University of South Carolina Libraries
Consolidated Aug. 2,1881. SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1896. Sew Series-Vol. XV. No 41 %\t llakjnra at? Swttam. Published Every fSTednesday, J>3\ Gr. Osteen, SUMTER, S. C. TERMS : ?1 50 per annum-in advance. ADVERTISEMENT: One Square first insertion.SI 00 Every subsequent insertion. 50 Contracts for three months, or longer will be made at reduced rates. All communications which subserve private interests will be charged foras advertisements. Obituaries and tributes of respect will be charged for. "A Miserable Position." Th? Attitude of the United States Toward Cuba-Let Cleveland Act' Greenville New3. There ts wisdom in Maceo's sugges? tion that if we wish to see the war iu Cuba ended we should allow 20,000 improved rifles and 4,000,000 car? tridges to be sent over to the Cubaos. It is oa the line of General Grant's theory of war which was that the most merciful and humane course was to end it as booo as possible regardless of the coast in life or money. He belived it wa? better to kill a hundred thousand men in two months, and have an end than to protract a contest over three or four years with the same loss of life and vastly more suffering and loss. If there must be butchering, the quicker and more complete it is. and the sooner it is over the better. We doubt if Grant's generalship or statesmanship were admirable, but he deserves unlim? ited admiration because he had the nerve to apply a remedy demanded by the situation but naturally abhorrent to human feeling, as any desperate surgi? cal operation is, no matter how neces? sary. The bulldog tenacity with which be continued his "power of attrition'7 method, swapping three lives of his own men for one of ours, brought the inevitable end with merciful rapidity aud saved the south and north years of waste and horror. The present position of this county toward Cuba is as mean, cowardly, con? temptible and unsatisfactory as it could possibly be. We have officially re? corded io words our sympathy with the people who are struggling for home rule and liberty, and have officially an? nounced by our actions that we are afraid to help them. We have put our? selves before the world io the shameful attitude of meddling in the affairs of foreigners as far as we dared. We are in the position of a men finding a woman threatened and eodangered by a raffiao and contenting himself with smooth remonstrance to the assailant and declarations of sympathy to the victim. We have challenged the ha? tred of Spain and have done nothing to deserve the gratitude or respect of Cuba. It would have been more decent if M?e bad pretended to ignore the war. We have gone just so far that, self re? spect demands that we go further. Reports from both sides tell us that the conditions io Cuba are horrible. All industry is paialyzed, all property is destroyed. The country has been laid waste with starving, helpless and hopeless people. Non-combatants are being murdered on every side. By our empty declarations of sympa? thy and holding out hope of recogni? tion we are encouraging the Cubans to hope and continue the war, while we i are preventing them from obtaioiog the means with which they could force an issue and result. We should do one thing or the other-enforce our neu? trality law3 rigidly, declare that no sympathy or help is to be expected from us and allow che rebellion to col? lapse, or give such aid as will make it quickly and completely successful. We are urging on the war and helping each side to destroy the other The Greenville News has profound respect for President Cleveland's judg? ment. We have seen it vindicated so many times, have seen the propriety of his motives and the wisdom of his meth? ods illustrated so clearly when appear? ances indicated otherwise that we have learned to hesitate in criticism cf his courses. In this case, however, as in the Armenian matter, it seems that he owes his own eouotry and the cause of humanity a clear, prompt and explicit declaration of his purposes. The emer? gency is pressing. People are starv? ing and suffering, lives are being taken by scores nearly every day, misery is being accumulated for years and gen? erations to come. Our government is being held in a disgraceful position. Our own honor, humanity, the blood of brave men being constantly shed, the ?fferings of women and children, combine to appeal to him for decisive action. His delay is staining bis re? cord, destroying Coba and making the United States the object of the world's derision. \ Lodged in the Morro. The Co, petitor Gallantly Re? turned the