give the right of way it will be a trade. We can have the meeting set for today two weeks. How does that strike you?" "i u nave 10 wire my cueuiss. "Wlieu can you get an answer?" Miller looked at liis watch. "By 5 o'clock this afternoon. The message would have to go into the country." "Then send it off at once." A few minutes after 5 o'clock Miller sauntered into the office. Wilson 6at at his desk and looked up eagerly. "Well?" he asked, almost under his breath. The lawyer leaned on the top of the desk. "They are willing to grant you the two weeks' time provided you sign an agreement for your tirm that you will purchase their property at the price named at the expiration of that time." "With the provision," interpolated Wilson, "that a right of way is donated." "Yes. with that provision," Miller nodded. "Then sit down here and write out your paper." Miller complied as nonchalantly as if he were drawing up a bill of sale for a wornout horse. "There you are," he said, pushing the paper to Wilson when he had finished. Wilson read it critically. "It certainly is binding." he said. "You people may sleep during business hours, bul you have your eyes open when you draw up papers. However, I don't care. I want the Bishops to feel secure. They must get to work to secure the right of way. It will be 110 easy job, I'll let you know. I've struck shrewd, obstinate people In uiy life, but those up there beat the world. Noah couldn't have driven them in the ark even after the nooa set m. "You know something about them then?" said Miller, laughing to himself over the implied confession. Wilson flushed and then admitted that lie had been up that way several times looking the situation over. "IIow about the charter?" asked Miller indifferently. "That's fixed. I have already seen to that." "Then it all depends on the right of way," remarked the lawyer as he drew a cheek from his pocket and handed It to Wilson. "Now get me that note," he said Wilson brought it from the safe. "Turning this over cuts my option down, to two weeks." ne said, "Dt we'll know at the meeting what ca be done." b "Yes, we'll know then what they ca do with you," said Miller significant as he put the canceled note in hi pocket and rose to go. TO BE CONTINUED. Pfeeellanemw leading. HUMBUG AND FARCE. , Former Dispensary Advocate Now Hi Mia Evas Ooen. I I desire to give expression to son , thoughts on this question which in m i Judgment is the most serious problei I that is waiting solution by the peop - of South Carolina. I want to say in th i outset that I was at first a stron , friend of the dispensary system an voted for it, because I honestly bt lieved that it would destroy the ope I saloons, and would go a long way 1 [ mimimize the use of intoxicating II i quors. The law was framed ostensibl for this purpose, and the system estat ' lished with this claim, and the law c i first enacted, if strictly adhered to an enforced would have accomplished th) result. ( At first the dispensaries were sup plied with a high grade of liquor at i high price. This was wise and shoul have been continued as a permaner i policy. But this policy was found t be unpopular with a large class of II i quor drinkers who had been accus : tomed to cheap whisky, and in order t molify this class and to keep them 1 line in the primaries the cheap "Fus X" stuff, or in other words, the ver lowest, poorest class of liquor, wa supplied. We don't need to go far t ascertain the motive for this. 1 Every thinking man of practicf common sense knows that if the polic of high grade liquor at a high pric had been the policy and adhered to, th r,e intnviratlnc llriiifir among th poorer class of our people would hav been decreased fifty per cent. Bt time hits proved that small sales wa not the object or purpose of the astut politicians who foisted this system up on the people of the state. So far a the people are concerned it was a lea in the dark, and was a rash experl ment by politicians who were woefull lacking in the elements of true states manship. We hear it said on ail side that this system is better than the bar rooms. In some respects that is trui but in some others it is not true. 1 it not a humiliating position and a dis graceful spectacle to the view of en lightened Christian men and wome the world over, that the people of th proud old Palmetta State, with he glorious history of the past, shoul go bodily into the liquor business an deal o.ut to her citizens this beverag of hell for the sake of revenue, thu placing money above the manhood an womanhood of the state? I hear I said by the advocates of this systen that the state had as well sell it as t farm out the privilege to private indi viduals to sell it. This is a speciou argument, and is based upon a fals premise. The state did no such thinf 1 but under the