University of South Carolina Libraries
1 - ;\ S <v 11 j i 11o i - .1 n ii v ii n ! P / xv ? * *,/** v/ ? t/ mm m. mm ?.? Published Weekly. PICKJCNS, SOUTH CAROLINA. Above all, do not forget your overshoes. Codflsh Is scarce and high, and a flshball trust is suspected. iu mnut- respucis vins nas uireauy been an old-fashioned winter. And so far no 0110 has invented a ?oft spot for aviators to fall on. Tho English courts have small uso for hypothetical questions or brainstorms. One thing is certain, there is plenty of room for aviators to make high-flying records in. TKa 1.1 * a\~ i * iiu iiiiiw *ji iuii wujuuur cii'i'k are excellent, hut the stubborn climate will not adopt them. Tho ncrvouH wrwlia in Newport are the grocers who cannot collect bills <luo from tho 100. In football, as In politics you cannot always toll. Tho saino is true of love and tho stock markets, however. There are .M nctivo volcanoes In Japan, notwithstanding tho fact that no political campaign is going on In Japan. Pockets In woman's skirts are coining back, says an exchange. If ever they can find tho place where the} , used to be. Dirigible balloons are dirigible only when they move with the wind. They cannot buck tho wind as a real man-bird does. The Ftatemer.t Is made by a Swiss doctor that drunkards live longer than total abstainers. Hut even if they do j what's the use? Tho population of tho Philippines j has decreased U."> per cent, since we j took them over. Does race suicide also follow tln> That fringe of puppy dogft at a Now York wedding lias become almost as fatuous as tlit* monkeys that dine with "the 400" at Newport. Canada levied no duty on the balloons that started from St. Louis and went north\vai\S across the border. It did not know how to (it) it. A New York judgo has decided that Nevada divorces are 110 good. Just like a New Yorker discarding things because they're inexpensive! Aeroplaning to Knrope Is tlie !ai< it upon the aviator's schedule, it would bo well to put off the attempt till after winter- s:iy about flytime. F.very little while somebody wins tho world's championship at typewriting, but for some reason champion typewriters never pet splendid otters to go on Iht: stage. The man who never sees a $100 hill has no reason to worry because of that very dangerous counterfeit which the Washington authorities sny is in According <o statistics thero nre 10,000,000 telephone stations in tinworld, and yet somehow or other you j can't always gut the one you want when you want it. Thirty f >tir aviators have mot with /atal nc.idonts during tile pa t year. Still, Konv) of them might have stepped on rusty nails if they had ro tnaincd on the ground. Somebody says that t In* way in solve the transatlantic ; : via Mi n probloni la to manufacture hydrogen gas ' 4in route. If ho had only said hot air, now, It would ho simple. Another aviator has broken the high-flight record for aeroplanes. it happens even more frequently than the launching ?>f (lie largest ship or mo aeain 01 m" oiuohi Aiason. Ilornco Hotelier Hav;-' that if ono i* to p'-l his monoy'* worth out of a glnHH of milk lio should chow It. It might bo risked what, kind of milk Ilornco is ir\ the habit of fating. Somehow. wo find it alinbt imnoKsl bio to i;('t Mil the feeling flint tho man who marrlod tho lailj who wii:; attended hy threo dog* a bridesmaid; ouKht to be sympathized with even If he did go into it with his eyes open A Harvard profoi- or dec'arcs that tho late and loveless marrhmen ni'o re. xponsibln for Hit- disappearance of real Yankw blood Most persons havo thought lliiw wan flue to the wholesale importation of other blood. A I os Aug' leu woman uped a atlr'i Cf dynainlt<? on her wnshboard. sup jossing it to be soap. Tho fart tlint thore Ns.irA i.