PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKL1 SLOP TO DEATH Fiyc Hi?dred Freac& Sailors Id Beatb ? Airfa! Eipleska oa After Series oil Terrific Detonations the Fine Waiship Sinks to the Bot tom,?Bod; lei i Hurled High in the Air in Greji * Clouds of Dense Black Smoke. A dispatch l.'r?in Toulon, France, says death to more than half the crew of.Hs.on^ori? and men 6f the battle ship Liberte, counted one of the fln SpestT Vessels Iiii che French navy, fol lowed fire and explosions which wrecked the great ship Monday. The, fire was discovered at 5 o'clock, it first did not appear to be serious but nomehow It gained a quick advantage over the squad of sailors sent to extinguish it and sud denly without warning it reached the magazines wliieh had hot been flood ed on account of the apparently trilling nature of the blaze. The force of the explosions was terrific. Th?y shook the vessel fore and aft, each cue seemingly stronger than that :;[r(!ceeding, opening up great fissures is the armor and frame work of the n essel. The vessel immediately became a mass pf fire and smoke and Boon al most demolished by the terrific deto nations, sank to the bottom of Tou lon harbor. At an early hour unofficial esti mates of the number of dead ran as "nigh as 5CK. Estimates by naval men varied 'viiely but there was no doubt that the loss of life was more than 350. Scores of seamen died in their ,ben:hs. A few dozen saved themselves by jumping overboard. Many, of tbuso injured leaped into the water and were drowned before ihe boats .gi.thered in 'the roa.dsted could reach th em. Two hundred of t^ e smoke in which many fell unconscious. /There were many vessels in the "harbor at the time, including a num ber of warships which have been maneuvering: there since the first of the month. The first explosion brought a' <;uick response from the nearby mei.\-of-war and from the shore. Dozens of boats put off and pickd up su:rvivors and floating bod ies. Th/re were three explosions in quick- succession after the fire reach- 1 cd the maga.zines. / One hundred saved themselves by jumping and others would have es caped, but for the discipline which ' v "held them at their posts. At the first explosion the men below sud denlv a*v?*ened. tumbled from their berths, and rushing to the sides of the vessel u-ere throwing themselves overboard waen an order calling them to their stations rang out and held to their death those who had not already escaped. TROOPS ORDERED READY. The Militia May Take a Hand in the Spartanburg Strike. To prote:t the rights and prop erty of citi;:jns of Spartanburg, three militiary companies in the uppe.' sec tion of the State were Sunday after noon notified .by Governor Blease to hold themselves in readiness to re port for duty in Spartanburg, imme diately upon demand from superior officers. The action was taken fol fowing a conference with Assistant Adjt. Gen. 0. \V. Babb and Brig. Gen. "Wille Jones, Sunday afternoon, which conference itseif followed immediate ly upon thi> heels of a long distance message to Governor Blease from Mayor J. B. Lee, of Spartanburg, who requested that troops be sent to Spar tanburg, an conditions were becom caring worse because of the rioting street car conductors, and he feared that he would not be able to cope with the Situation with the city po lice. A Terrible Storm. A terribsl storm swept the Vesuv 3an distric: of Italy on Friday caus ing loss of life and great damage to property. Twenty persons are known to have be??n killed while the fate of whole families is in debt. Falls to His Death. Lieut. E. A. Cammell, of the Brit ish oviation school of Farmborough, England, was killed recently while making a :3ight at Hendon, six miles from the centre of London. * HURILED TO DEATH TWELVE KILLED AND OTHERS WERE FATALLY HTRT. Train Crashes Into Hay Racfc Party of Young People Returning From Celebration. Sixteen deaths probably, will result from a mile-a'minute .passenger train crashing Into a part] of thirty-one mexry yonng people ioaded upon a hay rack at Neecab, WIs., Sunday < afternoon. A big blU'roard obscured from view the locomotive as well as i the wagon. M!at and log did the rest. Twelve persons on the hay rack were instantly killed, one -has since died and three, out of eight others injured; are believed to be "fatally hurt Nine.of the thirty-one persons on the wagon escaped without a scratch, and so. did both horses. No body an the train suffered. The collision occurred Sunday af ternoon nearly four o'clock on the Chicago and Northwestern Railwaj at a crossing near Neenah. The par ty, were returning from a trip to the country, where t'iey attended the cel ebration of a. wedding anniversary. All but two, who were -Chicago men, were residents of Menasha. Six of the victims, all. dead, were