Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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V / I " SEMI-WEEgl.^ ^ l. m. grists sons. publishers, j % JaniUg |)eicspaper: Jor the {promotion of the political, Social. Agricultural anil Commercial Interests of the {people. {rKs?NOL*fr?)Hv.VivKvkht*. A!i(K established 1855. _ YORKVILLE. S. C~, TUESDAY, OCTOBER ^;. 1908. ' 1STO. 80 HIIII ! ...Lin NOT P] I ' ? 9 CHAPTER III. I was just beginning to find myself ^ favorably known as a good pleader, when I was asked to take the prosecution against Flora Ross, for the murl der by poison of her husband, Malcolm ^ Ross. A For my own self?speaking apart from my legal character?I detest the idea of hanging a woman. I leave it to W wiser heads to determine how they U, * ^ Kn nnnlchul I Willi Id neVCT V'Ufi 111 X.KJ ur puiuouvu. - .. hang them. When I had read the ease of the prosecution, I was terribly afraid that Flora Ross would have to submit to that most awful of punishments. The evidence told terribly against her. When I saw her. my sorrow for such L a fate was redoubled, for I found her W- the loveliest woman my eyes had ever T beheld. I I tell you the story briefly, first premising that 1 was never able to make up my mind as to whether she was guilty or not. I have not to my satisfaction decided yet. Near Glasgow (there resided, some seven years ago, a wealthy land-owner of the name of Malcolm Ross; he was the squire of the estate of Gairhcorn. and was head of the ancient Ross family. At that time he was 60 years of age, without exception the greatest tyrant in all Scotland. He had the most fierce and brutal temper; he never restrained his speech, either in the presence of man. woman or child. One of the tenants was a small farmer, Allan Maclise, a poor, struggling man, with a sick wife and a large family. The eldest of the family, Flora, . was a beauty. In all Scotland there V was not a fairer, sweeter lassie. Her lovely face won such admiration that f the minister's wife, who was a "lady in her own right," sent her to school. Mom Maclise was clever as she was r beautiful. At 16 sne reiurnea 10 me old Scottish manse. She was good as she was fair. Many girls so lovely and accomplished would have refused to bury themselves in the old farm-house. Not so Flora: she was the very light and sunshine of home. She took the poor, ailing mother's place in the house; she taught the younger children, she cheered the drooping, grayWF haired father, until she made the manse V a different house. R Of course, so fair a face must draw lovers, as one drop of honey must A draw flies. All the young farmers on ^ the Gairncorn estate were crazed about P Flora Maclise. She soon made her choice, young Donald Macdonald, of Avlstown, a handsome laddie, with a bright face, a light heart and the most gallant figure that ever stepped over the heather of Scottish hills, won her. He had great blue eyes, clear as the heavens; his ^ clustering hair was just touched with gold. Donald Macdonald was wellborn; his forefathers had been chief tenants of the Gairncorn estates for many long years, but he was poor. ? When he asked Flora to be his wife, sne said, "Xes. rsui iney must nnu many long years?wait until times grew better with Allan Maelise. until the sick man's wife gained health and strength, and the little ones were able to wait upon themselves; then Flora would many him, and they would go together to some pretty home in the Highlands and be happy. Put until I that time Donald said it was useless for him to linger at Gairncorn, getting no richer. He would go away to the New World, and work until he had saved money to buy a large farm; then he would come for Flora. They loved each other so dearly, these unfortunate lovers. They bade each other "good bye" with a passion of tears; they swore eternal truth and fealty. . "You will not forget me. Flora, though I should be long years away: you will be true to me? I know you will be ready to marry me when I come back." "Yes; she would be ready." He kissed the sweet, trembling lips; he kissed the tears from the lovely face. They broke a sixpence in half and parted. "I shall come again, my dear," saidDonald. "though it were ten thousand ^ miles." "And I shall be here ready for you when you come." she replied. Then Donald went away, and Flora returned to the old manse to work and wait in love and patience. Two years passed away and things had grown worse. The poor mother seemed to fade away daily; she wanted better nourishment than their scanty means could give her; the crops were bad. the cattle died of disease: and Allan Maelise was wild with misL ery and want. They were a whole year S behind with the rent, and one day A there came a notice from the landlord that, unless the rent was paid by a certain day. they would be turned out of their dear old home, and all the stock sold. The old farmer's courage gave away when he read it; he fell on his knees and sobbed aloud that he must go to the workhouse* in his old age. Tears ran down the fun-owed face, and the gray head was bent in hopeless sorrow. "What shall I do?" he cried to Flora. * "I will try to help you, father," she said. She went to her room, she braided her bonnle hair with her brightest ribbons. and set out to walk sixteen miles g to the landlord's house, to ask for some time and for mercy. Malcolm Ross was at home: he had just finished dinner when she arrived. He looked up in surprise at the beautiful vision?the graceful girl with her lovely sonsy face and sweet, pleading eyes. Whatever heart he had he lost to her in that moment. "You want me to forgive your fath + ei's rent? I will tell you what I will do. I will forgive him all the rent he owes.