Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ESTABLISHED IST IS HE WILL DIE ??n the Gallows For a Most Hein ous Crime. j BRUTE T03B HANGED. . 'T&e Law Vindicated In the Case of An* drew Thompson, Who, Within Pive Weeks From [the Commission of the Crime, is Tried and Condemned to be flung. There has scarcely ever been so .much interest shown in any criminal trial io Greenville as is shown in the trial of the rapist, Andrew Tocop vson, who is charged with assaulting ..Mrs. Frank James, the wife of a farmer, near Taylor's, December 18, 1805, which was began In the court - of sessions Wednesday morning at 10 - o'clock, says a special dispatch to The .-State. A verdict of guilty was re turned Wednesday afternoon. According to the testimony of Ben Smith and Charlie Moseley, both col ored, they were with the defendant at ?sundown on the day the alleged crime was committed, about a quarter of a :milo distant from the James home. They parted at that point, after having partaken of whiskey from a pint bottle which the defendant had. .Before they parted this bottle was emptied. Thompson went in the di rection of the James home, they to their homes In an opposite direction. This bottle figured prominently in the trial.- An empty bottle was found at the place whore Mrs. James was assaulted, which, when presented to these witnesses, brought forth the -statements that "if it wasn't the .same' bottle Thompson carried and from which they drank, it looked very much like it." ^ Mis. James' testimony was pathetic ^and caused no little interest. There was no disorder among the crowd, which was silent to catch' the words -of the witness. She was visibly af fected as she took the stand. It was ? -a trying ordeal, and if the courts had -any way to shield a woman from such publicity it would undoubtedly be done. Her voice was faint when she answered the first few questions of Solidtor Boggs, but she became more ?confident as the examination preced ed and it was not necessary for the solicitor to propound questions to se cure her evidence. She testified that a negro giving his name as Andrew Thompson came to her house about an hour by sun and went away. About -dark the same man returned and asked where her husband was. She told him that he was in Greenville. She suspected the negro was up to no good and picking up a lamp, started out at her front door for the home of Mrs. Phillips, a few hundred yards Away. The negro tamed and went toward the back of the yard. After she had gone only a few yards the negro ran up behind her and taking hold of her jerked the lamp from her hand. A terrible scuffle ensued. She made superhuman eff orts to repulse "the attack, but was overpowered and the crime was committed, from which she suffered greatly. At this point in the testimony So licitor Boges asked: "Is the defen dant who sits there the man who as suited you, or is he not, Mrs. James?" The silence which prevailed over the orowded court room wis deathlike. The spectators had listened for this question, wnlch was the most im portant to convict the defendant Mrs. James looked straight at the prisoner, who sat by the side of his ?attorney. "That is the man," said she in a strong voice, "that did it"? -and after a slight pause, "that's the dog I" This testimony caused a con siderable stir and the deputies moved about among tbe crowd. Constable Rainey testified to the capture of Thompson in his home and ohis Identification by Mrs. James the k next day. He was in a drunken &stupor when arrested and made differ ^ent and conflicting statements to the imagistrate. \ To show that the defendant was not at the James home when the crime was . committed and that a strange negro was in the neighborhood is the sole defence of the negro Thompson and upon this the defendant's ease rested. Attorney McSwain for the defense in the cross examination of all witnesses for the State, sought to bring out testimony showing there was a strange negro in the vfcnjty ?where the crime was committed. Suca a strange person was there abouts tbe afternoon of the crime. The positive identification of toe de fendant by Mrs. James and the ehain of evldedce whioh clings about the bottle are strongly contradictory to the theory of the defense and are questions which jwillj be decided by the jury. The State closed its case at the noon hour, all the testimony being heard. The defense put up no witnesses and arguments were at once begun. Tbe defence by not introducing any evi dence secured the last argument to the jury. Mr. Alvm H. Dean assist ed the prosecution and made the opening argument for the State. Always logical and eloquent, he made one of the strongest speeches ever heard in a Greenville court room. He was followed by Solicitor Boggs, who made a short argument and analyzed the testimony. ' Eioqnently the * so licitor appealed for the protection of helpless women and the suppression of mob law by the petit jury doing its duty. Hli speech was forcible and delivered with characteristic