A DIVER'S PERIL.
Nearly Drowned in His Suit at the Bot
tom of the Schuylkill.
(Philadelphia Times Jan. 4.)
John Wolter, a young German diver,
in the employ of his brother. Herman
Wolter, who carries on the submarine
diving business at 106 South, Delaware
avenue, narrowly escaped death yester
day morning while repairing the bottom
of a vessel in the Skuylkill River.
The bark Jennie Sweeney, loaded with
lumber, from Pensacola, Fla., ran on the
Brandywine Shoals, this side of Cape
_elopen, on her voyage up and stove
in her bottom. When the vessel reached
her wharf in the Schuylkill, near the
Chestnut street bridge, she was badly
water-logged, and a diver was sent for
to repair the damages.
John Woiter put on his diving suit
and went down, taking with him a can
vas patch 20 feet square. All went well
for about half an hour, when suddenly
the man in charge of the lifeline, by
which signals are exchanged between
the diver and those in charge of the air
pump, discovered that something was
wroug. He could get no answer from
the diver and the line was slack.
An alarm was given and the three men
on the boat pulled up the slack and drew
up the diver. The rope had bec me
entangled about the man's feet and he
came to the surface feet first.
Wolter in his diving suit weighs over
400 pounds and the three men were un
able to-pull him out of the water.
They shouted with all their might for
help, but before it arrived Wotter had
gone to the bottom again bl ad tist. Two
men came and the suffcatang man was
once more pulled up, but the men'
utied tfforts could not get him on the
scow and for the second time the diver
went down.
- The cries of the men who were nearly
crazed at the sight of the man drowning
before their eyes at last brought a num
ber of hands fromthe sawmill of Frank
an dWolter was hauled
upon t ck?fthe ow. The hamlet
was . ku iecrew d and the suit cut
of Tsoe'hd turned black and
washorriblyswollen, and he was thought
to be dead.
Whisky waapoured down his throat
and he was vigorously rubbed. After
.the expiratio*of fteen minutes there
were signs rurnig lirfe and shortly
afterwaian opened his eyes and
spoke. ,e was at once put to bed on
the vessel and cared for.
Wolter can tell but little about his
terrible experience; he says that he was
nailing the canvas patch over the holes
in the vessel's bottom when he became
aware that his supply of air was shut oft
aedionewater entered his helmet. He
was then about seventy five feet from
the air pugp on the scow. He started
to walk toward it an got about half way
when he became unconscious.
The cause of the accident was careless
ness in adjusting the air hose to the
back of the helmet, from which it be
Ti artment of Agriculture.
Commissioner Butler has received 2C0
copies of the following circular letter to be
sent to various persons in the State:
Arsam, Texas, December 20, 1898.
DEaR SIR: At the last Southern Inter
state Immigration Uonteation,:which con
vened at Montgomery,- Ala., December
12-14, the following resolution was unani
mously adopted, to which your attention
a most respectfully solicited.
By the S.u.tern Inte.s T...; ..mmig.ation
sembled.
tie it Resolved, That those of the South
ern States whose legislatures are now in
session, oj when beseafter next convened,
bebd~i the'y are hereby pmryed to make
suitable and ample appropriations to pro
mnote the cause of immigration, and to car
ry eut to the highest success the plans and
purposes promoted and promulgated by this
-convention.
Resolved further, That the secretary of
thia convetis reguessed promptly to
trammnitto t Gov~ernors of the respective
States and Territories represented in this
ietigi- certdfied copies of the foregoing
tn, witb the r that they call
-l~sl iof zheir
wing states were represented in
this great convention:- Alahama, Arkan
as,. Florida, Georgia, Kentucky; Louis.
lana, ' Nec roling, South
Carolina, es 'sYirginia, and
the territo f , soand, ech
member oe4d . . ~miteerepre
seating theeethea~ ureau
has bee supple wihtwo hundred cop
les of this circular in order that thee gover
nor and each membei of both- houses of
the legislature of their respective states
may be supplied with this certidie copy of
said resolution as fordered ly tha~onven
tion at Montgomery. .
