University of South Carolina Libraries
^ ^ ^ ^ ' xssuED semi-WEE:KL^ l. m. grist's sons, Publisher.. } % |amilg Beirspaper: |or ">4 promotion oj thi| faliticat, Social, 3-gricuKutial and <JIominer^cial Interests of the (people. j mVi'No^?pJ.Envi!,ciS^!iCK^ ESTABLISHED 1855. ~~~ YORKVILLE, S. C., TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1906. N~Q. 55. THE R A Story of the Times Alexander BY JERE I CHArifcK 1A. "Full In thine eye Is waved the glittering blade. Close to thy throat the pointed bayonet laid. The level'd muskets circle round thy breast. In hands as steeled to do the deadly rest." The suggestion of Billings was not lost upon Hamilton; and in a few days Colonel Burr received notice that his application for permission to make an attack upon Statein Island had been rejected. Afterwards the mind of the commander-in-chief appeared to undergo a change, and Lord Stirling was sent to perform the service Burr had suggested. Notice of Lord Stirling's de-1 signs was communicated to the British commander, through whose agency thel reader will be at no loss to determine, and the enterprise in consequence proved to be a failure. Colonel Burr, thus cut off from one road to distinction, ?>/wr> found another. The cool courage and untiring energy which he had exhibited on the night of Washington's retreat from Long Island had not been overlooked or forgotten and to that he owned his appointment to a situation where such qualities were indispensable in the commanding officer. Ten miles from the main camp at Valley Forge, there was a pass called the gulf. If the enemy should leave the city at any time during the winter, to attack him. it was from this point that Washington expected to receive the earliest notice of his movements. Accordingly, he posted a strong body of militia at the pass, instructing the officer in command to keep patrols and spies continually on the alert, so that he might be instantly apprised of any movement in force Sir William Howe might attempt to make. The optics of these militia men were unfortunately endowed with magnifying properties whenever they were required to look at a "red-coat," and the consequence was, that to their vision every little foraging party assumed the proportions of an army, and the commander-in-chief was continually annoyed by false alarms, some of which caused him to draw out his whole force, and expose them needlessly to the bitter blasts of winter. After various attempts to correct the evil. General McDougall advised him to send Colonel Burr to the gulf, and withdraw all the officers superior to him in rank, so that the whole direction of matters should devolve on him. This advice accorded so well with Washington's own estimate of Burr's fitness for the place that it was promptly adopted, and orders were at once issued to carry it into effect. It is probable that Hamilton made no objection to the arrangement, since it seemed to furnish his rival with little chance for increased distinction. Placed again in an independent command, untrammeled by other than mere general orders. Colonel Burr de L 1 ? ? i * * ? V>^l?i floe that rip. voieu niiiiM-ii iu in*- uunco -v volved upon him. His activity knew no pause. His. vigilance never slumbered. He was always in the right place exactly at the right time. Knowing full well the importance of discipline at all times, and particularly under such circumstances, his first care was to establish a rigid system, which he enforced with unflinching determination. Heretofore the excesses of the militia had been winked at, under the impression that there were no other means of keeping them in the service. The consequence was. that they had become more formidable to the people of the country than to the enemy. Colonel Burr believed that they could be reduced to as strict subordination as regular troops, and he determined that they should be. No drill was omitted on account of the severity of the weather, as had pre viously been the custom. No excuse was accepted for the non-performance of any duty, and no criminal was allowed to go unpunished. The men, long accustomed to the license of freebooters, broke into open murmurs, which grew louder daily, as one after another suffered the penalties incurred by their predatory habits. About this time, James Billings rode over to the Gulf, and was observed during the day in close conversation with a stalwart so!dier who had been severely punished for some misdemeanor the preceding day. When they parted, the soldier's pocket was heavier by several pieces of gold, though what had been agreed upon between them could only be inferred from the events which followed. As soon as night came, the soldier, urged on by the strong incentives of gain and revenge cautiously passed from hut to hut, stirring up the worst men at the post, reminding them of the punishments they had received, and pointing out to them that there was no hope of any relaxation of the stern rules to which they were subjected, except in the death of their present commander. In that army, as in every other, there were abundance of men ready for any deed of violence, upon even less provocation than that which they chose to consider had been offered: and. during that night and the next day. the con spiracy came to a head. Kor me purpose of dividing the responsibility, it was determined that when the colonel made his appearance at the evening parade, a dozen muskets should be discharged at him at once. As the hour approached, one of the number grew nervous and disclosed the plot. To arrest and place the mutineers in irons, was an obvious mode of avoiding the danger; but Colonel Burr regarded this as a temporary expedient, which, however it might succeed at the time, would have little effect in preventing other mutinies in the future. He wished to give them a more impressive lesson. With this view, he caused all the suspected soldiers to be detailed for fatigue duty and while