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*- : ? y ;ville enquirer. ISSUED SEMI-WEEKLY. L x. grists sons. Pabiiihen. } ? jfamilj Dntwjajiw: Jfor thi promotion of the JoIiti?al, Social, Agricultural and Commrrria! |nltrtsts of Iht ffoplj. {^,^|j^oF^iy?NoiS^l,c*l ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, S. O., TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1906. ISTO. 65. THE R A Story of the Times Alexander BY JERE I CHAPTER XVII. "I had borne it?It hurt mte?but I bore it. Till this lest running over of the cup Of bitterness." The treaty between England, Erance. and the United States, by which the Independence of the latter was acknowledged, withered the daring hopes of Alexander Hamilton, and utterly blasted the wily schemes of his unscrupulous confederate, Billings. That shrewd and dangerous man at once understood that all hope was at an end; yet he neither cowered nor complained. To all outward appearance his bearing was the same; but notwithstanding the seeming calmness of the surface, a serpent had wreathed Itself about his heart, *whose sting drove him on, and on, In quest of new excitements, new plots, new conspiracies. In two years afterward he set sail for France, and It was long before he was again heard of In America. Alexander Hamilton was perhaps as deeply wounded and disappointed as Billings, but for him a theater was still open In the new world, of which he resolved to make the most. When the army was disbanded, he turned his attention, like Aaron Burr, to the profession of the law. Like him he studied hard, and like him he rose rapidly. It was at the bar. afcer years of separation, that the rivals met once more. Here the struggle between them was resumed, but their rivalry was divested of the bitterness of former years. It was a war of two giant Intellects, in which neither could stoop to envy, because envy would have been an acknowledgment of Inferiority. Things continued in this state until politics came in to imbltter their relations. In this division of parties Aaron Burr took the popular, or Democratic side? Alexander Hamilton the Federal; still their intercourse was personally kind and respectful, until the year 1790. when Alexander Hamilton was secretary of the treasury, and his father-in-law. General Schuyler, was a candidate for re-election to the United States senate from the state of New York. Aaron Burr became a candidate in opposition to him. and in January, 1791, was elected over the combined influence of Hamilton and Schuyler. Prom that day the old enmity in the bosom of Alexander Hamilton sprung into a new and more venomous life. Whatever Burr advocated Hamilton opposed; whereever Burr sought to climb, he found Hamilton in his way. It was impossible that Colonel Burr could misunderstand the extent and bitterness of this opposition; but then, as in the past and throughout his after life, he locked his secrets in his own bosom, and made no complaint. The career of Colonel Burr in the senate is too well known to require repetition here. In the third year of his service a great calamity overtook him. The wife who had been the best of friends and counselors was called away, and he was left with none bu^ little Theodosia to enliven his home and soothe him amid the perplexing cares which were gathert lng thick around him. This blow he bore with his accustomed fortitude; and the only indication the public had of the intensity of his sufferings, was the restless eagerness with which he plunged into politics. Before the expiration of his term, the state of New York had become thoroughly Federal, and General Philip Schuyler was elected to succeed him. To reverse this state of things, and bring New York into the Democratic fold, was now the cherished object of his life. To this end he devoted all his vast talents and tireless energy. He succeeded, after , a contest unparalleled in the annals of the Republic, and In the year 1800 he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for vice-president, on the same ticket with Thomas Jefferson. This nomination, so gratifying at the time, was the fruitrui source or an the woes that afflicted his after years. The result of the election was: Jefferson 73, Burr 73, Adams 6?. Pinckney 64, Jay 1. Under the constitution as it then stood, an election by the house of representatives became Indispensable to decide which of the two highest on the list (Jefferson or Burr) should hold the office of president, and which the office of vice-president of the United States. Here was a field of operations exactly suited to the genius of Alexander Hamilton, and his conduct during that period was such as to justify old John Adams in the declaration that he was the most unprincipled intriguer in America. He writes to leading Federalists to hold out the bait of their support to Burr, but warns them at the same time that that support must not be given to him in reality. He tells them that Jefferson is a libertine in morals, a radical in politics, and an infidel in religion; but adds that Burr is the more dangerous man, and, if elected to the presidency, he would conduct the government a la Bonaparte. By such low and despicable arts as these ne sougnt tne ruin 01 the rival whose power he had felt, and whose future influence upon the politics of the nation he most dreaded. Colonel Burr did not fall into the trap, and yet he suffered all the consequences that could have followed if he had yielded fully to the temptation. The mind of Jefferson was by some means poisoned against him, and no amount of evidence was sufficient to remove the prejudices then imbibed. In looking back upon the history of that memorable contest, it is difficult to conceive how the belief ever could have obtained that Colonel Burr was willingly the rival of Mr. Jefferson. Yet it did prevail very widely, and none were more fixed in that opinion than Mr. IVALS. \ of Aaron Burr and Hamilton. CLEMENS. Jefferson himself. It