In his atdmirable speech before the Immi
grauion C-onvent:on, Governoi Seay de
clared that ".our faces are forever set to the
d .is the }est~wod in
e ua'ge Alabama has o. congratu
laze herself that she has a govegrar who is
in sy mps:hy nith )jyery -progressive.nove'
ment, and whosemi4e 'gives nio uncertain
-s oun ongtheeet questionLs that arepress
Ing f~i'atfe6n aod soluti' n; and it is b.
lieved that there is no State in the South
but willl, through its governor and legisla
isWe place itself-on record in the march of
p ggessio and advancement of its nest
intiere'sts by speedily taking steps to aid in
taIfifeat Southern work -for all of which
we pry. 'Respectfully,
we pay.F. B. Cnitros,
General Manager Etut'gedr pnt& State Irt
migration Bmn-T -- .
Barrison's Latest Gift.
G1erRHi'ison -has received a present
that is hot likely to bie placed among his
collection of gifts. It was an advertising
aino zMilwaukee brewery, givmng in
* db olors a view of General Harrisn
adGmo'rer Cleveland sitting at a table
drinking overflowing glasses or beer, served
to- them by a female in scant dress, with
an outline of the White House in the back
ground. It was sent to the President-elect
-Ey express by the audacious advertisers.
Tadmanapolis hews.
[i'Illustrating the restlessness of the
clergy noadyit is stated by a corres
pondent W{rork Observer that a
strong'cureh n a vflls'ge not far from
New York, which has been vacant only a
few weeks, has had one hundred any twen
-ty applications, and more are constantly
coiming. Yet probably this cehurch will
do as other churches do in 'similar circumn
-stacs-ignore the men who have present
ed their elaims, either personally or through
friends, and choosesome man who, didn't
seek the position at~all.
THE' sr nAWRs before the American
Forestry Congress at Atlanta attributed
the unprecedented floods in Georgia during
-the past two years to the reckless destruc
-tion of the forests at the headwaters of the
streams affecd*'I mense tracts of hard
wood timber lands in the mountains of
East Tennessee have been bought by Eng
lish companies which are sweeping away
the lumber at'aA alannming -rate. *The pine
belt of Southeib Georgia- is being cleared
off at.the rate of two hundred square miles
a year; and the net 'result of the slaughter
is increasing damage by floods and pro
longed droughts.
Nervous prostration is on the increase
everywhere, and the medical explanation
THE GOVERNOR'S POSITION.
How It Is Regarded by Different Paper
in South Carolina.
(From the Newberry Observer)
Governor Richardson may defeat the
Clemson will for a time, but the will of
the people will prevail in the end. And
don't you forget it.
(From the Fiorence Farmers' Friend.)
This is nothing more than might have
been expected >f the figurehead who sits
inthe Gubernational chair of South Caro
lina and obey a the bidding of the bosses.
Time will rectify this wrong, and sooner
or later the farmers will have their col
lege.
(From the Rock Bill Herald.)
Governor Richardson has again shown
his lack of sympathy with the farmers
of the State by refusing to sign the Act
accepting the Clemson bequest.
(From the Cheraw Reporter.)
Governor Richardson has shown him
self on this occasion, at least, to be more
wise and conservative than the Legisla
ture, and the State is to be congratulated
on his action in this matter.
(From the St. .Matthew's spectator.)
We take the same stand with Governor
Richardson and those who so ably argued
its postponement, upon the ground that
after the validity of the two wilts has
been decided in the Supreme Court then
the State would have ample time to ac
cept, if decided in her favor. Oar ablest
lawyers differ on this point, and-it is hard
to foretell the result.
(From the Camden .ournal.)
However, it does not matter much, as
it is not likely that the suit over the
estate will be settled in less Uhan a year,
and by that time the friends of the col
lege will know better as to what the
chances are for them, and they will be
better prepared to fight for it.
(From the Carolina Spartan)
Governor Richardson did :got veto the
Clemson College bill. It was sent to
him at the close of the session and he re
fused to sign it. He has the privilege to
pigeon-hole it until the next session and
he can dispose of it the first two days of
the session. He reminds one of "Old
man-afraid-of-the-consequences" in this
matter.
(From the WoodruffNews)
It's very naive, very amusing, and not
very convincing-the off-hand assertion
that the acceptance of the Clemson be
quest "expresses the will of the people."
