University of South Carolina Libraries
I ' YORKVILLE ENQUIRER. ISSUED SEMI-WEEKLY. ' ' ?l x OEIST ft sob's, Publisher.. } % ^amilg gfciEggaptr: 4or thg gromotiait o| the goliticat, ?agial, ^grisnUap! and (fantrnqiiBl Interests of tltq geogtj. {TKRMs3^o^fcoFIK^lVECE"T8A.''CE ESTABLISHED 1855. " YORKVILLE, S. C., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1900. " ~~ NO. 98. ; j - - - . THE MTSTE AGA1 By ANNA KATH^ Author of "The Leavenworth Cas and Ring," Copyright, 1900, by Anna Katharine G Synopsis op Previous Chapters. In order that new readers of The Enquirer may begin with the following installment of this story, and under* stand it just the same as though they had read it all from the beginning, we here give a synopsis of that portion of which has already been published: i The story opens with the close of a ball after daylight in the- morning. While the guests are leaving the house ' Frederick Sutherland dashes out frantically and disappears in the woods on the other side of the -road. Agatha Webb is found up stairs murdered. ? The body of Batsy, the oook, is found ' hanging from a window. Philemon ; Webb, Agatha's husband, is discovered sitting before a dining table asleep, ( with a smear of blood on his coat sleeve. Philemon being charged with 1 the murder, his mind, alrady feeble ' ? gives way completely. All Agatha Webb's money has been taken. Mtes Page, standing on the lawn, points to a spot of blood on the grass. Frederick Sutherland, who has been a wild fellow, promises nis father to reform; also w to give up Amabel Page, whom he has been expecting to marry. Miss Page tells Frederick that she followed him on the night of the murder and saw him secrete )1,0C0 in a hollow tree. She declares that he shall either marry her or she will proclaim him a murderer. She Is about to leave him and the town when she is held as a witness. The past life of Agatha Webb. Six children have been born to her and all died in infancy. It is learned that the money " - A oil rtaKen irom Agtiiua ntuu nao ?... ... ( new bills. A storekeeper produces one of them that a strange man with a flowing beard gave him the night of the murder. The problem now is to find the man with the long beard. Suspicion falls on the Zabel brothers. Frederick visits the hollow tree and finds the money gone. Wattles a gambler from Boston, demands $950 of Frederick in payment of a gambling debt. CHAFTEB Xm. r A WOMAN IX HIS PATH. Mr. Sutherland was busily engaged with a law paper when his son entered his presence, but at sight of that son's face he dropped the paper witli an alacrity which Frederick was too ^ much engaged with his own thoughts to notice. "Father," he began without pream ble or excuse. "I am iu serious and immediate need of $950. I want it so much that I ask you to make me a check for that amount tonight, conscious as I am that you have every Y rigjlt to deny me this request and that my debt to you already passes the hodhd of presumption on my part and indulgence on yours. I cannot tell you why 1 want it or for what. That belongs to my past life, the consequences of which 1 have not yet escaped, but that you will not be the loser by this ' material proof of confidence in me I feel bound to state, as 1 shall soon he In a position to repay .ail my debts, among which this will -necessarily stand foremost." The old gentleman looked startled and nervously fingered the paper he had let fall. "Why ?do you say you will soon be In a position to repay me? * What do you mean by that?" Tho fliieh **rhlr?li find riflt V-pt Sllhsid ed from the young man's face ebbed slowly away as be encountered his father's eye. "1 mean to work." he murmured. "I mean to make a man of myself as soon as possible." The look which Mr. Sutherland gave him was more Inquiring than sympathetic. "And you need this money for a start." said he. Frederick bowed. He seemed to be losing the faculty of speech. The clock over the mantel had told off five of the precious moments. "I will give it to you." said his father. and he drew out his checkbook. But he did not hasten to open it. His eyes still rested on his son. *1 "Now." murmured the young man. jfa "There is a train leaving soon. 1 wish to get it away on that train." His father frowned with natural distrust. "1 wish you would confide in me." * said he. Frederick did not answer. The hands of the clock were moving on. "I will give it. but I should like to know what for." "Impossible!" groaned the young man. starting as be heard-a step on the walk