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** ' } ' ^5^ semi- weekly. ^ _____ .... ^l.t'1,11 l. m. grists sons. Publish. . Jt Jjamili) gfimspager: <?[or flic |lroniofioit of flte jOotiiical, Social, llgricuiturjat anil Commercial Jnterests of thi people. TER"f^Kcopi.E?vENcra??NC^,-: ESTABLISHED 1S55 ~ YORK, S. C.? TUESDAY, J AN U ARY 18, 1921. ~~ NO. 5 | ???????______ * " VIEWS AND INTERVIEWS Brief Local Paragraphs of More or Less Interest. PICKED UP BY ENQUIRER REPORTERS Stories Concerning Folks and Things Some of Which You Kr.ow and Some You Don't Know?Condensed For Quick Reading. "Speaking of poor collections." observed the other day a well known business man, "I started out January 1 with accounts totaling $3,000. Thus far this month I have collected about $300. And included, in the list of accounts arc some against people who are plenty able to pay; but who simply won't." Mule Follows Ford. "I've got a most unusual mule?one who follows a Ford automobile," said Mr. James Ashe of the McConnellsville j section, who was among the visitors in j Yorkville last Saturday. "The mule got "out^of the stable a few days ago," Mr. Ashe went on to say, "and started up the road behind a Ford automobi'e. It followed the Ford for several miles. f NTiie mule is about sixteen months old." Damage by Auto Trucks. "There's no question but some law ought to.be enacted whereby the automobile trucks should bc> made to pay for the great damage that they do to the roads," observed Saturday Mr. J. E. Lowry of Yorkville. "Just yesterday two trucks heavily laden with cotton traveled from Yorkville to Gaston in. The roads were in a bad condition naturally on account of the wet weather and it is simply impossible to estimate the amount of damage that those two trucks did." Invited to Wait a Little While. i Here's a story that was going the j rounds in Yorkville last week: A collector approached a local man ; with a bill. "Man," said the one approached, "I ' have just been reading in the paperi here about a man who committed suicide ! because he couldn't pay his debts. Why j you ought not to be presenting' me with , any bills now. I migl^t be.tempted to; ^ fin lit-o thf> nthpr fellow did." "All right," returned the collector: j just pay mc and then use your own pleasure about killing yourself." Did the Army Do It? Apropos of the arrest of live white I boys in Rock Hill last week, on charges j. of burglary, two of them ex-soldiers, j Sheriff Quinn said Saturday: "It is ap- j palling?the number ?>f young ni-n charged with crime who served in tharmy and it is hard to arrive at an explanation. Whether or not that spirit j of 'Anything that you can get by with j in the army is all right,' had anything j to do with it; or whether or not these ? f crimes are committed by that element , who were naturally criminally inclined : is rather hard to determine." Only Those Who Can Afford It. , The automobile mechanic was Idling Views and Interviews about business in ' his line. * "We are jollying along fairly wall." j he said. "There arc lots' of people who ' own automobiles who can't really nf- [ ford to own them. They are not riding much now and they are not having much repair work done. My firm does work on a cash basis only. The people who come to us for work are people who can afford to pay. There are enough of these to keep us busy. So v.*e are doing very well, u'l things considered." ' Cold? Huh, Not So Bad. "The sleet and slush of last Friday and Saturday," observed yesterday a : man who keeps pretty well up on weather statistics, "recalls to mind the fact that three years ago this section experienced the coldest weat!ier?known in forty years for this latitude. On January 1-'. 1J1X. this wlmlc section was bound by sleet and snow and held in ! Hit' mighty grip of tiie Ice Kin;v. During tiie two opening months of ISMS J snow fell a number of times. Numbers of trees were blown down across road:: and railroads and trees and telegraph and telejihone wires groaned under tin ir weight of ice." Will Mean Much Work. "If the general assembly pass: s a bill which hn.s been introduced doing away with the penalty 011 all taxes not paid up to January 1, it will mean a lot of extra work on county treasurers and their assistants.", commented futility Treasurer J lurry K. Neil tiie otln r evening. "There will b a lot of people appl.ving^for refund of penally. The lensaltv on poll tax not paid by January 1. is 1 cent and no doubt there will be a number t.