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V OL. kIV. - -MANNING. S. C., WVEDNESDAY., OCTOBER 5 88 O 1 A STRONG ADDRESS. The Cotton Growers Are Urged to Combine. AN INTERESTING PAPER. Way for the Farmers to Protect Themselves is Pointed Out in Detail. The Dan get imminent. To the Cotton Growers of South Caro lina: The special committee appointed by the Cotton Growers'union of the State held in Columbia on the 20th inst., desire to say that the exceedingly low prices of cotton at the present, with the indication of lower prices still in the future, painfully admonish us that we have reached a crisis in the history of the industry. Prices today are not only far lower than they have ever pre viously been at this season of theyear, but lower than they have been for 50 years, and-tbe months of November. December, January and February are selling on the Liverpool market lower than during the great depression of the forties, and even at these figures Eng lish agents are advising the spinners of Great Britain to withhold their pur chases upon assurances that prices will soon be 50 points lower. In view of these conditions we desire to call the attention not only of the cotton grow ers but of every business association in the cotton belt to the portentous fact that for the want of organization di rected by ordinary tact and foresight, we as a people are allowing this great element of wealth to pass beyond our borders for a mire song; that our birth right is going for a mess of pottage, and our great natural advantages sacri ficed with the careless indifference of a drunkard, who flings from his lap his treasures. Foreign speculators and manufacturers, fully aware that the staple is passing out of the hands of the growers at figures far below the cost of production, nevepheless hold aloof from the market to allow the ma turing obligations of the farmers to force the crop out of their hands for a mere pittance. Defiantly claiming to command the situation they boldly pro pose to avail themselves of conditions, which could be remedied by a combina tion of the cotton growers and business element of the cotton belt, to rob the growers not only of the profits of their year's toil but of nearly one-half the value of 10,000,000 bales of cotton, and thereby impoverish the most favored section of the globe. Blessed with the natural advantiges of a climate 'and soil which alone can produce this great staple in quality and quantity sufficient for the demands of the world, we should be the most prosperous people on earth. Efficient organization, which would control the volume of production and regulate its marketing, would make these advantages a mine of wealth; but with every cotton grower separately and independently striving to increase his acreage and nullify his bales, first above and then below the cost of production; with a vicious financial system that causes the claims of the local merchant and banker to force the entire crop on .the market in four months, these nat 'utal advantages are distorted into a blight and a curse, and the cotton grow er s made to become aprey to the 'usurer, the speculator and the manufac turer. Never was there a situation which more peremptorily challenged the wisdom of economic statesmanship; never was there a more inviting way, a more imperative field for organization; never was there an exigency which would more fully justify it. Yet we are told that the cotton growers are an ignorant class, devoid of leadership and without the power to organize; that it is impossible to organize 500,000 cotton growers. Why even the lower animals .will'rally for defense and self protec tion. Can it be possible that the cot ton growers constitute the only element of the animal kingdom which cannot unite? Are they so devoid of manhood. intelligence and foresight that the strongest incentives-independence, competency, the welfare of their sec tion and the maintenance of their fami lies cannot induce them to unite? If it be true that as a class they are so de void of spirit, so ignorant, so helpless and supine that the most direct and forceful appeals to sentiments the most calculated to stir the human hear t can not induce them to organize for pur poses of mutual protection and self de fence, then truly we should hear no more complaints of the oppression of trusts and combinations, but as a class .we should meekly accept that law of nature which decrees that the improvi dent, the weak and the careless shall serve the vigilant, the active and the strong; then should we join in the re frain of the other avocations. 'I hold the farmer a simple tool Aorn to labor and not to rule. ald I vi i do unto him that which I see Will bring the most money to mine and to me." Prompt and concerted action on the part of the cotton growers would change present conditions in 90 days. Through the complete organization which would enable them to-act as a unit would place them in command of the situation in three months and change their condi tion from one of bankruptcy and dis tress to one of competency and profit. By what means can, organization ef feet these ends? Adopt the recommen dations of the National Cotton Growers' union, organize promptly, hold all the cotton on hand and firmly bind our selves to reduce the extent of this year's acreage 50 per cent. the ensuing year. No intelligent man of business experi ence will dispute the soundness of this proposition. As soon as effective measures to these ends have been taken and become a certainty cotton will im mediately advance and more moneyv can be borrowed on it than it is worth to day: because it would .then become a security constantly anticipating in val ue. The visible supply of cotton is not above 15.000.000 and the invisible sup ply, or stock 'on hand at the mills, is estimated at 500,000, making a total of 2,0001.000 bales.' To be certain not to underestimate will put the amount of this stock