Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ESTABLISHED 1891. BAMBERG-, S. 0., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1899. ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR. ^jj A DISPENSARY SENSATION li THE BOARD DROPPED DOUTH1T. j Two Hundred Pag<>s of Sworn Testi- * uiony Brings to Light Some Ugly 5 Transactions?Loose Methods Gen- ! eraliy in Vogne. ( The State board of control has acted c upon the report of a special committee, c consisting of Messrs. Haselden and I Robinson, who were appointed a month , ago to investigate the management of contraband goods, and this report re- s suited in the removal of Commissioner J. B. Douthit, of Anderson, who was J? formerly a member of the State board. A synopsis of the report is as follows : 0 The attention of your committee was * fir^t directed to the condition of affairs c of the contraband at the State dispen- 2 sary building and all matters connect- F td {herewith. We are constrained to say that tD* 11 d-fficuitks your committee encounter- H ed in its inquiry have been many, but " we are abie to present the facts em- ? ? - ' .. n braced in eiUdavits irom bouso iu ^ , position to know from their personal 0 knowledge and from official figures ob- , talned from the bookkeepers of the institution, whicb are herewith filed and made a part of this report. * Your committee summoned Consta- w baiary Clerk Harris and requested a ,w statement from him showing all contraoacd goods reported to mm as seizeu ' and shipped in by the constables dur- u' ing Mr. Douthit's administration. ^ The statement requested was furnished* and it covers the receipt cf goods for a period of time commencing 10th March, 1898, to 12th September, 1899. w We find that if Commissioner Dout- w. hit is charged with all contraband goods seized during his administra- ? j lion. as reported to Constabulary Clerk Harris as having be en sent in to the A dispensary, this will amount to $4,333. q 72, and after giving him the proper credits, there is a deficit of $1,155.82 ^ worth of contraband goods unaccounted for. But the receiving book at the contraband room, kept by H. E. Watts, snows s? that during the same period of time covered by Clerk Harris* statement, 8U that Commissioner Douthit is to be charged with only the sum of $4,069.77 ^ ?a difference of $262 95 between ? Harris' statement and Watts' books at I St*. . the State *ispensary. " After charging Commissioner Dou- , thit with the sum of $4,069.77 of contraband goods, according to Walts' . books at the Slate dispensary, and ? after giving him the proper crtdits, sv there is a deficit of $741.57. But the committee find that the pro ? per deficit is $1,155.92, for the reason ,, that there are contraband goods fouad v elsewhere in the building for wmch no records have been kept of their receipts at the contraband room or else- inl where. We have sworn testimony of S0] tne receipt of contraband gooas at the *ei dispensary which were stored away in the commissioner's office and else* where on the premises, but a^the con ha stables were warned that the State tb commissioner would examine contents of packages of contraband liquors m{ sLipp&d to him, and compare them te with the contents as reported on the label attached to the package, and as we have sworn statements from tbe su chiefs aDd others of the constabulary un force that this order was given to tne or( men, your committee is irresistioly ce led to the conclusion that Commissioner Dou hit received the $262.95 worth oi contraband goods, and he is charged c0 with this item. th Watts' books at the contraband room er show that he had released the sum of th *390 2ft worth of contraband goods to ** be returned, yet when your committee tn requested a statement from the com- les missioner as to the amount of contra- du * band goods actually return d, it shows tr! only tae &um of $168 90 worth returncu ?a difference of $151.30 between fu: Watts' books and Commissioner Dou- m) thit's books. So that, we find that of this difference of $151.30 should be m' charged back to the commissioner. St Addmg the $262 95 to the $15130 makes $414 25, p.us tne sum of $741.57 cb mskearthe sum of $1,155.92 which veri- on I lies the Harris statement. itj Your committee was unable to find ev . any stat- meet on the books showing fo: the amount of contraband goods ac- in tually turned over to Commissioner ce Douthit when he succeeded Commissioner Vance, consequently Mr. Douthit is not charged with "any goods turned over to him by Mr. Vance. We noticed from the records that the following contraband goods have ac been reported as seized, and turned in: M 248 glasses, 4 waiters, 12 ice tubs, 14 so crates. 4 refrigerators, 25 bottles, 3 ar glass boxes, basket and beer glasses, 2 a< stills, 60 gallon capacity each, 2 copper still , one lot of still fixtures, 5 mules a; and one horse, 2 wagons and harness, D 1 basket, 1 faucet at $12. We have as not been able to thoroughly look into b< the disposition of such articles as above hi enumerated, on account of pressure of le many other matters, but we direct tr , your attention to an unauthorized pri- re vate sale made by Commissioner Dou- fc this to Constable LaFar of a horse. 2 We refer you to LaFar's testimony on this subject. it We call your special attention to the si loose way of doing business in regard fcr to the disposition of empties. We learn, frojn the testimony of Superin pi tendent Bryant, that at least two d hundred and fifty kegs, fifty jugs and h demijohns were sold by him during <m Mr.' Douthitfs administration, and he ii states in his affidavit that this does w not include sales made by other officials c< at tiie dispensary ouuuiug , uu?v ? Bry nt received for sales made by dim a at least the sum of $50, and turned the y proceeds over to Bookkeeper Ouzis. b We rtquested a statement from Cum- h missioner Douthit, showing all sales of G kegs, jugs and demijohns since he has F been in office, and while his statement is indefinite because he refers to sales ii made in the plural number, ana sets ii opposite the amount, but he closes his c statement with a showing o! the sum a of $54.75 worth of such articles sold, n whicn, he saye, includes all sold during his incumbency. We find that d empties sold as high as fifty cents c each. Mr. Bryant status that the re o ceipts were turned in to Bookkeeper s Ouzts for the same to be recorded. i Without any comment as to the un- i lawful selling after hours, and toe sa?es made from the State dispensary 1 building in smali quantities to "a num- t ber of parties of ail ages and coior f who brought pitchers, buckets, etc.,'- t we refer you to tne sworn testimony. We desire also to direct your careful J attention to the evidence, showing