> come hack for the penny. I'.Utj of course." lie concluded, "if the; hill becomes law we'll carry it out. A little tiling like more work .'ocsn't really matter." CI053 to the Shore. "1 am entirely able to handle my own affairs." said a lletlie! township farmer to Views .and Interviews the oilier day. "hat T would not have you to understand from that that I atn Indifferent to the pinch that is now bcintr so n?*n1 rally felt. "It is my observation that ton nianv of us make the mistake of being unalde to realize the futility of pelting anywlicre by try in it to farm on en-dil. I en me very mar being: ruined that way years ago. and as tie- result of eNperienees Ihrollffh which I passed I rea.lved that never again while I live would i attempt to hranch out beyond my own means in raisimt crops. My that. I mam I resolved to hnse my operations r an what I actually had and not undertake to gamble on what I c::pccted to have. "No. I have no quarrel with anybody 1 ? merchant, banker or anybody else. 1 realized, however, that when I undertook to bore with a big auger beyond my own resources, and using somebody else's means, I was taking long chances and stood to lose not only what I expected to make; but what I already had. Of course you have got to pay the other fellow for the use of his capital and his part of the proceeds is fixed. Whether there is anything for you. or not the other fellow muj* got his., and you see it is you who arc carrying all the risk. During all the years since I gave up this kind of speculation J nave i been kecuinp my head above water, to | say the least of it." Had Pleasant Christmas. "We have had the biggest and the best Christmas that this school lias ever known. We have had a holiday for nearly a week and not a boy that wanted to be left out and there were none." So states an article in the "Life Buoy." a monthly publication issued by the South Carolina Industrial School at Florence, a copy of which has reached the desk of Views and Interviews. H. F?. Skinner is editor and I. D. Houck is associate editor of the "Life Buoy," which is devoted to the doings of the inmates of the state school for wayward white boys. There are several York county boys among the inmates of the school, which is conducted under the direction of the state board of public welfare. Proverbial Wisdom. "Here," said one this morning, "arc a ( number of paragraphic proverbs that contain a whole lot of good common horse sense and which most of us could put into daily practice to our advantage r Promise little and do much. Sweet is pleasure after pain. The sea and air are common to a'.l j men. 11 Tic jests iit scars who never felt u , wound. A civil denial is better than a rude ' grant. '< Practice not your art and 'twill soon , depart. ( The praise of the fool is censure in disguise. The best cure for sorrow is to pity somebody. ? There is not spite like that of a proud beggar. ' lb- that spends without regard shall want without pity. An excessive number of shepherds huims the flock. Some tilings arc better praised by silence than remark. The best ol' the sport is to do the deed and say nothing. A nvm may sijTinft much*," even "oil till* bi M III" subjects. !? It is bard t<? track the path that the j, ship fallows on the sea. Praisy borrowed from ancestors is but sorry praise indeed. What is tiie use 01 running n iicii n v. | arc nut on the right road? A great many shoes are worn out before a man docs what he says. George Goccter Says. Only the profiteers regard war as glorious. | Tiie Cork mayor Steeps bobbing into print. i A full dinner pail keeps empty heads : from radicalism. i Linyd-Ooorgc seuns to be the only perennial premier. Easy sire-t is not easy to get on and not easy to slay on. 1 i Dealing in talking machines is one < form of sound finance. There is never any change of the price mark of experience. Laiulis is now autocrat of all the busker a ; well as the majors. i.i'niMtni'i'i J toll of the I HU tfiin jiiv |'i w..,? . _ name Luyyues stems to lie Mud. It siums as if nobody wants iiosivcr! ill l!i" cabinet except the people. ? No pi liver s.''