they were thus engaged, secretly drew the charges from their muskets. When the hour for evening parade came, instead of approaching them in front, he came ut: on the right flank and walked slowly down the line, eyeing each man intently as he passed. About the center of th? line, the chief mutineer stepped frorr % IVALS. i of Aaron Burr and Hamilton. CLEMENS. the ranks, leveled his musket, and shouting, "Now, boys, Is our time!" pulled the trigger. The unloaded gun merely flashed in the pan, and, quick as lightning, the saber of Colonel Bundescended upon the right arm of the mutineer, cleaving entirely through the bone, and severing the limb completely from the body. The musket dropped to the ground, and the baffled murderer mechanically obeyed the stern order. "Back sir, to your place in the line!" Not another word, was spoken. Colonel Burr continued his walk to the extreme left; and then, taking his place in front, went through with the dress parade as if nothing had occurred. From that hour the spirit of disaffection was at an end. Complaints from the country people ceased entirely. That lawless militia were converted into the most orderly soldiers of the army, and not a single false alarm was borne to Valley Forge. Some expressions dropped by Billings on the day of the mutiny, Induced Hamilton to suspect that he had been engaged in fomenting the discontent of the soldiery, and after the failure of the attempt to assassinate Col. Burr, he sought his house for the purpose of i ascertaining how far his conjectures were right. He found that worthy sur[ rounded by the comforts we have described on a former occasion. "I did not expect," he said, rising to (greet his visitor, "the honor of your i company lomgni; uui 11 i? aiwa;s agreeable. Take a glass of wine, and let me know whether you have merely called on a friendly visit, or whether there is anything you want done." "There is something," replied Hamll- I ton, "that I wish undone; and I have i strong misgivings that you had a greater agency in it than was prudent i for you or serviceable to me." Now James Billings did not have the least doubt on his mind that Hamilton alluded to the unsuccessful .attempt to murder Aaron Burr; but he wanted a moment for reflection, and, to obtain that, he leisurely took a cigar from the box on the table deliberately bit off the twisted end, and lighted It before he replied. "I shall be sorry if anything disagreeable to you has occurred: and more so, If I have had a hand in it Pray, what is it? I have heard nothing important." "You have heard, I suppose, of the I mutiny at the Gulf, and of Jackson's attempt to shoot Colonel Burr." "Of course! I could not help hearing what has been the common camp talk for a whole day. It has afforded to our little city of huts so delightful a theme of gossip, that I verily believe one half of them forgot they were shoeless, and the other half ceased to eomolain of the thread-bare blankets which covered them." "This matter Is serious, Billings, and I pray you to drop that sneering tone, and let me know what agency you had in It." "You are entitled to my confidence. Colonel Hamilton, and you shall have it. My agency was very limited. It began without any Intervention on my part. I found Jackson in the mood to rid you of a troublesome rival, and I barely intimated that so long as I could assist him he should be no sufferer by his unsolicited kindness. Xb* murder of Colonel Burr was not mentioned by either of us: though, to be entirely frank with you, I was sure he had that pleasant idea in his head. We only spoke of his tyranny, and of the comfort that would result to the soldiers at the Gulf if such a disturbance could be created as would induce the general to recall him. In everything else the blundering fool acted on his own responsibility, and richly deserves the punishment he received, not so much for the crime he meditated, as for the folly of snapping an unloaded musket at the bosom of a man who had a drawn saber in his hand and no little skill in the use of the weapon." "I wish the blow had fallen on his head, instead of his arm," replied Hamilton. "You have given him a fearful power over you; and who can tell what moment he may use it? Men become excellent subjects for remorse when wounds and pain have reduced them to the weakness of children." "He has no power over me whatever. If every word I uttered was writtei down, and submit* d to a court-martial. it would be impossible for them to find me guilty of anything but an imprudent expression of sympathy in a case which I, being a citizen unacquainted wjth military regulations, could not be expected to understand fully." As he uttered these words, a scornful smile curled the lips of that daring man and a mnmcnlarv fierceness flash ed from his eyes, which belied his assumed ignorance of the law of arms, and told plainly enough that in his own oul he despised the plea he was urging. Hamilton noticed it. but made no comment, and went on as if it had been unobserved. "You might be mistaken in that. There are officers in this army who believe that you have seen more of a soldier's life, and know more that pertains to his duty, than you seem disposed to acknowledge. I heard General I*ee offer to lay a heavy wager that such was the case." "General Lee is a vain, imperious, head strong fool, who fancies that he knows mote than George Washington , and all his general officers combined; ; and who. acting under this belief, will be certain to get himself into serious trouble before long. My advice to you > is to cut loose from his friendship as early and as rudely as possible." i "Well, it is unnecessary to discuss i General Lee's character at present. From your statement. 