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LEE ?DIIHTY ORDERED TO HI / Judge Purdy Grants the ?pplica t?(m for a Wnt of Mandamus. S?penr?sor Durant Directed to Pay Over ia Swater County the Amount Due by Lee County. Judge R. O. Purdy has renedered &js- decision in the case of W. H. Seale, et al, va J. O. Durant, et al, sud Has issued the writ of mandamus to compel Supervisor J. O. Dnrant, of Lee county to pay ever to Supervis? or W. fl. Seale, ?f Sumter county the ?mount due by Lee county to Sumter county. The decision, which is of especial interest to the people of Sumter and Lee counties, is given herewith in full: ??ns is an application for a Writ of Mandamus to compel the defendants to pay over to relators the mount,ai leged by the relators to be due from Lee county as the apportioned in? debtedness of Lee county, growing out ?fits formation from parts of Sumter, Darlington and Kershaw counties, and 'which amount I find that they had re? fused to pay, before this proceeding TOSS instituted. In the Act creating Lee county, pre? vision was made for the appointment of a commission to apportion the in debtedness between Lee county and the other three countie\; the langnage used in said Act being as follows : * * * " Which said Commission shall divide and apportion between said four counties the present lawful and fcooa fide indebtedness of the old coun? ties of Kershaw, Darlington and Sum? ter, so that tbe county of Lee shall bear its just apportionment of the whole indebtedness of the old counties from, which it has been formed, and also any charges or claims which said counties may have against the county of Lee, for such transaction as may occur between the date of the passage of this bill and the nest general elec? tion having regard to the amount of unpaid taxes, due to the said counties of Kershaw, Darlington and Sumter." See Acts of 1903? page 1194; Section 12. . The allegations of the petition are : That this commission was appointed and did apportion the indebtedness and fix rise amount due by Lee county to Sumter county at the sums named in the petition, and to bear interest as therein recited ; all of. which will he more fully noticed hereinafter. In this petition a- rule was issued, requiring the respondents to pay over toe money to Suinter county or to show cause why the Writ of Man dm us should not be issued.' The respond? ents made roto rn to this rule, and among other things deny that ?the in? debtedness had been apportioned be? tween the counties as required by the commission, and deny that any Fe? rnand had been made upon the re? spondents for the sams named as be? ing due to Sumter county, and allege that the commission had never certified in favor of the respondents; had not fixed the amount due to Sumter coun? ty; had not fixed the amount due by Darlington county and that they had not fixed the amount due "fo Kershaw county; and set forth further that they had.1 been endevoring to adjust the matter with Kershaw county, but. to far, unsuccessfully ; but from the best information -obtainable, Lee county would owe Kershaw, county not less than four thousand dollars and per ^naps ns much as five thousand dollars, and they-submit that under these cir isumstances" the court has no?power %o compel the respondents to pay any . money;:to Sumter county, ! They also state in their ' return that i they ^believe the allegations of1 the pe? tition _as-"to' the\ indebtedness of the county of Lee to the county of Sumter ?say be true, .but that such indebted -5?SS feas"not fceen fixed bytlaw. It will ^oe noted-that the language of the act authorizing the appointment . of the commission is that "said com mission sahl! divide and apportion between said, four counties the present lawful and bon fide indebtedness7'; whereas _tfeejetition recites &n4 the minutes of foe proceedings of the commission %feow that after fixing the amcuct of indebtedness as to all of the items ex? cept the school claims and the claim for the pro-rata shara of the chain gssg outfit? these two items were left by the commission to be adjusted re? spectively by the Superintendents of f Education and the county supervisors of Lee and Sumter counties. The matter can best be understood, perhaps, by copying the minutes of tile jommission io full. They are as follows : Columbia, S. C., July !4tb, 1903. , Meeting Tuesday held of the com-* mission to settle the accoants between Lee county and the various counties y ont of which it is carved. Mr. T. H. Gibbes presiding. Mr. L C. Strauss was appointed Secretary of the meet is*. Present: Mr. T. H. Gibbes, Chairman; Messrs. Neill O'Donnell and C. G. Rowland for Sumter conn? ey; fl. G. Carridon,and N. A. Be? thune from Kershaw county, G. F. Garrott and T. C. Perrine for Lee county, Robert Macfarlan and C. E. Wellingfor Darlington coan ty. Mr. O'Donnell requested thar the account of Sumter be first taken up and requested that Mr. L C. Strauss be allowed to present same. Mr. O'Donnell stated that at the pre lim i ?ty meeting held in Sumter, that the date of the creation of Lee county had been agreed upon to be February 55th, 1902, and the date of