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JLbIb^ semi.webkl^^ i. m. grist's sons. pabiiihen. j I #mi<8 ???W>?c: 4#r the. !"* ? ? *t <M ^oWical, Social, ggriculturat and fomnimial jntmste of the flfopte. j ~ESTABLI8HED 1855. YORKVILLE, 8."C., TUESDAY, APRIL 18, li)ll. " NO. 31. The? Social I By Fr e de r * Copyright 1910, by tho Bobbs-f CHAPTER XIV. A Meeting In the Dark. "Do you want to bring the others here?" he said in a sharp tone. "They're apt to come back soon enough, anyway. If you only wish to add to your predatory transgression," ironically, "byt gratifying a homicidal impulse, wouldn't it be less stupid?pardon the word from a stranger?to accomplish it in a quieter and more delicate manner? For your own sake, of course!" he ended softly. The silence grew. Noiseless as a shadow, Bruce again moved; a possible 'eaden answer would not find him in the place whence he had spoken. "Who are you?" The voice was hoarse; vibrated harshly. In the bare room, the echoes seemed to distort the sound. There could be divined, however, in the hollow, unfamiliar accents. an abject pusillanimity. He who had dared to enter the Goldberg house and rifle the safe, had lost the cool pluck that must have nerved him to the risky and difficult coup. Bruce whistled softly. His foot came in contact with a bit of wood on the floor: he stooned for it and answered: "Never mind!" "But I do," in shriller accents. "Quick, or?" "Hush, fool, or they will be here. And put down your revolver. Do!" persuasively. "I'm not half so afraid of an armed adversary who is a man of mettle as." contemptuously "a poltroon with a weapon." Did the fellow lower his arm? The stillness ensuing lasted only a moment, but It seemed very long. The unknown, in an uncertain voice, repeated his first question. "That is little to the point," replied Bruce. Perhaps, just for the instant, he forgot his own danger in a derisory interest, called forth by the situation. "I might indulge in a like curiosity, but do not. As far as I am concerned," languidly, "let the darkness keep its secret. You may be a mere vulgar chevalier d'industrie. professional housebreaker or cracksman. Or you may be a gentleman, subjected to temptation and fallen?one of Mr. Goldberg's guests!" shrewdly. Again came the ominous, preliminary click; Bruce knew the finger, acting in conjunction with the palm, was about to apply the necessary second pressure. Lithely he shifted once more; the hammer did fall; but the cartridge only snapped. "Lucky for you!" exclaimed the young man, and leaped forward. His own hand swung here, there! Then the billet of wood struck something hard; the revolver clattered to the floor. "Let It lie!" A suppressed ? ? - 5 ^ ol lcvti' ooamaH n SOllllU ttliowtri ru, UIC icuun ovvmvu shrink back; to occupy a small space In a corner. "If you grot your deserts, I'd leave you, senseless, beside It, with the pearls in your pocket; for them to find?" He broke off, held his head toward the door and listened. He thought he heard stealthy footsteps without, but could not be sure. The silence now was that of the grave. "Don't (five me up! Don't!" the man cried out in a sudden agony of fear. "I was mad: I did not know what I did. It was the first time. Those cursed jvearls, they bewitched me. I am not myself now. For the love of Heaven," broke from him, "tell me, is it real? No terrible dream?" "I'm afraid it's real enough," observed Bruce dryly. "Although, no doubt, It would be very agreeable if it were not! If both of us could just wake up, and find ourselves in our own comfortable bedrooms! Turn over and go to sleep again. That would be jolly. wouldn't It?" His jesting tone had a ghastly sound; he could fancy the other's shudder. He remembered somewhere having once witnessed, or rather, heard, the scene of a play in which the characters moved and spoke in a blackness like that of the pit. He tried to think of them now; those people at cross-purposes in the depths; what tangle was it they were trying to straighten out? He eould not recall. He wondered vaguely if the burns, the pain, had not made him a little feverish. He was once more resting against the sink. It seemed to him an interminable period since he had entered the deserted Page dwelling; in reality but a few moments had passed. He experienced a sudden lethargy and should have liked to yield to the feeling. To throw it off, however; to regain possession of himself, his alertness, he laughed: "You've got a bad attack of afraidyou're-going-to-b^-found-out," he observed with light accents. "Cheer up! No doubt, you'll take a rosier view of the situation in the morning. That is," lie added, "if you act at once!" "You mean," uncertainly, "you're going to let 'me go?" "If you can get away?from them!" he supplemented. "But why should you do that? Why are you here? Were you. too, running away from someone?" vehemently. Bruce moved toward the door. "I was standing near the Goldberg house; they took me for you." wearily. "It would have been inconvenient for me to have stopped Just then. A young lover dreaming beneath his dulcinea's ...inHmv" mockingly, "might be averse to explaining his romantic presence to a hard and unsympathizing world." Did the other, even in his terror, detect the derisiveness of those tones? His own voice came out of the night, now in a sudden, sharp whisper: "I see! You, too. were after the pearls? pard!" The last word seemed added, after an instant's hesitation, as if the fellow made a l>elated attempt to veil his position. a possibly respectable standing in the community. "Will you share?" Bruce spoke swiftly. "Since you honor me by ailing me 'pard!'" "I?I?" cupidity struggled with alarm in the man's voice, "?didn't get them. They raised the alarm l>efore I cribbed the swag!" lucaneer \ f c C 18 h a m M 1 Merrill Company. "That's unfortunate," coolly. No li? was ever more apparent. Something else, too, had become apparent t( Bruce; the fellow's voice; he hac heard it before. Where? He could nol remember at that moment. "I didn't get the swag." reasseverated the voice. "Well, I'll take your word for