Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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? MURDER IN THE AIR (New York Yforld.) There is a man living today who has goie through the whole thrilling, horror-filled experience of killing a inan in the cloud*. The marks of grief und woe on his face and his shattered nerves tell the whole story. Robert P. Scanion was known through the Middle West as one of the most daring and even foolhardy aeronauts and parachute Jumpers in all the country. Rarely was a cay too windy or a district too dangerous for him to make his ascension ac cording to contract and on time. Then tin a day, in an hour, it was all changed. It was during Fair Week at Ca bokia, 111. People from all the sur rounding country and towns had come to on the last day of the week to m; ke merry when Scanion was billed to make a balloon ascension and parachute leap. He himself superintended the fill ing" o'J the balloon with hot air ana coal gws by throwing light wood and coal oil on the fire in the furnace a few yards from the balloon. The gas Y,Ms sent into the canvass bag through a tunnel and a pipe, the mouth of the balloon over the open ing The gas bag began to expand, puffing up in little lerks almost like began to life its head off the ground the beating of a great heart. As it the people packed in closer and shout ed out In excitement* Around thei balloon like* a'fringe" were rows of of bags of sand to weight it down, and Is addition, men from the crowd were pressed in to cling to the guy ropefi that the last possible mitre of gas might be got in before it should be released for its shoot up into Lhe air. The Balloon is Mated. Slowly the balloon rose until its tail brushed the ground bearing it self for a flight like some great crea ture of the air. Scanion in his ttebts and spangles had to keep running from one side of the balloon to the other and then out to the furnace to give orders to his assistants. It was hard work and the delay of a second ant that something might go wrong and that the asension m:ight be a failure. Little by little he or dered the men standing around the ballon, their arms upstretched hold ing the guy lines.to slack their ropes. As the great bag tuged the men would be lifted off their feet, the balloon rolling from side to side as thougn drunk. Stretched out on the ground was the parachute fastened to the bag of the balloon so that when the balloon shot up it would be swinging directly under it, fastened only by one rope. A cord led up to a knlfo so that when the aeronaut wanted to descend he would but have to jerk the cord, cut ting the rope and float down to earth and safety. Under the parachute the trapeze bar was hanging, a bright brass rod on which Scanion was to hang and go through his gymnastics while being wafted to the clouds. As the bag straightened up it be gan to tug so that the farmers and townspeople swinging on it for ral last began to grow afraid and anxious to release their hold. "Hey, Mac," he called to his as sistant, "throw in another chunk!" Mac knew what that meant, ana on the fire tossed a small bucket oi coal oil. A blaze of fire leaped through the tunnel and the b.v'.oon tore itself out of the hands of cue ballast men. The balloon wobbieu up. A muttering shout ran around the crowd for the tension was at Jts height, and a man from their midst was about to be whisked into tat heavens. Women threw up their hands and shouted out words of warning. "Hold on tight," called out an old man leaning on a gnarled cane for support. "Oh, I know he will be killed,' sobbed a woman, turning away her eyes. "Let Go, or You WiU be Killed!' But all this was met with at every performance and served in no way to unstring Scanion's nerves. AH his mind and energies were bent on clearing the buildings and treetops. "Let her go, boys," he called out over the exclamations of the people and the cracking of the fire. "Cut loose." Running back Scanion picked up the brass trapeze rod and seated himself on it, one hand on each rope. Then as the balloon slipped up into the air he ran forward under it, the long-folded parachute tugging him gently, thus 3aving himself from be ing dragged over the ground. Thero had not been a hitch, the weather was perfect, he was getting a goou start. The ascent seemed no differ ent from a dozen others he had made. > But there is where the risk of a balloon jumper comes in. He never