separation should be December 10th, 1902. The statement of the account claim? ed by Sumter county was then presented and considered in detail. Mr. MacFarlan offered the follow? ing resolution : Resolved that the set? tlement sheet proposed by Sumter county be adopted by the commission as the settlement of the account be? tween Sumter and Lee counties, sub? ject to be credited for any error and subject to a settlement of schcol Steads, leaving settlement of school funds open for settlement between the counties. Lee county to have 30 days from date to report any claims as to errors in the settlement sheet and any such report to be made to the chair? man of the commission. Adopted. Mr. O'Donnell offered the following resolution, "Resolved, that Lee coun? try pay to Sumter county interest on her proportion of bonded indebted? ness from February 25, '02, at 6 per cent. Interest on ber proportion of sote indebtedness at 6 per cent, from February 25, '02, and interest on ber proportion of expenditures as shown on the statement from July 15, '02, at 7 per cent, t > date of payment. Adopt The commission then took a rece* from 2 o'cioock p. m. nntil 3.30 p. n Tbe commission reconvened at 3. i o'clock p. m. All prespnt Mt. .O'connell offered following n solution : Resolved that the credit < ; $125 allowed on the statement of Sun ter county's account be stricken fro: the account and not allowed, but tbs Lee county be allowed credit for proportion of said fund computed i the same ratio that the indebtedne is apportioned. Adopted. Mr. O'Donnell offered following n solution : That Lee comny be allowc credit by Sumter county for her p-ropo tion of the value of chain gang equi] ment, as of date December 10,. 190! in samerproportion that the indebte< ness was apportioned, the settlemei of these items to be made by the st pervisors of both counties. That ther equipment . owned on Deeembi 10, 1902. Mr. . Carrison stated on behalf < Kershaw county that no satement ha as yet been submitted, but that th Kershw county. commissioners won) submit their account to the Lee com ty commissioners and if they could n< agree on the settlement, then the would submit th e statement to tb commission. Mr. Parrott asked if this commit sion had "authority to determine ho< the indebtedness as ascertained, j to be paid to tbe various countie? The chair ruled that the com m issi o had no such authority. Mr. Macfarlan presented the clair of Darlington county in writing. Mi Macfarlan stated that Darlington an Lee counties had practically agree and that Darlington county owes Le county $662.2a On motion of Mi Garrison, resolved that the statemen be approved and the settlement sub mitted, confirmed and adopted by th commission, subject to correction o errors. Resolved, That a majority of thi commission be a quorum for th transaction of business, provided eacl county isf represented at such meeting Resolved. That it is tbe sense o this commission that the treasurer o Darlington county should.be paid th same compensation for preparing Le? county books, that was paid to th? treasurers of the other interestet counties to wit : $100 00 for sah Treasurer. Commission then adjourned snbjec to the call of the chairman. t C. Stauss, Secretary of tbe Meeting. T. H. Gibbes, Chairman. From the minutes it will appea: that the county commissioners oi Kershaw andJLee counties should en? deavor to adjust their matter, anc falling, then they would submit the satement to the commission, and li likewise appears from the minutes that the commission fixed the status of the counties between Darlington and Lee. The supervisors of education foi the counties of Lee and Sumter, in pursuance of the resolution passed by the commisson, met and settled the difference as to the,school claims, and the amount found to be due by Sum? ter and :Lee .county has been paid; and the supervisors of the two coun? ties agreed that Sumter county owes Lee county on account of the chain gang-equipment four hundred and six? teen and 6-100 dollars. The.petition goes further and alleges that aa' Act of the General Assembly was passed act its session cf 19C4, (see Acts of 1904, page 590) authorizing the County Board of Commisioners of Lee county to issue and sell coupon bonds of the county to pay the apportion? ed 'indebtedness, provided that such Ugjjtg should not exceed ten thousand dollars. .. J be title of that Act is as fellows: "An Act authorizing the County Board of Commissioners of Lee county to issue honds to pay the apportioned indebtedness of said county." The recital preceding tbe enactment is as follows: "Whereas, provision having been made in the Act establishing Lea county, for the apportionment of the indebtedness between- the said county of Lee and the old counties from which it was formed, and said provis? ions having been complied with as therein provided." In pursuance of this Act, the County Board of Com? missioners of Lee county did issue and sell ten thousand dollars of the bonds of the county and received the money therefor and in their return admit that they have it on hand. In the argument before me, it was contended in behalf of the