Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, February 21, 1919, Image 1

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ISSUED SEMI'WEEKLT. l m grist's sons. Publishers. ( A afamilj Jcurspager,: <J;or th$ promotion of th$ political, Social, Agricultural and (Commercial interests of th^ people | T E R M,^Sfcop?Eriv^ck?-reAN?E __ ESTABLISHED 1855 YORK, S. C. FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 21, 19L9. NO. 15 L FLIGHT ACROSS THE OCEAN Airmen Expect to Hake Tbe First Trip This Year. G1EAT MACHINES Fill TBE THE The Type of Craft Which Will Probably Succeed 'Two Great Nations and One Individual in the Competition Prizes to the Amount of $125,000 are Outstanding. . I\ew xorn vv oriu. Two great governments and one ambitious Individual actually preparing for efforts to fly across the Atlantic? such is the present definite status of an undertaking dreamed of and talked about ever since flying became a reality. The governments are those of the United States and Great Britain. The individual is Hugo Sunstedt a Swedish naval captain, who last week reached the point of actually launching the seaplane with which he proposes to make the flight, and persists in declaring he will start before the winter endsThere are fairly definite rumors of a number of other candidates for the honor of reward which will attach to making the first successful cross-ocean flight The diincuity in ooiaining accurate information about them arises from the reticence of airplane manufacturers who fear their models will be discredited by failure. It is the understanding of men prominent in aviation circles in New York that the company of Glenn H. Curtiss is building a machine for the trip, and that the Standard aircraft company also Intends to enter the field this year. ^ Across the water there are half a dozen English companies, among them that of Graham-White according to the British war ministry, which will be in the competition. Navy for America. The official American trial has been entrusted by the navy department, to Commissioner John H. Towers, who was ordered a week ago to take charge of "the development of plans and assembly of material and personnel for the proposed transatlantic flight." Commander Towers, who has had charge of the Naval Reserve Flying Corps, is an expert in his line. No information has been given out a. to the type of machine he will employ, or the men to whom the actual flying will be entrusted. As regards the former, however, it Is worthy to note that the Navy department has a seaplane of unusual size and strength which, with modifications, might prove up to the task. It Is equipped with three Liberty motors, developing 1,200 horsepower, and has carried fifty-one persons in sustained flight It Is reported that Oreat Britain has tested three types of machines in contemplation of flight across the Atlantic. There have been hints that the trip would be undertaken early in the coming spring. The three types under experiment include a dirigible which, in theory at any rate, is capable of the round trip without stop. Another is a flying boat to be manned by two pilots and two mephiiniM The third is a small, very fast airplane with lifting power enough to carry the large amount of fuel a non-stop crossing demands. The contemplated course the British consider is Ireland to Newfoundland. Sunstedt's Second Attempt. The present is Capt. Sunstedt's second serious attempt to start on a cross-ocean flight The first, occurred in 1916, when, with Lieut KJeil Nyegaard of the French Flying Corps, he came to America for a try at the big voyage in the spring of 1917. His program was to use a machine made in America and fly across by way of Newfoundland, with the British Isles his objective. Something happened to spoil his 4 plan no less momentous an even than the entry of the United States into the world war. During all the time since then he has been waiting his opportunity. The armistice of November 11 brought it. A month later he reacnea the United States and took up his project again. His airship is the Sunrise, and if the United States does not enjoy the satisfaction of claiming an American first to cross the ocean, it will at any rate be able to boast, in the event of Capt. Sunstedt's success, that an Americanbuilt plane turned the trick. The Sunrise is a two-winged seaplane of Homeric proportions. Its upper wing has a spread of 100 feet, its lower of 711. Two six-cylinder Libertj motors built in San Francisco are expected to drive her eighty miles an hour with their combined 440-horsc power. Her tanks have a capacity of two tons of gasoline, and Capt. Sunstedt estimates this will take him from Newfoundland to London without stopping for replenishment. While April, May and September are generally accounted the most favorable months for the transatlantic effort, the Swedish aviator finds no terrors in the attempt during such a winter as the present. Virtually, nothing is known about north Atlantic weather above 1000 feet, anyway, so he may be right. Prizes Total $125,COO. Unhappily, when the Sunrise was being launched in Newark Eay, off the Pavonla Yatch club, Bayonne, last Tuesday, one of the guides broke as he was slipping down the ways and the Diane fell sideways into the wa ter. A crippled wing was the result, with consequent deferment of the trial flight which must precede the big attempt 4*. Something more tangible than fame contributes to the lure of cross-ocear flying, for the first to register success will be substantially rewarded. There is standing to-day a total of $125,00C in prizes, about half of it almost unhampered by restrictions. These are offered as follows: L By the London Mall, $50,000 foi f any airplane or seaplane which shal cross the Atlantic from anywhere ir the United States, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in the Unltec Kingdom or vice versa, in seventy-tw< consecutive hours. Th:s ofTrr was firs made in 1913, was held up by Lore Northcliffe during the war, and was recently renewed. By Mra. Victoria Woodhull Martin sister of Lady Tennessee Cafflln Cook $6,000 and a trophy under much th< aame term* as the Daily Mail prize. . By the owners of the British right ' in the Antoinette engine, $10,000 t< the Dally Mail winner and $50,001 more if the winning aeroplane Is mad< entirely In British territory. 