without "Your need has become strangely imperative." proceeded Jhe other. "Has Miss Page"? Frederick took a step forward and laid his hand on his father's arm. "It is not for her." he whispered. "It goes into other hands." Mr. Sutherland, who had turned over the document as his son approached, breathed easier. Taking up his pen he r dipped it in the ink. Frederick watched him with ever whitening cheek. The step on the walk had mounted to the front door. "Nine hundred and fifty?" inquired the father. "Nine hundred and fifty." answered the son. The judge, with a last look, stooped RT OF THA WEBB. lRINE GREENE, * ;e," "Lost Man's Lane," "Hand Etc., Etc. reen. ' over the boob. The hands of the clock pointed to a quarteitto 10. "Father. I have my whole future In which to thank you," cried Frederick, seising the check his father held out to him and making rapidly for the door. "1 will be back before midnight" And be flung himself down stairs just as the front door opened and Wattles stepped in. "Ah!" exclaimed the latter as his eye fell on the paper fluttering In the other's hand. "I expected money, not paper." } "The paper is good." answered Frederick, drawing him swiftly out of the house. "It has my father's signature upon it." "Your father's signature?" "Yes." Wattles gave it a look, then slowly shook bis head at Frederick. "Is it as well done." said he, "as the one you tried to pass off on Brady?" jf reuericK criugeu ttuu iui a wvum looked as If the straggle was too much for him. Then be rallied and eying Wattles firmly said: "You have a right to your distrust but you are on the wrong track. Wattles. What 1 did once it would be Impossible for me to do again, and 1 hope I may live to prove It As for that check. I will soon prove Its value In your eyes. Follow me up stairs to my father." His energy?the energy of despair no doubt?seemed to make an Impression on the other. "You might as well proclaim yourself a forger outright as to force your father to declare this fo be his signature." he obsefYe^ 4- * -fri "I know It" said Frederick. "Yet you wllf run that risk?" "If you oblige rae." Wattles shrugged his shoulders. He was a magnificent looking man and towered In that old colonial hall Tike a youthful giant. "I bear you no 111 will," said he. "If this represents money, I am satisfied, and I begin to think it does. But lis ten. Sutherland. -Something has happened to you. A week ago you would have put a bullet through my head before you would have been willing to have so compromised yourself. I think I know what that something Is. To ave yourself from being thought guilty of a big crime you are willing to Incur suspicion of a small one. It's a wise move, my boy, but look out! No tricks with me or my friendship may not hold. Meantime 1 cash this check tomorrow." And he swung away through the night with a grand opera selection on his lips. Frederick looked like a man thoroughly exhausted when the final echo of this hateful voice died away on the hillside. For the last 20 hours he had been the prey of one harrowing emotion after another, and human nature could endure no more, but demanded rest. But rest would not come. The posiIn *TrVil/,Vi T, q fnnnH hlmaolf hft. UVU 1U nuivu uw ?.V tween Amabel and the man who had just left was of too threatening a nature for him to dwell upon any thought save how to avoid the doom menacing him. Hiding himself In his room, he sought a way of escape. But one presented itself. It was a cowardly one, but anything was better than to stand his ground against two such merciless antagonists as had arisen in his path. So he resolved upon flight. Packing up a few necessaries and writing a letter, which he left on his table to be given to his father in the morning, he made his way down the stairs of the now darkened house to a door opening upon the garden. To his astonishment he found it unlocked, but giving little heed to this in his excitement he opened it with caution and, with a parting sigh for the sheltering home he was about to leave forever, stepped from the house he no longer felt worthy to inhabit His intention was to take the train at Porcliester, and that he might reach that place without inconvenient encounters he had decided to make use as far as possible of the path through the fields. This led him north and along the ridge that overlooks the road running around the base of the hills. But he did not think of this or indeed of anything but to step on quickly, for it was too desirable for him to leave on the