was this belief which in after years led him to the gravest error of his life, and left upon his character the deepest stain it bears. When the result was almost ceraithnnch the returns were not fully received. Colonel Burr addressed a letter to Samuel Smith, a member of the house of representatives from Maryland, and a devoted friend of Mr. Jefferson. To have sought an election by the house, after the publication of that letter, would have been an act of folly, from which an Idiot would have shrunk. He says to General Smith:? "It is highly probable that I shall have an equal number of votes with Mr. Jefferson; but, if such should be the result, every man who knows me ought to know that I would utterly disclaim all competition. Be assured that the Federal party can entertain no wish for such an exchange. As to my friends, they would dishonor my views and Insult my feelings by a suspicion that I would submit to be Instrumental in counteracting the wishes and expectations of the United States. And I now constitute you my proxy to declare these sentiments if the occasion should require." Notwithstanding the emphatic and earnest disclaimer contained in this letter of all Intention to engage in a contest with Mr. Jefferson, the Federal party, for their own purposes, determined to run him. Nothing could have been further from the mind of Alexander Hamilton than a desire to promote the election of his rival, yet nothing could have been more gratifying to him than to see him engaged in a contest which, terminate as it mlghi, was sure to blacken his character and destroy his popularity with the nation. To this end all his powers of intrigue were directed, and he succeeded but too well In the object he had in view. Colonel Burr was no candidate, sought no support, and emphatically disclaimed all desire to receive it. That support was forced upon him, and then *e was held responsible for what he had done all in his power to prevent. The world's history does not present an instance of more glaring injustice, nor is there one, in the long list of statesmen who fill ! its pages, in whose person the blindness pf partisan zeal and the merciless nature of partisan persecution is more completely illustrated. Mr. Jefferson was finally elected. His mind was then just in that state when the fires of rancorous hate are most easily kindled, and there were those about him who did not fail to apply the match. Aaron Burr soon became a marked man, and when it was known that his political destruction had been resolved upon by the president, ten thousand tongues and pens were found ready to assail him. The storm he could not avert; but he neither bent before it, or cowered at its fury. Calm, and seemingly unconscious of the active malignity of his enemies, he went on to discharge the duties of his high office, with a grace, a dignity, and an ability which has never since been equaled. But Colonel Burr was not idle, nor had he the least idea of falling an unresisting victim. The vice-presidency for a second term. he knew was beyond his grasp, Mr. Jefferson was all powerful at the time, and in that quarter Colonel Burr had no hope. That he would be left off the ticket he never for a moment doubted. Under these circumstances, he resolved to pursue the course he had pursued with so much success on a former occasion, and appeal directly to the people of Xew York. A gubernatorial election was coming on, and in February, 1804, he announced himself an independent candidate for the office. The whole weight of the administration was at once thrown againsc him, and all of Hamilton's talents of intrigue were actively and incessantly employed to insure his defeat. It was a strange union?Jefferson and Hamilton?but hate accepts the services of any ally, and both of them hated and dreaded Burr too much to stand on scruples. By their Joint ef forts he was dereatea; ana ne mus saw go out his last hope of political advancement. A few weeks after the election, on a balmy night in June, when Colonel Burr was in his own house, surrounded by a select company of friends, as gay and apparently as happy as if nothing had occurred to annoy him, the following note was put into his hands:? "One who has much to communicate to you in reference to the past, which it concerns you to know, is now stretched upon a bed of death, and earnestly requests that you will come to see him as soon as may be." There was no signature, and, making a polite excuse to his friends, Burr followed his servant from the room to inquire who had brought the note. He was told that the messenger was at the door. "Then show him Into the library." When the man entered, he asked,? "Who gave you this note?" "A man who is dying at my house. I don't know his name." "Who are you?" "The keeper of a boarding-house on street, and a friend of yours." After satisfying himself upon some other points. Colonel Burr said.? "Tell the gentleman I will call tonight." "He told me to bring you with me." "That is impossible. I have company, but say to him I will be there before midnight." The messenger departed, and Colonel Burr returned to his parlor without a trace of anxiety on his brow. His friends soon dispersed; and about eleven o'clock he knocked at the door of the house to which he had been directed. It was opened with a ; promptness which proved he had been waited for, and he was ushered at once into the sick man's room, i He found him stretched upon a low ] bedstead, with a table drawn near, I on which a tallow candle was burn- I ing dimly, and some phials of medl- < cine were so placed as to be in reach i of his hand. The Invalid beckoned 1 his visitor to approach, and said, in a feeble voice,? l 'Take away the table and draw a I chair close to my side, for my voice | is very feeble, and I have much to,i | say." ' ' Burr did as he was directed. < "Do you know me?" i "No. I do not remember that we ever met. If we did, It must have 1 been casually." < "Far