! ' ' - ' \ X * - . * r-i i / * ' >? ' J** r'.'*'* \ ' \. Abbeville Press and Banner ' ,r , * ; > F?f?Mifthed 1844. $2.00 the Year. Abbeville, S. C., Friday, July 25,1919. Single Copies, Five Cento, 75th Year. TAFT OFFERS PLAN TO INSURE mm Middle Ground o Get a Sufficient Number of Vole* For Ratification?Writ?# to CLirman * * h ' Hays of the Republican Party?Criticises Wilson. Washington, July 23.?A plan for in Rpn?tp aCCeDt ance of the league of nation has been suggested by former President Taft in the hope of uniting on the middle ground enough Democratic and Republican Senators to defeat any radical amendment of the covenant and! in. the end obtain its ratification. The suggestion has been received with earnest consideration by -the /group of Republicans who favor the ttegee idea and who are already at work on a definite program of interpretative reservations which they declare they have reason to believe will be accepted by the administration, j The administration leaders, however, unwilling to concede that any reservations will be necessary, still insist they will have the votes When the time ceraes to ratify the covenant as it is. So confident are the league Republicans of the success of their plan that some of them believe President Wilson will publicly accept it to smooth the way tp acceptance of the league. 3po*e Republican Senators! yho hare seen the president in the! last few days have eome away from; the White House with the impression ' that Mr. Wilson, while not encourag-I ing reservations if they can be avoid-) ed, seems not to be adverse to such1 interpretations as jvould leave the league fabric unimpaired.' They say, however, that this impression is not based on any direct statement by the i President. Mr. Taft's suggestion, which crea-| ted a sensation in the senate because) of his well-known advocacy of unre-l served ratification, was embodied inl two letters to Will H. Hays, the Re-j nelinnal phftirmitn. COT?iftS' -?f which reached' some Republican Senators today. They touched upon many features of the treaty contro-1 versy and emphasized the fopner president's belief that onJy by acceptance of same reservations could the treaty be ratified. Six specifific interpretation proposals are outlined which Mr. Taft says he is confident will meet the objection of a large group of Republicans who favor a league. He counts 45 Democratic Senators as supporting the President in the treaty Jfight amd committed to vote against material amendments no such proposals could receive a Senate majority. The former president suggested to( Mr. Hays that this name be withheld for the present from connection with) the interpretation plan since it mightj antagonize some senators of his party. Chairman Lodge of the ^for- i e:gn relations committee, who is nam-1 ed in that connection, declined today tc make any comment on Mr. Taft's letter. Mr. Taft Has also wruien suuic vi the Republican Senators, who under the leadership of Senator McCumber, North Dakota, and McNary, Oregon, have been interested in formulating a middle course for solution of the Senate situation. It is understood that Senator Kellogg, Minnesota, Colt Rhade Island, and Spenser, Missouri, alao have been consulted in the interest of such a plan. I Back to the Old Home. Bin. L. C. Parker left Thursday for her usual summer visit to her old home in Couitland, Ala. She will be accompanied by her children and will be away about a month. Here From Wmnaboro. - Mrs. Jesse Doty and her family of intsnsting children are in Abbeville *-*?? Mrar Francis Henry. Old frfiiiranrt nrtinrrl mitrn wrjfbd trr have her come back. CONGRESSMAN RAGSDAllE OF SOUTH CAROLINA DIES IN WASHINGTON Washington, July 23.?Represen-! tative J. W. Ragsdsve, of South Carolina, dropped dead today while in the office of a physician. Mr. Ragsdale was in the House yesterday apparently in good health. He had been undergoing treatment, however, for some weeks and made one of his regular visits today to the office of Dr. R. Arthur Hooe, where he died. Reports reaching his colleagues indicated that death was due to heart disease. Dr. R. Arthur Hooe, the Representative's physician said Mr. Rags dale became unconscious while being! treated for nasal trouble and that efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Mr. Ragsdale was born in Timmonsville, S. 47 year ago. He was; educated at the University of South Carolina and was a member of the South Carolina legislature and senate before being elected to Congress in 1913. Congressman J. Willard Ragsdale's! home wa3 at Florence and he is well-! known throughout the Eastern sec-, tion of the state. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. "GRAND~OLlT MAN~ OF ARMY" LANDS ' New York, July 23?On the steam-! ev Rotterdam, which brought units | of the Fifth Division from France; I today was the "grand old man of the; army," in thf person of Col. W. F,! Harrell, of Marion, S. C. He was! j woundel seven times ip the fighting in France, butj wom ?)Jy two wound stripes, which,%fcc\Srcling to his broth-j er officer, it took orders from a superior officer to make him put on. j Col. Harrell, known to his regi-i mefit as "Two Gun Harrell," wentj overseas as a captain in the 16th; ir.fantry. He wore many decorations.! Other officers arriving on the Rot-j terdam included Col. J. M. Jenkins, of South 'Carolina. POST OF AMERICAN LEGION TO BE ESTABLISHED HERE. i Steps were taken by ex-soldiers of j j Abbeville and Abbeville County onj Monday to organize a Post of the American Legion here. .About 25 soldiers attended the meeting held in the Court House to effect a temporary organization. Carroll Swetenburg was named temporary chairman and Gottlob Neuffer was named I temporary secretary. Application for charter was made to State Headquarters in Columbia. At the next meeting it is proposed j to aave as many veterans of the. ! World War living in this county | j present as can attend. At that time j | a permanent organization will be ef-j ! fected. It has not been definitely de-j J cided when this meeting will be held j j but probably not before October. | ONE-CENT POSTAGE IS j POSSIBLE, MOON SAYS| I Washington, July 23.?One centj letter postage can be established j j and the postoffice department stilli j earn a surplus of $25,000,000 a year,! i if other classes of mail are made to | i oav the cost of handling, Represen-I I - I tative Moon, Democrat, Tennessee^ declared today in the house. He said the handling of mail in the last seven' years had been no worse than in anyj previous period, and added that, i criticism of Postmaster General! | Burleson would be forgotten because j j of "his ability and matchless loyalty j ! to public duty." i j MIKE KOSTAS BUYS MILLER STOREROOM FOR $5,000 " . ? ? 1-x ** i i DliKe Koscas nas Dougrii, iuw i. ax.< Miller storeroom on Trinity street,! paving $5,000. He will be givenj possession October 1. The deal was mide through W. A. Calvert. It 4aintende4 td open up another exclusive . candy ... kitchen, Mr. M ill es jMfpepts to . retire from the ' business of merchandising and de-i ! vote himself to^rupning his. farm..... GOVERNMENT BALKS AT PAYING EXORBITANT PRICE FOR LAND IN CHARLESTON Washington, July 23.?Having found that the price per acre now demanded from the government for land requisitioned in building the embarkation terminal at Charleston, S. C., would represent about 10,000 per cent increase over the purchase price of six years ago, (the war department board of appraisers has sub mitted a report recommending a flat refusal. Instead of the $798,500 asked for the principal claimant, the report recommends payment of $42,360 as a fair and just compensation ior T-ne property ana an uamagu resulting from the government's requisition. Lieutenant Colonel Ralph W. Donges, chairman of the appraisal board, fixed a maximum value of $100 pei acre as compared with $1,887 demanded by one claimant. * "It is needless to say," the board's report said: "that every compelling reason should be shown to warrant such a remarkable increase in Values as are here claimed. It is repotted that there was paid about $2,000 pet acre for Hog Island, within a mile or two of the third greatest city of the United States, and on t^e Delaware river on which is a very great volume of shipping. And yet that transaction was made the subject of investigation and much adverse criticism. Certainly a demand for the same price for marsh lands six and one-half miles from Charleston is cause for careful, painstaking investigation to determine the cause of such pronounced increases; from an acre in 1908 and $35 in 1912 to over $1,800 in '918." South to the Front in Road Building. Recent reports received by the United States Department of Agriculture on Federal aid road projects show the South moving forward in the road-building campaign, with pro jects showing higher grade construction. Of the 16 Georgia projects approved for April, two were for bridges, 7 for concrete and 1 for either a brick, concrete, or bituminous road, the others being for sand-clay roads. The concrete roads will cost from $30,000 to $32,000 a mile, in dicating the highest type construction, for the cost in the South, ia usually less than that in the North. Louisiana will build a short bituminous macadam road at an estimated cost of $36,377 a mile. Virginia haa one bituminus macadam and three concrete roads in 9 projects approved. Lieut. Phillips Home. Lieut. J. W. Phillips spent a night in Due West last week on his return from France. He stai-ted to the army from Due West and his ticket brought him back to this point. His f:'endi were glad to have seen him ag-tin.