it!" A sigh. as of relief, floated in tht air. Bruce opened the door which he had closed on entering;. "Time to be off,' he spoke curtly. His head throbbed but he strove to hold himself with alertness, with every fiber on the- qui vive. "You mean together?" the other asked in obvious trepidation. Bruce answered quickly in the negative. He had no more desire that night for the fellow's company, than the latter had for his. They had n et in the complete obscurity or dark, ^ss; trie;, would part, each unknown to the other. Under different circumstances. th? young man might, he said, with equivocal accent, have been charmed tc continue an acquaintance so interestingly begun. Now it but remained for him tc point out that there were two ways by which they could separate, and. incidentally. escape; one a private road over the meadow; the other, a side course. The former led up the hill reaching the top some distance beyond the rear of Mr. Goldberg's place; the latter would take him who elected that choice of direction, to the fence of some one's?he didn't know whose ?estate adjoining. That house, also however, was not occupied, and one or two others, beyond, were still vacant, the owners having not yet taken up their abode at Comscot, for the summer. ' "I'll take my chance from the side," said the fellow eagerly. Bruce stepped yet farther from the door to allow him. unidentified, to pass, "Colonel Manyan's house is the fourth or fifth. He lives there the year around," significantly. "After you!" He waited: he thought he had seen the fellow stoop to pick up his revolver. The latter, however, hesitated to gc first. "How do I know you won't?" "Bestow upon you a coup de grace as you pass You," softly, "will have tc take a chance at that. And at once!" The man moved to the threshold; but instead of stepping out, he, with an exclamation of sharp terror, bound eu HOI K. .-v 11 uinuci ?#? . ........ had either just entered the grounds or been concealed in the bushes, now spranp fiercely, exultantly, toward the house. The fellow wheeled; stayed not on the order of hir going; but ran from the kitchen back through th? dwelling, toward the front. Apparently he knew the place well. Bruce also did not pause. He stepped quickly behind the door, and none too soon. Those in the yard, rushing forward with loud cries, now swept in and went stumbling on after the retreating footsteps. The young man listened to th< pursuers" eager, more or less blundering movements; a few moments latei he heard the front door slam. Bruc< slipped out at the back, at the sami time the fellow emerged from the front All concern now focused on the latter; he had not yet been captured Amid other sounds Bruce caught tha of a loud voice?surely Bolger's?ring itig out in stern command to the fugi live to throw up his hands and sur render. The fellow did not heed; feai seemed to lend him extraordinary agil ity and strength. He discharged hii weapon freely, used wildly his fists an< arms. A number of those who tried t< stop him, he evaded: he struck one o: two down, leaping past them into th< shadows. Bruce heard the din o hoarse exclamations, anathemas; thei the confused coterie of people soeme< moving farther aside, away from th< house. I'nperceived, he ran out. He saw m lone, only heard them, the voices be coming more distant. A shadow of i smile crossed his lips. "Thanks, Mon sieur Incognito," he murmured to him self. Nevertheless, he was not confi dent the danger was past: there seem ed a chance: that was all. He ac cepted the hazard boldly. Every fiber of his being respondei as he dashed from the house and se unit at a breakneck speed along thi | private road, up and across the broa< meadow. (To Be Continued.) JAPANESE WAR TALK. It Is Only For the Purpose of Forcini Army and Navy Appropriations. Constant reiteration of the Japanes war scare, repeated from time to tim< in detail and surrounded on each oc casion with what purports to lie sub stantial circumstantial evidence, say a Washington letter, is beginning t get on the nerves of members of con gress, notwithstanding assurances fror the White House that the mobilizatioi of the American troops on the Texa border line was due entirely to th grave nature of the Mexican revolu tion. Senators who have interested them selves in the matter have received eon dieting information. Many of then and particularly those who are mem Ihts of the committee on foreign rcla tions. assert in the most emphati terms and upon authority of Presi dent Taft himself, that the attempt t connect Japan with the mohilizatioi of the troops is malicious and withou justification. One of .these senators i authority for the statement that mysterious propaganda is being carrie on. This senator does not pretend t know the source of this propaganda hut expresses himself as confident tha the time is not far distant when al the facts will become known. Seeks Battleship Construction. The nearest approach to the deflnit charge in connection with the eonstan assertion that the fear of a Japanes invasion of Mexico prompted the president's action, is made by Representative Foster of Vermont, chairman of the house committee on foreign affairs in the last congress. Mr. Foster says he is convinced that there is a conspiracy on foot for the purpose of forcing the president and congress into a position where it will he impossible for the executive and legislative branches of the government to withstand a manufactured public sentiment in favor of a big navy. "This conspiracy will unfold itself to | the country," declared Mr. Foster to1 day. "I have been looking into this ; subject with a great deal of rare, and r I am convinced that there is a consplr, acy hatched by certain interests which I would profit hy a governmental prot gramme looking to greatly increased activity in the construction of battleships. I am not yet prepared to disclose the information which has come into my possession, but it is sufficiently , definite to lead me to believe that there is a nigger in the woodpile and that it I is almost time he was smoked out." Conflicting Conference