from it. I am James Bill- 1 ings." ' A sudden flush passed over the I face of Burr, and he felt something l like a pang shoot through his heart; l but his voice was steady and unal- I tered. < "I remember such a man in the I camp at Valley Forge?a friend of i Alexander Hamilton; but you are i greatly altered since then?" i "His confederate, not his friend, i In such bosoms as his and mine, i friendship never dwells." i He pressed his hand to his brow > for a moment, and continued,? < "Listen, and do not Interrupt me. ' The shadows of death are gathering 1 fast around me, and I have no time I to waste. When I am through, if I i have the strength, I will answer any < questions you may desire to ask." < Then, In a low but distinct voice, < he commenced his narrative. He ! went over the whole story of Ade- < laide Clifton's insanity and death, i He revealed the source of the vile 1 slanders which had blackened the I fame of Margaret MoncrlefTe. He I told of the unscrupulous and too 1 successful efforts that had been made ' to prejudice the mind of the cam- ' mander-in-chlef against his listener; I of the jealous vigilance with which everv step of his military progress had been watched; of Hamilton's daring hopes, and his final frustration by the treaty of peace. The whole dark story was revealed with a distinctness and clearness which lefc no doubt upon the mind of Burr that every word he uttered was true to the letter. At first he tried to call up facts and circumstances within his recollection which would confirm or shake the statements of the dying man; but this soon ceased, and his whole attention was given to the narrative as It progressed. Imperturbable as he generally was?accustomed as he had been to suppress every sign of emotion, this was too much for his iron will. It recalled all the memories of the long gone past?whatever was dark and bitter in his early career rose up before him, and stung him into madness. Leaning both elbows upon the bed, he buried his face in his hands, while his whole frame shook with the mingled emotions which were struggling in his bosom. That passed away, and raising his head slowly, he inquired,? "May I ask, Mr. Billings, what has induced you to make these revelations now? Is it in remorse, or in the hope of making some atonement to me?" "Neither, Colonel Burr?neither. I am not one of those weak things who shrink and tremble In presence of the shadows their own actions have called about them; and to you I know atonement is Impossible. If it be in my nature to feel contrition, * <? ? me mirsi ui vengeance nao unvcn u ? away. I would have Alexander Hamilton disgraced and degraded. In that table drawer you will And a packet containing evidence enough to damn him forever in the minds of his fellow-men. To you I confide it, as the man he has most injured, and now most cordially hates." The hard breathing of the sick man told that he was terribly agitated, and Colonel Burr paused some minutes before he said,? "Vengeance! Why, what has he done to you?" "Stung my pride. Refused to rec ognize me In public as an acquaint- < ance, and Insulted me by the offer of ' pecuniary assistance in private. But ask me no questions. Let me tell the story without interruption. After that fatal peace, I saw that America was no theater for me, and I embarked for France. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the part I played in the bloody drama which was soon after enacted in the land of olives and of vines. It suited me, or rather it suited the fierce devil who reigned supreme within me, and few hands were redder than mine, in a country where all were red. At length my broken health and shattered constitution, together with the loss of nearly all my fortune, compelled me to seek repose. I returned to America, not doubting the friendship of Hamilton, who, I was aware, had risen high in the state, and the service I had rendered the American army, or at least was believed to have rendered it during the Revolution, would insure me respect, and a i certain amount of consideration during the few years that would intervene before I was consigned to the grave that was open before me. I sought him out and told him the i story of my expectations. Ha promptly declared that he could not ; receive me as an associate, or even recognize me as an acquaintance in public; that I was a stranger; my services during the Revolution forgotten; and, if he was seen with me, it would lead to inquiry, and subject him to questions painful to him and difficult to answer; but, he added, if I had need of pecuniary relief, he was willing to relieve my necessities. I turned away and left him. I uttered no threat?gave no warning. It is my habit to strike first and let the blow prove its own warning. I intended to reveal everything to you at once, but you were so much engaged in the election then pending, I could find no fitting opportunity. In the meantime I was stricken down by the disease that in a few minutes more will terminate my existence. As long as there was a possibility of recovery, I waited, and I did not send for you until I knew the sands in my glass were nearly exhausted. I have more to say, but no time to say it. I have not ten minutes to live?let me see you secure the papers before I go." Col Burr opened the drawer, and, taking out a carefully sealed package addressed to himself, placed It In his pocket. A light, almost a smile of satisfaction, played for an Instant over the features of James Billings; then came a long-drawn sigh, a gasp, a shudder, and his spirit winged its flight to the judgment bar of God. Thus, with no one near him but the man he had so deeply wronged, that bold, gifted, and hardened villain passed away. True to the bloody instincts of his nature, his last thought was vengeance?his last feeling that of satisfaction at the prospect of Its accomplishment. Calling some of the inmates of the house Into the dead man's chamber, Colonel