petitioners that they bad shown that the debt of Lee county to- Sumter county had been established, and it being admit? ted that there was sufficient funds on band to pay the same, the Writ ought to issue'. It was contended on the other hand ; that there had been no proper ascer? tainment of the amount due from Lee county to Sumter county, in that the commission had no authority to dele? gate the settlement cf any matter to any other tribunal, and that the coun? ty superintendents of education and the county supervisors could not fix and adjust any amount which would bo binding on the respondents, as it was the duty of the commission itself to fix these amounts, and Resides, it was further contended that it was the" duty of the commission to adjust and apportion all of the matters between the four counties and not between each county separately, and that un? til this was done there was no bind? ing judgment on the part of the com? mission which would affect the re? spondents. Unless there is a plain ministerial duty to be performed, with the power to perfcrm such duty, and unless there be no remedy at law for the re? lators, the respondents cannot be com? pelled to act. In some cases, such as suits for damages against the coun? ty, suit can be brought directly in the Court of Common Pleas, and in case of ordinary claims against the connty the parties having the claims must submit them to the county commis? sioners for their approval or rejection, with the right to appeal in case of re? fusal to approve. In the matter now at issue, the claims and rights of the several coun? ties were not to be ascertained by any one of these met nods, but a special commission was appointed for the purpose of aajasting ail the matters netween the several counties, ana while the Act speaks of aojusting the claims between thc tour counties, yet lt is, iu fact, au "ad ju trnent of the relations of Lee county, either as debtor or creditor, with each ol .ie other thr?e counties. The commissioners of Lee county, as will be seen from the Act, having nothing to do with the adjustmen any of these claims. It is made their duty, by the A 1904 to issue and sell bonds of 1 county, not to exceed ten thou dollars, for the purposea of pying apportioned indebtedness and tl fore, the ?cts to be performed by 1 are purely ministerial in chan and if the indebtedness has beet portioned aud they have the mone band, it is clearly their duty to it. Just at this point, the respond contend that in any event, inasn as it is manifest that the mone: hand will not meet the claini Sumte- county and of Kershaw coi together, they cannot be require pay either in full to the detrimen the other, but that at most they only apportion the money in hanc these two claims. There is no authority given in Act to pro-rate the money to t claims. If both claims had been pu file and proven, and?the commissio had apportioned ancLpaid each cl a pro-rate, then their return to effect, while it might not have I in accordance with the Act, w( have shown that they did not t the power to pay the claim, had role been issued against them to c pel them to pay this claim in f but they are not in this position, while they have notice of the cl: from Kershaw county which they will amount to at least four and ] haps five thousand dollars, yet t say that this amount has not'been ed. I do not find authority for ! position. From the Svllabus in Hunter Mobley, 26 S. C., page 192, it wo seem, that they would have the ri? to pro rate in case of a deficiency funds, buc an examination of the c does not lead to this conclusion. In that case, the sheriff of Lane ter county endeavored to obtain preference for dieting prison? claiming that under the language the Act of the Legislature, be t a right to such preference. The rif was denied because it appeared tl he had no such preference and tl there were no funds in the treast applicable to such a claim. The Court says: "If at any ti; there were funds in the bauds of i county treasurer applicable to t claims due the sheriff, then 1 remedy was by mandamus to corni the county commissioners to iss checks or their payment. " The case of McLaughlin against t County Commissioners. 7 S. CL, pa 375, was a petition to the Suprei Court by Mrs. McLaughlin for a ma damns to compel the county comm j siouers of Charleston county to draw check upon the county treasurer f the amount of her claims there specified against the county of Cha leston This check was to be dra^ against the funds raised by speci tax and specially appropriated by la for the payment of certain audi te accounts against the county, held I her." "By an Act of Legislatur approved December 22nd, 1875, (] Stat. 610, Sec. 7, ) authority was coi ferred on the county commissioners < Charleston to levy 'three and om half (3}4) mills, one naif mill ( which, if so much be necessary, sha be set apart and paid by the count treasurer in settlement of the audite claims of M. A. McLaughlin.' Th tax in question has been levied an moneys realized therefrom are now i the hands of the county treasurer. ' Mrs. McLaughlin demanded of th county commissioners, checks on th county