early morning train for him to forfeit this chance of doing this by any unnecessary lagging. But he was not destined to take that or any other train out of Porcliester at present, for when he reached the fence dividing Mr. Sutherland's grounds from those of his adjoining neighbor he saw drawn up In the moonlight just at the point where he had intended to leap the fence the form of a woman with one hand held out to stop him. It was Amabel. TO BE CONTINUED. Ptefritattcotw ^carting. SOUTH CAROLINA GAME BIRDS. i I Efforts to Prevent the Extermination of Quails and Partridges. In order, says a Charleston dispatch, ' to protect game birds, which were 1 threatened with exetermlnation in this state, the legislature of South Carolina at its last session passed a law prohib iting dealers from selling or offering for j sale, partridges or quails killed within 1 the state for a period of five years. The law does not attempt to stop the sale of birds brought in from other states, j and the act has just gone into effect. ? It has caused many complications, 1 and among other things has opened a i blind tiger market for birds, which in a \ measure will equal the blind, tigers where liquor is sold. The hunting as- i sociations and game preserve clubs recently organized, have undertaken to see that the law is enforced. The deal ers in Charleston and the managers of ( restaurants will be watched, but par- ' trideres are still beine served and sold. Dealers who are asked about the work- j lng of the new law say it does not in- i terfere with their business, as the j birds are in constant demand and for j that reason they have to keep on hand j large supplies, which are ordered from , Georgia. It is evident that the law is | not giving the, greatest protection to the birds, but that they are being killed | as usual, and the blind tiger market is , thriving. , In recent years the frequent storms \ along the coast have thinned out the J partridges to a remarkable extent, j Floods caught the young birds and.de- , stroyed them, and instances are known , where two broods in one season have j been entirely destroyed. Higher up in the state the same cause of destruction , did not operate, although from one rea- i son or another the birds were being , killed off. The greatest enemy to game birds in j tldsstate.lsthe man with the trap. Ne- \ groes in the coast country who knew i that good prices were paid for birds, . found it rather a poor plan to,go out ^ and shoot them, so they revived the old plan of trapping. For u long distance leading to the trap a line of corn would be carefully put down, and this would f run right up under the cage. The hirds would ga under the cage without hesitation, eat the corn and then find that they could not escape because they . never tried to sneak under the edges of the trap, trying instead to climb or fly out. Another form of trap would . spring and fall when the covey was under. With little or no trouble the , Negroes could catch an entire covey, i and the profits were large. Hunters who find these traps demolish them with the pfeatest satisfaction. Not long ago a Charleston hunter while out one day followed his dog when the latter had pointed. Going up cautiously he saw the cage; He kicked over the trap and allowed the birds to fly for their lives. With the two barrels he caught four birds, which was a good record considering the fact that the cpvey scattered in a no^en directions. The same hunter, while out on a three days' hunt, smashed 14 traps in a' very small territory. There Is another class of hunters who try to find a covey huddled up in a heap. Frequently the birds run together before being flushed, and a man with a good eye can find the covey and kill almost every bird In it with a single barrel. This unsportsmanlike busi- ! ness has helped to decrease the stock. This season the hu liters say there is a good stock of birds, notwithstanding the onslaught made on them In the past. There was dry weather during the hatching season, which was propitious, and the young ones were 'not drowned this year. With proper protection for five years the stock can be put back to its former fine condition. WHIPPING POST IN DELAWARE. Nine Prisoners Underwent Punishment Last Thursday. . Crows of morbid spectators found much to Interest them at the quarterly whippings of culDrits in New Castle jail-yard, Delaware, last Thursday. The youthful prisoners who had their Vv i-? rtlr^. Vt?