- Presbyterian. Lieut. Phillips was a member of the 118th infantry and after the armistice was given a course in theology at Glasgow. He is a son of Dr. D. G. Phillips, formerly pastor of the A. R. P. Church at Troy and now of Chester, and a grandson of Dr. J. W. Wideman, formerly of Due WT UIn Tifnll IrnAitrn +A Ortl. HCU nc 10 VYCU i\llV/nit wvr vi?w uw* diers m Abbeville. , Due West Delegates. The Abbeville Bible Society meets next Wednesday in Abbeville at 11 o'clock. Dr. McCain is puesident Dr. Ross Lynn will come to Due West Tuesday. He will spend the night as Dr. McCain's guest and go down to Abbeville the next morning. The following are delegates from Due West: Dr. and Mrs. McCain, Dr. and Mrs. F. Y. Pressly, Dr. and Mrs. J. S. Moffatt, Prof, and Mrs. E. L. Reid, Mr.-and .Mrsv R. S. Galloway, Mrs. R. C. Brownlee, ,Mr. and Mrs. ^O. Y, BrownJevR&Y.ajHl. Mrs, ?***?? 4y,Rev..and -Mis, ff S. JffinnSt-r^Ek* A. R* I*Tesbyterisn. CRAP SHOOTERS ARE ARRESTED AND FINED - $10 EACH BY MAYOR Seventeen ebony devotees at the . shrine of the "rolling bones" were , separated from $10 by Mayor Mars , , xuesuay. a wo crap ciuos were roped in en masse, one at the Palm Garden and one at Little Jerusalem. , The following negroes assisted in en, riching the city coffers by $170: , George 'Pressly, Charles Greene, > . Frost'.Davis, Will Collier, Abb Rami ey, West Fisher, Dave Smith, Char, les Fifcher, Jim Wright, R. J. Watt, James Thomas, Ruben Hill, Will . Jones, Milligan Nance, Albert Ware, Walter Gaines and Will Harris. . / | : MEXICO NOT EAGER TO PUNISH BANDITS, I FLETCHER DECLARES ^Washington, July 23.?Henry P. , Fletcher, American ambassador to , Mexico, told the house rules commit. tee today that since his appointment | three years,ago about fifty AmeriI cans /had been killed in Mexico with, out a. single prosecution being made by the Mexican authorities. , Replying to' questions by Chairman Campbell Ambassador Fletcher said . withdrawal of recognition of ' the Carmnza government by the TTnihtH .Qfo+-?a wnnU Anlv . (nrrMUU> the turmoil in the southern republic. He add$d that he did not kiiow of any revolutionary leader capable of establishing .a. permannt government. , | Mr. Fletcher repeatedly declined , to ezpri iss opinions, upon condiions in the ? anthem republic, insisting that he 4-would furnish only facts. He also:,'N told the commttee that -he had 40 statement' to make, but would attewsr.itny questions he could. { MRo yjltv. regard, the jutuation in j j Mexico aa^Jb^oMgr improved in the , last three years?"" asked Chairman Campbell. " "Oh yev'^ waa- the quick reply. "In what respect?" "Columhes km not been raided," j -i 'I the ambassador answered. When Chairman Campbell called attention to the recent murder of an American citizen and; the maltreat ment of bis wife in Mexico, the ambassador .said tJris did not involve relations between the United States and Mexico*. Ambassador Fletcher said he had not noticed, any special anti-American feeling in Mexica and explained that the presence of more Amer( ican citizens there than other for-j eignere probably accounted for the greater number of outrages affect-j ing Americana. The house today began what is expected to be* a complete investigation of the Mexican situation. Taking a Rest. Captain Foster McLane is taking a two weeks' vacation and is enjoying| ife. To keep him from being too! * I'e Mrs. McLane has put him to| 'jVo?:k weeding out the Civic Clubj i beds in front of the court house and! Wo stringing beans to can. I I Come Again. Col. W. S. Cothran, who is keeping house on his own responsibility while Mrs. Cothran is in the mountains,' entertained a dinner party made Up1 | of eight of the best setback players! j in town Monday evening. After | dinner the fine points of the game j i iiroro ffomrtTiQf-MfcpH hv Rig" Chief. I Patrick Roche, and ordinary Indians:! Thos. P. Thomson, J. L. Perrin, Wm.j P. Greene, J. S. Stark, Richard Sond-1 ley, W. T. Magill and R. 0. Hunter, j VVXVVVVVVVVVVVVV! V \ V COTTON MARKET. V V *1 V Cotton sold on local mar- v| V ket yesterday for 35 cents. V, V. October futures closed j in V V NwrYerk ?t <>r ' V RIOTING CONTINUES IN WASHINGTON DESPITE MILITARY PRECAUTIONS ' ; I ' Washington, July 23?Race hatred in .the national capital engendered by attacks on white women by negroes and fanned by three successive nights of rioting, found expression again tonigh/ in clashes between white men and negroes. A^ome defense guard was shot and killed, a second guard fatally wounded and another white man slashed severely by a razor weilded by a negro. All of . the neerro assailants escaned. The outbreaks, however, were sporadic and 'Confined to a single vicinity near Eighth and M. Streets, the center of the black district of the Northwest section. This was due in the opinion of the authorities to the extraordinary precaution taken to prevent formation of mobs and to a fain which began early in the evening. Approximately 