Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, May 02, 1905, Image 1

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JF ' vta . . | ' I YORKVILLE ENQUIRER. ~ * ISSUED SEMI-WEEKLY. l. m. oeist's sons, Pnbudier.. } - % Jfantilg gtrcspptr: jfr frontofion ofth< folitiral, ??ijial, ^gricaltnijal and d[?mn?mial Jnternsts of the f Mpl*. ESTABLISHED 1855. ~ YORKVILLE, S. C., TRJESDAY, MAY 2, 1905. 1S~Q. 35. ff=?= THE GF 2 I FRANCl! C * (Copyright, 1904, by Tb? CHAPTER XV. THE JUNKETER8. When Receiver Guilford took possession of the properties, appurtenances and appendages of the sequestered Trans-Western railway, one of the luxuries to which he fell heir was private car "Naught-seven," a commodious hotel on wheels originally used as the directors' car of the Western Pacific, and later taken over by loring to be put in commission as the general manager's special. In the hands of a friendly receiver this car became a boon to the capitol contingent; its observation piauorm served as a shifting rostrum from which a deep-chested executive or a mellifluous Hawk often addressed admiring crowds at way stations, and its dining saloon was the moving scene of many; little relaxative feasts, at which Veuve Cliquot flowed freely, priceless cigars were burned, and the members of the organization unbent, each after his kind. But to the men of the throttle and I oil can, car Naught-seven, in the gift of a hospital receiver, shortly became a nightmare. Like most private cars, It was heavier than the heaviest Pullman; and the engineer who was constrained to haul it like a dragging anchor at the tall end of a fast train was prone to say words not to be found in any vocabulary known to respectable philologists. It was in the evening of a windblown day, a week after Kent's visit to Oaston, that Engineer "Red" Callahan, oiling around for the all-night run with the Flyer on the western division, heard above the din and clamor of Union station noises the sullen thump betokening the addition of another car to his train, w "Now fwhat the divvle will that be?" ^ ~ he rasped, pausing, torch in band, to apostrophize his fireman. The answer came up out of the shadows to the rear on the lips of M'Tosh, the trainmaster. "You have the Naught-seven tonight, Callahan, and a pretty severe head wind. Can you make your time?" "Haven't thim bloody fools in the up-town office anything betther to do than to tie that sivinty-ton ball-an'chain to my leg such a night as this?" This is not what Callahan said; it is merely a printable paraphrase of bis rejoinder. M'Tosh shook bis head. He was a hold-over from the Loring administration, not because bis place was not worth taking, but because as yet no political heeler had turned up with the requisite technical ability to hold It. ^ "I don't blame you for cussing it \ out." he said; and the saying of it was a mark of the relaxed discipline ? i i-*? ?11 WQ1CQ was creeping UUU ail uiautuca of the service. "Mr. Lorlng's car Is anybody'^ private wagon these days. Can you make your time with her?" "Not on yer life," Callahan growled. MIs It the owld potgutted tbafe lv a rayceiver that's in her?" "Yes; with Gov. Bucks and a party of his friends. I take it you ought to feel honored." "Do I?" snapped Callahan. "If I don't make thim junketers think they're in the scuff iv a cyclone whin I get thim on the crooks beyant Dolores ye can gimme time, Misther M'Tosh. Where do I get shut iv thim?" "At Agua Caliente. They are going to the hotel at Breezeland, I suppose. There Is your signal to pull out." Breezeland Inn, the hotel at Agua Caliente, is a year-round resort for asthmatics and other health seekers, with a sanatorium annex which utilizes the waters of the warm springs for therapeutic purposes. But during hnt mont'is the caDital and the I plains cities to the eastward send their quota of summer idlers and the house fills to its capacity. It was for this reason that Mr. Brookes Ormsby, looking for a comfort able resort to which he might laki Mrs. Brentwood and her daughters for an outing, hit upon the expedient of going first in person to Breezeland, partly to make sure of accommodations and partly to check up the attractions of the place against plc^ turesque descriptions in the advertise* ments. When he turned out of his. sleeper in the early morning at Agua Caliente station, car Naught-seven had been thrown in on a siding a little farther up the line, and Ormsby recognized the burly person of the governor and the florid face and pursy figure of the receiver, in the group of men crossing from the private car to the waiting ipn tally-ho. Being a seasoned traveler, the clubman lost no time in finding the station agent. "Isn't there some way you can get me up to the hotel before that crowd reaches?" he asked, adding: "I'll make it worth your while." The reply effaced the necessity for haste. "The inn auto will be down in a few minutes, and you can go up in that. Naught-seven brought Gov. Bucks and . the receiver and their party, and 1 J ?? \H1 v. mln. liiejr re guuig uunu lu mcsuy, , Ing camp on the other side of the state I line. They've chartered the tally-ho for the day." Ormsby waited, and a little later was whisked away to the hotel In the tonneau of the guests' automobile. Afterward came a day which was rather hard to get through. Breakfast, a leisurely weighing and measuring of the climatic, picturesque and healthmending conditions, and the writing of a letter or two helped him wear out the forenoon; but after luncheon the time dragged dispiteously, and he was glad enough when the auto-car came to take him to the station for the evenI i"g train. As it happened, there were no other passengers for the eastbound Flyer; and finding he still had some minutes to wait, Ormsby lounged into the telegraph office. Here the bonds of ennui were loosened by the gradual development of a little mystery. First the telephone bell rang smartly, and when k s the telegraph operator took down the \; RAFTERS ^ Hr 5 LYNDE . 