Burr took his departure and walked rapidly to his own residence. There he opened, with eager hand, the packet which had been placed In his possession, and read over, one by one, the papers It contained. Morning found him still engaged In his absorbing occupation. At breakfast, he contented himself with a single cup of coffee; and, directing the servant to deny admittance to any visitor who might call, again sought his library. With hurried steps he paced the floor, his hand sometimes pressed upon his forehead and sometimes thrust Into his bosom, is If he sought to still the throbbings jf his beating heart. "Great God!" he muttered, "has this cold-blooded devil been for so many years blasting my prospects, blackening my character, and murdering my hopes, while I, fool, jolt, idiot, that I have been, have gone cn In blind Ignorance of his machinations? You, too, Margaret?young, ?ifted, beautiful, and pure then?you, too, he dared to approach, and cover all over with the slime of calumny. And poor Adelaide, his first victim, whom le consigned to a mad-house, in the freshness of her youth, and beauty, and ivho now fills a lunatic's grave. Oh, 3od! it is an account of crime and porrors for which one life will be poor payment indeed!" Again he paced the room in silence. Then he paused in the middle of the floor, with his eyes fixed upon the carpet. The furrows of agony had disappeared from his countenance, and he tvore the air of a man who was intensely sttidying some difficult probem. Soon his thoughts took the form of words. "Yet how, how am I to reach him? How hold him to account, without repealing things it would madden me for the world to know?" He raised his head as he spoke, and lis eyes rested upon a paper which vas lying on the table. Eagerly he advanced, and picked it up. He had acfidentally seen the name of Hamilton, tnd now he read: "General Hamilton md Judge Kent have decided, in substance, that they looked upon Mr. Burr to be a dangerous man, and one who >ught not to be trusted with the reins >f government. I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion which. General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. 3urr." With a sigh or satisraction ana reuei le folded the paper carefullly, locked t In a drawer with the packet he had ecelved from Billings; and, repeating: 'That will do, that will do!" retired :o his own chamber to sleep. To sleep! ifes, he did sleep soundly for hours. When he awoke, he partook of a hearty neal, for one of his abstemious habits, ind, immediately afterwards, sent for lis friend, Mr. Van Ness, to call the lext morning and bear to the general i hostile message. According, the lext day, Mr. Van Ness placed in the lands of General Hamilton a note from 2ol. Burr, reciting the offensive pas{ages, and concluding with a demand 'or "a prompt and unqualified acknowledgment or denial" of that which was mputed to him. Hamilton was taken :ompletely by surprise. He had used, in many occasions, harsher phrases, >nH thpv had heen nermitted to pass mnoticed. He hesitated, pleaded Important business, and it was not until two days afterwards that he addressed i long communication to Colonel Bun, ivhose obvious purport was to evade the responsibility of either denial or icknowledgment of the language Imputed to him. Colonel Burr promptly responded that the letter was unsatisfactory; that tie could find in It "nothing of that dncerity and delicacy" which Hamilton professed to value, and concluded: .it I." 1 t ma with I our iciier lids luimaucu mv ? ? new reasons for requiring a definite reply." To this General Hamilton returned no written reply, but submitted to Mr. tran Ness certain propositions as a basis of adjustment. Colonel Burr prepared a letter of instructions to govern Mr. Van Ness in the negotiations; but, wearied by the delays which had ilready occurred, and fearful that other Jelays might be interposed, he resolved upon a step that he knew must make a meeting Inevitable. About 9 o'clock at night, after muffling his face so as to prevent recognition, he walked to Seneral Hamilton's house. To a question as to whether General Hamilton was in, the servant who opened the door answered in the affirmative. "Tell him," said Burr, "that a gentleman wishes to see him for one moment upon urgent business, and as I have no time to spare, he will greatly oblige me by walking to the door." General Hamilton immediately came out, and Colonel Burr, pulling the door after him so as to exclude the light, and prevent any one within from overhearing their conversation, said In his natural voice,? "General Hamilton, do you know me?" "Colonel Burr!" replied Hamilton, In surprise. "Yes, sir; and I have called to tell you that I did not seek satisfaction from you on account of the petty slanders contained in the pamphlet of Dr. Cooper, however fully you may have authorized their publication. But a few nights ago I sat by the death-couch of James Billings, and heard him go over the whole secret history of the past. He told how Adelaide Clifton was maddened and murdered; how the reputation of Margaret Moncrleffe had withered under the baleful Influence of your poisonous breath; how you had pursued me with causeless, bitter, and 1 I? -> V.? nlonoil In m V rcmuraeicos nair, auu iic ? hand documents to prove the truth of his story. I did not choose to make these the ground of a message to you, because I did not wish to furnish the gossiping world with all the revoltlm particulars of that tale of horrors, sought, and found another pretext And now, sir, you will understand hoi useless It Is to submit propositions o adjustment, and what consequence will be likely to flow to yourself fromi refusal to accede to my demand. Goo night, sir. I hope to meet you one more, and but once." i- He turned and walked away. Ham tton stood as if petrified. It was lonj before he shook off the numbing torpo that seized upon every limb; and whei he re-entered his own