- and he shall live the remainder of his life in the old manse rent free, if you will marry me." "I cannot." she replied: "I am to marry Donald Macdonnld, who is working for me over the sea." 111,111 EtOVEN. I E M. BR A EM E. "And were it not for that, would you marry me?" he asked. "No," she replied. The squire was not the man she could love or marry. Indeed, the fierce face might well frighten the child. "I will take time, and think what I shall do for your father," he said; and, as the lovely face went out of his sight, he swore to himself a great oath that she should marry him, no matter what the price. A few weeks afterwards there appeared in the paper a few lines containing an announcement of the death of Donald Macdonald, late of Avistown. He died in Canada. No need to say this was the invention of Malcolm Ross. Te thought if Flora once believed in her lover's death, he should find it easy to win her, so he forged the few lines that took away all happiness and brightness from her life. How she grieved over her lover's death I cannot tell. For some weeks she was indifferent as to whether she n?? rlicwl' thnn thn nlnirnc nf hrvmp aroused her?the drooping father, the sick mother, the children who had not always enough to eat. In the midst of all there came another notice?unless the rent was paid in ten days, there would be an execution on the old manse. "It means the workhouse, Aille," said Allan to his sick wife! "we shall have to die there, my dear!" That -very evening an unexpected event happened?the landlord himself, Malcolm Ross, came over to the manse. They were frightened to see him; these simple people now owed him money and could not pay it. Flora had never told them of the laird's offer?in her sorrow for Donald's death she had forgotten it. i The old farmer shrank back. "I cannot meet him, lassie," he said. "I have not the siller to pay him. We must go into the workhouse?the moth er. the bairns and me." "I will ask him to wait," said the girl. "Next year, if the crops are good, , we may do better." So she went into the parlor, the state room of the manse, where the squire awaited her. "Has your father got the rent?" he , asked. "No; not one penny of it," she re- , plied. "Would he have pity on them? , her father was old, her mother was ( sick, and they had nothing but trouble." "I must have my money," he replied. ] "All mv tpnants mitrht be old. all their , wives might be sick, and then what would become of me?" ( "But you are rich," said the girl, , "and we are very poor." ( "Then the sooner your father gives j up the manse farm the better for him. ] I do not like poor tenants. Tell your , father, for me, that, unless every pen- , ny is paid within the time, he must be , sold out." "That would make him a beggar," I she cried, "and his hair is gray." ! "I cannot help it. I cannot lose my . money. You listen to me; I never < changed my mind when it was once >. made up; unless the rent is paid he | must be turned out. There is only one < thing can save him." "What is that?" she asked, eagerly. ] "If you will marry me. I will forgive i him, and he shall live here rent free whilst his life lasts." "I do not love you." she said, look- ing up with a shudder into the grim, stern face. " i "That does not matter; I love you. I I will make you happy. You shall be a '< great lady if you will marry me. Go and tell your father what I say." SMe went into tne nttie room, wnere the old man knelt weeping1 by his wife's side. "Father." she said, "the laird has sent you a message. He will forgive you the rent, and you shall live free at 1 the manse while you live, if I will marry him." The old man started to his feet. The [ mother's face brightened with a sudden joy. ! "You will do it. lassie." he cried. "God's blessing on you. You will save us. Mother will get well, and we shall be happy yet." "Do you wish me to marry him?" i asked Flora. "You could not say no!" cried the mother. "If you lived at Ross House. I might have a bottle of wine, and it seems, to my sick taste, a bottle of wine, could cure me. You cannot say no. Flora!" "Donald is dead." said the old man; "if he had lived. I would not have asked you: but Donald is dead." "I do not like him," she said, with a sigh. "That will not matter. Think of the mother better, the children all fed! Oh, Flora, Flora!" cried the old man, clasping his arms round her neck, "you must not say no." "I will not." she said. "I will marry the squire; but. father and mother, bear witness both, that my heart is burieu in Donald's grave." She walked back with slow and quiet steps. Malcolm Ross stood waiting for her. She raised her pale face as she entered the room. "My father says I must marry you, sir." "That is right." he cried; "your father is a wise man. You shall be as happy as a queen." "I.et me tell you one thing, sir?my heart is in Donald's grave." "I will soon have it out." he replied, with a coarse laugh. "I shall come tomorrow to settle our wedding day." When he was gone. Flora Maclise went out into the pine woods behind the manse, and lay with her face on the ground, weeping as one who has no hope. In that hour she buried her love, her youth and her happiness forever. Malcolm Ross kept his word. The next day he came with a lawyer; the receipts for the rent were made out, and a deed was drawn up, which made the manse farm free to the old man as long: as he lived. "See what it is to have a pretty daughter,' said the squire, who was in high spirits at having won the great treasure he longed for. "Now let us fix the wedding day. All Galrncorn shall make holiday when I take my wife home." He either did not notice, nor did not care, how white and wan the lovely face was; he was boisterous, happy and content. He sent wine for the sick mother, whose face grew better as she drank it. He sent one of the boys to school. Then the price of this had he paid. The wedding day was fixed, and on the seventeenth of June, amongst the rejoicing of his tenants, the squire took his