5 J Bobb?-Merrill Company.) ear-piece and said '"Well?" In the Imperious tone common to his kind, he evidently received i communication that shocked him. Ormsby overheard but a meager half of the wire conversation; and the excitement. whatever Its nature, was at I the other end of the line. None the less, the station agent's broken ejaculations were provocative of keen interest in a man wh > had been boring himself desperately for the better part of a day. "Caught him do)tig It, you say? Great Scot:! Oh. I don't believe that, you know yes ? uh-huh ? I hear. But who did the shooting?" Whether the information came or not. Ormsby did not know, for at this conjuncture the telegraph Instruments on the table set up a furious chattering, and the railway man dropped the receiver and (sprang to his key. . In an instant the telegraph operator dashed out of his bay-windowed retreat and ran up the track to the private car. In a few minutes he was back again, holding in excited conference with the chauffaur of the inn automobile, who was waiting to see if the Flyer should bring him any fares for the hotel. Ormsby saw the chauffeur turn his car in the length of it and send it spinning down the road and across the line into the adjoining state; heard the mellow whistle of the incoming train, and saw the station man nervously setting his stop signal; all with no more than a mild desire to know the reason for so much excitement and haste?a desire which was content to wait on the explanation of events. The explanation, such as it was, did not linger. The heavy train thundered in from the west; stopped barely long enough to allow the single passenger to swing up the steps of the Pullman; and went on again to stop a second time with a jerk when it had passed the sidetrack switch. Ormsby put his head out of the window and saw that the private car was to be taken on; remarked also that the thing was done with the utmost celerity. Once out on the main line with car Naught-seven coupled In. the train was backed swiftly down to the station and (he small mystery of hurryings was sufficiently solved. The governor and his party were returning, and they did not wsb to miss connections. On this particular evening David Kent's wratb-flre was Tar from needing an additional stoking. Once more Miss Van Brock had given proof of her prophetic gift, and Kent had been moodily filling in (he details of the picture drawn by her woman's intuition. He had gone late to the house in Alameda square, knowing that Portia had dinner guests. And It was imperative that he should have her to himself. "You needn't tell me anything but the manner of its doing." she was saying. "I knew tbey would find a way to stop you?or make one. And you neeon i dp spu^tm m iuc, duc added, when Kent flipped the arms of his chair. "I don'l mind your saying 'I told you so'." he fumed. "It's the fact that 1 didn't have sense enough to see what an easy game I was dealing them. It didn't take Meigs five minutes to shut me off." "Tell me about it." she said; and he did it crisply. "The quo warranto Inquiry is instituted in the name cf the state; or rather the proceedings are brought by some person with the approval of the governor or the attor- -y general, one or both. I took to-day for obtaining this approval because I knew Bucks was out of town and I thought I could bully Meigs." "And vou couldn't?" she said. "Not in a thousand years. At flrat he said be would take the matter under advisement: I knew that meant a consultation with Bucks. Then I put the whip on; told him a few of the things I know, and let him imagine a lot more; but it was no good. He was as smooth as oil, admitting nothing, denying nothing. And what grinds me worst is that I let him put me in fault; gave him a chance to show conclusively how absurd it was for me to expect him to take up a question of such maenitndp nn thp snnr of the mo< ment." "Of course," she said sympathetically. "I knew they would find a way. What are you doing?" Kent laughed in spite of his sore amour-propre. "At this present moment I am doing precisely what you said I should: unloading my woes upon you." "Oh, but I didn't say that I said you would come to me for help. Have you?" "I'd say yes. if I didn't know so well 'just what I am up against." Miss Van Brock laughed unfeelingly. "Is it a man's weakness to fight better in the dark?" . "It is a man's common sense to know when he is knocked out," he retorted. She held him with her eyes while she said: "Tell me what you want to accomplish. David: at the end of the ends, 1 mean. Is it only that you wish to save Miss Brentwood's little marriage portion ?" He told the simple truth, as wno could help, with Portia's eyes demanding It. "It was that at first: I'll admit But latterly?" "Latterly you have begun to think larger things?" She locked away from him, and her next word seemed to be part of an unspoken thought. "I have been wondering if you are great enough. David." He shook his head despondently. "Haven't I just be<m showing you that I am not?" "You have been showing me that you cannot always out-plan the other person. That is a lack, but It is not fatal. Are you great enough to run fast and far when it is a straight-away race depending only npon mere manstrength and indomitable determination?" "Try me," he said, Impulsively. "Would you like to have your quo warranto blind alley turned into a thoroughfare?" "I believe you can do it if you try," he admitted, brightening a little. "Maybe I