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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1907. The Sumter Watchman was founded in 1850 and the True Southron in 1866. The Watchman and Southron now has the com? bined circulation and influence of both of ?the cid pap?is, and is manifestly the best advertising medium in Sumter. IMPORTANT NOTICE. Subscribers are requested to ex? amine the label on their papers, which show the date to which the subscription has been paid. Those who find that they are in arrears are Tequested to call and settle or remit -at the earliest convenient date. The .amount that each subscriber owes is ?mall, but in the aggregate the amount due us for subscription is oritp large-and we r.ee.l the money. Charleston has invited President Roosevelt to pay that city another .vitit Has Crum been forgotten? * ? . Attorney General Lyon has been in office a week, but no dispensary grafters have been started on the ?road to the penitentiary. * . * President ' Roosevelt sent a special message to congress Wednesday boosting the ship-subsidy graft. This is a party measure, and he probably had to do it to propitiate the money? ed friends of his friend Cortelyou. * ? . Mr. J. J. Kolb's letter to City Coun .cil protesting against the failure of the Sumter Telephone company to furnish him with a telephone, for which application was made nearly a year ago, and at intervals since, puts the; matter squarely up to that com? pany. It looks like a case of "Shoot, linke, or give up the gun." * . . . The dispensary fight in the house, which begins next Tuesday, promises to be interesting in some respects, but the result is a foregone conclusion. The anti-dispensary side is the popular side now and the house can be depended upon to do what appears -to be the popular thing every tims. * . . "The trial of Harry Thaw, the mil? lionaire degenerate, for the murder .of Stanford White, was begun in -New York Wednesday an dthe news -agencies are giving it as much prom 'inence as a news feature as they gave -the Kingston earthquake; and the 'worst of it is the trial will last long >er than a dozen earthquakes. ? . . "The charge against Senator Bailey that he was a hireling of the Standard Oil Trust and had used his political influence to aid that concern to circumvent the laws of Texas had no more efl*ect upon the voters of Texas than did the Hubbell rebate charges against Senator Tillman in *his State. A'majority of the Texans are for Bailey against the world, the flesh and the devil as South Caroli? nians are for Tillman. . ? . If the South Carolina State Base? ball League is organized on a business basis the people of Sumter will give the local club and the league enthu? siastic support. Sumter wants good ball and will go as far as the next -town to get it, but the fans want to be .assured cf clean sport and a fair deal. This we believe we shall have under the o 'ganization recommended by the retiring president, Mr. H. S. Baird, and directed by Mr. M. L. Smith, as president. The selection of Mr. Smith as president could not be improved -upon. ? . . Representative Mann had the right to have his reasons for not voting for Senator Tillman recorded, and the vote of a majority of the members to expunge his statement from the house journal was an exhibition of sub? serviency to Senator Tillman that sur? passed their refusal to adopt the res? olution endorsing President Roose? velt's discharge of the negro trocps. Senat T Tillman is an able man and in ou- ? ri? n his services in the sen? ate e: til rim to re-election, but he is r. - . c criticism, and the house does itself no credit by its truckling ?attitude. . . o Within the past thirty days three persons have been painfully injured and a little girl killed on the streets of this city, and the preponderance of evidence in each case indicates that the accidents were the result of care? lessness in greater or less degree. In two cases, viz: the injury of Sergeant Jenkins and that of Rev. F. y. Sat terwhite, it is alleged, and there were credible witnesses to sustain the al? legation, that the accidents were un? avoidable, owing to circumstances over which the driver had no con? trol at the instant the accidents oc? curred; but the recurrence of such accidents shows that due care has not been exercised by the riders and -drivers. There seems to be a spirit of recklessness on the part of riders .drivers of horses and the drivers of automobiles, as well, that renders the streets unsafe to pedestrians and bicyclists. This condition has been growing worse and worse for a long time and we are of the opinion that the ordinances against fast and reck? less driving should be rigorously en? forced. There is nothing to be said against punishing those who drive over and injure pedestrians, but it would be far better to prevent such accidents by putting a stop to fast driving. SOUTH CAROLINA WINS. The Greatest Yield of Corn in the World Per Acre Last Year Was Gathered From a Farm in Claren? don County. South Carolina again wins the championship in the matter of raising the greatest yield of corn per acre. The prize yield was 182 bushels to j th? acre and Mr. A. J. Tindal of Clar