*ntciArl Kw oflnrr nf fVt a r?a f _A_ uauivo Uk UIOCU WJ L11V owing VI wiiv VMV V nine-tails, were John Auker, who has not yet turned the age of 15, and William Bradley, 17 years old. Each received ten lashes across the bared back, and after this mandate of the court has been carried out by Sheriff Taylor, the lads were led to cells to serve four months. This penalty they brought on themselves for stealing three cases of perfume, valued at $3.4 The goods were stolen from a car of the Pennsylvania Railroad company. About 150 persons, seme of whom were women, and many visitors from other states, gathered in the jail yard to witness the whippings. Auker was the first of the young culprits to be led to the whipping post by the warden. His slight form and youthful face caused pity for him. His , eye was tearful, but his courage was admirable. As Sheriff Taylor began to ply the cat across his bared back , the muscles of the boyish criminal quivered perceptibly. Although Sher- i iff Taylor plied the lash lightly, great , red welts were raised across the white , flesh, and in one place the tender flesh , was broken. Young Auker bore his < punishment with fortitude, and did not ( utter a complaint. Bradley, who is* three years older than Auker, took his chastisement in the same cool manner as his companion. Red seams were formed wherever J the "cat" fell on his back, but the blood was not drawn. The boys acted as if accustomed to the punishment, for they took their dose of justice with | the same complacency as William Smith, an old-timer, who has served j time in Cherry Hill and other peniten- ( tiaries, and who received ten lashes < for stealing a cow. The weather was raw, a cool wind blowing from the Delaware river, making the rawhide bite more keenly on the bared backs. While Auker and Bradley were being whipped Charles Dumpson, a Negro, convicted of murderous assault, stood an hour in the pillory, making grimaces at the boys at the post and at the spectators. Altogether ten prisoners were whipped by Sheriff Taylor on Thursday, eigtil of whom received 10 cuts of the "cat" each, while'the others received 20 lashes. Four of the prisoners chastised were Negroes. Auker is not the youngest prisoner who has suiTered at tlie Delaware whipping post. Two years ago a Negro lad 14 years of age received 10 lashes for petit larceny.?New York Sun, BETTER THAN A PLEDGE. ? How Dr. John Wesley Brown Helped a Man to Give Up the Liquor Habit. ) A Cleveland man tells this pathetic Ind characteristic story of the late Tev. Dr. John Westley Brown, the incilent occuring while he was rector of Prlnlty church In this city. The story was told the narrator by the doctor himself. ; One evening a stranger called at the rectory on Superior street adjoining the church. He was a well dressed, well appearing man, but evidently in deep trouble. ' "Dr. Brown," he said, "I have come to you for advice and assistance. I am ^ victim of the drink habit I have In excellent position?I am cashier for p. wealthy corporation? and I know I cannot retain It unless I reform. I Want you to draw up a pledge for me? make It as strong as you can, please? ind I will sign it, and you will witness \t" Dr. Brown leaned back and looked Kt the man. "How long have you been drinking to excess?" he asked. | The man told him it was five or six Fears; ever since he obtained his present position. He only drank to excess When he was with his friends. He never thank at other times. When he was with his friends be would forget bimself and overstep the limit. Sometimes he didn't go on a spree for a Whole month; but the attacks were rrftwlnc- more freauent. He seemed to be losing his will power. "My friend," said the doctor, "you don't heed a pledge. I see In you a victim of good comradeship. You are far from being an ordinary drunkard. If you signed a temperance pledge and broke It?as you undoubtedly would do ?It would still further degrade you In ydttr own eyes. I do not advise the pledge.' The man looked dumfounded. "But what am I to do?" he faspdd. The doctor drew a card from his desk and rapidly wrote a few lines. "There," he said, "read that." This Is what the man read: "To my friends: I am becoming a victim of the liquor habit. If I do not quit I am sure to lose my position and ruin myself. For God's sake, don't ask nna fn rlrl r?lr with vftll " "There," said Dr. Brown, "sign that and I will sign It as a witness. All I ask of you is to show the card when temptation Is at your elbow, and If you fall come here and tell me about It. There! Good night." It was a full month