earnest ness. ? John J. McSwain made the'closing argument. He was appointed by the court to defend ? Thompson;'?and a brave fight) was made to prove! the Innocence of the accused. Every point of testimony which was Intro duced by tht State which bordered on being Irrelevant was contested. Earnestly and plainly- the '.attorney I recited the) State's. testimony to the jury and made a strong plea for his client. Reluctantly Mr. McSwain took the case, but he had no way out of it and he did his duty well. He urged upon che jury to see that no innocent man was convicted; the law did not want it, and to give the pris oner, who was helpless and in the hands of the law and his God, an im partial verdict.? A verdict of guilty was reached after the jury was out one hour. Tnompson was sentenced to be hang ed on February 2. No? motion for a new trial was made. -.- /. FOUGHT DUEL FOR GIRL. Forth From a Ballroom Went Men With Loaded Pia tola In a dual with a girl as the prize for the victor, James Walker, son of a properous farmer, was shot and in stantly killed by his rival, Peter For bes, also a farmer's son in Isreal Hill, Prince Edward County, Va. The men fought with pistols. They went from a ballroom together and took aim by the light pouring through the windows. Forbes was engaged to wed Miss Rosa Carew, and he had es corted her to the ball. Walker had been an old sweetheart Of the woman and when they met at the ball he re newed his suit. There had been reports of the engagement being broken be tween Forbes and Miss Carew, and it appears that these were confirmed by her encouraging Walker. She danced with him repeatedly until Forbes jeal ousy, drove him to fury. He went to Walker anc"; upbalded him. Hob words wore exehsnped and the two decided to fight to she death* Without telling a word of their intention to anyone they disappeared from the ballroom and the pistol shots stopped a dance when it wais in full swing. A silence fell over the brilliantly lighted room, and then several persons rushed to the windows. A sight more dramatic than if shown on the stage met heir gaze. Two beams of light poued out and one fell on Walker, fiat on his back dead, and the other on Forbes, stand ing with the pistol still ready in hand and with his face still set in hate and determination, Miss Carew became hysterical when she realiz ed what had happened, end is in a serious condi tion tonighi, Forbes is in the lookup A Sorrowful Romance A clever and beautiful girl of nine teen, named Baroness Irma Yon Holz, has just died at Berlin, Gsrm&uy, the result of consumption, Her death brings to light a romance. As a girl she turned the heads of the barons and counts frequenting the salons of the best Berlin society. Driven from her home by her proud parents be cause of her determination to marry a man of whom they disapproved, and who later deserted her., to marry another, she commenced the selling of flowers in the streets of Krems, where her parents resided. They had re fused to give her any assistance what ever. Finally the young baroness brought an action against her parents to force them to acknowledge her as their daughter. She won her case, but did not win from them much in the way of monetary assistance. The consumption she contracted as the re sult of exposure to all weathers in following her calling of flower seller. WhatTillman Says. The Washington correspondent of the Charleston Post says Senator Tillman declined to express an opinion as to the prospects in the Legislature. "If I should say anything," he de clared, there would be dirty accusa tions of popping his whip, etc,' and consequently I shall not talk. It is pretty plain, though that Senator Tillman proposes to make the cam paign this summer a hot one. His health is better than it has been for years, and he will mike the Issue in South Carolina so cl >se that nearly every vote in the State will be polled. That issue will determine whether the people will stand by those who stand by those who stand by the dispensary or whether they will reward those who have turned against it. Society Women Soured. Chicago society was astoneded when it learned that the recent Xirmess had been denounced by the Rev. Syd ney Strong speaking before a large audience at the Second Congregation ai Cnuroh, as the most improper so cial gatherihg ever held in Chicago. In an addreas that fairly bristled with invective the clergyman stlgmatizea in the entertainment as ''half naked, painted, sensualized creatures, full sisters to the benighted Fetish danc ers of South Africa, promoters of the Klrmess, which was held two weeks ago, raised 825.C0O for the Cnildren's Memorial Hospital. Mrs. Walter S. Brewister, treasurer of the Kirm?as, declared after she had heard of Dr. Strong's remarks that none of tue dance was immodest and that the cos tumes worn by the women who dis pensed punch complied with every rule of propriety. Can'c K<iep Them, Several schools in Nevada have been compelled to clos?. beoause the trus tees