treasurer for the amount sub ject to payment to her under th terms of . the law? and this deman< wa= refosed. The Court says: "The question np on mandamus is, whether a specifn ministerial duty has been imposed . bj law to perform the act which the re lator seeks to compel. If snch ap pears to be the case, and herN demane for compulsory performance is in sup? port of a recognizable right that has been denied, then the mandamus ought to go." "The first point of objection on the part of county commissioners is 'that they are net by the said section of the said Act to do anything in regard to the claim of the relator, and therefore the mandamus prayed for against them ought not to be ordered to is? sue.' Whenan Act directs money to bo paid from a public treasury, but does not specify the mode of making payment, it is to be regarded as in? tending that snch payment, as to mat? ters of form, shall be made in con? formity to the general regulations of law respecting payments;- of such class of character. Such an Act imposes a specific obligation upon all officers having duties to perform necessary for the making of such a payment, under the general laws relating to that snbjeet, upoii the familiar prin? ciple that a legislative mandate im? plies the requisite means of its per? formance, if in the general compass of the powers of the officers by whom the mandate ought to be executed." The Court goes on to say, further: "The county commissioners, in pre? senting this proposition, connect it with the statement of the fact that an action is pending relating to the same claims and undecided ; b?t this fact can have no bearing on the question of the constitutional authority of the Legislature. If they have authority to direct that the claims should be paid at all they clearly have author? ity to direct such payments, notwith? standing the pending of an action for their recovery." The Court further says : "The Leg? islature and the couuty commissioners who audited the relator's claim both considered tbat they had fully exer? cised their constitntional and legal powers in reference to the ascertain? ment of the indebtedness to the re? lator All that remained was the steps for payment. The Act recites the fact of audit and bases the provis? ions for payment upon such action of the county commissioners'. It will hardly be questioned, and certainly cannot be successfully disputed, that whree there has been a lull exercise of the functions of the county commis? sioners and that action reeieves the direct assent of the Legislature, that that is the end of the matter. "It is not necessary to consider the question whether the commissioners have authority to revise the audit of their predecessors, and whether euch authority is interfered with hy tte Act, tor it does not appear thar trey have raker? any st<*ps in that direction or intend to take any. All they claim in tooir return ia that they are not bound to do anything but to hit and await the result of a suit at law." In the matter now at issue for con sideration, no method was prescribe by'which the commission to be a] pointed by the governor should arr? at the status of the accounts betwee the several counties. They certain] had no right in the first instance i delegate the power and the respons bility to another tribunal to settle tl amount. But they would have a rig! to employ such person or persons ? they might see fit, to make calcul; tions for them, or to use suca agei cies as were at their command i bring the matters before them f< their consideration. In this eas there were two matters referred, viz The matter of the school claims, 1 the superintendent of education ; ar the value of the chain gang equipmei to the county supervisors. Doubtles in doing this the commissioners coi eluded that these several officers we: better informed on these subjec than they could possibly ?be, and the matter stood in this shape, witl out having been referred back to tl commission for its approval, I mig! hesitate to hold that they could go ? far. But this is no longer an open que tion. Their action has been passe upon and has been sanctioned by tl Legislature and if we substitute tt word "Commission" for "Conni Commissioners, " as used in the eas of McLaughlin against the count commissioners, the language ?hei would be appropriate, viz: "It will hardly be questioned, aa certainly cannot be successfully dh puted, that where there has been full exercise of the functions of th (Commission) county commissionei and that action receives the direct a? sent of the Legislature, that that i the end of the matter. " So whatever this Commission hi done up to this Roint, has receive the sanction of the Leigslature, an the presumption is that it acted wit full information upon the subjec upon which it legislated. I take it that it is not necessary t cite the cases at length to support th doctrine that where there is sufBcien money in the treasury applicable t the payment of a claim, it is the dut of the county commissioners to drai their check for its payment. I thin tuat the case of The State, Ex. Rel. Marshal vs. Starlin?, 13 S. C., pag 262 is conclusive along