>? > xplo ion Indicates tbat the wrctchcd makers (if dynamite nro adulterat inj; it Can't we havo any thinK pure :?ny inbro? A Clilcr >v ( f * i"'s r litis discovered (hat ttor.cM . o: ip ler^use Kosnijiiiiij Kivos ii pleasing shock to their vasomotor systems. Having discovered ho much, it ought to bo possible to discover a substllnto and thus sava aiuuy Innocent reputations. ! i ) betting tioventi Cotton < Ray* dr*w&r&' i | jfcc'crjpu'n TlllS United States government gives out from timo to time information 011 all sorts of matters pertaining to the welfare of the people, but it is fsafe to say that none of Uncle Sam's news is so eagerly awaited as is that contained in tlie periodical reports on the condition of the cotton crop which are issued at Intervals of a month during the growing and harvesting season. No one need he tohl of the importance of the cotton crop, not only to the people who raise this staple and the foil; who convert it into a manufactured form but to each and every one of ua who wear cloth i/.s. GOVJTQs//V?yyr CROP rfpoxtwg bos!/?D /yy S/:JJ/OS/. _ e v . 11 l?W ? ? III II I ?l l I * L/A^n-v.v . .IT Jl flW srrr/yya u/? r//r cor rosy ca>o^ /??PO# Ing. Nor.- it happens that it is only the national government that han tho nece sary facilities for Keeping tab upon the progress ami development of each year's cotton crop. Cotton is raised in eo many states and over so wide an : re a that no Finnic llrni or imlii-niimi tmo < > > :i:! 1 -- . UK Mil H'S U1I" III" fortning himself of the yield in all scctiuns of the "cotton belt." And yet accurate advance informal. mi as to the stale of the maturing crop is of the utrno-t importance to tons of thou mds of Ame . iean citizens and r-il.cr t< lis of thousands of people over seas for. In4 it Known, t!" whole world depends largely upon America for its cotton. The business, commend.. 1 and financial world likes to have a peep ahead with reference to any agri ultural crop in order to make plans accordingly, but in the case of cotton such foresight is < -;<< < !;? 11 y vital, For, you understand, tie- comli<ioii ui .. . IH|| i! n-iu-1 I III 111 lll(> (Oil III I Uiilc ROVi Turnout reports tells everybody whether there is to bo a good yl< Id ;r a poor yield of cotton and tliis In turn indicati S to tho growc-r whether lie will get a I igh price or a low price for his (lufi'y white product. And as the forcn t hints to tho mannfafl nrer whethci lie will net his cotton cheap or not. so it signifies to him what Ik- must charge tor tho completed goods as it cornea from mills. And so :ill down the line t:> the "nltim.ve consumer" the collmi nop reports < ..rr;. in their imjiu'ii meaning :t ir.cssa;;.- <t i< . ;>rI < . or 11i;; i prl( < A the siimmfr and autumn ;<<as-nn advances In* torest grows more and more in' enf-' in ouch sueAy. A;; A;: A ; A;;A s; A, ;< A A ( A;; \ A A ;; A ); A;; HOLD-UP OF FICTION y "Tliero's nothing din"< rs nt- re from ri al west' rii life I ban i! i> Ittl* m of r< >1 v. esiirn Iif-*. as told hv writers who ? 1 r: .in to have taken | (ft at !, in* ?!<"?. f! |)Ur>' (l tli st;:v role in i:i< t of the advon* tni '- tfiey 1 o carefully d- ?-erihe, with an i I\ *r I! -'I \ i? \v 1o n,rivet (! tail ! aM nil oM irontiorsiniiti of tin- m v< hil":? "Ahfl elf :tll tli inlof) ,if w? tern 11 f < there's r??>is> that f 1 i: i so widely fiNuii Pie r i! tliiiii' :i Mi t'i!<? <,l Hit- sti'.i?" e.?aeh libld up. 1 i "ii I ItI< ; r< !<!< r hops vlvid1> tho outlaw 1> in wait nloir; the le <.f the esn" 'hhiff' t< u o:nnii>n a %\< r.J to 11 v. lille the enaeh toil:, up Iiv.mi !'"< 'arroyo* so Is 'gulch* the ha. i, w > 11 ma ! i: i his 'poncho' likewise I .1 ' , .. . (nil. , I?.. II... .1. 1 ....l.lf.l? Th'-n oMm t' attar-k, tlio Killing of Mio (Jrlv r, t . < wil.| | i.r !iit. 11. ajii'..; rif t!>f> Ir-ad'T of hm' 1-; ml 11> hi) iiravo yimni; milling > iikIs??'pi\ vim li r thrown him.--. 'i' in front of the l)<-atitlf.il tn 111 i> iiairi h !. f < r ju t In t i m < In saVo her 1 i aii'l K''1 ' liiilli r in his arm that ahr mirsoH t}.r<>ur-ri to i i;irt iat' tin- r? pulse of 111 outlaws, ct( , all nlt titifn'.lv : 'irnl. lied with monciv] Mi-sl can I II . I .; 11 in ' ' heard < vi'cj I <iii the melodrama s-1:ik*' ? II oulvi.lt i'w t;tlo aforesaitl ' Now Ik r I 1 if ? ll 'tt- Is : '.?!