I enJun is the ouccefcsiui competitor. A ? few years ago in a similar contest. South Carolina own the first prize, M.r Drake of Marlboro having produced 254 bushels to the acre. This is a great advertisement for South Carolina and a great feather in ,the cap of the bureau of agriculture and immigration which advertised the contest and worked up interest there? in. The bureau has achieved several notable successes in the last 12 months, this and the arirval of the Wittekind being the most conspicu? ous. j Notwithstanding he is pardonably proud-of-the accomplishment of his \ department' during this year in es? tablishing the trans-Atlantic service to Charleston and securing the far reaching decision of Secretary Straus in the matter of immigration, both of which matters have brought South Carolina so prominently to the front in pioneer work and have accomplish? ed so much in the way of widespread advertising of the State, when the news came oyer the wires yesterday that South Carolina had won the na? tional record of the production of corn per acre in .the national contest of the American Agriculturist, Com? missioner Watson felt that this hap? py result of the efforts made by the department to have South Carolina farmers in this contest would have as far-reaching effect in the matter of advertising the resources of this. State as either of the other achievements. He said that such a victory coming at such an oupportune moment would be the means of substantiating the claims of this State as a desirable sec? tion for agricultural settlers, and when it is considered that aside from any other publicity given it the full details of the victory will be seen by 230,000 readers of the farming class of one set of publications alone, cov? ering this entire country, the value of securing this record by a South Carolina farmer cannot be estmated too highly. The following is a copy of the tel? egram received by Commissioner Watson yesterday morning: Springfield, .Mass., Jan. 23, 1907. To E. J. Watson, Comissioner, Co? lumbia, S. C. The largest in yield of corn 182 bushels net one acre in American Ag? riculturist contest raised in your State. Sweepstakes divided equally among one crop each South Caralina, Ohio, Iowa, Connecticut. Graduated report your contestants follows: Con* gratulations. Myrick, President Board of Managers Grain Contest. Commissioner Watson at once wir? ed to Mr. Myrick: "Yours received. Information most gratifying and welcome. Kindly wire me at once name of man who raised 1S2 bushels. "Watson." In the afternoon the answer came: "A. J. Tindall, Clarendon county, 182." Mr. Tindal was given the news in the folowing telegram. To him at Manning in Clarendon county: "You hold best record in national contest corn growing. Congratula? tions. "Watson." Among the counties represented in the contest were Orangeburg, Flor? ence, Hampton, Kershaw, Colleton, Marlboro, Clarendon, Anderson, Dar? lington, Bamberg, Richland, Wil? liamsburg. Chesterfield and Saluda. In speaking of the result of the contest and the victory of Mr. Tindall, Commissioner Watson siad: "I have realized ever since I began this work the immense value of the fact that in the last national contest 15 years ago the largest yield of corn per acre :n the United States or else wher was by Capt. Drake of Marlboro county, in this State. When it became known that there would be another contest for this world's rec cord this yeor I hastened to recom? mend to the general assembly an ap? propriation of $500 for the purpose of j a State contest in corn raising, there? by enabling contestants in the State contest to participate in the national contest, feeling . .ire that we could win, ond knowing full well that if we could we would reap a splendid har? vest in the way of valuable advertis? ing, such a victory recalling the pre? vious victory in the minds of the masses in this and other countries, and accentuating the power of that victory. "It was gratifying when the legis loture unhesitatingly made the appro? priation and created the corn contest commission, and it was more gratify? ing when contestants representing the majority of the counties of this State filed their entries and began operat? ions in a manner that bespoke a de? termination to win. It is even more of an advertisement to win in this contest for the reason that the con? test 15 years ago was based solely upon yield per acre, while in this the scale of points considered there has been much more involved. The scale has been: 1, purity and selection of seed, 10 points; 2, methods of cul? ture, 25 points; 3, records of manual including clearness, completness, ac? curacy, etc., 15 points; 4, yield, 25 -points; 5 quality, including market grading, salability, feeding value, 10 points; 6, profits resulting from en? tire acre, 15 points, making a total bf 100 points. Notwithstanding the crops encountered storm in the late summer and the early fall, we have been able to once more surpass all competitors in yield per acre. "In this cereal contest the Ameri? can Agriculturist offered $5,000 alto? gether in cash prizes. Exactly how much Mr. Tindall will receive of the national side of the matter I cannot say