which has passed beyond the control of the growers into the hands of speculators and manufacturers, say at 2,400,000. The consumption ranges between 800.000 and 1O.000.00 bales per month. If the farmers should with holdthei coton rom he arke fo three months the entire surplus beyond their control would be consumed and the manufacturers would be at their merey for a supply. The entire situa tion would be changred instead of the speculator and the manufacturer dieta ting the price the cotton grower could x his price and say pay it or shut dowu your mill. A reduction in next year's acreage of 50 per cent. would insure such a diminution of the supply as to make cotton scarce and bring about an active competition among the manufac turers for their stock that would insure a steady and rapid rise of price. This was made demonstrably clear during the war between the north and south in the sixties. McHenry in his "History of the Cotton." page 51, says: "In ordinary times there is always two years' supply of cotton in the crude and manufactured state at the consum ing points. At the fall of Fort Sumter there was a suffiiency for three years' requirements. With the supply larger in proportion then than now, as soon as the production was curtailed by the war, we note the following extraordina ry rise in prices; in 1860 the average price was 11 cents. in ISGI at 13 cents, in 1862 at 32 cents, in 1S63 at 67 cents, in 1864 at $1.01. But it is argued that any heavy curtailment of production in the South to raise the price will stimu late foreign competition. If $1 per pound in 1S64 could not stimulate in genious foreign competition it is diffi cult to see how S or 10 cents can do it now." Touching this point, Ellison -in his "History of the Cotton Trade," pages 149-142. says: "For some years prior to the outbreak of the civil war it had been foreseen that, sooner or later a serious labor disturbance at the south was inevitable, and in view of the ca lamity which such an event would bring upon Lancashire, every effort was made to discover new sources of cotton supply. But, although, the powerful association formed for the promotion of this end searched every nook and corner of the cotton zone, and sent seed to every one in the four con tinents, willing to experiment, they en tirely failed to accomplish the laudable object they had in view." Mr. Ellison further tells us that while the exceedingly high prices dur ing the war did considerably increase foreign shipments of cotton, that this increase declined almost to its normal bed as soon as the price of cotton fell to 15 cents or 30 cents per pound. If no action is taken and this crop is sac rificed at present or probably lower figures in the next four months it will fall far short of paying for the cost of production. The cotton growers will be impoverished, the country stripped of means and every business interest must suffer. Should there be no effec tive organization to curtail the supply by a uniform reduction of the acreage, and any other plan to reduce the crop, is the merest twaddle. The industry will be but an illustration of the survi val of the fittest; those who can raise it cheapest and those who cannot compete must accept the cheerless and hopeless lot of the bankrupt and pauper. J. C. Wilborn, President S. C. C. G. U. L. W. Youmans, Vice-President N. C. G. U. A GREAT SCHEM. By Which the Cotton Acreage Can be Decreased. There is a cotton man in Columbia who has a great scheme on foot for the reduction of the cotton acreage. He says he inteads to push it to a grand and glorious success and no doubt he will if he can get the proper co-opera tion. There is a degree of uncertainty about his being able to do that, how ever. There have been a number of conventions of cotton planters, in which they all positively pledged themselves to reduce the amount of cotton they would plant. It was a case of resolute and fall back. Then when the farmers got home, each one would wink at him self; assume that everybody else was going to decrease the acreage, and he would take advantage of the opportuni ty to double his own acreage in cotton and get the benefit of higher prices. They would all play foxy in the same way and the consequence would be a crop of unprecedented size. Now this Columbia genius has hit upon a scheme which logically cannot fail. He pro poses to call a convention of all the cot ton growers of this part of the South. They will each and-all be pledged to in crease their cotton acreage for the next year. Every safeguard will be thrown around them so that according to all the laws of the game the acreage be doubled. And then one by one they will secretly determine that as there is to be an over production of cotton he will plant a minimum acreage, and let the other fellows reap the proceeds of 2 cent cotton. As a consequence we would have the smallest crop of cotton plant ed in fifteen years and the fleecy staple will go up to 12 cents.-Record. Cost Him His Arm. William iRoelker, a German iron worker, twisted a lion's tail at East St. Louis,'and will losc his left arm. John F. Hummel's circus and menagerie was to give an exhibition. The animal wagons were lined up, preparatory to the parade. Among the animals were a pair of African lions. The male was lying at the front of the cage with one of his paws and his tail hanging outside the bars. Roelker began stroking the paw with his left hand. The lion watched Roelker's procedure. The ironworker grabbed the tail with his right hand, giving it a sharp twist. There was a roar, and one of the lion's paws caught Roelker by the left slioul der and stripped off the flesh of the arm down to the hand, two fingers of which were torn off. Beats Walking. When a man walks a mile lie takes, on an average, 2.2633 steps, lifting the weight of his body with each step. WVhenhe rides a bicycle of the average gear he covers a mile with the equiv alent of only 627 steps, requires little force, bears no burden, and covers the sanme distance in less than one-third of tlic time. Another Hold Up. A sp'ciail from Elyria, Ohio. says: Another hold-ut' occurred on the Lake Shore roaid west of here. One zane of tramps held up the officials on a'freight train and took everything in sight. M1any shots were fired. 