(??? nnv :-!:<> iing In :i hi oo:wit r< ' < i < 'if t; ifi:? is Ot rlaln, (In driver never I -dint. The driver Is never cM ii Bin I at, f< ! I ' V vy son-ihly puis up Ills hands, knowing how suicidal would ho any ati iupt al resistance against armed outlaws, and . . out the men i, a , CropjBL iiij li "" 'pm?~/?? &?CFJV?D e<? iIiu?< crop leporl until it reaches a climax in (lie rase of (ho November and Do ember reports. The depart t'leni of ?i)?rl< ,JUire uses every pos ib'< precaution to prevei > any hint of (he < ont< i ts of a r< port becoming puhlie until noon on the appoinloil day when the bulletin is Riven sir nltanodi uly to every person who is waiting for it at tin- hoad'piarters of the crop reporting urn .iii 111 w i ii< ii ensues a ni;t(i imch to i< It |?hones iiiul telegraph wires anil a feverish light to he first to < oininunieate tho news to New N ork and other eotton trading renters and to the great fith - of Kurope. The regular newspaper rorn -nondor.n sir with onr another in their efforts to be first to get (lie cotton forecast "on tie wire," but even more strenuous than their efA ; A A ;; A A ;; A A _ A ;; * ; A ;; A ;; A A )( A ;; A \ND HOLD-UP OF [ACT lie sitting 111 there as pretty a target as one evr saw in a shooting gallery. Furthermore, thr last nfan they want to 1 hoot is the driver, for that would mean a runaway team of all things what t!:r rolihiM--. il.iii'l wiiit- 1 In 1 'i'.i <'1.1 ..iw.n'rti in keep (hem busy, as It is. l't rhnps I emi'iot illustrate l?c(t< r what occurs at a roal sta.ie robbery than bj Rfviii;.' you my experience when I was driving : ta?o through southern Idaho in the early eight W s. I H'fin driving from Khoshone to Itoise City, about (hole one evening was v.eiiu' down lie canon read that lends from C'anias prairie to the headwaters of tho I'ayelte not a settler for miles around. Thor< was only one passenger aboard, a youm; woman from New Kngland. "Now, while lhe country she had 001110 from nnd that slio w.i- goiiiK to were civilized all riulit, the strip In southern Iilalio we wore (hen traV? ellnp over was pretty wild. Hut I didn't sa> a word to her about it for fear of frightening the little thill-!. "She wax :ittintr un on the ho* with me nr.il admlrlm; the minart lints in (In- western sky when, as \\ swunx around a bend in tlio canon, ;t man Mainline in the middle of tlx* road about fifty feet ..in; I, with a Winchester riflo lyinf? In tile hollow of his ami. flniiK up his hand to me. !!< was t tie flist human beinf; we had seen Him n we left Slioshone at dayhrenk (hat morning though that wasn't the reason f threw my leaders back on their haunches, flung on the brake ami came to a BUdden st/>v. , ) I rOAy A: 02JVST?D. CH/? f JT/1T/S7VC/A/Y forts arc Ihose of the representatives of llie cotton brokers and others trading en tlie stock markets. Almost every successive cotton report issued by (lie government makes the price of cotton go up or down according as it presages a good or a poor crop (or a crop that is different in any wav from l.nmil.n- ;iini,-in;.tir..n -,,,1 11,0 broker who ran pot a "tip" as to ttie contents of the report even a few minutes ahead of his fellows may bo enabled to make thousands of dollars. An Immense army of people scattered through all the cotton-growing states co-operate with the government in compiling its cotton reports and almost all of them give their services free in " ?;? jffiiiniiHiu i , i f I CWA'MS /IT THJT IJ^C^OP ?V| ; i|Mfonrj/VG 31//&AU order to help tlio ofllcinls ? IH ?ii >\ miiiiKiou coiirpue ;i fij i hi thoroughly accurate sysII tenia of reports which, it ? |v || is recognized, is to tlie inI W > s%^11 tcrcst of all concerned. To he sure most of these 1' ^ ?<tfH ' X%. 11 correspondents who con?pM:^|l tribute their mile to I'nclo ;ifc ..; Wj | r'- al Wain's mine of inforrna.ill tlon on the growing cotjfe \ 4 1| <' '<>p do not. have to HHjHroSt a Q| to ^H|, ilg ' ill ' "'I '? i'"'v linos to WashV V5 >? 