1 am satisfied that the danger Colonel Burr has es ' must tell you that your mode of pro' ceeding is rather too decided to meet ? my approbation. I insist that hereafter i you keep clear of treasonable plots; that you leave Colonel Burr to take his chances from the bullets of the enemy, and that you do not again run the risk of compromising me by a like act of damnable villainy." "Your language is strong, colonel; but, as my little scheme proved a failure, I deserve to hear it so characterized. As for the future, rest easy. I do not expect to be favored with such another opportunity; and, if I am, your strong repugnance will be sufficient to prevent me from using it. There can be no harm in adding, however, that in mv judgment you are wrong, and I would rather have lost a finger than to have made the promise you have now drawn from me." Hamilton mused for some moments, and then said,? "I should like to know. Billings, what cause you have to hate Colonel Burr so cordially?' "Not a particle," was the easy and unembarrassed reply. "Colonel Burr is in my way. and I pursue him precisely as I would a wolf or any other dangerous animal. I never heard of him until after the assault on Quebec. You pointed him out to me as a formidable antagonist. Until then, I had no interest in the man. After that, I studied his character, traced out his history and that of his family; marked his conduct, and weighed his ability. I found that you had not over-estimated him, and made up my mind to destroy him at any cost. On the occasion of his rupture with the commander-in-chief, I hoped that he would become disgusted, and abandon the army. If he had done so, I would have dismissed him from my mind, or at least ceased to remember him as an enemy. He preferred to adopt another course, which left me no alternative but to consider him still as an obstruction in my pathway, or in yours, which is the same. Again, I hoped that in the distribution of fieJdrommissions he would be overlooked; that also failed. Then I found the hand of a desperate mutineer armed against his life, and added a few arguments to strengthen his purpose. Here, too I encountered disappointment. And now, you, who are the last man In the world who ought to interfere for his protection have tied me by a promise not to repeat the attempt. If I was such an idiot as to believe in any destiny except that which is shaped out by a firm will and unbending purpose, I should be inclined to give up the struggle in despair." "There Is no necessity for giving up the struggle, and no necessity for personal violence either. Events that cannot be safely hurried, must be waited on; and there never was a case to which this truism more forcibly applied." "Such, I know, has been your policy from the beginning. Mine was sharp and sudden. It failed, as men's schemes are apt to fail who trust to third persons for their execution. It is but fair that yours should have a full trial; and I repeat that I will not again interfere without your knowledge and consent. But come, my throat is dry, and I feel strangely depressed tonight. Let us try what effect this good wine will have upon the spirits. We can talk of business another time." For an hour the wine circulated freely. and when Hamilton rose to depart, not a trace of anxiety was visible on the countenance of either. TO BE CONTINUED. WASHINGTON MONUMENT. The History of This Wonderful and Imposing Structure. Washington monument is a wonderful structure and is very imposing. Built of white marble, absolutely without ornamentation and capped by an aluminum pyramid, this immense needle rises to a height of over 555 feet. It took thirty-six years to build, cost $1,250,000 and weighs close upon 100,000 tons. There Is room enough in the interior of the monument to house an army of 12,000 men, for the landings will accommodate 7.675, the stairs 3,845, the upper and lower platforms 450 and the elevator thirty. There are 900 steps. The, weight of the capstone is 3,300 pounds, while the number of blocks of marble used in its construction reached 23,000. The cornerstone of this gigantic monument was laid on July 4, 1848, and on the 6th of December, 1884, the topmost stone of the pyramid was set. Two months later the great shaft was dedicated. The immense structure rests on a foundation bed of fine sand two feet thick, which is laid on a stratum of bowlders and gravel, and its stability Is assured against all natural causes except earthquakes and the washing out of the sand beds beneath the monument. The Washington monument stands on a site selected by George Washington in the year 1783. It is close by the banks of the Potomac, surrounded by forty acres of sloping mounds and terraces, and but a fractional distance from the Jeffersonian meridian, which passes due north and south through the center of the White House and due east and west through the center of the capitol. The monument has thirty-one landings, the first one being thirty feet from the hase and the last 330 feet. On the walls of each landing are various memorial inscriptions and tablets presented by different societies, persons and countries. The thirteenth platform is at a height of 150 feet, and it is here where the government began its work of finishing the monument in 1878. Altogether the monument contains 176 memorial tablets. There is one tablet which is totally decayed and illegible, so that no one knows where it came from or who gave it. .Many OI ine uium> ui nuti oir licitsent by foreign countries as a tribute of admiration for the Father of His Country. All of these now form part of the monument with one exception. This was a block of African marble from the temple of Concord, Home, sent as a gift from the pope. It bore the inscription, "Rome to America." In March. 