can; or rather I can put you in the way of doing it. You say Mr. Meigs is obstinate, and the governor is likely to prove still more obstinate. Have you thought of any way of softening them?" "You know I haven't. It's a stark impossibility from my point of view." "Nothing is Impossible; it is always a question of ways and means." Then, suddenly: "Have you been paying any attention to the development of the Belmount oil field?" "Enough to know that it is a big thing; the biggest since the Pennsylvania discoveries, according to all ac counts. "And the people of the state are enthusiastic about it, thinking that now the long tyranny of tbc oil monopoly will be broken?" "That is the way most of the newspapers talk, and there seems to be some little ground for it, granting the powers of the new law," She laid the tips of her Angers on his arm and knotted the thread of suggestion in a single sentence. "In the present state of affairs? with the present party as yet on trial, and the public mind ready to take Are at the merest hint of a foreign capitalistic monopoly in the state?tell me what would happen to the man who would let the Universal Oil company into the Belmount Aeld in deAance of the new trust and corporation law?" "By Jove!" Kent exclaimed, sitting up as if the shapely hand bad given him a buffet. "It would ruin him politically, world without end! Tell me; is Bucks going to do that?" She laughed softly. That is for you to And out, Mr. David Kent; not by hearsay, but in good, solid terms of fact that will appeal to a level-headed, conservative newspaper editor like?well, like Mr. Hildreth, of the Argus, let us say. Are you big enough to do it?" "I am desperate enough to try," was the slow-spoken answer. CHAPTER XVI. SHARPEN I NO THE SWORD. In the beginning of the new campaign of investigation David Kent wisely discounted the help of paid professional spies?or rather he deferred it to a later stage?by taking counsel with Jeffrey Hildreth, night editor of the Argus. Here, if anywhere, practical help was to be bad; and the tender of it was cheerfully hearty and enthusiastic. "Most assuredly you may depend on the Argus, horse, foot and artillery," said the editor, when Kent had -gnardedly outlined some portion of his plan. "We are on your side of the fence, and have been ever since Bucks was sprung as a candidate on the con ventlon. But you've no case. 01 course, it's an open secret that the Universal people are trying to break through the fence of the new law and establish themselves in the Belmount field without losing their identity or any of their monopolistic privileges. And it is equally a matter of course to some oT us that the Bucks ring will sell the state out if the price is right. But to implicate Bucks and the capitol gang in printable shape is quite another matter." "I know," Kent admitted. "But it "YOU CAN COUNT ON THE ARGUS. FOOT. HORSE AND ARTILLERY," SAID THE EDITOR. Isn't impossible; it has got to be possible." The night editor sat back in his chair and chewed his cigar reflectively. Suddenly he asked: "What's your object, Kent? It isn't purely pro bono publico, I take it?" Kent couid no longer say truthfully that it was, and he did not lie about it. "No, it's purely personal. I guess. I need to get a grip on Bucks and I mean to do it." Hildreth laughed. "And, having got it, you'll telephone me to let up?as you did in the House Bill Twenty-nine fiasco. Where do we come in?" "No; you shall come in on the ground floor this time; though I may ask you to bold your hand until I have used my leverage. And if you'll go into it to stay, you sha'n't be alone. Giving the Argus precedence in any item of news, I'll engage to have every other opposition editor in the state ready to back you." "Glad! you're growing, Kent. Do you mean to down the Bucks crowd ded-deflnitely?" demanded the editor, who stammered a little under excitable provocation. "Bigger men than you havo tried it?and failed." "But no one of them with half my obstinacy, Hildreth. It can be done, and I am going to do it." "The sercetary of state's office is the place you want to watch," said Hildreth. "New oil companies are incorporating every day. Pretty soon one these will swallow up all the otherB: that one will be the Universal under another name, and in its application for a charter you'll And askings big enough to cover all the rights and privileges of the original monopoly." "That is a good Idea," said Kent, who already bad a clerk in the secretary of state's office in bis pay. And on that read he had' traveled far, thanks to a keen wit, to Portia Van Brock's incessant onmptlngs, and to the help of the leak> clerk In Hendricks' office; so far, indeed, that he had found the "stool pigeon" oil company, to which Hildreth's bint had pointed?a company compose!,' with a single exception, of men of "straw,'*, the exception being the man Romford, whose conferences with the governo^ and the attorney general had aroused' his suspicions. ft was about this time that HunnW cott reported the sale of the Oast on lots at a rather fancy cash figure, and the money came in good play. "Two things remain to be proved," said Portia, in one of their many connings of the intricate, course; "two things that must be proved before 70a can attack openly- that Rumford la really representing the Universal Oil company: and rhnt he Is bribing the Junto to let the Universal Incorporate under the mask if his 'straw* com* pany. Now is th? time when you cannot afford to be e< v>aomlcal. Have you money?