University of South Carolina Libraries
Ihe Press and Banner, ALIEVILLE. S. C. CUT TO PIECES Will This Gruesome Tragedy Stop Crazy College Hazing. BEACHED THE LIMIT When They Blindfolded Little Prieson ' i and Tied Him to the Railroad Track. 1 Where a Special Train Cut ( Him iuto Mince Meat. "I swear by all my hopes on earth ' to keep this pledge with the brethren i of our order. May my life be accur- ' sec; my death be loathsome; my heart 1 be cut cut and cast into the dust; j my flesh rot from my bones; my bones i crumble away?If I ever reveal any I of the secrets of our beloved order or ( betray my brethren." I This is tne grim vow unaer tue aw ful iiflueEces of which the young uni versity student, fresh from t he gen tie ictiuence of his home, with his youth:ul Ideals of honor sui loyality as yet unsullied by contact with the *orldt has braved the terrors of hiz inp, and faced death a hundred times. It was the vow that led S uart Lathrcp Plenon, the freshman of the little college of Kenyon, Ohio, to submit, as part of his initiation into the fraternity 01 ice ueiia ivappa xup , atlon, and without sign or word or murmur, to the awful ordeal of being tied to the railroad tracks of the Cleveland. Akron & Ohio Railroad, there to be left until a train oame along and ground to pieces. For in its effect upon the mind of an imprer8ionable boy this vow is in vested with nor re of awful portent and more of sol? mnlty than the osthB of the Molly M^uires, the WbiUcips or of the Suicide Club, pictured by 1 Robt. Louis Stevenson in the "jSe? Arabian Nights.' Given five thousand members of the alumni of a college fraternity in \ possession of the secrets of this order, , and not one, throughout a long life, , shall ever betray them. Stuart Pier- . bod, lyiDg t ound to the track on the railroad river bridge ab Gambler, ' bearing the oisu nt rumple of the ap- J Droachlncr tfcain and realizing in that 1 tupreme moment cf horror the awful mistake of his fellow students that doomed him, on the very threshold of his young life, to death under the wheels was true in spirit to his fellows. Could he, In that moment have escaped by some miracle, hi& 'ltps must have been forever sealed. Bring him back from the grave now and he shall not utter a word of de jQunclatiot: Strong in the heart of his father? himself an alumnus of the college and member of the fraternity of the DKE ?Is the spirit of the oath and of blind, unreasonable loyality. For in fice of cumulative proof, sufficient to con vince every other man in the country t.hp lAn vm with a mid-blooded cruelty worthy of the fiends, tied to (he railroad tracks and left there, Mr, Pierson, hurrying the mutilated remains of his son out of s ght of tb coroner and the police, fi tccI? opp.a ca every stage of investigation, hlind\ ly in&it>tu g ?hat "his boy" vas not tied to the uackp, but that Le tpll asleep at his p^st and was ttus run down by the train. And of him Coroner Set r'corcugh and the citizens of Gambler, loyally seeking the whole truth cf this barborous slaughter, have said tbat the honor of his college Is dearer to him than the life of his child. In pro* f of their assertions they have produced evidence that, in the very moment that his son lay on the tracks watching the lights of the tr?-'o bearing down upon him,and , endui, in these few moments the agonies cf a hundreds deaths, he a ' business man of mature years, was engaged with another party of stud 1 ents in the work of "initiating anoth j er vicuna." But the accident c t the advent cf a 1 special train where, according to the schedule of the initiating committee, 1 no train should have been, has .led to a gigantic revulsion of every college 1 in the country, i uch as will put an 1 end forever to barbarism in the practice of initiating cr Lazing. For the whole S ate of Ohio, aflame with anger over his wanton slaughter, demands tbat the students who bound and gagged Plerson, and led him to the tracks, shall be discovered and heavily punished. And, standing alone against the power and might of of tbe State, is Dr. Fierce, the presl 1 dent of tbe college, declaring in the lace of all the evidence, that his pup ils s re guiltless of wrong. Tbe sentiment of the Ohio people, however, has spread over tbe country, for in this case the apex of boyish cruelty, fcaabeen reached. And while one-half tbe country watches In anger an4 anxiety tbe de velopment of the story <c| tbe death of Stuart L. Piesson, comes tvidetc that woman has quickly adopted the lessons. The "fraternity" girls of the Evan ston High School hare branded the arms of their sisters with the sigh cf the Phi Delta Sigma, and heje the story is told of how another Plerson? Muriel?whc? however, is not in the remotest degree related to the vlotim of the Gum bier outrage?was led blindfolded into a room, aid there orylng for mercy and half fainting' held