$1.50 PER YEAR.
WONDERFUL
WAR NEWT
Twenty Russian Ships Put
Ont of Conunlsslon
In Ons Week.
=
- ft. Petersburg, Feb. 1L? 141 a . si.?
A communication from Viceroy Alex
Is# just received, confirms the report
of tkAodini of 19,000 Japanese troops
" St. Chemulpo. The viceroy adds that
Nports-have been roeired of attempts
To cat the telegraph wires along the
Chinese Eastern railway and also to
' destroy one of the abutments of the
ftoogari bridges. These attempts, he
?Ms, were Immediately detected ^pnd
decisive aseasnres taken to guard the
" railway.
- y 4 * ' " ? " .. i.
A IplwdM Vta'oiy.
Nagasaki, Japan, Feb. 14. ? Aocord
Ing to advices received, the engage
ment at Port Arthur oommenoed at 4
o'clock on the morning of the 9th.
Altogether 12 vessels were destroyed,
and 8 captured.
Six Norwegian Steamers chartered
by a Russian naval contractor have
been captured. The vessels are the
Ijena, Activ, Sentis, Seirstad, Argo
and Hermes. They carried coal car
goes. The Hermes sr rived here today
binder convoy of a cruiser. It Is ru-,
snored that 18,000 Japanese soldiers
have been killed, presumably by ths
sinking of a transport. Disturbances
are reported proceeding in Seoul.
A JnpMtM R"fal??.
London, Feb. IS. ? The ^uily Mail's
Port Arthur correspondent under date
of Feb. li^savs: Oflloisl advices state
thr.t the Japanese Untied 600 soldiers
near Talieu-UVn with disastrous .re
suits, 410 being sabered by Cossacks.
The rehialnder escaped to their ships.
It is further stated that the Japanense
landed at T>ove Bay, where thirty oi
them r^ere killed, and the remaiuder
^retreated
?betwaao Hak it* soil Otami
% JtiWHRf lUspendrfc on account of Rho
sfan raiders. Great indignation is felt
at Yokohama over the sinking of a
commercial steamer, and It is believed
..that It la a violation of international
law of warfare.
4 M?rw(f*M CliyUIn Imprisoned.
Chefoo, Feb. 14. ? Capt. Qundorson,
of the Norwegian collier Bvgdo baa
been Imprisoned at Tort Arthur for
four days for having in his possesion
? obart of the Blngvautau coaling sta
tion west of Port Arthur, and showing
tbe chart to the Jafhneie. The Ja
panese were arrested with him, but
tbelr whereabouts are not known.
It is reported that a correspondent
baa been arrested In attempting to
?end news by the steamer Chefoo, soil
ing for Fort Arthur. The Captain
waa allowed to leave on agreeing to
aay nothing about the unconfirmed re
port that fitty-one Riisttinn tailon* lind
been killed in the engagement Tues
day. One refugee says he snw seven
bodies landed from a di?*b!ed cruisrr
which was In a bad position, with a
heavy list, bow down.
VlitrMlmaU Unknown.
Chefoo, Feb. IS.? All of the steamers
that have left Dalnv have heard noth
ing of the Japanese fleet or navy.
Aa Oriental r?i?br*tloi.
Tokio, Feb. 18.? The night ce1eb"ft
tion far exceeded that of t}ie day in
notsyfenthusiasm. Karly in the?evening
impromptu processions of thousand*
of men began to form, and paraded
through the principal streets and
surged about the publlo buildings and
palaces, carrying banners and cheer
ing wildly. Tbe Kussian Legation was
dark and silent. The people have been
restrained and calm for so many
months that they are nouringout their
long pent up feelings into a wildly en
tbuslastlc celebration of victory.
Thm CttltiM* Vonwt.
Pektn, Feb. 14.? An Imperial edict
declares that the Court has no Inten
tion of leaving tbe Capital.
Foe* Atfcur BmM.
(jondon, Feb. If. ? The Tokio corre
spondent of ?he ; Times says: "It is
?aid the Japanese squadron has sealed
Port ArtfTur."
lUyorUd DrfwU.
Chefoo, Feb. It. ? It Is reported that
11,000 Japanese troops were landed at
Dote Bay last Wednesday morning,
Atld that, they were met by the Run
mim, who engaged them In a hand-to
ittAd aght. j 'he reports say the J a
ptocM were driven beck. It Is ateo
reported that Japanaw troops here
been landed .ferty miles farther west.