without carefully looking to the records. There have been about 35 contestants from South Carolina par? ticipating, and Mr. Tindall's report at first indicated 191 pushels. Contest? ants in Marlboro, Florence, and Bam? berg counties have followed Mr. Tin? dall very closely and in the order named in the matter of number of bushels. The State commission, of which r>r. Mell, Prof. Harper and myself are the members, has not yet considered the reports filed, having waited the grading records as com? piled by the experts in charge of the nationol contest. The commission will doubtless meet very soon now and distribute the prizes in the State con? test as arranged and announced last March. It is practically certain, how? ever, that Mr. Tindall will receive $200 from the State contest. It is probable that the commission will make some changes in the amounts apportioned for prizes to school chil? dren, as the feature of the contest could not be satisfactorily developed during the year. "Before the gratifying news of Mr. Tindall's victory had been received I had already recommended in my an nuol report the continuance of this appropriation for entering the contest during 1907 and had called particular attention to the stimulation of inter? est in corn growing by reason of the successful demonstration of the re? sults of the Williamson plan. In this connection it is noteworthy also that the corn in South Corolina has in? creased from 13,129, 000 bushels in 1900 to 23,611,000 bushels last year." THE STANDARD OIL DEBAUCHES TRADE AND MORALS. Interstate Commerce Commission Charges System With Monopoly, Bribery, Fraud, Corruption of the. Press and Debauchery of State In? spectors-Drastic Remedies Sug? gested. Washington, Jan. 2S.-The most terrific arraignment of the Standard Oil company yet made by either pri? vate or public investigator was that filed with congress today by the inter? state commerce commission. Every conceivable corporate crime, discrimination and false pretenses, corruption of the press and debauch? ery of public officials, is contained in the catalougue of charges. After a long and painstaking in- ! vestigation, ordered by congress, in which hundreds of witnesses were ex? amined in various (pities of the coun? try, and ample opportunity was given the oil octopus to defend itself, the commission makes a report that com? pletely overshadows the sensational disclosures revealed in the report of Commissioner of Corporations Gar? field on the same subject last May. ! Mr. Garfield's report was confined largely to the relations of the Stand? ard Oil company to the railroads of the country; the interstate commerce commission'M report goes into the whole subject of monopolistic control of the oil n arket. With a wealth of detail, it de-scribes the devious meth? ods employed by the Rockefeller com? bine to crush competition. Some of these methods are outlin? ed by the commission as follows: The Standard has sold different grades of oil at different prices from the same barrel. "It has paid employes of independ? ent oil companies for information as to the business of those competitors, and has paid employes of industrial companies to secure the adoption of its oil in preference to that of its com? petitors. "it has followed every barrel of independent oil to destination. Its agents are instructed to secure cus? tomers at any sacrifice. "It has tampered with the oil in? spectors in different States. The laws of several States concerning the in sj ection of oil arr singularly defect? ive, and this has been turned to profit by the Standard. "The Standard buys advertising space in many newspapers which it fills, not with advertisements, but with reading matter prepared by agents kept for that purpose and p .id for at advertising rates, as ordinary news. The assumption is that this literature furnishes many of tho ideas ?ching the great benefits conferred upon the public by the Standard Oil company. "The Standard has repeatedly, aft becoming the? owner of a competi company, continued to operate under the old name, carrying the id to iT.e public that the company w still independent and competing wi I the Standard. "It has used such purchased or i dependently organized companies kill off competitors by such comp nies reducing prices. "The operation of such fake ind pendent concerns has been one of i most effective means of destroyi: competition. "The Standard has habitually r duced the price against its competit in a particular locality, while mai faining its prices at other plac? When competition was destroyed restored or advanced former prices The commission's only knowledj of the competitive methods of tl Standard Oil company, says the r port, was obtained from evidence tal en under oath. It is stated that tl Standard was given permission to e: plain or rebut the facts. "This evidence if true," continu the report, "demonstrates that tl j competitive methods of the compar in the past have been unfair and evi disreputable. Its motto has been tl destruction of competition at any eos and this policy has been pursui without much reference to decency ( conscience, and it is significant th; the. larger independent refiners se the