down while the insignia of tbe . society In Greek was burnt Jnto her arms with nitric acid. Then two of her comrade.0, Majorie Cox and Alice Barns, suffered the same ordeal. Yet no murmer of complaint escaped the lips of the brave damsels until & scream, evoked by accidental collision of the inflamed arm with hafd substance, led to irqulry, examination, and a storm which has set all Ev&nston raging with an agition for the prohibit ion of these practices. In order t> appreciate the extent to which tin p-act ice has inoreascu. in violence during the last flvej years one must kok at the circumstances of the case of Plerson. One week before bis death he had been made to crawl through the towD of Gambler on his hands and knees while his companions beat him with stones and clubs. Deep absesscs had formed on his legs so that he was un able to walk. His assailants waited until he was just able to crawl cut of his bed before?with the consent of his father? proceeding to the act of taking him to the railroad bridge, tying him to the track, and there leavlDg him. And, even the ugh in the first over-' whelming discoverv of the mutilated body, as they went to the bridge to release him before the regular train same along, they sucseedtd, with the lid of his father, in smuggling the body to Cincinitti, the rope marks jn the wrists and legs and the discov;ry of the coil of rope on the bridge near the spot wh?se he had lain, told the Coroner and the police ill that they needed to know. Paul Barber, a Z .ta Alpha fresh [nan, telling In ,an ate ss or anger aow he, two Lours before Pierson's leath, bad been tied to tbe rails in a timilar way and then released, completed the moral proof on which evary member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity wiil b3 briught before the [Jrand Jury. Contrast this with the "initiation" jr hfczlnt; customs of years ago. In ;>hose times the acme of punishment was reached when a freshmen was sade to stand on a bridge in full evening dress acd a silk hat, in a ieavy January snowstorm, and but ^on hole every passer by with a long quotation from Aeschylus; or parade town the High Street lo tbe charac ;er if a chimney sweep on M\jdiy. 2>aly in the last few years did the ipirlt of ruffianism Insidiously cnep n under the oloak of the "espint de jorps." Stuart Pierson will not have died n vain if the enquiry whioh may jring several of his college mates to ;he criminal b^r to answer a charge )f homicide, leads to a return of the estraints which in other dajs gov:rned the association of gentlemen. n m rrdrrrr to avnorirt vnuwnji in uAvaum, Vlurphy Who Assassinated Treasurer Copes Now in JatL The police department of Augusta jelieves it has spotted Murphy, who ivhile serving a life sentence for the nurderof Treasurer dopes, escaped 'xom prison. Accordiug to the letter eoeived just by the Governor from ibe chief of police of Augusta, he ihinks D. C. Murphy, a life prlsloner, vho escaped from the penitentiary tome years ago, is in jail at Swains )urg, Ga., on the charge of horseiteallug, and the Augusta officer wants to know if this State desired to >ut a claim for him at once. Murphy killed Treasurer Copes, in Orangeburg County in 1897 and was lentenoed to harg. Governor E!lerie commuted this to life imprison Dent, and shortly afterwards the man escaped. A short time ago an Interview with t. former Penitentiary guard was printed In which it was said that tfurphy had gone to the Philippines, [f the letter of the Augusta chief of police is correct, however, Murphy is ,n a Georgia j ill, and there is little leubt but that he will mike a strung effort to keep out of the dutches of ihe South Carolina authorities. The case is one of the most interesting ones of the criminal history of ihe State, and Murphy has no doubt ed an eventful life since his escape from ^e Penitentiary here. At the sime of his eseape every effort was Hide to recapture Murphy, but it nib said he had gone to South America. The Augusta police who write ippeartobe familar with the case, rod think that the S wainsburg horse thief is the real Murphy. Several men who have proven to be the wrong men have been arrested as Murpby. Fiend 'Foiled. Tn A r.lonfft nn nntnnwn nporn went bo the homecf W. A. Hook, a well known white barber,about 6;30 o'clock Wednesday night and made an attack 3n his wife. Hook's home Is located it Lakewood Heights, some distance from the city and where the houses ire not as close together as they are [n town. Mrs. Hook managed to get Inside the door and slammed it In the negro's face when he put his shoulder against it and was about to break it down. The cries of Mrs. Hook and ber daughter had by this time attrac ted attention, and the negro made bis escape. The neighborhood was mucb aroused oyer the matter that a posse made up of c'tiz?n8 of that sec tion secured bl:odbounds and scoured