Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PEACE ENVOYS MEET Russian and Japanese Representa lives Clasp iands As Frieids INTRODLCTi0N BY OUR PRESIDEN] Ceremony Unique in History Takcs Place on the Mayfower Off Oyster Bay and the President's Success in Avoiding Questions of Prece dence Makes All Smooth-Japanese Arrived First and Were Presented. Awaiting the Russians in the Cabin -Tiny Komura and Giant Witte Shake Eaads When Presented. Oyster Eav. N. Y.. Special.-History was made Saturday in Oyster Bay. Russians dJapanese clasped hands and greetG one another with all out ward evidence of cordial.y, and for the first :ime. since nations bcgan to have relations one with onother, an Executivec 1f agreat power received the envoys ci two belligerent countries on a miaon of peare. President Roose.ve',cn ehalf of the United States and! :heir people. extended for mal gree:ng to the representatives of Russia and Japan, introduced the plenipotentiaries to one another, and entertained them at an elaborate luncheon, at which Russian and Jap anese fraternized with oue another as comrades rather than enemies. PRESIDENT'S NOTABLE TOAST. During the luncheon President Roosevelt proposed a notable toast, in which he expressed the earnest hope and prayer, in the interest not only of these two great powers, but of all civ ilized mankind, that a just and last ing peace may speedily be concluded between them." The occasion was impressive. It was attended not by pomp and ceremony, but by a simplic-,y and frankness characteristic of the President and of the people of America. Due honor was paid the distinguish ed guests c the President and of the country, and they were received with all the dignity to which their exalted rank entitled them. The day was ideal. After the sun - burned away the haze of early morning. the weather was glorious. A brisk breeze just tipped the waves of Long Island Sound with silver, temper ing, at the same time, the heat of the sun's rays. .criIF'' Y OYS SHAKE HANDS.. It was a notable scene as the di minutive Baron Komura shook hands with the giant Witte at the instance of the President of the United States. The greetings of the members c. the two special missions were distinctly formal, but not the slightest sugges tion of emnity was shown on either side. Neither by word nor oy action did they mndicate, even by direction, anything but the utmost cordiality. Careful to avoid any strain, Presi dent Roosevelt, as soon as possible after the introductions, suggested that the party proceed to the main saloon. where lhmcheon was in waiting. The - esident himself les, the party, follow ed in order by Mr. Witte. Baron Komu ra, Ambassador Rosen and Minister Takahira. Even the formation of this .little procession involved a delicate diplomatic problem, but it was agreed that the Presiaent solved it admirably. FOES LIKE FRIENDS. Although the luncheon was served with the other guests standing, the President escorted the four envoys to chairs in one corner of the saloon, and in half a minute, through tact and del icacy, the whole party was engaged in animated conversation over their dishes. The conversation was general ly in French, as Mr. Witte speaks very little Engiish. Baron Rosen and Baron Komura chatted as if they had been life-long friends and Minister Taka hira, at one time particularly commu nicative, entered into tne conv-ersation wnth zest and interest. Before the lnncheon had proceeded far President Roosevelt rose from his chair, and turning to the assemblage, raised his hand for silence. In an in stant there was a hush. Bowing to the envoys, President Roosevelt said: EN\'OYS APPROVE TOAST. .. '-Gentlemen: I propose a toast to which there will be no answer and to which I have the honor to ask you to <drink in silence, standing. I drink to the welfare and prosperity of the sov ereigns and the people of the two great nations whose representatives have met one another on this ship. It is my most earnest hope and prayer. in the interest or not only these two great powers, but of all civilized man kind, that a just and lasting peace may speeoiiy be concludeai between them.'' The toast was drunk, as the Presi dent requested, in profound silence: but in the hum of conversation which followed little was heard but enthusi astic comment upon tue character of the President's expression. Mr. Witte and Baron Komura both cordially thanked hiim. Japanen2 Forces Over 400,000. Lidiapudz, Manchuria. By Cable. The Japanese have concentrated in Manchuria, in front of the Russian armies '43'.000 infantry, with L.600 cannon. This is exclusive of the de tachment of General Hasegawa, commander of the forces in Korea, and a special detachment, the destina tion of which is not known. The weather is focd and the roads are drying up Train