Spaniards Fire. Habana, April 29 -The persons who were captured oo board the American schooner Competitor, aod those who were taken in the water while atterop' ing to swim at-hor*, have been lodged in Morro Castle. They will be tried by a naval court martial. The naval commander is absent in Manzanillo and Captain General Weyler, who is impatient for the trial of the prisoners, has requested him to delegate his au? thority to another official in order that the proceedings be not delayed. Further details of the capture show that a detachment of guerrillas captur? ed 32 boxes of ammunition which had already been landed and took two prisoners, apparently Americans. Shortly after discovering the schoon? er, the gunboat opened fire upon her killing three of her company. Many others of those on board sprang into the water and swam ashore. The fire of the gunboat was returned by the Com? petitor Among those who took to the water was the leader ?a Borde, who was captured, however, before he could reach the shore. Thc government will reward the commander of the Messen? ger and his crew for the important ser? vice they have rendered by the cap? ture of the schooner aod her cargo. A report has been received here that Jose Maceo with a force oi 300 rebels attacked the town of Cristo, near San? tiago, but after a sharp encouuter were repulsed with the loss of three killed. Three of their number were also taken prisoners. A party cf rebels destroyed by dyna? mite the culvert at the entry to Guan?? bana, near Matanzas. Forts Limon8S and Matanzas have been attacked by a body nf rebels said to be-'e been commanded by Serafin Sanohez. The attacks, however, were unsuccessful, the insurgents beiug re? pulsed and compelled to retire. Dar? ing their retreat they set fire to the cane fields in the vioinity which were destroyed. A party of 10 Habana volunteers of the garrigon upon . the estate Las Canas, near Boloodron, in the Matan? zas province, while oo a foraging expe? dition were attacked by a party of re? bels and five of them were killed, two were wounded and the rest disappeared. Another detachment of 17 volunteers were surprised by a large nunber of rebels who had laid io ambush for them on the Barrada farm, near Colon. The volunteers made a heroic defense, Sghtiug against great odds, until five of their number were killed, when thc rest of them retreated to Calimete. It is ?aid that ac expedition com? manded by the insurgent leaders Monson and Aguirre has been captured and a cumber of important docu? ments seized. Dynamite, Not Gas, Wrecked the Palace. Habana, April 30.-A dynamite bomb caused the explosion io the cap? tain general's palace yesterday, and not a gas engine as reported. The noise was tremendous, od caused in? tense excitement in the palace and vi? cinity. The general's officers rushed about, giving orders. Even Weyler left the room greatly excited. Only one person was hurt slightly. The others escaped miraculously. The whole paiace shook by the force of tho explosion. Clouds of dust blinded ail persons inside, and many glass windows were broken. The bomb destroyed the partition wall of the principal counting room and broke two safes. The bomb was placed in the water closet at the southeast corner of the palace on Mer? caderes and Obispo streets. Tne occur? rence is the general topic of conversa? tion. It is believed to be the work of laborers. The government says an? archists did ii. The police are making diligent, search, but no arrest has been made yet. Strong measures, it is said, will be adopted to prevent a repc- j titian of similar ac's This happened at ll a. m. Gomez's advance is confirmed. It is now reported he has entered Matanzas province with a Ptroog force of 10,000 or 12,000 men, five pieces of artillery aud pleuty of ammunition. It is pre? sumed ao attack on the trocha, on both side?, in combination with Maceo, will follow, and hot fighting is expected. News of a bloody battle near Zanja, province of Santiago de Cuba, has been received. Gen. Munoz tried to pre? vent General Calixto Garcia from cross? ing the Cauto river. Munoz organized a stroDg land column, and ordering gunboats to proceed up the river to co? operate, left Manzanillo to intercept Garcia. The latter, with Rabi's col? umn, made a junction with the forces of Maya Rodriguez from Camaguey. The combined insurgent forces attacked Munoz as he was advancing, and de? feated him. Munoz lost over 200 kill? ed and 400 wounded. Bat for ^e gun? boats, Munoz's column would bav^ been destroyed. Munoz retreated to Manzanillo and Garcia is now operat? ing without opposition. The