. nw to have objection toi, disarmament. by any of the others. In heaven's hooklu cpintf. you nr.' | debited, not credited, witii the money i you make. Ilardinir is K'iviiitr proposed cabinet; timber vary tnueh more tlian the "once J over." V.'hsit a pity the prices charged liy | proiiieers cannot fail as low sis their j characters. Q LOOKING FOR HUSBANDS Eroiioh Women Corrsirrj to America in Ssarch of Them. ".hiekkss .Mils" arc emipratimr in considerable numbers from Kiipr'aiid in the hope of lindins; suitable ".iiii-icss .f.:cks" for lmsbands in the railed ' > I. M ......11 i St.i'i s. . irronunj; in inf Seietiee. 1 1st rnnimetits un Knyitt nil's ' !vi:uTi:i!ii,;i! ! women \v!i i m:iy never r.itirry" In fore tlsc? Xsitionnl iliri-i little feminist-tinn some t'.tne :iun were widely dismissed in Iho !t'*it:s!i press. (InvcrtMiii-'it lijriin s slmw there is :i surplus nl' :s million women. in Knyltiiid whose only In | nf niiiiT.vinc <l?*|??*ih!js i>:. their miirr:ti:n>; to sunn* port of lite otirlii v.ieTe is :t tire.- rvm dtstrilitition of the si xes. Aeenrdins; t i .Miss .Mnroh. I!ntire lining it. She1 snys she is loei-ivinc letters front Ant.Tien tlin! :ue "sii:nil'n-;iiit nl !!). ! |i?wlii:e s of some in -n's livs." tire enterprising; tnil.iy." ; site tnlileil. ".Mtilsy tire i mitcrn!in,*; who j ja few yenrs m;o would Irive fen red t>? tlake tin- j.rrenl adventure." THE NEED OF THE SCHOOLS Case Presented by Superintendent Swearingen. COUNTY SCHOOLS AT DISADVANTAGE i Comprehensive Brief Outlining the Policy of the Educational Department ar.d Giving Reason'/; in Justification cf More Liberal Appropriations. Editor Ycrkville Enquirer: Through the courtesy of a friend, I have been furnished a copy of the issue of your paper of January 7tli reporting the York county taxpayers' con vent ion. it was interesting to learn the views and comments of so many wealthy citizens. The criticisms cf the public schools voiced by ' Honorable Thomas F. JIcDow are my sole excuse for addressing you in this letter. South Carolina has woefully neglects ed her public schools. The children of the rural districts arc emphatically the victims of this mistaken policy. These boys and girls ought- to have a better educational opportunity .and better public school facilities. The high schools at Rock Hill, Fort Mill and York courthouse arc none too good . for the pupils of these localities and are properly striving to improve. The taxpayers of Rock Hill have voted nineteen mills for current support and five and one-half mills for bonds. The taxpayers of Fort Mill have voted fifteen mills for current support and five mills for bonds. The taxpayers of York courthouse have voted nineteen mills for current support and 110 mills for bonds. The citizens of these three towns can vote off these school taxes for current needs at any time. Rural districts have no banks, cotton mills or railways to tax. Ts it too much to ask that the state of Soutn Carolina recognize and equa'izc these conditions? The attached statement explains the public school standard Im endeavoring to secure in my capacity as state superintendent of Education. Yours respectfully. J. E. Swcaringen, State Supt. of Education. I January 12. 1H21. January 11, 1021. Dr. C. A. Jones, 1301 Hampton' Street. Columbia, South Carolina. Dear Sir:- . ^ Tt was a* pleasure to meet tri'th you' mil yiiur committee last night. Eni'1'i.seil lien.-with please find a brief summary of the objectives contemplat--i t... ....Imnl.i fni-. tlif> ?lRS!Oll L'(l ill uir j.iiMiiv. ,>c.4wv..? ~ ID2U-21. 1. Tilt first need uf the country schools is a longer term. -As a working basis a minimum of seven months for the current year is desired. The state course of study is planned for a term of nine months. The work out- i lined cannot be fully or satisfactorily! completed i:i a shorter time. The ree- j iinniendaiion of seven months Is submitted merely because the schools! must run seven months ' before they j c:::i run eight months or longer. Four-fifths of the white people of i the state 13v in the country. The Average term of the rural schools; is now six and three-tent lis months. The suggested standard would require it ten per cent, growth. 11 is practical und practicable. Anything less does not taring to country boys and girls even the approximation of an adequate educational opportunity. '1. For each classroom with an enrollment of not fewer than twenty-five j nor mare than fifty and an average! monthly attendance of fifteen one; teaclter should be provided. The salary should average $1i)n.oo per month. The annual out'ay for such a teacher would in. of r.fiiii't'o M U1US IK' vWU'l.WV a ,?V?