% * _ ISSUEP SEMI-WEEKL^ W" ^ ^ ^ ^ l. m GRISTs SONS, Pubii.her.,} -i Jamil!* JJeirspaper: Jor the promotion of the (political. Social. Agricultural and dlommercial Interests of the people. j ESTABLISHED 1855. " ~ YOUKVILLK. W. C. TUKSDAY. At rCMTST Ki, liMO. NO- (ir> *** A +&K&* A ***** A ***** I When a M * By MARY < ROBERTS A I RINEHART I X Copyright 1909? J >1*** ** *** T ** *** ** *** CHAPTER XXIII. J Coming. The second floor was empty. A tabU lay overt urne-u ai wit' top ui mr aiaiu and a broken flower vase was welterins in its own ooze. Part way dowr Hetty stepped <>n something snarp. thai proved to be the Japanese paper knife ' from the den. I left her on the stairs examining her foot, and hurried to the lower floor. Here everything was in the utmost confusion. Aunt Selina had fainted, and was sitting in a hall ehair with her head rolled over sidewise and the poker from the library fireplace across her knees. No one was paying any attention to her. Ami Jim was holding the front door open, while three of the guards hesitated in the vestibule. The noises continued from the back of the house, and as I stood on the lowest staii Bella came out from the dining-room with her face streaked with soot, and I carrying a kettle of hot water. "Jim." she caiieu wnuiy. nnuc Max and Dal are below, you can pour this down from the top It's boiling." Jim glanced back over his shoulder, "Carry out your own murderous de^ signs," he said. And then, as she started back with it, "Bella, for heaven's sake," he called, "have you gone stark mad? Put that kettle down." She did it sulkily and Jim turned to the policeman. "Yes, I know it was a false alarm before," he explained patiently, "but this is genuine. It is just as I tell you. Yes. Flannigan is in the house somewhere, but he's hiding, I guess, We could manage the thing very well ourselves, but we have 110 cartridges for our revolvers." Then as the noise from the rear redoubled, "If you don't ( come in and help, I will telephone for the fire department," he concluded emphatically. I ran to Aunt Selina and tried to straighten her head. In a moment she Mayor William J. York City, Shot . I Mayor William J. (laynor, who w f-' <4.... Hw/wou ut ITi?lu?L' IVtUSCl ? J11ICIUI un ui v -.--.v- ??i >>vuv<> rope, was elected last November ou ticket being defeated. For many yea leading members of the supreme cout place In the Democratic party, and 1 as that of a possible Democratic noi 1 born In Oneida county, N. Y., in 1851, James, N. Y. opened her eyes, sat up and starec around her. She saw the kettle al once. "What are you doing with boiling water on the floor?" she said to me with her returning voiee. "Don't yoi know you will spoil the floor?" Tht ruling passion was with Aunt Selina as usual. 1 eould not find out the trouble fron any one: people appeared and disap' ' peared, earying strange articles. Ann* with a rope, Dal with his hatehet, Belli and the kettle, but 1 eould get a eohe> rent explanation from no one. Whet the guards finally decided that Jin was in earnest, and the rest of us wen not crawling out a rear window whili he held them at the door, they earn* in, three of them and two reporters and Jim led them to the butler's pan try. Here we found Anne, very white am shaky, with the pantry table and tw< chairs piled against the door of tin ' kitchen slide, ami clutching the cha niois skin bag that held her jewels She had a I ottle of Burgundy opei beside her, and was pouring herself i glass with flaking hands when tv< appeared. She was furious at Jim. "I very nearly fainted." she sail hysterically. "I might have been intir dered, and no one would have eared. wish they would stop that chopping I'm so nervous 1 could scream." Jim took the Burgundy front he] with one hand and pointed the polic< to the barricaded door with the other. "That is the door to the dumbpi waiter shaft " he said. "The lower oii< is fastened on the inside, in some man tier. The noises commenced ahoiit 1 o'clo while Mr. Brown was on guard There were scraping sounds lirst, am litter the sounds of it falling I tody. Ih % roused Mr. Heed and myself, hut whet we exitniitied the shaft everything wai (piiet, and dark. We tried lowering i candle on a string, hut it was exilic guished from helow." ***** A ***** A ***** A ***> 'an Marries \ ___ f | Author of i r" The Circular Staircase" ^ ?? absently. "Hun along and don't both; er. Kit. He may take to shooting any ' minute." Anne and I went out then and shut , ihe door, and went into ihe diningI i ?om and sat on our feet, for of course the bullets might come up through the floor. Aunt Selina Joined us there, ' and Bella, and the Mercer girls, and we sat around and talked in whispers, . and Leila Mercer told of the time her grandfather had had a struggle with i an escaped lunatic. In the midst of the excitement Tom > appeared in a bath-robe, looking very pale, with a bandage around his head, > and the nurse at his heels threatening to leave and carrying a bottle of medicine and a spoon. He went immedi: atel.v to the pantry, and soon we could hear him giving orders and the rest i hurrying around to obey them. The I honmiprihe- censed. and the silence was I even worse. It was more suggestive, i In about fifteen minutes there was a thud, as if the cage had fallen, and the sound of feet rushing down the cellar stairs. Then there were groans and loud oaths, and everybody talking at once, below, and the sound of a i