knows what moment something will happen. Suddenly a drunken man burst through the crowd and threw his arms around Scanion. He was a big muscular man, and in his dazed eyes was the look of an You Cant Afford to Miss This-Our Greatest Sale of Undermuslims. Begins Wednesday. March 15th. What is the use of trying to make up such garments as these when we cam let you actually find 25c to $1.00 oni every piece we sell . Each garment is absolutely new, clean, well and made perfect goods. WHY NOT INVEST IN THEM? Lot I ?50c and 75c Gowns, Corset Covers and Drawers--25c. Lot 2--$1.00 and $!.25 Gowns, Skirls, Drawers and Corset Covers-50c. Lot 3-$1.50 Gowns, Skirts, Corset Covers, Drawers-75c. Lot4-$1.75 " M " " " $1.00. Lot 5- $2.00 and $2.25 Gowns, Corset Covers, Drawers, Skirts?$ 1.25. Other Special Sales Begin Wednesday: Linen Suiting, Persian Lawn, 1 orchoa Linen Lace, Silk Foulards, and Etc. To prevent dealers buying, quantities restricted. No telephone orders. WHAT WE ADVERTISE?WE HAVE. THEODORE KOHN. intoxicated man who cares not the least what happens. Scanion had to grasp the ropes on the ends of the bar to be kept from being pulled off backward. The parachute bar was just being lifted off the- ground, and Scanion had no way to fight back except by kicking. "Let loose, let loose," he yelled frantically, but the man only tight ened his grip and "buried his face in Scanion's spangles, afraid to look down. For a moment the crowd stood too horrified to move, then several of the men coming to themselves rushed out and sprang wildly at the drunken man's dangling feet. But they missed and in a second more the baloon had riBen above the topB of the trees and the two men over the heads of the people. "Let go or you will be killed,' cried Scanion, squirming In the man's grasp and kicking as best he could. But the man. held on grimly without answering a word. The horror of it all flashed through Scanion's mind and made him light now resolutely. Here he was sitting on a brass rod twenty feet under the balloon, riding- a baloon built, for only 150 pounds, plus the weight of the parachute, and he himself was over weight by ten pounds. The man clinging to his arms must weigh at least 170 pounds. To make the ascent this way would be absolute folly. So he redoubled his energies toward kicking: off the unwelcome passenger. Letting go of one hand he clung to one swinging, bending rope and with the free hand tried to tear apart the man's fingers kicking him madly on the thighs with his heels. "Drop, drop, you can make it yet," called out Scanion, almost out of breath. But the man paid no heed, holding on as grimly as death itself. Catch ing hold of one of the man's' hands Scanion tore it away. The man freed his hand again and fastened it in an other place. Surging back and forth, Scanion tried to wriggle out of the man's grasp, the combined weight sending a wave clear up to th?> bal loon like a quick jerk travelling along a rope. Breathing with quick in takes of breath, partly from exhaus tion and partly from the effect of the liquor, the man clung to Scanion without speaking a word. One idea was firmly fixed in his mind, and that was that he must hold on tight, and with the grip and determination of a drowning man he carried out his idea. Working his hand up the man's back Scanion got it against the map's face by a quick surge and pushed madly and blindly, but the man bur7 led his face in the other side of Scanion's back and the short ad vantage was gone. Rapidly but with stately dignity the balloon rose into the air each second adding to the distance that one of them must fall. Scanion's hands sank deep into the bar ropes and they came down almost to the level of the bar, his head was pulled back until he could see nothing but the drooping skirts of the parachute and the bulging sides of the balloon over him. Squirming and kicking, he struggled till his breath was al most spent, fighting against time, knowing that each moment the bal loon was getting higher and higher. Finally, twisting his head around, Scanion says that they were fully five hundred feet high and that a drop meant instant death. He could see the crowd standing almost as he had left it, scarcely making a sound, all faces tense and set, silent watcheis of the struggle for life in mid-air. A Single Chance of Escape. Suddenly the man gave a lunge and flung one arm over the bar, then in spite of all Scanion