Factory Labor Problem. Greenville News. The State and the News and Courier both object to the recent statement cf this newspaper that un? less there is some remarkable change in the situation the employment of colored labor in Rome of the cotton mills in this State will soon be neces sary The News and Courier thinks we are guided in our opinion by "lo? cal conditions " So we are. There are more cotton mills, more spindles, looms and fae lory hands employed within 50 miles of this city than in the same area anywhere in the South. This city can and does claim to be the centre of the most extensive cotton manu? facturing district this side of the Potomac river By a rough and hur? ried calculation from memory we find there are within the limits stated about 30 manufacturing plante, in? cluding the largest in the South, em? ploying in the neighborhood of 14, 000 people. We know that the labor question is a serious one, although a large percentage of the mill people have been drawn from Western Norih Carolina and Georgia One large cotton mill in this section, recently completed, has not yet been able to put all its machinery in use because the hands could not be had. The Pelzer mill brought in 1.000 people from Eastern North Carolina and yet need more and there are four or five new mills now nearing completion, which are already beginning to look about for labor. These are not sur? mises of opinions These are facts. If there is an abundance of white labor in the lower part of the Stale, as The News and Courier and The State seem to think there is, those contemporaries will earn for them? selves the earnest thanks of manu facturers in this section by starting twelve or fifteen hundred men, wo? men and children this way in the next three months. We think we know where to put four or five hundred of them to morrow. Oar contemporaries will find, we think, if they will make some practi? cal experiments, that the supply of white labor available for factories is not so great as they think it is. The small land owners and tenants who are doing well on the farms hesitate to leave for the factory tewns. As farmers and land owners find their la? borers and tenants being drawn away they will meet the competition be? cause they will be forced to do it. There is only a certain percentage of the people who go to the /actories who stick, for some of them find discipline, the labor every day in the year, and the habits of regularity irk? some There is also a proportion of factory laborers who go to the facto? ries for the purpose of accumulating cash enough to pay for tracts of land that they may resume farming as in? dependent owners. This constitutes a small but steady drain on the sup? ply of factory labor. Of course the Greenville Xews would prefer io see every loom and spindle in the South under white hands, but there is no power which can make white people go to the fac? tories if they do not wish to do so, and if they do not go somebody must keep the machinery going. On the other hand, there ?3 the power of the landlord and the farmer hold? ing back the white ?abor and as the demand for it becomes stronger that same power will be ready to put im? pediments in tho way of the iabur ?iroino; to the mills. The short and long of it, so far ns this part of the country is concerned, is that one of three things must hap? pen We must have a very Inrge and early increase of our white popula? tion, or The white working people must all go into the mills, leaving all the farm labor to be done by negroes, or Some of the factories must be run by negro labor Consul G?nerai Lee. Richmond, Va., April 20.-Gen. Fitzhugh Lee took the oath of office and executed his bond as consul gen? eral to Cuba here to-day. He ex pects to get his final instructions from President Cleveland either Fri? day or Saturday, and it is probable that he will go to Habana next week. General Lee seems to l>e in excel? lent health. Ile says he does not feel an}7 uneasiness on account of the climate of the island. He thinks that if he takes care of himself he will be as well there as he would be at come. -^Wmm. The report that Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan has suhmitted bids for ?9, 000,000 o? bonds of the Cuban Re? public is of the highest and most en? couraging significance. If it is cor? rect, it means not only that Cuban independence is near at hand, but also that Mr. Morgan has again pen? etrated the inner consciousness of tho administration and learned its ful ure policy after the people them? selves have failed -N Y. Mail and Express. Business Outlook Bright. Baltimore, April 30.