struggle. In the dining-room we all > sat bent forward, with straining ears Gaynor of New on Board Steamer. m - I as shot Just after lie boarded the steamer en, N. J., for a month's vacation in Euthe Democratic ticket, the rest of the rs Mayor Gaynor. known as one of the t bench of New York state, held high lis name has been mentioned frequently ninee for president. Mayor Gaynor was and made his home In Brooklyn and St. 1 and quickened breath, until we dist tinetly heard some one laugh. Then we knew that, whatever it was, it was f over, and nobody was killed. , The sounds came closer, were comi ins up the stairs and into the pantry. ; Then the door swung open, and Tom , and a policeman appeared in the doorway, with the others crowding behind, i Between them they supported a grimy, unshaven object, covered with white? wash from the wall of the shaft, an obi ject that had its hands fastened to gether with handcuffs, and that leered 1 at us with a pair of the most villainl ously crossed eyes I have ever seen. s None of us had ever seen him before, ? "Mr. Lawrence McGuirk, battel e known as Tubby,'" Tom said cheeri, fully. "A celebrity in his pnrtieulai - line, which is second-story man and all-round rascal. A victim of the quar1 antine, like ourselves." j "We've missed him for a week," out s of the guards said with a grin. "We've - been real anxious about you. Tubby 1.1 Ain't a week goes by, when you're in i health, that we don't hear something i of you." n Mr. MeCiiiirk muttered something under his hreuth. and the men chuck1 led. "It seems." Tom said, interpreting! I "that he doesn't like us inueli. Ht doesn't like the I I It II i, and lie doesn't like the heds. He says just when lie r trot a good place lixed tin in the coal i? cellar, Klannigaii found it, and is asleej there now, this minute." Aunt Seliiia rose siiildenly and clear? ed her throat. "Am I to understand." she asked so1 verely, "th.it from ihiw on we will have I. to add two newspaper reporters, three 1 policemen and a burglar to the ooeiii pants of this <|iiarautiiied house? |tei cause, if thiil is the case, I absolutely S refuse to I'eed tllem." t Hut one of the reporters stepped for ward and bowed ceremoniously. "Madam," lie said, "I thank you Tot your kind invitation, but?it will be impossible for us to accept. I had intended to break the Rood news earlier, but this little name of burglar-in-acorner prevented me. The fact is, your Jap has been discovered to have nothing more serious than chicken-pox, and?if you will forgive a poultry yard joke, there is no longer any necessity for your being cooped up." Then he retired, quite pleased with himself. One would have thought we had exhausted our capacity for emotion, but Jim said a joyful emotion was so new that we hardly knew how to receive it. Every one shook hands with every one else, and even the nurse shared in the evi itemeiit and irave Jim the medicine she had prepared for Tom. Then we all sat down and had some champagne, and while they were waiting for the police wagon, they gave some to poor McGuirk. He was still puite shaken from his experience when the dumbwaiter stuck. The wine cheered him a little, and he told his story, in a voice that was creaky from disuse, while Tom held my hand under the table. He had had a dreadful week, he said; he spent his days in a closet in one of the maids' rooms?the one where we had put Jim. It was Jim waking out of a nap and declaring that the closet door had moved by itself and that something had crawled under his bed and out of the door, that had roused the suspicions of the men in the house ?and he slept at night on the coal in the cellar. He was actually tearful when he rubbed his hand over his scrubby chin, and said he hadn't had a shave for a week. He took somebody's razor, he said, but he couldn't get hold of a portable mirror, and every time he lathered up and stood in front of the glass in the dining room sideboard, some one came and he had had to run and hide. He told, too, of his attempts to escape, of the board on the roof, of the home-made rope and the hole in the cellar, and he spoke feelingly of the pearl collar and the struggle he had made to hide it. He said that for three days it was concealed in the pocket of Jim's old smoking coat in the studio. We were all rather sorry for him, but if we had made him uncomfortable. think of what he had done to us. And for him to tell, as he did later in court, that if that was high society he would rather he a burglar, and that we starved him, and that the women had to dress each other because they had no lady's-maids, and that the whole lot of us were in love with ore man, it was downright malicious. The wagon came for him just as he finished his story, and we all went to the door. In the vestibule Aunt Selina suddenly remembered something, and she stepped forward and caught the poor fellow by the arm. "Young man," she said grimly. "I'll thank you to return what you took from me last Tuesday night." McGuirk stared, then shuddered and turned suddenly pale. "Good Lord!" he ejaculated. "On the stairs to the roof! You!" They led him away then, quite broken, with Aunt Selina staring after him. She never did understand. I could have explained, but it was too awful. ?