*' Since It was the day after the Hunnicott remittance. Kent could answer yes with a good conscience. "Then spend it," she said; and he did spend It like a millionaire, lying awake nights to devise new ways of employing it. And for the abutments of the arch of proof the money-spending sufficed. By dint of a warm and somewhat costly wire Investigation of Rumford's antecedents. Kent succeeded In placing the Belmount promoter unquestionably as one of the trusted lieutenants of the Universal; and the leaky clerk In the secretary of state's office gave the text of the application for the "straw" company charter, showing that the powers asked for were as despotic as the great monopoly could desire. But for the keystone of the arch, the criminal Implication of the plotters themselves, he was indebted to a flt of ill-considered anger and to a chapter of accidents. TO Bit OONTOTtTUn. Miscellaneous sReadinfl. ! STORY OF ENGINE PETE. He Held First Locomotive That Crossed the Plaint. "I see there is a new house going up here. Some newcomer settled among you?" I asked the liveryman who was driving me through from Munden to Prairie Centre. No new house had been "built and no old one repainted In the ten years I had made that territory. "No, that's old Pete Hanson's en-i 1 glne house. Haven't you heard that? old Pete has sold his railroad at lastT'l "Didn't know he had a rallroad.1 What do you mean?" "Gee! I thought everybody, hadl heard about Pete Hanson and h|S trackless railroad." "Ah, an inventor, eh?" my Interest was aroused. "I see I'll have to tell you. 'Bout thirty years ago this country was on a boom. Nothln' sleepy about it then. It was the liveliest section In the country. They were going to run a spur right through here to connect with the main line of the Union Pacific; condemned a piece of Pete Hanson's land. Pete was young then, and had three little towheads, and lived In a shanty. With the money h$ got for his land he was going to build a decent house. Well, the road was never built, scheme fell through, and they never paid Pete for his land. Pete was bound to have his money. He went over to Prairie Centre and got out a writ of attachment. Got the sheriff and a lot of chains and swore he'd chain to the track and serve the writ on the next freight train that came along. "The section agent wired down to the division superintendent what was up and they sent out the oldest and most useless engine you ever heard of. The sheriff pulled his gun and made the engineer run the engine 011 a siding. Pete chained her down and the writ was served. The company telegraphed to Pete that they guessed he had the right of It and the only way they could see It was that that engine was his huckleberry. So they gave him twenty-four hours to get It off their tracks. Well, that about got Pete, but he was game. He hired half the men and horses In the country and lugged his engine home. It broke him, and he never seemed to be able to get another start In life. People nearly guyed him to death. Called him "Engine Pete* and 'Railroad Hanson* forever afterward. "So there that old engine set out In his backyard. The hens hatched their chickens in the boiler and the children played summer house in the cab. As years went on the old engine rusted and sunk deeper in the earth. The children grew up and went away, but still old man Hanson stoutly maintained that he had done right, and that some day he'd get the money from the railroad to build that new house which his wife and he had wanted when the children were babies. "Well, the funny part of it is that last year he got a letter from the railroad company telling him that they had been tracing the whereabouts of the first engine that ever crossed the plains on the Union Pacific, which was the first road to span the continent and connect the two oceans with an iron highway. They wanted their engine for the transportation building exhibit at the World's Fair. Old Pete Hanson held out for (2.000, and got It: and now him and his women are getting the new house he had been , Klo Hfo ' VanQfiQ OitV prOIIIIMUK UK mo *.. Star. m - The Scriptitie Complied With.? It was In an experience meeting in an I African Methodist church over in Virginia, writes a Washington correspondent. A new convert had been giving in his confession. He told the brethren and the sisters all the sins of his life, and more too. with all their aggravations. He had confessed to every crime in the decalogue. When he paused for breath, gasping at his own wickedness, a brother in the gallery shouted solemnly: "Put out dat lamp!" "What for?" asked the pastor. "Coz," said the solemn brother, "de vilest sinner done return." NOBODY TO ACCU8E. Prosecution of Alleged Lynchers a Fiasco. The result of the proposed preliminary examination of the alleged Morrison lynchers at Lancaster last Friday, was published in Thk Enquirer within an hour after the case fell through. The following story told In a Lancaster special to the News and Courier of Saturday, Includes comprehensive details of the proceedings before Magistrate Caskey. The preliminary hearing before Magistrate Caskey today in the case of the parties charged with the Kershaw lynching resulted in the dismissal by the Magistrate of the defendants In court and the entering of a nolle prosse by Solicitor Henry as to those who had not been arrested. No evidence whatever was submitted by the state. The case attracted an Immense crowd, the court house where the hearing was held being literacy packed. Several hundred came from Kershaw In private conveyances, having failed to charter a special train. Business was practically suspended both at Kershaw and Heath Springs. The magistrate called the case promptly at 10 o'clock. The following defendants were In court: Burrell Truesdale. W. E. Belk. S. Frank Houeh. 