Reports. Curiously enough, some of the senaj tors who have talked with President I Taft about the movement of the troops are telling stories which do not coincide in every detail, so far as Japan is concerned. One senator, who was called to the . White House immediately upon his arrival in Washington, and before con, gress convened, is not in accord with . other senators who declare that the movement of the troops was due solely to conditions in Mexico. This senator, who said he was not at liberty to re( veal the nature of his conversation with the president, declared that while the controlling Influence which prompted t the president to send troops to Texas . was internal disorders in Mexico, he nevertheless carried away from the I White House the distinct impression , that this government did not like the nntiirp of information which had been received regarding negotiations between Mexico and Japan, and that, I therefore, the mobilization of the troops , was expected to serve the dual pur, pose of having a restraining influence on those who were engaged in flllbus. tering, and at the same time calling Japan's attention to the fact that this ( government was aware of its colonization in Mexico and of its desire to maintain a coaling station in Mexican . waters. Object Lesson to Japan. , This view of the situation is entirely at variance with practically every ! inspired statement which has, ema, nated from the White House, but it i was expressed by a senator who was , convinced that there is some foundation for the repeated assertions that , the United States is anxious to demonstrate to Japan that it Is ready at , any moment to protect itself, either , from an attack or from a gradual preparation for war under cover of concessions from Mexico and the influx , of Japanese into Mexico. There is a growing feeling at the , capitol that the time has arrived when the situation should be dealt with, with , the utmost frankness on the part of . the administration. Members of the I of the committees of the house or seni ate, having jurisdiction over leglsla. lion dealing with foreign affairs have , been consulted by the president in regard to the connection with the Mexl. can situation and also the anti-Japan, ese stories which are being circulated so industriously and in a manner which I it is now believed, is amusing the I country. Not one of these members of con? gress doubts the information furnished . them by the president, and none is p willing to believe that the information ? was expurgated before it was submlt? ted to them. Many of them do believe, however, that the administration . must have some knowledge of the real source of the anti-Japanese sentiment. t and they believe that the time has ar. rived when it is up to President Taft . and his advisers to take them into . their confidence. r In Justice to Japan. It is pointed out that if this senti3 ment is permitted ,r> grow it will not j be long before the leading members of 3 the committee on foreign relations in r the senate and foreign affairs in the g house will be precipitated into a def bate during the course of which they 3 will be placed in an embarrassing poj sit ion unless they have all the facts g before them. "If the administration has not in3 vestigated the source of these anti. Japanese stories." declared a promia. nent senator today, "it is high time . it began to do so. We cannot afford . to impugn the motives of a friendly . nation in this manner. It is impos. sihle to believe that this agitation could . be maintained without the assistance of powerful and influential backing. 3 financially and otherwise, t "If we have nothing to fear from Jae pan it is due that nation that we dis] dose the source of this agitation. If Jon-.. Hiouethintr to fear in that di rection the time has arrived when the administration must take congress into its eonfldenee and disclose sonie of its secrets." 3 ' m ' English Clergyman a Detective. Dr. John Donne, the famous Enge lish divine and poet, who lived in the e reign of James I., was a veritable " Sherlock Holmes. One of his famous exploits is as follows: He was walk3 ing in the chi .itard while a grave was being dug. when the sexton cast " up a mouldering skull. The doctor n idly took it up and, in handling it. n found a headless nail driven into it. 8 This he managed to take out and e conceal in his handkerchief. It was " evident to him that murder had been done. He questioned the sexton and * learned that the skull was probably " that of a certain man who was the ' proprietor of a brandy shop and'was " a drunkard, being found dead in bed * one morning after a night in which he c had drunk two quarts of brandy. "Had he a wife?" asked the doctor. n "Yes." "What character does she " bear." "jsne nore a very noun inarI aeter, only tlu- neighbors gossiped bes cause she married the day after her :l husband's funeral. She still lives fl here." The doctor soon called oil the f? woman. U He asked for and received the partit ctilars of the death of her husband. II Suddenly opening his handkerchief he showed her the telltale nail, asking in a loud voice, "Madame, do you know <" this nail?" The woman was so surt prised that -she confessed, was tried p and executed.?Tit-Hits. ittisteUanrous #ratiin<). "CANARY" MILLER. A Reminiscence of the Dark Days it South Carolina. Sometime a single name or a smal incident will open tloodgates of reeollections for those who heve seen an< felt things and bring to very vivid lif< old times and long arrays of deat men. We read In the South Carollnt newspapers that T. E. Miller has beer removed summarily by the new governor from his long held position ai president of the colored university ai Orangeburg. This is "Canary" Miller," quite ar old man now and long ago reconciled t< white rule and become a good and useful citizen. He was different thirtyfour years ago when he sat in th< South Carolina legislature as a representative from Beaufort?a short square built man, seven-eighths white wearing a heavy light gray sack suit with the habit of running his handt into the pockets of