before the man returned worried and dejected. "I expected you long before this." said the doctor, as he greeted the stranger. "Tell me about It. Did you show the card?" "Yes," replied the man. The first time was the very next night after I calted on you. A good friend, a railroad man, came Into the office and after I had checked up his accounts said: 'Come, Charlie, let's go over to the Oyster House and have a drink.' Well, sir, I was reaching for my hat When I remembered the card. I took It out and handed It to him. I thought he would never finish reading It. He looked at me and looked at the card. And then he slowly put his arm down on the counter and said: 'Charlie, I'd sooner cut that hand off than ask you to drink again.' Well, sir, I showed that card several times after that, and every blessed man I showed it to took lc seriously. Sometimes they'd say, 'All right, old boy.' Sometimes they'd lay It down without a word. And then?it ? ??? loof t,<o>v>+?T fnrirnt ahouc it. and here I am." "You are doing well," said the doctor. "Have courage and try and make the interval a little longer the next time." It was three months before the man came back. The next time it was six months. "And now," said the doctor to the narrator, "it is nearly two years since his last call, arid I have every reason to believe that he will not find it necessary to come again. So you see, I was quite right. It wasn't a pledge that he needed.?Cleveland Plain Dealer. Disappointed Ambitions.?The boy OAmo froq t mpn flro lime clIJl Ul 11UI1S ox ovtuv 0... curious to recall. Howard Pyle wanted to be a locomotive engineer. Senator Benjamin R. Tillman says that, in his case, a good surgeon was spoiled. The lad who is now known as Dr. T. DeWit Talmage aspired to be a stage driver at 10. Leonard Wood longed to walk a quarter-deck. The poor boy, Andrew Carnegie, in far-off Scotland, was itching to get to New York and become the owner of a great newspaper. If George Dewey had had his way as a boy, he would have been a brigadier in the Spanish war instead of sinking Montojo at Manila. Bronson Howard was disappointed that he was not a globetrotter. Wm. Jennings Bryan, had he been permitted, would have become a Baptist preacher. William Dean Howells recollects that his greatest ambition was to drive mules to tow a canal boat. So the world may congratulate Itself on the results of many a case of disappointed ambition.?December Success. PRAISES BOER OFFICERS. Captain Reichman Says DeWct Is a Butcher By Trade, But a Remarkable General. Captain Carl Reichmann, who was with the American military attache with the Boer army in South Africa, reached "Washington last night from New York, and is preparing an elaborate report on his observations of the war in the Transvaal. Captain Reichmann, when interviewed, spoke in high praise of the Boer generals. Referring to the news that General DeWet had succeeded in dealing the English a heavy blow by the capture of 400 British troops at Dewetsdorp, Capt. Reichmann said: "I know General DeWet very well. He is a butcher by trade; but a remarkable general. The British will have a hard time catching him. He can keep them on the run for sometime. I am not surprised at his latest move." Pnnfnlrr Reichmann said that he thought that It would depend upon the Boer people whether or not their opposition to the English would be prolonged. He suggested that General De Wet would be able for sometime to give the British trouble, but added that the Boers were a hard people to understand. He said: "They might surrender at anytime, and again they may continue to fight." Captain Reichmann left Lorenzo Marques September 26, and arrived In New York last Wednesday. He traveled Incognito. He said he had received good treatment by the Boers; but the necessities of the camp had compelled him at times to sleep In the grass without a tent, to be his own butcher, cook, shoemaker and harnessmaker, and keep In the saddle most of the time. He remarked} concerning the report that he had led the Boers In one of their engagements: "I thought the American people would have more faith Jn the honor of an American officer than to believe such a ridiculous story/'?Washington Dispatch. "ALMOST PERSUADED." Chinese Emperor In 1898 Discussed Adopting Christian Religion. The Rev. T.J. N. Gatrell, In charge of the American Bible society depository at Pekin, asserts that the Chinese em1peror, during the reform period of 1898, went so far as to discuss with his ad visers the desirably of