s that the building has beeD found open at nig^t; that, oc one occasion, three ! barrels of whiskey have been found at ! night on the platform, p.nd allowed to < remain there that night, the next day (being Sunday) and the following night. ^iTiOtber feature of our investigation ' into matters pertaining to contraoanu ' seizures, not considering thu contra band liquors which are dumped and botticd and shipped tc the v&r.ous dis / / pensaries of the State, we finl that tb< >ales of contraband geods are large!; confined to two local dispenser? in the :ity of Columbia, aDd we iurbher tint that su:h goods nave beeD sold cheap 3P to the consumers by local dispen >ers than they are invoiced to dispen sers. We would invite the consideratior )f the board to a practice which, ac jording to the sworn testimony of the lispensary employees, has beer car ied on during the administration o !k>mmissioner Douthit, known a: 'changing of labels" on wbiskev hipped to the local dispensers. It seems, from the testimony, thai mder instructions from Commissioner )outhit, that one firm's labels were rde<*ed to be placed on another firm's rhiskey, and that high grade laneis ave been placed on lower brand ol oods. In this connection Superintendent Iryant says : " Yes, I put up whiskey a bottles with one firm's whiskey with notiier firm's labels, but it was under astructions from Commissioner Douait." He further testifies that Lanaan's labels were placed on the good; f the Wilson Distilling company. Ganttsavs: "Yes, whiskey is boted with "one firm's label and with aother firm's whiskey. I have never nown him to put a label on whiskey here the label was cheaper tha^j the hiskey. We put X corn whiskey with kbeis of XXX." King testifies that whiskey was put p last Saturday, and XXX label was sed, but the firm name, " Wilson istilling Co.," was struck off. Barnh&rdt, the assistant superinindent, testified that: 411 have never cown him to put a label on whiskey here the label was cheaper than the hiskey. Have known him to put*on > high as XXX label on Grover whisky?which I have heard is X goods 1 1 s\ f /ihontTOd QJiVO KCpii iiUB rciiUi u vi uulov kuau^vohis has been in practice during Mr. outhit's administration. They put up rover's whiskey Saturday morning ith Wilson's labels, but the name rilson was struck off." C. H. Charles, assistant bookkeeper, ates "thatGrover's whiskey is classed | X corn whiskey, and the difference the price of X and XXX corn to conmers is $1 per gallon." We conceive it to be our duty to re>rt the facts to the board as they ally appear, but in our finding the nclusion cannot be escaped that thio heme of changing' the labels on liskey shipped out could have been vised for no other purpose than to eate a way for collecting more money r the goods sent out to the local disnsers than the same were invoiced to the commissioner ; and, further, create the impression on the memrs of the board that certain brands ire becoming more popular, they ing hard to keep in stock." We finds that this practice of chang* labels is not only done for the reads stated, .but it is absolutely indexible from any standpoint, and conivenes the spirit and letter of the w, aDd candor compels us to aud it ,s unquestionably worked a fraud on e people of South Carolina. We suggest immediate action in this itter, and if this practice is now ing carried on that it te forthwith >pped. We further find that the practice of ostitution of orders has been iu vogue der Mr. Douthit's administration? tiers have been substituted when reived from the city of Charleston and >ewhtre in the State. We find that, on the order of the mmissioner, without authority from e board, or without the commissionever having reported his action to e board, sixty-nine cases of wines jre transferred from Dispenser Sto art to Dispenser Stelling, in Charston, on July 11th. The price was reiced to one dollar per case when ibe insfer was made. And exclusive of is, by order of the commissioner, a rther unauthorized reduction was ide to the extent of $287.15 in sales R?wr?Lr Hill unri Minora wines. These itters resulted in a clear loss to the ate of the sum of $402 65. We find that the commissioner anged the price list, issuing a new e of August 1st, without any authorj7 from the board and without even er reporting his action to the board r its approval or disapproval, resultg in a loss to tbe State of twelve per ntum. J. Djjdley Haselden. T. C. Robinson, Committee. The report of the committee was lepted after hearing a statement from r. Douthit. Messrs. Haselden, Robinn and Miles voted to adopt the report id Messrs. Williams and Boy kin rainst the motion. Subsequently Messrs. Geo. Johnstone id G. E. Prince, as attorneys for Mr. outhit, appeared before the board, id requested that he be given a full saring, urging that the investigation ad been ex parte, and that he had a gal and moral right to be confronted 7 his accusers. The board declined to iopen the matter, and adopted the blowing resolutions by a vote of 3 to as already given, namely : Whereas, under the dispensary law is provided that the commissioner lall be subject to removal for csuse y the State board of control, and Whereas the committee duly apointed to investigate the receipts and isbursements of the contraband room as in its report formally charged the ommissioner, J. B. Douthit, with gross 'regularities and official misconduct rhich, in the opinion of the board of octroi?based upon his own admissions -is sufficient cause for his removal, fnv tchir.h nause the said board UU V4 ?* ? _ _ eeterday removed him by vote of the oard; and, whereas formal demand as been made by his attorneys, Messrs. leorge Johnstone and George E. 'rince, for a rehearing, be it Resolved, That the board, realizing ts responsibilities, and cognizant of ts official duty in the premises, delines to reconsider its action, and that .s far as it is concerned the incident Qust be closed. Resolved further, That from tb is late and p:nding the election of a comnissioner all checks issued on account if the business of the board will be isued and signed by the clerk, B. C iVcbb, and countersigned by the chair nan and no other person or persons. - Resolved further, That all papers re ating to the said investigation b? ,urned over to the attorney genera or such action as he deems proper t( irotect the interest of the State. Kiaolved further, That a copy o ihese resolutions be served on Coramis doner Douthit at once by the clerk. Under the advice of his attorneys Mr. D-?uthit has declined to relinquis: the office, and the prospect is that tb? courts will have to settle the matter. It is the best outward application or w would soon go out of business, as we guai antee Alligator Liniment to prove