Tokio, Feb. ^L?Tbe Japanese gOT
sroment denies that Pavloff, Bossian
minister to Cofra, withdrew from Bo
ons to-day under Japan'* pressure,
bat that bis withdrawal was entirely
voluntary. An officer escorted M. Pav
loff to Pascal. The Japanese fleet was
given Instructions not to interfere
with M. PaeIoff*s deoarture. From
Pascal M. Pavloff will go to Chefoo.
The abors disclaimer by Jspsn Indi
cates that despite the fact OoreaNs)
largely dominated by the Japanese
military force, the govern men t has no
intention at present of assuming terri
torial possession.
Brlce's Local Option Bill.
The discussion of Senator
Bnce's bill to. regulate the dis
pensary law so as to allow the
Voting out of established dispen
saries consumed three hours of
the senate's session Thursday
morning. The bill was amended
and sent to the house. One of
the amendments submitted by
Senator Blake, which was ac
cepted, will, say the opponents
of the bill, completely preclude
its efficiency. This amendment
is that no counties voting out. the
dispensary shall thereafter be
allowed to participate in the
school fund derived from the dis
pensary profits. The argnnfeut
is made that no community would
be foolish enough to deprive it
self of this source of revenue.
Senator Brice says that if a de
ficiency exists in a school fund in
a county it must be suppliod by
taxation on the other counties of
the State. Section G of article
11 of the constitution of 1895
may be construed so as to sub
stantiate this view of the matter,
It is said. r ?
When the bMl was brought up
Senator Kay sor offered an amend
ment as follows:
"Provided, a tax of-one-balf
mill is hereby levied upon every
dollar of the value of all taxable
property in all counties having
no dispensary, and in all coun
ties voting ' to remove or close
the dispensaries as above pro
vided; for the purpose of defray
ing the expenses of the enforce"
ment of the dispensary law in
said county under and by di
rection of the governor, said tax
to be collected as other county
taxes and forwarded to the St^te
treasurer to be expended, or so
much thereof as may bo neces
sary, U3 now provided by law for
such purposes. Any balance re
maining unexpended at the end
of the year to be returned by thtf
Slate treasurer to the county
treasurer of such county for gen
eral county purposes, and that
the value of all confiscations of
contraband goods seized in such
oounty, as determined by the
State board of directors, shall be
paid to the fund raised by said
levy for the enforcement of the
law as above provided. And
any amount expended in said
county for the enforcement of
the dispensary law shall be re
funded to the State treasury up
on tho collection of the tax above
levied."
A Postmaster In Trouble.
Spartanburg, Feb. 10. ? A war
rant has been issued against
Postmaster J. T. Robinson, of
Cowpens, charging him with vio
lation of sections 3890, 3891, and
8892 of the revised statutes of
the United States, which relate
to the unlawfully detaining of
mail matter in the postottico at
Cowpens and otherwise inter
fering with matter addressed to
another person than himself.
Mr. Robinson has given bond for
his appoa ranee before U. S. Com
missioner McGowan. The case
has been placed in the hands of
the government postotlictir au
thorities. 4
- A Little Oft.
The Raleigh Times i ays: "It
is now beyond doubt that the de
stractao? eaoaed by ths lire in
Baltimore Is ths greatest ever
experienced in any single lire in
the history of the world.*' While
the loss was appalling, it waa yet
about $70,000,000 less than that
incurred in the Chicago lire,
without considering the sacrifice
of life. But our -Raleigh con
temporary has forgotten the lit
tle affair presided over by Nero.
There were no lire insurance
companies in those days, so the
estimates of losses are not accu
rate, but the city was burning
for fully one week. In such fires
as destroyed the cities of Rome,
Vienna, Jerusalem and London,
the losses were total, there be
ing no insurance, the great boon
of modern property holders. Nor
were there fire-proof vaults and
safer, so that the destruction of
treasure of all kinds was enor
mous. ? The State.
The Local Option Measure.
To the Editor of The State:
In order to show the sentiment
of the people of this place iu
reference to the bill introduced
in the senate by Mr. Brice of
York, providing for local option,
I circulated in this town a peti
tion sent me by Mr. J. W. Hamel,
chairman of the State Temper*
ance, Law and Order league,
urging tho passage of the above
named bill. I presented the pe
tition to 212 persons and out of
that number ten (10) refused to
sign it. No one was urged or
persuaded to sign it. There are
two men in the place to whom J
did not present it, as I under*
stood that they wereoppQsodJjoit.
The local- option bill, accord
ing to Mr. L. J. Williams, now
pending, litis a nigger-in-tlie
wood -pile feature in it, and is
not worthy of consideration by
the general assembly, and should
'be stricken from the calendar. I
have reference to the half- mill
tax feature of said bill. While
in reality it would amount to
very little, every one knows how
utterly opposed the average vo
ter is to an increase of taxes. So
for some partisan to rinc the
changes at this point out a little,
would be to defeat the proposed
end. -
Will our lawmakers consider
for a moment the following ques
tions? Is it right, is it just, is
it reasonable, is it according tcT
principles of free government to
impose upon a commonwealth a
law that is as a galling iron yoke
upon the- necks of the people?