1 Big Narre On List. By the Auto Car, an English pub lication, $2,500 to the Daily Mail winnei if the engine is made in Great Britain The Aero Club of America consid ered offering a prize of $150,000 to th< winner, but hesitated when it wai found that Lloyd's, the great insurant concern, would not take the risk o: losing at any premium in short, wouh not bet against the flight being made Lloyd's took the pocition that not onlj is the cross-ocean passage perfectlj j feasible but certain to be accomplished I The Aero Club doep, however, promis< a prize of $10,000 in Liberty bonds. a oui onerea in congress iasi junt had for its purpose the Increase of th( financial rewards of success by the offer of another $50,000 prize, but the bill failed of passage. It will be seen, therefore, that the daring flier who wins stands to gel back more than expenses for hi: trouble. But after all the money end it subsidiary. Fame has always been and always will be the great Incentive oi youthful courageOffered a year and a quarter before the war started, It is interesting now to scan the list of entrants for the big London Daily Mail prizo in 1918. The principal one on thit side of the water was Rodman Wanamaker, whose plans for competing were serious and wellconsidered. He retained Glenn H, Curtlss to build his craft, and Curtiss had the American, a big cruiser with a wing spread of 100 feet, well under way when the war came on. The airship was then drafted for military service. So far as is known, Mr. Wanamaker's entry still stands, although it does not appear that he is Just now engaged on any plans to prosecute the attempt. ? /?l V\1/\ nAf n VnotrloP XI >V txa a. UIII611/IC, 11VV a than-alr machine, a which Walter Wellman, journalist And explorer, and four companions set sail for Europe from Atlantic City on a windless morning in October, 1910. Their craft carried 340,000 cubic feet of pas, was expected to make fifteen knots an hour, and with favoring c rcumstances was to have reached Europe In eight to ten days. By nightfall of the next day. Wellman was over Nantucket, driving ahead of a favoring >lnd with motors idle. That night, however, disaster came on the wings of a northwest gale. For two days therefore the world was in ignorance of the fate of the airship America and her crew. Then one night came a wireless message from the Royal Mall steamship Trent telling of failure. Machines TKat Will Do. The gale into which the America J US, ~ ~ riau run UIUVC UIO v;.^ all uai^ ovumward 455 miles until, off Cape Hatteras, the gallant navigators of the air were forced to take to thtir boat. The equilibrator, a device of cables suspended from the dirigible, with tanks of gasoline attached to them, which had been relied on to steady the airship, proved the greatest dangtr the navigators encountered. When the men took to their lifeboat the equilibrator, lashed madly to and fro, threatened their lives and stole a hole in their boat, although, fortunately above the water-line. The Trent came along in the nick of time to pick them up and the America was abandoned to the gale. Thus ended the one actual transAtlantlo attempt thus far. In the eight years since then the dirigible has undergone, wonderful Improvement, and the progress in alrplaning has been even greater. W,hat type of machine will attempt and accomplish the flight? What are the principal difficulties to take into consideration? And what route will be followed? In answer to the first question, it ma> be said that there are now in this country four standard flying machines, apable of being altered so as safely *o undertake the voyage. They arc the All-American, designed, and constructed. Navy N-C-l, the Glenn L. Martin bomber, *he American modified Hadley-Page of Great Britain, and the Caproni trlplane. All of these types are to be shown at the aeronautical xpositlon in this city the first two weeks of March. A member of the Manufacturers' Aircraft association gives the following analysis of the type of flying machine likely to win success: This One Should Win. A machine in which the dead load of the hull and panels, &c., will constitute at a minimum about 35 per . ent of the gross load of the machine in its initial condition; a maximum oad of gasoline averaging about 5C per cent of the total load. "If the element of time be eliminated from consideration" he said the problem of maximum range be comes one of determining the maximum economic velocity that is, the hours necessary for flight at whicl speed the greatest range can be cov red and the hours available foi flight. The maximum economic ve! locity is that at which the motors will , consume the economic amount of gasoline for distance covered. "Taking the present designs as c basis of comparison and computation the maximum range can easily b< computed at 1,975 miles. The distanci I between Newfoundland anil Ireland L roughly 2,000 miles. A machine of th< F-5-L type would just be able tocovei ( the flying distance if supplied wit! ( gasoline amounting to 50 per cent o } its total gross load, and if highly mot , ored. I Newfoundland to Ireland. In considering the question of rout< > it may as well be conceded that th< flight will be made via Newfoundlanc and Ireland or, if Capt. Sunstedt*! 1 hopes are realized, direct to Londoi i from Newfoundland. The Azores route has been often discussed, tha I via Greenland and the Faroe Island! > loss often, but the most direct passagi t is easily the more tempting. 