11 tngton onco w<-h month, "I - . ; ! !. r I \ i in' IMS v {| !"i i 1 i!; i 11 i > 11 ;i . In I hf >>* v >v v Ka 01 11 '' ( ' 011 !,ls piiiM . ' ' ' plantation or in his ?"^nSSSSSSSn>1 Immediate n< Ighborhood. w Jy\Jiu/w%W*tiM-, n ? in hi n ?1.1 MUMitvufumnBiMa Most of these reports aro /AY 0?Y}'<rj!rD /IS sent by mail but under certain circumstances the telegraph i.s used and in eacn slate I'nele Sam has a salaried state agent who devotes his whiilf* tr? t rr?v < ! it' nvor M?* Ktntr> :tml "v.i'/inf^ iil?" the situation, s< tiding in his conclusion by | telegraph but taking the precaution to write: his j UK'Ss'ij-'cs in a sec rot code or cipher so that no j P?t. on. not oven the telegraph operators who ban- I die tin-in, could catch their meaning and thereby gain ;i hint as to what might ho expected in a forthcoming crop report. It is at tlm crop reporting headquarters itt \V,t hington that this scheme of keeping watch on the maturing cotton crop involves a task that taxes human endurance. To convey an idea of its magnitude it is only necessary to explain that during the cotton growing season the statisticians are in correspondence with tnore tluui sixty thousand public and private ginneries and upward of fifteen thousand bankers, merchants and Others who are in a position to form opinions on the cotton yield. 'We ndvices from all those volunteer "IntrlllKMiee officers" arc looked up as received at Washington and kept closely gunrded until the di<> appointed for preparing the monthly report. Tlien the hody of experts known as the Crop Heporting Hoard is locked in a room and, taking all the acrummuhited Information, goes over It and II | i u i ~ I ill Olllll 11111 I ?V I 11411 I -1 I Willi U\S I 11?" I I findings the average as it were, of nil (ho reports received from every quarter. Conditions* may vary greatly in different parts of tlie country but tlie general report will give the people of the nation a bird's eye vievV of the whole situation In a bread sense. It Is this report which at the appointed hour Is made public and inside of a few minutes is (lashed to nil parts of the country and to foreign parts. AA H A :t *i: AA;; * ; :( *!( <fc "'Throw out I ho mail Hack," ordered tho man with the i*i(If. "I reached down an 1 flung tho sack Into the rond. "'Hotter tlirow out lh" Wolls-Fargo box, too, I gurss.' ho ad (I oil. "I ktckod ovi r tho trrnsuro box as ordorod. "'That's all,' Bold tho man, ourtl.v. 'Drlvo on.' "I tonoliod up tho team ami %v<> vnt bowling rirr11y Mown tlw raiiyon. Thore wa.i not a word Bjiokon for a full (on minutes. Then Mio young woman, Miming to nio, said, guilelessly: ''That looko<| lllo- a mighty lonesome plice to have a postofllce!' " V ' . ; I linn rni 111 ruiinnrf I H tttR IN NNANIiti ACCURACY AND PUBLICITY PR0VE8 TO BE A POPULAR MOTTO. Prompt Response to Bold Move of President Vail.?"Accuracy" Induced Western Union's Surplus $13,000,000.?"Publicity" Restored Confidence and Its Stock Went Up. Are the erreat flnanrlcrn of thAl country beginning to see a new light? Time was, until recently in fact, when tho men at the bead of the big corporations "kept their business to themselves," as far as the law would allow. Capable men at tho head of tho big concerns, long realized the weakness of their position, but what wna nnnH^.I 1-. J ??vvvu uujiuuai/, u? in an great reforms, was au unmistakable occasion and a courageous man. Tho occasion arose in tho purchase of tho Western Union Telegraph company by tho American Telephone and Telegraph company, and the man appeared m Theodore N. Vail, President of tho! purchasing corporation. It w?8 last December when public; announcement was made that tho, Gould holdings of Western Union badj been taken over by the Telephone company. On account of the high catceni ln; which tho management of the tele-i phone company is so generally held,I great things were predicted as a re-j suit of the absorption of Western! Villon. By the press of the country the "deal" was most favorably coin-, nicnted on, it being wid. ly pointed out that under the direction of suchi men as Theodore N'. Vail and his as-l I Bociatcs, the telegraph company was' bound soon to work Its -If into ft. position whcro it could offer t ho pul?lioi far more pflioiont. service than it had ever before been able to offer. Thit a very few months ha;l elapsed when it became apparent to the new management that .