1S4f?, however, the lapidarium, where the memorial blocks were kept, was forcibly entered, ami this stone was taken and, it is supposed. was thrown into the Potomac. A reward for its return was offered, but the stone was never recovered, and its hiding place remains a secret to this day. iUisccllancous ^nulinn. SHIPS THAT NEVER CAME BACK. Sixty Vessels Disappear Annually and Leave no Trace. When the northeasters sweep out from the depths of the Atlantic, and A/V...M ?L/v \(onnn,.huonfto icai uji anu uuvvii inc mtta.tatuu3cvu> coast, the sailors in port, sitting over their grog, tell stories of the good ships which have gone to sea and have neither come back nor left even a trace of their fate. Of all these stories, says the Boston Herald, there is none more ghastly than that of the Pioneer, which sailed from San Francisco in 1899 for the Bering sea. From the time she sailed, she was never sighted, nor was a word heard from her for two years. Finally a whaler, frozen In for the winter Jn the Arctic, one day sent out a hunting party for game. The men, after wandering about all day, came upon the hulk of a ship frozen into an iceberg. There was nothing about her to indicate what might be her name, for the grinding of the ice had worn her sides smooth and destroyed any clue to her identity. Some of the men ventured aboard, though the ship had been so racked that the timbers trembled under their feet. They pried open the hatchway and peered Into the dark depths. They shouted down the ladder, but a feeble echo was the only answer. Mustering up courage, they descended, and, making their way into the hold, stood aghast at what they saw in one of the cabins. Seated about a table, their cheeks wan and sunken, their eyes glassy, were eight m?n some with heads on arms, some wiih hands thrust deep into their clothes, as though shrinking from the cold; one with a prayer book before him. There they sat, those men who had been two years dead and were waiting for the sea to give them burial. Who they were, what the good ship was. from what port she had sailed, U/\ UnwxifiA^ mart V* a rl nn t lino t /"? tlo. termine, for even as they looked the ship began to quake. It was as though she resented this prying into her secret. and the strangers, fearing she might turn over, hurried from the cabin and scrambled outside. From a safe distance they watched her. A mass of ice crashed down toward her, the iceberg settled upon its side, the derelict tottered, and after another small avalanche of Ice and snow, sank sideways into the cold waters. The eight had at last received their burial, carrying with them all traces of their Identity. But when the whaler returned to port and the men told of their weird adventure, It was .decided from the scant description that this had been, in all probability, the Pioneer. It will never be known to a certainty, and for that reason the Pioneer is registered with so many others as "missing; fate unknown." The fate of many a good ship defies even conjecture. There was the Nevrach, which sailed for the Arctic In 1897 and was caught in an Iceberg and abandoned by some of her crew. A few of the men preferred to take their chances with the ship. Those who abandoned her were Anally picked up; but all search failed to And trace of the Nevrach or of the men who had stayed by her. One of the most famous disappearances at sea was that of the City of Glasgow, a 1,600 ton ship which left port March 1, 1854, with 480 passengers. She has never been heard from since. Not a bit of wreckage from her has ever been identiAed. Not a soul of the hundreds she carried Is known to have survived. On January 20, 1870, the City of Boston sailed from Halifax for England with 191 souls on board. She was a Ane ship, splendidly equipped, but she disappeared without leaving a clue as to her fate. The Burvie Castle left London some time ago, .bound on a voyage to Australia. She should have made a Anal call at Plymouth, but she never came within sight of the Hoe, nor has human eye ever seen her from that day she dropped down the Channel. It was on May 1, 1850, that the Lady Nugent spread her sails at Madras, with 367 of the Twenty-Afth Madras Light Infantry on board, bound for Rangoon. With the regimental band playing, with the friends of the passengers on the shore shouting farewell, with a clear sea before her, she left oort. but she has never reached Rangoon or any other port known to man. Two years later the Collins liner Pacific dropped down the Mersey with 180 people on board. She went the way of the City of Glasgow and the others. What strange port they found no one knows. The ship President left New York for London early in-1841 with many distinguished passengers, among them a son of the Duke of Richmond, and the comedian, Tyrone Power. She was expected at Liverpool in March, but April 13 came the news that she had put into Madeira for repairs to her engines. She never reached Liverpool or any other port. It was as late as 1904 that the ship Lamorna sailed from Taeoma, carrying a cargo of wheat for Queenstown. Following close upon the departure came a fierce gale. Wreckage was found, and the report was circulated that the ship had been battered to pieces on Cape Flattery. But hardly had this report been spread when a coasting schooner reported having seen the ship off Coos bay, battered, but apparently well able to withstand the seas. It was soon generally believed that it was true that she had weatherea the gale and was sailing about somewhere. But where? Weeks passed and she was not again heard from. Ships were asked to be on the lookout for her. and news was anxiously awaited. It was a long time after this that the German ship Artemis sighted a derellet far out at sea, steering wildly, beating against head winds and yet refusing to display signals of any kind. A little later the unknown threw her head to the east and executed a series of freak manoeuvres. It looked for all the world as though the ship was manned by crazy men who were trying to puzzle the Artemis. The captain of the Artemis was mystified. He steered near the strange craft, and with the aid of his spyglass made out the name Lamorna. Consulting his shipping records, he discovered that she was outward bound and long overdue. But that hardly accounted for her queer actions. When within a few