local option law that ex isted prior to the Institution of th dispensary system, the incorporate towns and cities of the state were al lowed to issue license to retail liquo If it was the expressed will of the! citizens to do so. My recollection c the law is, that one hundred dollars c every license fee was to go to th counties, but nothing to the stat< Many of us contended that one-hal should go to the counties, then th towns would not have been so read * -* - >1 4W(n 10 gram me licenses. >* uu una yiu vision it would have been the best li quor law that the state has ever hac Now, what are the good features c the dispensary system? (I don't mea the law, but as the business is opera ted.) The liquor is sold In package of not less than half pints and is no sold after sunset nor before sunris and is not drunk on the premises. A the other good provisions of the law ar ignored and don't count in the reck oning. What are the bad features c the system? In the first place, it is huge, cumbersome, expensive buslnesi which costs an enormous amount c money to run it. In other words, th profits are. exceedingly small in pro portion to the expenditures, when w consider the vast amount of liquor sole and especially when we consider th high price and the low quality of th goods. The state commissioner, th board of control, all the men employe in and around the state dispensary, a the county boards of control, all th county dispensers and their clerks, to gether with the large number of stat constables, form no inconslderabl army of men who are directly interest ed in the perpetuity of the systen This organization is destined to be come, in fact has already become, festering, offensive sore in our bod . politic, corrupting the fountain of ou state government. Pure streams wi not and cannot flow from an impur fountain. Who are selling liquor in South Car olina? Directly the officials of th , state government, indirectly every ma and women in the state. Is it wron to retail intoxicating liquor as a be\ , erage? Hundreds and thousands c the best men and women in the stat think so, and have said so by the! , votes, yet we have against their protes made them partners in the biggest re tail liquor business ever prosecuted i the United States. Another bad feature of the system 1 we have made liquor selling and drinh ing more respectable. Before th adoption of this system, saloon-keer ers were not held in fellowship in th , churches, and they did not expect i , and their respect for religion was er ha need thereby. How is it now Why, from H. H. Crum and his sta officers all down through the line < this vast host of liquor dealers I gues i the majority of them are members < * churches claiming to be churches of D the Lord Jesus Christ. These dispensers regard their business as not only 0 respectable but right, because they are y officers of the state and are dealing out * the infernal stuff at the behest of the grand old Palmetto Commonwealth. If their business is called in question by their churches they can consistently claim that they are prosecuting our business, and that is just the long and _ short of it. Behold how the mighty are fallen! Every president of a col lege, every principal or a graaea school, every teacher, male and female, of every school that participates in the distribution of the public school fund ie or receives state aid, Is partlceps crimiy inis in the whole layout from start to m finish. IP 1 I have heard if said many times by ie the friends of this system that if the 8 preachers had stood loyally by the dlspensary, and the churches would have i_ allowed their members to hold official n positions in it without censure, the 0 dispensaries would ha\e been filled by a better class of men, and the law y more faithfully and effectively enforced. 13 Who ever heard of a Christian man ^ of high moral character retailing 11ls quor as a beverage to his fellowmen? A man of moral character as the world rates morals may sell liquor, but the a moral character and moral life begotten d in the heart and soul of the true believer in Jesus by the renewing power 0 of the grace of God through the operal" tion of the Holy Spirit is a very different kind of morality. I hear men 0 who are good men say that the Scripn tures do not command that we should 13 abstain absolutely from the use of y strong drink, but the trend of its 3 teachings are that wg may use it in 0 moderation, and upon this promise they base the argument that if it is ^ not wrong to use it, then it is not y wrong to sell it. Men, holding this ;e view have a very superficial knowledge e of the .teachings of the Word of God. e They forget that the great foundation e principle of the religion of the Lord lt Jesus Christ is the law of love?love 3 to God and love to man. "Love worke eth