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Tm. grists sons, Publishers.} S ^""'S Uru-spaper: *> the promotion of the political, Social, Agricultural and (Tommcrrinl Interests of the people. I """''N'o^cuiv'^vK1"^-""' ~KsnitMSHEi> tsaii. " VOltlCVILTJ-:. S. C'.. TI'F.SDAY, JAM'AtiY :?. H>11. " X079. "Alias Jimmy Valentine" CHAPTER II?Continued. * " ' * * *' * * ^ * l*?** ? ?-? * irrV?t inline aiu iney khuw m?i u be Jimmy Valentine, No. 12S9. who was to teach them that the soul of a man is an unquenchable spark that not even years of oppression and degradation can lastingly dim when the spirit wills that they shall not. And just now there came a knocking at the warden's door that portended much for 12S9. The warden's secretary went to the door opening from the office into a waiting room where visitors were re ZJFUTENANT GOVERNOR FAT WAS ANNOUNCED. ceived. He returned to announce, "Some members of the Gate of Hope society, and they have the lieutenant governor and his niece with them." "The lieutenant governor?" ejaculated Handler. "Fay." "Yes." "What's the Gate of Hope?" asked Doyle. "A gang of women try in* to release I rom prison cuuwcis UH.1 WV..V.V v..-. innocent," said the warden. The detective smiled. At Handler's orders Smith summoned the callers. Doyle making his exit. "The lieutenant governor," pondered Handler. "I wonder if there's any leak about those contracts for supplies." Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Webster of the society, middle aged women of pleasing appearance, came in. followed by Hose Lane, the lieutenant governor's niece, and that official himself. Miss Lane, a young girl of unmistakable charm and beauty, held close to her uncle's side. "Mr. Handler." spoke Mrs. Webster, "we come today with a famous humanitarian. Lieutenant Governor Fay" she pronounced, inclining toward that official. "Governor," said the warden, bowing. The lieutenant governor shook Handler's hand and presented his niece. The party seated themselves, facing the warden. "We have come here today," said Mrs. Moore, "to again ask that men be not forced to make confessions while imprisoned here that may be used against them when they leave here. We understand that through the pressure that can be brought to bear on the inmates in these institutions they can be made willing to confess to crimes they never committed." "What do you mean?" queried Handler. "Oh. we understand that by depriving prisoners of their proper allowance of food and of small privileges tlit v are allowed, ami i?y nunyms vimduet on the part of the men in charge of them the inmates can l>e led to make false confessions involving themselves or others. This information is used against the men after they are released as well as against men who are at large whom the police desire to incriminate." "No one is ever forced to confess anything here, madam." protested Handler. "But I know"? "Pardon me Mrs. Moore," interrupted the lieutenant governor, rising, "I do not think that in your zeal you realize what you are saying." He addressed the warden. "It seems, however. that th< so well meaning ladies have evidence that a crtaiti man here did confess some offense to a?a"? "To a stool," commented Handler. "Am I responsible for the detectives who have men working inside the prison for them?" "By a 'stool* you nn-an" ? "A stool pigeon, a decoy. They will the confidence of prisoners and tell what they learn to the detectives." Mrs. Moore here went on to state that in Sing Sing and in all prisonswere confined many innocent men and that in any event released men should he encouraged to live honestly, should he given a chance. They ought not tu he pursued and hounded into being Novelized by FREDERIC R. TOOMBS From the Great Play by PAUL ARMSTRONG Copyright, 1910, by American Press Association. I spies by detectives anxious to make a record for securing convictions re gardless of the truth of the testimony. One reason the woman advanced for her stand was that a man who became a spy or decov must associate cortinually with men and women of questionable character thus rendering it impossible to secure much less remain in honest employment. "Bosh!" exclaimed Handler as she ceased. "These folks we get don't want to live straight, won't live straight, can't live straight when tl^-y get on the outside. First, they're all lazy: second, most of them are insane. "What would you call a man." continued the warden, "who does something the law forbids, does it whenever the opportunity offers without a chance of gain? What do you call a man who does a thing for the love of it?" "An artist," answered Mrs. Webster. "Artist! Then I've got a lot of them." laughed Handler sarcastically. "Well, to me they are insane." To Rose Lane the adventure was extremely interesting. Finally succeeding in gaining her uncle's consent to her accompanying him on a visit to the great prison, she was now seeing a little section of the darker side of life which appealed strongly to her ! "?? 