|, ^ 'i v, -la rife number of teachers tin and will I receive nit mm*. A still larirer number da I ami will continue to receive less, A | trained competent leadline corps will! it vcr lie secured <?:t ;t basis of $700.0'l. j This standard should lie raised as soon | as practicable. To support such a term and to provide such a salary the local district j is retjiii/cd to pay an u-ddilionul school! tax of eight mills. Incidental or unus- | ital expenses it: the sell on I must he supplio'l from a higher rate of local ; taxation. A longer term or an increased salary must also lie supplied from a ! still Inciter local levy. llricHy. then, the standard contemplates a seven j months' term, a classroom with an en- ! rollnieiit of not less than twenty-live j nor more than lifty. an average tnotilh- ' ly attendance of fifteen, si salary of j $1D').nil per nvmih and a local levy of all least eight mills. This is the harts of -the equalizing' la w. so called because it guarantees the: standard term, lite standard salary and the standard classroom eonditions*iilroady named. This art Wits passed in ISMS. During: iti ? ?c:*!oilas{:? vears 11'17-lS and 1!! 1S-1!? it was impnssiido to induce tin- voters miui taxpayers to levy ei;r!it mills. *Pln?; hulk <>f lite appropriation durin;; those] two yours eon hi not he tisoil. I >ut in' lliL'n a veritable wave of school district taxation swept over the state. Approximately seven hand rod school districts have ipialiiicd undi r the law anil siroj expecting stat" aid i:i ti'O sprint; ofj i:?L'l. Their contracts with teachers have hoc n I tit.sod on the oi|inli;:inK act. 'i'iiis movement in March. April ami May. Ill-'1', i-xhansli-il the eipia li/.int; a pprnpriat ioii of $1 lii.tlOit.iti't for last yea r. The appropriation was disbursed on tin* basis of forty-seven cents on the dollar to 41S districts. The deficit of $170,000 is a moral obligation against the state. The minimum required for the operation of the equalizing law during the current year is at least $525,000. Thus $095,000 ought to be provided for these country communities. This is the single largest item of public school expenditure. 4. South Carolina stands at the bottom in the column of states with respect to high schools and high school enrollment. In 1920 the appropriation for the salaries of high school teachers was $175,000.00. In 1921 $500,000.00 will be needed to carry out the High School Act and the Act to Relieve the overcrowding in the elementary grades of high schools. T ,.nl.i1v ovorv Viln.ii orlinTTl npppivtincr state aid must enroll free any outside pupil coming from the county or from adjoining county. "Where the high school enrollment exceeds fifteen pupils per teacher, the state pays the tuition of these outsiders at the rate of $3.00 per month. The advantages of this program arte threefold. The strong high school renders a fuller and better service. The wealc rural school is relieved of thin classes in its upper grades. The pupils are afforded better .opportunities and broader instruction. Twenty-four hundred country boys and girls were classified in this group during the session 1919-20. The state appropriation to pay tuition was inadequate and had. to be scaled on the basis of eighty-seven cents on the dollar. Such scaling is detrimental to the schools. Local boards of trustees cannot 'rely upon. the. sources of district income. A repetition of this deficit would be most' harmful. The act to.relieve the overcrowding in the elempntarv grades of high school was put! on the statute books in 1920. Unfortunately, no money was provided to put it into operation. This act requires a local tax of ten mills for salaries. The ninth and tenth mills were added above the standard fori country districts because high schools wm nt least eight months and preferably nine months. The average classroom enrollment in the elementary grades of high; school should be between thirty-five and forty children. To crowd these helpless little folk by fifties, sixties and occasional}* seventies into a single classroom defeats in a large measure the purpose of the school. The compulsory attendance act forces.