Edgefield advertiser. (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, March 11, 1908, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

^?l^t^M^,,|l,t"^,^n^,I?j"?"?;?^?l4i^n^n{?^ ;^?he Planter's Loan * and Savings Bank Augusta, tte. Pays Interest on Deposits, J? Accounts Solicited. L.C. I?AYNF, CHAS. C. HOWARD, CASHIBu. RESOURCES OVER $i,ooo,OOO. , M I'M i M WH M Ililli1? VOL.73. EDGEFIELp, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MARCH ll, 1908. THE NATIONAL BANK OF AUGUSTA, [ ? AUGUSTA. GA. . , L. C. HAYNE. CHAS. E. CLARK, .. President. Cashier.? . CAPITAL $250,000.00. " Surplus & Profits $190,000.00. The business of our out-of-town friends receives the sam? careful attention, aa that foi oar local depositara. The accounts of * * careful conservative people solicited. * * ?H"t"t"H"t"i"t"H"H'int"M"ir* NO. H. PROMINENT PEOPLE, -T Charles D. Carter, the membar from the Fourth District of Oklaho ma, is an Indian who has all his life lived anions his kinsmen. F/ank A. Munsey, the magazine and newspaper owner, declared a combination of 500 papers under one able management a feasible plan. Professor Schofield has returned to Harvard University after spending the first half of his academic, year lecturing in German universities. ' Sir Dominic Ellis Colnag?!, the British Consul-Genera! at Boston 1896-1899, died in Loadou. He was horn in 1834 and knighted in 188S. Senator Stephenson, of Wisconsin, ls now-wealthy, but when he was a hoy he had to go barefooted even in winter, because of his father's pov erty, ? James Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States, has been invest ed with the honorary degree o' Doc tor of Laws, at McGill University, Ottawa. Lord Curzon fa extreme!/ method ical. It is said of him when Viceroy in India that in a single moment he could place his hand on any paper he wanted. Leon A. Bereznaik, a native of Odessa, is now living in Indianapolis. He is a lawyer, scholar, author and translator of "Trilby" in the Russian ? language. Mr.* Nathan Straus, of New York, achieved a signal victory in having the Internation Pure Milk Congress In Brussels, officially declare against the use of raw milk. Bishop Wilkinson, in a letter pub lished in the London Daily Mail, de scribes the devastation wrought by revolutionists in Russia, and says tl.at the goverament has erred on the side of leniency. General Rufus Saxton, who died in Washington, D. C., was In his eighty fourth year and childless. NO KIDS WANTED. Sunday School T-eachcir-Now, chil dren, who was Herod? Chorus-He wuz a man wot wanted ter get rid of all de chl'dren. S. S. Teacher-Yes, but what "was he?" ' . Youthful voice-I guess he wuz de lanlord of a flat.-Cleveland Plain Dtaler NEWSY GIJEANINGS. I Wall Street markets stay be numbed. British administrations are charged with selling titles. The merger of Mexican railroads is said to be practically perfected. The next President will probably have the appointment of four new Supreme Court Justicss. Comptroller Metz issued a report 1 that $102,834,327 is due New York City in uncollected taxes. Baron Takabira, the new Japanese Ambassador, said war with the Uni ted States would be a crime. The great diamond company of De Beers has taken fright at the disas trous fall in the price of gems. Plans. tre being prepared for mak ing Vladivostok, Siberia, a first class fortress at a cost bf 36,000,000. Peter Cooper Hewitt, of New York, will build a bli,1 dirigible balloon as a fighting machine for the Government. A bill whick will wipe out 30,000 licenses in Great Britain was intro duced by the Chancellor of the Ex chequer. E. R. Thomas' creditors in New York City were worried on learning that hl3 debts are nearly $5,000,000 instead of the $2,700,000 they had supposed. There was much comment over the announcement of the declaration of an extra dividend of $75 a share on Oregon Railroad and Navigation Com pany stock. Varrmm Lincoln, of Andover, Mass., has left by will $5000, the an nual income of which is to be distrib uted in cash prizes to the best spell ers at a spelling bee. The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court decided that a tenant who stays in a cold flct cannot collect damages from the landlord, but that the tenant may legally break his lease and move. AN OBSERVATION. "Do yoji think there are any great orators left?" "Yes," answered Senator Sorghum. "My observation Is that great ora tors are nearly always left."