4oVionl'c (Inch. inict^11iti11\ t* iiaiuic. iim ? cd with the excitement of the occasion, this voyage into this famous tomb of living: dead men. As the warden finished she exclaimed, "I once had an experience with a burglar. and"? "Did he take your jewels?" asked Mrs. Moore sympathetically. "No. 1 was in the parlor car in daylight. I was the only person in the car, and this man walked up and accosted me. I reached for the bell for the porter. He struck my wrist. Then he sat on the arm of my chair. He wanted to talk io me, he said. I scarcely knew what to do when a younger man, evidently a gentleman, walked in from the smoking compartment and, taking the man by the arm, led him away." "How do you know the man was a burglar?" asked the lieutenant governor. "Listen. I had no more than got my breath when the man came back. He threw his arms about my shorrtders and again sat on the chair. When I reached for the bell he struck my arm. I screamed. The gentleman | who had taken him away before ran into the oar, and they rougnt. i was petrified with fright. The gentleman was much the smaller, and it seemed he would surely l>e killed when suddenly by some triek he sent the man crashing through the Pullman window. I read in the paper the next day that a famous burgler was found with his skull fractured near the tracks." A strange light came into Handler's eyes. Was it possible, he thought, that so strange a coincident? "Did that occur in this state?" he asked quickly. "Yes, between Buffalo and P.ochester two years ago in June." The warden compressed his lips firmly. "Was the dead burglar's name Cotton?" he interrogated earnestly. "Yes: that's what the papers said. Did you know him?" "Had him here for five years once. Odd. but we heard he was killed trying to get 0:1 a moving train. And. by M 0. "HE WAS TALL AND HAD BLOND HAIR." the way, his particular pal is now in this prison doing ten?sale breaking. His name is Valentine. The story you tell is a brand new one on us." "And you never saw again the gentleman who resetted you?" queried Mrs. Moore of Miss little. "Never." Into the young girl's fact i came an expression of mingled sweetness and regret. The woman's question seemed to revive in her the inemi ories of a voire and fare and a man' ner and a personality which somehow She had never been quite able to for. get. i "We sat and talked for a few minutes," she finally went on. "He told me that there were reasons why he could not let nie know who he was and that he could never see me again, though I wanted him to meet my family to receive their thanks for what he had done. He was very nervi ous. but he had amazing strength for I one of his build, as his handling of I that ruffian showed. When he shook I hands with me l noticed that his hands i were very white and smooth and sensi; tive." The warden was now leaning over his desk, intent on the girl's words. "I noticed that he had the habit of frequently pressing one hand nervously into the other, and"? "He was tall, and he had blond hair," interjected the warden. The girl gazed at Handler in open mouthed astonishment. CHAPTER III. Warden Handler, regretting that he had given his visitors an indication that he believed he had recognized Rose Lane's deliverer, answered the questions of the girl and the lieutenant governor by stating: "The man is as bad as the burglar he threw out of the ear window?even worse. He's in this prison at this moment, I flrmly believe. according to the description we've just heard." "Oh. impossible!" exclaimed Miss Lane, her face coloring. "He was a gentleman, a thorough eentleman. and too young to bp a hardened criminal." Her face became shadowed with con cern. Tho warden was vastly amnsod at this remark, which the young eirl rendered with the finality of unquestioned authority. "Too young!" he laughed. "Ace doesn't cut any figure in crime the way you mean. It's some of these vouncr fellows that will take a chancr at anvthiner. You see. they're ambitious. They're anxious to rise in theii business." The warden paused and glanced from the pirl to the observing lieutenant ex>v?rnor. then to the two members of the Hate of Hope. He commented on the fact that his visitors had disagreed with him on various points and informed them that he had determined to offer them a few object lessons, lessons with living models. "I'll show ' ijy BLINKKY DAVIS HAISED THE CHECK To $50,0(10. you," he said, "that these crooks we've got here will ply their trade at all times, whether they profit or not; that, in short, criminality is a mania with them and that there's no use in trying to better them." His first exhibit, brought in by the secretary, was the celebrated forger "Blinkey" Davis. At the warden's request Lieutenant Governor Fay drew a cheek for $5 and handed it to Rlinkey. To oblige the warden Blinke.v, aided by a knife and pen and ink, in five minutes had "raised" it to the amount of $50,000. The lieutenant governor pronounced it perfect. "I know where I could pass it. too." laughed Blinkey as he was led away. "I had him on the books once, and he couldn't resist raising the prison cheeks," chuckled Handler. "I could bring in fellows like that all day." He picked up an object from his desk. "Do you see this lock? A German inventor waiting outside has spent touiteen years in perfecting, that. He claims it cannot be opened without the key. The prison board has accepted it for use here if the claims made for it are true. We