'The trainmen were not molested. A movement is on foot to brak up the ang. CLIMATE AND CROPS. South Carolina Has Some Crop Growing the Year Round. INSPECTOR BAUER'S REPORT Much Valuable Information Fur nished as to the Conditions in This State During Each Month. The following is the climate and crop review for the season of IS98 issued from the South Carolina section of the United States weather and crop service Thursday - There is no month of the year but what. in portions of the State, some crop is either growing or coming to ma turity. During January, February and generally the greater portion of March the active growth of 'crops is confined to the immediate coast from Charleston to the mouth of the Savannah river. where winter vegetables, planted in the previous autumn, receive cultiva tion and make more or less growth. The earliest are marketed in the latter portion of January, and throughout February and March. The list of veg etables increase in variety as the sea son advances and the area of produc tion extends farther into the interior. although confined to the castermost counties until after March. The winter season of 189S was mild and dry. The average temperature for January was 49 degrees, which was an average of 3 degrees per day in excess of the normal. Along the coast the temperature fell below freezing (32) on two days only. while the average mini mum was above the active growing temperature. The rainfall, however, in the trucking districts. amounted to a fraction of an inch only. and the de ficiency seriously affected the growing truck crops. Frost did no injury. The average rainfall for the State was 1.80 inch, which was 2.60 below the nor mal. February was a cool month through out the State, with an average tempera ture of 44 degrees which was 6 degrees per day below the normal. The mini mum fell to, or below, freezing on an average of 16 days for the State. and 5 days in the truck raising districts, where also, the average minimurm was below the active growing temperature with frequent light frosts. The rainfall was again deficient. The average was only 0.81 inch, which was 2.SO below the normal. Less than one-fourth of an inch fell in the truck region. These conditions of temperature and rainfall, while generally favorable for farming interests, were damaging to the truck ing interests. and resulted in the latest and smallest yield in many years, caus ing a general loss to the truck growers. The cool weather throughout the State retarded the growth of winter wheat and oats, and other simt.ll grains, and checked the budding of fruit trees and aided materially in making the grain crops the finest in many years, and an unusually large peach crop. The dry condition of the ground permitted more than the usual amount of ploughing and preparation of fields for the usual spring planting. In the extreme south eastern counties some corn was planted during the latter portion of the month. March was a warm, dry month. The mean temperature was 59 degrees, which was 5 degrees per day above the normal. The extremes recorded were a maximum of 92 and a minimum of 22 degrees, the latter on the first of the month. Heavy killing frosts were re ported from the 1st to the 7th, after wh'ch warm growing weather prevailed, except over the extreme western coun ties, where the average night tempera tures were below the active growing points until the latter portion of the month. The rainfall averaged -2.99 inches. which was 1.47 below the normal, but was unevenly distributed, .having been heavy in the upper Savannah valley and at a few other points, and very de ficient near the coast, where the drought conditions were intensified, to the further injury of the truck crops which were slowly coming to maturity, and shipments of strawberries, peas, beans and Irish potatoes were begun. The prevailing high temperature caused a rapid growth of vegetation. The freedom of the soil from excessive moisture enabled early and thorough preparation of lands for the usual spring crops. Fruit trees of all v-rie ties blossomed during the month. Wheat, oats and barley grew luxuriant ly. Lands were prepared for corn, and much was planted. Some cotton and rice were planted. Farm work made rapid progress. April was cooler than usual, with a mean temperature of 58 degrees, which was 5 degrees per day below the natural. The extremes of temperature were a maximum of 92 degrees and a minimum of 25 degrees. Frequent light frosts occurred up to the 2Sth, none of which, although heavy in appearance. did any damage except tr. retard the growth of young corn and cotton. The rainfall averaged 5.05 inches. which was 1.91 inches in excess of the normal, and was evenly distributed. with an average of eight days without rain. The rainfall was beneficial ir supplying, to a large extent, the pre vious deficiency, thus putting the ground into excellent condition for planting, although germination and growth of the staple crops were slow owing to the prevailing low tempera ture. Corn planting made consideraible pro gress during the month. and the bulk of the cotton crop was also planted. there remaining but little of either crop to plant by the end of the month, except over the western counties. where the farm work was delayed, and was frequently interrupted by heavy rains. Minor erops were largely all planted and in the main (lid well. Many peaches, p~lums, cherries and apricots were killed in the western counties by the frost of the 7th, but elsewhere throughout the state the prospects for a large fruit em were unimpaired, except for apples