that point. This vas an application for a Wri of Mandamus to compel the count Commisioners of Richland Counti to draw their check upon the treasure of the county in favor of the petitione for two hundred dollars, his quarter' salary as trial justice. In that case, the Couit says: "It seems that the commissioner have already approved claims to th? amount of the funds in the treasur which are still unpaid. It is not ex" plained why they have not issuec checks for these approved claims : bu it is admitted that the funds in th< treasury have not been actually ap plied by order cr check for the pay ment of any particular claims." In that case, it appeared that th< relator's salary for the month of Octb ber, 1879, $66.66 was a claim for thal fiscal year, and there being money ii the treasury for the payment of the class of claims to which it belonged, the county commissioners were order? ed to draw a check upon the treasur? er for that amount, lu concluding the case, the Supreme'Gourt said : "The county commissioners have DO discretion to allow or reject this ;laim. It is for a salary and need not be audited. It is fixed by law and or? dered .to be paid. When there is money in the treasury .abject to the payment of legal claims against the county and not actually applied to other claims, it is thc duty jf the county commissioners to check ior?a salary fixed in amount and or 3ered to bb paid by the county as a ministerial act positively required )j law-. The peremptory writ of man? damus should issue reen'ring the ?ounty commissioners of Richland :ounty to draw their check upon the ?ounty treasurer, in favor of the re ator, for $66.66 his salary as trial justice for the month of October last." A recuireuce to the case of Mc? Laughlin against county commission? ers, supra, will show that there is no iifference between the payment of a .alary and any other claim, the imount of which is fixed by law. In ;hat case, it is said : "When an Act directs money to be paid from a public treasury, but does aot specify the mode of making pay? ment, it is to be regarded as interest? ing that such payment, as to matters }f form, shall be made in conformity to the general regulations of law re? spect iag payments of such class or character. Such an Act imposes a specific obli? gation upon all officers having duties to perform necessary for the making of such a payment, under the general laws relating to that subject, upon the familiar principle that a legislative mandate implies the requisite means of its performance, if in the general compass of the powers of the of?cers by whom the mandate ought to be executed." McLaughlin vs. County Commissioners,. 7 S. C., page 377. So it seems that wherever it is made the duty of the County Commissioners to pay a claim, and they have the power to do so, and the same has been fixed by law, they have no right to withhold payment. Outside of the allegation that the amount has not been fixed by law, the respondents laid great stress upon the tact that this claim cannot be paid without doing great injustice to the claim due to Kershaw county. Ker? shaw county was not a proper party to this proceeding, and the respondents did not so contend. The only proper parties to a proceeding of tnis kind, are the parties claiming to be interest? ed in the performance of the duty and the party upon whom the duty is im? posed by law. The State Ex, Rel. Scott vs'Smith; 7 S. C, page 275. But it is contended by the respond? ents as before stated, that this claim even if properly audited, which they deny, cannot be paid until the Ker? shaw Couuty claim be fixed. The language used in McLaughlin vs. County Commissioners is an an? swer to this position. In that case, the Court said : "All they claim in their return is that they are not i oana to do any? thing but to sit and await tue result of a'suit at law," ana ruled adversely to that contention. Here they con? tend that they mus: await the tine wnen Kershaw county shall take steiw to have the amount due to that county fixed by law, and, as respondents .?ay, by the commission. The principle applicable io the case mentioned applies here. But, as be? fore stated, the respondents farther contend that the commission has never certified the amount ascertained to be due by Lee ccuuty to - Sumter county. There is no such requirement in the Act. "That is certain which is capa? ble of being made certain." All of the items of difference hav? ing been fixed by the commission, ex? cept: 1. The item of the school claim, which has been fixed and paid, and, 2. The item of the chain gang equipment, the amount of which bas been fixed, and which stands a credit ; all having been done by direction of the commission, and the Legislature having approved this method of settle? ment as appears by the Act of 1904*| authorizing the issuance of the bonds, there is nothing uncertain about the matter and the claim must be paid. From the trend of the argument, it was suggested that inasmuch as the commission liad not acted, it could be compelled to act by Mandamus, al? though its discretion in the manner of acting could not be controlled. I endeavored to