have a man here paralyzed oil one side, a sneak thief. I have sent for him. He may not open it. hut he will try, for he cannot resist the criminal mania that controls him. Smith," to his secretary, "get the Dutchman; also the gentleman known as "Dick the Hat.'" When the decrepit form of "Dick the Rat" was brought in, together with the patent inventor Bliekendolfenbach. he was given the lock, three minutes and a hairpin. Ten seconds before his allotted time expired he threw the lock, opened, on the warden's desk, and with his repulsive, seamy face contorted into what he considered was a smile he inclined his head to one side. From his throat came inarticulate squeals of glee?exactly the squeals of a rat. Only, the watchfulness of Smith saved the "Rat" from the violent, despairing onslaught of the German, who screamed: "I'll kill him! He ruin me! I"nd mil a hairpin, mein Gott!" "You're not the lirst man to be ruined by a hairpin," laughed the warden. "Don't tell your wife." Smith sent the inventor to the railroad station in charge of a guard and consigned the grinning Hlinkcy to the ( ell that had long been his home. On returning to the office the secretary said: "I've brought Valentine along too. 1 thought you might want him to open the safe." (To be Continued). French Official Red Tape.?Two men went to Nice lately from Italy to attend a funeral and took with them a wreath of flowers to which was fastened a silk ribbon bearing an inscription. They were informed at their destination that thee would have to pay a duty equivalent to $2.r>. The mourners protested, saying that the wreath was made of natural flowers on which there was no duty, hut they were informed that the dutiable part was the silk and that, according to the tariff laws, duty must he collected on the gross weight of the memorial emblem. Then the men agreed to throw the ribbon away, but this could not be done on French soil, and so they journeyed back to the frontier, where they disposed of the ribbon, boarded a train for Nice with the ribbonless wreath and arrived too late for the funeral. xCold cash will warm the coldest heart. ittioccllancous jUratliiifi. J. H. TILLMAN'S NURSE. She Was Dismissed Because of a Letter to the Senator. Asheville. January 27.?Anent the several newspaper stories relative to Col. James H. Tillman, who has been a visitor and health-seeker in Asheville for the past several months and who is declared to be rapidly improving. Mrs. Mary Dortch Scofield. who came here with Col. Tillman as his nurse and who remained with Col. Tillman until, as she says, she was "fired because she wrote a letter to Senator Benjamin Tillman asking that he assist his nephew," has handed In for publication a communication plvinp her side of the matter, and also a letter from former Governor Charles B. Aycock of North Carolina as to her standing, refinement and culture. Mrs. Scofield's communication follows: "I have paid no attention to the stories lately printed, but the attack by Mrs. M. T. Bunch, a sister of Col. Tillman, as she signed herself when in Ashevllle, cannot go unnoticed. (She refers to an article in the Spartanburg Journal a few days ago.) They are not true. I was with Col. Tillman from the hour that he arrived In Ashevllle until he became angry about my writing to Senator Tillman to assist him. Then he dismissed me. saying that I was the best nurse he had ever seen but he would never have another trained nurse, but would pet a 'nipper' who would not tell everything. I have nothing to say against my patient. I did my duty by him. When he went to Larkspur cottage, in Albermarle park, it was I who advanced the money for three months' rent; also the $25 which pa id for the bed he now occupies. I expected his sister, Mrs. Bunch, to repay that money. She left here November 2, promisinp to send me a check November 15. I have not received one penny yet. She left without leaving one penny in the house, and the rest of my money, over $30 went for what I would call very necessary expenses: milk, epps. etc. Mrs. Bunch was not in Larkspur cottage after November 2 until January 17, although I wrote her in December I would be compelled to go where I could make expenses, then only remained three nights. certain patients are allowed to eat all they can t?et. I did not know Col. Tillman had been forbidden that privilege. I never nursed in Baltimore. I told Col. Tillman when I went to him of my dismissal from the 'out patient department' connected with Bellevue. I am not ashamed but rather proud of the fact. Miss Goodrich offered to let me rcsiRn, but I preferred a dismissal because I was dismissed for reporting unjust treatment of helpless patients. The matter was placed before Mayor Gaynor, but he did not give me a fair investigation. Miss Goodrich and Dr. Brannon misrepresented the case to him and he let it drop. I intend to have it up later. "I have been noted for Riving my time and money to patients. This is the first time I have been accused of trying to steal. As a letter from the governor of South Carolina has been given, no doubt I will be pardoned for producing one from a former governor of North Carolina, Hon. Charles A. Aycock. Respectfully, "Mrs. Mary D. Scofleld." The