- children into the classroom: Surely these children have the right to a .sanitary- erygfeojpLent and competent instruction in The school. An investment of S(100,000.1)0 a year in secondary education is cheap ccrnpared with its benefits. The average high school enrollment for the forty-eight states limn lit for South IS a oil!) It; out,.. Carolina. The- high school is the grift of the elementary praties and the recruiting ground for the college. Neglect of (his pivotal point has too long weakened our education system. The high school enrollment of the slate must be doubled as soon as possible. 5. To protect the large group of weak, one teacher schools in sparsely settled districts the term extension act carries most libera! provisions. It has been the starting point for the campaign of local taxation among the nineteen hundred districts. No one claims for a morqent that these schools are efficient or desirable. They are necessary and must lie maintained until popu'ation growth brings new conditions. ii. Tile rural graded school law carried $27."?.00ft.Ul) in 1D20. The fund was disbursed among nine hundred thirtyfive districts. The money reaches approximately one hundred thousand boys and girls. The rural graded school act supplemented by the equal izing net. guaranteeing ;i seven montns term, is the only li??pe of the country school. 7. Twelve specific nets now on (lie statute hooks carry public school appropriations. These laws have been the basis upon which district levies have been wrought and secured. The gratifying growth in public school income has resulted chiefly from local taxation, I'pwnrds of fifty per cent of the total is now derived from local levies. To ca'T.v out these twelve lawn and to continue the seven activities heretofore authorized by appropriation hut not governed by statute, a public school budget of $2.000,000.OU has been four and one-half or five mills, when recommended. The raising of this sum will necessitate a state school levy of the local district votes eight mills and when the county, tinder the three mill constitutional tax, pays three mills, is it too much to ask that the commonwealth provide for its children by a levy of live mills? The state, must become the unit of school taxation before a rev statewide standard of education can lit* set up or maintained. If tlio children of South Carolina arc not to be afforded seven months' schooling and arc not I" be offered high school advantages. what chance will I hey have in our democracy? If this standard is too high, what is to be the standard for the state? Yours respectfully. Stale Supt. of Education. Paragraphic Summary. The endeavor of the stale department of education is to run every country school at least seven months, to provide every classroom having an enrollment of twenty-live pupils and an average attendance of fifteen pupils a competent teacher, to pay such teacher an average salary of ?]on.oo I (Continued on Page l-lighi). CLOVER NEWS BUDGET Town May do Considerable Building During Present Year. THE MAYOR MAY BE UNOPPOSED Many Roads Are In Bad Condition? Farmers Still Holding on to Cotton? Matters of Personal Interest. (By a -Stall Correspondent.) Clover, January 17.?Indications are now that Dr. I. J. Campbell will be reelected mayor of Clover without opposition. Thr? name nf Mr. C. N. Alexnn der had boon mentioned in connection with the mayoralty; but information is that Mr. Alexander has declined to make the race for a number of reasons, among them being the fact that he is disqualified since he has been a resident of the town only about eight months, whereas a residence of twelve months in the county and two years ill the state is necessary to vote or hold public elective office. Mayor Campbell is now serving his first term and under his administration Clover has made good headway with all indications that that progress will continue. Still Holding Cotton. An advancing cotton market during the past several days has not wavered farmers of the Clover community in their determination to hold on to their cotton, with the result that sales to local buyers are almost nil. The warehouse here is loaded to capacity and hundreds of bales are stored away on private premises throughout this whole section. Road In Bad Shape. The recent freeze and wet weather has put the Filbert-Clover road in the worst possible shape, with the result that there is little if any traffic over that route. Many people from the Filbert