>n the steps McGuirk turned and took a farewell glance at us. Then he waved his hand to the policemen and reporters who had gathered around. "Good-by, fellows," he called feebly. I ain't sorry, 1 ain't. Jail'll be a paradise after this." And then we went to pack our trunks. Note from Max which came the next day with its enclosure. My Dear Kit?The enclosed trunk tag was used on my trunk, evidently by mistake, lliggins discovered it when lie was unpacking and returned it to me under the misapprehension that I had written it. I wish I had. I suppose there must be something attractive about a fellow who has the courage to write a love letter on the back of a trunk tag, and who doesn't give a tinker's damn who finds it. Hut for my peace of mind, ask him not to leave another one around where I will come across it. Max. Written on the back of tlie trunk tag. Don't you know that I won't see you until tomorrow? For Heaven's sake, get away from this crowd and come into the den. If you don't 1 will kiss you before everybody. Are you coining. T. Written below No indeed. K. This was scratched out and beneath. ('muing. THK KNI>. Indian Smoke Signals. The traveller on the plains in the early days soon learned the significance of the spires of smoke that he sometimes saw rising from a distant ridge or hill and answered from a different direction. It was the signal talk of the Indians across miles of inl tervening ground, a signal used in rallying the warriors for an attack, or warning them for retreat. The Indian had a way of sending . the smoke up in rings or puffs, knowing that such a smoke column would . at once be noticed and understood as a signal and not mistaken for the smoke of some camp tire. He made his rings by covering the little lire , with his blanket for a moment and allowing the smoke to ascend, when lie instantly covered the fire again. ' The column of ascending smoke rings said to every Indian within thirty miles, "Beware! An enemy is near!" Three smokes built close together meant "Danger." One smoke merely meant "Attention." Two smokes meant "Camp at this place." Frequently at night the settler or the traveller saw fiery lines crossing [ the sky shooting up and falling, perI liaps taking a direction diagonal to the lines of vision. He might guess that these were the signals of the Indians hut unless he were an old-timer he might not be able to interpret the signals. The old timer and the squaw man knew that one tire arrow, an arrow prepared by treating the head of tIk* shaft with gunpowder and fine hark, meant the same as three columns of smoke puffs. "An enemy is near." Two arrows meant "Danger," three arrows. "The danger is great." Several arrows indicated "The enemy is too powerful for us." Harper's Week ly. New York's Mayor, Phc Toward Steamer's Dec [Mayor Gaynor kept from falling by frl er Association pho i . ^^BRHHj^HSnL RvBS^-yt !' : s, the sword point P of his adversary having deeply enter- l1 ed his Icody. Hut. though the lilood gushed, he continued to tight gamely g on. The tinipire wrenched his sword ei from him by force. As a eolisecnience a of his wound M. de Tally had to keep p liis bed six months. tl Four or live years ago there was an- F other sensational ease of spitting the " enemy. The two iih ii who faced one e another were M. de Villette and M. de r Malory. The latter was rather seri- p oiisly wounded. When M. Dubois, the o famous "niaitre d'arines," fought with v M. Daniotte, the latter received a slash t< thirteen eeiitimeters long in his leg as a a proof of the prowess of the profes- ti sional. A The French law forbids duels, bui ei takes ho steps to prevent them. Yet it is sometimes moved in spite of it- tl self. I nil? of these occasions was when o M. ch' Villa*/, killed M. I'ietri. a for- fi siean journalist. The latter had no o notion of the use of his arm, whereas a the former was an expert swordsman. F He was found by a Seine jury to be ic guilty of voluntary homicide and sen- o teneed to three years imprisonment. A In other eases where men have been g killed-as occurred a year or two ago n in a combat between two Rumanian students?the courts have taken a len- a ielit view. II The historic pitch is just at the base n of the ("treat Wheel, which was coll- it striated l>y au Knglish lirm nanu'il e I (asset at tlu* time of the great exhi- V hitioii. A graveled strip bounded at b one end hy a sapling and at ilie other liy two palms in tubs measures exactly thirty metres, the regulation length for a contest with words. The width (| is two meters. When a duel takes (. place, which occurs about twenty || times a year, the ground receives some p sort of preparation, the gravel beiim scraped off and replaced by sand. The p wits of the boulevards declare that |, the (treat Wheel pays its dividend by d its duels, charging L'a time. As a s matter of fact there is no tariff at all. p The only payment paid is a "pour- < hoi re" to the men who prepare the c ground. The wheel's interest in the |'j affair is the advertisement it gains (l , from an encounter of the sort. Dueling is on the decrease, the manager tells me. Its present form is so attenuated that it is ridiculous. Most . French men will admit it. but it is a t , custom and has to be respected, ' I 1 even by those who feel its absurdity. (i In the vast majority of these morning ti engagements under shadow of the I' huge machine the wound that brings j the light to an end is a mere scratch (l on the wrist. This is partly due to the system of dueling in vogue, known as ^ the "methode Itaudry." Its chief claim s is that it places the inferior performer b ; mi a k-v? l Willi llii- f\|KTt. * Itniulrv. (Ik- invfiitor <>r this simple "true," is a reputed swordsman. I>uI in p >tographed as He Fell :k After Being Shot. id. From snapshot by American Press tORrnpher.] joclatlon. 