satis factory in the relief and care of Kheumt tism, Neuralgia and all pains that a pent rating application woaiid seem auvisabl o use Try it! Don't take anything else. d A GREAT OVATION TO BRYAN y " TrXAS DrMOCRATIC CARNIVAL. l lhe Tcxans Yell Until They Are Hoarse When Bryan Appears?He Makes a Strong Speech Against } Imperviaiism. The Democratic carnival at Dallas, Texas, was a great success. Fully 10,000 persons were in the grand stand f at the fair grounds when the speakers 5 made an appearance, and Mr. Bryan re' ceived a grand ovation upon his entrance. He spoke at night to an im' mense audience, and was greeted with ' the utmost enthusiasm. He said in ! part: 1 " Lincoln in a message to Congress ; in' the earlj sixties, said mat no man was more to be trusted in our government than the man who toils in poverty. I am not fiattering you when I tell you that when the supporters of a Democracy?a government where the people rule, a government of the people, by the people and for the peoplemust find its support among the people who work, among the c?mmon people, if you please, and there i6 no 1 better indication of the departure of the Republican party from tbe people than is to be foun<i?i the fact that whenever a man now speaks of the plain people as Lincoln described them, he is denounced as a demagogue. That man is a statesman whose ear is strained to catch the slightest pulsations of a pocketbook, while he is a demagogue who tries to listen to the heart beat of humanity. "But pardon me for dealing so long with what you may call old issues. I 1 want to speak of new issues. If we ~ a/Iott nr? t V* Ck COUlCt gO 10 LUC UUUUwrjr i?uuoj uu vuv very same platform that we had in ' 1896, and have do other issue pre- ] sented, I believe that we could win our J fight; but Providence hss been good i to us, and in the last two years issues < have been presented to us in addition 1 to those we had in 1896. We have ' not only grown on the old issues, but we have grown on the new ones. The I Republican party today stands for a J large army. In 1896 we had 25,000 J soldiers in the regular army,* and in December, 1898, a Republican Presi- * dent asked for 100,000 soldiers in the * standing army, making four times as 1 great as that of 1896, a.- asked for by a t President in 1896, and if any Rspubi - * can tells you that the President wanted c these soldiers to beat down an up- i rising in the Philippine islands, you f tell him that a Republican asked for 1 100,000 soldiers two months before t there W88 any uprising in the Philip- t pine islands. At the time the Presi- a dent sent his message to Congress in J the early part of December, there was t no uprising anywhere. The treaty a with Spain was practically agreed t upon, and there was no evidence of any necessity for a large army, except as a a permanent policy of this govern- C ment; so that when Mr. McKinley a asked for the army it was not for an o emergency, but it was for the p'-rma i nent, continued policy of the United a States. In other words we are to 1 choose between an army of 25,000 and r an army of 100,000. I will venture the e assertion that in any of the nations u that have gone to militarism you can- p not find an instance %vhere such a large i increase was demanded. Consider a c moment. Grant an increase of 300 per e cent at the very first step. How easy e it wiil be to give them 100 per cent e o?/s ii. and then one hundred ii auu uvuv*w 4?j more and double it, and make it four u hundred per cent. When you start on ; the road from dependence upon the v people to dep-naence upon prcfes c eionai soldiers, there is no place to g stop until you reach the endurance of i the people. In Europe they have an armed soldier riding the back of every t, toiler. Tnere were men in the Re- c publican party that wanted a large f army. They nave wanted it for years, j but they could not get it because there c was no necessity for it, but the mo- i ment the Philippine question came, t how quickly did they take advantage of it, and hiding behind what they called a necessity, they then demanded * this increase that they have wanted ? for many years. I do not believe the laboring men of this Union will look * with favor upon this attempt to make J a great military establishment, which, when created, will not only be a bur- I den to the producers of wealth, but will be a menace to their government itself. * j "Some one has referred tonight to , the case of France. Wnen you find a t great army demanding the conviction , of an innocent man, my frieDds, the | French President had to immediately pardon the convicted man out.of re- j spect for the protests of the civil'zed j world against militarism. (Cheers.) < And when in this Union we have a J great standing army, we would have a ( horde of life-holding officers. When we have a horde of soldiers, we will j ?*. the hnrrinn that is borne I , UUl UUAjr ua.w ?.*? in other nations, but a grave menace . to the very principles of the life of , our government itself; and also, my , friends, if we have an imperial policy j we will have a large standing army. You never can reduce the army below ( 100,000. It will be constantly aug- j mented if this nation enters upon an , imperial policy, and let me say a word , here about that word imperialism, j Our opponents do not like to be callea [ imperialists. I am not surprised. I have known them before to object to i words that described them. I remember that in 1896 they did not want to , be called gold bugs ; they wanted to be J called advocates of sound4money and of an honest dollar; but they did not want to be called gold bugs. It was not until after the election that they blossomed out as gold bugs and pointed to / th9 victory, gold standard. And now tbey do not want to be called .'imperialists. Thty say they are expansionists. Well, they do not seem to be expansionists. The word does not fit. If wo were going up in the wilds of Canada and take a stretch of country to be settied by American citizens, it would be expansion. It would be extending the limits of a republic ; but when we cross the ocean it is not exi pansion; it is imperialism. It is im periaiism and no other term describes ; it. What defense do they give for an imperial defense? INot one in ten wm give any defense at all. The first man you meet tells you that it is now too late to discuss the question because the ratification of the treaty settled i that. The next man tells you that it ! is not time to discuss it yet because ) the Filipinos have not laid down their arms. And the third one says that f while he does not know what is going to - be done, that he has implicit confidence in the President. (Laughter.) It is . unrd to get a man to defend imperial. ism, but