lovely young wife home. CHAPTER IV. The marriage was the most unfortunate that ever took place under the wide heavens. Flora Ross tried hard to do her duty. She had not expected to be happy. She had not looked forward to any brightness in her life, but she had not expected what she did meet, and that was positive ill-usage. The only bright part of the picture was that they were doing so much better at home. Allan Maclise held his head high among the neighbors, now that his daughter was lady at the manse. The weather, too, was getting better, the children growing out of hand. There was some little comfort in that. But she herself was wretched, unutterably miserable. For some three or four months after her marriage Malcolm Ross was kind to her?that is, he swore in moderation, and never raised his arm to strike her. He taunted her occasionally with her poverty and her sad face; he laughed at her dead lover as though it were a capital joke. After that the fierce fancy he had felt for his new toy was withdrawn. He began to dislike her because she necer laughed at his coarse jokes or enjoyed his course wit. He said things on purpose to bring the crimson Hush into that fair face, and then, when she openly showed her annoyance at the offensive words, he struck her. The servants told at the trial how it was no unusual thing for them to hear their young mistress sobbing and weeping throughout the long night. They could hear the sound of heavy blows and passionate cries, but she made no complaint. The maid who waited upon her told how often the delicate white arms were marked with heavy purple bruises; how often in the morning her mistress's eyes were so swollen with weeping she couid not see. She never told them at home; to them she always wore a smiling face, no matter how her head ached. Her servants, believing their young mistress's life in danger, often consulted among themselves as to whether they should tell or not. They all dearly loved their gentle young mistress, except Mrs. Mackay, the housekeeper, who was jealous of her, having always believed that her master must eventually marry her. She could not have been more miserable. poor child. At the time of the trial one of the men swore that, one .lay when she went into a field where he was to give him a message, he deliberately raised his riding whip and struck her across the face, leaving a hfiiivo nffpr 11 till (V Ull net incvn iv. i.vu.u wards. Two years passed away. One morning, full of her own unhappy thoughts, she had gone out into the pine woods. As she sat there, thinking of her blightsd life and her lost lover Donald, he suddenly appeared before her. Believing it was a vision, she flung herself :>n her face; but he said: "You need not fear to look at me, Flora; you have broken my heart; you need not fear to look in my face." But she cried out in a loud voice: "Oh, Donald, Donald? I thought you were dead?indeed, I did!" "I would sooner have dieel twenty times over than have found you false," he said. "So you married for money, and forgot me. Flora?" "Oh, Donald," she sobbed, "do not make it harder; I have never forgotten you, and never shall!" "I have worked as no man ever worked before," he said. "I have come home a rich man. ready to buy the best farm in the country and take my darling there. I little dreamed of finding the gild, who was to be my wife, married." She only sobbed the more bitterly, until at last he sat down by her side, and she told him all. "I can see it," he cried; "this old man wanted you. and so he forged the lie. But it was such a stale trick. Flora. Did your own heart tell you that I was dead?" "I believed it," she said. "If I had not believed it, Donald, I would sooner have died than have married this man." "May the curse of God rest on him and his forever more!" cried Donald. Then he hade her good-bye. He loved her better than life itself, but she was another man's wife now, and could be nothing to him. "Shall you stay here long?" she asked. "No; only for a time. I shall not see you again, Flora; I could not bear it!" That day there was a most terrible quarrel at Ross House. Flora went straight home?straight to he husband's presence, and asked him: "Did you know, Malcolm, that Donald Macdonald was not dead, but living?" He swore and cursed; she retorted; he struck her?she cried out for help. The frightened servants rushed between; he followed her into the room, and beat her without mercy. The next day Malcolm Ross died suddenly, and the doctors who attended him said he was poisoned by arsenic. There was a coroner's inquest. < hie of the servants, a most unwilling witness, swore that Mrs. Ross brought her master a cup of beef tea at 11 o'clock, while he was in the room. Malcolm took it. drank half of it hastily. threw some of it in his wife's face, and cried out that she had poisoned him. He was seized with violent sickness, burning in the throat and terrible pain. The doctors were summoned in haste, the remains of the cup of beef tea were analyzed, and arsenic was found in it. There was no doubt he was perfectly right; he had been poisoned. Until he died he kept up that continual cry, that his wife had poisoned him. She looked scared and bewildered. Perhaps, poor soul! she was thinking more of Donald's return than of her husband's danger. She was questioned about the beef tea. and seemed to remember nothing about it. At last she said the housekeeper had prepared it, and she had taken it in. The housekeeper, on her part, swore she had never touched it, but had seen her mistress take it from the kitchen ta/ble. Then the house was searched, and nothing whatever was found in the housekeepers's room or her boxes. In the desk, belonging to Mrs. Ross was found a packet of arsenic. The housekeeper had no cause of animosity against her master, whereas it was well known that the unhappy wife