letter from former Governor Ayeock, which Mrs Scofield handed in as an exhibit, follows: "To Whom it May Concern: "I have known Mrs. Mary Dorteh Seofield for more than 25 years. She is a member of one of the very best families in North Carolina, and she is a woman of culture, high and noble purpose. Her life has been devoted to the service of others. She is absolutely and unqualifiedly truthful about all matters and can be implicitly relied upon. I wish to make this testimonial as strong as language permits, because in truth she is entitled t' it. "Very respectfully, "C. B. Ayeock." COFFEE. Use of Wide-World Beverage Discovered By Accident. The use of coffee as a beverage is traced to the Persians; it came into great repute in Arabia Felix about 1450, and passed thence into Egypt and Syria, and in 1511 to Constantinople. It was conveyed from Mocha, in Arabia, to Holland in 1616, and was first brought to England by Nathaniel Canopus. a Cretan, in 1650. The first coffee house in England was kept by a man named Jacobs in Oxford, in 1650. The first in London was opened by a Greek in George Yard, Lombard street, in 1652. Pope's well known lines in "The Rape of the Lock," show that it was familiarly known in his time: Coffee, which makes the politician wise, And see through all things with his half shut eyes. Toward the middle of the fifteenth century, it is related, a poor Arab was traveling in Abyssinia. Finding himself weak and weary, he stopped near a grove. For fuel wherewith to cook his rice, he cut down a tree that happened to be covered with dried berries. His meal being cooked and eaten, the traveler discovered that these halfburnt berries were fragrant. He collected a number of them, and, on crushing them with a stone, found that the aroma was increased to a great extent. While wondering at this, he accidentally let the substance fall into a an that contained his scanty supplj of water. A miracle! The almost putrid water was purified. He brought it to his lips; it was fresh and agreeable; and after a short rest the traveler so far recovered his strength and energy as to be able to resume his journey. The lucky Arab gathered as many berries as he could, and having arrived at Aden, informed the mufti of his discovery. That worthy was an inveterate opium smoker, who had been suffering for years from the influence of the poisonous drug. He tried an infusion of the roasted berries, and was so delighted at the recovery of his former vigor that in gratitude to the tr?e he called it camuha, which arable signifies "force." It is said that the Mohammedans, shortly after the introduction of coffee employed it to keep them awake during their long religious services. Later It was considered an intoxicating liquor, and hence to be classed among the beverages prohibited by the Ko^an. Still its use was continued, however, and though It took a long time for its Influence to pass beyond the confines of Arabia, it finally came into favor at Constantinople, where coffee houses were opened in the sixteenth century. Until 1690 the only source of the world's coffee supply was Arabia; but in that year, Governor General Van HOorne of the Dutch East India company received a few coffee seeds from traders who plied between the Arabian Gpir and Java. ineso seeas wcru planted, and grew so well that*the Industry of coffee growing In Java received a tremendous Impetus. One of the plants first grown there was sent to the governor of the Dutch East India company. It was planted In Holland, and seeds from It were sent to the West Indies, and then to other parts of the world.?Harper's Weekly. "THREE-NOTCH" ROADS. Origin of Some Common Designations As to Highways. In certain of our states, notably In Missouri, there are to be found highways bearing the curious designation, "three-notch" roads. Such a road is a'public highway, as distinguished from a road leading to a saw mill, a church, a school house or back In the woods to a farm house. A "threenotch" road is the kind that is sure to "go somewhere." Should one travel far enough along It he will roach a tqjtvn In due time. ^ack of this odd designation is an interesting story. It appears that George III. decreed that all English public roads should be marked with his name. In England and his colonies public roads have so long been known as the king's highway that no one tan positively state when the custom originated. When George III. desired his name to l>e posted at convenient points on the highway in America, the refractory subjects of his majesty here adopted the expedient of cutting three notches on trees, in which way avoiding specific reference to King George. After the Revolution, of course, the name was universally omitted, but the three notches proved useful as a means of making public roads. Virginia colonists, it is said, carried this system to Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana, and their children carried it on to Missouri. Originally Missouri had no counties. Later, when these came, the state decided that were the task left to the counties themselves there would be little road building. So the state constructed the roads and marked them with three notches. Afterward, when the counties