-Special re? ports of the Manufacturer's Record from various parts of the South, especially from the Birmingham region, show a very decided revival in business interests In addition to the steel mill projected recentiy by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail? road company, the Birmingham Roll? ing Mill company has definitely de? cided to build a steel mill with a ca? pacity of about 200 tons a day. At the same place a $100,000 cotton seed oil mili company, a $100,000 tobacco factory and a hr ge powder mill have been organized during the week, and negotiations are pending looking to the building there of a ?000,000 cotton mill by northern people. The development of grain facili? ties at Southern ports continues to attract attention, and contracts have been made for the expenditure of ?500,000, to include two new cotton compresses, warehouses and other interests near New Orleans, while work has commenced at Pensacola on transportation improvements by the Louisville and Nashville railroad, including a grain elevator, the aggre? gate expenditure being about $150, 000. One of the most extensive water powers in the South has been capitalized at $2,000,000, with the reported intention of large electrical development and the transmission of electric power in connection with cotton mill enterprises. Gold mining matters continue to attract attention, and in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia considerable capital is being invested in the purchase and devel? opment of gold properties. Among other industrial enterprises reported for the week were the en? largement of several cotton mills and one or two new mills projected, a $25.000 lumber company in Missis? sippi, a 40-ton cotton seed oil mill in Texas, a ?50,000 flour mill and a ?30,000 compress in the same State. Williams to Investigate* Habana, April 30.-United States Consul General Williams is not official? ly aware that any American citizens were arrested by the Spanish authori? ties in the capture of the expedition on board the American schooner Compe? titor yesterday. He will, personally visit Captain General Weyler, how? ever, and investigate the facts a?d take whatever action in the matter that the circumstances demand in the event of his ascertaining that an American citi? zens has been illegally taken into cus? tody. , A force of rebels ?red on the Spanish gunboat Alvardo aa she was passing Segua. The forts near Baracoa an? swered the fire and thc gunboat con? tinued on her w;iy to Baracoa. The Spanish gunboat Rel?mpago has repulsed a force of rebels who attacked a government convoy in the Canto river. A big ?ght is reported near Manzan? illo, in the province of Santiago de Cuba. No details have been received. Fifty-one political prisoners were de? ported to-day by the Spanish mail steamer They are to be sent to the convict establishment at Ceuta, Africa Tell-Tale Telegrams. Pretoria, April 30 -A great sensa tien has been caused here by the publi? cation of a scries of telegrams that were entered as evidence at the trial of the members cf the reform committee. These telegrams, it is claip.iod here, show beyond any doubt whatever, that the raid of Dr. Jameson was not the result of a desire to protect the women and children of Johanesburg ic the event of a rising there, as has been so sedulously argued by certain English newspapers, but was thc outcome cf a carefully prearanged plan on the part of certaiu individuals of the South Africau company to seize a portion of the Transvaal, a portion well-known to be the right gold reef of witwatersrand, on which Johanesburg is located. Some of the telegrams were in cipher and on their face were apparently harm? less business messages that had passed between different men connected with the Johanesburg and South Africa company. Afc the time Dr. Jame? son and his companions were captured by the Boers, the latter found io the doctors bag a key for code messages. This was taken in possession by the authorities.- who later obtained the mes? sage containing words corresponding with those in the key. In certain caeee the words in the original messages could not be deciphered by use of the key, and in these oases the code words were read as of the dispatohes. The dates of the dispatches ranged from De? cember 7 to December 29. Gen. R N. Richbourg, of Colum? bia, who on short notice developed two years ago into a most blooming Reformer, is again a candidate for adjutant general. It begins to look as if Bro. Richbourg had a chronic case.