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THE BUSINESS OUTLOOK. the Conditions ?f This Section as Seep fey Oar Bankers. The following extracts are taken from a pamphlet issued by the Ameri? can Arithmometer Co., entitled "The Business Outlook for 1904, as seen by Bankers in the District of Virginia and the Carolinas." It is made^np of letters from prominent bankers of the States mentioned, who write, as a rule, that the business outlook of this sec? tion'is bright and the conditions one of solid prosperity. THE BANX OF SUMTER Sumter, & C., Nov. 23, 1903. American Arithmometer Company. Dear Sir: I regret that I cannot .give a roseate view of our financial condition. The tobacco crop, which for several years has been a large item in the pockets of our farmers, was a partial failure in yield, while the price did not pay for the fertilizers used. In a number of cases the farm? ers did not take the trouble to haul their stuff to market, as it did not pay for even that small expense. So much for the workings of the tobacco trust. Cotton h:?s brought a fine price -say 40 per cern*, more than the aver? age, but the yield has been seriously reduced." One prominent farmer, who planted for 300 bales, and who last year at this time had gathered and sold 225 bales, tells me that he has ! gathered less than 50 bales at "present, and I doubts if he gets 50 more. Of course this is an extreme case. State money is reasonably easy. The banks have more money than usual. Our deposits have been nearly $300,000, while $200,000 to $225,000 have been the figures heretofore, while the other banks are doing equally as well. We are collecting fairly well and will not have to carry over near as much as we did in 190L Next year will be a severe one to our farmers and as a consequence they will come out all right at the end of year-they: always do after a hard vear. Very truly, W. 3?. Rhame, Cashier. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, Sumter, S. C.. Nov. S4, 1903. American Arithmometer Company, Lynchburg, Va. Dear Sirs : In reply to your inquiry ?concerning trade and financial con^i tione, I beg to 'tay that the outlook for the next year is quite bright. Our farmers are in a better condi? tion than heretofore, and while our cotton crop is about one third shorter than last year the high prices help very much to malee up the deficiency. Our merchants are complaining of dullness in trade. Our banks are holding larger deposits than hereto? fore and there is na enormous demand for money. Our city is growing rapidly and there is a great deal of money invested in buildings and other -enterprises. Pur population has in? creased fifty per cent, in the last three years. We look for a very heavy de? mand ' for money after the first of -January. Our fanning lands have increased very much in value. Politics in this section interferes very little with trade, and though the next year is a presidential election, we look for a large volume of business in this section. What applies to ns we think also applies to the neighbor? ing counties. Yours very truly, E. LL Edmunds, Cashier. THE BANK OF BISHOPVILLE. Bishopville, a C., Nov. 28, 1803. Mr. C. W. Gooch, Manager, Lynch? burg, Va. Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your -inquiry of 21 inst. Replying to same, locally ?-peaking, owing to the very large increase of investments, and short crops in a good many sections of this county, money is in great demand, greater than I've ever-known it at this season of the year. Heretofore, we had to employ our surplus funds at this season of the year in outside paper, but this season the demand here has been so great that we have been able to employ our funds to good advantage right here at home. AB to thc outlook for 1904 we see no special reason to be fearful locally or -the country at large. I shall await the receipt- of yonr collection of *' views" with a great deal of interest. Very truly yours, W. R. Scarborough. Tfce Tell IK Persia. J. D. Rees, a lecturer on Persia, rays that the veils worn by P<?wan ladies are more of a privilege than a punish? ment. Scree?*?? behind lt woman may walk wherever r?e pleases, and even her own h UKO?, nd da?? not question her movement*-, Donbtlcss many Persian tadio* make foe ?wt of their opportu? nities. Tiie Persian*, ts a ruie. do not think it right co take wine, but as near? ly ail their poetry ;* in praise of the flowing bow i it wi i i inferred that They frequently Co violence to their conscience, occasionally, bow ever, they are seized with remorse, whereupon they destroy the wine *f their Arme? nian neighbor*. PawsJita-; Wir?? and Da?*-&ters. They have a curious w?y of utilizing wives and daughters in some parts ot India. If a mau wants money he puts these members of his establishment in pawn, and his creditor detains them until the debt is discharged. The cus? tom varies in different localities. In Mellore the Yere?. Ils pledge their daugh? ters to creditors who mar either marrv them or give them away, and a man who has to go to jail deposits his wife with another family of her tribe until his return. In North Arcot unmarried daughters are frequently mortgaged and become the absolute property of the holder until liquidation. Easy Reading- Fer Iafaats. He proposed, conjointly with his fa? ther and brother, to blast the stone as fte most expeditious mode of gaining access to her arcana, and this in the ! open daylight, in order that any tute? lary protection she ins'sbr be disposed to extend to ber favorite ba*snt