Certainly if a community does
not want to sell liquor, they
onght not to be compelled by law
to do so. Give a long-suffering
people a chance to say by popu
lar vote what they want and let
them have that. This is all we
are asking for at your hands.
H. L. Baggott.
Saluda, Feb. 10.
A Ho nth Carolinian.
Among the United States na
val officers detailed to follow
military operations in the far
east tor tho navy department is
Lieutenant Newton A. McCully,
,U. S. M., of South Carolina Ho
will be attached to the* Russian
fleet as soon as the permission of
the Russian naval authorities is
secured by Ambassador McCor
mick, who has been cabled to
make the necessary arrange
ments, and given the Jist of offl
cers, both military and naval
Lieut McCullv entered the ser
vice in 1888, and was commis
sioned Lieutenant in 1890.
rhe White Knight Cigar is strictly
ft first-class smoke. For sale at the
Cauulei l>rug Company. Call for
Micro. \
Records of tiro?t Fires.
In the Chicago lire of 1871
over 18,000 buildings wore de
stroyed, of whioh 2,400 were
stores, shops or factories, and
about 100,000 people were ren
dered homeless. The district
over which the conflagration
snpt was three and three-quar
ter miles in length by more than
a mile wide, oovering the most
densely popul ated portion of the
city. It is said thai 250 lives
were lost by accidents during
the progress of the fire, and to
tal value of property destroyed
was estimated at $192,000,000.
When the Russians evacuated
Moscow in 1812 the Czar order
ed the cicy to be fired, and a
largb number of Convicts were
pardoned and released from the
jails on condition that they
would do the work of setting fire
to t&e houses. It was well done;
the entire city was reduced to
ruinb on September 14 and the
eight following days, and thfe
destruction of property estimat
ed to exceed $150,000,000.
- Id 1845 the lower portion of
Pittsburg wis blotted out by
lire, which speedily passed be
yond control of the defective ap
paratus then employed. On this
occasion there were 1,100 build
ings burned, whose vaiu9 was
$10,W0,000.
In 1842 Hamburg was burned;
4,219 buildings were destroyed,
their estimated value being $85,
00(^000; 100 lives were lost by
falhag walls and similar acci
dents^
? Jerusalem has been partly or
wjpolly burned seventeen times,
eigUi conflagration being kindled
wMafclhe city was taken by a
in 1838 Charleston, S. G., was
swept by a fire. It is estimated
that on this occasion 1,158 build
* ing3 were destroyed, whose val
ue was $8,000,000.
In 1806 Portland, Me., suffer
ed from a great fire, which de
stroyed over one-half the build
ings in the city and occasioned a |
loss of $11,000,000.
In 1889 occurred the great fire
at Seattle, in Washington, in
which property to the value of
$20,000,000 was destroyed.
In 1866 Yokohama was almost
destroyed by fire, only the pal
ace of the emperor and a few
temples escaping
In 1873 Yeddo, Japan, suffered
} from a fire which destroyed 10,
~000 houses, and left over 1,000,
000 persons homeless.
The Boston tire of 1872 is reck
oned the fourth most destructive
fire of history, the loss exceding
$75,000,000,
In 1822 Canton, China was al
most obliterated by a fire which
swept over three fifths of the
city.
The great fire of London in
1666 destroyed property esti
mated to exceed $58,000,000 in
! value.
' Push the Pigs.
In breeding hogs for profit
they should never be kept over
winter. Feeding stock hogs
through the winter to keep them
in growing, thriving condition
would cost almost as much as it
would to prepare them for mar
ket earlier in the season. If
your pigs are of good stock and
have good care, March or April
pigs should be slaughtered in
December, and even May or June
pigs will make good meat at
about Christm os holidays. Get.
your hogs fat at trom six to nine
months old. But for this pur
pose it will not do to raise the
long-nosed, razor backed elm (
peelers, but you must get im- :
proved blood. Then, with good j
blood, good feeding and early ,
marketing, you will more than .
double your profits. 1
Talk 'With Farmer*.