'k city us be wus shut Aug. 1) ou the ed and would have fallen to the deck ry of the committee on congestion of hlng forward to grasp the mayor's nan, holding him up. The photograph i blood streaming from his wound lmgrapher was about to take a picture onth's vacation In Europe. The picture g of prominent men in that It was 1 what had occurred and before the j Commissioner William Edwards of shows the blood on Mayor Gaynor'9 of the man In front of him. i au an nour no win snow you now 10 isconcert the ablest antagonist. The 1 rinciple is to hold your sword out (might and keep it there. By these leans you can, har accidents, defy the ther to do his worst. He can hardly ; ress the trio for fear of piercing him- , elf. Feints and counters are rarely ; raetised 011 the actual field; move- 1 lents are the simple: t; the straight nrust is met by an almost rigid arm. . Military officers fight the fiercest; i ley do not stop for the first scratch. ' gain, their reasons for fighting are ] enerally of an intimate and private ; haracter, which give impetus to the word arm. It is generally a case of j Cherchez la femme," whereas the civ- 1 ian is often inspired by political 1 totives. Elections let loose the duelit. Quarrels between politicians who ere rivals at the polls led to at least j couple of encounters at the Great . rheel this year. Journalism and the hamber provide the major part of the ( cubes at this corner of the Champ de tars, which appropriately near the : !colf Militnire is omiosite the site of ' 10 old Oalerie des Machines, one of , fie last of the vestiges of the exhibiion of ten years ago. Socialists are by their principles verse to the duel, but some have reruirse "tout de meme" to the arbi- ( anient of arms. Quite recently the . leputy M. Messiiny fought with a penlan who had attacked him in print. 1 he notorious Sarrant and Pugliesci- ' oiiti duel did not take place here, lit on the outskirts of Paris. In this asc the director of the combat was I. Clemenceiiu, M. Warrant's chief at lat time at the ministry of the intelor. The incident which led to the pectacle of two middle aged gentle- 1 len in their shirt sleeves trying to ierce one another occurred at tlie i alais Hoiirl>oit itself. No duel is complete without M. Rouier-Dorcieres, who must have presid11 over more affairs of the kind than ' n.v one living. He is a journalist by rofession, but is an acknowledged aulorit.v on the etiquette of duels, i onie of these meetings have a thorughly theatrical equipinent, with a inematograpb, a big crowd, a roped ing, and the rest; others are rigidly rivate and limited to principals, sec? , nds and director of the combat. Adcnturoiis persons climb sometimes iu> the Wheel and view the assault from ' hove ground. The last theatrical j Kill was between M. Thomcquex and ; J. II. de Pierrebourg. It was as riiwilcil as a prizefight. There is something symbolical in ie fact thai boxing contests take place 11 the other siile of the Grande Roue , roni the duels. The Knglish method | f set11iiii? disputes is KainitiK ground? 1 t least as a pastime and a sport?in j 'ranee. It looks as if the Kanie of list tiffs is treading hard upon the heels f the ehevalieresque appeal to steel. ,t this Paris Wonderland important love lights take place on Saturday 1 ights during the season. The flrand Roue, therefore, makes ' dotilde claim on sportsmen, as an pholder of the new and the old i id hi al of regulating disputes, of provig who is the better man. Sword j ontests only take place at the Great filed; tights with pistols are cele- 1 rated al the I'are des I'rinces. . . Whale Hangs Itself. A big whale tried to run away with | lie cable connecting with Alaska, ac- ' ordiug to a story brought down from 1 lie north by Captain l.atti, of the , 'niled States ship Rurnside. The Rurnside was sent north along lie coast of Alaska to repair the cale because during the past winter ifticulty has been experienced in eliding and receiving messages. The tin aside picked up tin- cable connectiv.1-1--.. . I LRi bn <1 ('..u- mihiu nff ,11111 l ?V? IIMIVM ...r ' ink's Inlet, in*t far from Sitka. The lew never had sneli a time hauling a aide nit hoard as they did that day nil , tie Alaska coast. Finally the cause J I* the great weight was found. Smiie time during the winter a rhale feeding on the hnttnni of the cwin with wide-open mouth collided ,'ith the wire rope. I'liable to shake the hig wire from . lie masses of whalehoiie in its jaws, lie hig lish turned turtle, rolled over lice, turned around, rolled again and iveil. |n tlnse few movements the sh proved himself his own hangman. i?r the cahle was twisted tighter hout the head of the whale than any lortal could have done with the most ; iiiwerful machinery. ( The whale drowned and the carcass i'iis devoured oil the ocean's bottom y other lish. The crew of the Rurnide hauled up a great load of whalcoiie, and found a great twist in the overnineiit cahle that had been the ause of the unusual diftieiiltv in send- i ig messages to and from either end of lie rope. Seattle I'ost. i "AN INCIDENT OF 1898." : a t How Featherstone Was Robbed of the ; Governorship. n _ s A BAD BARGAIN THAT WAS BROKEN, J h c Old Editorial Shows Interesting Light J1 II on Some Past