and pears. The weather was favorable on wheat. and generally so for oats, rice and to bacco. May was slightly warmer than usual. with a mean temperature of 74 degrees, which was 3 degrees per day abov~e tihe normal. The extremes of temperature were a maximum of 106 degrees and a the first week was cool, with light frosts on the 7th and Sth over a large portion of the State, but the frost did no injury other than to retard the growth of young corn and cotton. Cut worms were unusually numerous and destructive during the prevalence of the cool weather. The temperature on the 30th was higher at many stations than ever before recorded in May. The average rainfall for the month was only 1.35 inches. with an average of 8 days with rain. The rainfall was 84 per cent. of the normal, and drough ty conditions prevailed by the end of the month, being most severe over the southeastern counties, where there was a large seasonal deficiency in rainfall. The harvesting of wheat and oats was elegant and nearly finished during the month. The wheat crop was the finest raised for many years; the oats crop was also heavy, except for spring sown, which was injured by the dry weather. Truck crops suffered severe ly.' Cotton developed slowly. being small but vigorous and healthy. Corn remained green. but made slow growth, and in places suffered severely for the want of rain. Tobacco did well, and an almost entire absence of destructive insects was noted. Pastures failed rapidly; berries and truck yields were reduced by the drought. Streams reached very low stages. and wells began to fail by the end of the month. Rice grew well, but on account of the low stages of the rivers, was threatened by salt water. Gardens dried up, and vegetables be eane scarce in places. Farm work was well advanced, and crops were kept free from weeds and grass. and were well cultivated. The dust was dis tressing in the cities and along the highwavs. .June was a month of transition from the unfavorable conditions that pre vailed generally during May on ac count of drought in that month. The mean temperature was 80, which was 2 derees above the nornial. The ex treies of temperature were a maxi mum of 10-> and a minimum of 55. The temperature rose to or above, 90 de grees on an average of 20 days. The average rainfall for the month was 4.15 inches, which was 0.47 of an inch below the normal. There was an average of S days with rain. The drought of the previous month became intensified, and continued until about the 15th, after which date copious and well distributed showers occurred over the entire State. rnd prevented the threatened serious injury to growing crops, except to truck, gardens, spring sown oats and early corn. The latter was too nearly matured in the eastern counties to be much berefitted. The absence of rain during the first half of the month was favorable for finishing wheat and oats harvest and securing the grain in fine condition, but delayed planting of corn and peas on stubble lands: and transplanting sweet po tato slips. Cotton plants developed satisfactorily; they fruited heavily, and in the more eabterly portions of the State put on bolls freely. Lice damaged cotton in many places; other wise cotton was in a healthy condition, although small for the season, except on sandy soils, where it attained nor moal growth. Tobacco developed into a very fine crop, and was unusally free from worms, fleas and grasshoppers, and sustained no damage by hail. Some early tobacco was cut and cured. Rice did not do well until near the close of the month, when it began to improve rapidly. Large quantities of peaches and plums came on the market but other fruits and berries were scarce or of inferior quality. Melons were smaller and later than usual. The month as a whole favored farm work, with a result that field crops were gen erally well cultivated and unusually free from grass and weeds. July was a cloudy and rainy month with even high temperature. The mean temperature was S0, which was one degree per day above the normal. The extremes were a maximum of 102 and a minimum of 54 degrees. The cool spell was of short duration, and did no harm. The average rainfall for the State was 7.81 inches, which was 1.71 above the normal, and was evenly distri buted, with an average of 14 days with rain. There was more than the usual amount of clouidiness. Few severe windstorms eneurred, and there was an almost entire absence of destructive hail. Crop developed satisfsetorily, es pecially corn, which attained a very promising condition although the pros pects did not indicate a full crop in all sections of the State. Cotton grew too 'much to stalk, and. owing to the con tinuous wet condition of the soil, did not receive its usual July cultivation, and fields became grassy. The plant lacked sunshine. Cotton fruited heav ily. with very little shedding except in a few localities where excessive shed ding occurred. Tobacco cutting and euring continued througout the month, and, the bulk of this crop was saved without any material injury from any source. Fresh water for flooding rice fields became available early in the month, and the crop im proved rapidly. Forage and food crops grew fast. Fall root crops were planted. The month as a whole was favorable for all agricultural interests. Peaches and melons were plentiful, but other fruits were generally scarce. The damp cloudy weather caused miuchi rotting of ripening grapes. August was a month of~ normal tem perature and excessive rainfall. The meanl temperature for the month was 79 degrees. which is also the normal. Thme extremes of temperature recorded were a maximum of 99. and a mini mnumi of 57 degrees. There was an un usually small range in the night temi peratures. -The average rainfall for the month was 9.81 inches. which was :-.68 inches in excess of the normal. There were 18 days with rain, and some rain fell within the State on ev cry day of