8. W. Heath, John T. Stevens, H. J. Gardner Dock Belk. Steve L. Gardner, Jr., John Holden, Steve W. Welch. They were represented hv A.ttornevs E. D. Blakeney, T. Y. Williams, Charles D. Jones and D. Reece Williams. No one appearing for the prosecution. Maeistrat" Caskey waited for an hour or so, when Solicitor Henry floplly arrived from Chester. The solicitor moved for a continuance until Wednesday on the ground of unpre "aredoess. He said he had been engaged at the York court and had had no time to prepare this case and that he 'eft a death chamber this morning to come to Lancaster. That It was the policy of the state to prosecute o"lv those who did the killing, "the killing ->f Morrison" at the tree. When therefore the warrants for Stevens and Heath were taken out he was at York. Before his return he found that the evidence against them was not sufficient. He consulted the governor and he agreed with him. The detectives were then Instructed to get evidence onlv against those directly engaged In the killing. Asks For Continuance. He said It was not the purpose of the prosecution to arrest Stevens and Heath untl! It was thought that they were In Chester, trying to run down n.U?aaur.n Ua tko.iffkt fKof 4i?a_ ^Miir n unronrn. nc iiiuugui. turn, juntlce to the defendants themselves, as arell as to the state and community, aempjided a continuance until the niWcution was ready. He aald he Wad no witnesses present and It was fbt his duty to hunt up evidence. That tafe of the case was turned over to dmectlves some time afro. He assumed full responsibility for the Investigation. Mr. Blakeney, on behalf of the defendants, demanded an Immediate hearing, as they were charged with the most heinous offence known to the law. He asked If a prosecuting officer had the right to hound down by detectives men engaged in lawful pursuits and then, when arrested, deny them ball, as was done In Chester In this case. He believed the policy of the prosecution to be to put these men in Lancaster Jail Just as they were Jailed In Chester. He ridiculed the Idea that the prosecution had had no time for preparation. One of the warrants was Issued April 1 and yet no action was taken until April 25. Referring to the report that the governor has something to do with the case, Mr. Blakeney said the governor told him that he had nothing to do with the prosecution, which was left to the solicitor of the circuit. He said he did not believe that the governor was undertaking to say how this case shall be conducted. He never knew the state before to try to Incarcerate Innocent men. He did not believe the nrosecutlon wanted Justice done in this case. *kA ah ooM 11 onv rvrpi jiii^ inr nuiacitui nuiu ** blunders had been made he was responsible for them, that he would rather blunder than do nothing at all. that his conscience would not allow him to *o nothing In this matter; that he advised the governor to make the I ivestleatlon. He said he not only had no witnesses here, but had only talked casually with the detectives about the case. He declined to give names of his witnesses who were absent. H questioned the right of the magistrate to hold this preliminary and expressed a willingness to go with the parties tonight before Judge Oage In Chester or Judge Purdy In York. Mr. T. Y. Williams, addressing the court, said the question was not whether It would give Mr. Henry further time or whether It would give H. B. Howie further time to travel In Pullman cars over two states spending the state's money In gambling dens, etc., money drawn on the solicitor's endorsement, but the question Is whether the testimony Is sufficient to hold these men charged with murder. He regarded the who<!e proceeding as an outrage on justice, a conspiracy to rob South Carolina. He did not know all the conspirators, but he knew that H. B. Howie was one of them. Th# Arrests Monday. He said the arrests were made Monday night and the solicitor had had several days for consultation with his detectives. Mr. Jones emphasized the fact that the defendants were asking no favors of any one; that they were demanding their right to a speedy Investigation?right guaranteed to every man accused of crime. He said How le's affidavit, on which warrants were issued, was not on Information and belief, but absolute knowledge. He wanted to know, therefore, If Howie was present to substantiate his grave charges. The Inquiry developed the fact that Howie was not here, the solicitor admitting that he had told Howie It was not worth while for him to come. The fact was also brought out that Magistrate Caskey had signed the warrants In Chester and not In Lancaster, and Mr. T. Y. Williams accordingly attacked the legality of the warrants on that ground. Mr. D. R. Williams also made a strong plea for an Immediate hearing. He said It was a right given the prls oners themselves by the law and that they were not responsible for the unpreparedness of the solicitor. Mr. Hehry closed the discussion with a statement of his opinion as to the jurisdiction of magistrates in criminal cases. He said he did not think Mr. Caskey had authority to hold this preliminary; that when a magistrate issues a warrant for murder he is at his row's end. He also disclaimed any feeling in this matter and said he was doing only what he conceived to be his official duty. He admitted that Howie had charged of the investigation and that he was being paid by the state. All the speeches were unusually flne and some of them truly eloquent. The magistrate announced his d< cision. " discharging the prisoners before him In a few words. As he closed Mr. Henry arose and stated that he nolle prossed the case aaalnst the defendants at large, thus ending the most interesting preliminary held in Lancaster In many years. T JOHN PAUL JONE8. Carver of the Founder of the Amsrican Navy. Out of the mass of prejudice, which has never been justified, surrounding