might a? she was a thing of darkness ?nd night, be effectually countervailed. Extract From CfeHfrs Fairy Beek. THE BENERfiL ASSEMBLY. What the Lawmakers Did Monday. Columbia, Jan. 2? -A preliminary skirmish today in tbe Honse develop? ed what has already 'been stated with reference to the new judiciary circuits; that is, that unless the lawyers get to? gether they will defeat the bill. Today the House, by a very small margin, killed Mr. Haskell's bill, which sought to repeal the present law, which provides for the holding of special terms of Courts upon peti? tions of the various Bars and the ap piontment of special Judges to hold these terms of Court. There was a general discussion of the pernicious habit of appointing lawyers to hold these special terms, but the bill was killed because of the division of the lawyers upon the advisability of so doing, and because there was no other remedy available to provide a relief for what is alleged to be a crowded condition of the dockets. The House, after some discussion, killed Senator Warren's resolution, which undertook to provide for the appointment of a commission to visit the phosphate fields and make a report upon the advisability of the State go? ing into the fertilizer business. The House does not seem disposed to spend any money upon making such an in? quiry. A concurrent resolution was offered looking to an inquiry as to the exact status of the trusteeships of Clemson and Winthrop College, so that the present confusion may be straightened out. ?5 The Senate held a very short session today. There were no new bills, nor were there any committee reports made of general interest. The Calendar, Which contained very few bills, was quickly disposed of. Among the third reading bills was the shad bill. Senator fiardin, of Chester, moved to pass it over, on the ground that Senator Walker, cf Georgetown, was absent and he was much interested in the bill. Senator Kagsdale, of Florence, in? sisted upon consideration of the bill, saying that it might be killed by "Senatorial courtesy," which would leave out the consideration of a bill in the absence of any particular Sena? tor. It was pointed out that the passage of the bill would not be imperilled by passing it over this day, and on a viva voce vote further consideration of the bill was postponed. Senator Johnston called up his bili to provide against strikes, lockouts and similar troubles, and insisted that it be taken up because it was passed last year and the Senate had practically agreed to it Senator Bruce said that the bill was one of vast importance and that it ougb* to be passed over for the pres? ent, as it might be the subject of much discussion. Senator Johnston did not object farther and the bill went over. A bill of considerable interest was passed to a third reading without dis? cussion. It amends Section 2,167 of the Civil Code, so as to read as fol? lows: Section 2,167. Bicycles and baby carriages shall be deemed baggage for the purpose of transportation by common carriers. Common carriers shall carry bicycles and baby car? riages under the same mles and sub? ject to the same liabilities as govern trunks and other separate baggage of passage. No person shall be required to crate, cover, lock, box or otherwise protect bicycles or baby carriages as baggage, under the provisions of this section. But said common carriers shall not be required to carry more than one bicycle or baby carriage for any one person. Columbia, Jan. 26.-Mr. W. J. Johnson introduced a bill relative to turning over to a successor of a de? ceased public official office furniture and money on hand within 30 days after qualification. Relative to the bill to regulate the assessment of building and loan stock, Mr. Wbaley again spoke of the advan? tages of the associations to the whole people. Mr. Whaley mentioned certain states where building and loan asso? ciations had been potent factors in in? creasing the realty and taxable prop? erty, and in other states where the taxation law had run out every build? ing and loan association in existence previous to the passage of the law. Mr. Whaley in response to an inquiry said that the proposed measure did not contemplate the exemption of associa? tions that were operated for the profit of stockholders. There was consider? able discussion on the varions points that arose, some of the members being opposed to the measure while others 1 were in favor of the enactment of the j law. On a vote, however, thc bill was passed to a third reading. The bill to provide for toe holding of the sessions of the general assembly i biannually passed to a third reading i by a vote of 87 to 30. Before being | submitted to the body the subject pro ! voked considerable discussion. In the senate today another effort \ was made to bring about the passage j of a concurrent resolution whereby the state might go into the fertilizer bus:- 1 ness. The concurrent resolution was intro? duced and passed in the house and came up for consideration in the senate. Senator Warren, who introduced a similar measure in the senate, offered a substitute to the bouse resolution which would have carried out the original idea. After considerable discussion, Sena? tor Warren's amendment failed, and the state fertilizer factory is dead for this year at least. ACTING WITHOUT ORDERS. General Grant's Tribute to General Sheridan's Judgment. Senator Hoar in his "Reminiscences"' says that at a dinner where Generai Grant and other distinguished men were present Commodore Alden re? marked