no ill to our neighbor." The argument might have some force if all 3 men used liquors in moderation, but P unfortunately the reverse is true. The " injunction is laid upon us to "avoid the y least appearance of evil." If a man standing behind a counter dealing out 3 intoxicating liquor to his neighbors does not bear the appearance of evil, then we may look in vain for the ap8 pearance of evil In the actions of men. When the dispensary law was first " enacted it provided that all the profits n of the business should go to the public e school fund. But it transpired that in r some counties n<^ dispensaries could be d established by the votes of the people, d and under the law these counties e shared equally In the distribution of 8 the profits going to the public school d fund. Political sagacity, or political trickery, demanded that the law be so altered as to cut these counties out 0 of any share of this liquor money and * induce them to establish dispensaries. 3 In order to popularize the system, an e appeal was made to the cupidity of the ? people by an amendment to the law fixing the amount of the profit to the e state not to exceed ten per cent, and all ^ the balance of the profits to be equally divided between the towns and counr ties to be used for general purposes, r thus increasing their revenues without lf additional taxations. These wily pol>f itlnfama Kallava if VA11 fnnph a mnn'S e pocket you touch his heart, that men will condone any and every kind of " devilment if it saves money and lowers e their taxes. R. B. Tillman was govs' ernor of South Carolina when John " Gary Evans Introduced the measure in " the state senate and at first the people thought it originated with Evans, but '' Mr. Tillman afterwards claimed that he n was its author. It matters not to the " people who originated It, the bantling 3 reflects but scant credit on the daddy. I have heard Mr. Tilman say publicly e that he had no religion and was sorry 11 for it. We understood him to mean ^ the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the question arises, and I think a very pertinent question, in the dlsa cussion of this unique system of retailing liquor. Is a man void of rellga Ion a safe counsellor when it comes e to the solution or settlement of purely moral questions by a Christian people? e It is said in the public prints and on the streets, and the belief is becoming come mon, that many of the state constables e are standing in with the blind tigers e for a "consideration." This may be d true or not true for aught I know, but " I do know that the system as it is e operated affords a fine opportunity for such a condition. e In this discussion I have tried "to be e fair and conservative, and have stated " the facts, circumstances and condi1 tions, with results and effects as I see them. The great mogul of the system a says the question is settled. I devoutly y hope that he is mistaken in this opin Ir Ion, and with thousands of other men 11 and women in South Carolina sinceree ly hope that it is not settled. If it is, and this system is permanently established, may God pity the people of e South Carolina. No question is setn tied by a Christian state or nation ung til it is settled right. We thought we settled the question of an honest state )f government in 1876, when we overe turned the radical regime and "turned lr the rascals out." But we had another 5t revolution in 1890, led by B. R. Tlllman. From 1876 until 1890 was fourn teen years. From 1890 until 1904 Is fourteen years. The advent of another s> Moses is almost due. The tariff levied upon imports has ,e been settled by congress several times in my day, and still it is a live issue ,e with the people, and is calling as loudly as ever for settlement.?W. H. Edwards In Baptist Courier. ? if JE5F No person is so punctual when it is comes to keeping engagements as the jf bill collector. Mar Be Prlnceaa. I! Miss Daisy Letter of Chicago, whose 1 engagement to the Prince of Teck Is re- 1 ported, Is a sister of Lady Curzon, wife 8 of the viceroy of India. PROSPECTS OF THE SOUTH ' J r Everything Looks to Its Increasing p Prosperity. President Stuyvesant Fish, of the j Illinois Central Railroad company, c writes to the Manufacturers' Record as follows: f "I fully agree with you as to the c south being at this moment the most t prosperous part of the country. It has r been selling its lumber at higher prices, e and in the south, certainly in the Ya- v zoo delta, the cutting down of standing t timber adds to the value of the land. r which condition does not prevail in the t heavily timbered districts of the north, where, on the cutting down of the forest, a sandy or rocky desert is generally left. ( "In the Mississippi valley we have this year an absolutely assured good crop of corn, and our