tbe woods all nigbt for tbe criminal. The search is still going on, but up to (tbe present time no arrest has bseu made. Ball Fighters Ii fared. A dispatch from Mexico City says the increasie^ number of accidents to bull fighters in the ring is used as an arcument by the local society for the prevention of cruelty to animals to urge the abolition of the sport. Parrao, the noted bull fighter, who was seriously gored about three weeks ago, Is recovering from his injuries. To day Uocherito de Bilbao was tossed on a bulls horns and thrown Into the air escaping wltb relatively slight Injury. Cocherlto recently arrived from Spain. Football does not commend itself tc the public as a substitute for bull fighting. / A Base Slander. Dr, Erich Zoepfel-Quellensteln, the German counsel at Atlanta said that he felt a great icjustice had been done the South in the cablegram sent out from New York to the effeot that Immigrants to this section are made to work at the point of the pistol. The cablegram in question was published in Germany as a warning. Dr. Zoeppfel says be intends to write the emperor at once that this report Is entirely unfounded, and that this seotlon is one of the best in the entire country for emigrants from Germany and other European states. A BAD FIRE. fiinet.en .Finely Trained Hones and Other Property Burned. , The Wild West Show Kulned. Fire Was Sat and Several Suspects Will be Arrested, The Augusta Ohronlclo says what was probably the moat disastrouj fire of rcciot years occured Wednesday ^ morning when two stables, two barn*, one huadred and fifty tons of hay and many valuable farming implements, the whole being tbe property of Mr W. H. Buford and nineteen fine trained Texas horses, the property of Capt. C. W. R^ggs, were destroyed, totaling a loss of about 828 .000. The fire occured on tbe E lorado Faroe, and is supposed to have been of inoendlary or gin. I The fire was discovered Wednes 8 day moving about 3 o'clock by negroes residing on tbe Eidorado Farm. c When tbe alarm was given tbe two 11 big barns were a mass of flimes. a Within a few mom nts the two ad t joining stabler, in which twenty horses were occupying stall ignited, and a before tbe horses could be recued the * stables alio were in flames. 0 By that time Mr. Buford, the ow- p ner of tbe Eldorado Farm, Oapt. g Biggs, the proprietor of the wild west t sbow which Is wintering on the farm j, together with all their employes had g gathered on tbe scene and0made sever- g al attempts to cheok tbe progress of t the fire. Their eff jrts on this lines, ^ however, proved ineffactual. Fort* r unately a wind kept the flimes from ^ reaching the residence buildings anJ p the tents of Capt. Biggs, which were t but a few yards distant I, Those who witnessed the fire say t that their experience was a horrible p one. Four big buildings were blaz 8 log fiercely. Ia one was contlned n twenty horses why were being slowly ^ burned to death. Tneir snorts and ^ squeelsof terror and pain brought c tears to the eyes of tbe spectators, g who were powerless to aid them, Oje t horse esoaped rrom tne tuuain^, dud f, ho badly burned that it will not live. ^ Oapt. Biggs' loss will amount to p absut $8,000 Tae horses wore of a unusually fiine breed, and besides, 0 ere trained for circus purposes. e Many of them?the more Intelligent v ones?held a high plaoe In his affeo j tlons, and he fee's their loss In other f than a pecuniary way. He himself ?, declares that he Is heartbroken. f Mr. Bufords loses aggregate 118,000 at the lowest estimate. The barns ^ and stables were the largest and poa- t slbly the best equipped In or near the a olty. Besides he lost many threshing 0 m?.c lines of great value, hundreds of 0 farm Implement , and about one hun s dred and fifty tons of hay. The prop- 0 erty was not Insured. Those who are c in a position to know declare that a the fire was of Incendiary origin. It t was even stated that certain persons r were Buspccted of having committed e the malicious aot, and that their ar> v arest would shortly follow. a The Chronicle says a touching in- a />1i4ar>?-. ond nno Wftfi B. TflTP. P* 4. UUOUV) OUU UMW VUMtl twww ? .w? ? ^ ample of the devotion that some anl- <] maJs bear for their masters and mis- c cresses, was witnessed Wednesday n morning by a few who had driven out 0 to the Eldorado Farm to view the t scene of the terrible fixe, when little ^ Miss Biggs, the daughter of Capt. C. s W. Biggs, who was the owner of the n horses, suooeeded in getting ''Ruby," v the only horse of twenty that escaped irjm the flames, to rlze from the f grouad, after many had striven In t vain to lnduoe the barned and suffer- u lng beast to stir from the position in q which t had fallen. ( The horse's hide, where it had not a been burned cff completely, resembled (j leather; Its eyes were burned out, and j its head and face terribly blistered. 