have found it impossible to se cure teachers. Almost as soon as they arrive and take charge they resign and marry. OEANGEBUlt?, i AN umCJ?K KIMM). ATTEMPT TO ABREST SL AYER ENDS IN OFFICER'S DEATH. BTcCormick the Scene of a Difficulty in Which State Constable Lost His life. A special dispatch from Augusta, Ga., to The State says Mr. J. O. Holstien of McOormiclr, a member of the State constabulary, died in the Augusta city hospital Tuesday morn ing, Jan. 33, at 8 o.cloek, haviugbeen brought to the city Monday in a ser ious condition from a gunshot wound. Mr. Holstein was accompanied by Dr R. M. Fuller of McCormlok, who was with him until the end came, and es corted the remains toMr. Holstein's former home at Batesburg Tuesday afternoon. Dr. Fuller was seen by the State's representative and gave the following statement for publication; "Mr. J. C. Holstien, State consta ble at McCormick, was shot by Mr. Wade Gothran, a farmer living about two miles from McCormick. The shooting took place on Main street in the presence of a number of witness es. "Mr Gothran and Mr. Tump Wide man were about to get into an alter cation when Mr, Cothran drew a 38 calibre Smith & Wesson pistol. The liown marshall, Mr. J. R. Brown, came upon the scene and placed Mr. Coth iran under arrest, but he refused to give up his weapon. The marshal called upon Mr. Holstein for assist ance. He stepped up end it seems took hold of the barrel of the weapon bnd requested Mr. Cothran to let him have the pistol. Mr. Cothran still refused and endeavored to pull the pistol from Mr. Cothran, when it was discharged. The bullet entered the chest about two and a half inches below the nipple, on a line . penetrat ing the diphragm in two places, pass ing through the penicardium and through the lower lobe of the left lung, lodging just under the skin at a point of ?be shoulder blade. "Mr. Holstein was taken to the city hospital by his physician on the afternoon tiain. He continued to grow worse until death ensued at 8 o'olock Wednesday morning. An autopsy revealed the fact that both the abdomen and plurae were filled with blood. "Mr. Wade Cothran was cat two or three times by Mr. Wldeman after the shooting took place. His wounds were flesh wounds and not likely to give him trouble. "Mr. Holstein was cool and collect ed. He walked nearly two blocks to the physician's office after the wound and was councious until about 15 minutes before he died. He made no abatement in regard to the wound. "His remains were shipped to Bates burg, his former home, on the 3.30 train Tuesday afternoon where the interment will take place tomorrow. His father, mother, one brother and one sister survive him. The three came over to Augusta on the morn ing train, reaching here a?short while after his death. "Mr. Holstein was a young man about 30 years cf age and well liked by every one in McCormlck, where he had been stationed for the past two and a half years. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and his friends were numerous." A COSYJB? GOJ&S LS SANE And Declares God Told Him to Kill the Preaoher. His mind unbalanced, a victim of religious mania, Pnilip Robins, aged fifty, was lodged In jail at Catskill, N. J., recently on complaint of Rev. H. I. Hoag, pastor of Methodist Fplsco pal church at Leeds. lio' .. prop rietor of the Marion huu;,* at South Cairo i nd recently experienced reli gion through attendance at revivals conducted by pastor. After singing hymns and quoting Scripture for the benefit of the neigh bors, Robins suddenly declared that God had commissioned him to s'ay the Leeds divine, and accordingly he dashed off through mud. covering the three-mile stretcu tf highway between his home and the Meaoilst parson age. Confronting Rev. M Hoag, he touohed briefly on the outlook for ice and then with clinched fist aimed a blow at ths pastor's head shouting: "God commanded me to kill you and I must do it." The minister, driven to a corner of the room by the onslaught retaliat ed in kind and when opportunity of fered darted past the madman and fled to the house of Dr. Rouse. Robins was c'osely watched by the doctor until the arrival of some county officials, and when lodged in jail was examined by two physicians. He will be com mitted to the state hospital at Pcugh keepaie. A Deserted Village. After expend ng more th?n 81,600 000 during the past six years in pur chasing and working the Copper Fields mines, for many years the third largest in the United States, George Westinghouse, of Pittsburg, has abandoned his search for copper in the Vershire mountains in Ver mont as a result the village is now practically deserted. Westinghouse's representatives declare that the cop per vein is worthless. Scores of min ers and tbtir families have left town, and now there are not a dozen fami lies, where the population at one time was more than a thousand. Tnroughuut the village all the dwell ings formerly occupied by the employ es are being sold and moved away or sorn down. The machinery, boilers, and furnaces are being blown up by dynamite. 