undertook the marking of roads they were designated in the timber country with two notches. Prior to and during the civil war this distinction was preserved and "three-notch roads were always through roads, leading from one town of some importance to another. Twonotch roads were less important highways, and roads not notched at all ivprn either railroads or plank roads. A raM road was a road leading to some rami) where men were splitting rails while a plank road led to a saw mill.?Harper's. HOUSE OF SURPRISES. The Home of British Diplomacy, No. 10 Downing Street. Why does the residence of the prime minister of the kingdom resemble the dwelling of a retired grocer of simple tastes? The reply to this Is forthcoming. It does not. It only pretends to resemble the dwelling of a retired grocer. No. 10 Downing street begins to reveal itself as a surprise packet when you have rung one of its three bells and persuaded its front door to open. You then discover yourself in an entrance hall whose mats, walls and general shabbiness would be the instant ruin of a Bloomsbury temperance hotel, and you perceive that you have unwittingly done an Injustice to the retired grocer. You decide that no grower. ht any rate no English grocer, would tolerate such a kennel. Put when you have penetrated a iittle farther, and especially when you have mounted the first flight of stairs, you will be ready to remodel your views once again. Within thirty seconds you will have lost your bearings. Within sixty you will admit that you are in a palace full of bewildering corridors and endless sumptuosity, with here and there a glimpse of some immi.ncr, :in<l st.-itelv anartment. Xo. 10 Downing street begins just exactly where you might have expected it to finish. Its ramifications are innumerable. its geography an enigma even to the most ancient janitor.?From Phillpolts and Arnold's "The Statue." Hub Says He was Sent For.?"Yes," said H. H. Evans of Newberry, known as "Huh" Evans, once chairman of the state dispensary hoard of directors, whose name was yesterday mentioned in Gov. Bleasc's message to the general assembly with reference to a meeting in Atlanta, "Felder did send for me to come to Atlanta." This was in reply to a question about the meeting. Mr. Evans continued: "When we were in the room together I said to him, 'open that door you, and let the attorney general hear everything I have got to say.'" "Then what did you say?" "I told him that even if I knew anything I would not tell it to him," and Mr. Evans concluded with his words just a hit stronger. The former dispensary chairman was shaking hands in legislative circles today. He talked freely to newspaper representatives, as is his wont. Mr. Evans said that if he went on the stand there would he some "hot stuff." He continued. "The county dispensaries are now buying the same liquor the state dispensary did, pay ins the same prices and higher. You talk about a firm turning over $30,000 the other day, well, then the'county dispensaries pay back $100,000 for that."-?Columbia special of January 26, to News and Courier. jt'T "He's always 'whippin' the devil around the stump,' as they say, but just what fun he wets out o' it doesn't appear. The devil seems to enjoy the exercise, an' the feller doin' the whippin' never gets any further than the narrow limits of the stump!"?Atlanta Constitution. I STUDY OF COTTON TRADE. Consumption Has Increased 15 Per Cent In Five Years. In the Sunday issue of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, Walter Parker, cotton editor, after a brief review of the past week In the cotton market, sums up the present situation as follows: In so far as price Is concerned, the cotton market seems to he in a state of equipoise. Consumers willingly pay current values for supplies. Spot own ers aa a ruie wnungiy. accept iuu current values for their holdings. The result Is rapid transfer of the remnant Into trade hands. Meanwhile, the speculative rings, temporarily at least, have lost the power of leadership, and trail along behind the spot markets. Such a state of af'alrs Is more than apt to prove misleading. Quite natural, ly, surface students among the consuming element will think that fear of an ample supply holds the hull speculator In restraint. On the other hand, the spot owner, feeling that consumers stand ready to absorb the entire repinant at full prices, may over-estimate the ability of the mills to chew up high priced cotton. Therefore, since the cotton trade In general Is being neither encouraged nor handicapped by speculation, the broader questions of supply and consumption must be dealt with direct, as the trader must draw his own conclusions with respect to the future. Allowing for every contingency? poor trade, want of confidence, panicky conditions, which have all had their swing during the two past fiveyear periods?the fact is borne out by the actual figures that every bale of cotton produced In the southern states has been wanted and more, too. The limit of consumption has been the limit of production. Here are the figures since 1889-1900 as compiled from Mr. Hester s statements (in thousand of hales:) Brought into ConsumpSight tion. Bales. Bales. 