Kills Three. Gtaa.detC Vealley passenger train Fri dar had an ur~iicky r-un from Logan, -il1l-n three men and injuring anoth er. F-nk Adars was struck and killed by th tran shortly- after it leg LIa Adam-t'< rc-iuason' was smr ousy isuri ohn Ahan. an obl man SENSIBLE TALKS TO TilE FARMERS overnor Heyward. Pres. .D. . Smith, Dr. W. J. Spillman, Mr. W. J. a son and Mr. Hyatt dade Adresses a vJ' Z:5 as w c: i t I v t '-t ai as mItn: uisuazlly' are ini Chibia~. It t aaways beenrnarbeta l ple of tiscmi myaentme en t' attonding gahic s i f 0 a iious kinds. but there were.ab..01 people present ad fl1 o c f u hous tey sat thjrough.0 the exercises, inltereCsted InI every*\ word( The 1ast speech, thati 'fr. E. D. Smith. presideit of tle South Car lina Cotton Asociinti. malde a mark ed impression and althouh.the crowd! had bee'; talked at for ver two hours when he comlleicel, yet Mr. Sinith held them almost entraned for ani I hour and a half. and even then th.ey v wei nit tired. a There was anot her pech whivci h made a marked imrion, , hat f ti Dr. W. J. Spilhnan,. agros.-toloifstof the department oi ag.ieuitue. D ) Spilhnan is a g(reat fn'eild of the soIuthi and to the south. His remarks weret' full of heart interest in the velfare e of the south and wileI he makcs no I attempt at oratory. yet he i has a mes- a sage to bring and the story tells itself -i in suc'h a way that it goes directly 1o) the thinking apparatus of his ,indi tor's. Mr. Smith's purgese was to tell the i assembled farmers that they have a monopoly. that they should control V that monopoly by niana ing the mark- a eting and be free me., and that by R the inpouring of more capital to the d, iouth through better prices for cotton ti there should be a more gcieeral dif fusion of education to make the peo- d, ple stronger and the country better. On the other hand Dr. Spiinan, by a holding up the c.gre of the boll weevil X endeavored to warn the farmers 01 against giving over their entire farm a to otton alone. for calamity may come. C< There were several good speeches i made. Gov-uor leywnrd excelled himself in the gr'aceful' maime'r in t which le opened the metinig and Mr. W. A. Clark offeired some ve'y thoughtful sugg-estionus in his address d of welcome. Mr. F. H1. Weston, ser- n retarv of the South Carolina Cotton J Association. gave an lint erest ing' (his elsson of the cot ton warehiouse plan p, and Mr. E. J. Watson, commissioner t of agriculture. imn:igration and com- ti merce had an array o f statisties which showed the advantages of Souti Car- a olina as compared with the rest of a the United States. The same money invested in Sonth Carolina that is c invested in soil elsewhere would pro- s< duce results more remunerative. -I'. s( Hyatt made a very thougrhtiful speech C< in a few words,. as others had S< said about all that he intended to say. As usual, lie told some ance-a dotes to aid in digesting the solid sI facts whic'h had been pwesented. ci Governor Heywardi iN inv'itatin fl called the meeting to order. He ad- p dressed a few words of welcome to hi the farmers and others present. He p~ felt very much like General Gr'an t, el who was told by the little bov that he au could not go to Richniond, because Lee ti was there; lie could not go to Peters-a hnrig because A. P. Hill was there; hie could not go to heaven because Jack- e. son was there. There was only one other place for Gtrant to go-the~re c were no Confed'(eraltes there. ti The first of the r'egular addresses o) was made by Col. F. H. WVeston, see- 01 retarv of the South Carolia Cotton pJ Growers' Association. whose subj'ectb was 'Cotton Warehouses.'' Dir. W. J. Spilmian fohowed MIr. Weston. The secret of the power of this man over his atudienee is the fact it that he speaks oat fr'om his heart that which lhe f'eels and knows. It is a it talk of a successful speciailist to peo- m ple whomn he would have try newe ways to broaden the sphere anld scope' e of' their' woi'k. V Mri. Smith. who w'as theni pre~seniteda by Go'vernior Heywvard, begtan onet ofL at the niost remarkable speeches in thie si hstory (if this movement. althoug~h he pj showed the ev\iden'ice of fatigue from Ihi seiakinig iin many places lately. Hie at began by referrin' to the fact that al- m thaouig ' h ifferitieationi'' is bei tE preached by t adv'ocates of that ereed, yet thley do not tel us how to, market the str' i after it is produ~ced. He referred I ' illman to the condi ion of affa - Chadbourne. N. . where the farmers had diversified and p had prospered until this year when bI they had produced a little too mucli and at the critical time thlere was no transportation facilities. Then the farmers of Chadbourne dumped into I the streams nearby thousands of dol- r: lars vworth of strawberries because ir thev' could ot get them