could do he swung back and booked a knee over it, like an acrobat in a show. Scanion looked down Into the man's face. It was wrinkled into lines of fear and determination. His eyes were wide open and staring, but afraid to look down. There was not the slightest Bign of drunkenness about the face, the terrible struggle had completely cleared his mind. Scanion could see that the man was possessed of but one idea and that was to hold madly to the swinging bar. His whole strength and his whole mind were set in carrying this out. As Scanion looked down at the man he turned over every possible chance to escape. To drop meant destruction. The parachute was built to carry only one man. Possibly one of them might go down in the parachute and the other ride the balloon down by waiting till the night air chilled the gas. It was a straw, but worth seizing. "All right?it's too late for you to drop off now," said Scanion gruffly. "Swing yourself up on this bar. The man looked up at him more like a wild animal than a human be ing, like a dog trying to understand just what his master means. So firmly fixed in his mind was the idea that he must cling to the bar that he could not comprehend what Scanion meant. "Climb up, damn you!" growled Scanion. "We've got to stick it out together." The light of understanding broke Into the man's eyes, and with rigid, trembling muscles he drew himself up on the bar and wound his arm around the supporting rope. The two sat crowded shoulder to shoul der facing, with scarcely enough room to move. "Don't hurt me, whined the man, speaking for the first time. "Shut up and don't shake the bal loon, snapped Scanion. The man kept his eyes on Scanion, afrr.id to look toward the earth. "J3 it very?very far?" "You'll think so going down:" Scanion shot back. The Fight for Life. The man whimpered and shrank the rope without looking down. "What are you going to do about it?" demanded Scanion, taking this chance to punish the intruder. The danger now did not seem so lmmi CLASSIFIED COLU MM For Sale?Pure King Cotton Seed at Poultry Yard, Darlington. S. S. Six hundred nice hickory axles for sale. L. L. Miller, Mockville, N. C. For Sale?Pure King Cotton Seed at $1.00 per bushel. Address, J. J. Little John, Jonesville, S. C. Foi- Sale?Eight hundred bushels se lected Red Rust-proof home raised seed oats, at 60 cents bushel. J. M.Simmons, Mountville, S. C. Strayed?Solid black barrow hog, bob tail, one ear cropped, weight 150 lbs. Reward on notice. V. J. Gue, Norway, S. C. 3-7-2" Yon Can Make Big Money selling portable fence right. Every far mer needs It. Write B. T. Stam baugh, Woodsboro, Md., for par ticulars. Eleven Kentucky Jacks, twenty-one Jennets for sale. All of my own raising, with guarantee as strong as can be made. J. W. Rilay, Gracey, Ky. Buff Wyndottes; S. C. White and Buff Leghorns, Stock and eggs at bargain prices also 0. I. C. hogs, W. E. Carroll, Normandy, Tenn., Route No. 1. For Sale?Utility Rhode Island Red Cockerels, $1.50 to $2.00. Fine Cock, $5.00. One excellent Irish Pointer Dog, $50.00. W. B. Pear son. Strother, S. C. The Little Tell Tale which tells the Truth. A complete egg record of the day, the waek, the month, and the year. Price 10c. Address, Mrs. M. B. Roberts, Dade City, Fla. Eight to ten dollars week made, spare time, man or woman, each local ity, attend advertising material, make reports, represent us. Ex change Agency Brokers, London, Canada. Girl or Woman?each locality, good pay made acting as representa tive, address envelopes, fold, mail nent, and so Scanion was bound to impress or. the man what he had done. The man whismpered and shrank away from the aeronaut. The fight was gone out of him; he dreaded the upbraiding more than the kicking. "What made you do it?" demand ed Scanion. "I thought?I don't know"? A slight ripping sounded over their heads. Scanion became electrified, but to the unwelcome passenger it meant nothing. Scanion glanced up. His worst fears were confirmed. One of the ropes fastening on the sides of the balloon and supporting the parachute had ripped down a few inches and the gas and smoke were pouring out. The bar rocked bacK and forth again and the rent en larged. In a moment it might tear larger and the two would gc rocking swiftly downward. The only chance for safety was for one of them to go in the parachute? and self-prea^rvatlon is the first law of nature. "Don't rock the balloon," shouted Scanion