section coming to Clover are using the road past the home of Mr. Robert Lawrence, while numerous others are taking the more circuitous route up the King's Mountain road, turning eff at the home of Mr. W. G. Adams. Reports brought here by Bethel township people are to the eHect that a number of the roads in that township are in very bad 'condition as a result of the recent bad weather. The Clover-Gastonia road is in pretty good condition. Possible New Buildings. Information coming to the correspondent is to the effect that it is not improbable that the year 1921 will see renewed interest in building activities here. At least two business firms, it is understood, have had the idea of building new quarters in mind for some time and the step was not taken last year for the sole reason that it was impossible to get the necessary work done. The residence shortage is still more or less acute in Clover and people well posted say that there never was a greater demand for dwelling houses. i'i"> no..- rrii-Mf Prt-shvterian church building is to go forward this year; the congregation of the First Baptist church has for some time had plans under consideration for remodeling and enlarging the church edifice. Others j here, it is understood, have embryo building plans under consideration, which they do not care to make public just at this time. Personal Mention. Dr. .T. E. Thomas, who has been engaged in the practice of medicine here for some time past, has gone to Jefferson. Chesterfield county, to resume the j practice of medicine there. Mrs. Thorn! as and children have joined him at Jef| ferson. j Mrs. V. Q. Hambright and little j daughter have returned to Clover after I a visit to relatives in Winnsboro. M. S. Burnett, who has boon employ ed at Reidsville. X. C.. for some time ! past, is visiting in Clover. Mr. Sam McCa.ll. who has been working in Greensboro, X. C., for some time past, is spending some time in Clover. Miss Johnsic Stacy is back at her work at the Clover Drug Store after an illness of several days. Miss Bess Adams of Clover, recently i visited her sister. Miss Ethel Adams, at I .ii? rn-.o nnl.-r. Vn. I \ ll^lliia *??'*?..... Mrs. S. C. Price of Castonia, recently visited relatives in Clover. Justin Smith of Clover, lias matriculated at Bingham school, Asheville, X. C. Dr. K. \V. Pres.sly of Greenville, was I a recent visitor in Clover. THE GUNMAN PASSES. : Present Day Killers Arc Rapacious Murderers of Defenseless Citizens. The gunman has changed, writes O I O. Mclntyre of New York city. When I I came to this more or less populous j island. Chick Trigger, Louie the Lump and Big Jack Zelig were in their prime. Their rendezvous was in Paul Kelly's saloon in Chinatown. Their killings were among themselves. If some rival gangster "spieled" too often with his | girl at an Last Eide racket, lie was found pistoled at dawn hy. a passing j cop. i j At times the gangs plan tied batl'es at j Coney Island, and would meet there j and open fire. A bullet might acci-j j dentally fell an innocent bystander, but' ithat rarely happened, for the gunman was a sure shot. Today that gunman lis a rapacious murderer of defenseless citizens. i Every New York newspaper has the i j same description for tiie gunman?"a istocky, handy legged, swarthy man i who wears a cap." A few months ago the mayor said there was nn crime I wave, and now l\e issues a proclama tion for citizens to arm themselves. And yet if a citizen carries a gun he is liable to a penitentiary sentence under the anti-pistol law. The daring of the three gunmen who held up guests in their room at the Astor shows to what length the criminals have gone here. The large hotel is as well policed as any city. There i3 an armed watchman on each floor, and house detectives are constantly patrolling the halls and lobbies on the lookout for suspicious persons. In the old days this gunman, despite his calling, was a romantic figure in the life of the teeming East Side. Ke wore the loudest cravats and the most expensive silk shirts. He realized that the present hour might be the last, so he lived high and had many amours. ?.