1 What are the difficulties, apart fron ? human weakness and fallibility of th< machine? There are two prlncipa , ones. Foremost is the weather, whicl at the height at which the flight will e be mad* Is of utterly unknown possibilities. On that the flier must take s his chances. 3 The second Is the danger of getting ) lost in fog or storm. The route Is of g necessary quite uncharted, with landmarks, with the tendency of draft in cross-winas noi easuy overcome, and always the possibility of being r forced to alight. But this hazard will not loom large in the mind of a trans| ocean aviator. s And, as was said at the outset, the ~ feat is likely to be achieved this year. f BANKS COTTON INSURANCE. I . Senate Passes Bill Again a6 Revised f and Amended. The senate considered only uncon tested matters during the early hours of the session and then took up the two bills by Senator Banks on state in' surance. The first provides for the insurance ' of state warehouses and cotton there' in by the sinking fund commission, leaving it to the commission to fix rates 1 and by an amendment offered by Sena^ tor Marion of Chester limiting the ' amount that may be placed by the 1 sinking fund on any one warehouse at $10,000 anu requiring the sinking fund to reinsure the balance in reputable companies. ! The premiums from this insurance are to go into the general insurance ' fund which is to be held for the pro! tection of all properly insured. The second bill removes the limitation horotnfore nut uDon the accumu lation of insurance funds in the hands ' of the sinking fund to $1,000,000 and 1 the cessation of the payment of premi1 ums. Under the. provisions of this bill the accumulations are to continue and the premiums are to be paid annually. When the first bill came up for consideration Senator Duncan moved to strike out the enacting words. Senator Banks contented himself with saying the senate was in full possession of the facts concerning the bill. It had the same purpose as the bill which was passed last year, and which the governor had vetoed," but many features had been eliminated. Senator Duncan said he was opposed to the state going into any form of business. He was furt.ier opposed because he thought it subjected funds of the state to too great risk. Senator Christensen explained that the bill subjected only the insurance funds in the hands of the sinking fund. The bill did not have many of the objectionable features of the bill which had been vetoed by the governorSenator Clifton opposed the bill on general principles and because of the amount of risks which might be assumed, and it would mean that'the state would finally insure not only cotton, but corn and all other products. Senator Young thought the bill exceedingly dangerous. It was the stajtol going into the insurance business, insuring cotton. This was creating a special interest Senator Laney supported the bill He paid a tribute to ex-Warehouse Commissioner McLaurln, saying that it was due to his genius that the low rate of 1.68 had been secured. In graphic terms he described the fire insurance fight of 1916, saying that if the legislature of 1917 had not thrown up the sponge and repealed the act which drove the Southeastern Underwriters' association out of tfce state and placing on the statute books a law which was not worth the paper it was written on. He said the Southeastern Underwriters' association now had the p'eople by the throat He predicted, however, that sooner or later the state would go nto the fire insurance business. Ho th? fire insurance companies call ed their collections rates, the state called its collections taxes. The companies fix their rates to meet expenses and losses. The state fixes its taxes to meet its budget. Senator Marion suggested that the plan be changed to that of the mutual companies, an excellent one being in his county. In reply to a question from Senator Clinton as to the theory upon which fire insurance was conducted .Senator Laney said that fire insurance was a science and that fire insurance was run at no risk. Senator Christensen said that despite his misgivings he would vote for the bill. That while there was some risk there would be the opportunity to put , on a mill and a half and raise $500,000 and then place its insurance as it saw fit. Senator Banks said he was willing to accept an amendment limiting the risk on each warehouse- He said insurance was an exact science and a very profitable business, so profitable that insurance and wealth were synonyms. South Carolina had made a demonstration of the profitableness of fire insurance. It had started in the insurance 1 business without a dollar and had now 1 accumulated about $240,000. If the state had done its own insurance on the state warehouses in the four years it would now have over half of the premiun.s paid out. On the motion to strike out the enacting words the vote was 9 to 24. The ' following voted yea: Alexander, But' ler, Clifton, Duncan, Friday, Hough, Purdy, Walker, Young. Those who voted nay were: Banks, Baker, Bas1 kin, Bethea, Bonham, Christensen, Gross, Harrelson, Johnstone, Laney, Lightsey, Marion, McColl, McCutcheon. 1 McGhee, Miller, Moore, Pearce, Robin son, Rogers, Shclor, Sheppard, Whar ton. Williams. ? Senator Marion proposed an amend5 meat limiting risk to each warehouse i to $10,000, which was adopted. r The bill so amended was passed and 1 sent to the house. f The other bill of Senator Banks, " striking out the limit of $1,000,000 in the surplus of the sinking fund was then passed and sent to the house. J t ^ g B Surrender of German Equipment. 