when you get a man who has the audacity to defend an imperial pciicy, you will find that he will make .ns of three defenses, i have never htard but three defenses of imperiale ism. The first is the financial argumcnt, that there is money in it. The second is the rel gious argument that j* God is in it. The third is the politi'e cal argument, that we are in it, and I can't get cut of it. (Laughter.) * These i iiro the only three reasons that. I have tvt r htard given. Let me say a word i about each. I 44My friends, I do not like to discuss i j a great question upon the low plane i ! of dollars and cents. If I were to ask 30U what you thought of th3 cotnI mandmeLt, 44 Thou shalt net steal,'' would you get a lead pencil and paper 1 and try to figure up the amount to he . stolen and the chances of being caught before you would give me an answer I un the subject ? To me it seems to be j as absord for a man to begin to calcu- 1 I--.. - ? -3?11 ... ? ~ tha txr i /?rn l?f 1 liitc 111 UUtiai ? auu UCIibC v.. an imperial policy. In 1S96 they denounced the Chicago platform. Some minister said that the platform was written ia heli; another said that the devil wrote it, and the last remark I felt to be a little personal, because I helped to write a part of it." I do not oeiieve a single piank violates the ten commandments or the morai law, auu if you can show me a plank in that platform which violates any of tue commandments or any moral precept, I am willing to abandon it and never again advocate it. But tnere is no matter what you may tbink of that platform, the party's position upon tne Pniiippine question sets fortn. so that no Ktpub ican can urge that about it. Tne position is this : Tnat this country cannot afford to do wrong, no matter how mucn it pays." CHAMP CLASH TALKS DEMOCRACY. Among the speakers at the carnival < was Champ Clark, of Missouri, and a i part of what he said is as follows : "Little by little Ripublicaa leaders i are throwing off the mask and showing 1 tneir utter contempt lor the principles ' of representative government and for j the interests, the wishes and the wei- J fare of tne American people. Day by < lay they are demonstrating their com- f piete surrender and servility to trusts, < imperialism, militarism and the single 1 gold standard?the inexorable Moloch i jf the nineteenth century. They are t growing rapidiy not in grace ana good i works, but in aisgrace anu bad works, < " The process of ramming tne single fold standard down the throat ol the i Republican party goes merrily on, with c dyrnan J. Gage, secretary of the troas- ? lry, who ratted to the Republicans for ? i cabinet portfolio, in the roil of ram- I ner-in-cnief. One virtue doth Lym^D c >ossess?he is a candid, out-and-out * joldbug. In his pnilosophy, might f nakes right, and having the power to t istaoiish tne goid standard, ne pro- * >oses to do it without doiay, without c )aiaver and without mercy, in the end t -.yinan and his coadjutors will have s heir way, and w.li play ruwinessiy and C leartiessiy the part ol Juggernaut lor e uea timorous souls as benatorJohn c d. Thurston, ol Nebraska, wuo go aban- C ml moaning piteousiy aoout that ab- t ndbned plank of 1896 in lavor of in- c ernationai bimetallism. t "if tney do whip iu ail their men g .ndcarry the Atlantic City bill througn a )ongr6ss, 1 make bold to predict that s motQer Republican Congress will i( icver sit in tne capitol at Washington, E or the bulk ol tne American people a >re opposed to "more thoroughly estab 1 ishlng the gold standard, opposed to w etiring the greenbacks, opposed to a a lew issue of luterest bearing bonds and c lualterabiy opposed to larming out the 5 taramount and dangerous power of ex- e landing and contracting tne volume oi E urrency to any private person whsth S :r natural or artificial. Upon tais broad- P 1 - ' * - ' ?. iMit thii </A\7? f C ir na&ociajL ibouc ui whu^ ^v* irnment shall retain the function of J ssuing money or shall aodicate in favor v if the National Ban* Association, nousanas of hone&t and patriotic men ? rho fought us in 1896 will raily under ? iur banner, and, with Thurston's dis- v [runtied free siiver McKtnley Kepub- 9 icans, give us the victory* ? "The plain, unvarnished truth is that } he R?publican party resembles a hill ? if potatoes more than anything else, ? or the best part of it is under grouod. c The new-fangled and un-American c loctrine of Asiatic inperiaiism has led ? he Republican party into repudiating . :very idea lor which Lincoln stood. 1 'How are the mighty fallen. The ^ >arly Republicaus deluged the contin- r mt in blood to emancipate four brother j n black latter day" Republicans pur- ? ue a policy which reintroduces human t ilavery in the Sulu and Hawaiian is- t ands under the protection of the t American flag, hitherto fondly called g the banner of the free.' r ' James Buchanan, the last Demoera- r ic president, sent an army to thrash j 3righam Young, the great Utah poly- L ?ami8t; William McKinley, the latest ind, let us hope, the last Republican president, pays tribute to the Sulu poygamist. "Imperialism has led us into tolerat- j eg a press censorship, into scoffing at ihe declaration of independence, into spitting upon the constitution, into a practical abandonment of the Monroe :oc trine. j "Under Republican maladministra- ] ;ion we are to sacrifice every principle ' which we have cherished, every princi- J pie which has tended to make us great V.mnwarl ja q r?or?nl? in nrdfir that ^ ZfcUVA UVUV1 vu c*>9 H we may bully a helpless people, fight- 1 ing for the inalienable right to govern J themselves as they please?on their 1 Dwn ground?seven thousand miles j from our shores. For the sake of hu- ] man freedom, and in the name of the proud race to which I belong, I protest 1 against such infernal idiocy. It is not our duty to carry liberty to all the 1 world; it is our duty, and should be our ' pleasure, to attend strictly to our own ' business, keep out of world politics, steer clear of world quarrels and preserve the blessings of liberty to our ! posterity." ?A celebrated German physician is authority for the statement that ail ; our senses do not slumber simultaneously. They fall into insensibility one i after another. First the eyelids obscure sight, and the sense of taste is the next to lose susceptibility. Smelling, hearing and touch follow in the order named, touch being the lightest sleeper aad the most easily aroused. ?It has-b:ea decided by the Bath corporation to place a tablet uoou the house in St. James squa* n which Dickens was wont to reside on the occasion of his visit to the old city whither Pickwick retired after the memorable trial. As it was while staying at this house that the novelist created