1900-10 10,468 10,171 1901-02 10,612 10,657 1902-0 3 10,683 10,876 1903-04 10,055 10,083 1904-05 13,641 11,838 Totals five years. .55,459 53,625 Average year .. ..11,091 10,725 Heie we find that out of 55,459,000 hales brought into sight, 1,834,000 were not consumed, the supply and consumption for the five years having heen as follows: Visible supply and mill stocks August 31, 1900 1,125 Brought Into sight five years ending August 31, 1905 55,459 Total supply five years 55,584 Consumption five years. .53,625 Burnt five years 47 53,672 Leaving visibly supply of mill stocks August 31, 1905 2,912 Brought into ConsumpSight tion. Bales. Bales 1905-06 11,322 12,166 1906-07 13,489 12 611 1907-08 11,592 12 112 1908-09 13,797 13,157 1909-10 10,584 11.7M 60.784 61,820 Average per year . .12,157 12,364 Here we find that all of the 60, 784,000 bales brought into sight were consumed, with an additional 1,036,000 drawn from the previous surplus, the supply and consumption showing as follows (000s omitted:) Visible supply and mill stocks August 31, 1905 2,912 Brought into sight five years ending August 31, 1910 60,784 Total supply five years ., .. 63,696 Consumption five years ending August 31, 1910 .. ..61,820 Burnt five years ending August 31. 1910 14 61,834 Visible supply and mill stocks August 31, 1910 1,862 Thus while production during the last five-year period increased 5,325000 bales, consumption has increased 8,195,000 and that, notwithstanding prices for the raw material, have averaged more than a cent and a half a pound, or $8 per bale, higher. The story will not be complete without an addition of the price record during the periods named. Here it is: Price of Middling Cotton. (New Orleans.) High. Low. 1900-0 1 11 1-8 7 9-16 1901-0 2 9 3-4 7 1-4 1902-0 3 13 5-8 7 5-8 1903- 4 16 7-16 9 1-8 1904-0 5 11 3-16 b-X-2 Average five years. 12.42 7.61 Mean between high and low average, 10.01. High. Low. 1905-0 6 12 1-8 9 3-16 1906-0 7 13 9-16 9 1-8 1907-0 8 13 9-16 9 1-8 1908-0 9 12 5-8 8 11-16 1909-1 0 15 3-4 12 3-16 Average five years. 13.41 9.66 Mean between average of huh and low, 11.59. At what price would consumption be permanently checked? It is easy to judge how a large number of spindles may be put out of joint by temporary important differences between values of raw and manufactured materials, but the story1 above presented indicates that such occurrences have not thus far affected the regular trend of events. What then is the limit of consumption? Up to this time the mills of the world have used up all they could get. It has been asserted that were all the spindles in existence worked to full time they might use up 15,000,000 to 16,000,000 bales, and yet the number of spindles is increasing from year to year. It is clear that there must be a more kt'ill-ltll icowil vu lillvi i>u?i.mv.w yarns which require less cotton to the spindle, or the same cry of idle spindles must go on indefinitely. If not, the supply must he increased, which can only be accomplished through the inducement of price. This, then, is the basis for the argument that higher prices for cotton have come to stay. The question of future supply is enshrouded in more or less doubt and uncertainty. The boll weevil must be reckoned with. The little varmint continues his march, holding what he has gained, and conquering fresh fields as the seasons go on. That he ir. turn will be eventually exterminated is certain, but when? The damage the boll weevil has done, If reckoned by num- 1 bers of bales, is enormous. Texas alone < should by this time have been turning out an average 6,000,000 bale crop, 1 Louisiana has been almost wiped oft 1 the map as a cotton producing state, ] Mississippi has ceased to be counted as 1 a banner state, and there is no telling I what is in store from this source. The ] riaifotlnn Viaa nnt Vinvvovpr hppn uHtVi out its advantages. The stricken sec- \ tlons have found that they could raise | other things besides cotton, and right , here the question arises whether or , not it pays to raise all cotton and pur- . chase the hog and hominy? , The question has been put to us: "! the southern country able to grow an , average 14,000,000 bale cotton crop or , more without paying out most of the | proceeds for the necessaries of life? If | It cannot, would not such crops prove ] a colossal mistake?" Of course, this has been asked from . a southern standpoint. That the world , will need 14,000,000 or more In the near , future, if it does not need it right now, | is undoubted. During the last five- ( year period the Increase in consump- ( tion was 15 3-10 per cent. The same , ratio of average yearly gain for the ( coming five years would mean an aver- ( age of fully fourteen and a quarter ( millions. Will the supply be equal to ( such a demand? The average Increase in production , during 4he last five-year period was 9 61-100 per cent, which if continued for the next five years, would mean an j average production per year for the ( next five years of 13,325,000 bales. There may be years between now and , the end of 1915-16 of phenomenal , growth (boll weevil permitting,) the same as we have had in the two past five-year periods, when nature will do ner Desi, ana mere may uc nau, ?ui iu , say disastrous