prospects with j. respect to cotton are flattering. More- f over, the south, particularly the agri- g cultural south, ha? not lost a dp^ar t by the tremendous liquidation which c has taken place in Wall street, nor ^ does it owe a dollar in respect to un- j derwrltings. At the present moment t the farming population of the United States are, in my opinion, the richest c of any class in the community, and jamong them the farmers of the south r seem likely to fare best In the near c future." t Prosperity of southern farmers is r traceable in part to the good prices r which cotton has brought during the past two or three years, and, despite r the efforts of foreign cotton buyers io f create the impression that the south's t supremacy in cotton may some day be t contested by other countries, there is n not much danger on that point. Af- t ter a thorough investigation of cotton u conditions abroad, Colonel Alfred B. r Shepperson, the cotton statistician of 0 New York, writing from Liverpool, says. s "While yarns and goods have no- r where advanced to the parity of cotton, t the spinners who bought a large pro- j, portion of their cotton in the early r part of the season at an average cost t not over five-tenths, have had a remunerative season, and many spinners j. on the Continent and in England are in I this class. The manufacturers who j sold their yarns or goods for future de- a livery on the basis of a lower price for e cotton than they had to pay when s they bought it to enable them to fill r tneir contracts?ana tnere were many p in this situation?have had, of course, t; a very unsatisfactory season. The ef- s feet was exactly as if they had been t speculating in cotton futures, and had d got on the wrong side of the market. In a general average of the matter t the losses of these unlucky ones have b about offset the profits of their more y conservative and fortunate neighbors, A so that, as a body, the European cot- a ton manufacturers have probably made o no money during the season. Many e of them, however, are in a much bet- ti ter condition than at this time last season, as the stocks of yarns and a goods in the mills and in European o markets are much smaller. It may be added that nowhere in Europe are the mills burdened with large stocks of j high priced cotton." f, Col. Shepperson, referring to the e fact that imports of cotton from India h have increased about 500,000 bales ? during the season, says: t "There is no doubt that more careful h cultivation and preparation would v greatly Improve many of the varieties s of India cotton, and a continuance of h high prices for American cotton would h be the greatest incentive to such im- t provement. Taking a broad view of e the matter, I cannot regard as an ad- t vantage to our southern states the en- g hancement of the price of American t cotton?after the great bulk of it had passed out of the hands of the plant- d ers and farmers?to such an extent as b to encourage an increase of cotton pro- h duclion where it is now grown, and t to the world which offers the slight- ^ est hope of successful results. a "The European newspapers frequently refer to the efforts for promoting the cultivation of cotton in the British, J( French and German possessions in Africa, the West Indies, Australia, etc., h but I do not find that any substantial progress has been made in any quar- ^ ter. Indeed, some of the published re- b ports from Africa indicate an amazing o gnorance of the nature of the cotton plant and the proper methods of Its :ultlvatlon. The promoters of the A various plans to grow cotton in the Evilds of Africa and in the West Inlies and other countries where it is A iow cultivated are simply 'chasing f ainbows.* With proper treatment cotion can be grown in many countries s vhich possess the suitable conditions r >f temperature and rainfall. It is t; jerfectly evident, however, that it will t lever be grown on a large scale in any 1< >f these new fields of production unless 11 t can be made a more profitable crop :han the other crops now raised in r hese countries. s "The natives of Africa?and this is p squally true of the people In the West o indies, Australia, South America, etc.? f< Lre not especially interested in the o ratter of an abundant supply of cot- c on at a low price for the cotton spin- p iers of Europe. I really cannot see g vhy any of these people should have $ it heart, in even the slightest degree, he welfare of the European spinners. C f they are induced to cultivate cotton b it all it will only be because of the exsectation of realizing a greater profit li rom cotton than from the crops, with si he cultivation of which they are al- y eady familiar. They will not grow b :otton from sympathy for European si pinners, nor can they expect to derive f< iny fun or amusement