0 After esoaping from the burning sta- g ole the horse had been led to water- e lng trough beside whloh It had fallen. 0 Several men had been endeavoring f for a number of hours to Induce the j, beast tostand on its legs. But their j coaxing and threats had beon in vain. r Miss Biggs approached within a f few feet of the horse which had once s been her pet. ' a ' Biby," she Boftly oalled; ."Buby, s please get up." t For a moment the horse lay stll); s then it made one supreme effort and t staggered to its feet. Guided by her s voice "Bub/" walked forward a few steps on weak, shaking legs. Just e as Miss Biggs patted its forehead the ^ legs collapsed and the horse fell to ? t.ho orrnnnrt , And despite the further efforts of Whip poor-will, Capt. Biggs' Cherokee Indian associate, It refused to budge. Peculiar Accident. A dispatch from Union to the State says an unusual and passibly fatal ao cldent happened to a well known farmer living near Jonesville recently. Mr. Taomas Wright vtas chasing a runaway horse across a field and a bristly cocklebur flaw up into his mouth and was instantly drawn down his windpipe All efforts by local physicians to dislodge it proved futile, and the man, suffering horrible torture has been taken to a hospital in Spartanburg to be operated upon. Stand Co'Iapsed. At Wlchlte, Kansas, ninety men attending the Southern Kansas Scottish Rite convocation, were thrown into a heap by tbe breaking of a soaffold on which they stood to have their pictures taken Wednesday afternoon. Many were lDjured. S. H. Thomas, J i. ..J 1 TT ^ M 4. COrnmauaaQl 01 uuo ouiuiera auiua ?u Dodge City, was among the Injured, having si Hired a sprained ankle. Seventy fi ye others sustained bruises, but no one was seriously hurt. Postmaster Removed. Postmaster Horton of Belton will be removed to make plaoe for W. Carroll Brown, a brother-in-law of Senator Latimer and for several years poskfflce inspector. Mr. Horton gave satisfaction and was the choice of the patrons; but District Attorney Capers reoommenned the ohange-^which will be made at onoe. Senator L ;tlmer in an interview, says he did all he oould to keep Mr. Horton In efflot, A GREAT NEED. The State Ought To Provide Foi Public High Schools. i 1TB MARGIN REVIEWS { I [ Work tbat has been Accomplished in the Western States and Urges the Passage of a Good High l School Law in South Carolina. State Superintendent of Ejucitlon lartin is very jnuch interested in the ubject of high] schools. He has taken e matter up an nis loixiicuanug annul report to the General Assembly ,cd be ha* tht sa interesting sugges ions to make ? n that topic. The absence of high schools mikes .weak place in the educational ty> em of South 0 irolina. Tne time bas ome wben this want should be sup lied. One of 'the most phenomenal rowths in any educational line is be great growth of State universities a the middle .and far West. Tais rowth Is largely accounted for by the revision on the part of the L'gisla ures of those States for high schools. Ls a rule, these State universities enoil more than three thousand stuents. Tbls occurs in States cvhcse opulatlon does not exceed that of his State. Such utlversity growth s impossible witheu: good prepareory and high school facilities. It is ioor educational polloy for a State to pend approximately a quarter of a ailllon dollars on four colleges, and hen make absolutely no prevision for ilgh schools to be feeders for these olleges. The statistics from the Itates abov? referred to show that be high school not only serves as a eeder for the university, but that housands of boys and girls are pre iared for life's duties in these hlah ohools. In fact, it is customary to liar two oourges, one for students who xpect to go to college or to the uni erslty, and one for tho&e who do not. n this connection I wish to quote rom the reports of a few State superotendents, where there Is provision or the public high school. The Hon. J. W. Olsen, of Minnesoa, 89 ys: "I do not hesitate to state bat in my^ judgment the State is ,mply repaid In results for the enouragement thus given to this class f educational institutions. Toese ohools, coming under the supervision f the State high school board, must omply with the rules of the board, nd we employ inspectors to see tbat hese rules are compiled with. This a? t, -*.1. i i. Jl 11 luuk esiuos in Dewier uuxiuiug?, wen iiguu d, heated and ventilated, In good Forking libraries* as well as physical nd chemical laboratories, etc. The ,1m is to induce communities getting his aid to do more for themselves. ?hls aid from the S .ate enables the ounty and many a small town to Qaintain a high school tbat otherwise ould not afford to do so, which, in urn, draws In a vast number of its iest young people for high tc^ool intruotlon, who would not and could iot receive it if It were not placed rtthin their immediate