We know tbat rest to the toiler
is sweet, and tbat social and fes
tive pleasures are specially de
ligntful at this period. There is
nothing- wrong in needful rest,
nor is there anything? censurable
in social mingling at any proper
period. Still the expanse of
coming time unfolds to view the
necessity f6r labor ? reminding
the farmer, as well as men of all
other pursuits, that the bread of
lifer must bo earned "in the
sweat of the faCe. "
Here we are in mid-winter. All
vegetable life seems suspended,
save here and there a sprig of
grass sheltered^ from the winds,
trosts and snow by which its
kindred have been deprived of
vitality; or an evergreen that
seems to stand as a pledge of
new life when the spring comes
with its rejuvenating influences.
The period of resuscitation to
vegetable nature will soon ar
rive, and no man doubts that
then the farmer must be busy.
But there is something to be
done now, in anticipation of an
abundant harvest the coming
year.
Don't leave an acre unturned
that you intend cultivating this
year, if it is possible to treat it
in this way. Whatever plow you
bring into use, be sure that jou
turn the top of your land to the
bottom, carrying by the process
all that has accumulated upon
the surface, so that by decompo
sition it may increase the pro
ductive force of the soil. When
you have turned your land,
bring your plows back, put
your horses in their warm stalls,
and take a good rest while the
frosts and snows and the sun
shine finish the work of prepar
ing your land for the spring
planting.
The Mild-Eyed Pels.
The Jersey cow needs no de
fender or apologist. She has
taken her place and fills it well.
Her good qualities are well
known and conceeded; and while
we advocate a larger breed of
cattle to cross on our native
stock to increase their beef and
milk producing qualities, we
would not detract one particle
from the excellent qualities of
the Jersey. We want to be un
derstood upon this point. Wo
are in favor of every kind of a
good cow in her place, but for
the farmers of South Carolina
we are for that breed of cattle
that will make cattle-raising
more remunerative to the breed
er. W3 care not what it is or
where it comes from. It is our
aim to put before our readers
the facts about all the breeds,
and let them decide for themsel
ves which suits them best.
Make Your tumpoHtH.
We clip the following valuable
paragraph of advice from The
Planter's Journal, and commend
it to the consideration and ob
servance of our readers. The
article from which it is taken
was written on the subject of
prepaiing c >mpost:
Remonr.ber that there is noth
ing upon the plantation ? if it
will decay ? but that it will add
to the fertility of your soil. All
the litter and leaves that fall in
your yard from the shade trees,
the ashes from the kitchen, the
blood and offal from your pork,
hogs and beeves, the chips from
the wood pile, and in fact all the
vegetable litter aoout the place
should bo thrown into the coin
post heap, and the soapsuds
ovjery week, if not otherwise
used upon your fruit trees, should
be poured over the compost heap.
The litter from weeds, briars and
other brushwood, from the jams
of your fences, may also bo used
in. the same way. And litter
from the forests, that prolific
source of vegetable, ad libitum,
at will and in any quantity.
The Splutters Now an Element.
New Orleans, Feb. 11.? Cotton
today mode wlmt would be con
sidered sensational advances in
ordinary times, closing prices
being from 85 to 95 points higher
than the close of yesterday. The
market, however, showed little
excitement and the tone through
out was steady.
The statement was openly
made that spinners were bulling
the market and specially March.
The demand for March contracts
^as enormous, bids being coi.
tinually made for from 1,000 to
5,000 bales. Offerings werQ not
at all free and tho cousequeuce
was that March made the great
est gam of the weelr, UJ) points.
Fiiinilette*.
He was a masher. She was a
woman who was spoiling a $14
hat in the rain. He raised his
umbrella, and hurried along and
overtook her and began:
"Madam, permit mo to offer
the use ? "
"Oh. thank youeverso much!"
she interrupted, as she took it
from his hand ana walked on,
leaving him to skip for a door
way.
A newsboy who noted the per
formance from his position un
der an awning, looked from one
to the other several times, and
then approached the masher and
queried:
"Under the circumstances, yon
don t want to buy a newspaper,
do you?'*
And the answer was such a
melancholy shake of the head
that the boy recommended a
change of climate.
Johnson? "Do you know young
Jones?"
O Kelly ? "Yis, sor; I know
him."
Johnson ? "Can a person 'be
lieve what he says?"
. O'Kelly? "Faith, an it's jist
this way? when he tells yo the
truth ye can believe ivery word
he says, but when he lies to yez
ye better have no confidence in
him at all. "
"Is there any one waiting on
you?" asked a dry goods clerk
of a youug lady on tho opposite
side of the counter. "I hardly
know," she replied, "George is
so peculiar; I don't know
whether he means anything or
not." She blushed and asked to
look at some lace.
D. Autry
Expert Painter.
My work shows
for Itself.
IF IN DOUBT, SEE MY
TESTIMONIALS, GET MV
PRICES, AND GIVE MK
YOUR WORK.
All Work
Guaranteed,
/