1 On behalf of the government it has s been announced in the house of comi mons, in answer to a question, that 5 the following equipment of the Clert man armies had been surrendered to s the British up to February 9: Heavy b guns 2,500; field guns 2,500; machine guns. 25.000: trench mortars 8.000: niri planes 1.700; locomotives 4,065; motor b trucks 1,220. Up to February 11 the 1 Germans had surrendered to the Briti ish 116,826 freight cars. MAGNIFICENT VERSAILLES Marvelous Town In Which the Peace Conference Is Being Held BUILT AS A RESIDENCE OF ROYALT1 Splendid Buildings, Splendid Statuary, Rich Historical Traditions A Place of Luxury Where the History of the World Has Had Its Shaping. There is an electrical train that runs out from Paris to Versailles and nothing is so delightful in summer time as to start off for a day to that eminently impressive old-world town and its truly exquisite surroundings. Twenty miliums in uie ira.ui iruiu ine glare uc 'lAlma and one step out in Versailles, with its broad avenues bordered with centuries-old trees and Its spacious squares. The Place d'Armes in front of the palace is marvelous with its quaint flagging, and it is separated from the great court of the palace by magnificent gates and balustrades. Statuary there is, of course, in plenty and many old-world memories. Here the crowd surged, an angry mob from Paris composed mostly of women demanding bread, and the young Quoen, Marie Antoinette, appeared on the great balcony and lifting little Prince Louis in her arms showed him to the crowd, and as the angry demand was reiterated, her clear voice rang out, "If you have no bread, eat cake.' Here, too, on the steps up to the palace the Swiss guard were slaughtered as they tried to save their royal masters. Those were sorry days, ard why should these memories come up so vividly when today the sun is Shining and there is no angry mob, only a very few sightseers, and the great palace is closed to the public, for it is war time and no more can one roam through the picture galleries but there are two pictures there in the noble gallery of battles the remembrance of which grips one. One commemorates the 1870-71 war the dear "Patrie" represented by a wounded cavalryman supported on his horse between two comrades and pressing his country's flag to his breast, and the other ah! may it be prophetic indeed, "Le Rpvnnche" a French cuirassier on horseback clutching: an Uhlan by the throat and shouting; "Prisonnlor!" The sun Is shining gloriously and the palace gardens will be far more pleasant in the late afternoon, and the cool green of the hamlet beyond the Trianons makes a strong appeal, so off we go with our camp stools over our arms and our picnic meal in a basket, in search of the tram-car that ' uns between Versailles and the hamlet Le hameau is quite exquisite, the sweetest spot jrith Vlls and woodland, and grouped around the lake lies the hamlet itself, half n dozen or more quaint little old-world cottages, the long, low manor, a farm a water-mill, the dairy, etc., all built to please the fancy of a little queen who weary of the pomp of court, loved to come here with the ladles and genMemen of her court and play at being "just folks." Their summer home, he Petit Trianon, was quite near. It was simple, a one storied building of rose oAlnm/1 morhlo Tt*itVt mfirvolmiQ pnlon_ V VIU4 V.U IliUi " ?v?. ?> ? ?? ?? nnde and garden that would satisfy any artistic craving, but It Is not simple enough to appease the heart hunger hat doubtless felt the approaching and inevitable end of the hollow court life of the day?and so the hamlet was created! There are carp in the lake?carp of every size and color and age. It is said that some of the hoary among them are the Identical ones that Marie Antoinette used to feed In the gay. debonair days of long ago. Be that as it may, one gathered up the crumbs from lunch and, stepping over the low wires that separated the lawn from the path, one knelt beside the lake to feed the fish, and was it because the thought of the young queen was so uppermost in mind that a "gardion" called out from he other side, "Hola! crovez-vous nar hasard oue vous etes Marie-Antoinette et que vous avez le droit de marcher sur le gazon!" "Think you by chance that you are Marie-Antoinette, that you permit yourself to walk on the grass!" Such a laugh went up from all the group that like ourselves were picnicking around and the "gardlen" himself was vastly amused by his sally to wit. There is a place where one can feed tho carp at the corner between the manor house and the dairy where the lake curves up to the road, and here the curious creatures know the public will feed them and they congregate In enormous numbers. The charm of having one's camp stool with one is that wherever there is a particularly beautiful bit of landscape one can sit down and enjoy it and each new view of the hamlet is entrancing. There is a wonderful walk to the Versailles forest from the hamean past the Trianons, the Grand Trianon where the empire furniture spoaus of Bonaparte and Josephine, and the Petit Trianon is full of memories of Marie-Antoinette and her good-natured Louis, who loved nothing so well as making locks. Both Trianons are full of art treasures, but who cares to go indoors on such a heavenlv da*-'! Nature is art enough for us. So on we go, past the end of the Versailles canal, that baffling piece of water one seems never able to get around somehow, for it is made in the shape of a cross. We leave it on our left and plunge Into the cool, green depths of the forest. Do any forests but the French have their cool, green light, uiuair ? iuc, hi cvonjr (munco, muot uv licious little bridle-paths? The stillness is intense, scarcely a bird's note is heard, then as one, too, is stilled into silence the hum of insects is clearly audible, but it is a discreet hum, there is nothing aggressive about it and as one watches one sees the little woodland folks, the ants, the beetles, the long-legged spiders ever so busy, the ladybirds, the butterflies and hush! a crackling betokens the approach of some one advancing in the "sous-bots." An old peasant woman with a fagot on her back diligently searching for sticks. So day by day the store of firewood grows in the cottage to eke out I the "chauffage" for