discovered on the engine pilot, where they lay until removed .by the train crew. Two others were hurled through a flagman's shanty with such force as to overturn che little struc ture. One of these was still alive when picked up. Sae died a few hours later: Another of the victims killed yas thrown over a barn, fifty feet from the railway right of way. Among the occupants of the hay rack, who escaped, were Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rriszinski and child of two years. They were seatei in. the front half of the rack, the mother holding the child In her lap. About half way back in the wagon sat Mary iSchwartzbauer. The latter was hurl ed about fifty feet and rendered un conscious. When found by rescu ers the BrinzsinskI cMld waa In her arms, having escaped unscathed. The parents of the child ware onlyslight ly injured. Peter Hansen, driver; managed to hang to the reins and was the only person aboard who wks not temporar ily stunned. He declares he made every effort to look in both directions along the track, but did not observe the* on-rushing train until-.his team was on the track. He whipped up the horses, but could manage to get the wagon only h'fclf Way across. Practically every person on the wagon was an employ ee of the Mena 3ha Wbodenware .Company and all w.ere invited ^to the Hansen farm to attend'.'the' wedding anniversary rof one of their fellow ?ymptoyees..- Mr. Hansen had conveyed the merry makers to his farm in the .early even the round-trip completed except for ing and was taking them back.home, a faille's drive when the collision oc curred. On the outgoing trip the hay rack contained 40 persons, but the. rig was uncomfot?bly crowded,,and* on the retnrn lrip an additional, wagon was obtained. Eight of the party.oc cupied the second vehicle, which fol lowed about a mile behind. A farm er, his wife and two children, were recently killed in a similar accident at the same crossing. During the last eight years nearly two dozen persons have lost their lives at the same place. \~ ? ? '? TAKES TEXAS CITY. Crickets Battling With People for Possession of Austin. A dispatch from Austin, Texas, says millions of crickets took pos session of that city and are success fully combating the rights of the or iginal residents. Friday morning Austin awoke to find the business district black with the plague. The entire fire department was called out to combat the bugs, and tons and tons of water were being thrown on walls and sidewalks, with a view to drowning the crickets and to wash them out the streets through the storm sewers. For four hours the principal business streets were sev eral inches in water and black with crickets. In che residence section the crickets remained unmolested and arrogant. * SEABOARD BRAKEMAX KILLED. Lawrence Williams Mangled in Fall Between Cars. Lawrence Williams, a negro brake man employed by the Seaboard Air Line Railway, in Columbia, vas fatal ly injured Thursday morning by fall ing between cars of a train on which he worked. The accident occurred while the negro was on his regular run between Columbia and Hamlet. Both the negro's legs and his left arm were removed by the car wheels, and he died soon after being taken to the negro hospital in that city. Williams was an industrious negro and bore a good reputation, and was a resident of Columbia. l$o inquest was held by the coroner. * Many Rebels Killed. It Is estimated that a total of two thousand Chinese Insurgents beseig ing Cheng-T.u have been killed. The foreign residents have not yet been able to leave the capital. ?* ORANGEBURC HUNT KM DOWN Large Posse Searching for the Negro Slayer of While Mao: IN FAIRHELD COUNTY Bloodhounds Also on the Trail of William Suber? Himself Wounded, Charged With Killing' Newberry Man Across Fairfleld County Line, at Blairs. '? -dispatch to The News and Cour ier'says news reached Newberry Sat urday afternoon of the killing of James Bouknight, a white man, by I Will Suber, a negro, at Blairs, just across the line, In Fairfleld County, Saturday. The report seemed to in dicate that trouble was feared, as a result of the killing and that there was a possibility of summary' ven geance being meted out upon the negro. i The sheriff of Fairfleld County tel edhoned Sheriff Buford to come to the scene, the Fairfleld sheriff say-1 ing that he was leaving in an auto mobile. Sheriff Buford immediately sent Deputy Sheriff Pope Buford and in a few minutes sent another deputy in company with S. K. Bouknight, the father of the young man who was killed. Constable Cannon G. Blease, accompanied by several gentlemen, left immediately in an automobile for the purpose of seeking to prevent further trouble. Mr. Oxner, who carried Mr. Bouk night and a deputy to the scene in his automobile, returned Saturday