5. C, WEDNESDAY, JA] WENT ON ROCKS. Steamer Valencia Wrecked on the Coast of an Island. MANY PERSONS IOST. It Is Thought That One Hundred and Twenty-One Souls, Perished on the Ill-fated Ship. Not a Woman or Child Among the Rescued. l?r?"S A dispatch from Victoria, B. 0., savs the Valencia, whioh was en route from San Francisco, with ,04 passen gers and a crew of 60, weht ashore at midnight Tuesday night during a thick fog and a large number were drowned when attempting to leave the ship. The steamer is on the rocks against a high cliff, and is likely to go to pieces at any time. One boat's crew reached Cape Beale at 3 o'clock Tues day afternoon, and nine men got ashore near the telegraph hut, about 15 miles from the lighthouse Two men are prisoners on the face of the cliff near which the steamsr went ashore and cannot get up the cliff or return to the wreck. The sea will probably reach them when the tide is high. The men report terrible scenes. One woman dropped her child into the sea when trying to hand it to her husband, who was in one of the boats. When the boat's orew left there was a little boy running about the decks crying for his mother, who waB among the drowned. There are still about 125 persona on the wreck, with almost certain death staring them in the face. The steamer Queen, which arrived here at 4 o'cIock from San Francisco, landed her passengers and left at once for the scene of the wreck. The steamer Queen City left at mid night on her regular coast cruise and should reach the scene of the wreck in a few hours. Urgent messages are being received for assistance. A dispatch from Cape Bealp says the steamer lost is the Valencia of San Francisco, which went ashore on Vancouver island coast near Cloose. The lighthouse keeper says about 100 were drowned. The news of the dis aster on the Vancouver island coast in meagre, being confined to the mes sage received by Oapt. Saudin, agent of the marine service, from Light house Keeper Patterson at Cape Beale, saying: "Steamer wreoked be tween here and Cloose, about 100 drowned, nine reached telegraph hut. Will wire more ;raticulars as soon as possible." Cape Beale is on Vanoouv island at the southern side of the en trance to Barclay sound. The name of the wrecked vessel has not been as certained. NO 8ION OF LIFE. The correspondent of tne Associat ed Press on board the steamer Salvor has wired from Bamfield as follows: The steamer Valencia was located by the steamer Queen at 9 a. m. today on Point Planway, about five miles from Cape Beale. Toe tug Czar went in to Investigate and repor that the steamer was ashore, stern first and her decks swept clear with the ex ception of a small part of the deck house and her two masts standing. No peisons could be seen alive on noard. In the rigging of the foremast was what the captain of the tug Czar took to be a signal, although he was unable to say whether it was a piece of sail or a human being clinging to the rigging. . The steamer Saly >r stood In for about two miles but was unable to go any further as a heavy sea and a west erly gale was blowing, making it high ly dangerous, if not impossible, to make a closer approach. The Czar was within three-quarters of a mile from the wreck but could go no further towards the Valencia and after making as complete an ex amination as possible, she returned to the Queen and Salvor. The latter steamer and the tug Czar then left for Bamfield creek, the Queen stand ing by her companion line. When the Salvor left the scene there was a heavy swell from the southwest and rain was falling in torrents. The Queen reported having heard three guusnots shortly before the arrival of the Sal vor, but nothing of any living person was to be seen. Advices from Cape Beale say that 15 men have arrived, one of whom is the boatswain, the others being sail ors. They reported a passenger list of 94 and a orew of 60 and said that when they left the wreck yesterday morning there were about 100 persons on board, a large percentage of whom were women and children who were on the quarterdeck. T wo boats were smashed alongside and all the occu pants were drowned. Tne Valencia left San Francisco about 11 o'clock on Saturday last and heard no sound and saw no light pre saging danger. The officers were run nlng by dead reckoning and were on the outloon for Chumatilla reef light ship when the steamer struck. She was backed off arter she struck but the water filled the euglne room, the fires were extinguighed and the en gine crew forced out of the room, al though not before the Valencia had been driver hard on the beach. HOKKIIJLK EXPERIENCES. A special representative of The Post-Intelligencer wired from Port Angeles at 3:30 a. m. Thursday morning that the rescue ship City of Topeka picked up a life raft at 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon six miles off Cape Beale with 20 survivors of the Valencia on board. The men were in a pitiable condition and