from a crop equiring careful attention the greater b sart of the year. The high prices vhich have ruled for cotton during the tast season have been caused by the n noderate crops of American cotton for 1> everal seasons, co-incident with the b expansion in cotton manufacturing in n he United States and abroad. Spec- b ilation in 'cotton futures' has also it ontributed, even more than the legitlnate causes mentioned, to advance in trices." P Col. Shepperson summarizes present Q ndication8 of the cotton crop and in r< oncluslon says: C "Blessed with temperature and rainall better adapted to the successful r< ulture of cotton than any other counry, and with an abundance of land to neet every possible requirement for xtension of acreage, the United States 31 vill undoubtedly maintain in the fu- l< ure its present supremacy In cotton n iroductlon and continue to dominate he markets of the world." 0 A NATURAL CORNER. rl /od Liver Oil Is Cornered and Sells at n a High Price. The oil extracted from codfish livers y las long been regarded as a specific a or some forms of pulmonary disease, ays the Chicago Chronicle. It is said c' o have cured or deviated many cases a if consumption, and.any article, which, ? ised as medicine, saves or prolongs tuman life, Is of the greatest value to 0 he world. In its original state cod liver oil is a >ne of the most nauseous products of dscatory industry. While the lungs leeded its healing properties, in many ases where the necessity was greatest n he stomach revolted at the sickening g (reparation and it could not be ap- ? died. " But science, which Is the apostolic ninister to every form of human need, ound harmless and even helpful adulerants for the raw product, making he prepared specific agreeable to the nost sensitive stomach. That Is why he dispensatory preparations of cod Iver oil have all the virtues of raw 0 naterial and are tolerable to the tastes ^ f weakened invalids. ^ Cod liver oil Is now cornered and , rl ells at a corner Drice. The former . narket price was about $22 a barrel; j he present price is $160 a barrel. This ^ s not the result of a speculative corler, but of a market grreatly crippled y the matural loss of a supply. The best oil for medicinal purposes ^ 3 supplied from the fisheries of the xxfoden Islands on the west coast of Jorway. The fish of those waters yield n oil with nauseous qualtities unequal- y d by the oil from the cod in any other eas. The Newfoundland codfish furg ilsh oil that has no marked medicinal ^ iroperties and which is most used in anning some kinds of leather, which g hows that it has preservative quali- n ies, though not a kind useful In human < a isease. The regular output of the oil from P' he Norway fisheries has been 30,000 arrels annually. The output for the ' ear just closed was only 1,200 barrels, is many fish were caught as during ny previous year, but the awful cold ^ f last winter is said to have destroyd the small crustaceans which formed he oil producing food of the codfish. That is why our invalids are paying . vastly higher price for cod liver oil r are buying a worthless article. g * * " tl Stopped His Joking.?Ex-Governor logg of Texas, who has a reputation or liking to play a practical Joke very time he gets a chance, says ne ias been cured of the habit. The last Ime he was In New York the Joke he ried to perpetrate was turned back on ^ ;im in great style. It happened that he wanted a shoe shine. The bootblack, a mall-sized Italian, began to chatter at ilm after he had taken his seat in the SC iigh chair. Not being in a conversaional frame of mind, the portly govrnor thought it would be a good plan o feign that he was deaf and dumb. g< !o he responded by signs to everything he bootblack said. This proceeding naturally caused the lesired silence on the part of the Itala.n, and the governor was wrapped in ^ lis own thoughts, when suddenly a litle newsboy ran up and asked him if " le wanted a paper. Before he could ti eply the bootblack turned to the boy c, nd said: . "You nota talka to him. He deaf." a( The newsboy looked him over, says e1 he governor, and then remarked in a c< jud voice: "Well, say, he's a fat old hog, ain't ie?" al The governor, who weighs 300 pounds F r more, relishes telling the story, but ie adds feelingly that he kept up his iluff after hearing the brutal comment ' f the newsboy.?New York Times. ui Ul the Indications Are That a Strong Dose Is Needed. W. W. Ball, writing in the Laurens Ldvertlser, says: Reform! Three cheers or reform! After cruel, grinding, weary years of tubbing out toes against the roots and ocks of the road that the minority ravels, the Advertiser has perched on he reform band wagon and is now the fading reform organ in South Carona. Mr. Jesse T. Gantt, a thoroughbred eformer, and incidentally