-Wash ington Star. Paris has seven free eating houses or poor mothers. Georgia Railroad Bank AUGUSTA, GA. Savings Department Pays 4 % interest on all accounts in this department, compounded every six months, January and July. Capital and Surplus $550,000.00. GO TO SEE Before insuring elsewhere, Wejreprcsent the Best Old Line Companies. HARLIfl? & BYRD* At The Farmers Bank of Edgefield 1908 1908 FINDS THE MAIM that sells Stanhopes, Carriage*, Wagons, Buggies, etp.t in position to offer you toe highest possible grade of go?ds|at the lowest possible price. Remember I am known as'theViat in the business, my material is al ways of the best standard, and those who buy. f ron^Coskery's congratulate themselves. Material tlje best, prices always r,he lowest. BABCOCKS THE LBADB?. H. H. OOSKISRY, 740 and 751 Broad Street AUGUSTA, GA, A&onurnental Carriage Store ''Opposite the Monument." We've had forty-six years experience making and selling vehicles, and have yet to see anything on wheels which for Beauty, Easy Riding, Light Run ning and lasting and qualities would match Moyer and Columbia Bug gies9Runabouts and Surreys? Studebaker Wagons If Better were made you would find them here, A complete line of Harness always on hand. Heavy Lumber Harness and Road Scraper Harness a SPECIALTY, BELTING, LEATHER, CARRIAGE MATE RIAL. ETNA COAL. Joseph H. Day? 729 Bro?d Street, Augusto, Ga. School Building Bun By Scores in (Jil DEATH AT SCHOOL HOUSE Their Egress Out Off by the Fiery Flames That Rage Below Them, the Little Ones Are Incinerated Almost Within Reach of Safety. Cleveland, 0., Special.-Penned in narrow hallways, jammed up against doors that only opened inward, be tween 160 and 170 children in the suburb of North Collinwood Wednes day were killed by fire, by smoke and beneath the grinding heels of their panic-stricken playmates. The awful tragedy occurred Wed nesday morning in tho public school of North Collinwood, 10 miles cast of tb.'* city. At 10 o'clock Wednesday night 165 corpses were in the morgue | at Collinswood, six children were still unaccounted for and all the hospitals I and houses for two miles around cou- ' tained numbers of ohildren, some fa- ; tally and many less seriously injur- ! ed. j All of the victims were between j the ages of 6 and 15 years. Tho school contained botween 310 and 325 pupils, and of this entire number only about eighty are known to have lei'c the building uuhurt. It will be scv- ' eral days before the exact number of killed is known as the ruins may still contain other bodies and the list of fatalities may be increased by a number of deaths among the children I who are now lying in the hospitals hovering between life and death. Only Ono Fire Escapa. The schoolhouse was of brick, two stories and an attic in height. The number of pupils was more tha nor mally large, and the smaller children had been placed in the upper part of the building. There,was but one fire escape and that was in the rear of the building. There were two stairways, one leading to a door in front, and the other to a door in the rear. Both of these doors opened inward, and it is claimed the rear door was locked as well. When the flames were discovered the teachers who throughout seem to have acted with courage and self possession and to have struggled he roically for the safety of their pu pils, marshaled the little ones into ? -<*"H ? which they had j building. "When the cxmaicu I?M*~**>~ the foot o: the starrs they found the flames close upon them, and so swift a rush was made for the door that in j an instant a tightly packed-mass of children was piled up against it. From that secend none of those who wero ' upon any portion of the first flight of stairs had a chance for their lives. ' The children at the front of the stairs ' attempted to fight their way back to the floor above, while those who were . coming down shoved them mercilessly back into the flames below. In au iu stant there was a frightful panic with \ two hundred of the pupils fighting for j their lives. Most of those who were | killed died fcere. The greater part ? of those who escaped managed to turn back and reached thc fire es cape and the windows in the rear. Approximately 300 children attend ed the school, which had nine rooms.-j Scores of Freight Conductors Laid Off by Southern. Asheville, Special.