the coat and falrlj clear indication of a loaded revolver ir each pocket. Other nasty habits ha<3 "Canary." He sat as a member of th< last attempt at a Republican legislature in a southern state in the last year of the reconstruction era. He sal w ith "The Ring-tailed Roarer of tht Cambahee," a black negro whose Gullaf dialect from the coast of Africa whosf immediate ancestry was so strong that a white man from the up-countrj barely could understand him when h( addressed the house: also with tht "Duke of Marlboro," an unctuous yellow scoundrel representing the ver> garden spot of the state, who used tc rise up and thunder from a broad chesl and a wide throat when the house ir chorus rendered "Hold the Fort foi Hayes und Wheeler." How it did reverberate, rendered to the air of "Hold the fort for I am coming," when the Soutt Carolina legislature refreshed itsell with song! "Canary" was not of the group collectively known as "The Fort> Thieves," but he was about as full ol fight and venom as a rattlesnake. Oiu hundred and twenty-five was the lega membership of the house of representatives. in the year of the mighty uprising of the white people under leadership of Wade Hampton, the outbursting and explosion of a fighting and desperate civilization against s 50,000 negro majority, the law ant Ulysses S. Grant in the president'! seat. The Democrats had elected sixty-four?on the face of the returns. Bj means they kept two or three negrc Republican representatives at theii homes; but when their names were called they answered. Dummies "ringers," had been put In to answei for them and no Democrat dared avow knowledge that the realities were nol there. Who could identify one lowland corn field negro from another' Then the Democrats, again by means won over two or three. Tom Hamiltor was among them. He must have beer a descendant of a Zulu chieftain because later when his brethren clamored against him he rose, tall ant straight, his skin smooth and sleek a! silk, and remarked that sometimes h? went out in his field and killed a ric< bird with a revolver for his sport; whereupon his brethren whimpered into silence because they knew It was so Men. white or black, who could drivt a pistol bullet through a rice bird ai eighteen steps were valuable at thai moment, and to be respected. Bui when the Democrats gained over recruits the Republicans?"Radicals," everybody called them then?simply wenl through the formality of declaring seats from some Democratic countiei vacant and filled them with anybodj who might be handy wearing an> names that might fit, and so retainec their legal majority, to be certified t< Washington. So it befell that on a December daj the sixty-five Democrats and theii colored allies, sitting in Carolina Hal at Columbia, decided to go and occupj the hall of the house of representative! at the state house. They went, troop ing close behind Lawrence Orr of An derson county, six feet and four inchei high and two hundred and sixt.\ pounds in hulk, who threw his weigh against closed doors and door-keepei and burst one and overthrew the oth er. Sixty-live and sixty-five and wltl their quotas of sergeants-at-arms clerks and attendants the two house! of representatives sat in the hail thre< nights and the better part of three days flen. Wallace, S. C. A., of Union conn ty. the Democratic speaker, and E. W M. Macke.v of Charleston, the radica speaker, sat side by side, each presid ing over his own house and ignorinf the other. United States soldier! guarded the doors. Their orders wen not to expel the Democrats, but if they went out not to allow them to re turn. The sessions continued througi all those hours of daylight and dark ness. every man armed and ready an< with his nerves strung for the despen ate light all believed to be inevitabh ?a light of men shut in and forced t( light until one side or the other wai exterminated or somebody surrender ed. Under each folded overcoat wai a Winchester ritle, in some pocket o every man's clothes a loaded revolver - .. ?. .v.. r??ui inn oq i tx i ti ui iim head of the center aisle. They knev that behind Speaker Mac key to hii right two white men, chosen and ap proved killers, were stationed, instruct ed to shoot him dead at the first out break. Macke.v knew i? too, hut h< was clear game?that Macke.v, radica as he was; and he never moved 01 llinched or in any way departed fron the strict formalities of his assume* office and now and then his laughinf jackass laugh pealed through the housi as something funny occurred. But th< reporters knew also that the momen trouble began a storm of bullets wouh conn- Mackey's way because Mackej as a white South Carolinian and witl the brnins and malice of the entlr< outfit was most hated of the Soutl Carolinians and the thought of ever) man was to "get Macke.v first." Am many men in the excitement wouh shoot low. Also many of the radicals especially among the "forty Thieves.' deadliest and bitterest and most ooiir ageous of all, had it in for the repor tor's table. Therefore the reporter consulted among themselves, as the} smoked, who they would "git" befor< they were got. One of them had a pis< tnl the like of which never was sect before or since that time, when tin ingenuity and moat of the thought of men were bent on devices for killing somebody. It was a section of a Remington rifle sawed off and fitted to a pistol stock, carrying a ball assigned especially to "Canary" Miller. It was i 1 placed in the drawer of the desk and < trained on him pressed into the hot- i 1 torn of the drawer during the silence i - of one night: and kept cocked, the J calculation being that when the fuss * * was opened the drawer would be pull- I I ed out, the trigger touched and "Cana- ' i r.v" dropped as he rose in his place on l i the right hand side toward the rear. If tvt?fi nr thrpp m An hniinpnpil tn hp in I 31 the way it would he all the better. That I t| cartridge was good for an elephant and all our fellows were clear. All this i was because "Canary" rose every flf> teen minutes and conducted this collo quy: "Mr. Speaker!" i The Speaker: "Th? gentleman