Political History of t the State?Except For the Circum- (* stances Related, Much Trouble and ' Sorrow Through Which the State Has Passed May Have Eeen Avoid- v c The recent story In The Enquirer, C relating an "Incident of 1898," proved n , , . n very interesting to many readers; but a upon further consideration we have p decided that the complete reproduction of the famous "In Re W. H.ffil- s' lerbe, Governor," editorial Qwrt apWear- l< eil in the State in Januar/j89Jb>rouId ^ prove still more interesting-?and in- ^ structive. This editorial throws a y vivid light on facts and conditions as it they existed then, and seems to have a ^ very important bearing on present s, day events. Anyhow, it is well worth si reading. Here it is: The nature of this editorial statement is such that It Is best made over my signature. It deals with my acts n as a citizen as well as an editor and p cannot well be written except from the personal standpoint. _ In the summer of 1897 a plan for the settlement of the liquor issue in South Carolina was suggested to me n by a friend to whom It had been communicated by a prominent citizen, u who must for the present remain un- s, known. Earnest consideration convinced me that it was not only the ,, best solution of this vexing issue but the only one which was attainable. ' It provided for local option by coun- s| ties; a choice by ballot of the people of each county between the dispen- n sary, prohibition and high license system, the election to be held in all counties on the same day, a day dis- t. or general election, and the settlement reached to be of force for a n term of two or four years. ^ This plan I submitted to several men in politics, among them Mr. b Frank Weston and Col. W. A. Neal. t( The former at once accepted the plan ^ as practicable and desirable. Col. Neal had been a warm advocate of h the dispensary, but he expressed a p willingness to make concessions In the p promotion of peace among the people, p and, although at first preferring a n settlement of his own devising, he rp presently came to approve the local option measure. We discussed the t{ matter several times in the summer ^ and early fall of 1897, and Messrs. Weston and Neal undertook to do *( what they could to influence Gov. EI- s, lerbe to favor this solution. About "b that time I first proposed the plan r editorially. 0 It was the latter part of October, a I think, that a conference was held g between senator McLaurin, who had n just returned from Mt. Airy, N. C., where he had been recuperating after his physical breakdown during the ,, campaign, Governor Ellerbe, Col. h Neal, Mr. Weston and myself, having f, for its object the adoption of some q. common policy in regard to the 11- ^ quor question which should be reach- ? ed in the governor's annual message. , Various plans were discussed, the local option one, however, meeting ^ with more favor than any other. All of us except Governor Ellerbe were substantially agreed upon it, and ( after I had explained it fully Governor Ellerbe said that it struck him more favorably than any solution he >' had heard and asked me to write out for him in detail my views for u carrying out the proposal, as he wished to study the matter carefully. t( With that the conference broke up. a Not long afterward, ubout fair 1 week, I think, Senator Tillman came to Columbia and visited Governor El- 11 lerbe. He had hardly left the city 11 when the governor, about 10 o'clock at night telephoned the reporters summoning them to the executive mansion and there gave out an interview in which he committed himself tl absolutely to the maintenance of the K rlispensarv system. I believed at the u time that Tillman, by some secret hold he had on the executive, had forced w him to do this. Not until after the v Interview had been given out did any P of us, McLaurin, N'eal, Weston or " myself, suspect that he had such a b purpose. . We were taken by surprise c by this abrupt ending of our project to take the question out of politics a and settle it democratically .according tl to the principle of local self-govern- 81 ment. Cl Of course this ended our hopes of b intluencing Governor EUerbe to take <1 the leadership in the matter by pro- e posing in the forthcoming annual b message a fair and rational adjustment o of the one issue which remained to P divide our people, Heing much dls- A appointed at the outcome, I rather n avoided Governor EUerbe after that. tl A day or two before the legislative g session closed, however, I received a 1' message from the governor asking o me to call at the executive mansion I that night. Governor EUerbe was ob- tl viously much distressed and alarmed at the several defeats he had sustained In the legislature and sought to in- p dure me to pledge him The State's \\ support for renomination. I told him h that his dispensary views stood in the p way; that I wculc' not and could not a support any man committed to the p maintenance of that dishonest and n tyrannical system. He pleaded piteous- h ly for support, which made the inter- h view extremely unpleasant to me, but g I held out. and left him between 10 ei find 11 o'clock apparently almost tl broken down. \\ When I was about to start early p last May for Tampa, with a view to f; taking part in the Cuban campaign, \\ I left instructions that The State was n not to commit itself to any candidate ei In the primary campaign soon to be- si gin. For it was impossible