greater part of their product foreign countries. One independe: testified that 75 per cent, of his pr? duct went abroad, and said he cou! compete with the Standard in Ge: many, where its methods as followe in this country would not be tolera ed, but that he could not comnel with it here." It is the opinion of the commissio that the existing law is inadequate t cope with the evils complained of. "It may become necessary,'.' sa3 the report, "for the uprooting of a tablished wrongs and the preventio of others that the government sha fix in the first instance the rates an regulations for the trasnportation c oil. This method has been adopte by the legislature of one State. It wi probably be found necessary to dis associate, in the case of oil, as in tha of other commodities, the function c trasportation from that of productio and transportation." The investigation by the commis sion failed to disclose any instanc where a railway company has bee interested directly in oil lands or i petroleum production. Only one in stance was discov ^*ed where official of a railway company were intereste in the production and sale of oil. Thi related to certain officials of the Bal timor? and Ohio Southwestern rail road who owned stock of the Argan Refining company, which was o: their recommendation afterwards sol< to the Standard Oil company, and th lubricating contract which the roa< transferred to the Galena Oil compa ny, a Standard concern. Discussing in detail itc charge against the Standard Oil company th commission says, in part: "The Standard Oil company largel; monopolizes the handling of petro leum from the mouth of the well un til it is sold to the retailer, and some times to the consumer, and under or dinary circumstances its margin o profit is very large. "The evidence shows little basis fo: the contention that the enormous div idends of 'the Standard Oil ! compan: are the legitimate result of ifs econo mies. Except for its pipe lines, th< Standard has but little legitimate ad vantage over the independent refln ers. At the basis of the monopoly re~ts the pipe line. The Standard ma: today pump oil from a well in Indiar Territory to its refinery at Jersey City The cost of piping a barrel of oil fron the Kansas field to the Atlantic sea? board would not be much, if any above 30 cents. The independent re finer is located usually near th< source of the crude supply, but ih< Standard locates its refineries nea: the great centers of distribution. Th< independent refiner in interior Kansai finds it difficult to dispose of hii residuum, such as fuel oil because th< railroad rate is almost as much as it? value; but the Standard has at th< doors of its refinery in Kansas City ? market at a favorable price for a large part of this by-product, and this is of itself an enormous advantage. "Possession of the pipe lines en? ables the Standard absolutely to con? trol the price of crude petroleum and the price which its competitors in a given locality shall pay It can raise the price in one locality and obtain its own oil from another and reverse the process when it desires to do so. "The pipe line system of the Stan? dard is not a natural, but rather an artificial advantage. The reason why long pipe lines competing with those of the Standard have not been pro? vided is found in obstacles thrown in the way cf such undertakings, having been opposed by the railways, whose right of way has generally stood as a Chinese wall against all attempts to extend pipe lines. However; in cases brought to the attention of the com? mission every facility has been ex? tended by railways to the Standard for the construction of pipe lines. "While the Standard has not rec? eived rebates it has nevertheless enjoyed secret rates possessing all' of the elements of illegal rates and the advantages so obtained over indepen? dent shippers have been a very great value to the company." The commission then relates several instances of this kind similar to those detailed in the report o fthe com? missioners of corporations, and pro? ceeds. "The ruin of its competitors has been a distinct part of the policy of the Standard Oil company in the past, systematically and persistently per sued. One method has been the organisation of a perfect system of espionage over the shipments of its competitors: resulting in knowledge as to the destination of every car of oil leaving the refinery of an inde? pendent. The standard agent at the destination is held responsible if the independent oil is sold. It does not appear that the railroad companies have directed thc furnishing of this information or that the practice has been sanctioned hy superior officials of the road: but it does appear that such information is systematically obtained from railroad employes. The testi? mony shows that the Standard at one time, if it does not now, devoted a fund to the purpose of obtaining this information. It has frequently hap pened when the supply of independ? ent oil in a panlcu'ar territory was low and a shipment was peculiarly necessary, that the shipment has un? accountably gone astray. "Information also appears to have been given the Union Tank Line, a creature of the Standard, concerning