-On account of ; > decrease in business on the Asheville ! division of the Southern it is learned I here that within a week 59 freight [ conductors have been laid off. It is said that not for years has business I on the division been as ?lack as at present. Serious Labor Troubles Threatened in England. London, By Cable.-Serious labor troubles still are threatened in the Lancashire cotton trade and among j ! the engineers on the northeast coast. '. Notices were posed threatening a ' lockout of 20,000 cotton operatives in I the Coine and Nelson districts, while . the engineers who have been involved in the recent ship building strike I along the Tyne rejected by a large I majority the compromise: effected with ' the employers by David Lloyd-George president of the board of trade. Locomotivo Explodes. Roberta, Ga., Special.-Engine No. 128 on train No. 61, Southern railway j exploded at Champion, two miles bc low here at 8 o'clock Wednesday morning. Engineer Charles O'Neill,' of Fort Valley, was scalded and in- ; ternally injured and will die. Two negro brakemen were scalded, one fa-. tally. The engine and four freights j are a complete wreck. The truck is . torn up for a hundred yards. President Protects Native Birds. Washington, Special.-The Presi dent has issued an order setting aside '-'all small mangrove and soft grass islets, shoals, sand bars and sand , spits" in Mosquito inlet on the east | shore of Florida, near the mouths of j the Halifax and Hillsboro rivers for I the U3e of the Department of Agricul-. ture, "BB a preservo and breeding ground for native birds." The reser vation will be known as Mosquito In let Reservation! fis and Children Die ter Helplessness Janitor Herter could remember lit tle of what happened after the fire started. "I was sweeping .ip the base ment," he said, "when J looked up and saw a wisp of smoko curling from beneath the front stairway. "I ran to the fire alarm and pulled thc gong that sounded throughout the building. Then X ran first to tho front and then to the rear doors. I can't remember what happened next, ex cept that I saw the flames shooting oil about and the children running .down through them screaming. Some, fell at the rear entrance and others stum bled over them. I saw my little Helen among them. I tried to pull her out, but the flames drove me back. I had to leave my little child to die." Her ter was badly burned about tho head. After the fire had practically burn ed itself out, the work of rescuing tho bodies was begun by fm?men and railroad employes from _.^e Lake Shore shops. The railroad company turned over one of its buildings near by to be used as a temporary morgue^ and thither thc charred and broken little bodies were removed as fast aa they could be dug from the ruins. They were placed to rows in the Lake Shore shop. Identifications were made only by means of clothing or trinkets. The fire had swept away nearly all resemblance to human fea tures. Distracted parents soon began to gather and the work of identify ing the blackened and mangled corp ses began. The grewsome task of taking out the blackened torsos and bits of human remains wr.s one of horror. A line of rescurers was formed backed by half a duzen ambulances. As the bodies were untangled from the de bris the} were passed along to the si rel chers and thenco loaded in the ambulance. Mercifully covered with blanket? ,the pitiful sights were veil ed frc m the crowd of curious. As fast ss a load was obtained it was driven away to the improvised morgue, to be succeeded by another within a short time. Teacher Telia Story. "It was awful, things in my roor tiny arms and cnSON-WIkSOJ them. Their voici ears yet, and I - them. When thc start?d the pupil* the building. Wk ***** .Pr*s\-r> f n *t*c- tis ' get around to thc sible and help tli the entrance. Wk ter climbing out o: the children so . row passageway tl even one of them pushed forward at the little ones pile* er. Those who cc their arms to me, to help them. I might to pull the: thcro until the away. ' ' At midnight theic ... in the morgue of which 10S had been identified and 57 were still unknown. It is'possible that other bodies may be found in the ruins, as at least 13 children are still missing and have not been beard from since the fire.