night. He stated that he had not crossed the river over to Blairs, but the information which he had receiv ed was to the effect that the difficulty in which the negro shot Bouknight occurred in Bouknfght's blacksmith shop at Blairs, and that the negro was also wounded. The negro work ed on the -Miller plantation, several miles this side of the rfyer, and It seems that Bouknight aad .been en gaged in work on, this place for the, past' several weeks, having returned ? home Friday night. Mr. ?xner said the Fairleld'Sheriff and the Newberry officers were on the scene and the Fairfleld officer had brought bloodhounds with him. Young Bouknight, the. deceased, for merly lived In Newberry and some time ago moved to Blairs and estab lished a blacksmith shop. He lived on this side of the river, in New berry County, and his shop was in Fairfleld. Bouknight leaves a wife and four children. Munson Buford, a son of the sher iff, who returned from near the scene of the killing of James Bouknight says the information in the commun- * ity is that Bouknight was gambling with a crowd of negroes, Suber be ing among them; that Bouknight "went broke" and then went for the police, and when he returned with the police the shooting occurred, Su ber being wounded In the leg and Bouknight killed. The negro escaped up the river and the Fairfleld sheriff and deputy sheriff are in search of him, and a large posse is scouring the Fairfleld side'of the river. It was the inten tion of the Fairfleld sheriff to take the negro to the Penitentiary if he succeeded in catchicg him. Young Mr. Buford said Bunson Buford" did not cross the river into Blairs, but sa>s the facts given to him are gen erally accepted by those with whom ho talked as accounting for the diffi lulty. * MAN STUNG TO DEATH. Mosquitos Attack His Nude Body as It Lay in a Swamp. The wreaking of terrible vengeance upon a foe is believed to have been the cause of the death of a white ? man whose body was found in the swamps of White Grass Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, last week. The hands and feet were bound by cords 1 to a stake driven into theearth. The man had been dead for over a week. Hunters say that in his nude condi tion he must have been stung to! death within a few hours. The police believe that the man ?was the victim of revenge. That part of the swamp where the body was found is alive with unusually large mosquitos, and hunters who go there fcr ducks must muffle their faces and encase their hands in heavy mit tens to protect themselves. The authorities, convinced that the man was a victim of revenge, have set about trying to solve the mystery ,and that, because of the ex quisite torture and extreme cruelty to which the victim must have been subjected before death relieved his sufferings, there must have been a woman concerned in the mysterious death. * Bride Burned to Death. At Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Mrs. H. F. Howell, who came here from Ath ens, Ga., as a bride of only a few weeks, was burned to death Friday morning while attempting to kindle a fire with coal oil. ? Four Men Killed. At Youngstown, O., four men were killed and twelve hurt in an explo sion at the Republic Steel and Iron company plant. "The dead are Hun no J, Si C, TUESDAY, SEPTEM! WILL SERVE TERM COL.. NORTON NOT SLATED FOR COL. WATSON'S JOB. Governor Blease Intimates That Pres? ent Commissioner May Be Retained In Office When Term Expires. There will certainly, be no change in the office until the expiration of Mr. Watson's term, and I doubt very much If there ?Rill be any then," said Gov. BTease Friday, when ask ed about the rumor that has been afloat in official Circles during, the last 'feW days thatk Mr. Jaines Nor ton, c-f Mulli ns, would be 'appointed commissioner of agriculture, com' merce and industries, to succeed Col; J?. J. Watson, who has held the of fice since March, .1904. "I do not even know that Mr. Nor ton is an applicant fcr the position." said Gov. Blease. ."He was in my of fice a few days ago, but merely shook hands with me, and the office was not mentioned at that time. I really knew nothing, whatever of the news paper accounts which have been sent out about the appointment of Mr. Norton to the office. Mr. Wa.tson has been doing very good work in his present position, and I do not know that there will be any change at all, so far as I can tell at present, when Mr. Wlatson's term expires." Governor Blease said also that he had thought of offering this position to Mr. John G. Richards Jr., but that the latter bad been appointed rail road commissioner, and he had not done so. Mr. Norton has been in Co lumbia for the past few days And his presence appears to have awakened rumors which wore afloat some months ago, that he would be ap pointed