to tell in d advance who would be the competi- it tors and what pledges they might n make, and I feared lest the paper 0 should be committed in my absence q lU it 111 it 11 fir |Mimy iiituiininiriii ^ Its record and my convictions. My belief that the war would be a short f| one. to be ended in three months. u caused me to anticipate a return to p Columbia before the primary elec- p tion. D t< Returning from Cuba. I reached o Key West on the night after the first e: primary, and on my way to Tampa o on the Mascotte two days later. I si read in a Jacksonville paper the li figures of that election. It was the tl first information I had that Mr. q Featherstone had been a candidate, h My disposition at that time was to p support him in tlie second primary, si us I preferred prohibition to the dis- t( pensary. cl I arrived in Columbia on the after- \v noon of September 5th. but finding t( myself in almost total ignorance of T what had happened in South Carolina tl and the world since the middle of s June, and being somewhat "dazed" tl by a return to civilization, I did not h at once resume my editorial work d intending to study up a week or two ii ueiore ;iiieiii|>iing ii. ,/ II On September 7th. however, the li Spartanburg Herabl made an attack a ini the dispensary system and called h mi me to join in the tight, and that ci night I wrote an editorial, which ap- tl peared the next day in The State, h giving my "hearty assent to the prop- p ositioii so well put by the Spartan- ji burg Herald," hut stating that on ae- S count of my lack of information as a to the campaign, the pledges of the \\ candidates, their platforms and their ( illiances. I would be "compelled rith regret to be a by-stander." In iddition to these stated reasons I had wo others. (1) Contrary to my instructions, in editorial mildly endorsing Govrnor Ellerbe had been printed In 'he State during my absence and It eemed to tie my hands; and (2) 1 ras informed that Mr. Featherstone lad pledged himself to general prolibitlon and nothing but that, a clrumstance that made me even more lopefess of the promotion of my cicaV option plan through him than hrn/ugh Governor Ellerbe, because I ras sure that Mr. Featherstone would lo/what he said and I was not sure hat Governor Ellerbe would. I That afternoon. September 8th. ithen I went to The State office, I nund a note on my desk from the ashler statins that Mr. Weston and !ol. Neal had been to the office to see ie, and. having failed to do so. asked ie to be sure to meet them that night t Mr. Weston's office. I kept the apointment. We talked for nearly an hour on ^different topics. At last Col. Neal aid to me. slapping his knee: "Well it's come down now to business, fearly every paper in the state Is urn ping on the governor: he's pretty adly worried and is very anxious for ou to help him out. Can't you do I replied that I had told Governor lllerbe all along that I would not upport him for renomlnation If he tuck to the dispensary, and he had tuck to it. Mr. Weston said: "The Imple fact of the matter Is. that the overnor feels he Is obliged to have he support of The State, and we have ?ked you here to find out on what onditions you will support him." Without hesitation and on the spur f the moment I renlled: "If he will ledge himself to me in writing to rge the legislature to pass a local ption law allowing each county to ecided for itself between the high cense, prohibition and the dlspenary. I will support him." This idea ad been with me for a year: it had een the obicrt of all my efforts the revlous fall and winter, and it came pontaneously to my lips. I did not top to consider the price I would have 5 pay In public misunderstanding of ly motives if he should accept my ?rms. Mr. Weston looked at Col. Neal and tien said: "I do not think there will e any trouble about that: do you. ol. Neal?" and Col. Neal replied to le. "I think he'll do it; he's got to o it if you insist." Mr. Weston then asked me if a veral assurance would satisfy me. T }ld him no: there had been too much uestlon about Governor Ellerbe s erbal assurances already: I must ave It In black and white for my own rotectlon?but he could tell the govrnor that I would not show the ledge to anybody unless he failed to bserve It. In which case I would, hen Mr. Weston asked: "Would you bject to having the letter addressed > me? I am going to Charleston to y and help the governor down there nd would like to be able to show It > some of the politicians." I anivered that I would not object to that, ut that after he had used It In harleston I must have the custody f the paper. The conference broke up with their ssurances that they would see the overnor the next day and bring to le his answer. The next day. Friday, Sept. 9th, Ir. Weston came to my room and anded me an envelope bearing the imiliar engraved lettering: "State of outh Carolina, Executive Chamber," nd addressed to: "Mr. F. H. Wes>n, Columbia, S. C., Personal." Openig it I read: tate of South Carolina, Executive Chamber, Columbia, S. C., Sept. 8, 1898. Confidential. Dear Frank: In reply to your inuiry, I will say: I fully concur in our view as to the best solution of le liquor question. After mingling ith the people for three months and lorough consideration, I have come > the conclusion that the dispensary ct should be amended so as to allow ach county to settle the liquor queson for itself, and have determined to take such recommendation