deI tested him, that he had beaten, ill-used and ill-treated her. That was the case of the prosecution. I never had a stronger. There was the crime, the motive for the crime. The only link wanting in the chain was that no one had seen her put the poison in the beef tea. It went still more against her, when it was known that her former lover had returned, and the servants told how violent the quarrel about him had been. The" trial took place at Glasgow. If she had not engaged the most able pleader in Scotland, she must have been found guilty. The witnesses against her were the druggist, who had sold the poison to her six months ago; the housekeeper, who swore she had never touched the beef tea; the servant who first heard his master accuse her of poisoning him, and another who had seen her meet Donald; the doctors who proved the cause of his death. Those for her were the servant who swore the arsenic was purchased by his master's orders; a maid servant, who declared she had seen the beef tea in the housekeeper's hand, and others, who testified to her gentle, loving nature and incapability of crime. The verdict was "Not Proven." She did not leave the court with a stainless character, nor was she universally believed to be guilty. From the moment she left the dock, she was never seen again until I met her at Mr. Bellairs*. She never claimed one shilling of the dead man's property; she never went to say good-bye to those for whom she had sold herself. One year afterwards Donald Macdonald married her younger sister, Ailie. So I finished my story. "I must leave all decision with you," I said to my listeners. "My mind is not clear about the matter yet." "I say she is not guilty," cried Mrs. Bellairs. "1 say tne same, saia ner nusuanu. I hardly like writing: the words, but we sent for her, begging her to come down that she might receive every assurance of kindness and sympathy. She lay dead on her bed. By her side was this penciled note: "I did not poison my husband, but shall poison myself! I cannot wait for your verdict: fate is against me. You will be sure to say I was guilty, and I have borne so much I can bear no more." It was a terrible shock. They buried her in a pretty part of the cemetery; and to this day they seldom mention her name without tears. I am pleased to add, for her memory's sake, that ten years afterwards, when Mrs. Mackay. the old housekeeper, lay upon her death bed. she confessed that she had poisoned her master, and allowed his wife to be found guilty, because she was jealous and disappointed. I took care that the confession should be known over all Scotland. I likewise sent word to America, hoot trv nlenr the fame of the unhappy lady whose sad story I have recorded. THE END. FOLKLORE OF OATHS. One Prosecutor Who Denounces Perjury as the Greatest Crime. During1 one of the occasional outcroppings of pure thought with which the recent Ruef trial in Judge Cabaniss's court was illuminated, says the San Francisco Chronicle, it was stated by a distinguished prosecutor that "perjury has become the greatest crime of the age." Perhaps the trouble is~that perjury does not entail such dire calamities nowadays as it once did. Into the subject with the spur of curiosity, we learn that two or three centuries ago it cost something to swear falsely. Then it was a mortal sin rather than a simple crime, and some of the domestic troubles which followed were a curse running to the seventh generation. death from a lingering disease within twelve months, or being turned into a stone, swallowed up by the earth and ever afterward crawling about as a vampire. Those were punishments which deterred. if one believed them. As a matter of fact, few did, and people committed perjury as merrily in the good old 17tli century as in the 20th.. Then, as now, the moral man spoke the truth for practical moral reasons and the immoral man lied for immoral reasons. Superstition has always been the basis of oaths, and their practical value has depended on the depth of the superstition. That, of course, is evident enough, as all that differentiates an oath from a plain statement is that one introduces an element of religious faith. In California taking an oath requires simply that a witness raise his riprht hand while the clerk informs him that he solemnly swears to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God." The charm of legendary attaches to the explanation that the hand of the witness was originally raised to show that he had not a weapon concealed jin it. but this is apocryphal. Touching a sacred object is a worldwide method of oath taking. In earlier ages one swore by the sun or by a great river or some other awesome thing in nature. Even now the Ganges is the most binding oath to a Hindu. The Tungaz witness still brandishes a knife before the sun. saying, "if I lie. may the sun plunge sickness into my entrails like this knife." The Somali, administering an oath, declares: "God is before us and this stone is from Amr Bur." naming a sacred mountain. The man to be sworn then takes the stone and says "I shall not lie in this agreement." It would he pleasant to believe that he does not." iUistclliineous grading. BIG MAN WITH BIG JOB. Commander the United States Battleship Fleet. It takes a big man to succeed "Fighting Bob" Evans. It also takes a big man to command a fleet of sixteen battleships in a cruise around the world, a feat never attempted by any nation until now. By both tokens Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry should be a big man. If he is not, the naval authorities who have watched him for forty years do not know what they are about. But recent history shows that the naval authorities do know what they are about. Let any one who doubts it ask Spain. Therefore Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry is a big man?big enough, many