that there was nothing he dis? liked more than a subordinate who al? ways obeyed orders. "What isv that you are saying, commodore?" said Pres? ident Grant across the table. The com? modore repeated what he had said. "There is a good deal of truth in what you say," said General Grant. "One of the virtues of General Sheridan was that lie knew when to act without or? ders. Just before the surrender of Lee. General Sheridan captured some dis? patches, from which he learned that Lee had ordered his supplies ,to a cer? tain place. I was on the other side of the river, where he could get no com? munication from me until the next morning. General Sheridan pushed on at once without orders, got to the place fifteen minutes before the enemy and captured the supplies. After the sur? render was concluded the first thing General Lee asked me for was rations for his men. I issued to them the same provisions which Sheridan had cap? tured. Now, if Sheridan, as most men would have done, had waited for orders from me Lee would have got off." Sen? ator Hoar adds this comment: "I lis? tened with wonder at the generous modesty which, before that brilliant company, could remove one of the brightest laurels from his brow and place it on the brow of Sheridan." Stars by Daylight. It is worthy of remark that but for the brightness of the sky the stars could be seen in daylight. Even as matters stand, some of the brighter of them have been seen after sunrise by .explorers on high mountains, where the air is very clear and the sky dark blue. If we could go above the atmos? phere the sky would appear perfectly black, and stars would be visible right close up to the sun. Astronomers ob? serve bright stars in daytime by using long focus telescopes, the dark tubes of which cut off the side light, and per? sons in the bottom of deep wells have noticed stars passing overhead, the side light bein? reduced by the great depths of the wells.-T. J. J. See in Atlantic. Love and Quarreling. Every mau and woman of us who has fi ved long enough in the world to gain wisdom by experience will be obliged to admit the strange sad union of love and quarreling. But every one of us who has lived deeply enough to know that experience worketh hope will admit that when love quarrels with its be? loved it is just because this noble ideal of unity has run off the track, so to speak: a virtue has gone to seed; a di? vine quality has developed a defect The outlook for quarrelsome love is not so hopeless when we can understand this. See how it would work if those two squabbling sisters would either of them stop to remember that it is only love, foolish, exasperating, unbalanced love, that is responsible for the ill bred domestic criticism that spoils the home life. If Jane once honestly believed that Mary's love made her so unpleasant she would stop aghast, amused no doubt and very likely touched, but al? most certainly silenced. And that would be the end of the quarrel.-Margaret Deland in Harper's Bazar. WAYS OF THE MAGPIE. The Bird Is Sociable. Secretive and Pull of Mischief. The magpie has the same sort of so? ciability, the same secretiveness, the same thirst for education-of a certain kind-the same inherent and ineradica \ ble love of mischief as has that very versatile bird the raven. Not that in in? tellect and strength of character she is in any way er;ual to the raven. Fun she has in abundance, but hardly hu? mor. Conscious humor, that high and rare gift of man which interpenetrates and colors everything in life, is. I think, possessed in germ by the raven and the raven alone. You see it in his eye. in the pose of his head, in his walk, in every movement of his body. The eye of the magpie is. like the wit of Dickens, always on the move, nerv? ous, excitable, glittering, scintillating. The eye of the raven is like the humor of Goldsmith. It has a faraway look, it dreams, it thinks, "it bodes and it bodes." it all but smiles. The magpie will pick up many words, or even sen? tences, and the old superstition that she will only talk or talk well if her tongue is slit with a thin and sharp silver sixpence died a natural death about the time that the coins of the realm had to be "milled" and so were rendered unsuitable for so stupidly cruel an operation. -It. Bosworth Smith in Nineteenth Century. Servant? In Germany. It is difficult in Germany for a pro? fession.-).! rogue to outer a family as a domestic servant. There every servant has a diameter book, in which the mis? tress must euler tho dates of the com? ing and leaving of the servaut. with her eluaracter while in service. This the girl is obliged to take to Hie near? est police station and have it dated with the official stamp, thus preventing the manufacture of bogus recommen? ds ft'OHS. COINS OF THE PAST. Gold Piece* That Were Once Com? mon, tiut Are Now Karel y Seen. Recent mern ion of the disappearance of the ?2.50 paid piece fruin circuialion and the premium this coin commands as a curio has set many to rainmaking in oki pocketbooks and bottoms or cash boxes and drawers in search of odd or out of date coins. Some have found a $2.50 piece, but not many. The $3 piece, once quite common, but always a sort of curiosity, is oftener found, and many have specimens of the little gold coins representing 25 cents and 50 cents which were not minted by the government and probably have not so much gold in them as they represent. They used to pass as coin, but were never in general circulation, being so easily lost that they soon became scarce. One of the handsomest coin relics seen is a $10 gold piece bearing the mint stamp of 1709. It is larger than the present $10 piece. The ov. uer bas it hung in a band and wears it as a charm on his watch chain. The own? er says he refused an offer of $130 for this relic. The old octagonal $50 pieces were quite common in California in earlj* days, when gold dust was largely used as a circulating medium. They were made of pure gold, and, while they had not the elegant finish of the gold coins minted by the government in these days, many still remember them as the handsomest coins they ever saw. Many people now would consider them handsome on account of the $50 in them.