from . Beaufort." , "Mr. Speaker, I rise to a point of , order." "The gentleman from Beaufort will i state his point of order." "Persons are on the floor of the i house who are not members of the | house." ? '"The point of order of the gentle. man from Beaufort Is well taken. The t sergeant-at-arms will proceed to ret move from the floor all persons not ? members." l This was where the trouble was ex? pected to occur. Orders were that \ when the radical sergeant-at-arms put his hand on a Democrat or allied memi her the shooting would start. Every ; time he was ordered, the fool sergeant at-arms would walk up the aisle tor ward somebody and nobody knew > when with an extra drink or two or t on gome signal, he actually would i touch a man. It was trying on the nerves. An outbreak there would have . meant not only present slaughted, ? but civil war, because It had not been i decided whether Hayes or Tilden was f to be next president and the nerves and temper of the entire country were at strained tension, ready to be startr led to the fighting point by a less f thing than wholesale butchery In the ; state house of one of the pivotal and 1 disputed states. By the special mercy of the Al mighty the country was saved fron. . that horror, as by the same gracious means It has been saved from so r many. The three nights and days the i hundred and fifty odd armed and hatI ing men slept and ate and laughed and i taunted and threatened locked in the hall tmrefher iiassed and the blow that ' would have had such fearful conse- I ) quencos was not struck. "Canary" ' r Miller did not get his fight or his bul- i i let. Gen. Hampton got notice that < , the United States troops were to i charge on his men and he moved them i r out; and next day his Red Shirts came 1 t in headlong and yelling 011 horseback 1 and on the dead run and yelling afoot f and swarmed over the town by thou, sands; and the worst strain of It was 1 over. And "Canary" Miller, elderly, , 1 peaceful and fkt, looms up again after ( all these years. * * 1 I Mad days and bad days and mad and j j merry nights those times, with a thrill | } for every hour and a danger for every i step. Newspaper men did not need to ( ; look for news. They could crowd th?? wires with it until the wires could take j . no more. That was before typewriters , i or telephones or street cars. Men de- j t pended on their own legs and hands , t and eyes and ears and brains and no- ( t body thought much of food or sleep or j cared much for anything because no- ] body expected much to live until ( t spring or that by spring there would | t be any state or government. ( 3 And of all the bright, gay men who ( r chronicled that time from day to day, r who lived luxuriantly because with , 1 peril and excitement their nerves were ( ) strung happily and tense always, who ( joined In chorus and laughter to the r rising of many wintry suns or new r days of hard work and emergency, 1 there is, so far as we know, but one r left. When the drama was over they 3 scattered to the many parts of the world whence they came and we think ' - all are dead now, but one?and they 1 3 were young men, too. f Here is thanks to "Canary" Miller 1 t for recalling n time thirty-four years r back, well worth living in.?A. R. Wil liams in Roanoke Times. I ALSATIAN PEOPLE DISSATISFIED. ? A Population That Has Been Without a Country For Forty Years. The blue Alsatian mountains have of ( . late days held a large measure of dlseontent in their shadow, sa.vs the Bos- ( r ton Transcript. For 40 years the ins habitants of the conquered province i p have been a population of men with- , out n country. Detached from France, , they held no statehood with the other 1 components of the German empire. ( They have stood the ordeal fairly well , j until within a year, when the desire . for automony and equal rights with , 6 the other German states took" the point of a direct appeal. A year or more , ago a systematic agitation for a con- , stitution was begun, and a few weeks since the constitution was announced | f as forthcoming. It does not go Into effect until this | coming summer, but its provisions were made known in advance?and ( they promptly and emphatically dis- , satisfied the waiting Alsatians. Dem- ( onstrations were made in Metz, in Strasburg, in other cities of the provI nee bv a people who proved them- , j selves outspoken in criticism as they ( were in appeal. Very evidently the j kaiser and his advisers were not sufj fleiently assured of the loyalty of their , new subjects and a stone of a const Itution was handed where bread was asked. And that Alsatian loyalty has not been intensified these demonstraj Hons well showed. English commen- , tutors on world anairs nem mr ojjio^ ion that if Germany had heen frank , s and generous with the new population, , 1 their loyalty would have been spouta. neons and lasting. The mistake was | , in this grudging and suspicious half- , j granting of a nattering wish for polit- , ! leal standing. The Germans seem to feel that they were not half grudging . enough. No doubt the demonstrations in Metis convinced the Germans that | their suspicions were well founded. 1 * i ? rt""The war department has devised a i . revolver holster with a spring in the j i flap to throw it open when unbuttoned i a as a time saver. I HARMON, WILSON, CLARK, BRYAN Four Names Being Considered With Reference to Democratic Nominee. Harmon, Wilson, Clark and Bryan are names on the lips of nearly every one in Washington these days. The tariff, the Mexican situation, Canadian 1 reciprocity and general legislation are the immediate and surface topics of discussion, but deep down underneath > it is presidential candidates in which ' the real interest lies, and Democratic presidential candidates at that. i No one discusses the Republican presidential nomination except lan- i aruidly. It is taken for granted that Mr. ' Taft will be renominated and the hostile element of his own party is quite ? certain he will be beaten?and they 1 think he wholly deserves it. Many of 1 rtl9 own friends are depressed over the ' poverty of his chances, and it is no secret that Republican hopes generally ire centered upon 1916 and not on 1912. This situation makes the Democratic presidential possibilities loom larger i now than ever before at a period so < far in advance of the choice of a can- I lldate. 