adopting Christianity as the national religion. He spent pouch time dally in the study of the Bible, and frequently retired to a quiet place to pray to the true God. When thus engagedN the eunuch had strict orders not to disturb him, arid no one, not even the grand secretaries, were allowed to approach that part of the palace. The emperor told some of the reformers that he was convinced of the truth of Christianity. When one of them asked him what he considered was the best religion he replied that there was only one religion?meaning Christianity?and if there was any other he would like to have it explained to him. Dr. Gatrell says that the new emperor ordered 150 volumes from the Bible society at Pekin, for his own use and fnr rtlntHhiitlnn amone his advisers. 80 that they might have the opportunity to study Christianity. Of these 89 were publications of the "society for the diffusion of Christian and general knowledge among the Chinese." Others were publications of the different missionary boards, among them four sermons by Mr. Moody, and an illustrated life of Christ, which the emperor afterward ordered to be rebound in new covers with very expensive brocades. Two or three of the books he ordered treated of the difference between the Protestant and Roman Catholic religions. Dr. Gatrell does not know who made up the list of books wanted by the emperor, but from certain signs he assumes that it comprises selections from the catalogues of several different missionary societies. At several of the missionary stations the attendants remember that eunuchs from the imperiat palace called for such catalogues. Other books which the emperor read with great interest were the Life of Peter the Great, the History of Japan, and an account of the recovery of Prance from the Franco-German war. ?Curtis in Chicago Record. SOME BAD CHINESE WAYS. Justice, as obtained in the Chinese courts, is a farce. A case occurred while the writer was in China in whi^h a Chinese judge, sitting with an English magistrate, declare-! that he was obliged to give judgment against the evidence, or he should lose his appointment! The criminal law of China provides that an offender can only be punished if he confesses his guilt, and if he is tardy in conforming to this condition, he is compelled to confession by a series of tortures of the most painful and clvvlui v^nai Superstition is rife from end to end of the land, and leads to cruelty and brutality of the worst description. The system of "squeeze" and extortion, which exists throughout the east is found in so aggravated a form in China, that it stifles enterprise and prevents expansion of trade and leaves the masses of the people barely with the necessaries of life, while their superiors in position become wealthy by corrupt accumulation. This system of "squeeze" of course applies to the question of railway construction. One of the most intelligent Chinamen the writer mot in Shanghai, offered him a concession for a railway from Pekin to Chinkiang, the foremost condition being that the sum of ?120,000 in cash should be paid to a leading government official at the cutting of the first sod. As a further illustration, it may be pointed out that out of the 13 railway concessions already supposed to be granted (extending about if,600 miles), not one has as yet been commenced. Capital punishment prevails to an extent few people have any idea of in this country. An important Russian official the writer met on his way from Pekln, stated that one of his countrymen had been murdered in Manchuria by a Chinaman. They wished to punish him in such a way, and at such a place, as would convey the strongest warning to others; but they found that it would be useless to execute him in his native town, as no less than 2,000 people had ended their lives in this way in the previous 12 months.?Emerson Bainbridge, M. P., in The Contemporary Review. . : ^ J r TOOK CENTURIES TO BUILD. Cologne Cathedral Was In Progress of Erection 632 Years. / " While the first stone of Cologne Cathedral was' laid on August IS, 1248, and the body of the edifice was not opened until August 15, 1848, 600 years later to the very day, it was not, however until August 16, 1880, that the splendid structure was finally reported completed, having thus occupied in building the record ^ime of exactly 632: years. The castle of Kingsgoberg, which stands at the southern extremity of Jutland, took 204 years from the laying, of the corner foundation stone to the rigging of its .master's