1,5 OR troops?cavalry, infantry, marines and sailors? patrolled the streets and waited in ' reserve for possible outbreaks supplementing regular and volunteer po. lice. Detachments of marines from Dnonfijin Va otu] MknilflM linH pr ^WlUtWVVf ? command of Maj. Gen. William G. H?nn from Camp Meade arrived early in the evening and took up stations in the outskirts. S*ren Person* Dad. The night's casualties brought the number resulting from jured. Scores of negroes were arrested tonight charged with carrying fire arms, with which they have been stocking up for several days; DEPOSITS ARE NOT BEING DRAWN FROM THE SAVINGS BLANKS j Washington, July 24.?Despite the tremendous funds Invested by the people of America in Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps, deposits were not generally wtihdrawn from the savings banks, according to an official announcement. Indeed, it appears that the purchase of Government securities has tended to increase deposits by developing the spirits of thrift, the amount of money in savings accounts now showing a steady increase in practically every part of the country. Recent statements from various sections from New York to Calif or-J ma indicate tnat since t,ne armistice was signed the savings banks of the Nation have been flooded with deposits. New York State recently I passed the two billion mark with the number of depositors exceeding 3,- 1 500,000. i Deposits piled up steadily all thru ] the war, even when the people were! * ? i :i? investing- most ne&vuy in xjiucn-j Bonds. A statement covering the savings deposits in all banks other than national recently issued showed that the total rose from $6,147,592,232 in 1913 to $7,727,007,971, in j 1918. In the latter part of May the sav- , ings banks of Los Angeles, Cal., for instance, quoted deposits at approximately $160,000,000. The United; fftotoa -nnstn.1 savincrs banks found! January and February of this year exceptionally good months. Although March is usually not so good for de-11 posits, this being due in large meas- 1 ure to the annual labor migration, i the total for the first three months of -1 1919 showed an increase of $9,500, i 000. JjsSjjsSj y - ' CARRANZA BLAMES MCVIPAM DAWniTO iTiL/viunti ufliiuno ; Gives Out Statment Aa to Robbery of American Sailors?Other Accounts Puts Blame on Mm! Killed? . Mexican Press Stirred Over J Situation Between Two ') Countries. Mexico City, July 23.?Official accounts of the robbing of American sailors from U. S. S. Cheyenne, July 6, ancKof deaths of Americans werp given out today by Gen. Jaun Barragan, chief of the presidential staff, in the form of governmental dispatches. One of these stated that the sailors went up the river Temesi into rebel territory. Gen. Ricardo Gonzales, chief of ;the Tampico garrison, in a dispatch . reporting on the murder of Joha W. . CorrelK near Tampico June 16, stat- /' ed the murder was committed by Temesi bandits. He said he. had ordered a pursuit of the outlaw* and that four of the bandits had been /, killed and 20 horses recovered in i fight at tfcalMndits' headquarters. "'V' Other'official dispatches on deaths ' . of Americana placed the responsibility for the incidents in some cases i|pon the men killed. General Bar?&gan also announced that tomorrow there would be made public "various documents belonging to the archives of the bandit Villa", recovered in Jaurez and including "a lftter addressed to Villa by Col. ' Qharles F. Hunt offering VUla a visit fey Senator Fall and o$*r persons'! in an effort to aid villas campaign. Mexico City, July 23.?The constantly increasing space devoted by Mfexico City newspapers to the relations betweeii the United States and Mexico culminated today in the issue ' of an extra edition by El Universal carrying a seven column headline,' "Mexico and the United States". Underneath is another headline in smaller type saying: "United States Press Affirms Preparations Continue for Armed Interention ; General Dickman, . Chief of Southern Operations." The body of the reading matter contians summaries of stories, most of them from New York newspapers and sent by special correspondents or clipping bureaus regarding recent incidents in Mexico, involving Amer ic&ns and the reported mobilizatios :f large armed forces along the fron<; ier. Other stories tell of anti-Mexican cartoons, appearing in American papers and of declarations in regard to Mexico made by under Secretary of State Polk and Major General Leonard Wood. Part of the extra is given over to a story printed in the New York World discounting the intervention stories. Mention is made of recent report published here that officers of the American army of occupation in Germany are busily studying a campaign for an invasion of Mexico. The newspapers of the capital have been publishing statements by various personages, notably Ygnacio BoAmknooo/lAi* TTnif