to' market. e' Ii'From this he made the (deduction tha e while it is a good thingt to diverifyt 4 ytit is well to restr'ict tile diversiti-l b c'ttin to the mere raising of' enough i r to supply thle needs of one's own fam- Ia only K In regai'd to4 the tard(inecss withi t: wh(i tis movement has been comng ' Oi. lie saiid that right after the war a there was no money in the south. The northern banker loaned to the southI ern banker. the southern b)anker' to the merchiaiit. the mler'chiant to the landlord andO thle landlord to the ten ants. That was the chlain whlicth pull-t ed thei cotton out of thle fttrows anad n put it in the wvarehouses of the baink- v pur'ose of aiding the farmers inhld in'0 th1eir cottont wouldi t hent have been of 110 use for' the cottoni alrieady oCe long'ed* t the northern bztnker w'i puliled the cottonl in. Whe h\ir~le teok up this ligyht withi th t d4.0100.000 bale cr'op~ and withI a sur- C phis of :3.000.000 bales, it dj' look lie t was too v'slinary. T hey dhealt inl fu tures~ exp ect ing thle price to gol dow an~'d falithfuil to maklue that man ouit a e -m ird o ii.' ::ile also l'::'u is re- c~ 10 'r uDI il ta l) nunnaud.''' i tI and1 v a traito'.r to the' cause. C i. WITTE OPTIMISTC; ussian [nvoy M es Light of the Recent J p:se Victories ELATED ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK ,ussia's Chief Plenipotentiary De clares That the Japanese Would Have to Advanca Four Tires as Much as They h-ave Done in Order to Reach Russia Proper, and That the Country's Power of Resistance Re~mains Great. New York. Special.-Tie Kaiser Tilhelm der Grosse, with Mr. Sergius Titte, the senior Russian peace en )y. arrived in quarantine Wednesday Eternoon. Mr. Witte was in good aalth. The ship had a good passage, e sea being smooth, except on Sat eday and 32%nday, when it was a lit e rough. On shipboard, Mr. Witte was gen ally reticent when the subject of his issic a was mrientionled. However, to correspondent who acccmpanied him om Cherbourg. Mr. Witte said: "Almost everywhere in Europe, as ell as in America, not only Russia, r forces, her resources and her >wer of resistence, are not known, it the people are even mistaken )out the true results of the war. The ussians have had reverses, but this )es not signify that they have lost te power which was known to the uscovite empire oefore the war; It es not mean that Russia has become negligable (fuantity nor that the panese have acq.iired by the result the recent victories such a suprem y as to make the Russian empire >nsider them a truly redoubtable ene y." Mr. Witte recognizes the good qual ies of the Japanese military, naval id administrative organizations and es not believe any other European tion would have been able To resist tpan as Russia has done. All the foreign officers of the Euro mn armies, he said, who followed te war, were unanimous in affirming at the Russian troops, both soldiers id officers, fought with truly admir >le bravery, but they had to with maw on account of a combination or rcumstances with which their per mal valor could not contend. On the a the Russians found themselves t nstantly in inferior conditions. The I uadron of Rojestvensky was sent t ~ainst Japan, not because the Rus-t ans had much confidence in its sue ~ss, but because they could not re >unce from a military and moral 1 >int of view any chance, no matter >w uncertain, of obtaining even a< trtial victory. The Japanese. he de ared, had not made such progress ;was generally believed; in fact, .ey would have to advance four times ;much as they have done in the last ar and a half to reach Russia prop -, In which case alone they rright 1 )sider themselves in a position toi 2pose the conditions of peac3. Ac rding to the Russian plenipotentiary, ose who do not know Russia well1 pose to the reasons the spectre the internal conditions of the em re, imagining all kinds of cataclysms, it even about this, he said, they ere mistaken. Mr. Witte did not wisht discuss at this time the events int ussia, affirming, however, that they ve not the character nor the grav v attributed to them. Mr. Witte indicated, notwithstand- I g these views, that he dloes not ean to say that he will not mat e -ery possible effot towards the con usion of peace, addiig that he is fa rable to peace as a Russian and.I a man, having always worked to. event war and understanding that nresent nearly the entire world de-c res the end of the conflict. He re ~ated that he wfll honestly do all that s conscience may sugges-. to bring out, if possible, an agreeirent which I1 a be equally: satisfactory to the in-I rests of Russia and Japan. After ving done this. no matter what the sults may be, Mr. Witte feels that he1 ill have accomplished his duty. He ophaticaily denied having said that pans peace terms were intolerable. e also denied positively that he had edicted that the conference would eak up in a week. Another Ovation For Taft. Nagasaki, By Cable.