the nmonth. Two stations had monthly measurements of over 24 inches. anrd 18 others had over 10 inches. The ~rai nfamll at many stations was larely in excess of any previous ~monthly records. There was a harm ful deliciec in sunshine. Abundant moisture and even, high temperature caused all vegetation to grow rapidly. and forage as well as root crops did exceedingly weli; but maturing crops, such as cotton, corn and rice, de teriorated. The frequent rains pre vented haying, delayed rice harvest fodder that was stripped from the stalk. Some corn was blown to the ground and considerable sprouted in the husk. The humid, rainy weather caused many ripe cotton bolls to rot. and the seed of open cotton sprouted before it could be picked. Much of the open cotton mil dewed and became weather-stained. The exeessive rains caused rust to develop, and shedding of squares and young bolls. Peavines attained good growth but could not be harvested. Grass that was cut for hay was generally ruined before it could be properly cured and housed. Exceedingly heavy rains caused inundations over the southeastern coun ties, doing extensive damage to cotton, corn, rice and hay. On the whole, the month was unfavorable for the staple crops, but was quite favorable for minor crops, pastures and gardens. Whatever deterioration crops suffered was due to an excess of moisture and deficiency in sunshine. The first bale of cotton for the season of 189S was ginned on the 9th of August, or 12 days later than in 1897. September began with a continuation of the rainy, clammy and warm weath er that prevailed during August, but about the 20th of this month there was a change to cooler, clear weather at first, and then to clear, very warm weather. The temperature averaged about 3 degrees per day above the nor mal. The rainfall was slightly defi cient in the central and eastern coun ties, but over the western counties there was considerable excess, but neither the deficiency nor the excess just noted were great enough to be harmful. After the 10th of September, ideal weather prevailed for harvesting and maturing crops. Rust, shedding and rotting ceased on cotton. and picking made rapid progress, which as it ad vanced seemed to indicate a shortage in the crop over the eastern and cen tral counties, but also indicated a full average crop in the western counties, where in many places cotton continued to grow, bloom and fruit throughout the month. Considerable corn was housed, and much found to be damaged from sprouting in the husk. Local overflows of rivers and creeks also damaged some corn, bit on the whole the early corn made a good average 3 ield. with many exceptions, owing to local adverse con ditions. Late planted or stubble-land corn varied greatly throughout the State. Rice harvest continued throughout the month, and except where damaged by floods, yielded heavily. Upland rice was particularly fine in most localities. A heavy crop of peavine and other hay was saved in good condition. The hay crop was the heaviest ever known in many localities, and was far above the average over the entire State. The season as a whole, for sweet po tatoes, chufas, peanuts, sugar and sor gum cane, turnips, and for garden tiuck. after the middle of June, was very favorable and the yields largi. A short resume of the season would show that the winter was dry with nearly normal temperature; the spring cool, with frequent light frosts, and a deficiency in rainfall amonnting to a drought of more or less severity, and entailing considerable loss in some lo calities. The summer was uniformly warm an excessively wet. The au tumn warm, dry and favorable for har vesting and abundant crops that the season and the labor of the husband man produced.* J. W. Bauer, Section Director. DESTRUCTIVE PR AIRIE FIRES. Five Thousand Head of Cattle Doomed to Death. Serious Situation. A prairie fire, probably started by a spark from a locomotive, has burned over thousands of acres of grassy lands between Kiowi and Bijou creeks in Morgan county, Col., and destroyed thousands of tons of hay. Ranchman W. C. Miller and his wife and child had a narrow escape fro~m being burned to death. The womani and the child were badly burned. Had it not been for the prompt work of the railroad men and others at Corona, the town would have been entirely destroy ed. Going toward the approaching fire for a mile back fires were started and in this manner the danger averted. Thousands of head of cattle are threat ened with destruction by the forest fires. In Eagle county. where the flames seem to be spreading more rapidly than in other sections of the State, ranch property has been burned and the farmers with their stock have been trying to get out of the path of the fires for a week past. One large bunch of about 5,000 head of cattle is now en tirely surrounded by fire and there is no chance for them to escape. The re port came from Deputy G ame Warden Slaughter, who directed his letter two days ago. It is probable that the cat tie have been destroyed by this time. Dispatches form various points in the forest fire district indicate that the fires are spreadinlg, ahd that unless something is done to check their fur ther progress the loss will be almost beyond estimation. Some mining camps are threatened with destruction and many ranches :.re doomed. At Redeliff the fires are within 10 miles of the town and citizens are or ganizing to fight their advance. A dis patch states that it is feared that the little mining settlement at Holy Cross near Red Cliff has been destroyed. Communication is cut off the mail car rier being unable to get through. Diseases of Cattle. Veterinary Surgeon Neeson. of Clemson college, has written a long letter to Governor Ellerbe in reference to diseases of cattle in the state. lie uays that it will be necessary to hax e an assistant if the business is to be properly attended to. These letters have been sent to Washington