by Governor Blease to suc ceed Col. Watson when the latter's term expires in the early part of next year. Mr. Norton is a former mem'ber of Congress and was for seven years Comptroller General of South .Caro lina. He is at present editor of the Messenger, published at Mullins. When asked. concerning the rumors Mr. Norton Bald he thought it best for him not to say anything .for pub lication 'a't this time,''and ? that the rumors which were in circulation did not'orlginate from Mm. * KILLED IN WRECK Passenger Train Crash. Into Switch Engine and Cars. Passengers aboard the Southern railway train that collided with a switch engine on Peachtree Creek trestle near Atlanta Friday night were forced to spend the night In the' coaches of the train at the scene of the wreck. Marooned above the creek were nearly 150 persons, many of them injured, waiting for relief which the inaccessibility of the place rendered difficult. AU night long members of work ing crews struggled to remove a mass of scrap Iron, ones the switch engine which toppled over when struck by the passenger train, to rescue the mangled bodies of Engineer J. A. Ferrie and Fireman N. M. Robinson, the only persons killed. Ou one side of the passenger train were the wrecked freight cars that were attached to the Bwitch engine. A single plank across the deep, swift running waters of the creek afforded the only means of access to the train. After crossing the plank a high bank had to be scaled before the train could be reached. HYDE WILL HANG. Many Think That He Is Not Right in the Upper Story. Samuel N. Hyde, who was recently convicted at Anderson, of the mur der of his wife, was Friday afternoon sentenced by Judge Prince to hang on Friday, October 20. When asked by the Court if there was any reason why the death sentence should not be pronounced, Hyde, in a strong, clear voice, stated, in substance, that the witnesses, referring to the mother of Mrs. Hyde and a brother-in-law, J. P. Moore, had sworn falsely when they testified that he had made his home unpleasant and that he was cruel to his wife; that his wife was the only woman he ever loved. "If," he said,' "the jury and Court believe it to the best interest of my little son that I forfeit my life, then I am ready and willing to-pay the penalty." There are many who followed the case of Hyde closely, who believe that he is not a sane man, and among those there is some talk of circulating petitions asking Governor Blease to commute his sentence to life impris onment. Hundreds Die in Typhoons. Hundreds lost their lives and much property was damaged by recent ty phoons in Formosa. Several towns and villages were destroyed or sub merged. Acton, a large city, was de molished. The total life Iosb is esti mated at several hundred, and thous ands are being fed at the military concentration camp at Takao. * Four Men Burn. At Youngstown, O., four workmen were burned to death In a boarding house early Friday when fire follow ed an explosion of gas. Other in mates were flung from their beds but got out of the building without seri ous injury. * BER 26, 1911. AS HEJAW IT Describes Changes is the Firm Methods ii the Weeri! Sectios. THE CHANGES ARE MANY A Letter From Prof. Barrow Describ ing a Trip From South Carolina to Texas That Will Be Head With In terest by the Fivrmers of This State. A letter of Prof. D. N. Barrow in The Progressive Farmer, describing a trip from South Carolina to Texas, is of inirest not only as giving an id j ea of crop conditions but as portray | ing the effect of the boll weevil in the Southwest. "Forty-eight hours of railroad travel have placed a thousand miles between me and South Carolina," writes Dr. Barrow. "On the roads over from Clemson to Atlanta there are nothing unusual, it is all Pied mont and the crops are about the same as in South Carolina. Next day I saw the crops in the three States of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisi ana. Many of the sections through which I passed had had an abundance of" rain, and some even too much. In traveling through western Ala bama, I was reminded of a similar trip taken some few years ago. It was In the spring when land was be ing prepared, and 1 remember the chief thing I noticed was the little plows and light single mules that were l)elng used for this purpose. It seemed to me that I could recollect some of the same 'fields in which I saw this preparation going on upon tbiB saruetrip; at least, some of the crops I "saw must have been on land prepared'with such' ah outfit. Isn't It a strange trait in the make-up of some human beings that will permit them to go on year after year, mak ing the same old failure, and yet, each year preparing their land exact ly as they ha1 d done for years beforo? "Of course, I have no doubt that many