secretary of tate (also a mighty nice young man), olnts out that the state of South Carlina ended the year 1901 (a year beore the present administration took flice) $145,000 in debt He also delares in his clear and able article preared for the press that the state is etting deeper in detyt each year about 100,000. The time was when we thought South larollna had been reformed a plenty, ut?we need another dose. When we reflect that'in the bloomig days of reform ever since 1898 the tate has been getting in debt each ear we are pained. When we rememer that in all these years, during which ome of us have been continually re>rmed till it hurt, we are dazed. Can it be possible that anybody has een bamb&uched and deboozeled? Perish the thought! It Is true that taxes are paid on lany millions more of property than 1 the days when the state was ruled y "the oligarchy" and "incipient coriiption" was discovered?those days, y the way, when the state lived within s income. It is horribly true. What are we going to do about It? lainly, we need reform, and need it ulck. In the noon-day splendor of "form the "Octopus," alias the hateful oosaw phosphate "monopoly," was laughtered. Since then the phosphate jyalties have about disappeared. Give us reform. Verily we weep for What are we going to do? We might mash the state colleges, but Mr. Gantt ;lls us that the saving thereby would ot amount to a great deal. Really, we do not think South Carlina should live beyond her "lien." The proper remedy is to reduce salales. To begin with, the salaries of the lembers of the state whisky board of ontrol should be reduced from $400 a ear to $1 a month. This would save bout 11,164 a year. The salaries of the three railroad ommissioners should be reduced to fl month, and the members of the legilature should be allowed to ride on leir free passes. Thus the "mileage" f all the legislators would be saved. The salary of the governor should be bollshed entirely. A governor should e able to live in Columbia on the garen truck raised in the penitentiary, he governor's mansion should be >nted. It is far too nice a house for a overnor. Some of the bottle factories r distilleries now flourishing in Colmhlo mlcht nav a mnnth fnr It From what we have heard, It would ot do to reduce the salaries of any of le other state officers. Since the erecon of the "Sky-scraper" in Columbia, le expenses of living In that town are aid to have gone up thirteen stories, ome think these officers could dwell ver In Lexington county?it's only a lile?but that is out of the question, 'here's a toll bridge across the river. :'s no use to talk about reducing salales of state officers. We've got to reuce the state officers. The trouble is lat they are a tonler set than this own-trodden state can afford. Mr. Gantt favors raising additional avenue by a "franchise tax." So do re, but our "franchise tax" is of a difarent kind. Let the constitution be mended so as to allow every man not ow entitled to vote to do so on payient of $10 each election year. Rooseelt, Hanna, Lodge and other plutocrac Republicans in the north would be lad to pay this tax out of the Repubcan campaign fund, for 21,000 Neroes. We could afford to let that umber be counted, at $10 each. Here is another good scheme. We re told that 1,600 men applied for ositions as state constables and were ;Jected. Let the governor reconsider nd appoint all, charging each a fee of 10, to go Into the state treasury. This ould raise $16,000. The 1,600 new mstables could be stationed In Coimbla and Charleston, where they suld easily seize enough blind tiger eer and whisky to pay for their serlees. In conclusion, we wish to remark lat among all the firms in the United tates engaged in the whisky business, le proud state of South Carolina is robably the largest single dealer, and hen such a firm Is getting behind very year there must be need of more _ form. P Saving of Seed Corn.?It gives but ttle trouble, yet results in great pro1, for farmers to go into their corn elds after the corn is ready to gath and select the very' best ears for >ed. Let the quality selected be as niform as possible as to the grain, ars with grains closely set, taken om stalks that have produced two Dod ears, are to be preferred. These irs so selected should be hung up In dry place with the shucks back. By laking the selection In the fall much me is saved when the period of plantig comes on; besides, a careful selecon will result In greatly improving le quality of the crop. A great many ops of corn are grown in which a azen varieties may be found with /ery conceivable mixture. Pure white >rn, not .too hard or flinty, on large irs and small cobs, is the best for II purposes of the farm.?Southern arm Magazine. tS" Chance is a lady who often goes nder the name of "good Judgment." i