to the ext general assembly. Your friend, W. H. Ellerbe. To Mr. F. H. Weston. All of this except the printed capon and date line was in Governor illerbe's handwriting. The date was rong?one day behind. It was not as precise a pledge as I ould have dictated, but whatever of agueness there might be in the hrase "allow each county to settle the quor question for itself," was offset y the initial statement, "I fully conur in your view as to the best soluon of the liquor question." I know, nd it was a matter of public record, tiat Mr. Weston's "view" was the line as my own; that he favored ounty choice between the dispensary, igh license and prohibition. While I id not have any confidence in Govrnor Ellerbe's simple word, I did not elieve he would dare to incur the bloquy of exposure for violating this ledge, and I thought 1 had him fast, s Mr. Weston was irolntr that after oon to Charleston, and wished to use lie original to secure votes for the overnor there, I took a copy of the titer on his promise to hand me the riginal on his return. He did it, and have kept it in my pocket most of he time since. I must confess that the governor's rompt compliance with my ultimatum as not altogether gratifying, for I ad thought the matter over and cotiludcil that to carry out my part of the greement would subject me to much riticixm and perhaps suspicion of my lotives and that I would have to withold my justification until the legisitute met. On this account I half reretted my impulsiveness, which had ntailed upon me a severe ordeal. But !te thing was done, and I went to ork in good faith to carry out my art of the compact, having the satistction of feeling that I had acted holly for the public good. The next turning The State contained a signed ilitorial urging high license voters to ipport Governor Kllerbe, and each ay until the election the paper did s best for him. If it changed as tany as 2,600 votes which would therwlse have gone to Featherstone, is responsible, I regret to say, for is nomination. I did not see Governor Ellerbe om the time I returned front Cuba ntil some three weeks after his nomtation by the second primary. He ad called at my ollice when I was ut. and had sent messages asking me > visit him; so I went one day to his lice at the state house. After an xchange of civilities he asked my pinion of the clause in the state conitution permitting the issue of censes for the sale of liquor, saying tat according to that clause all liuors sold under high license would ave to be bought from thte stute disensary. I analyzed the section and nowed that it could bear no such injrpretation. He persisted in his laim, nowever, ana i reauzeu uiai ne as trying to find a loophold by which ) escape the redemption of his pledge, his realization angered me so much lat I could hardly trust myself to peak. I placed, fuming, up and down le executive chamber, and finally told im that I was in no mood to be allied with in that fashion; that if he] itended to bunco me as several newsapers had predicted he would do, he light rest assured that I would pubsh the pledge and show up the whole ffair. Then 1 started out, but as I ad my hand on the door-knob he ailed me back and offered to leave le interpretation of the clause to any iwyer that I would select. I proosed Chief Justice Mclver but he ob cted. I then suggested Mr. It. W. hand and Gen. Lelioy F. Youmans, nd he chose Mr. Shand, and said he ould submit the question to him. Weeks afterward I questioned Mr. | Shand and he told me that he had not said a word to him about It.) The main issue then came up, after some talk, and Governor Ellerbe barefacedly denied that he had made any agreement whatever. (I had his letter in my pocket at the time.) He attempted to unload the whole responsibility on Weston and Neal, saying he had told them when he wrote the letter that he had not changed his views, was still for the dispensary and would make no agreement. Assuming an air of virtuous indignation he said he would send for them and make them set him right. (He never did.) I was so disgusted that I again started to leave, saying that I would expose the whole affair and let him settle lit with Neal and Weston as he could; but again he begged me to come back, and then, leaving his seat and coming to my side In front of the west window at his right hand, he said: "Don't get mad; let's talk this thing over quietly and see if we can't compromise it." And then he proposed to do precisely what I had expected?to urge the legislature to pass an act permitting each county to choose by ballot between prohibition, high license and the dispensary. It was a lightning change on his part and almost took my breath away. He went on to say that this was no new thing on his part; that he had held those views before he had written the letter to Weston and had told W. D. Evans of them. Then he added; "But I don't see how I can put through an administration measure carrying out the plan." I answered that that did not matter, that I did not like this "administration measure" idea anyhow and that I thought in this case it might do as much harm as good. All I expected was that he would do what he had promised to do and leave the consequences with the legislature. He said again that he would make this recommendation and I went away satisfied. I did not see Governor Ellerbe again until last Saturday afternoon. On Friday Mr. Weston informed me that the governor had read