his name has sprung a desire for knowledge of Paul Jones' life, which has steadily grown, until vague facts have I* en either strengthened and Incorporated in histories or else, with an added shadow, woven into romance. James Fennlmore Cooper worked some of the man into his novel, "The Pilot" and that was the beginning. Had he-died in 1779 he would still have lived ip the memory of every schoolboy ^as the hero of the most terrible hand-to-hand naval fight in American history. What schoolboy, reciting his Friday afternoon declamation, has not fancied the school room platform the deck of the rotten Bonhomme Richard and the pupllB before him the Serapis' boarders, as he piped forth: "'I have not yet begun to fight!' cried the lion-hearted commodore." At the outset the historian is met with a moot point. Paul Jones' birthplace, however, is generally given as Klrcudbrightshihe, Scotland, and the date as July 6, 1747. His father was John Paul, a gardener, and the name Jones was not assumed until 1773, and why at all has never been explained. Paul Jones went to sea at twelve as an apprentice and made his first voyage from Whitehaven to Virginia, where he settled for a time in Fredricksburg, with a brother. During the next eight years he made two voyages as a mate on a slaver, but, finding even his love of adventure quenched by the revolting nature of the trade, left the colonies in disgust in 1768 as a passenger on a brigantine bound for Scotland. Master and mate died during the voyage and Jones' experience was a godsend. He took the vessel Into port and was rewarded by the owners with the captaincy of a West Indian trader. Continuing In the trade, he had accumulated a considerable fortune by personal commercial speculation, when in 1773 he took charge of the Virginia, plantation on his brother's death. It was at this time that he strangely added Jones to his name, although he continued to correspond with his ramHy. The monotony of a planter's life wore on him and at the outbreak of hostilities with England in 1775 he ofTered his services, and after aiding the naval committee of congress with his advice and serving on a commission for the purchase of naval vessels for the new government, was made first lieutenant of the Alfred, flagship of the first American squadron which rendezvoused in Philadelphia harbor for an attack on New Providence. On the day of sailing Jones raised on the Alfred what Is said to have been the first American flag unfurled on a manof-war. Its background was white, bearing a pine tree with a rattlesnake colled at its foot. After a successful attack on New Providence and the capture of a British squadron, Jones was made captain of the sloop Providence, armed only with four pounders, on which he made a dare-deyll voyage through West Indian waters In forty-seven days, taking sixteen prizes and destroying the fishery at Isle Madame.. Transferred >to the Alfred In 1776, he swung to the north, destroyed the Cape Breton fisheries, captured a number of British transports and liberated 100 Americans who were confined by the English at hard labor In the coal mines. When, early In 1777, congress established the relative rank of naval offlc< rs, Jones felt that he had been unjustly dealt with and remonstrated somewhat arrogantly. His services to - 1 ?- ~ ?? AHi.kll/1 n.AMa trtrt tTQ 111. ine riew-uuill rcpuuuv; ncic IUU able to be thrown away, even for reasons political, and he received command of one of the new ships, the Ranger, and general Instructions to "distress the enemies of the United States by sea or land." This was the sort of commission for a fighter of Jones' temperament, and he set sail for the English channel late In 1777, stopping in France to deliver to the American commissioners the official announcement of Burgoyne's surrender. And now with his one vessel he began a series of exploits which the English have never forgiven his memory. Harrying the channel coast so 1 that signal fires were kept alight ev- i ery night, telling the presence of the little Ranger, he captured prizes, < swooped Into Whitehaven, where he I tried to burn the shipping, made an < attempt to capture the Earl of Selkirk, and capped everything when off i Carrlckfergus he fell In with the Drake, British man-of-war, of twenty i guns, which he captured after a handto-hand fight. Most of the Ranger's men were put to man the prize, and i on this account Jones was forced to drop down to Brest. The French government, as pdeased i at his exploits as the Americans, i showed Its gratitude by fitting out for < him a squadron of four vessels, the fiagship of which, the Bonhomme < Richard, which he had named In hon- ; or of Dr. Franklin, was a rotten East I Indian, which would have shivered be- 1 fore a good hard gale. His officers were either Americans without expe- I rlence, or Frenchmen, who In the hour < of need deserted him. His crew was a 1 motley crowd, many of then foreign- < ers. It was the best he could do, * however, and ofT he sailed on a daring i mission to destroy the shipping at ' Lelth, which was abandoned on ac- ! count of a gale. I On September 23. Jones sighted the 1 two British warships Serapls, forty- i four guns, and the Countess of Scar- 1 borough, twenty-eight guns, with a I convoy of forty merchantmen. The Pallas engaged the Counters of Scarborough, and the Bonhomme Richard and Serapls, after a few broadsides, grappled. Late into the night the flgbt went on. The Alliance of Jones' fleet poured broadside after broadside into the Bonhomme Richard. killing many of her men, an occurrence which has never been explained. Two of Jones' 18-pounders exploded at the first fire, ripping her decks to shreds. The recoil of the heavy guns disjointed the timbers of