1 Harmon Boom First. 1 There have been some developments i since congress opened. In Washing- i ton sentiment shifts and changes with ' kaleidoscopic swiftness, but it invariably reflects the feeling of the coun- ' try. Back in January the Harmon movement was dominant here and the Harmon steadiness, courage and conservatism stood out overshadowingly. rhere was a decided list of the Demo- ( rratie ship toward the Ohio man and tiis friends felt his hand was closing m the helm. He was regarded as the logical candidate and the argument i that as the Republican nominee will ?ome from Ohio the Democrats must i name a man who has already demonstrated his ability to carry that great pivotal state was used with effect. About that time there was certainly i real Harmon feeling in the Washington air. And then came a shift. i The singular success of Woodrow Wilson in electing Martine to the senate in the face of a heretofore impregpable organization, his legislative triumphs at Trenton and his luminously 'progressive" speeches in the south, resulted in a tremondous boost of his rause and a corresponding slump in ] Harmon stock. Southern congressmen rame into Washington with glowing , reports of the overwhelming sentiment \ In their districts for Wilson. New ( Jersey politicians did not hesitate to declare that, so far from injuring him in his own state, his attack upon the machine had made it impossible for amy combination to get that delegation , away from him if he were a candidate. Taft's friends seemed quick to tecognlze that Wilson is a more formidable man than Harmon and more likelv to he the nresldent's onDonent. and they still think so. Bryan Upon the Scene. Then congress opened and William Jennings Bryan came here and put another crimp In the Harmon candidacy. 'HarmoTT'waaTiere, too; but his presence aroused no great enthusiasm, and aside from recognition of him as a presidential aspirant, his visit made hardly a dent in the political situation. Just now Harmon stock is lower than it has been since the election. i Harmon's friends are not unduly de? pressed about this, nor about the statement that Mr. Bryan believes the Ohio man is out of it. They recognize that the situation can shift back just as luickly as it shifted before and they have the utmost confidence in Governor Harmon's ability to look after his jwn political interests. They also know that he has with him now leaders in a number of states who are not easily affected by changing public sentiment and who can he counted upon to stand by him as long as he is a candidate. Of the support of his own state there is. of course, no doubt. Rise In Champ Clark Stock. Within the last few days there has been a decided rise in the Champ Clark presidential stock. Many people think this is due to the Bryan visit, the present speaker being accepted as the choice of the "peerless leader." The tribute paid him In the William Randolph Hearst interview is likewise considered something of a factor in the promotion of his chances, but others look upon the increasing seriousness with which the Clark-for-presldent idea is being taken as largely due to Mr. Clark and the wisdom with which he has conducted himself since the November election that gave the Democrats control of the house and made him the choice or nis party ior me speakership. Mr. Clark is today the most conspicuous Democrat in Washington and will continue as such for two years at least. Analysists of the situation regard his opportunities for the legitimate promotion of his own presidential aspirations as greater than those of Governor Harmon or Governor Wilson. While the Democratic caucus? Mr. Clark consenting?stripped the new speaker of his committee appointing power and revised the rules so as to lessen his authority, it is recognized that his is the dominating influence in his party in the house and that the admirable Democratic pro- , gramme mapped out for this session has been in line with his advice and wishes. If it is successfully carried through it will continue the record upon which the presidential candidate i of the party must rely to win in the ' 1912 campaign, and a large part of ( the credit for the construction of this i record must and will be given to Mr. Clark. Not Taking Any Chances. , It is this situation that so greatly i encourages the friends of the speaker who think be is beaded toward the White House, and it is their conviction that as the national convention ap- 1 proaches he will grow in political stature and strength. Mr. Clark and ( the Democratic leaders in the house 1 are determined that his prospects shall not be marred by mistakes of ( policy or pt'riciiiiiiiuiT mt- irn|>unoihility for which can lie placed upon his 1 shoulders. They are proceeding with 1 caution. Caution and care also mark the < progress of the Harmon movement, and its engineers weigh carefully the po- , litical consequences of every new development. Guardedly and quietly they ( are laying their lines in the several , states for control of the delegations and confidently expect their man to ! strike his highest speed on the homestretch. The difference between Gov ernor Wilson and tne omer canaiaaies mentioned, his friends say, is that he proceeds with an utter disregard as to consequences for himself. He is laying no lines, reaching out for no delegations and playing no presidential politics. Nor will he, they say, do any of these things. Those who are close to him say that his heart is not set on being president and he will make no effort to get votes for himself in the convention. If, when the time comes, he is reRarded as the strongest man and is nominated, he will make the fiRht to the best of his ability, and the people of New Jersey know what that means. Just now he is busy beinR Rovernor of New Jersey and is not conductinR a