-Now York Tribune. BURNING THE YULE LOG. The Cnstom One of Ancient Origin. The Yule Candle. The custom of burning a large log of wood which is known as' the Yule log is veo- ancient in its origin. All through the middle ages every farm? house, cottage and castle in England burned its Yule log upon the hearth, the log being dragged in with much ceremony. At Yuletide when the great log flamed In- chimneypiece and laugh and jest went round. * The word "Yule'' itself seems to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Geol," meaning December. Earlier still the Yule, or midwinter, feast is seen in its most flourishing state among the Norse? men, who commemorated the fiery sun wheel with a mighty feast. They be? lieved that during the twelve nights from Dec. 25 to Jan. G they could trace the actual movements of their great Odin, or Odhinn, the ged of storms, and other deified beings on the earth. The Yule log, with its cheery blaze, comes to ps across the centuries as a dim memory of the fires lit to celebrate the setting out of the sun on his north? ward journey toward the light and warmth of summer. . A large candle known as the Yule candle used also to light the Christmas eve festivities. It was a bad omen if the candle burned out before the even? ing was at an end.-Detroit Free Press, ALWAYS BE SANGUINE. Keep to the Higrhirays and Shnn the Back Alleys of Life. Keep to the broad highways of hope and cheerfulness. Expect to succeed. Think success, and you will succeed. Keep out of the back alleys of gloom and pessimism. Join the procession of the cheerful, the willing and the hope? ful. Be sanguine. Know the pleasures of living. Enjoy the sunshine of hope. Keep away from the scavengers and ragpickers who infest the back alleys of life. Your pessimist is your scaven? ger, your ragpicker: He may be a nec? essary evil, a boil as it were on the body social, but too much of him is fa? tal. Ile never gave the world a smile. He never contributed to the good cheer of any human being. He never lifted the gloom from any distressed soul. He is the antithesis of progress. He is the pollywog which in the evolution of life is continually dragging backward to? ward the slimy past, resisting the prog? ress of development which must go on with or without him. Beware of the encroachments of th? carping, pessimistic spirit. It is a hardy plant. It takes root easily in the mind, and. like the thistle, when once it gains a foothold it is well nigh impossible to uproot it, but it cannot live in an at? mosphere of sunshine and cheerfulness. Therefore, keep to the highways. Keep ont of the back alleys.-Exchange. When Tr?? Saisbew? Are Seen. When two rainbows are sometime? aeen at once, oue outside the otbeis. the inner or primary l>ow, as it is called, is always the brighter, and the red band of color is always on its outside. The outer or secondary bow is ?inch fainter in color, and the ml band is always on its inside. This in because in the primary bow the sun's rays are only reflected once, while in the sec? onda ry bow they are reileated twice, which makes them fainter in color and turns them upside down. In one rain? bow we see th?' rays of ? lie sun inter? ing the raindrops at Hie top and re? flected tu the eye from the bottom, wliiie in the other we see the rays en tering the raindrops at the bottom and reflected from the tcp. whence they reach I he .?ye. ?rn* "?'HINDIPO THE ATTC?^<2^ of Me. GREAT ' *??? _ ^FRENCH REMEDY produces the above result *w in 30 days. Cures Nervous Debility, impotency. I'aricoce/e, Failing Memory. Stops all drains and losses caused by errcrs of vouth. lt wards off In? sanity and Consumption. Young Men regain Man? hood and Old Men recover Youthful Vigor. It gives vigor and size to shrunken organs, and fits a man for business or marriage. Easily carried in the vest pocket. Price Tfl PTC 6 Boxes 52.5e ty mail, in plain nae Je- U U L 9 Vt age, w't' ?Tittenguarantee. DR. JEAN CHARRA, Pirti China's Drug Store. We have another Car Horses and Mules. We are also selling BUGGIES, WAGONS and HARNESS almost COST. The usual stock of Lime, Cement, Fire Brick* Flue Pipe and Builders' Supplies generally. ' DIXIE STALK CUTTERS. We have secured the agency for these cutters in Sumter county. BOOTH LIVE STOCK CO. GE m vtur PERUVIAN GUANO, NITRATE OF SODA, nURIATE OF POTASH. HARBY j Are Headquarters. arbv Has another car load of fine Mules just in. He must know where the best ones grow, as this is the best load of the season, and will please anybody who is interested. Call and take a look, then maybe you will take a Mule. Neither will cost very much. Also a few nice Horses in this load. WHISKEY I MORPHINE I CIGARETTE i ALL DR?C A>D TOBAeSS HABIT. I HABIT. J HABIT. I HABITS. Cured by Keeley Institute of S. C. j ?23 Lady St., (or P.O. Box 75) Colaaabia, 8. C. C?Bfidontial correspondence solicit**