JLittie inch, tae laoiet is p?itioularly appropriate. ?The champion long distance horseback rider in America is Mrs. Nellie A. Wheeler of Greenwood, Ky., who has completed a journey from her Southern home to Kokomo, Ind., where she is a guest of her uncle, Charles ? mmerman. Mrs. Wheeler made the trip of 900 miles In less than three weeks. ?Mrs. Mary S. Wilson, who recently celebrated her 91st birthday at Oyster Bay, L. I., is living in a house which is nearly 800 years old. and on the porch of which George Washington shook hands with the people of the town. THE PASSING OP THE BANJO. Tlie Negro is Less Mirthful and Les9 E Improvident--More Morose and More Melancholy. Waterburv (Conn.) American. David P. St. Clair has been revisit- ea ing the South of his birth after a ten ^ years' absence. He contributes to the s0 Criterion various evidences of the a ( change which has passed over the negro of the South, developing out of the tj( "old time darky," "a self-conscious ^ colored man, less op imistic, less mii th- 0j ful, less improvident, perhaps, more Da morose, more melancholy, with a more ?e acute sense of pain and suffering." In ^ short, under the new conditions, the tn Southern negro is developing a sensi- <pt tive nervous system like that of the an white man, and with it the white man's m{ complaints, such as dyspepsia, sleep- an' lo^noco roi.nniu hpariftp hp pt.p pf p _ iV,UCU^CC) XXV/1 ?--W - ?JJJ One sign of the changed negro Mr. gri St. Clair find? in the passiDg of the ba banjo. "I saw a number of colored thi excursions made up from both the jes town and country, and not once did I tai hear a banjo. But instead well-groom- \ ed colored men from town thrummed a g0' guitar or Zither, or were busy winding wo up a music box." Mr. St. Clair attri- y01 butes this to the desire of the Southern m0 negro to do what the white man doe3. pU With the passing of the banjo has also ter passed the spontaneous love of song ; 0f; " the sort of song one was wont to hear $00 at the corn-husklngs, log-rollings, 93 house-buildings and railroad-buildings me in the 70's and 80s." In a small town un] in North Carolina Mr. St. Clair saw fifty young negroes laying water pipes, thi " working in absolute silence and iheir faces as glum as so many Italian pipe W0; layers in New York.'* He assed one tha af them to start a song, but "the re- due >ponse was so feeble that the tune soon the lollapsed." The foreman explained to m0 aim : 44 Dese niggers can't sing no gre nore like dey used to." Mr. St. Clair the .hinks the explanation, 44 Dey's in no thii nood," seems to 41 get near the heart wh )f the secret." lim For another thing, Mr. St. Clair exc lotes the change of the negro in their woi ihurches. . The modern organ, choir ful md educated ministers hold the con- ine: rregation's emotions well iE check, tha le recently witnessed a scene in a the loiorea enurcn in a boutnern city, sou vhere the elegant and scholarly and )reacher dropped into a strain of old- the ime fervor and stirred every man and the voman in the house to an intense ex- E litement.' Attempting in vain to calm i6in he storm he had raised the preacher go]< at down in utter disgust. Mr. St. the 31air heard a half dozen sermons from kno iducated colored preachers and not The ince was the word " heil " mentioned, mes )ne minister explained to him that and his was due partly to a change in the- dre< logical views, but also to the fact that it ip ' we cannot restrain our people if we coni :o on talking to them about hell. We use) , re now trying to teach our people to rea- and on and think." In Mr. St. Clair'sopin- tive on, the self-consciousness of the new g0ic legro has brought with itself-restraint, Vah ,nd that not more than 5 per cent, of $50, he negroes are guilty of the outrages rap fhich have caused the lynchings. He abo ,dds that " in private the " severest 000 ritic of these brutes is the negro him- $40, eif." OwiDg to the race feeling, how- $55 ver, the negroes are not able to de- t ounce these outrages in public. Mr. trac ?t. Clair adds that " when a negro and treacher 's able to declare from his soni tulpit, 'Your race will outlaw you if t,un( ou commit this crime,' then the crime tha nil no longer be committed." WOr Mr. St. Clair say3 that the colored ma( nan, keenly conscious of his hard lot, ext] s rushing into the towns and cities, rjer yhere he is crowded into the foulest suc] [uarters, entailing effects the most ap- p[a< ?aliing, especially developing consumpion and insanity, whose ravages have t,ioc titherto not been great among the ne- ove 'roes. He thinks that the negro is a 0f 1 leeply disappointed creature because 0^( if the failure to give him the ballot qUtJ md that every time he hears the word a?Q( 4 'lection " he has 44 some such sinkng feeling as a disinherited son has ^ee iver his lost inheritance." Despite paf his, however, there is no race develop- pro nent of malice. The negro's crimes, ^ a le says, are largely the result of ignor- wjj] inee and irritation. 44 But," he con- D dudes, 44 with all the changes that are 8ec) ,aking place, the negro still remains r he best judge of a gentleman in the ^a Jouth. When he tells you this white t^e nan is a gentleman and the other is lot, you have got an opinion from an maj nstinct that is never fooled on this de- ^er icate point." 8k0 ? Ed( THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. ^ nteresting Facts in Regard to the Matter and the Changes That Will Take Place. The Scientific American considers it ^ leceasary to advise its readers that gm ,he twentieth century begins with the Tanuary 1, 1901, and not with January Fili L, 1900, as some of them suppose. racj The Scientific American is unaoubt- Dar idly correct, but it is strange how nany persons and intelligent persons, gb| wo, ?ill stand you down that the nine- gte; jeenth century will end with the last ^oa lay of December, this year, and that WQ] ihe first moment of January, 1900, will out be the beginning of the twentieth cen- oye 'Ury. sue The fact that the great Paris ex- tr0 ? - A U A1/) nflwf roa K Qa in. position la bu uc uciu ucad juug jreased the erroneous belief that the an( twentieth century begins with the -t year 1900, but the Paris exposition c&r will celebrate the close of the nine- t tesnth century, rather than the open- Qf ( Lng of the twentieth. The twentieth century will open on a Tuesday and close on a Sunday. It will have the greatest number of leap ?n1 years possible for a century?twenty- tv5 four. The year 1904 will be the first *rf one," then every fourth year after that v': to and including the year 2000. Feb- gig ruary will three times have five Sun- th< days ; in 1920, 1948 and 1976. * The twentieth century will contain is j 36,525 days, which