hundred yards of the ship (the captain considered It dangerous to get very near) he set signals, but received no response. For several hours the weird bark remained within sight, but neither siren or rocKet provoked response. The captain swept the decks of the craft, but did not see a living soul. It was apparently a ship without a crew, running at her own free will. The Artemis followed it in its wild course as long as possible, but suddenly the hulk turned and made straight for the open sea. It sailed a straight course as though bound on some important mission, and so proceeded until lost to view below the horizon line. What had become of the crew? Were there In reality some of them left on board, gone mad under the strain, guiding the ship they knew not where? No one will ever know. Certain It is that not a man of them was ever heard from, nor has the ship itsell ever been sighted again. On an average, according to reports from Lloyds, some sixty ships, with their crews, are so bloited from sight every year. In the year 1899 alone, seventy-nine ships and twenty-four steamers disappeared, a.nd their fate is today unknown. A conservative estimate would place the number of people so lost during the last fifty years at over 10,000. The size or the stanchness of the ship seem to make no difference; big modern s eamshipa have disappeared as easily us the numberless little sailing craft. I WHAT DEWEY IS DOING. Works Because He Wints To?Might Be Idle on $15,003 a Year. "What has becomj of Admiral George Dewey and what Is he doing now?" # This Inquiry, sent to the St. Louis Globe Democrat, eliciled the following Information: Taken all In all there Is perhaps no man In the United States In the service of the Government or out of It who is In a more enviable position than Admiral Dewey. Congress has given him the rank, nay and allowances of an Admiral cf the navy, reviving the rank fo;* his benefit. He is absolutely independent of the Secretary of the Na\y and of the President of the United States. He cannot be retired and he cannot be disciplined by reduction in rank or any of the other means imployed. The place gives him an annual income of {15,500. If he choose to do so he could close down his desk, go home and .never turn his hand over In the way of work, either for the navy or any one else, and his pay and allowances would go on as long as he lives; but the Admiral prefers to work and to work hard. He is at the head of the navy general board, charged with the duty of devising general plans for improvment of the navy, the management of the ships, the handling of officers and men, and the control of the great great Government shipyards. Every day when he is not at sea for the ma a- _ f _ _ A uu In Kla nf_ noeuvres ne is ai ma ucaa flee or attending to the meetings of the board. Admiral Dewey Is much loved and much respected. He Is a dapper little fellow, not much more than five feet In height. His clothes fit him like the naval uniform, without crease or bag anywhere. They do say that the Admiral's Chinese valet has no less than twenty lew suils of clothes and ten pairs of shoes to take care at a time. The Armirai is not a dude, merely a well groomed man without seeming to have any thought of his personal appearance. He has but one fad, If fad It may be called, and that is his love for wild animals. He has one of the finest teams of driving horses in the city and also an ugly looking English j bulldog'. The dog went tnrougn me battle of Manila Bay with Dewey, so they are real bunkies. When the Admiral was making a tour of inspection of the fleet the dog went along and was allowed the run of a vessel while the master was aboard. On one ship the Admiral returned from the men's quarter's just in time to encounter the dog sailing in most hurried fashion from the officers'quarters with the toe of an officer's boot in hot pursuit. Admiral Drwey was white with anger and surprise. In a second, when the Captain appeared, following the direction of the toe of his boot, the Admiral, controling himself as best he could, demanded: "Sir, what do you mean by kicking my dog In that manner?' The Captain came :o a swift salute and his face it was noted, was pale and drawn with suppressed anger as was uiai ui nit- nuiiiii ui. "Sir." he said, "I would have kicked that dog if he had been the personal propert of the Supreme Being; but. sir, I would not have kicked him, and did not kick him, until he had chewed the legs out of two .'115 pairs of unledition of the Naval Regulations, as well as killed the ship's feline masrot.' Then they both laughed. Virtues of "Soi.d" Sion.?"Get this parlor suit out at once, John," said the manager. "Oh. let's just put a 'Sold' tag on it till tomorrow," grumbled Salesman John. "The men are fearfully busy." "John." said the manager, "you know very little about human nature if you're willing to leave a suit of furniture marked 'Sold' in sight of ? the public. If we left the suit here everybody that (ame in would be attracted by the 'Sold' sign on it and would want to buy it or its duplicate. The suit can't be duplicated as you know, and so the people would be dissatisfied. This suit, because they couldn't have it, would seem to them the only desirable one in our stock. They would take no other. We should probably lose half a dozen sales. "Why. John, there are some dishonest dealers who put 'Sold' signs on goods that are a drag, so as to dispose of those goods quickly, and it Is a fact not creditable to himan nature that fake 'Solds' will move a slow stock more quickly even than fake reductions." DIAMONDS OF AFRICA. Discovery By the Children of A Trekkingif Boer. "The first diamond In South Africa was found by the children of a trekking Boer, named Daniel Jacobs," said Gardner F. Williams, recently general manager of the De Beers diamond mines. "He was a poor farmer who made his home In a squalid hovel on the banks of the Orange rlv er near the little