* News of tho Day. Mme. Schumann-Heink, the opera singer, took out her naturalization papers and became an American citi zon. Bishop W. W. Duncan, of the Methodist Episcopal church died at Spartanburg, S. C. Secretary Root's repoit on the case of Judge Wilfley is ready fer trans mission to tho President. Hartje and His Cohorts Acquitted ol Perjury. Pittsburg, Pa., Special. - -Au gustus Hartje, a millionaire; John L. Welsbons, a hardware merchant, and friend of Hartje and Clifford Hooe, the negro coachman, who have boen on trial in criminal court charged with conspiracy to blacken the char acter of Mrs. Mary Scott Hartje, were all acquitted, binding instruc tions having been given the jury to find such a verdict and place the costs of the case upon the county. .'News in Brief. In the House the increase in pay of enlisted men was restored to thc Army bill. The Senate passed the Indian Ap propriation bill. A Patent Office examiner, a Phila delphia lawyer and York (Pa.) in ventor have been indicted charged with patent frauds involving electric patents /alucd at $5,000,000. Senator Proctor Pa?SeB. Washington, Special. - United States Senator Redfield Proctor, o?* Vermont, died at his apartments al the Champlain herc at 4:50 o'clock Wednesday afternoon after a short illness following an attack of grip. The Senator's son, Governor Fletcher Proctor, of Vermont, the governor wife and several intimate friends were at thc bedside when the Sena tor passed away. Senator Proctor WM 77 years old? ?Mutte?ings Against the Jan?or Conjj?[ Be Heard bn Every Side, The GrfefCrazed Parents Forgetting ThaiKthe Janitor Himself Walked Behind a Hearse Containing Three of & Loved Ones. and, 0., Special-Collins, iday came to a full fealiza ier woe. Slowly and solemn Srocessions of death began to "beir way toward the ceme 'vbearing the ; battered and remains of somo of tho hun ld. sixty-seven children whose ere snuffed out in Wednesday [jg's catastrophe in the Lake 3ool. Prom 9 o'clock in the pg until dusk there was no sn in. the funeral corteges, vho had no dead to mourn as ohal loss stood iu the streets red heads as the grim proces saed. There was scarcely a ye in Collinwood. - One of the aer?is was that of tho three of Janitor Hirter, held joint the services for three other ?es. Talk Against Janitor, tterings against the janitor couid|;he heard about the village aa griej&crazed parents sought an "ob ject, jjyxm which to wreak vengeance, forgoing as they did that Hirter himst?f was walking with bowed head and- Broken-hearted behind the biers cf tigr?e of his loved ones. A detail of jo?lice was placed about thc Hir ; ter ?orne when the hour of the fun eral'Jcame. Fully five hundred per sons?jbad gathered, but w' en the cof ' fins\mere carried to the doorway the ?roiw?' spread and opened the way hem without protest or expres E>f hostility. bgeth?r there- were 50 burials fy and Saturday the grewsome %as repeated. Sunday will wit Jthe last of the individual burials and] on Monday the remains of all those'who are yet unidentified will be I Iaidrfo rest with ono funeral. There are ?23 of these bundles of flesh that I-await claimants. Stories of Herioism. jtimony describing the mad rush to death of the school children was giyfe Friday at the continued session of the coroner's inquest. Stories of heroism on the part, of the women teachers were recited. F. P. Whit ney^ superintendent of the Collinwood ~ ' . . *' * " -'-that done M PAPER CO., RICHM ,had, _'_ id of open rear e in t, af >r, it d not been storm /o fed This brandi^ .hat the S? Wallace ;forc the on. 17Y99 ?y the zirf~A place all 19x24. buildings in a w_eclude any loss of Li? from tire*.. Basements will be fireproof, wooden stairways replaced by iron and spiral fires es capes enclosed in towers installed. Inner doors in vestibules also will be removed. Big Horse Show in Texas. Fort Worth, Tex., Special-Entries have closed for thc horse show ex hibits at the National Feeders' and Breeders' Show, which will open next Wednesday in the great coliseum erected at a cost of $250,Q00. There are fifty-four different classes in the horse show lists and $3,000 will be awarded in premiums. A prize lis1 aggregating $20,000 is offered op the live stock which will be on exhibit. Governor Campbell will preside at th* opening of the show on Wednesday morning and will deliver an address. Tho Snit Over Virginia's Debt. Washington, Special.