the winter during these hard times. It Is not only In time, though, that this Is done, for the French are a fugal people and will not pay for what Dame Nature will >i ) give them for nothing! ' As the afternoon wears on we turn out steps once again toward the canal and strike It, we know not when, so r follow It along in the direction we f think will lead to the palace gardens. Canal Is a strange name to give this altogether charming piece of water v with only pleasure boats upon It and leading nowwhere broad and still between broad, grassy paths with wild flowers of all kinds growing on the banks. There is quite a detour to make a get around the cross part and then. Gradually the terraced Dalaee h gardens appear gardens laid out by e Le Notre, that past master of land- " sq?,pe gardens. Such fountains there a a. the dolphin fountain, the frog 1 fountain and a score of others, all lying untroubled In the glorious after- h noon and one Is glad It Is not the day 11 for the "grandes eaux," when from v every stone wide-open mouth the waters Issue and crowds flock to sec the P rainbow playing on the riot of waters, 11 to admire the graceful jets and to lis- 11 ten to the cool and pattering swish of w the waters falling back into the wide c basins below. S It Is glorious sitting on the steps, b watching the sunset, the yews cut into strange shapes, the hedge high and 81 trimmed square like a massive wall, a the wonderful flower parterres. It is n all as fine a picture as one could see anywhere. But there are many "blesses," reminding one that a cruel b war Is raging and the great palace is p in danger from air-raids by night and s] day. That was in 1916 and now in it 1919 that same palace is to witness a e: ,?reat step forward in the world's his- a tory the formation of a league of na- w tions which is to put down war for- tl ever. It is a fitting setting truly for ir such a momentous event, and If yet oi another picture could be added to the ai great gallery it might well be one . typifying the brotherhood of the world, c 1 1 ai BRITISH PRESS OPINION. ra What London Newspapers Think of the League of Nations. 0| The following comments on the draft le of the League of Nations covenant ap- tl pears in the British press: w The Times: al It is not true that the league cannot ui do more against an offender than re- n< produce the condition of the present war. The covenant will be found, the g< more it is examined, to go deeper into ol the causes of the war, and to do more al for their removal than any one ex- fa pectcd. We venture to say that it is w the most important document ever it published, and one which, if worked in the spirit of its founder, will exercise tl a permanent influence for good on the & future o(.1be human race. r - ~ ..t?~ the scheme does not give us an jr effectual means of preventing war, it ir gives at least what we hope may be 0f a solid alliance between the Ave great o powers which count upon our side, and ?| that itself is not a mean achievement ci in the cause of peace. 0, The Daily N'ews: I'"; The clauses regarding the admission I le of states could be liberally Inter-! 5, preted, for it Is important that the lr league should be no mere alliance of cc Entente powers, and the sooner neu- m tral and enemy states can be accepted into membership, the sooner will the is league reach the maximum of effect- b< lveness. Meanwhile the scheme as a m whole must be unreservedly welcomed tt as the greatest instrument ever forged ei for the maintenance of the peace of y< the world. 01 The Evening Standard: ci "M. Clemenceau once told his fellow ai delegates that every morning he said f.i to himself: "Georges Clemenceau, thou in believest in a league of nations.' The text of the covenant published today will go far to destroy a lack of faith rj more stubborn than the French pre- n, mier's. ^ "The covenant is a document of t. highly business-like character ap- ^ proved by the representatives of 14 natlons and destined to modify the whole m course of future history." The Pall Mall Gazette: pi We infer from the terms of the con- g stitution that a nation like Germany rs will not be admitted until it has given sufficiently concrete and prolonged n proofs of having renounced its "scrap of paper" morality and, in the mean- ^ time, the restrictions of armaments at which the league aims internally, must be limited by regard to the conduct of j< those beyond its borders. tc The greatest strength or the league Is that it undoubtedly represents a deep-seated impulse in the democracy o] of today. If that impulse endures, the barriers of another great war may be a, permanently insuperable. jr The Globe: c< President Wilson is entitled to de- ,,r rive some satisfaction over the result hi of his efforts, which necessarily take o I shape rather as the resultant forces tv than as the offspring of a single mind, p( however able. Credit unmistakably is bi due in very large measure for the di- ir plomacy with which M. Clemenceau S steered the proposals through the tv rocky channels which under less skill- hi ful leadership might well have brought t\ them to grief. si The Westminster Gazette: Some even of the warmest supporters of the league of nations will admit tl i that their expectators wero too low di in the face of the momentous docu- b; ment published today with America, "< Great Britain and France going hand hi in hand, and imperative circumstan- b] ccs driving them to produce a scheme le which is clear and bold in outline and m which, if adopted in anything like its di present form will put all international oi politics on a new basis and give us the 01 beginnings of the United States, not of fl Europe only, but of the world. There remains the difficult, but su- jr premcly important question of the ad- b mission of the nations which are now ir our enemies. The Allied governments p are aware that no scheme will be com- si ! plcte which leaves