al most dead from exposure. The men SATTRY 31, 1906. on their frail support battled bravely with a pair of oars to reach the City of Topeka, which, owing to the dan gerous coast, could ,not run in any closer to them. Within half a mile from the raft a boat was lowered from the deck, which was with much diffi culty, made fast with a line to the raft. The work of rescue was dan gerous. The men were too exhausted to even tie a rope about themselves. The survivors told terrible tales of the wreck of the vessel. When, they left the ship there were about 90 peo ple od board, most of them clinging to the rigging. G. Willis, one of the men rescued from the raft, in describing his ex periences, said two of the boats were smashed as soon as they struck the water and a third fell into the water stern first, precipitating its occupants into the water. Then, he said, an attempt was made to get a line ashore. "A fireman named Oigales agreed to swim ashore- He was in the water fully half an hour, but was unable to make the beach. One man was swem pt ashore and succeeded in landing on a small reck. We shot a line to him, and then he tried to climb the cliff, but he fell and was killed be fore our eyes. "In the morning another sad ca lamity occurred. About 15 or 20 per sons, among them one or two women, had taken refuge in the fore topmast. Suddenly, and without warning, the mast tottered and there came a shriek from those on it, and the next mo ment it fell with a crash, carrying its load of human freight to a terrible death. "Oapt. Johnson lost his bearings and ran the ship ashore. It was a dark and stormy night, and nothing could be seen. The ship struck while running full speed. We all thought we were to the southward of Flat tery, and after striking Oapt. John son proved himself a hero. He made the statement that he would never leave the wreck alive and I believe It. The chief engineer is also carrying a revolver with whioh to blow out his brains when the critical moment comes." SUBMERGED AND BROKEN With only 33 of the 154 persons on board known to be safe up to a late hour Thursday night, the wrecked steamer Valencia now lies submerged and broken on the Vancouver coast five miles from Cape Beale. Only a portion of a mast stands above the water and the fleet of steamers and tugs Thursday turned their attention to patrolling the coast in the hope of finding boats, rafts or wreckage still afloat with survivors. But the belief grows stronger each hour that 121 persons. Including most of the passen gers are lost. Of the 33 persons definitely accoun ted for, and these do not inolude threr men,, believed to be survivors seen on shore by the whaling ves sel Orion, six have been taken on the Salvor, bruised, half naked, and ex hausted. Nine others in a similar plight are still camped on Darling creek in a telegraph hut, while the remaining 18 were picked up by the City of Topeka from a raft. Not a woman br child is among the saved, survivors saying that the wo men refused to leave the wreck even when told the ship was going to pieces. DREW BIS MILEAGE. Burton Peeped into Senate to Com ply with Law, Senator Burton, of Kansas, drew his mileage Wednesday, and thereby hangs a remarkable tale. The law riq lires that in order for a senator to draw mileage be must have been seen in the senate chamber by an official of that august tribunal. Had the Kansas senator stepped within the portal, and had the eyes of, say Sena tor Bailey, of Texas, been clapped upo:-> him, there is no doubt that a few warm remarks would have been submitted by the Texan. To avoid embarrassment of this sort, and pos sikly of some other kind, Mr: Burton declined firmly to show himself in the chamber proper. All accounts of the highly elating incident agree that he was in the Re publican cloakroom: that he was lur ed to the door by one official of the senate, who artfully engaging him in conversation, induced him to face the arena where he once sat among the mighty of the land, wearing the toga with the purple bordee, and when he was gaging?oh, ever so wistfully gazing?toward the vies president's dais, two other otHslala of the senate looked him squarely in his downcast eves, then off they strode to the office of Financial Clerk Nixon and swore that tney had seen Senator Burton in the senate chamber. And so thev had. Then Mr. Burton drew this mil eage, amounting to something more than 8500. Mr. Burton, of course, has been drawing his salary all along since the senate has declined to take action on his case until the courts have finally passed upon the convic tions that hang over him. Whether Mr. Burton stays in Washington much could not be learned Wednes day. Nor could his abode thfre be ascertained. Naturally the Kansas contingent decline to difccuts turn or nis peculiar cfliclal status. That he is still a senator of the United States however is now fully attested by the records, except of course th? records of the daily proceedings of the senate. All Want Ic The Washington