campaiRn for the presidential nomination. It may he that this is one reason why he looms so blR as a presidential possibility. Republicans Booming Bryan. An Interest'nR feature of the situation here Jurt now is the manner in which certain proi ilnent Republicans are boominR Mr. Bryan as the Democratic nominee. Most of the Bryan talk in this direction durlnR his visit here last week came from Republican sources, and more than one Republican senator expressed this belief that political proRress in the last four years had been such and the issues now before the people are of a character to demand Bryan's nomination aRain by the Democrats. This talk has not unsettled thlnRS much, but It has Riven rise to the surprestion that Bryan would aRain be a candidate if that were the only way, in his JudRment, to prevent the renomlnatlon of a man considered by him a "reactionary," backed by the "Wall street interests." Under no other circumstances, his friends say, will he aRain make the fiRht. While the situation with reference to presidential candidates is extremely InterestlnR, so many thlnRS may happen in fourteen months that it does not do to take it too seriously at this time. WELL GUARDED CA8H. The Millions Piled Up In the Mint at Philadelphia. The Philadelphia mint always contains coin and bullion which fluctuate In value each day between a half and three-quarters of a billion dollars. One hundred millions of dollars of this amount is In silver dollars storpd for several years In a room by itself 100 by 55 feet in area. About $300,000.000 is in gold coin, ready to be put in circulation or to be stored In the national treasury at Washington against the issue of a corresponding number of gold certificates. A million or two is in bronze and nickel coins. Finally an amount of bullion varying from a small quantity to several hundred millions of dollars' worth occupies the four massive vaults designed for the uncoined metal. Now, how is this vast hoard protected? First of all, the whole mint is embedded in a solid concrete foundation about three feet deep. Concrete, as every one knows, is one of the strongest of all known substances and the most impervious to drilling or wear. Then on the Interior, where the vaults are plat ed, within this concrete protection, comes a solid armor plate of battleship steel six inches thick, so strong that an expert working on it a week could scarcely make an Impression, much less penetrate it by hand tools. The vaults themselves are sunken deeply below the ground. Descending several flights of stairs and passing by doors guarded by a fearsome array of rifles for use by the night guards, a long, fairly wide corridor of solid concrete masonry shows the ent xnces to the six vaults, one for the silver already referred to, one for all kinds of coinage, but mostly for gold, and the remaining four for the gold, silver and nickel bullion. The bronze bullion lies in another room by itself, but as a few dollars' worth of this substance makes an uncomfortably heavy load it is not thought necessary to surround it with the minute safeguards used in the case of the precious metals. The vaults themselves have a double combination. That to the outer door Is known by the cashier only and that to the Inner door by the custodian of the vaults only. To enter a vault both men have to be together, and it Is a rule of the department that both shall stay together till the inspection or other object for which the huge safe is opened is accomplished. Entering one of these great cages after five minutes' workJng at the combination, one finds himself In a huge room partitioned off in fifteen compartments by steel gratings of the strongest kind. A straight passage six feet wide and the height of the chaml>er goes down the length of the room from the door. At the entrance are stored the bronze coins, the cents, about $80,000 worth of them, but the amount varies from day to day. Next come the more precious nickel coins, of which the value usually totals about 1300,000. Beyond these storage places a steel grated door In the passage itself has to be opened and then still another to get completely to the end of the room. All along the length of this passage-1 way, from the entrance to the vault to the end, are the compartments for the coins, separated from the passageway by exactly the same kind of gratings as those which divide the way itself into sections. The bottom, the sides and the top of this vault are lined with steel plates, and about the entire vault is the three foot proetection of concrete. Within the vault itself are the separate compartments. each locked. These compartments are examined shortly after the end of the fiscal year and are then sealed by the examiners, so that any ....?-o ?r> thom would be imDOSsible without the breakage of the seals. In each compartment devoted to the storage of gold the coin is stored first In hags which contain $5,000 each in half eagles, eagles or double eagles, and then these hags are arranged twenty on a shelf. Each shelf has thus $100,000 on it. The shelves are arranged in rows downward, ten from top to bottom of the compartment, each row having thus $1,000,000 in gold in it. Electricity lights the entire section of each vault, and the electric current is so arranged that if it were possible for the vaults to he tampered with the electricity would immediately give notice outside that something was wrong. A detachment of guards every night is stationed at the entrance to the stairways leading to the corridor, which gives access to the vaults themselves. Their orders are to shoot down any one attempting an entry. For the protection of the mint from fire a well drilled fire brigade has rharge of the extinguishing apparatus. There are thirty-one tire alarm stations located In the corridors and rooms throughout the building. At night every fifteen minutes thirty -I- ~ ? o * om o 1 twdlfx-lnrt lint' wailllllll-ll IIIIK a milieu Muuiji.in the watch in the telephone room that all is well. All these men carry revolvers during' the night watch. If the signal from any watchman was not