follow this out to its conclusion, and my opinion is that even if the relators here admit that they have such right, the answer of the commission would be "That claim has been fixed, ar d the money is in hand to pay it, a?d you have a clear right to demand and receive it, and therefore you have a complete remedy without disturbing this commission." The conclusion reached by me may work-a hardship to Kershaw county, but in coming to this conclusion, I am but following a fixed principle of law, and if the county commissioners are bound to pay the claim of a fixed sum when they have funds in band aplicable to that class of claims, not? withstanding the fact that there are other approved claims not filed in their office, for an amount greater than the sum in hand, it must fellow that they must pay a claim of this kind, when they have more than sufficient money in hand, and no approved claims other than this against it. But in a matter of this gravity it can be very well seen how the re pondents, with another claim pend? ing against them, would hesitate on their own responsibility, to pay out so large an amount of money when there would be a manifest deficiency if Kershaw county, the other claimant, makes good its claim. Under these circumstances, I do not think that the respondents ought to be adjudged to pay costs, except such costs as they may have incurred in their own behalf. It is therefore ordered, that the re? spondents do forthwith issue in favor of W. H. Seale, as County Super? visor - of Sumter county a warrant or check for the payment of the amount claimed in the petition, as fixed in the following manner, viz: Total of bonded and note indebted? ness, $5,247.17, to which interest must be added from February 25th, 1902 to the date of the drawing cf the war? rant or check, at the rate of six per cent per annum, and balance due on expenditures, $2,206.90, to which inter? est must be added from December 10th, 1902, at the rate of seven per cent per annum, and the check or warrant must be for the total of these two sums, with the interest upon them added thereto at the rates above speci? fied respectively. The said warrant or check shall be drawn against the said fund of ten thousand dollars realized by the sale of said bonds, in whose bands soever the same may be, and shall be signed and attested in the usual manner. JR. O. Purdy, . Circuit Judge. At Chambers, at Sumter, S. C. September 16tb, 1901. Cotton Mil! Strike Broken. Pawtucket, R. I., Sept. 19.-The United States Cotton Company, of Central Falls, whose employees have been on a strike for eight weeks, open? ed their mills this morning with 350 operatives. The meu went to work at the reduced schedules. The officials say all the departments are running, though few of them are full handed. An Early Cotton Crop. Washington, D. C.~ Sept. 15.- The cotton report of the census bureau issued today shows a total of 390,414 commercial bale pressed at the ginner? ies, from the growth of 1904, prior to September 1, against a total of 17,587 commercial bales in the corresponding period of last year. The report shows 7,567 ginneries operated this season prior to September 1, while the num? ber operated to the correponding date in 1903 was 2,17G. The report points out that in comparing the statistics of the two years due allowance must be made for the different conditions of the two seasons. The total commer? cial bales, which number but 374,821, if the rouud bales were counted as half bales, comprise 358,796 square bales, 31,187 round bales and 431 sea island crop bales. On Sunday night fire destroyed seve? ral hundred dollars worth of statione? ry in the office of the secretary of state in the State House and damaged a number of large volumes in which are kept the current records of char? ters and commissions. It was impos? sible last night to estimate the loss. There is no damage which is irrepar? able, although half a million dollars worth of land records and papers of historical value were in jeopardy. Letter to M. M. Jenkins Sumter* S. C. Dear Sir: The way to buy paint is to go by the name. There is a name never seen on sham paint or weak paint oi short-measure paint: Devoe. There are a hundred different names in paint. Some are sham ; some weak : some short-measure; and some all three. If there is another such paint as De? voe lead-and-zinc, we don't know it. There are a few fairly good paints: a few: only cm1 Devoe. A trallon Dt-voe is worth a gallon-and-a-half of these few. Mr Aaron Higgins, of Plainfield, N J, always used 15 gallons of mixed paint for his bouse. Last spring he gallons left. boo>;bt 15 gallons of Devoe and had 4 Yours truly (?0 F W P -voe & Co P. S.-L. B. Durant sells our paint. WORK OF IMMI6RATI0N. Home-seekers' Tickets for Sale in Western States for Passage to South Carolina Points. Columbia, Sept. 18.