-J. . i? ? clinVIno x oaay mi; guiiiuaii <* o.....?...D cpward who brews his plans for murder over the glass of poison whisky in the Eighth avenue saloons. In almost every case the gunman has killed his man without giving him a chance. He kills first and robs afterward. The Bowery and Chinatown have always been the most interesting spots to me in New York and during my first year I became a friend of Chuck Conners, whose pearl derby and white box coat are famous. Chuck was the mayor of Chinatown. He said "d.is" and "dat" and shot the words out of the side of his mouth. He was a pbseur, too, but at heart a good fellow. He is gone now and so are Chick Trigger, Louie the Lump and Big Jack Zelig? the last three dying as they lived by the gun. Chunk used to take me to the haunts of the gangsters an-d I knew quite a number. They were mere boys?selfindulgent and lazy. They fought for the love of adventure and for the admiration of the Molls. . PASSED BY SENATE Nitrate Measure Now Goes so Lower House of Congress. By a vote of 34 to 29 the senate late last Friday, passed the nitrate bill for nai-mnnont federal ODeration of the nitrate plants built by the government during the war at Muscle Shoals, Ala., The measure, which had been fought vigorously for about two weeks and been made the subject of charges and counter charges of lobbying and wastefulness,, finally was put through with the aid of a few Republican voters and now goes to the house where its future is uncertain. Radical, changes were made by the senate in the measure as reported originally from me agricultural committee. In last Friday's vote on the final passage, 30 Democrats were joined by four Republicans?Senators Capper or Kansas. Gronna of North Dakota, LaFollette of Wisconsin and McNary of Oregon. Twenty-seven Republicans and two Democrats, Senators Gore of Oklahoma and King of Utah, voted In opposition. The bill was advocated, as a measure both for the farmers' aid and as a protection in case of war, the nitrate properties being designed ior manufacture of fertiliser in times of peace and for nitrates, used in powder making, in case of war. Opponents declared that the plea of agricultural assistance was "camouflage," that the cost of making fertilizer would be excessive and that it was proposed to commit the government to developing and selling hydraulic power from the Wilson dam at Muscle Shoals, . now partially completed. As passed by the senate the nitrate bill would create a government corporation with $12,500,000 capital stock, owned by the government and managed by a board appointed by the president, under'jurisdiction of the treasury department. The senate today adopted amendments by Senator Wadsworth, Republican, New York, placing the board under the treasury instead of t^ie war department, because. Senator Wadsworth said, it could be operated better by civilians than by army officers. Properties which the corporation is authorized in the senate bill to taice over are said to have cost the gov- i crnment about $100,000,000 (luring the | war. WEASEL AND 'GATOR Unusual Animal Story Comes From Mississippi. Paseagoula, Miss., Dec. 5.?As the sun was dropping below the western horizon yesterday, a party of hunters in the Bayou Casotte neighborhood noticed a weasel or ichuemon scratching up the sand on the edge of Greenwood island. Suddenly, a six-foot alligator appeared and with wide-open tn ntfnrU- the little ani- I mal. "With remarkable alacrity the I weasel leaped into the 'gator's jaws and slid down into its belly. The hunters wore much astonished and waited results. Within fifteen minutes they observed the weasel eating its way through the entrails of the monster. The fondness for eggs prompts the slender animal to take his chances into the alligator's inside. To the scarcity of hen eggs at this season is attributable these actions of the Icheumon.?Commerce and Finance. ? ITugh P.rnmlett, Greenville contractor, convicted last week at Greenville, of the murder of his mother-In-law, Mrs. 1j. C. Mcllugli, and sentenced to life imprisonment, was refused his request to be allowed to serve his sentence on the clmingang rather than in the state penitentiary. CHARGED WITH BURGLARY 1 . *1* ' : B c Three Young WhiteCharged With Stealing a Trunk. J ' ;V* TWO OF THEM ABE EX-SOLDIERS I ?? ? ''r.4 Admit Entering the Store of Chester 'V. County Firm, but. Deny . Theft of Trunk?Talk Freely to Reporter and':' Apparently Not Worried About Their Plight. Charged with the theft of a trunk, .: j the property of Miss Myra Hunt olf '.v.Prosperity, a Winthrop College student, and with breaking into the store % of Wostbrook & McNeai, near JL^anao, Chester county, three young white men arrested Thursday In the Blue Bucklb Mill village near Rock Hill, were comt'.; i; mitted to the York county jail'in ^ Yorkville, Saturday morning.'