years, but it takes the , whole to serve as a basis for an aver- ( age. , It is not Intended to venture a pre- , diction as to what the future may have ( in store. The facts of themselves are not only intensely interesting, but they furnish food for serious reflection. BATTLE WITH ANTS. i Terrible African Pest That Kills All In , Its Path. The driver-ants are a terrible pest in I West Africa. Crawling over the ground i in countless thousands, invincible to < anything but a wall of fire, they bring i quick death to every live' thing un- 1 fortunate enough to be caught in their < path, and leave behind them the skele- 1 tons of lizards, rats, sheep, cattle, and I even human beings. In his book entl- I tied "We Two in West Africa," Maj. F. I G. Gugglsberg recounts the terrors of I one nlgfit when the pests invaded his < house. i I heard voices calling, "Get up?the ants are on us!" Sitting bolt upright, I I found the room apparently in dark- i ness. In reality, the lantern on the I floor at the foot of the bed was still i burning, but as I threw my hand out 1 and felt the heavy weight of the mosquito-net, I suddenly realized that it 1 was coated with ants so thickly that it I kept the light out as effectively as a t velvet curtain. I Two bounds took me out of that 1 mosquito-net and tne nut, out u was i an uncanny feeling when my feet i crunched through the living carpet of I ants. Hitting the side of the doorway < in my hasty exit, I brought down a ] shower of the little pests on my head I and shoulders, from rafter, wall and i roof, and then the fun began. i Some people say that the ant buries t his head in you and leaves it there, < others that he drives some other part ' of his body into you. I didn't worry i about examining which theory was i correct?it did not affect the torture of the result. For the next ten min- ? utes I was standing in a state of na- i ture in the open, the rain beating s down, and the boys, hastily roused, ] picking ants off my body by the light < of torches. i I was so engrossed in this new sport < that I quite forgot aboi ? Lees; then I ( suddenly realized tha lie was not i there. I won a moral vr. C. by going 1 into that infernal place and hauling 1 him out. He was a pitiable sight in f the torchlight, his hair waving as if in ( a breeze, as the ants crawled through e it, his body black with them. \ To pick them off was too slow a job. c I seized a tin of kerosene oil and pour- t ed it over him, sweeping the enemy off ( in thousands. One of my hammock s boys rushed up with a flaming torch, t meaning, in the kindness of his heart, t to give master more light. I yelled to j him to keep away, and he, thinking he t was being urged on, dashed towards us t quicker than ever. Luckily, Lee's cook ( stopped him in time, and a tragedy was ( averted. We spent the remainder ot' the night under a tree. In spite of the discomfort of it all?the persistent rain, the mist, the smarting pain of the ant bites?we could not help laughing at the idea of our helplessness against the little brutes that were occupying our comfortable hut. However, the only thing to do was to wait patiently till they cleared out. Statute of Limitations.?A wellknown Kansas banker told a story the other day about the statute of limitations. There is a smile in it, plus some good philosophy. One day an old southerner walked into this banker's office. The southerner was a typical gentleman of the old school, suave, courteous to the point of punctiliousness and honorable to a degree of martyrdom. "What can I do for you?" asked the banker. "Well." replied the southerner, "about thirty-five years ago I loaned a man down south some money?not a very big sum. I told him that whenever I should need it I would let him know and he could pay me the money. I need some money now, so I shall let him know and I would like to have you < transact the business for me." ( "My good friend," replied the banker, "you have no claim on that money. You can't hold that man to that loan. ' You say it has been thirty-five years since you loaned it to him? The stat- ( ute of limitations has run against that loan years and years ago." "Sir," replied the southerner, "the f mail it) ivnom i mmiru mm niuiic^ w j a gentleman. The statute of limitations never runs against a gentleman." So the hanker sent for the money. And within a reasonable time thereafter the money came. There was a courtly gentleman at the other end of the transaction also.?Kansas City Journal. HAUNTS OF MOVING PICTOntS. In Process of Construction Wherever You Roam. L lay down In the fallen leaves on a hill and talked to myself of how grand October weather Is. This was in the Hinterland of New Rochelle, by the way. I thought of boyhood holidays In the woods and chipmunk chases and cit'iiutu 111uiu119. vy neii DtLUK- Kun^i hang:!" I heard the musketry close below me In the glade, and standing up [ saw the Indians running, the belted scouts In spectacular pursuit. When (hey turned and walked hack In company to their starting point I saw they were really western, all right, with the suns, somhreros and halrsomeness. lust as I have beheld it oft before at :he theatre. It seemed safe to go nearer, a? the guns, which sputtered so much fire, must have been loaded with blanks, or lalf those Indians would be weltering In gore. They were at attention now, listening to a man beside a trlnod. ".lose,"?the Mexican steps out? "hide behind the tree. Wild Harry, i'ou apnroach, right, and hide letter at the foot of the tree." A human clotheshorse, hung with "chaps," neckerchief and two holstered guns, strolled out, pbedlent to this command. Suddenly the Greaser rushed out at him with an ->ath and a bowle. Then a duel, fearful, making the leaves fly. The Greaser worked his jaws to indicate dying eurses. "Do I fall here, Mr. Sanger?