lacks one day of tbi being exactly 5 218 weeks. The mid- de die day of the century will be January 1, 1951. Several announcements are made of changes to be inaugurated with the y<: beginning of the new century. The to first of imparlance is that Russia will adopt the Gregorian calendar. This r will be done by omitting thirteen days, an the amount of error that will have ac- Ti cumulated after the close of February,- c\{ 1900. The Russian will then write So January 1, 1901, instead of December tb 19, 1900, or rather, instead of both, ac- r( ; cording to the dual system now in an vogue in that country and in Greece. The other important announcement is ic, that it is not at all unlikely that the astronomical day, which now begins at nnnr nf the civil dav. will begin with tha civil day at midnight. Toe presant method of having the astronomical * day to begin twelve hours after the ^ beginning of the civil day is apt to be confusing. In many countries festivities and cele brations of various kinds are already 5^ being projected and arranged in honor ^ of the century which will dawn before most of us are ready for it.?At- or lanta Journal. w GOLD IN SOUTH A TT11UA. normous Production in the Last Ten Years?The Diamond Mines and Other Mineral Deposits. The mining: interests of Africa, pecia'.ly the wonderful gold and amend mines which have attracted much attention, are the subject of chapter in the monograph just pre ired by the treasury bureau of statists on commercial Africa in 1899. uch of the recent rapid development Africa, especially, in the southern ,rt, where the greatest rapidity of velopment has occurred, is due to e discovery and development of extmely valuable mineral deposits. ?a mnct. valimhle nf these are ffold d diamonds, though incidentally it iv be mentioned that the iron, coal d" other mineral deposits of South d Southeast Africa give promise of eat value when wealth-seeking man s time to turn his attention from 3 gold mines to those which promise is rapid, but perhaps equally cern profits. That the gold and diamond mines of uth Africa have been, and .still are, nderfully profitable, however, is bead question. The Kimberley dinmd mines, says the St. Louis Reblic, which are located in British ritory, just outside the boundaries the Orange Free State and about i miles from Cape Town, now supply per cent, of the diamonds of comrce, although their existence was jnown prior to 1867, and the mines ?e thus been in operation but about rty years. It is estimated that $350,000,000 rth of rough diamonds, worth double >t sum after cutting, have been proJed from the Kimberley mines since , sir opening in 1868-9, and this enorus production would have been atly increased but for the fact that . ' owners of the various mines in j 3 city formed . an agreement by ich the annual cutout was so ited as to meet but cot materially j eed, the annual consumption of the Id's diamond markets. So pienti- j is the supply, and so comparatively . xpensive the work of production, ( ? Hiomnnd A 1 rrrr'y r, rr in OC liart.B nf V UIUUJVUU Ut^glUg 1U wv v? ^ world has almost ceased since the < ith African mines entered the field, the result is, as stated above, that y now supply over 98 per cent, of diamonds ol oommerce. qttally wonderful and equally promg are the great Witwatersrand i fields of South Africa, located in South African republic, better wn as the Johannesburg mines. 5 Dutch word "Witwatersrand" ins literally "White Water Range," the strip of territory afewbuni miles long and in width to which : applied was but a few years ago aidered a nearly worthless ridge,, ful only for the pasturage of cattle sheep, and for even this compara ily valueless. In 1883, however, 1 was discovered, ard in 188-1 the le of the gold production was about 000. It increased with startling iditv, the production in 1888 being ut $5,000,000: that of 1890. $1,000,; 1892, over $30,000,000; 1895, over 000.000, and 1397 and 1898, about 000,000 in each year, his wonderful development his at;ted great attention to South Africa drawn thither thousands of peril in the hope ol realizing quick for23. Development, howeved, showed t the mines could be successfully ked only by the use of costly ihinery, and while they hav9 been reme'y productive where muchiy has been used, they were not of a character as to make hand or jer mining profitable as was the } in California. The gold prodaci in the "Rand" since 1884 has been r $300,000,000, and careful surveys the field Dy the use of drills and er processes of experts show beyond stion tbat tbe " in sight" probabiy )unts to $3,500,000,000, while the je n mber of mines which have n located in adjacent territory, ticularly in parts of Rhodesia, give mise of additional supplies, so that leems probable that South Africa t for many years continue to be, as ( 'a 1 o (?nM.nrnH nnitiff " lOj VL1XJ loiggou gVLU lion of the world. iecent d'scoveries led to the belief J t these wonderfully rich mines are i long lost '** gold of Ophir," from ich Solomon obtained bis supplies, J king " a navy of ships in Ezion-Ge- . , which is opposite Eloth on the ! re of the Bed sea in the land of ' )m, and Hiram sent in the navy his j rants, shipmen that had knowledge j he sea, with the servants of Solo- j q, and they came to Ophir and fetchthence gold and brought it to King ' omon." i jeut. Win ship's Brave Act.? j ory Winship, assistant engineer in j navy, held an entire regiment of j ipinos at bay while 125 of his com- 1 es escaped to their boats. While a tv from the Bennington were maka reconnoissance at Malabon, Win- ( p was sent ashore in charge of the i urn cutter conveying three open . .t loads of men. The landing party ; at inshore too far without sending I scouts and was surprised by an ; :rpowing force of natives, who purd them fiercely. The Americans rested toward the shore, hotly purid. Winship was alone in the launch, I 1 at ono realizing the desperate aation, he unlimbered the revolving innn of the launch and opened a ady fire upon the enemy. He was, 30ur9e, the mark of the whole bation, but he kept his place unfiioch;ly, his finger on the trigger, and ired a deadly fire upon the Filipinos til they turned and fled, leaving rty dead on the shore. Then the ive young officer fell back with five llets in his body. Commedore Taussays that but for Winship none of j party would have escaped. The gallant young man who did this a native of Georgia and graduated ree years ago from the naval acamy. ?The entrance of William Rockeler into the directorate of the New >rk Central road is taken as a text herald the appearance of the bilnaire corporation, the Vanderbiltdltidn/ia moaninc the aiUHuvw -w - ?pj lalgamaiion of $1,000,000,000 capital, le Vanderbilt roads at present