-The big suit between the States of Virginia and West Virginia over the claim of the former that the latter should share the latter's $33,000,000 debt advanc ed one stage when attorneys for West Virginia presented to the Su preme Court arguments for limitation of the powers of the master whom the court proposes to appoint to take tostimony in the suit. Virginia want* the master given a wide field. Big Firo at Columbia, N. C. Norfolk, Va., Special-A special to The Virginian Pilot says Columbia, N. C., was visited by a disastrous fire Thursday, destroying the heart of the business section." The fire originated in the large store of Davis Bros., gen eral merchadise, the Hotel Scupper ing catching fire and spreading to other business houses. estimate of the damage or as to the unmbci of losers, could be secured, all com munication being cut off. Another Priest Threatened. Providence, R. L, Special.-The fate that overtook Father Leo Hein richs, of Denver, threatens Rev. J. H. Belaud, pastor of Notre Dame French Catholic church of Central Falls. Letters have come to him con taining a notification that he will be killed at the altar. His friends ap pealed to tho authorities when they learned of hil danger, Judge Pritchard Appoints Re ceivers Fer S. C. Funds STIRS UP LIVELY RESENTMENT Judge Pritchard at Asheville Ap pointed Threo Permanent Receiv ers for thc $800,000 South Carolina Dispensary Fund and, Ordered It Turned Over to Thc3o Men, Asheville, N, C., Special.-After hearing lengthy arguments on tbs motion of the Wilson Distilling Com pany and the Fleischmann Company for the appointment of a receiver in the South Carolina dispensary mat ter Federal Judge J. C. Pritchard decided to make permanent the ap pointment of temporary receivers and named Judge Joseph A. McCullough, C. K. Henderson and B. F. Arthur as permanent receivers for the trust fund of $800,000 and directing that the fund be turned over to the re ceivers upon demand. In a memoranda Judge Pritchard referred to the fact that two of the dispensary commissioners, W. J. Murray and John McSween, appoint I ed as temporary receivers, had re fused to accept and that Commission er Avery Patton had not made reply to the notice of appointment, while Comissioners Henderson and Arthur bad accepted; he said that these . gentlemen were appointed upon the theory that the court was anxious to adopt the instruments provided by the State in this instance for the ad ministration of the trust fund in their hands, but that inasmuch as a ma jority of the commission had either declined cr refused to indicate a pur pose to serve the court had decided to appoint Messrs. McCullough, Hen derson and Arthur permanent receiv ers for all the funds and property in the hands of the defendants consti tuting the State commission. The I court said that it regretted exceeding ly that any of these defendants should have declined to accept the appointments, feeling as it does that their acceptance would have been in" harmony with the State under which they were appointed. In the order appointing permanent receivers creditors of the dispensary are restrained from prosecuting or attempting to prosecute suits in courts other than the court that has taken jurisdiction without first hav I ing had is sanction. The regularly co istituted dispen sary commission, which is practically put out of commission by thc ap to turn thc fund over to tne i>.c\:.i? ers upon deuand. Will tnt. Orders Bc Obeyed? There is some speculation as to whether or not the majority of the dispensary commission and the banks and trust companies will re fuse to obey the orders of the court. It was indicated by Mr. Rountrce, of counsel for thc commission that it would refuse to obey. Mr. Rountrce said that in making such a state ment he meant no disrespect to the court, saying that thc commission could refuse tn obey and that the matter could bc taken up. He said that presumably the court would hold the commissioners in c?ntempe and made some suggestions as to the most convenient place to hear the contempt proceedings. Attorney General Lyon Talks. Attorney General Lyon was great ly displeased with Judge Pritchard's action. In an interview he said among other things: "Judge Pritchard 's order will most certainly be disregarded by me if it undertakes to in any wise restrain or direct me in this or any other pro ceedings I may deem it advisable to institute." Lyon'n Statement Resented. Asheville, N. C., Special.-Thc re marks of Attorney General Lyon caused considerable comment here. There will be an effort made to have Judg*i Pritchard attach Mr. Lyon for contempt of court. He Will Save tho State. Columbia, S. C., Special.