-Johnston Monitor. Gen. Greely's Washington. Io two articles contributed to the La? dies' Home Journal, Geo. A. W. Gree ly has UDdertakeo to rescue the per? sonality of George Washington from the fast-deepeniug mist of legend. No previous biographer has made so care? ful and candid a study of original docu? ments, including especially the innu? merable letters penned by the subject himself. The effect of Gen. Greely's 6tudies, while they reveal many things which have been mistakenly suppressed, is to enhance the respect and the affec? tion with which the most illustrious American is regarded by his country? men. The aim of these researches is frank? ly avowed to be to depict Washington as a son, brother, guardian, neighbor, slavy-master, and citizen, rather than in the aspect of soldier and statesman. TLe necessity for such a portraiture is demonstrated by the Tact that when American youths are questioned as to their relative interest in Napoleon and Washington, many are apt to prefer the former, cn the ground that the lat? ter, as he is described by his biogra? phers, K although great and good, de? void of the minor buaian defects that would throw into relief his virile and estimable traits, Rightly to appreciate Washington, it is indispensable to mark how he advanced from the environment of the first half of the eighteenth cen? tury toward the higher standards of the present age. Io a word, as we ulti? mately koow him, he is a product, cot of birth or accident, but of growth. To lose sight of Washiogtou's early environment is to overlook the force of character which enabled him to become a great and good man in spite of it. Gen. Greely recalls all that is meant by the fact that his youth and early manhood were passed in tidewater Vir? ginia, the population of which had for its substrata the debasing labor systems ot indentured white servants and Afri? can slaves. At the other extreme of colonial social was the ruling aristo? cracy, composed of royal officials, for? malistic clergymen, and plauters pos? sessed cf great estates. Washington was born midway between these ex? tremes-higher than Patrick Henry, much lower than the Randolphs and the Lees. While his progenitors did not rank among the great iand owners, they were not poor whites ; they might be classed among the minor gentry. It was by marriage that Washington be? came what was for eighteen centuries a Virginia plutocrat From bis boyhood Washington was fond of woman, but every authentic letter of his shows that be placed them on the highest piano. He was barely 17 when he first suffered the pangs of unrequited love ; he was but 19 when he courted Miss Betsy Fauntleroy and was rejected by her; the passion of his life came a little later, and was inspired by a married woman, Sally Cary, the wife of his friend, Gooroc William Fairfax. Thc lady must have rebuked him, yet his iast letter to her was pen? ned only four :i;or.'ths before ho became encased to me Widow Gusti?, -nc richest woman in the colony. His marriage, which took place three months later, gave him absolute con? trol of one-third of the Curtis patri? mony, and the remainder of the estate came ioto his hands as guardian. Washington, in other words, was one of the very few Americans who have neither inherited nor made money, but who have married it. At tne time of his union to Mr?. Oust.s Washington was an imposing example of physical manhood, but he was by no means ideally perfect even from this point of view. His feet were abnormally large ; his face bore the dis figuring traces of small-pox, and ha teeth were defective, owing apparently to a fondness for sweets. The lack of expression which was noticed in h:s j face during the later part of irs career j was doubt less due to his false teeth. It ; is well known that he smiled rarely, ! bur, when he aid, his smile gave an 1 uncommon beauty to his countenance. ? Drinking, gambling and swearing ! were as General Greely reminds us, j the vices of eighteenth century Vir- j ginia, and thc wonder is. not that j Washington was sometimes chargeable I with these vices, but that he to a Urge j extent outgrew them. To the last he j he had wine on his table, wher. in com- 1 mand of the OoM.inental army, he j applied a hundred lashes to every man j found drunk, sud in advising hts neph? ew he says : "Refrain from drink, 1 which is a source of all evil and the j ruin of half thc workmen of this coun- ! try.'7 In the purchase of lottery tick- ! ets Washington indulged during the Revolutionary war, and as iate as the arrangements made for the foundation of the city which bears his name. Ga ' ling in general, however, he de? nounces in a letter to Bushrod