-Through the efforts of Commissioner Watson the Passenger Association at Chicago has announced special home-seekers' rates for the South, in which this State is interested. A home-seekers' day has been appointed for Fair week, and Mr. W2tson has succeeded in having the cheap tickets put on sale at a time that all who desire to come to this State may do so daring the Fair. He received today an official notification of the rates and the dates upon which tickets will be sold. These tickets will be on sale October 11 and Novem? ber 15, the first date being for the special benefit of the Fair. The tickets will be good for-fifteen days coming, and, after destination is reached, twenty-one days are allowed to return. The rate will be 80 per cent, of the standard rate one way for the round trip from Cincinnati, Louisville, Evansville, Cairo and St. Louis. The Southern's Chicago and St Louis agents, as weJi as Coast Line officials, will co-operate with the commissioner in the distribution of a special circular, to be issued relaive to South Carolina. Mr. Watson ex? pects also to advertise in a large num? ber of papers in the Northwest the ad? vantages of the State, and will con? tinue the advertisements until the home-seekers' tickets are placed on. sale. By this method the States of Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin will be thoroughly covered. Already the commissioner has re? ceived about twenty inquiries from that section of the country, and it is likely that he will meet all who in? tend to visit the Fair at Cincinnati or some other Ohio River point, and ac? company them here, afterwards tak? ing them to any other part of the State they may desire to visit. He will have a list of available farm lands for sale, so that any visitor may know exactly what lands he can buy and what they will cost. Eight Scotch agriculturists are ex? pected to arrive this week and others are on the way. FALL RIVER STRIKE CONTINUES. Contest Between Capital and La? bor No Nearer an End Than When it Commenced. Fall River, Mass., Sept. 18.-The peaceful but determined contest be? tween 837,000,000 of invested mill cap? ital and 26,000 mill laborers, which began in this city eight weeks ago, is apparently no nearer a settlement than at its very outset last July. Both >ides remain firm, the mill owners claiming that it is impossible to re? rame operations unless the 12 1-2 per :ent. reduction is made in wages, while the operatives are jost as deter? mined against working under such jonditions. With . winter not far distant the un? ions already have begun to husband :heir resources for the drain which must be more severe than during the summer months. The exodus of foreign operatives laturally has been large, and lately nany of the skilled help have joined ;he outgoiog army, seeking other ields ffcr their labor. Of the for? eigners, the Portugese have left in arge number?, very few remaining in :he city. Within the last few days there has Deen a persistent rumor of a resump ;iou on Oct. S\ but Friday the weavers iecided to hold a mass meeting on ;hat day, which apparently shows the .eport to be without a foundation, as ar as the operat ves are concerned. Friedrichsruhe, Sept. 18.-Prince ?erbert Bismarck died this morning it 10.15 o'clock. The end was pain ess. Lisbon, Sept. 19.-Viscount Castello 3orges one of the King of Portugal's riends was found murdered today. His ewels which were numerous and valu ible are gone and his valet is mis ng. Ben Bennett of Hampton 'county, ;be white man whom Gov. McSweeney Dardoned and banished from the State, jut who returned to his home and tilled his wife, accidentally lie claim id, has been arrested in Savannah, xa. An effort will be ma,de to brice nim back to this State to serve out lis life term in the Penitentiary. Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 19.- Wailer 3ox and Pasquele Feritto died this norning from injurie!" received by an explosion of a bomb last night. They ?vere members of crowd that was r ar jicipating in a Italian celebration and !east ot St. Jicamo. It is not known vho exploded the bomb. Some of the [talians declaro it was exploded in an ittempt to kill the members cf an italian band that was furnishing nusic The police favor this theory. \ rigid investigation is being made. Sumbers of others who were injai ?d, but it is believed they art- r^ot seriously hurt. Saratoga, N. Y.. Sept. 19.- PoKti ?ians who pose in their own baili? wicks as prophets are going about to 3ay asking questions. They ar trying o find out who is to be nominated at he Democratic State Convention to? morrow, but not one seems to know :he answer. The men most talked cf at present in the Gubernatorial field are Edward M. Shepard, of Brooklyn lohn B.\ Stachared, of Elmira, Juc-je 3avnor, of Brooklyn, William Tra vt-rs Jerome, of New York and George M. Palmer, of Schoharie. Tammany issaid ;o be backing Palmer, but Hill is cp wsed to him. All the others bave jacking and it is still any ones race. There is a possibility that Judge Par? ker will be asked to name a man and ;has end all wrangling. lu a fight over a crap game th re whites and three negroes were ki He near Cairo, 111, Monday George Tiliery, a young white iran living 35 miles from Raleigh, N C, iilled his mother-in-law and seriously wounded bis wife with a sher ^nn Monday night Four murder cases were tried ia the greenville court last week and all of the accused were acquitted.,