-When Attorney General Lyou was shown the press dispatches as to the threat ened attempt to have him attached for contempt on account of the stric tures of Judge Pritchard, contained in tho interview given out by bim in Augusta, Ga., he said ."It is not surprising that these harpies (referring to the liquor law yers) should wish to have mc at tached for contempt. This wail is probably caused, not from any disre gard which may have been shown the learned judge, but more probably from the prospect of being kept for a long while from plundering and feasting upon the revenues of South Carolina. The attorneys' fees and costs of the various satellites of thc court may possibly be $30.000, or more. It is, therefore, not hard tr understand the cause of the wail, noi their unseemly haste to br.ve the court take action with thc manifest purpose of circumventing the Gover nor when he advised thc Legislature to act and protect the revenues and autonomy of the State. "I repeat again that I will ^ ust every lawful means to save the Statt from thc possibility of such plunder ing and will proceed in the courts o? the State to checkmate the liquoi houses that have fed upon the Statt whenever it may be proper to do so any orders of tho United States Cir cuit Court to the contrary notwith standing." Wm. SCHWEIGEBT, A. S. Prest, Union Sav August Offers the Citzei SAFE, CONS? CONVENIENT 4 Per Cern ?i i 11111 j 11 ? 1111B11111 j 11144 Va?meito Thc News of South Carol *H4?H?H-H Mj?H m 11811 M Prank B. Gary la Elected. - Columbia, Special.-The long con test over a successor to United States Senator Latimer was ended Friday afternoon, when,, on the fiftieth ballot of the two houses, Frank B. Gary, o? Abbeville, received the requisite num ber of votes and was declared elect ed. The first joint ballot for United States Senator Friday morning re sulted : Gary, 6S; Walker, 23; T. G. Mc Leod, 14; J. Wright Nash, 13; Maul den, 8; Coke, 14; Ira B. Jones, 5; Willie Jones. 4. Total, 154; necessary to choice 73. Gary had gained five votes from tho last ballot at night. The House immediately pr.-v to another ballot. Congr isman Lever was nominat ed in spite of protests from friend-? that he is not a candidate and partic ularly didn't want to be entered. Nash's name was withdrawn. The second ballot resulted: CTary, 70; Walker, 28; McLeod, ll; Ira Jones, 4; Wylie Jones, 4; Maul din, 7; Coker, 10; ex-Governor John C. Sheppard, of Edgcfield, new entry, 15 : Congressman Lever, 7. AU CliOrl TO IU&V iinmM -_ and the fourth ballot was entered upon. In tse fourth ballot on which Frank B. Gary was elected the result being: Gary, 79; McLeod, 32; Mauldin. ll; Ira Jones. 4; Wilie Jones, 2; Coker, 1; Mauldin, 1; McEithan, 1; Walker, 24. Total 154, necessary to choice, 79. Governor Ansel's Recommendations. Columbia, Special.-Attorney Gen eral Lyon and Attorney B. L. Abney has sent up a draft of amendments to the house bill now pending in the Senate with the view of carrying out the recommendations of Governor Ansel as to the Pritchard injunction on dispensary amendment which places, a fund of $800,000 in the hands of thc State treasury, claims to be paid strictly as adjudicated by the winding-up commission, taking the matter out of the Federal Courts en tirely. The amendments have not been acted upon, and will be sub mitted to both houses from the judi ciary committees. One of the amend ments says: "That none of- such claims shall be allowed the benefits of this act of be paid out of such moneys liiere from and after the passing of this act the holder or holders or own ers thereof shall attempt to collect or proceed further by suit already be gun in any other tribunal to enforce the same, otherwise than by submis sion of same to the said commission for investigation and adjudication or by appeal from decision of the said commission to the Supreme Court as provided for by law, nor unless the same shal be presented to and filed with the said commission within nine ty days, tftcr the passage of this act." Shooting Near Saluda. Saluda, Special.-Bill ' Holland Thursday afternoon shot and serious ly wounded Boy Abney. Both par tics are negroes. The Holland darky acme at once to Saluda and surrend ered and is now in jail. It was at first reported that the Abney negro would die. Later reports are thai he is not fatally wounded. Game Law Violators Fined. Sumter. Special.