-The steamer :anchurig, having on beard Secreta of War Taft and his party. includ tg Miss Alice Roosevelt, arrived here ' route to Manila and the distirnguish 1 guests received another ovation sly lacking in importance to the one STokio by the absence of the mem ers of the imperial family. They were t, however. by the American consul ad local Japanese oficials, while rowds assembled at the wharf yell "Benzai, benzai." The streets in te vicinity of the dlOck were jammed nd all the city was bright with decor tions, conspicuous among which were e flags of Jag~an and the Unitcd tates. Japanese Make No Comment. New York. Special-At the headquar rs of the Japanese peace commission o comment was made upon the inter iew with Mr. Witte. Aimer Sato, who as met all interviewers since the Japa ese delegation arrived in New York, ild that Ba ron Komur-a would make o statement at this time. and from a ersonal standpoint he (Sato) thought .at to make any stateme.nt or comn ient at all would be entering the con ~oversy prematurely. Kills Eis Cousin. London, Ky., Special.--News reached ere by telephone that Nick Garrison, wealthy and well-known lum ber- deal r, shot and killed his cousin. Felix oskin, near Spring Creek:, in Leslie cunty. Hoskins was also a large lum er merchant and promrirent. The quar e arose because H-oskins had sued arrison for- an allege'd debt. Garrison ed to thr- mountains and mtle his es- I DISCUSSE DISPE1NSARY AT LENGTl-1 Tillman Made No Direct Charges Against the Administration i-ut Puts the Responsibility ca Investi gatin~g Commiittee. :eld. Special.-Senator Tiian spoke here Saturday to a large crowd. iscussing the question of dispensary cr Prfohibition fcr nore than two1 ,uurs. The length of the speech ore ludes our givng it in full, but the leadirg points are covered in the ful Lo -.ing report: TILLMAN'S SPEECH. Mr. Chairman. Ladies and Fellow Citizens: It is six Years since I haave Lad the pleasure of addressing a pub lie meeting in this my home county. Dn that occasion the issue was the ame one which we have today. The people have passed on this ques ion five or six times and settled it )y overwhelming majorities. That year :he aggregate vote for the two candi -ates who were running as dispensary :andidates was 2S.000 more than the prohibtion candidate got. but there ire some people in South Carolina who iave never been willing to submit to :he rule of the majority. They think -hiy know more, that they are better :han the masses of the people, that h!ey have the right to dictate to them what they shall do. So here we have iain this same old bone of contention rought forward for politicians to ;naw on. "THE PRICE OF SILENCE." I am here today to discuss this ques on. Some have said it was improper mid out of place for a United States ;enator to meddle with local affairs. ruese men have felt aggrieved because will not consent to shut my mouth, md close my eyes to the condition in hich I am as much interested as you Lre, and they have demanded of me .he price of silence. I ain't built that v. Thank God I ain't built that way. Laughter and applause.) When I get o cowardly to stand up in your midst >r anywhere else and speak the truth .s I see it and understand it t-en I vill have become too cowardly and vorthless to represent you any vhere. I know I shall make enemies. I rnow many of my best friends are to ay lined up in antagonism to the iouor system which I devised. Be ause they have changed am I to sur 'ender my conviction? I again say I in't built that way. The office of Uni ed States senator is a high and noble me. but the office is not worth the rice which some men demand of ne. Therefore I am here in asnwer to our invitation to tell you what I hink, not to dictate- I know you are ot built that way, you do your own hinking. and not as I say. What is he issue? How shall we sell liquor >r whether we shall sell it at all? That s the whole proposition stated in a irief sentence. There are three systems that have ~btained in the State, not in the State .s a whole, but in parts of the State: e is the license system, the old bar comn system, the second is the dis mensary system under which we are iow working, and the third is prohi tion. The ingenuity of man never [evised any more than those three ystemas for the liquor control. Which ne of these is the best?,You have eard eloquent and strong arguments. aets andI figures as they were pre entel in favor of prohibition. I confess to you as between prohi ition and the barrooms. saloons or ioniss- But will prohibition prohibit? ionists. But will prohibition prohibt? I say no. These other genetlemen y yes. Let's give the facts. Here