settlement of Hopetown. It was roughly partitioned to form a bed room and kitchen, and Its earthen floor was smeared weekly with a polishing paste of cow dung and water. Father, mother and children slept together on a rude frame over-laced with raw hide strips. Here his children grew up about him with little more care than the goats and sheep that browsed on the kopjes. When the herds were turned out of the kraal the children ran after them and roamed over the pasture land all day long like the flocks, but the Instinct of childhood will And playthings on the face of the most barren karoo, and the Jacobs children were close to the edge of a river which was strewn with uncommonly beautiful pebbles, mixed with coarser gravel. "A heap of these partl-colored stone was so common a sight In the yard on the floor of the farm house on the banks of the Orange or Vaal rivers that none of the plodding Boers gave It a second glance. But when the children tossed the stones about, a little white pebble was so sparkling In the sunlight, that It caught the eye of the farmer's wife. She did not care enough for it to pick it up, but spoke of It as a curious stone to a neighbor, Schalk Van Nelkerk. Van Xelkerk asked to see It, but It was not In the heap. One of the children had rolled It away In the yard. After some little search It was found In the dust, for nobody on the farm would stoop for such a trifle. When Van Nlekerk wiped the dust off, the little stone glittered so prettily that he offered to buy it. The good vrouw laughed at the Idea of selling a pebble. "You can keep the stone If you want it," she said. So Van Nlekerk put It In his pocket and carried it home. He had only a vague notion that It might have some value, and put it In the hands of a traveling trader, John O'Reilly, who undertook to And out what kind of a stone the little crystal was, and whether It could be sold. "He showed the stone to several Jews in Hopetown and In Colesburg, ja settlement further up the Orange river valley. No one of these would give a penny for It. 'It is a pretty stone enough,' they said, 'probably a j topaz, but nobody would pay anything for It.' "remaps u rcemy nuuiu thrown the stone away If It had not come under the eye of the acting civil commissioner at Colesburg, Mr. Lorenzo Boyes. Mr. Boyes found on trial that the stone would scratch glass. " 'I believe It to be a diamond,' he observed gravely. "O'Reilly was greatly cheered up. 'You are the only man I have seen,' he said, 'who says It Is worth anything. Whatever It Is worth you shall have a share In it.' " 'Nonsense,' broke In Dr. Klrsch, a private apothecary of the town, who was present; 'I'll bet Boyes a new hat It is only a topaz.' " 'I'll take the bet,' replied Mr. Boyes. and at his suggestion the stone was sent for determination to the foremost mineralogist of the colony. Dr. W. Guybon Atherstone, residing at Grahamtown. It was so lightly valued It was put In an unsealed envelope and carried to Grahamtown In the regular post cart. "When the post boy handed the letter to Dr. Atherstone the little river stone fell out and rolled away. The dootor picked it up and read the let* ? ~e *?o?o*v?loolr*? Than ho pyii m - it-*r ui 11 aiioiiiiooiwu. amv;. ined the pebble expertly and wrote to Mr. Poyes: 'I congratulate you on the stone you have sent to me. It is a veritable diamond, weighs twenty-one and a quarter carats, and Is worth ?500. Sir Philip Wodehouse, the governor at the Cape, bought the rough stone at once, at the value fixed by Dr. Atherstone. The stone was sent Immediately to the Paris exposition, where it was viewed with much interest, but its discovery at first did not cause any great sensation. Search For Diamonds Begins. " Meanwhile Mr. Boyes hastened to Hopetown and to Van Niekerk's farm to search along the river shore where I he first diamond was found. He prodded the phlegmatic farmers, and their black servants raked over many bushels of pebbles for two weeks, but no second diamond repaid his labor. Still the news of the finding of the first stone made the farmers near the river look sharply at every heap of pebbles in the hope of finding one of the 'peelus blink klippe' (bright stones), as the Boers named the diamond. and many bits of shining rock crystal were carefully pocketed in the persuasion that the glittering stones were diamonds. But it was ten months from the time of the discovery at Hopetown before a second diamond was found, and this was in a spot more than thirty miles away, on the river bank below the junction of the Vaal and Orange rivers. "In March, 1869, a superb white diamond, weighing 83.5 carats, was picked up by a Griqua shepherd boy on the farm Zendfontein, near the Orange river. Schalk Van A'eiKerK bought this stone for a monstrous price in the eyes of the poor shepherd ?500 sheep, ten oxen and a horse? but the lucky purchaser sold It easily for ?1 1,200 to Lllienfeld Brothers of Hopetown, and it was subsequently purchased by Earl Dudley for ?25,000. This extraordinary gem, which soon became famous as the 'Star of South Africa,' drew all eyes to a field which could yield such products, and the existence and position of diamond beds was soon further assured and defined by the finding of many smaller stones In the alluvial gravel on the banks of the Vaal, Seeking King Solomon's Mines. "From the time of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, however," con-| tinued Mr. Williams, "adventurers have been searching In Africa for the source of the gold and Jewels, the marvels of Ophlr, which they displayed, and although It Is mostly conjecture, a large part of the wealth of the Scriptural kings and millionaires no doubt came from the interior of Africa. The traditions of King Solomon's mines lured thousands of enter- 1 prising explorers Into the wilderness, and it Is perhaps true that they have been discovered. An intrepid German explorer named Carl Mauch in j. 1871 discovered an