heard at the right time an instant alarm would 1h? sounded.?Philadelphia Record. dluc niuuu nniunvnu. Dream of Robert Y. Hayne May Yet Be Realized. The people of Anderson, led by the Daily Mail, are moving for the completion of the Bine Rldgo railroad from Walhalla across the mountains to Knoxville. Transmontane railroad construction, linking the Carolina coast and the coal fields of the middle ery effort In this direction means great benefit to South Carolina as a whole, and Columbia and Charleston in particular, but none of the other movements in this direction mean as much to these two cities, more especially Columbia, as does the completion of the Blue Ridge. The building of the Cllnchfleld A Ohio road has stopped at Spartanburg, for the present at least, and whether this line shall eventually be completed to the seat at Charleston, or whether it will have to content itself with connections through roads already established does not yet appear. The Norfolk A Western, through the southbound, has made a connection with Charleston by way of the Atlantic Coast Line at Florence. There is a movement on foot, which bids fair to attain eaily success, to complete the Greenville A Knoxvllle road, which now runs from Greenville to a few miles beyond Marietta at the foot of the Blue Ridge range, and capitalists are Interested who control a similar line on the Tennessee side of the mountain, but even If this road Is put through it will have Greenville as Its southern terminus and must there depend upon connecting either with the Southern or the Charleston A Western Carolina, which is an Atlantic Coast Line property. None of these means a through route by Columbia. The Blue Ridge is the originally conceived route across the mountains. It was the Blue Ridge that was the dream of Robert Y. Hayne, upon which all of these others have builded. If It should be completed now It would mean that the Southern railway would possess a direct line from Knoxvllle to Charleston. avoiding the celebrated Melrose gTaae on tne Asnevme roau. Au:uruIng to the Anderson Daily Mall, it would be necessary to build only alxtyflve or seventy miles in order to complete the Blue Ridge from Walhalla Into the city of Knoxvllle. The road Is now In operation from Belton to Walhalla on this side of the mountains and from Knoxville to within a few miles of the North Carolina line on the other side. There Is a gap from Walhalla to Clayton, Oa., a distance of twenty-six miles, and from Clayton there is a road already built to Franklin. N. C. From Franklin there is an uncompleted gap of about thirty miles either to Bushnell or 8ylvla, N. C., and from this point the road is built to the Tennessee line. Across the Tennessee line there Is a distance of about six to eight miles that would have to be built. The Blue Ridge road is operated, of course, as a separate corporation, but it is owned and controlled by the Southern railway, and Is in effect a branch line of that main system. Whether or not It would be legal for the Southern to own the Blue Ridge outright is an Immaterial question that need not bother us at this time. There Is no doubt of the fact, however, that should the Blue Ridge be completed it would constitute the Southern's main line from Knoxville to the sea. It would mean that the Columbia and Greenville branch of the Southern, as well as the branch from Columbia to Charleston, would be laid with heavier rails and put Into condition for handling the coal traffic for which the line would compete. It would mean the most direct of all the routes from the coal fields to the Carolina port. Anderson is greatly interested In the project for the reason that Anderson is now off the main line of any railroad, but Charleston and Columbia ought to be just as much concerned since the carrying out of this - ? A- V ~ # project means naraiy less 10 auii ui these cities than it does to Anderson. If co-operation or assistance Is needed by Anderson we feel sure that it can be had from both Charleston and Columbia.?Columbia Record. A THING AMERICAN8 DO WELL. Briton Says Parliament Might Laarn Something From Congrass. A week Is devoted to the swearing In of members when a new parliament assembles In Westminster, according to a writer In the Strand. "After ministers. leading members of the opposition and other privy councillors have more or less comfortably taken the oath and signed the roll of parliament," says he, "there is an ugly rush of members from both sides to clutch stray copies of the Holy Bible laid on the tables brought in and set on the floor below the mace. "At each table the clerk and the assistant clerk administer the oath. As many members as can shoulder their way in and grab their share of a Bible, hear the oath recited, kiss the book and make another dash for a place in the queue formed on the way to the roll of parliament lying open on the table. Having signed it, they, following the clerk to the speaker, shake his hand and disappear. "They manage this thing better at Washington. I was present at the opening of congress summoned under the first duly elected presidency of Mr. Roosevelt and watched with interest the process of swearing In. As In the case at Westminster, the speaker (Uncle Joe) first took the oath. That was the sole point of resemblance between the two performances. Uncle Joe resuming his seat, the clerk called upon members representing a particular state to advance to the space fronting the platform on which the uncanopied chair of the unwlgged, not gowned, speaker of congress sits. Forming up In lines representing the full muster of the state representation, the newly elected members heard the oath recited and each man, having brought with him a copy of the Bible, kissed it in seal of his oath of loyalty to the constitution. "State by state march to the front, prepared, took the oath and dispersed to make room for the next on the rota. It was all over in half an hour." (HT An ice cave, which is said to be the largest in the world, has been discovered near the Lake of Hallstatt, Austria. It Is nearly a mile and a half In length.