Senator Tillman gave statis ics from Maine and Kansas to show hat more spirits are sold and drunk .nd more arrests are made for drunk' nnss in prohibition territory than n South Carolina, in proportion to rhibition.. dy objection to prohibition is, we ~e not yet angeis, more the pity: I o not see any wings sprouting on any ody's shoulders: we are sinful aun nan bcings, made by God Almighty in -is wisdom with shortcomings and he weakness of man; we have cur ippetites, and it is in the nature of he beast to gratify that appetite for nimulants. and if he cannot get it. awfully he is going to. get it some hr way. There has always been and iwayr' will be a demand for liquor ts a oeverage, siply because man ikes the taste and its effect, not be is a beverage, simply be :ause man like the taste and ts effect, not because he 'ieds it as a medicine, but simply for' 1s stomach's sake as Paul said to imothy, and somebody will always >e ready to supply it for the noney. That being the case, I have tried to leal with this question as a true man and from a common-sense standpoint. :o treat men as I find them and not as would have them to be, but to try a. teach them to mainimize and re :uce the evil of whiskey drinking. I t~ave ot indulged in liquor myself. but I have seen it, some of my family bave suifered from d, I have seen its misery. the misery it causes; I have seen too much not to know that if we could destroy the formula of alcohoi eit~her from fermentation or anything ese it wculd injure the medical pro fession in their business, deprive men or thear valuable stimulants in certain dseases, but the sum of human nmisery would be reduced. But the best thing in my judgment as a practical man is to treat men as they are and Ut to teach them to restramn their appetites as far as practical and minimize the evil of liquor drinking. You have heard a good deal about blood money. Sometimes I ge. awfully sick in the Senate when I hear a fellow get up and twaddle about what he knows nthing ef: when I hear preacher-; talking about the drinkirng of whiske:: being blood money. I look back to the history of the woraL1 1. find that no man. r.o preacher, priest or states man ever dreamed of attenmpting to prohibit the use of liquor until about 5 or 100 years ago, have not under took until the last 8) years to say that man should not drink or that it was a sin. I do not hesitate to say I can find in the Bible a dozen or two dozen texts recognizing the use of iuor to where you can find one whichrl dicorages5 it or. denounices it. Wheire decs The ':in come in.' Tesn does not rest upon the Bible auhriy;. it rests upona the preacher's authority. and I object to any preach - r mani the Srinture to suit his ;ana m and to make me swanlow r Laughter and cheers.) o u cat~l show re in the Sripaures U i P! one or wo isolated cases .h US Wine 1S dono u n ced as and I can show you a dozn he:- it is spoken of otier wi~se. hna man talks to me about blood money I put iii down as an abomi'able ass. I do not intend any thing personal. I cannot see any Pos sible excuse for any one to make such charge. Some say you are going to -ote the abominable dispensary out and sub stitute blessed prohibition. I don't care if you do, and sometimes I rather :ish You would so you can get a dose of "he physie for twelve months. Now. we cozne to high license: this combintion which we ore facing to day. the high license people. the prc hibition people and the blind tigers, the same we have been fighting since 19. These people who are advocat ing high license, The State, of Coluin bia. the News and Courier and some other papers, and some of our fellow citizens. they are not .n favor of pro hibition: they tell you so: they say. let's kill the dispensary. then you willi have prohibition, and then what-high license. The preachers are going one road, the prohibitionists are going an other road and the blind tigers are traveling a third road: they are all alert to kill the dispensary, and when they kill it and it is gone. poor thing: then what? There will be a fight among the people to say whether it shall be high license or prohibition, and what will the dispensaryites do then? If we are so far and few be ween that there will be no hope of restoring the dispensary. I am going to line up with my friend Talbert and shout for prohibition. I will never consent by my vote and influence to tid in the re-establishment of saloons in any county in South Carolina. Here followed a little spat between M1r. Talbert and the Senator, which, however, was soon quieted, and Till man continued. The substance of his closing remarks was for a thorough purging of the dispensary system and for giving it another fair trial. Another Ovation For Taft. Nagasaki, By Cable.