extraordinary lot of ruins in Zimbabwe, and gold fields ciuseiy aujuceriL iu uieiii. niese nave been called the ruined cities of Mashonaland. Unfortunately for his credit as an archaeologist, Mauch insisted that an old building on a hill was a copy of King Solomon's temple on Mount Morlah, and that the lower ruins reproduced the palace Inhabited by the Queen of Sheba during her stay of several years In Jerusalem. ? This does not Impair, however, the probable accuracy of his main conten- * tlon, that he had revealed a part of * the ancient workings of the people who furnished the gold to Arabia and ? Judea In the days of Solomon. . "Without going Into the varied researches It may be observed that Ophlr was not the source of the gold, but a port on the south coast of Ara- . bia, through which the flow of gold came by sea. Havilah was the land . whence came the gold of Ophlr, a great tract In Southeastern Africa, largely identified with modern Rhode- . sia. The ancient gold workings of . this region were first opened by South Fabian Hlmyarltes, who were followed (but not before the time of Solomon) by the Phoenicians, and these very much later by Moslem Arabs. Tharshlsh was the outlet for the precious metals and stones of Havilah, { and stood probably on the present site of Sofala. The Queen of Sheba came by land, and not over the seas, to the court of Solomon. Her kingdom was . Yemen, Arabia, where our mocha c coffee comes from. j. "The South African diamond neias ^ have contributed over four hundred ^ million dollars' worth to the world's c stock of gems," continued Mr. Wll- g liams, "yet the demand has kept pace (. with the production, and fancy and fashion have not been diverted. The ( value of the plunder carried away from ( Delhi, the Mogul capital, by Nadir a Shah, a Persian Invader, In 1739, has t been estimated at $300,000,000, and 0 a great share of this was precious ^ stones. There may never again be r such a collection in the hands of any 3 monarch or nabob as the store j, amassed by the Great Moguls, but the c crown Jewels and private treasures of ^ the leading courts of Europe today j, are of Immense value and are growing t greater. I, Crown Jewel* of the World. f "The crown Jewels of France were a estimated at $6,000,000 more than a -j hundred years ago. and even this great amount Is far exceeded by the value of the Russian crown Jewels. g The crown of Ivan Alexlowltch con- g tained 881 brilliants; the Empress ( Catherine had 2.f>36 brilliants In her ^ crown and the purchases of the sue- t ceedlng czars have been enormous. T The British crown Jewels do not equal a ho r?ii??inn in number or value, _ li though there are several magnificent gems among them besides the Koh-1- j, nor. The crown, especially made for j, the coronation of Queen Victoria In 1838, was regarded as a superb showing of the art of the leading Jewellers of London, as well as of the gems dls- { played. It is fashioned of hoops of g silver enclosing a cap of deep blue j. velvet. Precious stones completely a incase the hoops, which are sur- t mounted by a ball covered with dla- j monds and bearing a Maltese cross of brilliants with a splendid sapphire as ^ the central Jewel. The rim of the crown is clustered with brilliants and Maltese crosses. On the cross at the front of the crown is set the magnifl- cent heart-shaped ruby which was . worn by Edward, the Black Prince, ^ and beneath this ruby in a circular ? rim. Is an oblong sapphire of extra- g ordinary size and beauty. Clusters . of drop pearls add to the resplendent effect of the massing of the diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. "It is scarcely to be expected that any private collection of gems should rival the treasures of sovereigns, whose crown jewels may be the display of centuries of accumulation, but some of the noble families of Europe and other wealthy owners, have gems that any monarch In the world might covet. There are a considerable number of collections ranging in value over a million dollars. In the United States It is estimated that there are at least half a dozen such collections, one of which contains a necklace valued at $320,000. At every court reception or grand ball or opera the display of jewels may be measured In millions of dollars, and the diffusion of gems is constantly spreading with the extension of wealth. "Though many Europeans have become skillful workers at the trade, the most successful lapidaries have been of Hebrew stock. The Jews had at one time the monopoly of diamond cutting in Portugal and their special centre of business was Lisbon. But unfortunately for Portugal and for the Jews, religious bigotry kindled the fires of persecution against this ancient people, and they were expelled from the kingdom. Hospitable little Holland opened her doors to receive the: exiled merchants and lapidaries, and Amsterdam has since been the central market for the diamond merchant and his comrade, the diamond cutter. Out of 35,000 Jews who reside there, at least a third are engaged in one department or anoth[ er of the diamond industry."?William E. Curtis in Chicago RecordHerald. Where Lincoln Ptnr the Wiibtstone.?It is related that at one time President Lincoln was conversing with an aristocratic American lady about the United States, when she remarked: "I love my country, of course, but am much grieved that there are so many common people In It." He replied: "But, madam, think how God must have loved them; he made so many of them." A soldier at whose house when a boy Lincoln paused in his tramps in Illinois, and who loaned him a whetstone to sharpen his jackknife, met him during the war, in Washington. Lincoln remembered the Incident and spoke of the use of the whetstone. "Y-a-a-s," drawled out the old soldier. "Whatever did you do with the whetstone? I never could find it. We 'lowed mebbe you took it along with you." "No?no. I put it on top of the gatepost?that high one." "Mebbe you did; nobobdy else could have reached It, and none of us ever thought to look there for It." There It was > found where It was placed fifteen years before. The soldier reported the fact to the president?Boston Post. TILLMAN AT SANDY FLAT llspensary's Daddy Asks For More Reform. IAD SHOWING THE WORK OF ENEMIES. 