inlde more than 26,000 miles. If the ulhern Pacific system is added to e new combination, the roads will ach every frontier of the couutry, d will comprise over 33,000 miles, or jre than one-fifth of the entire Ameran mileage. ?The efficacy of the automobile in* ountain climbing has been proven by r. and Mrs. F. O. Stanley of Newton, ass., whose automobile made the as nt of Mount Washington, 6,300 feet >ove sea level. ?Cornelius Vanderbilt inherited lesa an $60,000,000 in 1885. . and in 14 :ars increased it to more than $100,0,000. ?Hiram Cronk, of New York, is the lly surviving pensioned soldier of the ar of 1812. He is 99 years old. 1'HJbi uaukui; uf u. K.uumvxitvaEA The Famous Mill Builder of the Piedmont?His Rarly Life in Vermont and Canada?A Volunteer in i he -^oulederate Service. The Spartanburg correspondent of the News and Courier gives the following sketch of the late D. E. Converse, of that city : D-xter EJgar Converse was born in Swanton, Vermont, 1828. His ancestor came over from England with Governor Winthrop in 1630. His father died vhen he was only 3 years old, and he was brought up by an uncle over on the Canada side. In his boyhood he was taught the very important lesson of self-reliance and thinking while he was at work. He carried the habit of thought and action through his whole life. He first entered a woollen mill with his uncle, aDd after working there .J ' 4 ? J ? j. ? some ume Lie aceepbcu. a pusiwuij iu a cotton mill at Cohoes, New York, which he held five years. In 1855 he came Southward in search of a place where he might fiad work. That was before the days of railroads in the Piedmont. He stopped in Lincoln County, N. C., and made some investigations of a little yarn mill or two in that section. He then came to this county and applied to John Bomar, who was principal owner of a little mill at Bivingsville, now Giendale, for work. Mr. Bomar had no special job for a stranger, but Mr. Converse, in going through the mill seemed to know so much about the machinery that Mr. Bomar conc uded that he would give him a place in tne mill. Mr. Converse proved so efficient that It was soon seen that he was a most valuable acquisition. The mill was then perhaps the largest in tne up-country. It was in an old weatherboard building and had only 1,300 spindles and 20 looms. ?Before 1860 Mr. Converse owned some stock in the mill and was the general manager. Bis brother-in law, A. H. Twichell, bad come tc the mill meantime. When the war came both these young men ;ntered the Confederate service as privates and served in Company C, 13th > A TT mu Kj* v. xiivy uau luquc up biiQir f nicds that the South was their adopted lome and they would fight for it. fUler remaining in service several i nonths Mr Bomar, feeling that he :ouid uot run the mill without the aid < )f these experts, applied to the Government and had them released from i lervice in order that they might do 1 nore good fo>* the Confedei acy at home i&an they couid do in the field. Thus , ,he old Bivingtville factory during the our years of war supplied hundreds md thousands of families with yarn to , nake cloth for people at home and in he field. After the war '*as over the D. E. Converse Company was formed and a iew brick building took the -place of .he wooden one, and improved machi- 1 lery took the place of the old, and ,hus the first well equipped cotton iiill of the up-country was built. From 1 ,bat event dates all the fine mills of ' ihe Piedmont, and it was in a great neasure owing to the success of Mr. 1 Converse that mill building increased i io rapidly in the State. Aoout 1880 Mr Converse formed a < jompany, bought the old Hurricane ' shoals, or Rolling Mill property, on j Pacolet, and built Clifton Mill No J. I rben 2 followed, and No 3 was finished ibout two years ago. Mr. Converse was )resident of all these mills. They ; jave an aggregate of 3,768 looms and . .18,072 spinules.. He is also interested , n other mills, and a stockholder and , lirector of the three banks at this jlace. j When a female school was talked of- p several years ago Mr. Converse was , merested and was a iargestockholder , n the first organization; Since that ' ae has given large sums to Converse College, and took:.great pleasure in ; ihe success of the' institution. With>ut his aid it would not be the impor- ' 1 (a *kn a/ln/lfltiftB r?f oirla 'ikLIU lttV<Ur 1U Hue ciuvnuvu w? Lhat.it is to-day. He married Mis9 Twicbell, a sister i )f A. H. Twichell, treasurer of these ( jotton mills. She with one daughter, Miss Marie Converse, survive him. , Mr. Converse was a member of the , Preabj terian Church and a liberal supporter ofjit. He was gentle in manners, kind in all his relations with the people about the mills, helpful towards the needy at all times. He was never prone to speak of the evil in others, but could generally see some good in all. As a neighbor and friend he will be greatly missed in this community. Lf he had never built a mill, but had ?one inio any other business, he would bave been a quiet, honored leader of the community. The people of the Piedmont are unanimous in honoring and respecting him for the work he has done, and for the genuine manhood that was in him. ??? J Andebson's New Plan.?The Anderson correspondent of The State say9: "Wednesday afternoon as a voung lady pupil of the graded school, a daughter of one of our most highly respected citizens, who lives about a mile and a half from town, was returning home from school about 3 o'clock, and when in sight of home, she was accosted by a negro by the name of Tom Jenkins, who made an indecent proposal to her, followed by an indecent exposure of his person. The young lady fled, screaming, toward home, and outran the negro and escap eel his ciutcnes. "The affair did not leak out until today, when a party of determined men set out to capture the negTO, which they did. They gave him his choice of lynching or submitting to a certain surgical operation. He accepted the latter, and the operation was thoroughly, successfully and scientifically performed. The negro was carried back to his home and told he must clear himself of these parts as soon as he was well enough. This is the Anderson plan, and beats lynching." ?A correspondent of the New York Evening Post at Manila says that the street cars of that far Eistera city are already ornamented with whiskey advertisements, and adds : "Surely we shall yet civilize these people. They are an abstemious race, but we can, by persistent energy and advertising, added to tbe force of example, cure them of that." ?Lyman Barnes, of Ottawa, Kans., tried to enlist in the army one day - - - ? ^ i-; r??? last week, out iounu luuiaou mut pounds short in weigh).. He went away and for twenty-four