violnage." Superintendent T. J. Kirk, of Callornia: '*Rapid strides have been aken in the interest of secondary ed.cation within the past two vears. The Constitution has been amended by opular vote so as to incorporate high chools In the State sohool system, and a pursuance of such amendment the jeglslature of 1903 enacted a law reatlng a fund for the benefit and upport of high schools: An ad valorm rate of one and one-half cents on ne Hundred dollars 01 an assessed iroperty in the State is annually lev Bd for the purpose * * * 1 think b is safe to say that no school law of ecent years has been more highly apireciated than this. It has helped truggling country high schools where ome of the very best secondary schools eork is done. * * * Tne terms of his Act in reference to revenue are imllar to the Act creating a fund for >he benefit and support of the Unlverity of California." The high school 1 iea has passed the izperlmental stage, and has been vorked out very fully in Wisconsin Superintendent C. P. Gary, of Wisconsin, says: "The sum appropriated /o State aid for high schools in nine;y thousand dollars. This is appor iioned among the high schools >f the State in proportion to the kmount paid out for instructions n the high schools. Eich school re selves bait the amcunt paid for Initruotion lo the high school providing )he $90,000 will hold out to pay them ill that much, If not It Is apporiijn. id on tbat basisSuperintendent W. L, Stock well, ol North Dakota: "The law providing 'or a State high school board and for nspectlon and classification of blgb whools is now nearly ten years old. J wish to say that In my judgment nothng has had a more decided influence ipon the whole scneme or education n this State thaD has this classification 1 inspection and aiding high schools, [t has bad the tendency to build up jood, strong, efficient high schools la jvery part of our State, and I think ;he influenoe of a good high school s felt thru ughout the entire commuaty in whic^ that high school is loca ied, beoau e of the faat that many ol ihe rural school teaohers are drawn 'rom among the graduates of our higb ichools. The North Dakoto high school law s a very simple one. I quote the eadlng features: "The high school Doard shall receive applications from tuch schools for aid as hereinafter provided, which applications shall be rcoeived and acted upun in the order )f their receipt. The Eaid board shall apportion to each of said schools which shall have fully complied with Dhe provisions of this Act, and whose ipplications shall have been approved ay the board, the following sums tc wit; Four hundred dollars each yeai to each school maintaining four years high school course aod doing feu? years b'gh school woik: the sum ol three hundred dollars, each school bavirg a three yrars high school course and doing three years high 8cho)l work; the sum of two hund" red dollars each year to each schor 1 having a two years h'gh school course and d. iig two years high school work Provided that money so appopriated to any high school shall be used to increase the efficiency of the high [ sctool: Provided further, that the , total amount of the apportionment and expenses under this Act shall not zseed ten th u and del ais in e&cb I year." Scm? cf the States provide only one high school to the ciuaty. Some pro vide for as many as seven in one county, and some provide for the organizition of a high school in any t.erri tory larger than a township. Of course I should net favor State aid to any high school unless the community, township or county should be willing to admit boys and girls free of tuition from the county in which the school is itfeated. In order to encourage local effort and initiative, I think the law should provide State aid to any territory as great or greater than the tcwnsbip which would make a special lev? for high school purposes. This levy need not be large. I i some counties which would gladly take advantage of a law of this |kind a half mill would be amply sufficient; and I do not believe that any county wcu'd need more than one mill for this purpose, The vigorous and successful iffjris of several enberprising communities in this State to raise funds to get the PreBbyterlan College, now located at Clinton, clearly shows that such cltks and towns are ready and ripe for the building of first class high schools with local and boarding patronage. As intimated already, the high school has received very great encouragement in the middle and far West. The next few years will witness great development in this line in the South. I should like very much to see the South Carolina Legislature take the lead in developing a first class system of high schools. Georgia will soon make a move in this direction. The Georgia University has already ac cepted the offer of the general education board to pay half of the salary