fiercely, although the man was sitting quietly enough. The man said nothing. "Why don't you look down?" demanded Scanion with all the fierce ness that fighting for one's own life brines up in one. The man watched Scanion humbly a moment and then turned his eyes down. Wrapping his legs together, Scanion lunged at the man and tore madly at his fingers gripped around the rope and the end of the bar. Si lently the two fought, their breaths comings quick and fast, their nails bringing great gashes on each other's hands. The bar and the parachute rocked to the struggle, but that atone told the story of the struggle to the birds. Finally Scanion got the man's fingers loose from the rope, and In one surge of strength pushed him off backward. The other hand of the man, gripped around the bar, un doubted, and without a sound he went whirling through the air, turn ing grotesquely, his arms striking out as If they expected to catch on some thing. Fascinated, Scanion could not keep his eyes off the whirling body. So squarely under him was it that but for the turnings it did ilot seem to be moving. It seemed to be resting in space. As it got farther away it ceas ed to struggle, falling like a dead mass. A sparrowhawk darted to ward it curiously, then turned away. Then the body struck the ground? In a small pasture lot. The sound which travels upward more easily came to him with sickenin? clearness. It seemed as though he was only a few feet away. But look as he might. Scanion could not see where the body had struck. It seemed to have buried itself in the ground. His courage almost gone, Scanion pulled the rope that severed the par achute from the baloon and dropped to the ground. When the people came running up he was so weak that he could scarcely stand alone. That ev ening he was arrested, and later stood trial for the man's death, hut was acquitted on the ground of self defense. But it was Scanion's last ascension. He is now afraid as death of a bal loon, and will scarcely look at a fly ing machine in the air. His nerves are completely gone, and as he talks he keeps moving his hands aimlessly around over his lap and knees. He makes his living during the summer In small towns and during the win ter in vaudeville by doing high div ing. "It's the nights that make me mis erable, he said, buttoning and unbut toning his coat. "I can stand the daytime pretty well, for there's peo ple around then. But the nights! I always see something falling, falling and waving its hands." circulars, material, stamps, fur nished free. Rex Mailing Agency. London, Ontario. For Sale?Whippoorwill Pea3, $2.25 per bushel; Clay Mixed Peas, $2.10 per bushel; Ripper Mixed Peas, $2.10 per bushel. Write for prices in large quantities. F. A. Bush Co.. Preston, Ga. Dropsy Cored?Shortness of breatn relieved In 3 6 to 48 hours. Re duces swelling in 15 to 20 days. Call or write Collum Dropsy Rem edy Company, Dept. 0 512 Austell Bldg., Atlanta Ga. Dobbs' Single Comb Rhode Island Reds and "Crystal" White Orping tons win and lay when others fail, stock and eggs for sale. Send for mating list. G. A. Dobbs, Box B. 24. Gainesville, Ga. For Sa.le?Single Comb Buff Orping tons, bred for size, eggs and beau ty; imported and prize winning strain. Eggs $1.50 per 15. Sat isfactory hatch guaranteed. R. C. Counts, Prosperity, S. C. Wanted?Men and ladies to take three months practical course. Ex pert management. High salaried positions guaranteed. Write for catalogue now. Charlotte Tole graph School, Charlotte, N. C. Wanted?Men to take thirty days' practical course in our machine shops and learn automobile busi ness. Positions secured gradu ates, $25 per week and up. Char lotte Auto School, Charlotte, N. C. Wanted?Bookkeepers, stenogra phers, clerks, write us if desiring employment. We place competent business help and are not able to supply demand. Carolina Audit & System Co., Skyscraper, Colum bia, S. C. For Sate?Selected Marlboro Prolific Seed Corn, first at Georgia experi ment stations tests last year, and the blue ribbon variety for many years past. Bushel, $2.00; half bushel, $1.25; peck, 75c. Pure Money Maker Cotton Seed at $1.00. J. H. Myers, Sumter, S. C, R. F. D. No. 4. Gents Wanted?Make big money sell ing photo pillow tops, 25c; bro mldoa, 25c; portraits, 25c; ollettes, SOc. We produce works of art guaranteed, lowest prices, largest studio, prompt service, credit giv en; samples; portrait and frame catalogue