Germany or Russia p outside. We shall come to the conclu- w I sion that unless there is a militarist ol j counter-revolution in Germany, that it el is safer to have her in the league than outside, and that it Is an advantage to have this question settled sooner rath- fl er than later. E INFLUENZA IN 1807 : E "errlble Mortality Caused During I First Visit to Charleston. t 'EOPLE SUSPICIOUS THEN AS NOW d ii tome People Connected the Dread Vie- tl itation With the Appearance of a v c Comet in the Sky?Interesting Facts n Taken from the Old Records. s Charleston Sunday News. v Few articles which have appeared a The News and Courier lately have xcited more comment than the repub- *( cation last Monday of Dr. Ramsay's 8 ccount of the influenza epidemic of a 807, which spread' north and south * rom New York like wildfire, at least alf the population of Charleston be- Y ig afflicted with it in the course of a a ery short period. There is another contemporary reort on this 1807 epidemic which is b i some respects even more interestig than that of Dr. Ramsay. It, too, v ras by an eminent Charleston physilan of that day, Dr. Joseph Johnson. ome extracts from it undoubtedly will d e welcomed by many readers; but be- v ire giving them perhaps there are 'l ome who would be glad to know what *1 ttention the epidemic attracted in the ewspapers at that time. What the Paper* Said. 11 si Comparatively, a great deal. It must e remembered that in 1807 news- a apers in general gave practically no 8 pace to the publication of local news w ems. The Charleston papers were no icception in this respect: the theory, 0 pparently, being that people knew a' hat was happening at home and that w le function of the newspapers was to iform them as to what was going C i at the various seats of government d nd of. the statute of affairs in Europe. 'e The four pages of the Charleston ai ourier in 1807 contained daily three ^ id one-half pages of advertise- ** lents and about three columns of ** Latter devoted to a discussion of hat was being done by Napoleon, r at Washington, or by the state ei gislature, or to the war cloud d' len thickening. Six or eight inches q! as the maximum given to Charleston 9' flairs; and that in general was taken rv nri+Vi mflirl offfl nntipoa onH HpntVt j ^ otices. d1 It will be understood from the fore- r( Ding that the fact that the prevalence r< influenza in the city was mentioned t least Ave or six times during the ill of 1807 means that the epidemic as a real sensation; even more so, ? world appear, than in the "epidemic" iver, which likewise raged at that me, 114 deaths occurring from it in gj eptember. m First Mentioned October 15. pi The influenza epidemic had started tl i New York in August, 1807 accord- g< ig to Dr. Ramsay. The first mention m ' it in The Courier was on Thursday, ai ctober 15. "The influenza," it stated, F s becoming very prevalent in this et ty." A week later, or, to be exact, st l Friday, October 23, it was stated: G rhe influenza has become so preva- gi nt that it is suppossed upwards of hi 000 persons are now afflicted with it hi 1 this city. It has not, so far as we in learn, been attended with any u] ortality." g: The next item which follows this d< interesting. "Greatly as we have ea jen distressed during the past sum- ta er," it reads, "with oppressive heat, rc le ravages of fc.n uncontrollable dis- In ise, and the stagnation of business, es ;t under the blessings of Providence tt lr planters have made more luxuriant sc ops than in many preceding years, id the weather continued remarkably ui ivorable for the gathering of them fc i." Pi Deadly in Havana. One other quotation from the Couer before passing to Dr. Johnson's hi irrative. On December 23, 1808, ap- ^ jared the following: "We learn that le Influenza is now very prevalent I Havana, and that it is attended ni ith a very considerable degree of r' AMllfv" W In 1807 Dr. Joseph Johnson was u' resident of the Medical society of 31 outh Carolina. Dr. Johnson was the fll ither of the late Dr. John Johnson, ng rector of the St. Phillip's church. tc e is probably best known as the au- sl lor of Johnson's Traditions of the 01 merican revolution. At the anniversary meeting of the 01 [edical society held on December 24. >07, Dr. Johnson devoted his address U1 > a review of the weather and the R isease of Charleston during the year, H le address being published by order ** ' the society. in Dr. Johnson began his address-with ai i account of the weather, comment- OI ig In detail upon the severity of the >ld with which the year had set In. The changes in February and March," si i says, "were very great and sudden, ly n the 6th the temperature fell thirty ai vo degrees in seventeen hours, as ap?ared by our dairy, and had probably a; ?en lower, but had risen at 8 o'clock tl i the morning, the usual hour of ob- bi >rvation. On the 10th it had Increased ai I'onty-seven degrees in thirty one cl ours, and many changes of fifteen to tn venty-four degrees are observed in iort periods during these months." w Charleston's Blackest Month. ti After a cold and backward spring tc >ere followed an abnormally hot and F ry summer, and this was succeeded s< y a long drought in the fall. The mdemial fever" raged and Septem- b< ?r was, 'from sickness and death, the hi lackest month ever recorded in Char- rt ston, thero having been 328 inter- oi lents, of which 114 were from en- b< emial causes, and at least one-fourth f the inhabitants (established at 28,)0 in number) were affected with inuenza about the last of the month." F During October and November "the ihabitants were distressed still more ai y the clouds of dust which drifted f< i every direction. All the le onds and many of the wells and a wrings were dry, so that in country b; laces many of the cattle died for G ant of water and travelers could not J! btain a sufficiency near the road u ither for themselves or their horses." si Blamed