the old merchantman; all but a few light guns on the spar deck were rendered useless; the boat was afire in two places and with half her men killed or wounded. was beginning to sink when Jones was called upon to Surrender. Instead, he lasted the Richard to the Ser&pis to keep her afloat, and headed a board1 ig party. The Serapls struck her flag at half-past ten and Jones, boarding her, cast off the lashings and the Bonhomme Richard sank with her dead Into the hollows of the North sea. For this Jones received a vote of thanks from congress and a decoration and a gold sword fi-om the king of France. Captain Pearson of the Serapls, even though defeated by a far inferior force, was knighted for his bravery. When Jones heard of it he laughed. "It I meet him again," he said, 'Til make a lord of him." It was proposed to create the rank of rear admiral for him, but that project was never realised and the commodore had no further opportunity for active service in the United States navy. He accepted, in 1778, the commission of rear admiral hi the Russian navy, with the understanding that he should return to the United States service when called. He conducted a successful campaign against the Turks for Russia then, discouraged with Russian Intrigue, returned to Paris, in broken health. His friends Interceded for him, and Anally a sop was thrown to him in the shape of an appointment as commissioner and consul to Algiers. But even this came too late to relieve the bitter memories of his last hours. The papers reached Paris on the day of his death. It has been said that if he had commanded the navy of the First Empire Napoleon Bonaparte could have carried out his plan of a world conquest. The congress of the United States flnally struck off a medal In commemoration of the Bonhomme RichardSerapls fight.?New York Sun. HIGH 0FFICIAL8 A8 MA80N8. President, Vies President and Most Members of Congress Are Affiliates. A Washington special to the New York Evening: Post says: Both Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Fairbanks went Into Masonry after they had been chosen for the office of vice president Mr. Roosevelt was popularly elected In November, 1900, and before the winter was over he had become a member of the Matincock lodge, at Oyster Bay. He has been elected to receive the degrees In the Royal Arch chapter but has never taken them, because of the pressure of public business. He might, of course, take these degrees during the summer vacation at Oyster Bay, but this would now attract so much attention as to embarrass him and the chapter at that place, and so he has decided to wait until he Is once more a private cltlxen. Mr. Fairbanks took the symbolic blue lodge degrees at Indianapolis, under a dispensation from the grand master of Indiana, during the recent holiday recess, the three degrees be-* Ing conferred in one day. He has since, immediately following the adjournment of the special session of the senate, taken the chapter degrees, also under dispensation, and In one day. It is said to be his purpose during the present year to take the remaining degrees of the New York rite, ending with that of Knight Templar, and then to take the Scottish Rite degrees up to and Including the thirty-second degree. He will thus be shown all the mysteries of the order far ahead of the man whose place In the White House he hopes to All after 1908. It is rather a noteworthy fact that the great majority of presidents of the United States from Washington to Roosevelt have been members of the Masonic fraternity. In the later years the best known of these are Garfield, Harrison and McKlnley. Garfield was i Knight Templar and held his membership In all the York rlie bodies In this city. He was a charter memo-.r of a Washington blue lodge and remained on Its rules until his death. McKlnley was also a Knight Templar, but his membership was In Ohio. John Qulncy Adams, who came Into the presidency during the days of the anti-Mason excitement, talked and wrote against the order with considerable vigor. Andrew Jackson at one time was grand master of the grand odge of Tennessee. An informal poll was made of the two houses of congress a few years ago by a Washington Mason, and it was discovered that more than 87 per cent of the members of the house were in the order, and more than 80 per cent of the members of the senate. The city of Washington Is perhaps the strongest Masonic city of the world. Of Its population of 278,000, after deducting 95,000 negroes, 183,000 people remain from whom to draw for Masonic purposes. The register of the grand lodge of this city shows that there are uwards of 8.000 affiliated Masons here, belonging to twentyseven blue lodges. There are fourteen Royal Arch chapters and five commanderles of Knights Templar. Washington Is also the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of the southern jurisdiction, and on that account the Scottish Rite bodies here are especially strong. Several earnest efforts have been made by local lodges to have President Roosevelt visit them, but thus far without avail. He feels that he cannot accept one Invitation of this character without accepting others, and to accept all that would come would be highly Inconvenient. He has been made qji honorary member of two of the local blue lodges. Mr. Fairbanks has already visited several of the local lodges, and It is probable that these visits will be continued next winter and during the rest of his term as vice president. 