of the officer who will devote half of bis time to tbe Inspection and classlfica tlon of such high school work as is already being done in tbat State. Prof. Joseph S. Stewart has already visited every section of Georgia as an inspec tor of this work. He has prepared an txaelient pamphlet wbioh clearly shows tbe conditions and plainly reveals the need of the development of a high school system. I have no doubt) the Georgia Legislature will rise to the emergency. As is shown by the North Dakota law, this work can be started on a comparatively small appropriation. A majority of tbe high schools would bave a tbree years oourse of study. Under the law they get three hundred dollars aid. South Carolina gives nearly twice as much to feed, clothe and eduoate six. ty-eight boys with scholarships in a State Callege, as North Dakota does to encourage a system of high schools which prepares several thousand boys and girls for college. It seems to me lo be ranK rony lor ioe suaia 10 Rive one thousand dollars to feed and clothe one Doy and give him a college education, when that thousand dollars might be used to encourage the establishment of a high school which would prepare a hundred boys for college In the same length of time. If you will give a boy such preparatory abvantages as will get him ready for college, in nine cases out of ten he will work to feed and elothe himself while in college; nor should we forget the vast amount of work along sclen tific, commercial and Industrial lines, which can be done in these high schools to prepare boys who do not get to go to college for life. I know of no possible legislation that would be mbre far-reacaing with Its good Influences upon our educational system that the enactment of a good high school low. Big Cotton Fire. At Columbus, Ga., more than ^000 bales of cotton were destroyed, about 1,000 bales scorched and several hundred damaged by fire which started In grounds used jointly by the Central of Georgia railway and the Atlantic Compress company Wednesday. The fire started from a spark from a switch engine about 12 30 that afternoon and was still burning although under control at 7 o'clock that evening. The total loss is placed at njt less than 8150,000, fully insured. The cotton was in the open space near the round house of the Central of Georgia railway and the fire, which started from some dried grass set by a locomotive spark, qaickly spread j to the cotton. A stiff gale of wind made the work of the fire department especially difficult, but the depart , ment succeeded in preventing the spread of the fire to between 16,000 and 17.000 bales wh ci were on the ground nearby. .Terrible Accident. ' A dispatch from Lancaster to The State says, while Mrs. Hinson, wife | of Mr. John Hinson, of Flat Rick Township, was standing by the fire in ' ber room, a few mornings ago, hold1 lng her baby in her arms, she &udden1 ly fainted and fell on tbe burning fa gotp, the child falling into the flames with har. The cries of the Infant ' attracted the attention of Mr. Hln' son and his drother-in law, Mr. Rich > ard Saames, who were in another I part of the house. They rushed to the rescue of the unfortunate woman and her child as quickly as possible, hut, not in time to save them from i serious, if not fatal Injury. Both i were most horribly burned, and it is extremely doubtful that either will re' cover. J. \vd in Destitution. A cablegram from Kishinr ff, describ: lng the misery In tliatsection of Russia i was received tcday by tbe state bink ' here. It read: "Colassal distress. Out side of Kishinefl hundreds of vil? i lage Jews ruined.. Id the town of i Kalarasch, with large commercial ini tcrests, near Kishlneff, 300 houses [ burned down, GJO familes reduced to i poverty, three million roubles loss. : Help absolutely necessary. ! FAEJI ANIMALS 1 Another Ividenee Of Progresi ini South. Some IntereMinx Satisfies A* to Cutile, Hog*, Sheep, Etc ? South Carolina. No better insight Into the real progress of the South In recent years could be had than from an Inspection of the last figures prepared by the department of agriculture showing the efforts of the South to Increase her supply of farm animals. Vhere there can be no doubb that rapid progress has been made throughout the South iTMiAvolln n*1 nrm f.ViA loaf fan ?ia?m In gcucxckiijr uuxiJLig uuc xctou bou jrcaio iu manu'sciurlng, cotton plantlrg and other agricultural pursuits, the ex periment of stock raising was not undertaken as a rnsans of livelihood to any appreciable extent until a few years bac's. The almost unpreaedented number of bogs raised in the state of Virginia and South Carolina daring the past year means that more corn bas necessarily been planted on which to feed them and get them ready fcr the markets. There are now on the farms of the United States 47,320.511 hogs, and of this number the Southern states olalm over 8,000,000. The total gain over 19C4 for the United States is 321,144 and the states of Virginia, North and Scuth Carolina, Georgia, Alabama Mississippi and Kentucky and Tenne^ see, which embrace not more than 12 per cent, of the area of the United' States, get about 80 per cent* of Increase oyer 1904. While, as stated, the growing of corn has also Increased to a marked degree, It has not kept pace with the amount necessary for large stock raising. The area of corn raising appears to be shifting to the Southeast. There are now on the farms of Virginia 767,*63 hog*; South Carolina, 663.907; North Carolina, 1,048,146 Georgia, 1,396.902; Alabama, 1,034,. 