*i modern and upto-date appraisal of the company's assets Would ninl.-n iw.ord.i-. - am V | UOflll/IU <1 lill i greater degree of efllclency of opor-| ation. "Mere," they said to thcm-l selves, "we've bought cent vol of thisj . property and we know It's immensely: valuable, but we don't know just how valuable. Tli- so apt raisals of roiJ estate and securities owned were made a long time ago. If wo have a complcto inventory made of every thing we've Rot we can ;:n:ioi:ncr> the facts to the i ubllc, start a new set of books, and begin our responsibility to stockholders right theiv." How Inventory Was Trken. Tho most expert accountants and nppraisers to be had were rut at iho task. Their labors latteri ever eight months. Tlxir report and its publication by tho company n arks an t pocti !n finance. it began by recommending an ad- 1 Justment of the difference between the appraised and book values by a rharge of $;">,.ri9r>,089 against surplus. Hook values of securities held were reiluee<l tn mn !#*? ??1 i.vi ? Uiltl nnd doubtful account i wi re "charged off," 4an allowance of $2,000,000 was made for "depredation." another of $500,000 for "reserve," and so on, until th<> old surplus of $lS,ftG7,000 came down to $f>.13f>.000. It required courage, tlie publication of this statenu nt to stockho'ders, saying in effect: "The propi rty of your company has been royal-' ued: the surplus isn't nineteen millions, as you have been 1< il to )>< - lb've, l?ut five millions," but it was tJio truth, and- PrcsMdt nt \":ii 1 did not flinch. "Accuracy anil publicity," bo declared, was essential. '"I lie stockbolder bns a ri>;ht to know. Tbo shares of this company ftv?~> scattered from one end of the 1'riion to tho, other. This is more tb; n a private! corporation. It Is a ureal national enterprise. Tim nnhiin t.ini-.i - ... Id * 111 IlIUU the facts." The report was ordered published forthwith. FlnaneU rs of tho old school and speculators generally wore BKluist. What would happen? Would, the bottom drop out of Western Union when the shareholder? mniiv.: ed that their propetry was worth $13,000,000 loss than they had sup posed? Hut tho amazing thin*;1 happened. The stork went up and stayed up. Tho public had respond*; ed to this rt markahle display oft franknoss and confidence: to the new motto, "Aceuraey and Publicity." The full significance of the action of thf> now hnop/1 ft4 \t. .\ 1 --1 _ ........ >.i nwnvll I-IIIICIHI'iy | by Harper's Weekly In theso words: j "Is this policy of publicity and ofi open-handed dealing with sharehold-l era and public tho foroninnor of a; imilar movement on the part of oth-' er big corporations? Certainly It Is to bo hoped that it Is. In the caso of these big companies, dependent puunv. i?in miiifif mur nmng business under public franchise, <\m there be any question of the right of the people to know? "That light is being recognized., It Is recogni/.f d now in tills epochal act on the part <>f the telephone and tAlpSTIlllll {ht/irno*a f? ?? - - ? . . .11.-.. II in I !?> (Ill W 11 of c now era In corporation finance." Timeliness. All measures of reformation nre effective in oxaet proportion to their tinu'lin hh; partial decay may be out away nixl ol? ;inh?<1; Incipient orrori oorrcct? I; Imt ! !cro Is a point at! which c< rruptlon can no more bo f.: y.l, nor v.aiul.-iiim rooallod. It l a ; ' ' ii Ils? manner of modern ptillroj y t n-nv i i p*e slvo until that in-oil:.e | r.c?l. t: 11 I t> If.ivo tho 8lck( > | i i :;h, it:nl the f o i 1? to Btrny, v},i!o it RpRnt Mm :f In ir uitlR oxer-j : mis to rrt! ?^ tlie dead, imd reform tbei .lust.?Runkln. ,