-The steamer Manchuria, having on board Secreta ry of War Taft and his party, includ ing Miss Alice Roosevelt, arrived here en route to Manila and the distinguish ed guests received another otation only lacking in importance to the one at Tokio by the absence of the mem bers of the imperial famiiy. They vere ret, however, by the American ccnsul and local Japanese officials. while crowds assembled at the wharf yell ed "Benzai, benzai." The streets in the vicinity of the dock were jamned and all the city was bright with decor ations, conspicuous among which were the flags of Japan and the Uni: d States. Japanese Make No Comment. New York, Special-At the headquar ters of the Japanese peace commission no comment was made upon the inter view with Mr. Witte. Aimer Sato. who has met all interviewers since the Japa nese delegation arrived in New York, said that Baron Komnura would make no statement at this time, and from a personal standpoint he (Sato) thought that to make any statement or com ment at all would be entering the con troversy prematurely. Rapidly Enforced. Norfolk, Va., Special.-The quarcs tine against all vessels from Southern ports is being rigidly enforced by the Federal and State authorities at the Virginia Capes and in Hampton Roads. Every vessel entering the capes is held for a thorough examination by the United States Marine Hospital authori ties. The British steamship Othello. from Mobile, to Bordeaux and Havre, and the French steamer Longway, from Port Tampa, were held up, but later passed and came in for bunker coal. Poisoned Herself and Son. Baltimore, Special.-Mrs. Annie Whiteford is dead and her 5-year-old son is in a hospital suffering from the effects of cyanide of potassum, taken by the mother with suicidal intent and by her giving to the child with the expectation of ending his life also. A sister of the suicide was attracted by the screaming of the suffering infant nd found him writhing in agony aeross the body of his mother. who lived only a short time after being fou--d. Mrs. Whiteford, w~ho has been septarat d from her husband for several years. was a sufferer from melancholia. Russia to Issue New Loan. St. Petersburg. By Cable.-The gov ernment has decided upon the issuance of another internal loan to the amount of $100,000,000, of which, however. only $75,000,000 may be issued at first. The loan will be practically of the same nature and under the same? conitions as that of March last, and will probably be issued in about a fortnight. The issue price of :he Rus sian international loan of $100,000.000 floated last March was 96. The bonds of that loan bear interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum and are re demable in 50 years. BALD HEADS ARE IMMUNE. Consumption and Smooth Craniun-.a lncomnpatible, Says Physician. There are advantages accruing eve' from bald heads. It is pointed out by a writer in a medical journal that bald headed men never suffer from con sumption, and that a tendency to bald ness is an assurance that the dreaded scourge will pass over him whose thatch grows thin. At first glance it would seem ab surd to argue that a n'an's hair is indicative of his immunity from ~isase, hut the writer who advances this novel thec~ry declares that in the five years during which he seriously added a record of his patients' hair or lack of it his caze cards have failed to show a single instance of "bald" ieig entered upon the card of a consuti~ve. He had under treatment more than 700 cases, and he makes the further satement that in a census of more than 3,000 tuberculosis cases he failed to discover a single sufferer who was He makes no effort to explain his theory upoa m eial grounds, but sim i:. offers the results cf his obserw' ion for the benefit of the profession, and has invited his brother physiciani to write him of any case of a bald teed consumuptve coming unde! their observation.--New York Herald. even of the greatest mountains have , eve been climbed, - SOUIH CAROLINA CROP BULLETIN Weather Conditions Given Out by the Department Obse. ver. The South Carolina section of the De partment of Agriculture issues the fol lowing official bulletin of weather and crop conditions for the past week: The mean temperatt - f'r the week ending July 31st, was ;htly below normal, although the de artures aver aged only about one degree per day. The extremes were a maximum of 96* at Yemassee on the 25th and a mini mum of 610 at-Greenville on the 26th. There were several days with. high winds in the northwestern and south central counties which were damag ing to certain crops, particularly cot ton. Hail fell in a number of localities on the 28th but it did no material dam age. The precipitation was excessive lo cally in the central and eastern por ticns, and was fairly copious over the eastern half of the State, but with nu merous