'ropoaition That County Dispensers Should Be Elected In Primary? Year's Supply of Liqour to be Bought at One Time By a Committee Espe< cially Appointed For the Purpos*? n?iw u/u:.u t. . i Charge* of Grot* Mismanagement. The campaign meeting at Sandy ^lat, Greenville county, last Saturday, vas attended by about 4,000 people, rhere were a number of speakers; >ut the big gun was Senator Tillman, vho talked about the dispensary, rhe crowd listened attentively to what le had to say, but was not demonitrative. There was very little ap>lause. The senator's speech, as givm out to the press before the meetng, was as follows: There is but one important issue nvolved in this campaign so far as tate affairs go and as for my own andidacy it rests on the record which have made since I entered public Ife sixteen years ago and the intlnate knowledge which the people if the state have of my character, tersonallty and qualifications. I am rilling to leave It there without dlsusslon or presentation. The fight is tate dispensary vs. county dispensary or no one expects the prohibition andldates, however worthy and well luallfled they may be, to receive very nuch support. With all their efforts and they have been many and long ontinued) the newspapers which lave always fought the dispensary tave not been able to drum up a canlldate for governor who advocates loal option straight as against dispenary and prohibition and only in Charleston does that Idea have any nen offering for office under it. The ocal option offered the people, is beween prohibition and county dispen ary and the whole fight is to destroy he state dispensary first, with no ither purpose than to then obtain the trivilege of re-opening the old barooms under the new guise of liquor tores "selling under constitutional imitations." The real fight is for the ontrol of the legislature, because the governor cannot make or change the aws and can only try to enforce hem. His only influence over leglsation would be in the use of the veto tower. But it is all important to get . strong and good man for governor, 'he times distinctly demand one. Thinks It Barroom Scheme. In any .event some counties will tand by prohibition with its blind tlrers and heavy Jug trade by express. )ther counties will vote for county lispensaries and the cities where the rincipai newspapers are pumisnea rill have the flght on the issue of tate dispensary with the ultimate urpose of having the county dlspenarles turned Into licensed barrooms F the county dispensaries are abolshed. The scheme Is to restore the ale of liquor to private individuals ather than let It remain In the hands if state officials. Those who clamor or county dispensaries Instead of one tate dispensary must demonstrate iow It Is easier to prevent corruption mong the thirty or forty county boards han to stop it in one state board. have great faith In the good comnon sense of the people and do not ?elieve they can be persuaded to detroy the state dispensary and leave ach county to purchase and sell Its iwn liquor. Yet the State and News ind Courier which have always hated he dispensary "worse than the devil lates holy water," are advocating andidates who favor county dlspenarles. The only possible good reason han can be advanced on this line is hat the prohibition counties under he constitution receive a part of the irofits which arise from the sale of iquor in other counties. This is unust, as everyone must acknowledge >ut It can be remedied very easily by laving the state dispensary make no iroflts other than a few thousand dolars above Its runing expenses, thus eaving the counties and the town to livide the profits between them. This ;an be easily done and when we contider the expense ef buying liquor in etall quantities and paying local reights on it instead of buying caroad lots and paying through freights he county dispensary cannot stand he comparison. But this is not the freatest objection. Would Be Immense Leakage. The leakage or stealage In bottling >f liquor at each county dispensary vould be immense and I know of no vay that It could De prevented, nor * lo I know any by which It would be )ossible to prevent the whisky being vatered, bottles refilled, relabeled ind other schemes of making money llshonestly, if the system were adoptsd. It Is not possible to prevent it ind I do not think any sensible man vho considers the question will seri>usly contend that it is. Even If onelalf of the counties should adopt the >rohibition-bllnd-tlger-jug trade protram it would be better, more ecolomical and less probability of cor-uption and speculation in the pur>hase and handling of liquor In the )ther dispensary counties, If the buyng, bottling and shipping should be lone at one central depot, Instead of n each county. It must not be forgotten, because t was the understanding (and a barfain was made) during the fight In laMulahiPo loot urlritar a trainaf tho itate dispensary, that the ultimate purpose Is to have Charleston wholesale liquor dealers supply the county llspensarles as well as the Jug trade jy express in dry counties; and while :his would be better than to have this Iquor shipped In from North Carolina ind Georgia, as it now Is, because it would keep the money at home, I do lot believe that the people of the state are now willing or will ever be willing to see the state dispensary destroyed, with the Inevitable result :hat liquor selling will gradually go back to the old system of private control. I would be glad to have Charleston prosper, but It Is not the loss of the liquor trade that has hurt Charleston. Other things are to blame. (Continued on Page Two.)