withi the covernor's recommendation that the additional surgeon be allowed. This department of Clemson- college has done much good work heretofore and the state authorities hope the govern ment u ill send the additional surgeon. Prisoners Released. The fliialGazette at Havana Cpt.lised. lace Thursdayvsigned by September 2'7. granting pardon to and ordering the release of all political prisoners nowv undergoing confinement in th isand. BATTLE OF MANILA. A Retired French Naval Officer's Observation About It. THE SPANIARDS NO GOOD. They are Dreamers and Dwell In the Past. The Marksman ship of the Americans Excellent. The Courier des Etats-Unis is pub lishing a series of letters from Manila. one of which gives an account of the battle of Cavite by a retired French naval officer who lived for a long time in the Philippine islands. and whose country house was situated between Cavite and Manila. The views of the Frenchman are interesting, especially because they seem utterly devoid of all prejudice. "Now. monsieur." asked the corres pondent. 'since your house was so near the scene of the battle. be good enough to tell us what the affair looked like." "Well. I will tell you the thing sim ply and just as it occurred. At 5 o'clock that morning I was in bed. I heard a long, dull sound. I thought that it was a signal announcing the arrival of a French or an English vessel. My wife awoke and asked. 'What is that?' 'It is simply a signal.' said I. Two minutes afterward there was another cannon shot. 'Hello! What's this?' said I. 'Is it something serious? That certainly can't be a signal.' I jumped up and looked out of the window. I could see nothing but a little curtain of fog and a little smoke. Then. to frighten my wife with what I believed was a little practical joke. I shouted. 'The American fleet!' I looked out again. The fog was gone. and. sure enough. I counted seven American ships in line. They were advancing very slowly. I came back to my wife and said: 'Well, now, let me tell you that what I said to you a moment ago by way of a joke was really a fact. Here the Americans are!' She almost lost her head with fear. 'None of that,' said I. 'Cover your head in the bed clothes and put cotton in your ears if you want to. but keep quiet.' "I watched the fleet. It was advan cing upon Cavite. where all the Span ish boats were heaped together like mice in a trap. The Americans were soon upon them and opened a terrible fire. They manoeuvred for a while and finally placed themselves two by two. the two largest in the rear. and the others in front. two at the right, two at the left. all facing the Spaniards. At 7:30 there was not a single Spanish vessel afloat; all were either sunk or burned. The fire of the Americans was excellent, indeed, wonderful. Each shot hit the mark. I could see the smoke and the cloud of dust when a projectile fell on shore. It was a mag nificent piece of firing practice." "But didn't the batteries fire?" "Oh, yes, the battery at Cavite fired a few shots, but it was quickly deinol ished by the shells of the Americans. It was absolutely reduced to cinders. 1 admired greatly the accuracy of the American shooting. As I said, every shot seemed to hit the mark." "Now, tell us about the protestations that were made by the consular corps, and especially by the German consul, in regard to some broken promises." "There were no protestations. The Spaniards came to the French consul and protested to him on the day of the battle. I was there at the time. They were excited and shouted out: 'Senor consul! Senor consul! They fired at us with shells that burst!' It was I who replied to them: 'Ah! shells that burst!" I exclaimed. 'Did you Span iards protest in 1870 when Strasburg, Belfort and Paris were bombarded with shells that burst? And even two mouths ago, when you massacred a lot of insurgents, it was also with shells that burst!" But that is the way al ways with these Spaniards. They are proud, valiant and stubborn, but they live in 1550 or ray 1610. They have not changed one bit since then. Chas. V., Cortez and Legazpi arc the only heroes they speak of. They do not seem to know that a great many new things have been introduced since that time, among others, shells, new pow ders, machines, electricity, etc." "Now, monsieur, do you believe that with the wise administration of a far seeing and cultivated nation the Phil ippines would be a valuable colony?" "Marvelous, perfectly marvelous! In the Philippines there are untold riches and their situation is perfectly unique. Among other things there are sugar, hemp, rice and an incalculable quanti ty of precious woods. And to all these must be added coffee. tobacco and the mines. In fact, the subsoil is worth gold, but it has~ never bcen exploited." "Have the natives really suffered much from the Spaniards?" "Oh, yes. very much; that is incon testable. The Spaniards never did any thing~ for themn. .Just fancy that at Mariveles. at the entrance to the bay, there are still cannibals. Yes, sir, can nibals! Just think of that! They are very gentle and they do not cause much trouble, I will admit, but they have a taste for human flesh all the same, and that prop.ensity has never been checked by the Spaniards. Thmey go to church once in a while. and that is all that is demanded of them." ''how comes it that the Spaniards did nothing? Why did not the gov'er nor risk a coup de main to recapture Cavite and the arsenal?" "With what? They could do noth ing. They would have been under the fire of the American fleet." "But they had field pieces and it would not rcquire very hecavy projec tiest pire the Amecric'an ships?'' "Oyes. they had field pieces. but they were worthless. in fact. they had nothing to speak of. Disorder was everywhere; thme insurgents surrounded the town on all sides and only watched their chance to c'apture it. The Spamn iards found themselves threatened by everybody. both in the town