localities that had little or no rain; the southwestern counties had very little rain and in places the soil is exceedingly dry to the injury of all vegetation; as a rule the moisture con ditions were generally favorable. There is an unusual diversity, however, in the amount of precipitation for different localities, which in turn has caused a corresponding diversity in the condi tion of all crops, ranging from very good to very poor. Over the greater portion of the State, farm work made favorable progress and nearly all crops have been laid by, although late corn and cotton continue to receive cultivation. Caterpillars have appeared in some of the coast counties, and a red spinder infests cotton in pla ces while rice on cotton have not en tirely disappeared. There are more numerous reports, than heretofore of serious shedding of cotton squares, young bolls, and leave s, caused by both excessive rahis and drought, and in places by lice. Rust seems to be spreading and in the north central counties it affects whole fields. Cotton is deterioraing most on sandy lands, and is doing well on clay lands, vihere it has a large weed, but in places is not well fruited. A few localities re port a marked improvement in cotton. Early corn is nearly ripe, and is not affected by the prevailing. weather, while young corn made a marked im provement in all sections and has be I come promising. Tobacco curing is well. under way, with the early crop poor, while late tobacco is much better. Rice is doing well. Sugar cane, sweet pota toes and gardens are doing well gen erally. Weather unfavorable for haying and fodder pulling in the coast coun ties, and considerable hay was dam aged after cutting, by the heavy rains. Peas for forage are doing well. Some turnips have been sown.-J. W. Bauer, Section Director. Discussed Dispensary. Parksville, Special-Hon. W. Jasper Talbert and Former Solicitor J. W. Thurmond locked horns in a dispensary discussion Sunday. A union meeting. was in progress at the historical Red Hill Baptist church, seven miles east of here. Col. Talbert and Dr. D. A. J. Bell were on the pro gramme to speak upon the subject: "Is it an opportune time for the Chris tians of South Carolina to make a de cided stand against strong drink as a beverage?" Both gentlemen were un compromising in condefinning the dis pensary. The assembly was large and the speakers stood in the pulpit At the close oi Dr. Bell's address, Mr. Thur mond advanced and delivered a very earnest speech, advocating the dispen sary. He declared that if it was right ly conducted it is the best solution of the liquor evil and that there would be open barrooms in South Carolina with in two years if the prohibitionists should win their fight., The whole situation was unique in the discussions held In religious asseni blies. A number of prominent people were present and the interest grew in tense. Yet there was no breach of re ligious decorum.--V. M. I., in Columbis State. Auto and Trolley Crashr. Camden, Special.-An automobile, in which John R. Valentine, a well known society man of Philadelphia, his wife and two friends, were riding, was struck by a trolley car here early Monday morning. Mrs. Valentine sus tained a fracture of the collar-bone, and Mr. Valentine was cut and bruis ed about the head and face. Mr. Val entine is a noted whip and is master of the Radnor Hunt Club, of Bryn Mawr, near here. South Carolina Items. President Harvie Jordan, of the Southern Cotton Association, has asked Governor Heyward to appoint 100 dele gates from this State to the annual meeting of the Farmers' National Can gress, to be held in Richmond, Septem ber 12th to 22nd. The delegation will be appointed after consultation with the South Carolina division of the asso ciation. The Election in Anderson. Anderson, (Special.)--Little interest is being taken in the race for the Leg islature to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Geo. E Prince. The election has been ordered for the 22nd of August. Messrs. E. J. Kay and H. M. Prince have announc ed themselves as candidates.. It is prob able that others will enter the contest within the next week. No campaign meetings were arranged by the exec utive committee, and unless something is injected into the race to enliven it a very light vote will be polled. As a result of a conference with Gor ernor Heyward a delegatiOn, consiting of Assistant Attorney General Town send, Attorney W. Boyd Evans and CongreSSman'ever, will go to Wash ington Thursday for the purpose ci lay ing the matter of South Carolina Span ish-American war claims for pay of soi die's before the War Departuuent. The amount involved is $Z'0.000, dueo for the services of South Caroina soidiiers from the time they arrived in \Van ingon after the war until the time ty e-e mustered out. IN SOUT CAROLINA Occurrences of Interest in Various Parts of the State. General Cotton Market. Ga-eston quiet.. .. .. ...... New Orleans. quiet.......... Mobile. firm.. .............