The five and a quarter mills levy emana
ted from the same source. Does that "ex
press the will of the people," too? if the
passage of the Clemson bill is "an ex
pression of the people's will," all A -ts of
the Legislature may with equal reason
be said to express that will;and of eourse
they don't.
(From the Greenwood Tribune.)
Governor R:cardson has at last given
to the public through the columns of the
Ring organ his intentions regarding
the Clemson bill, and as was expected
by those who have watched his course
in the past, he has straddled the whole
question.
(From the Pee Dee Index.)
The question is not a new one, nor
was it sprung upon the Governor unex
pectedly. After having twelve months
in which to consider the measure eleven
months more is not necessary for reach
ing a conciuion.
This delay, so far from being "emi
nently judicious," is indeed, very un
seemly, and, apart from all consider
ation of Miss Lee and collateral matter,
the bill, as a bill, either commended
itself for approval or disapproval and
should have met with positive, unequiv
ocal action.
(From the Chesterfleld A dvertiser.) g
We do not wish to be understood to
be an unqualified supporter of the CJem
son bili, for we can see faults as weil as
virtues connected with it. If it is going
to cost anything like whatthe enemies of
the bill claim is will cost, we say hands
of; but we deem it prudent to accept
west has been said against the~ :til by a
great many with a great dea~ of allow
ance.
(From the Dlarllngton sews.)
/We cannot believe, however, that any
'Ihing was to be gained by the aoceptane
of the Clem-on bequest at this time; on
the contrary, the failure of the measure
on account of the Governor's action will,
we feel sure, pr<.ve in the er..d to be the
very best thing which could have hap
pened to the proposed agricultural col
It-ge, and will ensure its ultimate estab
lisument on a secure basis.
[From the sumter Watchman and Southronj
Gov'-rnor Richardson has refused to
approve or disapprove the bill for the
acceptance of the "Ciemson bequest."
By so doing he has placed the Legisla
tire in an -awk ward position. In his
message he refrained from making the
slightest hint as to his opinion upon the
mt er, which he should not have d one
had he intended to re fase his signature
to a bill of acceptasnce. The Clemscn
be qrtest daea ,not commend itself .0 us
I as of mued v'ilne to the State, but it is
understood'that we are considermng the
acion o the Governor, and nothing
else. -_______
The Beaufort Elections.
IBFixForer, Jan. 8 --The dec'sion of
Judge .ildrich in the matter of th~e dis
outed title to the county oilices was tileu
here today. His Honor has rendered an
elaborate and wel-digested decree. render
injg a ciecision that is not only justitied rsy
the inu'nerous authei-ities he. cites, but by
every notion of public policy. The con
clusion with wicih we are muostly con
ty Comnmis-sioners and the Ceroner, who
have been holuing on andi refusiog to sur
render the "books. p'tpers, rt cords and
furniture," are ordered forthwith to turn
them over to the newly-ekcted officers in
their stead.-Special to Charleston World.
A Cyclone as Reading, Pa.
READING, Pa , Jan. 9 -A cyclone pas
sed over this city this afternomon, doing con
si' erable damage and causing heavy loss of
life. A silk mill, in which two hundred
and fifty girls were employed, was blown
down just before the hour for qiuitt-ing
work: Everything is it confusion. About
the same time there was an ex'plosion and
a fire in the same neighborhood, by which
eight men were burned to day.
"You know that the poet said bars do
not make a prisor." "Yery true; but they
sometimes get you into one."
It is a mistake to think that you cannot
have mourning goods dyed. Take them
to the colored man; he dies black.
The work of lighting the Roosac Trunel
with electricity is probably one of the most
difficult electric light ventures ever brought
to a successfnl issue.
They have a church for dleaf-mutes in
Philadelphia. The people who occupy
the back pews are never heard complaining~
that they can'thear what the minister says.
However, front seats are desired, as all
want see the sermon.
Western sportsmen complain that wild
duck are becoming very searce, and attrib
ute their scarcity to the use of duck eggs in
making a new glue that is manufactured in
Canada. The eggs having become valua
ble, hunters despoil nests and thus mate
riahy rducethesuppy o youg dcks
A REVOLUTION IN F MIE.
A Secret that Solves a Difficult Problem
and that will Prove a Mine of Wealth to
tie south.