believe, to be the coming man in the navy. The manner in which he has handled the fleet thus far bears out the opinion, i From Honolulu to Auckland he drove his sixteen ocean giants 3,850 miles without coaling, a cruise without a parallel in naval history. Though pounded by heavy seas on the long run, the vessels came through in perfect trim and were a day or two ahead of their schedule. More marvelous still, by a comparative system the amount of coal burned had been decreased. All this spells efficiency, which Is only second to good shooting In making an invincible navy. Sperry is not picturesque, but he has common sense. He is phlegmatic, but is business all through. He has never had a fighting part except for a little while In the Philippines, but he knows naval science from the ground up. Several times he has been assigned to teach higher mathematics at .the Annapolis Naval academy. For three veal's he was president of the war college at Newport, an exceedingly important place. During the Spanish war he was not in the limelight, but was holding the responsible and arduous position of equipment officer at tRe Brooklyn navy yard, where he had to look after the fitting out of vessels. From all this it will be seen that Admiral Sperry's role has been In working parts not on dress parade. A naval commander is supposed to know pretty much everything and to know most of it well. He has to be a diplomat, a society man, a warrior, an executive, a sailor, a business man, a scholar, a speaker, Just a little bit of a politician and a general all around good fellow. Incidentally he must command the respect of men, maintain strict discipline, yet keep those under him in good heart and train them to the highest point of efficiency in all lines. All of this does not sound easy, and it is not one-half so easy as it sounds. Has a Big Job on Hand. In Admiral Sperry's case this task is as much more difficult than that usually ..devolving on naval commanders n? his fighting machine is larger than that under the control zf other officers. Sperry has under him 15,000 men. No country has ever had so many big battleships collected into one fleet. No country ever sent a battleship fleet of any size around the world. It is thus seen that the chore the American admiral has on his hands requires a full sized man to handle it. The bigness of the jot, combined with an attack of rheumatism, was sufficient to put as seasoned a sea dog as Bob Evans out of commission after a sail from Hampton Roads to San Francisco. Yet Sperry thus far seems to get along with it very nicely, thank you, and to be enjoying1 good health. He has been in training for this very thing for about forty-six years, or ever since he was fourteen years old, and he is the sort of man that mak^s use of the time. He belongs to the new school in the navy, and if all signs do not fail the new school will maintain the glory of the old and probably add a little fresh glory of its own thereto. Sperry has shown that he can teach men to shoot and to maneuver and to sail and to be American gentleman even if they are common sailors. It stands to reason that a man who can do all that, besides several hundred other things that have just now slipped my mind, can also fight If occasion should arise. Of course, we all hope that Sperry will not have to fight. This is a peaceful age. and we are a peaceful people. Would Be Right on the Job. Richmond Pearson Hobson and other fire eaters may thirst for war, but the rest of us do not. We love all men and will continue doing so If they will let us. But in the event that some little misunderstanding should arise in the Pacific, for example, this man Sperry is just the kind that would be found right on the job?no fuss and feathers or anything in the spectacular line, but good, straight shooting and the delivery of the goods! That is the American way, and that is Sperry's way. if we do not misjudge the man. Yellow perils will please take notice and not grow too perilous. The Japs are our best friends, and we want them n "ton tiiaf wnv for Americans are not Russians, and Sperry's other name is not Rojestvensky. We are simply sending this fleet around the world for| practice and to see how big the old planet is when measured by a battleship cruise. It is not such a big world, after all, and yet is plenty big enough for all of us, so long as we do not crowd other people's rights. The Pacific ocean, for example, is a right smart body of water, and there is plenty of room in it for all sails so long as there is no attempt to bump into other people's privileges. There is space on earth for all nations unless one of them has the big head. The Mediterranean was once the world's chief waterway, all the world's civilization worth mentioning being collected about its shores. With the discovery of America the scene of action shifted to the Atlantic. . Some I poet has predicted that the next step will be to the Pacific, a prophecy that seems under way of fulfillment. Civilization's expansive forces have outgrown the Mediterranean atid the At| lantic and are now about to take possession of the largest theater possible on the planet. To bear out this view all the chief moves of our diplomacy in the past decade have had to do with the orient. The building of the Panama canal opens the gate into the western ocean, and, to cap all. the sending of this fleet is but another move in this world controlling game. A Momentous Event. America Is the key to the Pacific. It was under our example and protection that the South and Central American republics and Mexico came into being and into freedom. Canada in her political and industrial evolution owes more to us than to Great Britain. Alaska is owned and is being opened by us. As already stated, the new cities in eastern Siberia are more like America than Russia. Japan was awakened by the United States. The integrity of China was maintained by the diplomacy of John Hay. Hawaii and the Philippines are being developed by us. Australia and New Zealand are modeled more on the American government than " - >'-1- T?