him part of his message relating to the liquor question and that it seemed to him throughout an argument for tne dispensary system, although It did make a brief and bare suggestion as to letting the people of the counties settle the question for themselves. He did not like it, he said. I told him that if the message did not come up to promise I would show up Ellerbe ruthlessly. The next day, Saturday, Mr. Weston gave me a proof of the liquor section of the message, with an invitation from the governor to call on him at the mansion at 5 o'clock that afternoon. I read the proof and was greatly incensed at what I found in it. My disinclination to see uovernor kilerbe was strong, as I was afraid I could not control my temper after this revelation of his duplicity; but as I did not wish to bring Col. Neal and Mr. Weston into the matter?as I must do if I exposed Ellerbe?I finally determined to keep the appointment. At 5 o'clock I went to the executive mansion and found the governor conversing with a visitor. When the latter had left, I told him that I had read his liquor recommendations and was greatly surprised and disappointed; that he had not said what he had pledged himself to say; that he had defeated his half way endorsement of local option by other recommendations of the strongest character. He asked me to specify. I pointed out this paragraph, for one; "It (the dispensary) must be firmly and permanently established or completely done away with." This I said clearly meant the establishment of the dispensary on its present basis or its elimination from the whole state?it was adverse to partial elimination under the influence of local option. Then I showed that the context of his recommendation as to local option limited the choice to prohibition and the dispensary only, wholly ignoring high license as an alternative. This, I said, was not what he had promised me; if adopted it would defeat the very policy to which I was committed and which I preferred?high license. I went on to say that the whole deliverance was obnoxious to his professions and pledges, and that I quite understood his motive In limiting his choice to prohibition and the dispensary and in imposing special and onerous burdens on prohibition counties?he sought to force the dispensary on the people as the only endurable alternative. He had made the word of promise to the ear and broken it to the hope, I paid. He replied with marvelous effrontery, that he had made no promises, that Frank Weston had not acted properly in concealing what he had said, and that he would make him publish the letter. I answered that I would do that; that I proposed to show the public that I at least had acted in good faith. I got up and bade him good ? ?.! nllr/i/1 /\n* r\t fVin rnnm UIUTIUmjii illiu namcu uui v> ?uw..., while he was saying: "You can do as you please." So this is the end of my hope of doing something through W. H. Ellerbe for a fair and democratic solution of the liquor question. I have made my try and failed, and ail the men and papers that have been saying the man was faithless and The State newspaper and Columbia would be buncoed can have their fling at me. I am fair game; I have been buncoed I can only plead that I thought I had guarded against it by securing his pledge in writing. I believed him capable of violating any verbal promise. but I did not believe he would be quite so shameless as to invite the production of proofs In his own handwriting that he lied. To do him exact justice, I do not believe that Ellerbe has acted spontaneously in this matter, but under dire compulsion; that he has taken what he considered the safest choice between evils. I believe that Senator Tillman holds his written pledge to support the dispensary In terms more specilic than those of his letter to me?or else some paper, the publication of which would damn him. Tillman, I am Informed, was here last week and week before; he whipped Ellerbe back to his feet a year ago and It is quite likely that he put the collar on him again the other day. However, that may be, I plead guilty to being cheated. I expected to be lied to, but I did not expect to be brazenly swindled. I did not think that W. H. Ellerbe would adopt the device of sneaking out of an obligation in writing by accusing one who had been almost his onlv friend of bad faith toward him and toward me. Messrs. Weston and Neal will doubtless speak for themselves: I have refrained from quoting them as to the statements Governor Ellerbe made to them. My own story Is too long. Meanwhile Mr. Weston Is a member of the house of representatives and will doubtless have occasion to state his view on the liquor question: and the other members can consider in connection with the recommendation in the governor's message the following extract from his letter now in my possession: "Dear Frank: I fully concur in your view as to the best solution of the liquor question." N. G. Gonzales. It's Father.?The small child was talking to a kitten which she had tightly in her arms. A thoughtful pause caused her mother, who was sitting behind her, to pay some attention to what was coming next. "Kitten," said the infant, "I know all your brothers and sisters, an' I know your mamma, but I ain't never seen your papa; I spec he must be a commercial traveler."?London Globe. The world's largest incubator is in Australia, where it is used to hatch 11,440 ducks' eggs or 14,040 hens' eggs at a time.