-On Monday thc proprietors of the Dixie restaurant were fined $12.50 for exposing part ridges for sale. Mr. James Henry Rice. Jr., agent of the Audubon so ciety, recen I ly made a tour of inspec tion of Sumter restaurants to see if thc game laws were being violated. No game was found in any except the Dixie, where 15 partridges were found and seised. The proprietors were also summoned for trial under thc provisions of thc game laws of the Stets. - . MORRIS, THOS. S. GRAY, Vice-Pres. Cashier. iggg Batik ta, Ga?, is of Edgefield a :RVAT1VE and ?EPOSii?Ky. i,,.. """",1 "",, t Interest. Him Him. ? ininti lit Aff air s li lina in Condensed Form |;j llllllilltlllllllllilliii' Pasenger Bates On Short Linea. Columbia, Special.-The railroad commission heard the representatives of a number of roads regarding the reduction of passenger rates in South Carolina. The hearing was ordered several days ago after representatives of some of the main Hues liad ap peared before the commission and of fered a reduction ol' straight milcago from 3 cents per mile to 21-2 cents per mile. Wednesday Messrs. Leigh, Watts, general counsel of the Seaboard Air Line, C. D. Wayne and Chas. Stewart, assistant genorai passenger agents, and Mr. Wm. H. Lyles, local counsel, appeared before the commission and submitted a statement as to the earn ings of the road in this State and in Georgia and North Carolina. It was stated that the earnings in this State had been far less than in other Staten although the road was willing to put on sale the mileage tickets *at the rates offered by the other roads with the privilege of charging 3 cents per mile for straight fare. This will bo considered by the commission at tho meeting later. The Columbia, Newberry & Laur ens rilroad Las submitted a proposi tion for a lower rate on its line from , Newberry to* Columbia, but protesta on the reduction from Newberry to Laurens. ? The Carolina & Northewestern line Blue Ridge railway by J. R. Ander son and T. B. Lumpkin, 34 miles of railway. Chesterfield & Lancaster railway by A. G. Page, 35 miles of railway. Hampton & Branchville railway by W. C. Mauldin, 16 miles of railway. Alcolu railway by D. W. Alderman, 29 miles of line. y Bennettsville & Cheraw railway by H. A. Page, 15 miles of railway. Carolina & Northwestern by L. T. Nichols, 37 mile's of line in South Car olina. . Georgetown & Western railway bv P. A. Willcox, receiver, representing 36 miles of railway. A Gang of Criininals. Spartanburg, Special.-According to a letter found on young Lee Bow den who was arrested Monday night' in connection with the robbery of tile hardware store of Montgomery & Crawford last Saturday night, "Red Gang Number Thirteen" has been or ganized in this State for the purpose of committing crimes. Bowden and Crawford Bosse, when placed under arrest on the charge of forcibly en tering the store of Montgomery & Crawford and stealing a lot of pock et knives, razors and scissors, con fessed and implicated two ether young men, but they refused to di vulge their names. Wlien searched a letter was found on Bowden, ad dressed to a citizen in thc lower part of tho State, stating that "Red Gang Number Thirteen*' intended to visit his town and proposed to kill him. Tire letter also told of a safe that had been robbed in the lower part of tie State and claimed the credit of robbing the safe. Bowden denies hav ing written the letter, slating that he picked it up on thc floor of the opera house. He says he has no knowledge as to the author of the letter. Negro Killed in Marlboro. ^ Bennettsvile, Special. - Evander Bostick was shot and killed Thursday night by Willis Crosland at Beauty Spot, a few miles from town. An in quest was held and the jury returned the following verdict:'-'That the said Evander Bostick come to his death by a gunshot wound in the hands "* Willis Crosland.'' Both of the par ties arc negroes. Dead and Without Friends. Greenville, Special.-P. A. Ham mett, a well known and pathetic fig ure on the streets for the past year, was found dead in a lonely and al- , most unfurnished room he called home, early Thursday morning. The body was taken in charge by the cor oner. Heart disease was declared the cause of death end no inquest was deemed necessary. The body has been embalmed to be kept for identifica tion. Hammett was an object of char?