correspondent of the Charleston Post sayb the opinion of South Carolina Senators and Rep reseatatlves here Is an indication of opinion in South Carolina the Legis lature will not bother with the dispen sary law and will leave the whole thing to the people for settlement this summer. It is almost-the unani mous conclusion among the South Carolina Congressmen that a vast majority of the entire vote of the State is in favor of the dispensary system if remodelled to eradicate all possibilities of corruption and grafc. \ Iii A STitAKtUS AFFAIR. SOUTH CAROLINA GIRL TRIED TO MARRY ANOTHER GIRL. Says Her Real Same is Pauline Web ster, Daughter of Late libah Webster, of Gaffhey. A South Carolina woman, Pauline Webster, has been arrested at Kan sas City, Mo., on the charge of mas querading as a man and fraudulently procuring a marriage license and 'marrying another woman in that city. The case is singular and much in terest attaches to its outcome. The license to marry was secured by the Webster woman in the name of John Allaine Whitman and it is on the charge of perjury that the woman is now to be prosecuted. The story of the marriage is told in the following extract from a Kansas City paper: "I am a woman, but I have dressed as a man for-three years," said John Allaine Whitman, when questioned in the presence of Chief Hayes this morning. "I have worked a) a man and lived as one. I married this girl when she said that she could uot live without, me. My real name is Paul ine Webster.". "I loved him and thought that with his money and my little savings we would buy a restaurant and make a good living," said Marietta J'elley in her home at Sheffield. "We were married Friday morning. I can not believe he?she?Is a woman.. It Is coo awful. I thank Cod though, that I did not leave Kansas Oiliy with him, or her, or?oh, I don't know what to say. He wanted me for my money, little that it was."' John Allaine Whitman, or Pauline Webster is probably five feet four inobes in height and weighs about 130 pounds. She has strong features, sal low complexion, brown hair, blue-grey eyes that never look long at any one or anything. Her hair is cut short and it is stringy and neglected. She wears a cheap dark suit and light melton overcoat. She wears wo men's shoes. She smokes a pipe or ci gars and chews tobacco. She talks good English and in an interview last ing nearly an hour she used not one nngrammatical sentence and no slang. She was perfectly calm and apparent ly unconcerned or ignorant of the se riousness of the offence which she has committed. Her voice is unpleasant, being soft and feminine one moment, and breaking hoarse in the next. She says she is twenty-one years old, but appears much older. "I was bom at Gaffney City, S. C, said this strange prisoner. ''My father's name was No?h Webster. He was a big Mason. When he died, eight years ago, he left some money to me and my two brothers J. E. Webster and J. E. Webster. I did no*, think I was getting my share, and so after quarrelling with my brothers, I left home and started out to earn my own living. I have been educated, but do not care to say where. My mother died when I was a child. "1 worked in hotels and restaurants until about three years ago, when, one day in Dallas, Texas, while I was employed in the Klmball Hotel, I heard that a cook was wanted by a theatrical company that traveled in a private car. The owner of an em ployment agency told me if I was a man I could get 360 > month. That gave me an idea. I went away and bought myself a cheap suit, cut off my hair and the next day went back to the agency and was hired for the theatrical company. The employ ment agent did not recognize me in my new rig. I talked little to any one. I took' no one into my confi dence." The Japs Need Help. A movement has been started to appeal to the American publlo for contributions of foodstuffs and money to relieve the distress In the famine stricken northern provinces of Japan. According t& information reoeived at the Japanese embassy at Washington the northern provinces of Japan are suffering from a severe famine which only the quickest relief will be able to check. According to the information obtained to rlca crop this year has been only about fifteen per cent, of the average crop and that the famine is causing particular suffering in the three northern provinces of Fuku shina, Miyagi and I wate, which have together a population of about two million, seven hundred thousand. Many of the people are engaged in the silk trade and the failure of the silk output has augmented the general Buffering. Gen. Gran t u n Gen. L se. At New York Wednesday night speaking at the annual banquet of the Confederate veterans cimp of New York City, General Frederick D. Grant, commanding the department of the east, U. S. A., proposed an in formal resolution that steps be taken immediately to make January 19, 1907, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of General Eobert E. Lee a national day of memorial. He