banner on its highest flagstaff. Its foundation stone was the skull of its builder's bitterest enemy. Three months after its laying Count Jhorslng, the builder of the castle, was killed. His son was then In swaddling clothes. He did not continue his father's work until aged 24. On his 25th birthday he was thrown i into prison by the son of the man whose skull lay in the earth as Klngsgoberg's foundation stone. In t^iis manner master ?iter master of Elngsgoberg was stopped putting another stone toward the completion of the/, founder's work till civilisation inter- ' vened. Between Perth and Kingussie in Scotland, on the direct John o' Groats to Land's End road, stands Murthley castle, a magnificent Elizabethan structure, designed In the early part of the present century. It is not likely to be finished, however, building experts declare, for at least another decade. Only a few miles distant, on the main road, Is the vast, unfinished palace of % the Dukes of Athol. It was begun by . the fourth Duke, who died In 1830, who planned It on the most sumptuous style. - - ? Whew.completed It wHI' be one of the finest private residences In the Kingdom. AtrAM OA tmowa ' Vioa Kaaw i'Ui WTCi 0V J tew O JJV1U.JLIUI?.U(W UVVU busily building a great mansion on the island of the name. It is not yet completed, nor is it likely to be for another 10 years. At' the end of that period, ' t Mount Stewart, vas the place is to be ' called, will be one,of the most gorgeous establishments in the world. . Rastormel Castle, in Cornwall, took 90 years to build, of which period exactly one-third was occupied in excavating . the foundations. The solid rock upon which it stands is almost as hard as iron. Indeed, "Restormel" means in Cornish, "the palace of the iron rock." Milan Cathedral was begun in 1385' and finished under N^polon in 1805?419 ' years. The Duomo at Florence was commenced by Arnulfo in the year 1294, the last block of marble being placed in position in the facade in the presence of the king on May 12, 1887, a period of 593 years.?Stray Stories. ? m > COTTON SEED INSTEAD OF UNSEED. Another Discovery Thet Is Full of Rich Prom' fsa. Prof. Frederick A. Thomas, a New Orleans chemist, has discovered a process by which cotton seed oil may be degummed and made to possess all the properties of linseed oil, according to the New Orleans Times-Democrat. As over $250,000,000 worth of linseed oil IS consumed in this country, the discovery Is of great commercial importance. There Is In operation In New Orleans, says The Times-Democrat, a plant, with a daily capacity of 1,500 gallons, and plans are being drawn for a plant which will occupy two city blocks and which will turn out 50,000 gallons per day. The capitalists who will put the oil on the market are prominent citizens of New Orleans. The great need of a substitute for the costly linseed oil was first suggested to Prof. Thomas, by Walter Scott, a boss painter of New Orleans. At that time a great many experiments had been made but the results were unsatisfactory. The crude cotton oil could be degummed, but as the paint would not dry in a year, the oil was useless. Prof. Thomas began studying the problem over 12 months ago. For months his experiments met with no success. He succeeded in removing the gum, but it left the oil in such a state that it would not dry. Prof. Thomas, however, had faith that he was on the right track, and invested over $25,000, his savings of a life-time, in experimental apparatus. After months of investigation and experimentation the secret was discovered, and a company was organized to put the oil on the market. The Thomasprocess removes all the gummy constituents found in cotton seed oil and leaves it the color of red wine, says The Times-Democrat. It is then clarified by chemical treatment, and comes out a light amber, containing all the valuable qualities of the finest Calcutta oil and certain virtues peculiar to itself. Samples of woodwork painted with paint mixed with the new oil are said to equal inc gloss the finest enamel. The paint withstood a heat of 185 degrees, and was subjected to a degree of cold below zero, and was submerged in water for two days without deterioration. The degummed oil becomes thoroughly incorporated with dry leads and paints and does not float on top, as does the linseed. It dries on out-of-door work in eight hours and in 12 hours on indoor work. The invention, it is claimed, will revolutionize the cotton seed and linseed, oil business.?New York Commercial. I