-1 Savamah. flirm.. .. .. .. .....1 Norfolk. quiet.. .. .. .. ..... Baltimore. nominal.. .. ......103 New York. quiet............11 Philadelphia. steady........ Houston. steadv.. .. .. .......10.9-16 Augusta. steady..........10.11.16 Memphis. quiet.. .. .. .......10% St. Louis, quiet.. .... .......10% Louisville. firm.. .. .....10%/ Charlotte Cotton Market. These figures represent prices paid to wao1s: Strict good-middling.........10/ Good middling............103 Middling.. .. .. .......10 Tinges.. .. .. .. .. .....8% to 973 Stains ................7 to S3 CITITERS HOLD MASS MEETING. New Cotton Mill Proposition Discuss ed-Electric Power May Be Secured -To Advertise the City. Greenwood. Special.-An enthusias tic mass meeting of the citizens of Greenwood was held here last week to consider a plan to secure new en -terprises for the city. The gathering - was a most representative one, and it was held in the parlors of the Greenwood club. The matters dis cussed were more particularly in re gard to negotiatinns with a prominent real estate firm of Philadelphia, who wrote the chamber of commeree in regard to the establishing of a new cotton mill in. this city. The parties inquiring want to know what induee ments Greenwood offers for such en terprises, and the people of the city with their usual energy are taking ae tive steps towards securing it if it is to be gotten.. The city offers many advantages for such enterprises, and it is not unlikely that if a new mill is placed anywhere in this section it will be at Greenwood. THE NEAL, SHOALS LINE. Poles Are Now Up For Several Miles and Wires Will Soon be Strang.. Union, Special.-In but a short while the electric line conneeting Un ion with Neals Shoals will be com pleted. The poles are already up for several miles this side of Neal's Shoals, and the holes have been dug as far as the Union cotten miHs, and the force of workmen will rush- the other poles up in short order, then the stringing of the heavy wire will begin. The power house at Neal's Shoals is being gotten in. sap, and by the time that everything is com pleted about the dam, it should be ready to begin operations, then the . power that will operate the mill here, beside which, it is hoped, will furnish current for other enterprises,, will be TAX SAID TO BE. TOO HIGE. Charleston Oyster Canning Campn .2~ May Suspend Business. Columbia, Special. -- Aceord ing to a complaint received by At torney General Gunter from the Charleston Canning company the Ii cense or tax placed upon oysters is too high and the company is practical ly forced. out- of business.. The law requires a tax of three cents a bushel of oysters and an annual tax of $400 on the factory in addition to the barge license. As a bushel of oysters only produce about two quarts of oys ters shelled, it can be seen that much of the profit is taken away.. The mat ter, however, will have to be settled by the county board of commission ers of Charleston,. as it is not one for the attorney generaL. Success. After Many Baids. Greenville,. Specia).-Chief Consta ble Hall, with four men, discovered I a moonshine distillery in a cave on the Reedy river four miles from. Greenville. The still had been in op eration for years and was owned by 2 amani named McCarter. McCarter also owned a grist mill nearby.. The flue which carried the smoke was run under-ground to. his dwelling and then up the chimney, thus making it al most impossible of detection.. The place had often been raided but noth ing was ever found. The officers re-I ceived a straight tip and MeCarter disappeared. , Aaron Willams Free.I Camden, Special.-Aaron Williams, who was last year convicted of rape and sentenced to dcath has been ac quitted at the new trial granted him. The State witnesses refused to tes tiffy at the second trial. It was be lieved from the outset that WilliamsI was innocnt of the charge. Onily Two Acquitted.7 Laurens, Special.-The summer term of the court of general sessions was adjourned ras~t Wednesday. An unusually heavy docket was disposed :>f and it is a fact of much commenti that out of the 18 or 20 cases triedi only two gote of ih an acquittal. Ten negroes wer tied oni the charge of~ murder. Two of these were cn vieted of murder with a mercy rc omnmdation while the rest were gr en verdicts of manslaughiter. Sold 750 Bales. Pickens, Special.-The largest lot of cotton ever sold by a planter in Pickens county was sold a few days agzo by Mr. J. Samauel Wilson to Heat h-Bruce-Morrow company of Piekeuis. Mr. Wilson sold 750 bales, a portin of two crOps. The lot brought 10 1-2 eents round, aggregat x,2 a,-lr M40.000