spoke of his father's friendship with Gener al Lee and of the latter's herltate to the country. The resolution was adopted amid oheers. F. Hopklnson Smith spoke to the toast ''Old Plan tation Days." In his address he de clared the suffrage of the negro was the "greatest crime of the century." War In Chinatown. A dispatch from New York says war broke out Wednesday in the streets of Oninatown between two Chinese societies, the Hip Slugs and the On On Leongs. Two Oainamen were killed during a shooting affray and a third was mortally and a fourth badly Injured. $1.00 PB? AMU?. A STRANGE GASE. A Woman in Paris Charged With Killing Three Children SMOTHERED THEM. Little Evldenec Against Her. The Cir cumstances Are Identical in Each Instance. Her Method of Ef fecting Death Is Shroaded ia Mystery. A dispatch from Paris says one of the strangest criminal cases on record in France was brought to trial Mon day morning. The defendant is & woman. Jeanue Weber, 35 years old, who is charged with killing three children and attempting the murder of the fourth all within the space of five weeks. The circumstances under which the children were killed are so mysterious, however, that the estab lishment of the guilt of the woman may ba impossible. In each instance where the death occurred the same circumstances were noted. The woman was found holding in the arms the corpse of a child under two years of age, who but a few mo ments before had been laughing and Olaying. No signs ot violence were observed except that the faces of the victims were contorted. Autopsies showed no traces of pois oning and the deaths were thought to be accidental until the 'woman was found with the fcurth child in her arms, which was saved from suffoca tion. The other cases were recalled and the woman was arrested, charged with child murder. The defendant stolidly protests her innocense. Spec ialists who examined the woman fail to find any trace of insanity. Close Call. A dlspatoh from Ormond, Fla., says Charles Hamilton, and aeronaut, dropped 300 feet with'his airship Tuesday and narrowly escaped fatal injuries. Hamilton was pitched for ward upon the board walk and ren dered uncouclous. No bones were broken. Collapse was due to the in sufficient power of the sixty-horse power touring car which was used to do the towing. When the speed of the tow began to lessen and the air ship began' towabble and Hamil ton, by mistake, dropped his ca, ca, which was to have been the signal to the tow driver to stop. The aero plane at once began to flutter down ward. Making Beggers. A new and wonderful school for oeggers has just been discovered in Paris. Its teacher is a retired actor who coaches his pupils in the art of dciog the "heay pathetic," and has a staff of make-up men prepare the pu pils for the public gaze, when they are considered sufficiently far advan ced in their studies to go out and melt the hearts of the charitably in clined. Even little children are school ed in the tricks of tears and feigned starvation and churchyard coughs. Women are taught to trail along as if in the last btages of exhaustion, to simulate fainting spells, etc, and , young men are made up to resemble cripples of seventy. ,. Fatal Duel. A dispatch from Florola, Ala., says Grady Miller, the 16 year-old son of Dr. B. L. Miller wai Wednesday night shot and killed by the negro porter of the Lake View hotel. There were no eye witnesses to the shootiag, but the pistol shots were heard. A search was made and nearby was found the negro in a dying condition. Hi lived long enough to say that, he and Mil ler had engaged in a pistol duel. There is no way to ascertain the cause of the tragedy. Young Miller was at home for a few days from Wofford college, S. C, where ha had been attending school. Compress Burned. At Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday morning fire destroyed the compress building of the International Com press Co. and six hundred bales of cotton were destroyed. The body of Jacob Jacobs, who slept in the com press was found burned beyond rec ognition. The loss is a hundred thous and. All otton warehouses in the city containing a thousand bales of cotton and a long lines of wharva3 were endangered. Balcony Fell. At Washington, Ga., while Barlow and Wilson's minstrels were playing at Field's opera house Wednesday night a wing of tile baloony gave way, falling upon a portion of the audience below. A score or more people were injured and it was miraculous that several people were not killed out right. _ Dismissed. Stephen Decatur, great grandson of Commodore Decatur, a memoor <,f the frst class of the United States Naval Academy, was dismissed from the na vy by Sectetary Bonaparte, in confor mity with the sentence of the curt martial on the charge of hazing. An Old Bin?. When Kllaen Van Bensselaer and Miss Dorothy Mason were married in New York recently a wedding ring was used which bad been used b/an ancestor of the groom when he mar ried Ann Van Weyler in Amsterdam! 278 years ago.