- oil on ine niiigusn. xu uivx?n cm, c.c United States Is building the Panama canal and will control it when built. When the sixteen American battleships arrived at San Francisco there occurred the most imposing event in naval history. The scene of it was the broad harbor Inside the Golden Gate. There gathered forty-three fighting vessels, the most magnificent .fleet ever collected by any country In history. Forming in a great square, these ships, all American, thundered their salutes to Secretary of the Navy Metcalf, himself a son of California. Admiral Sperry assumed command shortly after the review at the Golden Gate. The cruise from that day to the present has been marred by no untoward event. The first port touched was Honolulu. There the fleet was still greeted by the American Hag. All who visit Hawaii have sung its praises in various extravagant keys. On Mark Twain the land has never lost its spell. What wonder, then, that our American jackles were captivated by it and that our fleet described this garden in the Pacific as the modern "islands of the blest!" Kept In Touch With Washington. * rom nonoiuiu me sixteen uitme.shlps steamed over the 3,850 mile course to Auckland, New Zealand, as already described. Besides making the longest battle ship run without coaling on record, there were two other notable features belonging to this part of the journey. The first was daily keeping in touch with Washington through wireless. This was accomplished in a novel manner. At Suva, Fiji Islands, is a station of the ocean cable to Vancouver. By leaving the supply ship Glacier as & wireless station at Suva and stationing other small vessels at intervals between this point and the fleet it was possible to send wireless messages dally from ship to ship till they reached Suva, whence they were dispatched by cable to Vancouver and Washington. Another noteworthy accomplishment of the run was the decreased consumption of coal, already noted. This was brought about through a system of competition established by Admiral Sperry between the various vessels of the fleet-. Each day a rreport was made of the amount of coal burned, and if any ship showed an unusual amount an explanation was demanded. A rivalry in economy thus sprang up, which not only brought out the largest development of power to the least consumption of fuel, but improved the skill in navip-nfinn Tt nrnvpil ns a rirlll for the engineers as had the previous competitive tests in marksmanship proved for the gunners. This cruise will be of invaluable service to the officers and men in giving them experience as navigators, besides impressing all other nations with a wholesome respect for Uncle Sam as a sea power. Warmly Greeted In New Zealand. On the way to Auckland the fleet passed Samoa, where Robert Louis Stevenson lived and wrote. Here it was greeted by Old Glory, for the United States controls one of the islands of the group and has a fine harbor at Pagopago. The reception of our battleships in New Zealand was enthusiastic in the extreme. After Auckland the fleet is moving on to the Philippines, Japan, China, thence through the Indian ocean, Suez canal and the Mediterranean back to its starting point at Hampton Roads. Certain yellow newspapers recently had a sensational story, lifted from a modern novel, to the effect that when our battleships reached Japanese waters they would be secretly and treacherously attacked without a declaration of war, as the Russian fleet was attacked at Port Arthur. The story went on to recount how all our vessels in the Pacific would thus be sunk before we had any intelligence that trouble was impending. Then hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops would be transported to our shores overnight and we would awake to find ourselves not famous, but prisoners. It was a great blood and thunder story and about as far from possible truth as most of the yellow sensations, yet it no doubt resulted in a few increased paper sales. There is no need of the American people growing excited over such wild prospects, at least as long as Charles Stillman Sperry is in command. He is not the sort of commander that allows an enemy to steal on him unawares. With all his quiet courtesy, he has the snap of command and the spirit of the fighter. When he heard of his appointment he remarked, "I am the responsible head of a military organization, and I propose to be one." Thus far he has made good, and all who know him are certain that he will make good to the end.?James A. Edgerton. The Stone of Infamy. In many Italian cities there formerly existed what was called "pietra d'infamie," or a stone of infamy for the punishment of bankrupts. In Venice one stands near the church of St. Mark, and in Verona and Florence they are near the old markets. On a day In carnival week the old time custom was to have all traders who had become bankrupt in the preceding twelve months led to the stone, and one by one each stood on its center to hear the reading of a report of his business failure and to endure the reproaches heaped on him by his creditors. At the end of a certain time each bankrupt was partly undressed, and three officers took hold of his shoulders and three others of his knees and. raising him as high as they could, bumped him on the stone deliberately twelve times, "in honor of the twelve apostles," the creditors crowing like cocks while the bumping proceeded. THE FARMERS' UNION. National Convention In New Orleans, November 11. Union City, Ga? October 23.?Charles S. Barrett, national president of the Fanners' Union, has issued the following statement