8PADE C0NFIRM8 THE BIBLE. ??? Investigation* Furnish Corroboration of 8tories In 8sripturea. Palestine was until recently a country closed to all save superficial research by the Biblical scholar". He has not been able there, as he has In the Nile and Euphrates valleys, to test the pictures of their old life given In the Bible with the spade of the explorer. He could not prove these pictures correct by producing the things they represented from the ruins of ancient cities. Within the last few years systematic archeologtcal research has become possible In Palestine. The sites of several ancient cities have been thoroughly excavated?among them Oeser, which, according to the Bible, Solomon received as part of the dowry of his Egyptian wife, the Biblical Taanuch, on the plain of Neglddo, and the city of Neglddo Itself. Prof. E. Sellin of the University of Vier.na, In the Neue Klrchllche Zeltschrlft, summarises the results of these explorations as they bear on Biblical problems. It has become clear says Professor Sollln In aiihilanp? thai from 2F.00 to 1700 B. C. there existed in Palestine . a native culture and civilisation distinguishable from the Babylonian, Egyptian and Phoenic an types. Evidences of an Israetitbih period begin to appear about 1200 B. C.?that is, about the time when, (according to the Bible, Israel obtained leal control over regions formerly Chnianlte or "Philistine." These excavations have furnished accurate data regarding the Canaanite religion; have shown that its superstitious and sensusl character is correctly represented 11 the Bible, and have made it clear th it the life and death struggle of the Israelltish prophets against this religion depicted in the Bible was one of self preservation. We see that that contest was no mere warfare of sects or of schools of philosophy, but a conflict between systems as dl.Ierent in spirit as Christianity and paganism. Despite certain external resemblances of rites and ceremonies, more or less common to all the religions of Western Asia, the evidence produced by the spade confirms the evidence of the Bible. Both show that the creeds of the tfenaanltes and the Israelites were totally different in spirit?that between them was a gulf which could not be bridged?that Israel's religion could thrive only by adopting an attitude of uncompromising hostility toward all the religions around It. The Ood of Israel was not and could not be, as the gods of nations roundabout though Israel might use the external forms of these hostile faiths? might adapt them as the Christian church later adapted the Roman Saturnalia and other pagsn festivals. "But Israel in appropriating: these forms," as Professor Sellln says,. "gave them an entirely new and different spirit, which jan only," he holds, rbe attributed Je Divine reve- ' latlon." Whether we go that far with Professor Sellln or not, archeologlcal research Is making: it clear'that "the reiiglon of Israel was not of a kind, not even the begt of.u kind, but the only one of its kind." That there waft none other like It amor gr its neighbors is a fact proved by the spade of the explorer as well as by :he Bible.?Chicago Inter-Ocean, * BRIDGING THE ZAMBE8I. Will 8pan the River lielow Victoria Falls, ->*sl Another link in the Cape to Cairo railway Is now being: made by the construction of the railway bridge across the Zambesi rWer, Just below the Victoria falls. The formation of the river at this point is most curious, the entire falls being* merely a narrow crack made by some mighty convulsion of nature in the hard basaltic rock right across the river, and then prolonged from a point; near the left ( bank, away through thirty or forty miles of hills in a seres of zigzags. The Victoria falls are 4*50 feet hifeh and 1,900 yards long, or two and one-half times the height and twice the width of the falls of Niagara. The Cape to Cairo railway, which has recently been completed from Cape Town to - r* ? 1 ' 1 ate anri < nrtnr lilt; ^iuuucai \i,y?iu iuu?-o/ miu ?? .? being: carried on toward Tanganyika, traverses the peninsula of rock immediately in front of the falls, and will cross the gorge by the bridge Just below the "Boiling P"t," as the narrow outlet Is called, th. jugh which the whole river rusnes after its tremendous fall. The clear span of the arch, which is now under construction, will be 500 feet, and owing to its height above the river?400 feet?no staging or scaffolding can be employed in Its erection. It is, therefore, being built out from each bank of the ravine, on , the cantilever principle, until the steel work of the arch meets in the centre. The bridge, which will be sufficient!)' wide for a double line of railways, Is being built by Sir Douglas Fox and Partners, the englneers'of the Rhodesia Railway company. In order to carry across the gorge the materials for the northern half of the bridge and the rails for the extension northward, an electric jable-way of a novel type has been employed. One end of the cable is attached to a rigid tower, and the other '?nd to an Inclined hinge support, which is loaded with a heavy weight to counteract the sagging of the cafre as the conveyor travels along it. The carrier Is suspended from two traveling wheels running on the rope, and consists of a frame carrying a chair and the driver and the electric mo'or which propels the apparatus. The conveyor is capaoie UI curr/uig a. iviu w..>, and can transport 800 tons of material across the river in one day; the amount of railway construction plant which will have to be carried over the river before the work is finished being estimated at 40,000 tons.?London ( Graphic. tf Friend?Well, your old love has married your rival, I see. Discarded Suitor (fiendishly)? S'death! I've got even with him. They will quarrel the first week, fight the second, separate forever in the third. Friend?Great heavens'. What have you done? Discarded Suitor?I presented the bride with one of those fluffy, redeyed. snarling, barking pet dogs.? New York Weekly. m m Ja