door, the pres age of coming doom weighed heavll; Upon him. After this some correspondence wa carried on between the ftartles, bu If aaiiM ho VA Hilt (in termination. It was ended by a per epmtory challenge, from Colonel Buri and Its acceptance by Hamilton. Th day of the final meeting wtis, howevei postponed, at the request of Genera Hamilton, to enable him to settle u] his business and make such prepare, tlons as he deemed needful In the even of his fall. The consciousness of th deep wrongs he had Inflicted upon Col onel Burr through a long series o years had Its effect even upon his dar tng nature, and he seems from the firs to have had a presentiment that hi litst hour was approaching. Weehawk en was the place selected for the fata Encounter; and, according to prevlou arrangement, Colonel Burr and hi second were first on the ground. When Hamilton arrived he foun his antagonist, with his coat off, care lessly breaking branches from the un j derwood. The two principals exchang J ed salutations; but Burr observed tha the eye of Hamilton fell when It me his own, which was glowing with al the deadly hatred that years of out rage, calumny, and wrong had engen dered. Hamilton won both the cholc of positions and the word. The pistol were loaded, the two mer. stepped t their places, announced themselve ready, and the word was given. Botl pistols were discharged nearly togeth er?Burr's a little before his adver sary's. Hamilton sprang convulslvel: up, and uhen fell heavily forward 01 his face. His second raised him, am the surgeon was Immediately by hi side. To him he said: "Thft Is a mor tal wound;" and sank Into lnsenslbll Ity. Colonel Burr, who was unhurt, wa led away to the boat by Mr. Van Ness a?:d the two rowed at once to Rich mond Hill. Thus, under the heights of Wee hawken, the long rivalry of Aaroi Burr and Alexander Hamilton had It bloody ending. Justice Is seldom weighed by humai judgment in equal scales. The vlctoi on that fatal day, labored under pecu liar disadvantages. The foul wrong which Hamilton had committed, th deep duplicity of his character, am the bitter malignity of his nature wer known only to his slayer, and tha slayer was one from whose lips no se ever passed. The'^n&nral feeling excited In a great party by the losso its leader, was enhanced by syropath for the family of the dead, and foster ed by reckless misrepresentations o the living. Calm and self possessed Aaron Burr breasted the storm. H might have forgiven his own griev ances, he might have hesitated to dy his hand in human blood for any injur done to himself; but the murderer c Adelaide Clifton and the slanderer o Margaret Moncrieffe was entitled t no mercy, and his fate called forth n regrets. Long years afterwards h stood upon the spot where Hamilto; fell. Time had bowed his form an dimmed his eye; but when the recol lections of the 10th of July, 1904, cam over him, his body swelled beyond th proportions of age. and his eye burner with all the fire of his early days. "He wronged me," he said, "and forgave him! He wronged her, am I slew him! If twenty lives had cen tered In his single body, it would hav been a poor atonement. When I sa\ him fail headlong to the ground, i weight seemed lifted from by breast and a peaceful tranquility settled her I never could have known while th same earth sustained us both. He ha gone long ago to render his account a the Judgment bar before which I to must soon appear. Face to face, li presence of the God who must pro nounee our several dooms, I shall sa; that he deserved the death he recelv ed at my hands; and never, for on moment, has a thought of repentanc obtruded itself upon my soul!" THE END. "THE CRADLE OF NORWAY." Trondhjem Has One Thousand Year of History. Trondhjem the ancient capital c iU- mov Ka Pflllo, Hie Klll?? Ul iium aj , moj the cradle of the Norse nation. It 1 first mentioned in history before ther was a united Norway, in connectioi with Harold the Fair Haired, wh conquered all the petty kings of th Norse counties and united them lnt a single state under his own crow; In the latter part of the ninth centurj But it did not attain first importanc in the kingdom until Haakon th Good was crowned there in 935 ami the joyful acclamations of the peop< who had successfully rebelled agalns the cruel tyranny of Erik Blood-Ax and his despotic wife, Queen Gunhilc Since then all the kings of Norwaj of whatever nationality they mlgh be, have haci a travel to una mn ?.n for the ceremony of Investiture. The King Haakon of today owe his name to the first good king of united and independent Norway an the little crown prince becomes th namesake of his first legitimate sue cessor, the great Olaf Tryggvessor who was crowned in 995. Up to tha time Trondhjem was less a natlona capital than the mere stronghold of a important province, but in 996 Ola Tryggvesson laid the foundation o the present city, which he then calle Nidaros. It is the northernmost towi of any Importance in Europe, bein situated in the same latitude as th south coast of Iceland, but it has strangely temperate climate. Whll Christiania Fjord and all the rivers 1 the southern part of Norway becom solidly frozen during the winter, th River Nld rarely freezes over and th beautiful Trondhjem Fjord nevei The climate is like that of middl Germany in winter and much like tha of the coast of Oregon in summei Hence the luxuriant vegetation and th resultant prosperity of the people.Boston Transcript. & " ' HODGES CALLS A HALT. L , J Dig Marlboro Follower Flies the 3 Tillman Track. a e HOT STUFF FROM THE SHOULDER. Man Who Once Considered the Senior r Senator the 3aviour of His Country, n Is Now Able to See In Him Only a Selfish Demagogue, Who Stands For y Nothing That Is Good and True. The following: open letter to Senator t Tillman has been handed to the press e by Its author, Chas. P. Hodges oi Brownsville, Marlboro county. Mr, . Hodges Is a large planter and mernUnUa ? ?