regarding- the industrial congress he has called to meet at New Orleans, November 11th for the purpose of formulating a campaign for advancing the price of cotton in the south: "As the executive head of an organization of more than 2,000,000 farmers in the southern states, controlling approximately 60 per cent of the cotton grown in the United States, I feel that it is Incumbent upon me to take the initiative in practical steps looking to stopping the downward trend of the price for this staple, and restoring it to a figure warranted by the cost of its production and its value to civilization. "It is needless for me to state that the prosperity of every business interest between Mason and Dixon's line and the Rio Grande river is largely dependent upon the return the cotton crop is bringing to this section. "A proper return for cotton means prosperity to the farmers, the country and town merchants, the city business man, the manufacturer, the wage worker, the salary earner, every railroad and corporation in the southern states.' "Today spot cotton is selling in the neighborhood of 2J cents per pound less than one year ago. In many instances, this means that the producer is called upon to dispose of his output below cost. "If this price level prevails throughout the selling season of 1908-09, the south will sustain a loss approaching $150,000,000. "The significance of such a development would be sluggishness in every southern commercial circle, constriction of money in every business, a stoppage of construction and development in each direction, and a failure to recuperate from the panic of last fall as rapidly as we have a right to expect. "There is no logical or necessary reason for this slump in the price of cotton. The output of the south will be infinitely smaller than last year, when prices ranged to a higher level. American and European spinners admit that they expect to book the usual volume of advance orders at the prices obtaining in 1907. "The sole excuse now standing between fair prices and the south's cotton, is the belief of spinners that they will be able to obtain the staple at their own figure. In this belief they have been aided by exchange manipulators, whose efforts have been to show that the cotton belt would make a rec ord breaking yield. As a mater of fpct, we who are in most intimate touch with the situation know there Is not the slightest ground for such an opinion. "The members of the Farmers' Union, as I have said, control in the neighborhood of 60 per cent of .the south's staple crop. "Wfch tlk co-opfcratfon of the busi- ( ness Interests, large and small, of every southern state, they will undertake to secure for this crop its intrinsic value in the markets of the world. "We are determined to win this fight regardless of the temporary sacrifice it may entail upon us. I serve this no- ' tice freely and frankly upon every business man of the south. "They can aid us materially, and they can shorten the time of waiting by active co-operation in this effort. "We are battling not alone for ourselves. but for the prosperity and the freedom from debt of every man, woman and child in the southern states. "We have a right to expect their assistance under these conditions. "To the end of arriving at definite plans, I have summoned delegates from every southern state to meet in New Orleans on Nov. 11th. I will answer for a large attendance of these men, each thoroughly familiar with the cotton and the financial situation in his community. "I invite the co-operation of business man, manufacturer, professional, banker and wage earner in the south. I urge them to be present personally. I urge on commercial bodies, chambers of commerce, boards of trade and labor organizations to send representatives to this convention. "We are going to adopt extraordinary measures to meet extraordinary conditions. That fact is settled. With the active help and counsel of the business men of the south, the success of our plans, and the prosperity of the entire section is assured beyond peradventure. "I will be glad to receive notice from parties intending to be present, as well as suggestions for promoting this universal movement, unprecedented in scope and vital importance in the history of the south. , "Bear in mind that the moment the south makes it evident at New Orleans 1 that it intends to work in concert for ' a just price for cotton the price for ( that staple will begin to mount and j that it will not stop short of an equl- J table level corresponding to the laws of ^ supply and demand. "Are the business interests of the south ready to join hands with the producers of the south in promoting this end?" Charles S. Barrett, President of Farmers' Union. I CANNON HARD PRESSED. i i Czar of the House In Political Fight of His Career. Philadelphia North American: Danville 111., October 16.?In his desperate efforts to prevent his de" ?A ~ ? rv/i??fiilA oAnormeclnnfl] rlltl- 1 ieai in me Lfautmc trict Speaker Joseph G. Cannon has tried to justify his "stand pat" attitude on the tariff question by placing : the blame for non-revision upon President Roosevelt. The president declares Cannon, and not he, is responsible for the failure of congress to revise the tariff at all times during the last four years. Cannon is telling the voters of, a conference called by the president soon after his election in 1904, with leaders of the house and senate, to discuss the advisability of calling an extra session to revise the schedules. After a long pow-wow Cannon represents President Roosevelt as saying: "Well, gentlemen. I shall not call an extra session. T think we can postpone revision until after my term of office expires." This story is being spread broadcast through the district to meet the Democratic arguments against the Speaker's "stand-pat" attitude on the tariff. The temperance and church people are preparing to institute a quiet house-to-house canvass over the entire district, enlisting the sympathies of the women in their fight against Cannon. "If we can't defeat him," they say. "we can cripple him and show him up for what he Is. The fight will be carried to congress and kept up in the district until we win." As the people here say, "Uncle Joe" Is busier than a local freight train, trying to retain his seat in congress and his control over the house of representatives. Cannon, In the face of nis auvanceu age, is canvassing nis district as If he were making the race for the first time and none of the voters knew him. He is holding small meetings everywhere, and talking six or seven hours a day. He has made speeches In halls and theatres, at cross roads, in shops, or wherever he could ga i,. r an audience. Republicans b.