It On a Comet. At this time a comet, which was "I rst observed on September 15, though cj >r. Johnson thinks it was probably c< isible for some time berore that aat vas arousing much discussion. "E nany," says Dr. Johnson, "the drea< ul Influenza that oppressed them, wit J1 the aggravations of the drougl irere ascribed to this comet." Th loctor ridicules such a superstitioi heory. His own account of the ep: emic follows: "Influenza Is noticed as occurrin i March aiyl April, although not sane loned by our journals. My opinioi fhlch was then supported by the con urrence of several eminent physiciam as since been confirmed by a corre pondence of symptoms with ths /hlch prevailed in the fall. On th irsi 01 us appearence in ine laner per 3d the symptoms were so mild tha ew required the attendance of a phy ician, This lulled many int fatal security, and when about hal he Inhabitants had been attacked b : a cold change took place in th leather. during which many relapse ad several lost their lives. "So general was the prevalence c his disease about the middle of Octc er that many families had from fll een to twenty sick at one time; sei ants could not be hired to do the du tes of a family, nor nurses produce 3 attend the sick. Relapses werefre uent. In all such cases the symptom rere greatly aggravated and frequent / accompanied by violent determtna ions to the Pleura and Medistlnum. At Its Worst In the Country. "However, severe the influenza wa i Charleston, it was much more de tructlve in the Interior country an long the northern boundry of th tate. In Georgetown eight person rere lying dead of it in one day, an i Allanstown, in North Carolina, ou f nine masters of families seven ar lid to have died of this complaint 'hole families were sick at the sam me, and in a small neighborhood a ashaway Ferry nine families of chll ren are likewise said to have beei (ft orphans by this prevailing mal fly. With persons advanced in year was most violent; next to these witl ersons of irritable lungs; next witl ersons left debilitated by previous in ammatory complaints. "Bleeding and other evacuants, witl nollent drinks, were the only rerae les necessary at the first, but fre uent blosters were afterwards requi te. In the country places above men oned bleeding is said to have been in irious, and probably was so, as th< Ifficulties attending country practic mder it impossible for so active i >medy to be reasonably applied." SHOCKED BY THE NEW8. erman National Assembly Learn Who Controls Situation. The party speeches in the nations jsembly which had been set down to [onday afternoon says a Berlin dis itch, suffered a rude interruption b; je outcome of the new-armistice ne itlatlons. The general outlines of tin ew terms were known early today iff it was no surprise when Presiden ehrenbach announced that the speech I and arguments would be deferre< > that Mathlas Erzberger, head of thi erman armistice delegation migh Ive a personal explanation of wha ippened between his departure an< I- . is unexpetieuiy quiuK mum luuuy Herr Erzberger, noticeably wrough p and laboring under a strain be m with the announcement that tlx legates were entitled to know at tlx irliest possible moment the full de ills of the negotiations. He thei ad the terms, and the house listenet . almost agonized silence. The slight it stir or noise brought angry hisses; le assembly never had been onetitlx ) still. The members of the house stirrec neaSlly as he finished and stoppec r breath. Before continuing his ex anation, Herr Erzberger interjected "Fateful Hours." "It is my wish that you may neve ive the fateful hours I have had 'e on the armistice commission havi id to bear untold responsibility." He then referred to the unfortu ite, well-nigh fatal, delay In the ar val of the terms at Weimar, an< ent into details on Marshal Foch* Itimatum, which, he said, he was as ired was framed with the unquall ed approval of President Wilson. Herr Erzberger told of the effort > secure modifications, but said Mar ial Foch had been sternly lnsisten i the acceptance jof the terms. He touched only briefly, butclearlj t his successful protests against Po 3h Incorporation of Silesia and hi nsuccessful efforts to save Blrnbaum entschen and other German towns e emphasized that the Allies wouli ike over the responsibility of keep ig the Poles in check and give guar ntees for the safety of the German 1 the Polish side. Wilson's 14 Points Prevail. To Herr Erzberger's protests Mar ? 1 nil ?mica iui rutu icpucu iuav an ncic ^ut c military measures and in accord ice with President Wilson's 14 points Herr Erzberger protested likewis* ralnst the Indeterminate extension o !C armistice, but Marshal Foci rusquely declined to make any alter :lon, and insisted upon inclusion of i ause which gives him power to pro lulgate any order to Germany at will Herr Erzberger then demande< hether the short, indeterminate con nuation of the armistice might lea< ? an early peace, to which Marsha och replied: "I think so: I assumi >. The minister said the difficulties ha< jen greater because the negotiation! ad become sharper and more acuti cently, and a long discussion dem istrated that nothing more wouh a changed. Confidence in Foch. The minister assured the assembly "I have confidence that Marsha och's given word will be kept" Herr Erzberger said that he ha< chicvcd almost no results in his ef >rts to have German prisoners re ased, beyond a promise by Frano nd England each to send back 2.00' adly wounded men. He then read thi crman note, which he presented t? [arshal Foch, as the armistice term ere signed. He had had a sad mis on with few happy results. "The world knows," he concluded that we do not want a new war an< innot conduct one. The world wil andemn the entente for Its severity. e, REDUCTION OF ACREAGE. 