*? o /\# thn mon tirHn illrl g tuaiu. iic ?ao uue vi vi*o iiiou *v*?v % % . most to give Senator Tillman Marl| boro county In the beginning and he ' has been a consistent follower ever since. With It all he has refrained t from asking political recognition ol e any kind. Here Is the way he now views the situation: f Bbnn-ettsville, Aug. 11, 1906. Senator B. R. Tillman. t My Dear Sir: I will preface my res marks to you by stating that I have been one of the most ardent Tlllmanj Ites in the state. I have followed you through thick and thin. In fact I am 8 one of the "old blue hen's chickens." I am a TUlmanlte "in whom there Is ^ no guile." I have asked for no office and haven't cared for any. I have followed you because I thought you were largely right; from a square out . honest motive and principle, and not t for any of the political emolument! ,, that might accrue from such support as I have rendered. But, senator, I think I voice the sentlment of thousands of your most ars dent supporters when I say that we can follow you so far and no further s You have left your moorings, and have h gone headlong In the persistent advocacy of measures that If carried oul will undermine eventually our moral, y social, religious and governmental structures. Your absolute disregard a for the moral and religious opinions of others should make your position 8 , .. . Da . . _ aonorreni 10 every uuu-ieaniiB r?i<tlst, Methodist, Presbyterian and, In fact to every religious denomination o< s the state. You have flagrantly Insulted ( every minister of every denomination of the state. When you uttered the statement that the preachers of South Carolina had allied themselves with n the blind tigers and liquor men. you know, Senator Tillman, you gave utterance to a slander and falsehood that n was as dark as midnight in hell. And . you have never had the manhood 01 common decency to apologize for It 9 You knew, senator, that our churches e and our ministers of the gospel are g all that we have that make life worth e living. You cripple the ministry, ae t you have tried to do, you hush theli voices and push aside their godly Ina fluences in South Carolina for ever t sixty days and we would have riot, any archy, rapine and mu'der that would appall the world. No, senator, I, with t thousands of other citizens of South I Carolina, place our morality, religion, g self-government and common decency ? Tlllmonlom auuve )J!tIii3iUi puiiiiv;^ aim t iuuh>u?>?> e I am a prohibitionist. I favor neithei y the dispensary nor bar-rooms. I say f nothing of the rottenness of either j. One is as rotten as the other, as to Q that matter. 0 Now, senator, I want to see, if in the e last twelve or fourteen years you have n dealt fairly with your people that have ^ implicitly trusted you in this vital question that means so much to the wele fare of South Carolina, You know e you have always claimed to be a great j people's man, a servant of the people; that your aim is to carry out their lnr structlons. Have you done it? Have I ? you tried to do It to any extent at al! on this great liquor question? Let ue e see. In 1892 the question* of liquoi v or no liquor was brought squarely and fairly before the voters of the state, t and they voted for prohibition by ovet g 10,000 majority. Senator Tillman was e then governor of the state and vlrtuals ly was the legislature of the state also t What did he do? He said, you people 0 by your vote have demanded prohlbin tion and it is in my power to give it to you, but I will not do it, but I will y give you something and throw sue! restrictions around it, and will call ii e dispensary. And with the restrictions e and safeguards that I will put upon it, we will lead up to prohibition. The restrictions, Senator Tillman says, first the people must decide as to whether they want a dispensary or not in any community. Second, he says that li quor is to be sold in no other way. s Third, he says no minor or habitual liquor drinkers can buy it at all. Fourth, >t that every purchaser of liquor had tc d sign his name, place of residence and s <o on with numerous other restrictions, e ill of which were good, n Now, senator, I, along with thouo sands of your supporters, said while e we voted for prohibition we trust this o man Tillman and wholly believe he n will be good to his promise to the r. people of the state. Now, senator, e to the contrary, if you will show me e one utterance spoken, one line writd ten, advocating or urging the curtaile ment of the sale of liquor in these it fourteen years of your liquor lire, 01 e the advocacy of one single measure I. that would lead up to prohibition, ] r, will withdraw everything uttered ir t this letter. But to the contrary, seny ator, you have advocated every means possible to fasten liquor upon the s state indefinitely. You saw after the a first year of the dispensary under d your rigid restrictions, that the peoe pie were not taking to it. Numbers - of communities of the state that you i. thought ought to have It wouldn't t have it; the result was that you had J the law made very lax, so those comn munltles could get it by a mere petlf tion, and not by a vote of the people, f And the result was that they were d crammed down the throats of the n people in dozens of communities thai g didn't want them. And finally all of e the restrictions were removed, and a the boys were told to go out and sell e liquor, fill the minors, drunkards, n "niggers" and all with liquor, mean e liquor, cheap liquor, when they were e promised pure liquor. Thieving cone stables have been retained, default*. Ing dispensers have been white-washe ed, and a high-handed stealing has t been carried on by the management. r* And, senator, all this to your knowl_ edge has been going on for years. Why did you wait until the institution was reeking in filth and rolling In mud before you came to Its rescue? And the half of Its filth has never been told. ( And now, senator, you are going all ' over the state using your powerful political influence to further fasten this damnable vampire, liquor, upon your trusting and unsuspecting foli lowers. Tou are advocating measures that you know are eating the very vitals out of the young men and boys of our state, and that is reach' ing into our homes, and is making a I damnable thrust at the cnastity ana virtue of our women. My Qod, Senator Tillman, what more do you want? We have heaped honor upon honor upon you. We 1 have done all for you that a worshipping people could do. Now, Is It possible that we have for these years nursed a viper In our bocom that la 1 to turn upon us and sting our moral, social and religious conditions to ' death? Senator, I know you are a hard, unrelenting master. Tou don't mind telling other people of their meanness, but you don't like being told of yours. Now, senator, you strip this infernal Uquor-dlspensary of its political garb and possibilities, and throw it before the people, not in an office-getting ca1 pacity, and they will vote it out tomorrom. And you know it is the 1 reason why you have kept it from 1 the people. And today you are trying to move > heaven and earth to try and get a law fastened on the people in the Raysor) Manning bill, that, if it should bei come a law, the entire state will be placed under the old dispensary law, ' with all these communities that have > voted out the dispensaries, and the t communities that have never had them, to have dispensaries fastened upon them without the people (I mean, the whole people) having any voice or vote whatever in the matter. And to show you more clearly, senator, of the Insincerity and rottenness of this liquor affair, you have men in about every county of the i state running for the legislature and I senate, hurrahing for Tillman and the I dispensary, that have always been i your avowed opponents, and enemies 1 to the dispensary; and I fear hate both Tillman and the dispensary now 1 worse than the devil hates holy water. But now It Is?Hurrah for Richard I. I Manning for governor, the Raysor> t Manning bill and dispensary. Why! ' oh! why Is this the case? Because, I i fear, it opens up a chance by which i some fellow that has been wanting i office for a long while, hopes to ride in on Tillman liquor. Strip it, sena tor, (this dispensary, I mean) of its I political affiliations and office getting ' possibilities and many a fellow that is now hurrahing for Tillman and the i dispensary would curse you to your face, as they have formerly done. i Now, senator, it Is patent to the i most commonplace mind that you and ' Richard I. Manning have gone Into a ' compact. Mr. Manning evidently i says, senator, help me to be governor and I will do what you want me to do. I You have put the yardstick on the l legislators when you s&id that the i legislators that voted against the . Raysor-Manning bill must be left at r home. So, senator, if the surmises and con' elusions are correct, it seems that you r are making a desperate effort to bo United States senator, governor of the 1 state, as well as the legislature. That is giving one man too much power? ' that is depriving us of self-govern1 ment. And I don't believe the peo1 pie are prepared to accept such, and ' will by their ballots repudiate the ' whole scheme. Now senator, In conclusion, let me : say that this liquor question is no longer a Tillman or antl-Tillman ques' tion. You should have all you want, ' We are willing for you to go back to 1 the United States senate and "cuss' 1 Roosevelt and those Yankees to your ' heart's content; but for humanity's ' and God's sake, if you can't throw > your influence on the right side of this great moral question, pull youri ooiHo nn<i let the neoDle decide as to whether they want the dispen sary or prohibition. That is the ques! tion before us, and you have promised to let us decide it. Will you be 1 good to your word? I Very truly yours, k C. P. Hodom. ' , 1 MODEL SHOVEL 8ALE3MAN. 1 Story Told of the Duke of Wellington and a Big Contract. A millionaire shovel maker, as he sat in the smoking room of an Atlantic liner, said: "I have been over to England trying to sell shovels to the British govern, ment. I failed. I didn't sell a shovel. I A dead man named Jones was the cause of my failure. "Jones was alive, very much alive, during the battle of Waterloo. He sat , on horseback near Wellington's tent. , Wellington, seeing him there in civil, ian's dress, said angrily: "'Who are you?' " " oaloomntl ' Mid 1 cl III CI OIIU TCI , Jones, 'and I came here from Brussels to see the battle.' " 'Now that you are here,' said Wel? lington, 'are you willing to carry a . message for me to one of my generals? It will be a dangerous errand, but I r have no one else to send.' " 'I'll carry your message,' said Jones, 'and as for danger, one part of this , battlefield is no more dangerous than , another today.' "So Wellington gave him the mes, sage, and Jones delivered It, but failed to return. The duke thought him , slain, but one day eight or nine years later a man accosted the duke in London. " 'Do you remember me?' he said. " 'I do,' said Wellington, shaking the man's hand warmly, 'you saved two regiments of mine by the delivery of that message. Why didn't you returd to me ?' " 'Jones said his horse had been kllled by a cannon ball as he was returning, and he himself had been shot in the side, but not badly?a few days abed had brought him round. " 'Well, said the duke, 'what can I do for you?' '"I am a partner in that shovel house of ours now,' said Jones, 'the Arm name is Smith, Jenkins & Jones, and , I'd like to get a government contract.' "He got it," the millionaire ended sadly. "From that day to this all the shovels used in the British army and navy have been supplied by the house of Smith, Jenkins & Jones. I wasted my time trying to compete with that > Arm."