the whereabouts of its cars.while such information was not furnished to other owners of tank cars, and some discrimination in tank-car mileage in 1 favor of the tank line is shown, for one railroad. Many roads issued passes on account of the Union Tank L,ine which were in fact used by sell? ing agents of the Standard. Many local agents of roads have been in the employ of the Standard, and this may account for the unsatisfactory servi? ces accorded to independent shippers. "Most roads charge higher rates on oil in tank cars destined to consign? ees who do not have proper facilities for unloading, such as storage tanks so situated that the oil can be trans? ferred by pipe from the tank car to the storage tank. This had brought about the erec? tion of distribution tanks in all parts of the country. Th-a tanks are neces? sarily located near the railroad tracks, and there was much complaint that the railroads allowed the Standard to erect its taks at convenient points on the railroad right of way and declined to accord this privilege to independ? ent refiners. The commission is sat? is fied that such discrimination has been very generally practiced in the past. Closing its report with a discussion of the difficulties confronting the gov- i ernment in coping with all these evils, the commission says: "Since in the past petroleum rates have not always been established to promote, but often to check, traffic, and the tariffs are more or less per? meated with discriminations in favor of the Standard Oil company, having been built up during a series of years in that view, it may be that this dis? crimination will never be eliminated by any process of complaint against a specific rate or practice. Judging by the past discriminations as to this traffic may arise more frequently than those now existing.can be routed out by that method. In no other import? ant traffic is there an approach to the monopoly of the Standard Oil company in that of oils. What other remedies in addition to those already provided it may be necessary to pre? scribe can be better determined in the near future by the result of experi? ence in administering the present law." The lien law is not dead yet by any means. The house has passed a bill repealing it, but the senate has re? fused to adopt a bill to the same ef? fect. FOR SALE-Sunflower and Southern Hope Long Staple Cotton Seed. Ap? ply to D. C. Richardson, Oswego, S. C., R. F. D. No. 1. 1-23-lt* FOR SALE-At Hagood, S. C., 100 acres of land that brings ove** a bale of cotton to the acre. Address, Miss Emmie Saunders, Hagood, S. C. 10-17-tf 4 ertilizers * There is no item of expense connected with the making of a crop that is of greater importance to farmers than that of fer? tilizers. It seems practically a waste of time and energy to at? tempt the planting of a crop without their use. In good years they pay handsomely, but with unfavorable seasons, the results are very disappointing. The year just closed was one of the most disastrous that this immediat? section has ever experi enced Fertilizers were used liberally, yes we might say, extravagantly. The sellers were probably as much to blame as the consumers We were all more or less inflated as the re? sult of two or three years of good business, and were anxious to spread our wings; they have been clipped. We have been taught a lesson, a very expensive one, and let us hope a profit? able one. The conditions make it necessary that in 1907 we shall have to practice economy. Banks will not be in a position to ex? tend the liberal accommodations, which they have so cheerfully done in the last few years, and merchants' resources will be limited accordingly. We do not know whether it is economy to curtail to a great extent the use of fertilizers or not, every farmer will have to exercise his own judgment as to this; Our observation has been that those who use fertilizers with a rea? sonable degree of liberality and apply them intelligently, makes the best showing at the end of the year. Many customers come to our office, not knowing what to buy, and want us to make suggestions. This shows ? lack of intelligence on their part. Every farmer cugh^t to know what is best suited to his soil, it is his duty to make a study of it, otherwise he is throwing his money away. It sometimes happens that a certain grade of fertilizer will give excellent results on one field, whereas on another portion of the same plantation it would be practically worthless. We never make suggestions as to the best fertil? izers to use, it is not our business, we do not know, but we try to give people what they want, and if the results are not satis? factory, they have only themselves to blame. * We are handling the same brand of acid and ammociated goods that we ha\e been selling for the past ten y ears* and based upon their analysis, we feel perfectly safe in saying that 4 Io Better Mi k Our kainit, muriate of potash and nitrate of soda we import direct. M / * 0. B. W% V 23 THE PEOPLE like our fine SKID00 DROPS, 5 cents per measure. Every householder should ask their dealer for them. Have you tried them? MADE BY 23* CHARLESTON BISCUIT WORKS, * Charleston, S. C. 23 23 Jan. 23, 1907-3in