092; Mis8isflppl, 1,087,780; and Kentucky, 1,011,516. While the Increase in sheep raising has not been so noticeable as in that of hog raising, all of the Southern states have made fcmill gains during the last year. At this time there are 452 128 sheep in the state of Virginia, 58,867 in South Carolina, and approx lmately 300,000 in each of the other Southern states, with the exception of Kentuoky, which nas 654,999. In horses and mules, Virginia has invested?not counting any except those designed for farm work?$3.812,800; South Carolina, 13,670,287; Georgia more than *7,000,000 aad Kentucky, which wou'd be expected to show a very large cumbsr, about half of what Georgia number. From Georgia to the Virginia line, traversing all of the mc uatain counties la South Carolina?Oconee, Pickens, Greenville, Spartanburg, York and Cherokee?there is an area of about 7,000 rqoare miles whloh is said by the department of agrioulture to be unsurpassed for stock raising. Another excellent region is fcund lying to the eastward in North Carolina from Danville to Salisbury and Charlotte. In all the plateau region cf Virginia and the Carolinas the land lies well for profitable stock raising on a large scale. Terrible Typhoon. Mill advices from the Philippines show how inadequacy the devastation caused by the typhoon was des oribed in the cable reports last month. It is stated that at least fifteen Americans and 200 natives lost their INes and that the damage will exceed 13.000,000 gold in the province of Albal alone. In the province of Sorsogan, the damage is placed at 12,000, 000. In these two provinces eighty per cent, of the buildings were des troyed. As a ret ult of the storm and drought of early summer only fifteen per cent, of the usual receipts from the crops will be obtained. In Sorsogan all munioipal buildings and school houses, with two exceptions were destroyed. It will be eighteen months before a new orop of hemp ll *- ? ? ? J 1 1_ 1 ? M aaVv.. 4- HA f Vtflf win oe avauauie i"i ui&i&i'.u, ou uuou much destitution among the natives Is lnvitable. The typhoon almost wiped out the rice crop, Sues for Wife. Will A. Lowry, a prominent young man of Macon Ga , will file application for writ of habeas corpus in the city court tomorrow on complaint that his wife formerly Miss Ruth Hoge was being detained by her father, J. T. Hoge a prominent railroad man. The application for the writ divulges a secret whloh the two young people have kept. Lowry says he and Miss Hoge were married In October and he puts a marriage 11 cense and the name of the clergyman performing the ceremony In evidenoe. Alleged Lynchers. A ananial t.n Thfl Rafflsfcer. frnm Hattiesburg, Miss., says that D. B Holmes, B. H. Holmes, A. T. Bowe and Albert F, James, prominent white men were today arrested on Indictment returned by the grand j iry charging them with complicity in the lynching c f Kid George and E i Brock, negroes. The men were not placed in j *11, but are held uader guard at the Holmes resldenoe. Habeas corpus proceedings for their release will be begun tomorrow before the chancellor. Fatal Accident. A dispatch from Bowman to The News and Corriersays a tree that was being cut by Mr. Wm. H. Bast Monday afternoon of last week accidental ly fell on a little son of his, killing bim instantly. The little fellow was about eight or nine years old. The *? i-1 J'J Uvt/tm f Vi?f f A KAO tnOC lilbuer UlU liUU HUU? liuou tw UUJ rtaa anywhere around uatil the tree commenced to fall, when the poor little fellow ran right under it, in trying to make his escape. Awful Deed. At Chicago, becoming suddenly Insane, Mrs. Benjamin Giest Wednesday hurltd her dve year old son, Lucas, out of a third story w ndow and then attempted to kill herself with a revolver. The child will probable recover. The mother was overpowered after a desperate struggle and taken to an insane hospital. TWO HORRORS. J I - . ; jn Twelve Persons Blown to Piec||l es add Five Burned to Death. I KNEELED IN PfiAYER 1 ? I While Tfaev Roasted. Five Persou SI Perish la New York Tenement Fire, jfl A Fearful Tragedy fa (he Bras- ^ nell Coal Companys New ? Shaft at Moaoxohela, J Pennsylvania. I A dispatch from Monongohela, Pa., says