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone. "Yes. Back." Having fallen, the corpse crossed his knees comfortably and smoked a cigarette at the skies. "Die with your face more in the sun. And, Leslie, that fight wiped off >*JUI ICU cycuiuw, Grease paint surgery grafted on a new eyebrow. "Ready, now. Timer. Camera. Go!" The crank turned and the exciting scene passed off far more fervently than the rehearsal. They were good, conscientious actors and faked furious, spoken lines, which the machine couldn't get. The fragmentary yet somewhat energetic cusses seemed not to annoy the painted ladies round about. These daylight masqueraders are at work all over the world, as they presently told me after work was over. In California the desert is full of 'em. Sober ranchers riding into San Miguel to get the Chicago yards price for beef, ire amazed to find the town possessed r>f apparent bad men of '49. Gun-toters ire swaggering in front of Clancy's saloon to the command of the man at the crank. Bags of gold dust are being wagered by powder-faced miners in the open sunlight. All Nick Carterdom is loose in sedate San Mig. "I wouldn't l>e caught dead in such a rig," remarks the rancher later in the day to a grave easterner, whom he doesn't recognize is the "lead" in the morning's show. Thot film apnt PQflt with nnnthpr taken above the snow line in Califorlia (labelled "Alaska"), will be Joined to the one made in New Rochelle, and run off as a single story in some New York moving picture place. In big studios down around Coney Island they are at it too, manufacturing now a Roman slave market, now in Indian Durbar, now a Battle of Waterloo. The moving picture world .'s \ ike the theatrical; when a soubrette >r an ingenue answers an advertisement she tells how she was leading lady for the biograph, or some sych tompany. The task of these stageless players is in many ways more diffcult than that of actors at the theatre; they must make pantomime do double duty, ind yet remain more natural than the irtlflcial stage. Besides, they are closer to the audience than is the actor, rhe camera is sometimes placed right igainst the poser's face, and every feature must be eloquent. Films made in the "studios" lose the lttraction of the genuine street setting, ivith its "homy" worn curbs, cobbles ind rubbish. Some films are taken in Mew York streets, despite the bother )f the crowds. These generally picture jtories whose point is the contrast of mtirely common surroundings with ?xtraordlnary happenings. A company .vent to Riverside Drive in a "rubberleck wagon" last Sunday. The memjers, made up to be sure, and showing in assortment of types, from foreign ;ount to rural visitor, scarcely attract:d attention at first, so convincingly vere most of them made up. The orler "Action!" set the crank turning, :he lecturer megaphoning; the for?igner twirled his mustache, the heads iwing at cross purposes from one sight o another. The crowd, In the mean:ime (the crowd of reality,) came pressing around, and its members urned their heads too, scarce able to ;o tell the real from the unreal. The rank is halted; the sightseers get lown, carefully tumble on their backs n the road, and at the word "Action!" tick up as if the wagon had vanished 'rom beneath them! Charles Frohman is credited with laying that he would like to see "What Svery Woman knows" and other plays perpetuated when his companies are lisbanded. Dramatizations by camera )f famous books are being devised. In >ne or two ways motion picture techlique gets more life-like effects than loes theatrical method. The soliloquy, 'or example, which is disguised on the nodern stage as a reading aloud of a etter or newspaper, is a device also of he cinematograph, where its realism s greater, since the audience itself eads the actual paragraph, torn icross, if need be, and crumpled. But low to stage the unreal posers of the itory in the real streets is the filmnan's greatest difficulty and the greatest delight of the passersby who happen to catch him at it.?New York Sun. Boy Was No "Pig."?He was buying :igars for the bunch in a cafe and was ?xplaining that it was triplets. Every me had been satisfied and the mo* nentous event was being discussed. Congratulations mixed with condolmces were tendered the happy father .vhen he bethought himself of an atendant circumstance and told it and hen he bought again. It was this: The small boy of the house had been iraying for a little sister. When told hat not one, but three had arrived, he melt and said: "Oh, Lord, I am very hankful, but I'm no pig. Give some me else a chance!"?Boston Record.