Wash j icgtOD, as "a vice productive of every i possible ill " That Lee was rebuked i with aD oath at Monmouth is uoques j tionable, and a few other lapse? of that i kind may be found in Washington's early letters, but General Greely assures us that in his later writings it is very seldom that any stronger phrase "than would to God" drops from his pen. Washington was like many other meo in finding it difficult to live under the same roof with a mother-in-law. At one time he invited his wife's mother i tc'make Mount Vernon her home, but I in a subsequent letter, quoted by Gen. j Greeley, he says : "I will never again j have two women in my house, when ? j am there myself." His own mother also, was a trial to him in more than ? one particular. It will be remembered J that Washington would accept no salary i for his services to his country during j the Revolutionary war. Ilia mother, however, insisted that tba colony of Virginia should settle a pension upon her for her son's services, and it re I quired Washington's direct interposi? tion to thwart the unseemly move. To make good the deficiencies in her cur I rent accounts, she continually drew OD him, until he was obliged to counsel I ber to lease ber estate aod live with one i of her children, adding that she might j stay at Mount Vernon, provided she j would dress for dinner, i If love of one's fellow men constt ! tutes Christianity, Washington had it, j but Gen. Greely can find no evidence that be ever took commonion in his own church, the Episcopal, or any other. He did not hesitate to travel on Sunday, and on that day made at least ooo . contract. During four months that he spent in Philadelphia, in ,1787, be attended church but six times; once at a Catholic mass; once at a Quaker meeting house ; once with the Presbyterians, and thrice with the Episcopalians. Gen. Gieely vouches for the fact that in several thousand letters penned by Washington the name of Jesus Christ never appears, and it is absent from bis last will. Neverthe? less, in his farewell address we read : "Let us with caution indulge the sup? position that morality can be maintain? ed without religion.'' One word more. Washington was a slaveholder ; yet be never exported but one slave, and by bis will freed every one that belonged to bim, providing at the same time for the helpless. Gen. Greely well says that such im? perfections as should be brought to light in any honest biography of Wash? ington are mainly ascribable ro the in? fluences of .his environment, and that the man's life, viewed as a whole, in? culcates the sovereign importance o? will power and right aspirations to the development of the individual. George Washington, if his life le inspected from end to end, has nothing to fear . from the microscope. Why I Oppose Free Sliver." Mr. Chris H. Essig is a salesman for Eiseman & Weil. He is f-ne of the beti kct'wn young man in the city ?t:idv like all thoughtful salaried men, is op? posed to the unlimited coinage r?f silver. "I have no objection,'' said Mr. Essig, "to the coinage of silver if the legal ratio matches the commercial ratio ; -that ir, if 100 cents worth of silver is put in the silver dollar, but I am alto ' gether opposed to the unlimited coinage ; of a dollar that is only worth 50 cents, and in which I, ic common with all other salaried men, would be paid, if the free silver men should s-.::ce3d. I have studied the question as far as pos j sibie and find that the frankest silver men admit that the workingman would be paid the same number cf dollars, but each dollar having only one-half of irs prrsent purchasing power "-At? lanta Journal. We have written a good deal about walnut trees in these columns We do not know the man referred to in/ the following, but he seems to be making a pretty goo;! thing out of the walnut, even allowing for seme exaggeration. Wo clip from the Manchester (N. II ) Union, which says : "There is a man in Virginia who has an income of ?15,000 a year from a farm of 1,200 acres, which he bought twenty iive years ago for ?1,200, and planted it with walnuts. Every year he feils the biggest trees, and the lumber brings him ?100 a 1,000-foot.-Wilmigton Star. Why suifcr with Coughs, Colds and Ls. Grii pe when Laxative Bromo Quinine will cure you in one day. Does cot produce ?he ringing io :hc bead like Sulphate of Quinine. Put up in tablera convenient for taking Guaranteed to cure, or money refunded. Price, 25 Cents. For sale by A. J. China. Nov. 20-6m. All kinds of Sewing Machine Needles a Sumter Music House. Highest of all in Leavening Power.-Latest U. S. Gov't Report Baking Powder