1- New Orleans Conference Agrees on a ;h Plan. it A program for the reduction of the te 1919 acreage planted to cotton and the is holding of the present crop for higher I- prices was embodied In resolutions unanimously passed In New Orleans last g Tuesday, at the closing session of the conference of growers, bankers,- mer1, chants and farmers from all of the i- cotton producing states. The salient s, features of the resolution are: i- 1.?Reduction for the 1919 cotton it acreage by one-third as compared with e 1918. 2.?A pledge not to sell any pan it of the present crop for other than re muuciaiivo yntco, auu lu ii>jju iiiio 0 crop until the demand calls for It at If such prices. y 3.?Formation of state cotton acree age association, whose business it will d be to secure written pledges to carry out the first two provisions from every >f cotton grower and cotton producer >- In the United States. 4.?To brand any man who refuses to - co> operate as "so lacking in public - spirit as to forfeit the confidence of d the community in which he lives." !- 5.?A future convention of cotton is producers bofore which a detailed re port of the progress of the plans outlined above is to be made by every cotton-growing state. The resolutions, which were drawn s up by a committee composed .of a - banker, farmer and merchant from d each of the cotton growing states, e headed by former Governor Manning, s of South Cah)llna, as chairman, furthd er declared that "the accumulation of t large stocks of cotton in the hands of e farmers and merchants of the south ; and the drastic decline in the price e to figures below the cost of production t due to past war trade disorganisation, - the scarcity of ocean tonnage, to the a restrictions of trade imported by for elgn nations have precipitated upon s the cotton producing, mercantile and h banking Interests of the south a crisis h fraught with grave menace to the - present future prosperity thereof." The convention then adjourned. 1 ? s ? Would Pool the German Debt.?An - interallied financial alliance la strongly - advocated by Edmund Thery, the - French economist, In the Figaro. It should take the form of a special ore ganlzation, he says, to receive for joint e account all sums paid by Germany, i Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, which it would transform into liquidation bonds, "to be distributed among the Allies." M. Thery points out that after-the B signing of peace the richest Entente nations will seek to Improve their monetary situation and consolidate their financial situation as rapidly as possible r on a gold bosia Such consolidation would augment the difficulties of the y less favored Allies in converting to gold, sterling, dollars or francs, the e claims they recover from the enemy, '* on which they count to pay the debts t they have contracted, either with the wealthier Allies or with neutrals. Individual conversion of war damp ages, it will thus be seen, says M. The1 ry, would provoke between the En( tente nations an antagonism of lnter1 ests which Germany would not fall to profit by to try to elude wholly or in * part her engagements. Such competition between the Allies, he contends, 3 would be an unpardonable mistake, for 3 it would divide them within a few years. 1 _ 1 Medical Examinations in Montana. Opponents of compulsory medical ex' amination and inspection of school 3 teachers and children won a signal victory before the Montana legislature on 5 Sunday when the committee on edu' cation voted unanimously to reject senate bills No. 61 and 62, which pro' vtded both for the semi-annual medical examination of all school children r with expulsion from school of any who L refused to be examined or vaccinated e at the order of the examiners and for the examination '! teachers, Janitors and others connected with the schools - or applying for positions In the school, i Roman Catholic parochial and private 8 schools were eliminated from the pro vision of the bills. This with the ad ditlonal fact that it was felt that such a stringent law would make it very 8 difficult to obtain new teachers from - outside of Montana Is believed to have * had much to do with the committee's action. Both bills were introduced '? early In the session by Senator Ed ward Nolan, one of the state leaders, 9 but bitter opposition from all over the state developed. It Is considered slg' niflcant that two members of the com3 mlttee on -education are physicians. There are still several other medical and board of health measures In the 8 legislature, but none are looked upon as so dangerous as the bills just killed. New Army Legislation. Legislation - providing for a tempoary military esi. tablishment of about 540,000 officers 8 and men during the fiscal year beginf ning next July 1 was eliemlnated from i the annual army appropriation bill - In the house last Tuesday after pasi sage of the senate bill for resumption - of voluntary enlistments In the peace L time army, which would be restricted 1 to the maximum or 175,uuu men au thorlzed in the national defense act of 1 1916. The senate measure, which now i goes to conference, will become ef5 fective upon its approval by President Wilson. The army bill was adopted i by the house without a record vote, . 3 and now goes to the senate with Its - completion there at this session re garded by many leaders as doubtful. 1 It carries a total of $1,070,000,000 for the war department for the 12 months after June 30. It is explain4-! by mem: bers of the house that the senate bill 1 did not affect the present war time army, which, under the selective seri vice act, must be demobilized within four months after peace is formally - declared by presidential proclamation. B Decision of the house to consider the 0 senate measure was by a vote of 172 e to 162. o , m , 8 *8* Uncle Tom's Cabin played at Me lodeon hall last night The dogs were good, but they had poor support. Kin I Hubbard. i ' * ' ] tv If any of us are not thrifty we must accept of those who are thrifty and pay a profit in the way of interact . .