.They art ? Corbett Hunt, aged 17, Roy Taylor), aged 19 and J. H. McCluney, 23 who - ? claims to live in the Eureka Mill viii lage, Chester. Taylor and McCluney are said to be veterans of the late World War, Taylor serving in the 29th. Motor Transport Corps and McCluney in the 113th Field Artillery, 30th J5I- IK vision. _ Talk Froely of Crime. Two other young white men, alleged to be implicated in the robbery /Of the " <: store with the three in jail irt'"Yorit- ? .-lllc, have been taken to Chester for trial. The three here are held for^ne - 'v alleged trunk theft The three boys talked freely of their thefts Saturday morning to a reporter for Tljo Yorkville Enquirer who visited the jail in company with Deputy on em J. lum v^unni, Hunt, the youngest of the trid.'dld- ? most of the talking. ' . . ? "Sure," he said,, "they found '"the V goods from the young lady's trunk In ^ my house. I carried it there. ItWas like this: I was passing along a plede of woods near the Blue Buckle'^'Knit ?, when I saw two men whom I didn't-*^' know out there. They had' a^trunk" * and when they saw me they ran!*'I i-f went there and saw the trunk. Ivi' knew if I told the officers about'itwliy they would arrest me for it. So I^took the stuff out and took it on. horned Mj g never give none of it away or nothing; bust just kept it there. I didn't^Steal ? it, Cap'n. Swear I didn't." ' / ' "They've got me and the rest of us right for going into that store though-.^; I don't know-why we did it.""' Wd tvere just crazy, i^t-eTcftcWrmis'going7? down to Lando and we were riding in . a Ford that belonged to Mrs. Wade, mother of Harry Webb, who was with j us. ? Carried Safe Away. : . $ "Well, we got to this store. We- didn't. -; break open the door; but just-pushed it and it come open. Then we took out the safe and some other little stuff and started back to Rock Hill. We-didn't open?the safe?couldn't open m wmie * coming back to Rock Hill while" we i were near Lcsslle, we got scared and throwed the safe away. "Then we come on to Rock Hill. I could have got-away when the officers came for us last Thursday. I Had a start of 200 yards. But I knowed 1t was i not a good idea to try to resist officers. My father was an officer once; and - V* know that you can't get away from offleers for long when they are after you." The other two boys verified Hunt's statement: ' "They ain't got nothing on. me about V this trunk business," volunteered McCluney. "They arrested me because I was wearing a sweater that was gotten out of the trunk and given to me by Hunt. Has Wife and Child. "Hunt is my cousin," he .went on toexplain. "I live in Chester, where I have a wife and child at the Eureka mill. I come to Rock Hill last Monday.' I'd been around Rock Hill before a lit- 5 tic but most of the time I had been.: 1 there I had been in Jail." "I've never been intff nothing but once before," volunteered Taylor. I was convicted in court here in. Yorkville for forgery and a senten9e of two. years is hanging over me. I never dlcrthe forgery, though. Another fel- ' low who was with me did it I can't" read and write. "I've been around Bock Hill for about ten years," he went on to say. "I hung around New York about a month. after I got back from overseas and then I come back to Rock Hill. "I've blowcd in $2,200 this year," he said with a nonchalant air. "This is my first time to ever get into anything," said Hunt "If I get out of this I won't get into anything else. "This is a good place to keep regular criminals, sheriff," he said to Deputy Sheriff Quinn. \ "Pretty good place," returned-v>th6 deputy. ; Not Worried About It. ' ;;j Neither of the trio appear to be much worried about their plight. Hunt<and McCluney we? r a partial dress of army clothes. Taylor has a neat brown suit "What time is it?" inquired Hunt of the newspaper man. "'j"A quarter after 11," was the reply. "Soon time for food," smilingly 'returned the boy. " "They don't feed you much in that. Rock Hill jail, where we spent Thurs-: day night and last nlgbt," said McCluney?"nothing but a couple of-'haim-j burgers at a meal." . g "I'll say they don't," added the other two hoys in chorus. Why' ' j