-reabo^' .y that he Is making the -tiffest fight to get back to congress he has ever made in his long career. Not many persons in the district will dare to say that Cannon will not be re-elected. This district has a normal Republican majority of about 6,500, and two years ago gave the speaker aboui: 10,000 over his opponent. This Is the eighteenth time Cannon has run for congress in this district. He has never been defeated but once; that was in 1890. Cannon spoke last night to a meeting of coal miners at Georgetown, and came into Danville shortly before 11 o'clock. He eame to the hotel here, met his secretary, and left ten minutes later on a trolley car for Champaign, arriving there at midnight. When he left here this morning he looked forward to talking about six hours today. The agencies making for Cannon's defeat this year are the sullenness of the working men and labor unionists toward his candidacy and the active, open, aggressive and spirited opposition of the Anti-Saloon League, comprehending the temperance vote generally, and of the Methodists and church people. The Methodists, at their conferences and church meetings, have denounced Cannon as an unfit and unworthy person to represent the district in congress. The Anti-Saloon League and temperance people have gone further and are endeavoring, In the event of their failure to prevent his election, to keep him out of the speaker's chair. They have carried the organized crusade against "Cannonlsm" Into other states. In Wisconsin nominees for congress are defending the nomination of Taft by saying that if the president had not dictated the selection of the secretary of war it would have meant the nomination of Cannpn. k In oth?>r states. $s has been told. Republican congressmen are making the fight for re-election on the promise not to vote for Cannon for speaker. So that, if the speaker wins his fight here, he will have another fight in Washington when the new congress assembles to retain his pre-eminence and power. It is rather a dreary prospect for a man full of years, and Mr. Cannon is not enjoying it. His temper is not sweet, and his homely philos ifAd "GtonHInc upny nas uccu oiicitcu. k/vuwu*i*0 pat" In not enough; he has been forced against the wall in a fight for his political life. Clinton Bell, of Clark county, is opposing Mr. Cannon as the nominee of the Democrats. He is taking advantage of the situation and the feeling against "Cannonism." In substance, he has told the voters of th'? district that he is not making the race for congress as a Democrat, but as a friend of temperance and temperance legislation, a friend of labor and generous labor laws, and a foe of "tyranny" and the rule of a "czar" over the house of representatives Bell is for Bryan and all the planks of the Denver platform but, in addition, he is telling the disaffected elements in the district that he will support and champion their cause. Bell is a veteran of the civil war. Protests of the Methodist ministers and bishops and the church conferences, and the activities of the AntiSaloon League and temperance people are supplying the noise and the surface activity of the campaign against Cannon, but the speaker and his lieutenants are more concerned about bringing a smile upon the face of labor. "Let 'em resolute," sa'ld a Cannon worker: "they don't live in the district and haven't many votes here. We must stand or fall as the labor vote is with or against us." Some of Mr. Cannon's lieutenants claim to have discovered the presence In the district of twenty-five or more Gompers men who are paid $4 per iay and expenses to create sentiment against the speaker among union men. Cannon has his own agents at work among the railway shop men and miners. An Unexpected Check. A man who won a reputation for cool Jaring and almost eccentric fearless riess along- a mousana rnnes 01 mo southwestern border wan A. L. Parrott, at one time a sergeant in McNelly's company of Texas rangers. One night in 1875, about six months after I'arrott left the state service, he was sitting in a house in a little town in southwest Texas playing chess with a friend. It was a warm night, and the chessboard was on a table close to an open window. Parrott had the white men. His queen was in a direct line with the black king, but a black knight was between the two pieces. It was Parrott's move. Suddenly there was a sharp report outside, and a bullet whistled in through the window, hit the black knight and buried itself in the wall. Parrott had been bending over the board, and the bullet was evidently intended for his head. But for a few seconds he did not stir. He saw the black knight suddenly vanish. Then in his peculiar drawling, hesitating way he sa'd. "Check!", X"3 A novel will has been unearthed at Ringhamton, N. Y., dated Feb. 5, 1779, It is a long document and was made by Jacob Blackwell. transferring to his heirs the property known as Blackwell's island. He also bequeathed a farm where Long Island City is now situated.