?St. Louis Globe-Democrat WHEN A TRAIN 18 WRECKED. Foreman of the Wrecking Crew Telle What la Done. "You want a story of how we clear' away wrecks? "Well," says the old wrecking foreman. in an article in The Iron Trail, "perhaps It Is after a day's hard work on the 'rip tracks,' repairing broken cars; for usually the wrecking crew is made up of ten of the car repair men. "Every man knows exactly where the wrecking outfit Is?on by the roundhouse where the night crew is doing all It can to hurry along the fire and the rising steam pressure of the engine that Is to take the outfit on Its errand of mercy. "This 'outfit,' If It Is modern, consists of a steam derrick car, with steam always up, weighing in the neighborhood of 160,000 pounds, with a lifting capacity of sixty-five tons. "Behind the derrick comes ths 'truck* car. It contains extra trucks tj be used under derailed cars or car bodies whose trucks have been ruined. Next comes the blocking car, loaded down with all necessary blocking and timber. "Then there is the track supply car, equipped with all the necessary track material, such as ties and rails. The tool car is the next in order. This carries packs of all descriptions, from a six-Inch pony Jack to a 40-ton hydraulic. It is loaded also with bars, chisels, hammers, wrenches, dope buckets, packing spoons, lines, tackles and blocks, night and day signals, tarpaulins for covering merchandise, and stretchers, blankets, sheets for the injured and the dead. "Next is the cook and bunk car and finally the caboose. The former has a range, a refrigerator and a stock of food that will keep.' It has bunks for eighteen or twenty men., This train, or 'outfit,' as it is called, is always coupled together and stored on a side track. 'The first thing that a wrecking foreman does on being called is to get into communication with the chief train despatcher and find out all the particulars possible. If it is a merchandise wreck, empty freight cars are taken along into which can be transferred such freight and grain as can be saved. "He also finds out as near as he can Just where the wreck lies and how badly it Is piled. If it is a passenger wreck, why, of course, it is a case of get there as quickly as possible, wondering all the time who the dead and Inturuwl am ond what new scene of aw fulness will be confronted. "The wrecking outfit has the right of way of all trains between the starting point and the place where the wreck occurs. Passenger, stock and freight are all side-tracked. "A stop is made at the station or siding nearest the wreck. Here the steam derrick is switched ahead of the engine, with the rest of the outfit coupled behind. On arriving at the wreck a man is stationed at the front end of the crane, whose duty It is to glreeignals to the engineer of the derrick, whether to raise, lower or to swing the crane. The first thing a wrecking foreman does after finding out where the injured are and getting them loose Mr to figure on working a passageway through the wreck and replacing the track as the debris is cleared. If the wreck is a bad one and mere is ue chance a temporary track is built around the mess that traffic may be resumed as soon as possible. "Cars that are damaged to the extent of $100 are dragged into the ditch, all the truck and air brake rigging taken from them and the body of the cars set aflre. All of the iron parts are afterward loaded on to flat cars, often even the boiler of the locomotive. This scrap Is taken to the shop to be repaired and used over again. "Even freight wrecks can present a terrible appearance. One of the worst of these I ever saw was forty-five loads of wheat, the products of many a hundred acres, piled forty feet high and extending from right of way fence to right of way fence?a regular hill of gold which took one solid week's work to clear away. Carload after carload of wheat had to be loaded by basket into new cars?while many tons of bent and twisted iron and heap upon heap of ashes told a silent story of the wreck. "One time we went out to pick up a stock wreck of eleven cars. These, next to passenger wrecks, are the worst to handle. This particular wreck was one of great confusion. The penned cattle were bellowing frightfully. On each side and far over toward the fence lay dead or Injured stock. "Now there is nothing that makes these western steers so angry as the smell or blood, ana aaa 10 mai injury . and the terrible excitement of a wreck and you have a combination that makes the poor animals fairly craxy. Woe to the man who gets close to a head or the heels of a struggling beast. The cars were piled in such a way that we were compelled to rip the tops off. "Then men crawled out along the wreckage, fastened lines about the horns, and with the aid of the derrick the animals were Anally dragged loose. Those In the car that were badly injured were killed by a blow on the head with a sledge, while the others were rounded up by men on horseback and herded into the Aeld to be finally driven to the first stock chute and there reloaded. "Yes, passenger wrecks are, without a doubt, the very worst?and it can be said of them, as of war, they are anything but cool. "The lessons wrecks should teach us? "Never to take chances. Never make men work longer than nature intended | they should. Equip all roads with every safety device known for safe train handling. Make the train order as simple as possible. Stop loading cars beyond their capacity and until they break down. Employ only experienced men, and when they make mistakes and trouble is the result?keep them; do not 'can' them, for nine chances out of ten they will never make the same mistake again. We all learn by experience, therefore the man who has made a mistake is a safer man for all concerned, than one who has not." Vf it is said that school boys with chestnut hair are likely to be more clever than others and will generally be found at the head of the class. In like manner girls with fair hair are likely to be more studious and bright than girls with dark hair.