undoubtedly killed and probably blown to pieces, seven men are lying in the depths of the new shaft of the Brasnell Coal Company, on the ontskirts of Bentleysville, while another outside the mine 1b dead, as the resalt of the gas explosion Wednesday. The firaanell Goal Company has been sinking the new shaft since last sumner. Two weeks ago it was learned csat a pocket of gaa bad been formed m the bottom of the mine, which is 185 feet deep. Orders were given for . all the men to work with safety >M lamps and this had been done. Tnree?XM shifts of men weie employed by Con traotor and General Superintendent M Buzzo. A Late Wednesday Boss F^rragnt and, fl his six men, without thought of dan- B ger, stepped into the eajre and de oenaea into toe mine. Taey were building a concrete water ring, or - dltob, fifty feet down the shaft, In " || order to catch dripping water- About |J five minutes after the men deoended ii a terrlfiq explosion occured whloh II blew huge pieces of timber out of the 11 mine, like sky rockets, as high as 150 U feet in the air. The tipple and all one mine rigging were lorn down and debris scattered lo heaps all around. A shovel which lay at the top of the shaft was hurled with suoh vio'enoe that it sank four inches Into a plank. ^ , , H It is believed the men were instant* ;N ly killed and fell to the bottom of the : shaft John MoCatey, on the outside was killed by the falling tipple and others were seriously though not fatal* ly hurt. Mine Inspector Loute gave it as his opinion that the explosion was caused by fire damp. But as it j would have been practically lmpossl- . ble for safety lamps in working order to ignite the gas, there must have been some kind of open light used. An ordinary miner's torch badly bat- , tered, whioh was found near the ' mcuiih of the shaft, tends to indicate that soma one dlsobayed orders and - '< carried a lighted torch into the shaft. FIVE BURNED TO DEATH. 1 At New York at least Ave persons I were burned to death in'an Italian tenement house at 221 .east Seventy* third street early Wedne^ay. The house was six floors high and the sleeping tenants on the five upper floors were male prisioners by flune with the ground floor a roaring fur nace beneath them. Three of those who lost their lives were kneeling in prayer when the Are reached them. The police believe that 4he fire was started by an inoendiary. It began In a heap of rubbish at the bottom of an air shaft, and spread through the Interior of a grocery store on tbt ground floor. A policeman was the tirst person to sea the fire, jast as it bad begun to creep up the air shaft. He ranQinto the building, pounding^ on the hall doors aU the way up tofrV the sixth floor to waken the tenants. To; Am followed him so swiftly that when be reached the top floor he was obliged to send the tenants there (ml to the fire escape to saye them from suffocation. When the fire department arrived with Its ladders nearly every one on the fire escapes was kneellrg in prayer. Adding to the pathos of the soene was the action of the men who stood with their arms fall of personal possessions while their, wives fought on* sided to protect the children from being trampled by the orowd or suffocated by smoke. Every one on the fire escapes was saved by the fireman. The lessee of the house told the police today that the "Black Hand" society had recently sent him letters demanding 92,000. Although the demands did not state what the penalty wculd be for refusing to pay the mjn ey the policj have began an investigation on the belief that the fire wm started by the writers of the letters. % Drank Macb Booze. Columbia is not worrying about other parts of the state voting out the l dispensary, but it is continuing to drink dispensary whiskey in increasing quantities. The dispensary sales in tne city last month broze all records. In profits .alone the oounty treasurer last month received 18,092.20?which is to be equally divided between tbe oounty and the town. Bat it should not b3 forgotten that the fair week sales, whioh were about double any previous fair week, are to be counted In this mjnths record. Singular Accident. At Patterson. N. J., three deaths were caused Thursday night by the falling of a heavy p'clure on the wall which broke a gas pipe while the Schroder family was asleep. Chris Scoroder, his mother, Catherine and her grandchild, Ira La Forge, were asphyxiated. Tuwa Burned. A dispatch from Burk, McDowell oounty, Va., is to the effect tnat the eatire town was destroyed by fire early Wednesday morning. Burk Is r * mining town of 2,000 people about 150 miles from there. More than lW buildings were dfistroyed. Armenian* may I'uiem. It Is reDorted that la the govern* ment of E;ivan 700 Armelans from a number of villages, attacked the Tarter village of Gjrs, killed 400 of ttyp villurers and plundered and burne<: all property.