and out sidec of' it. Now that the Spaniards are beaten they arc busy with a problem which. with their temnper~unent, it will be di~ieult for them to solve. They want to find out the cause of their die feat and they seek for it everywhere except in themsel-:es. And yet that is just where it is." FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES. A Mighty Sea of Fire Sweeps Every thing Before it. A dispatch from Idaho Springs, Col orado, say fearful forest fires are raging on the west side of the divide. They are beyond control and the people are fleeing for their lives. How many. if any. have perished -cannot be known as there is no way of getting direct infor mation. Light breezes gives the migh ty sea of fire new impetus and onward it goes, burning everything before it. with no chance for life, stock or pro perty. Cattle are known to be perish ing and bears. deer and other wild ani mals are rushing to the east side of the divide. The damage will be tremend ous. The timber losses amount to more than any money consideration. These forests cover the hol waters of the mountain streams where the snow re main for many months. From such source streams have been kept carrying volumes of water sufficient to irrigate most of the lands of the State west of the divide. With the disappearance of the timber the flow of the streams will be materially lessened. There seems to be a settled opinion among the ranchers that these fires were started by the Indians with a malicious intent. They say the forcible ejection of the Indians and there return to the reser vation more than a year ago because of their slaughter of game has made them bitter against the whites. The forest fires which have been burning in various places throughout western Wisconsin for the past few days were fanned into furious storms of flame by winds and did great damage in Chippewa, Dunn, St. Croix and Polk counties. A general destruction of telegraph wires make the reports very incomplete, but it seems that the vil lages of Clayton, Alamena and Poskin have been wholly or kartly destroyed, that Cumberland has suffered heavy losses and that Glenwood, Barron, Prentice, Phillips and Turtle Lake were saved only by great efforts. Re ports of loss of life are coming in, but have not been verified except in one instance. A railroad bridge and trestle over 700 feet long on the Soo Line, west of Barron, was burned last night and trains are running by another route. Fires have been checked in places by rains and the subsidence of the winds. A rough estimate places the aggregate loss at from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000. Reports from the western portion of Colorado continue to tell of the ravages of the forest fires, which bid fair to devastate the greater part of the forests of the State. A special fr3m Glenwood Springs, the centre of the burning dis trict, says: "The fires in the moun tains near here have taken fresh life today owing to high winds. The sun has been nearly obscured, all day the atmosphere was heavy with smoke. The fire east of Glenwood Springs is fortunately in an unsettled part of the country and aside from the immense loss by the burning of timber, no loss has occurred up to the present time. "The stock on the ranges, as far as heard from, has escaped the fire." A special to the News from Kokomo, Colo., says: "Forest fires are raging on every hand here. Sheep mountain, on the north side, is a mass of flames, which are within a quarter of a mile of this camp. Great apprehension is felt here for the safety of the town." R.ECONCENTRADOS ALL DEAD. So Spoke the Secretary General of Cuba in New York. Among the passengers who arrived Wednesday at New York on the steamer Washington from Havana was Dr. Jose Congosto Secretary-General of Cuba Dr. Congosto said the problem of the future of the island is a difficult one and I have studied it without prejudice, and as a result of this study of years I believe that it is a social problem and not a political one. Of course, politics will enter into the solution, but the question is how to bring the most pros perity and the greatest happiness to the people of Cuba." Dr. Congosto was asked as to the con dition of the reconcentrados. "There are no reconcentrados now" he answered with a smile. "What has become of them?" was the question. "They are gone." "Where?" "God knows," was the reply. "Do you mean to say they are all dead?" "That explains it better than I can. It is a subject which I p)refer not to discuss." "When asked as to the establishment of a new navy for Spain, Dr. Congosto said: "Spain is still a great country, and she ought to have a great navy--and probably will." Discussing the fall of Sanitiago and the surrender of Gen. Toral Dr. Con gosto said: "There were brave soldiers at Santiago, and if their leader lacked courage he deserves to be punished. Santiago should not have fallen as it did, and if Toral had never entered into negotiations with the enemy it is like ly that there would have been a differ ent story to tell today. It is not true that the Spanish army there lacked sup plies and ammunition, for they had plenty of both whichi they' turned over to the Americans. If Toral had p~ushed forward instead of -:etreating to ward the city, he certai ny would have caused a replsle. These are things which he will have to exulain. " A Perilous Trip. Th'ie United States transport MIassa chusetts. Captain Robinson, which sailed from Santiago September 23. ar rivecd at New York Wednesday and proceeded to anchorage off Liberty island. While at Santiago the coal in the 31assachusetts' bunkers took fire. and it was necessary to jettison 100) tons. A portion of this coal was taken oni board again. On gon to sea the fire again broke out in the fire hunkers and smoldered for three days. It was finally extinguished by the use of' steam. and the steamer reached port without further i ncident. __ A Georgia Tragedy. .