hours stuffsd himself with food, with the result of gaining the four pounds and admission into the service. The local paper says that he ate no less than ten meals in one night and a day. ?Dr. C. J. Hoadiey, the Connecticut State librarian, has in his possession an old placard or 44 dodger " which was distributed ten days after the death of Washington and announces a memorial service in Hartford. i ir.Ma ut utar,nrtti mxcituu9i? Quaint and Curious Paragraphs Gathered irom Various Sources. ?The Cleveland street railroad strike cost Ohio 325:000 for tranapo ta- i tion and maintenance of the militia. T A ?Rats recently operated the striking mechanism of the disused Flashing, L. I., town clock for several hours. ?Santa Cruz, Cal., is perhaps the only municipality in which water is $ furnished frpe to inhabitants for do* 3 mestic purposes. -Pekin is now to Lave an electric *- j railroad running from the south gate of the city to the steam railroad station, and it is even hoped that permission to enter the city may soon be obtained. The road is built by a German ?Judge Jackson, of the United "|jS States district court of West Virginia, v was appointed by President Lincoln, and at 76 years of age is rendering aotive and acceptable service. ?A couple in Parkersburg, W. Va., are just now enjoying their third . honeymoon, their previous marriage experience have been diversified by : two divorces, all within eight years. ?The wearing of a brand new pair ^ of rubber shoes while preparing- sup per saved the life of a woman in Pennsylvania from a bolt of lightning that played about her feet daring a * storm at her home. ?In the returning Colorado volunteers is.the tallest man in the American army?Color Sergt. Richard G. Holmes, who stands 6 feet 6 inches . J /; in his stockings and weighs 216 pounds. ?It is one of the pecularities of the \v; laws of Denmark that the crown most be worn by a-Christian and a Freder- ' ick alternately. .The system originated with Christian IT, wb~ reigned from 1513 to 1523, and wa succeeded by Frederick I. ?Scientists have discovered that the memory is stronger in summer than in winter. Among the worst foes of the memory are too much food, too much N physical exercise, and, strangely ' ^ enough, too much education. ?A favorite dish of the Eskimo is an ice cream mad: of seal oil into which snow is stirred until the desired ^ constituency has been obtained; then frozen berries of differ -nt kinds are added with a little of the fish egg tor vpl flavoring. ?Rear Admiral Farqubar, who will succeed Sampson as the commander of the Nortn Atlantic squadron on October 10, got his first experience of the sea in 1859, along the coast of Africa, when a portion of oar navy was engaged in suppressing the slave trade. ?Bombay has a railroad which is . ^ used in connection with the sanitation : of the town. According to The Engineer, it is over three miles long and is intended for transporting the road j. sweepings to a piece of land nearly JOG acres in extent ?The postmaster of New York ha^l / been directed to have all street letter and package boxes painted in luminous bronze paint, so that the boxes may bd distinguished more readily at nightjJM|*3J The paint has in it a compound ofntowj^ * f!|g phorous which shows quite brigyupfjPv^F the dark. ?Senator Mason, of Illinois, whoopposes the Filipino war, says his opposition is not an opposition of expansion.. He adds: " Expansion by purchase or other honorable means is one thing; expansion by force is another. Why cannot we deal with the Filipinos u we dealt with the Cubras?" -Ten-year-old Carrie Shubrick, who will christen the tcqpedo brat Shubrick, lives at Rocky Mount, N. C<, sad is the granddaughter of Lieut. ~ Edmund T. Shubrick, whose father was the famous commander. She Is also the great-granddaughter of Rear Admiral William B. Shubrick. ?Gilbert H. Purdy, the seaman in ?kaana t\f hfl Olvmnll'l {ft thfl ' WUCI(f;0 VI VU? V4J ?# K _ oldest .member of her crew and a veteran of three wars. "Ia the battle ^ of Manila," he eays, " I was told to carry water to the wocuided; bat I and the surgeons and the chaplain didn't have anything to do, as there were no wounded." ?At a reproduction of the battle of San Juan Hill, given at the State Fair grounds, at Columbus, O., as a part of the fair, Charles Krag, 10 years old, ^ in the grand stand, was shot through the heart and instantly killed. Throe : persons were - severely and several spectators were slightly injured. ?Dampness has ruined the tomb of |1? President Garfield, in Lakeview cemetery, Cleveland, and the structure will '-.V have to be entirely rebuilt. The bronze casket containing the body is ^B8BB| to be removed pending the completion of this work, which will occupy several weeks. The Garfield monument is also badly in need of repairs. ?An electric hose carriage is in use by the Paris fire department The. machine weighs over a ton, or, with equipment, nearly three tons. The. equipment consists of six men, apparatus to operate three lines of hose, a | scaling ladder, apparatus for fro in collars, and one for life-saving purpo- '*? sos. It can traveififteen miles an hour on good roads. ?Lansing, Mich., has the widest driveway bridge in the United States, if not in the world. The bridge crosses Grand river ?n Michigan avenue, two | squares from the front entrance to the State house. It is of the truss pattern J and is 115 feet wide in the clear?the full width of the avenue. On either side is a walk sixteen feet wide, ieav- ing a roadway eighty-three feet 1a width. . ?England has agents in this country buying up all the snltable males that can bo secured for service in Africa. It is doubtful if any Power will ever again engage in war without first taking steps to secure the aer- , vices of the American mule. It may be necessary to call on the Rothschilds for funds to prosecute the campaign, but the American mule will be depended upon to a considerable extent to / j furnish the power. W H. Gatch, wife of a ^ wealthy farmer of Dickinson County, Kansas, has begun her fifth divorce suit. She has been divorced from four husbands and now charges her fifth husband with cruelty and ill-treatment. m She married Gatch at Kansas City a W year ago. She is 33 years old. Mrs. Gatch has also sued several neighbors for 85,000 damages becaase they med- . =4 died with her domestic affairs. 4f, ?One of the departments of Cornell* University kept a record of the detraction' caused by lighting In New *9 York State last month. It killed six -H|| men, eighteen horses, twenty cows g and one sheep, and struck fifty-nine " * ?* ?tWi,m,hno barns, twelve residences, mu uuuuUVU and one mill. In proportion the churches seemed to fare worse than any other kind of property.