of these poor.crops are the re sult of - the negro tenant, hut I am sure I also saw ? good many white men at work in the fields. On the Whole, the crops were pretty good, however, and I saw frequent fields that bore'testimony to the fact that brains and modern methods, properly applied, would produce good. crops lb eastern Alabama, tis well as in Piedmont Georgia and the Carolinas. The same can be said of Mississippi. Here the boll weevil was encounter ed "for the first time in my trip, and his influence on the system of agri culture was, it seemed to me, appar ent. There was not so much cotton tc be seen, but what there was, was better and had apparently been bet ter cultivated. Corn was especially good, aad while the fodder was ripe, I did not see a single man pulling it, but on the contrary, saw quite a quantity of it being cut and shocked. "From Jackson, Miss.,^ to Vicks burg, we passed through what, in my opinion, and that of a good many who know them, are the richest soils in the world. These are the bluff soils, and an older alluvial than that of our present valleys. When fresh they will easily make a bale of cotton per acre, and with any intelligent handling, this productivity can be maintained Indefinitely. But cotton is not all they will produce?corn Is at home upon them?and If one does not care to raise a cultivated crop, all he has to do is to turn them out and nature will immediately clothe them with grass of all kinds. Bermuda, Japan clover and the carpet grass, all grow in profusion. That stamps this as naturally a live stock country. That the advent of the boll weevil has con vinced a good many people of this fact, was amply attested to by the large number of cattle to be seen he route. Many of these herds show ed plainly that they had a large sprinkling of good blood In them, and it. does not take a phophet to predict that in a few years the scare over the boll weevil will be a thing of the ast in this section. I saw more grass in ibis forty-mile ride than I have setw in weeks of travel in South Car olina, and it was grass that spelled money for its owner. But the boll weevil is not driving these eople out of cotton, as what cotton I saw was better than usual. "The effect of the boll weevil in changing the system of agriculture was probably more apparent in Louisiana than in any other State. From Vicksburg to Monroe is a stretch of soils that for fertility are not surpassed anywhere in the world. These lands have produced cotton continuously for a century, and their fertility Is not in the least impaired by the strain. Five years ago when it was suggested to the owners of these lands that the weevil would make them plant, at least in part, some other c:*op3, they scouted the idea. But to-day, where there used to be one unbroken stretch of well cultivated cotton fields, scarcely one third of the lands aw in this plant. Corn was in abundance and we pass ed through large fields of rice, some of it already being harvested. "What cotton was seen, was scarce ly up to what I am accustomed to in this section. There seemed to be a pretty good bottom crop, but very lit tle above. The crops were quite grassy, so I judge that there had been too much rain. There were enough fallen squares in the mid dles to make one sick at heart." ? DRIVEN TO DEATH AVIATOR BURNED IN MIDAIR AS THOUSANDS WATCH. Tank of Gasoline Explodes, and Ma ch bae Drops Fifty Feet and Then! Fluid Ignites, Killing Frank Miller. Forced Into the air by the jeers of thousands -who called him a coward, Frank H. Miller,- aged 23, a Toledo aviator, took flight at twilight Friday evening and at the height of 200 feet waa, burned to death before the eyes of the terrified spectators on the Miami County fatr grounds at Troy, Ohio. . Miller bid circled the race track and waB /ust ?start'--* on a.spiral glide when it was a that some thing was wrong. The oirdman could be seen frantically attempting to get his machine under control when sud denly the whirring of the propeller seased. The craft then dropped like a shot for a distance of fifty feet when a tiny blue flame was seen com ing from the engine. An instant lat er the gasoline tank exploded. A large portion of the craft was torn away by the impact and frag ments were hurled hundreds of feet in all directions. Meanwhile the re mainder of the machine, with its driver literally roasted, was dropping rapidly to earth. It struck the ground with great violence, Miller's already badly burned body being buried un der the motor. When the body was pulled from under the wreckage Miller's clothing was 'burned from his body and his face was almost unrecognizable. The framework of his1 machine was aflarde when it struck the earth. Rapid work of rescuers saved the body of the aviator from total incin eration. ?? ? ?