\ sp'uial from W~\ayeross. Ga.. says: U pritt Lanier'. se: of 8. E'. Lanier, w~as kile bI re: early Frida'y mn ainag by: S:ott Veatonz. Lier' went to Iktton's st re. andt. it is said. t hr'atenedI and cursed him. whereupon Beaton got a revolver and shot Lanier. Beaton sur' rendered. The coroner's inquest is pnonressing. A RACE RIOT. Whit:s and Blacks Have a Fight Up in Illinois. IT TOOK PLACE AT PANA. The Blacks Driven from the Streets to Their Blockades by the Strikg Union Miners. Striking union coal miners and im ported negroes engaged in a pitched battle in the Main street of Pana. Ill., Wednesday night. Several hundred shots were exchanged. No one was wounded in the ranks of the union men. The negroes were driven from the city to their stockades, carrying with them, it is believed, a number of wounded comrades. One of the negroes is reported to have died soon after reaching the stockade. Des ultory firing continues at midnight in the vicinity of the stockades. The trouble. which has been narrow ly averted between the striking coal miners of this city and negroes import ed from the South to work the mines, was precipitated at 8:30 o'clock Wed nesday evening. As usual, the negroes from the stock ades at the Springside and Penwell mines were making demonstrations on S-cond and Locust streets, the princi cal streets of the city. by parading heavily armed. The union miners were in session at their hall, where a Chica go labor leader was speaking. One of the negroes appeared at the foot of the miners' hall and engaged in a quarrel with a union white miner. Officer Samuel Smith immediately arrested the black man and was escorting him to jail when he was closed in by a posse of negroes. who, pointing their revolv ers at Smith, threatened to kill him if he did not release the prisoner. Smith continued on his way to jail with the man. Union miners and others mean while went to Smith's assistance and the negroes were driven back. Smith took his prisoner to Operator George V. Penwell's store, and upon Penwell's standing for the negro's fine, he was released. Before Smith had released the pris oner, however, the negro posse had been reinforced and assumed a threat ening attitude toward the white men. David MeGavic. leader of the union miners, clubbed one of the blacks over over the head with a revolver, it is said. For half a block MeGavie forced the negroes to retreat and then a few shots were fired. The negroes retreat ed double quick to their stockades, se cured rifles, returned to Locust street and ehallenged the miners to fight. The opposing forces lined up the street, the negroes with Winchesters and the miners with shotguns, rifles and re volvers. Neighboring business houses were immediately closed, lights extin guished and citizens generally sought their homes. At the word of command firing commenced. The first volley, it is said. came from the negroes. The union men responded with a volley and heavy firing continued for five minutes. Much of the shooting was wild and en tirely harmless to the white men, who finally drove their enemies in full re treat to the stockades. The negroes are thought to have carried several men with them, and one is reported dead. A second encounter between whites and blacks occurred 20 minutes &fter the first battle, near the Penwell stock ade. but the firing was scattered and it is not believed to have been a seri ous engagement. The miners had full charge of the business streets at mid night. Desultory rifle reports could be heard from the Penwell and Springside stockades, but no person would ven ture into the streets near the mines, and very few are loitering about the business or residence sections. The union miners say the battle of Wednesday night is only a foretaste of what may be expected to follow. They blame Operator Penwell for the trouble and say they will tomorrow swear out warrants charging him with inciting Wednesday night's riot. Gov. Tanner will be asked to send militia to protect property. and to remove the negroes. An:Interesting Case. An interesting case came before a Buffalo court the other day. It was based upon one woman's remark about another. "She uses pads to fill out her figure and make the boys think she's a stunner."' the defendant is alleged to have said of the plaintiff. The law presumes a defendant to be innocent till proven guilty. The onus of the burdent of proof, therefore, was upon the plaintiff to show that she did not use pads, and the defendant had slan dered her. The jury was largely com posed of unmarried men, whose igno rance of feminine make-ups peculiarly fitted them for rendering impartial judgement. After voluminous testi mony. vigorous cross examinations and many explanations, the jury returned a scaled verdict. Fatal Powder EXplOSion. An explosion of powder Wednesday in the rear of the four story building at 410 North Front street, St. Louis, occupied by C. & W. MIcLean, fishing tackle and sporting goods, set the store on f&e and caused its destruction and resu!ted in the death of Pauline Bru der u-d the fatal injury of Florence iUighbee. A number of other people were more or less hurt. The loss will probably amount to $100,000. Partly covered by insurance.. Wanted toj Hold On. A dispatch froam Santiigo de Cuba says Senor Sanchez Garcia, one of the Spanish judges, who was continued in office after the capitulation until order ed a month ago to cease performing his magistrate functions. but who. despite the order. has continued to try cases, has again been ordered to cease under penalty of arrest. A Cuban has been appointed to succeed him. A Neat Swindle. 31iehli: paays a bounty for the heads of dead En "':J sparrows. It has re eent1i: rid out over $2,000) to an Indi ana crowd of sharpers who have killed thie birds l- ,trowing poisoned wheat aibout the -treets of Indiana cities. The carcasses were- shipped to southern Mlichigan towns, and the bounties col