free. Ritter's Art Stu dio. 1213 Madison, Chicago, 111. Good Live Agents wanted In every town to sell a meritorious line of medicines extensi?ely advertised and used by ever family and in the stable. An exceptional oppor tunity for the right parties to make good money. Write at once for proposition to L. B. Martin, Box 110, Richmond, Va. For Sale?Batts Prolific four-ear seed corn, $2 per bushel; new dwarf long green okra, earliest known and bears until frost, 25 cents pound; Nancy Hall potatoes $1.00 per bushel. Special bulk prices. Prize winning S. C. White leghorn eggs $1,25 per 15. Dutch Fork Truck Farm, Route 2, Co lumbia, S. C. If yon want more money for you:: cotton crop, plant "Acme Upland Long Staple. Very productive superior staple. Two bales (1023 lbs) this variety sold in Boston, Nov., .1910, for $281.32. Seed SI.50 per bushel, 10 or more bush els, $1.25. Address A. M. Hog gins, Lamar, S. C. Reference: Merchants & Planters Bank, La mar, S. C. Wanted?Every man, woman and child in South Carolina to know that the "A!co" brand of Sasli, Doors and Blinds are the best and are made only by the Augusta Lumber Company, who manufac ture everything in Lumber arid Mill work and whose' watchword is "Quality." Write Augusia Lum ber Company, Augusta, Georgia, for prices on any order, large W, small. Eggs?Barred Plymouth Rooks, Bunt Plymouth Rocks, Rose Comb R. L Reds. Acknowledged to be the three best general purpose fowls yet developed. Our pens are cos posed of the cream of last year's stock, all selected with the view of keeping up our wonderful esc yield of the past. Our birds car ried off a long string of prizes dur ing the past show season and wo can give the best quality to be found. Eggs for hatching, $2.59 per 15. Send in orders now for future delivery. West Raleigh Poultry Farms, B. M. Parker, Mgr. West Raleigh, N. C. Bargains in South Georgia farm; lands; 5,600 acres of fine, level land. 8 miles from railroad: land productive and no waste; 20 or more houses; flowing well, II miles of fine fencing land, adapted to general farming and stock rais ing. Price $10 per acre. 3,10t) acres located on railroad; 2,000 acre3 open; balance in woods; land lies well and very produc tive; dwelling, good barns, 50 . tenant houses, 3 artesian wells, ginnery, etc. Cheap at the price of $20 per acre. 867 acres, 1 mile from railroad station; 600 acres in cultivation, balance in saw timber; land productive, lies well and no waste; dwelling, barns, 14 tenant houses, deep well with tank and gasoline engine. For quick sale, can sell for $12.50 per acre. If you are In the market for a fine farm, and mean business, call to see us. Do not delay, as the prices we have now are sure lo go higher. Address Allen & Crock ett, Americus, Ga. Doesn't Need the Coin. "Five hundred dollarp a night fas 100 nights," was an oiler telegraphed from a lyceum bureau in San Fran cisco to Representative Cannon, of ? lnio, the retiring Speaker of tbc House Tuesday. "Too busy,' was in substance the reply telegraphed., back by Mr. Cannon. The offer pre scribed that Mr. Cannon could name his own speaking dates on the cir cuit. The Police S. stem Gets Shaking Up There are tremendous odds against: the citizen* when he's "up against" the police system In this country. Startling instances of this in "The Third Degree." A book formerly $1.50, now fifty cents at Sims' Book Store. LFr'S HEADACHE AND NEURALGIA REMEDY. Safely Surely Speedily Cures Headache and Neuralgia no matter what the cause. Numer ous testimonials on file in our office bear us out in this statement. Read the following: I have been a constant sufferer from headache for 12 years and could not get any relief until it had run its course or take morphine. I tried Lee's Headache and Neuralgia Remedy and found permanent re lief. I heartily endorse It as the best thing I have ever tried. (Signed) H. A. GANDY, Hartsville, S. C. Sold everywhere. Price 25c and 50c. Manufactured by Burwell & Dunn Co., Charlotte, N. C. No. 14 McWhorter Horse Fertilizer Distributer will distribute in two furrows from 3 up to 5 feet or more wide, side and top dress growing crops, or broadcast perfectly 6 feet wide Price f. o. b. Factory Hopper capacity $35.00. 250 lbs. fertiliser. Other machines both larger and smaller. They soon pay for them selves in the saving of labor. If you use fertilizer you can't afford to do without this distributer. Order today. Adc ress,