(Fron the News and Courier.)
A discovery that promises to be of the
utmost importance to the Southezn
States has been made by Dr. C. F.
Panknin, of Charleston. It is not prac
ticable or proper at this time to give the
d'etails, but sufficient can be said to show
the nature of the discovery and its value.
At different times many experiments
looking to the.cultivation of ramie have
been made in the South and the plant,
it has been found, can be grown without
difficulty. It will grow anywhere that
cotton grows at no expense whatever
for cultivation. It grows like a weed
and is not subject to the ravages of
worms, noris it liable to any of the other
maladies to which the more tender cotton
is subject. Ramie then can be grown
without difficulty. The trouble hitherto
has been to find a quick and inexpen
sive way in which the bark of the ramie
plant could be prepared for manufacture
without injury to the peculiar quality
and value of the fibre. It is ouch a pro -
cess as that which has been so long
sought which Dr. Panknin has discov
ered.
Without any mechanical process of
const quence and by simple chemical
treatment, occup- ing in all from forty
eight to sixty ihours, t3he bark of the
ramie is brought into condition to be
carded and spun, so thatin this condition
it is available for all--Jhe various
usee for the different textile materials,
such as the finest cotton and silk. Dr.
Pankain has been engaged on his ex
periment for a considerable time, and
has now brought it to a satisfactory
conclusion.
The process, as has been said, is of the
simplest possible character, the only
difficulty being to find out the process.
Ramie is cultivated and is manufactured
for use in fine domestic goods, linens
and similar cloths, but the process is
kept secret and the right to make use of
it is not sold.
THE REV. WM. MARTIM.
A Short Account of the Life of One of the
Oldest Citizens of Columbia.
(Columbia Record, January 11.)
The Rev. William Martin, a notice of
whose death appeared in THE Rxconn of
yesterday, was born in Mecklenburg coun
ty, N. C., on March 4th. 1807. He entered
the ministry of the Methodist Church at
about the age of 21, becoming a member
of the South Carolina Conference in 1828.
Since then, for sixty years. he has labored
hard in the service of the Lord.
His ministry in Columbia has been lo-.ger
than that of any other Methodist preacher,
and it is thought that his service as a min
ister has been longer than that of any other
one of his denomination in the South.
He was one of the founders of the Fe
male'College of this city, and was its presi
dent for three years. For eight years he
was chaplain of the Penitentiary and for
one year chaplain of the Lunatic Asylum.
He spent eight years in mission service
among the negroes.
Early in his ministry he worked throueh
the yellow fever scourge in Charleston. He
contracted the disease himself while en
gaged in this noble work of work.
But for Mr. Martin's devotion to his
church, and his energy and courage amidst
poverty and discouragement, the present
Washington Street Church would not hare
been built. He collected and paid out
every dollar for the erection of the Marion
Street Church, and founded the Columbia
City Mission. which is now located on the
corner of Green and Assembly streets.
His influence he:re was strong and ex
tended. He has ministered to all classes of
society, and was beloved by rich and poor.
He married Miss Margaret Maxwell, of
Scotland, and through her he has been con
nected wia the education of girls for
nearly fifty years.
He was the founder of the famous Way.
side Hospital, where so many sick Confed
erate sldiers were tended, and he devoted
himsel f' to its chxarge.
Tute Rev. Win. Martin leaves a widow,
a d.ughter, Miss Isabei D. Martin, of this
city, and a son, Dr. Henry Martin, of Sum
owervilie.
The Rev. Messrs. James H. Carlisle, A.
Coke Smittl. and Wmn. T. Capers have been
telegraphedt for, aad will come to attend
he'funeral, which will take place at the
Washington Street Methodist Church to.
morrow, at 12 M.
Death of a Venerable Preacher.
One by one the old lanadmar:~a piss away
and but a few years more, we, who were
boys thirty years ago, will live to see the
last lines obliterated. The Rev. Adam
Ivy, whose name was familiar to every
household in Lancaster county. died at
Bushnell. Fia..- at the residence ot his son
in-law, Mr. C. M. Blake, December 80,
188. at the advanced age of 90) years, 5
months and 20 days. He was born in this
county, (Ii-.ian Land) and lhved here all
ais life urtil recently, when he went with
some of his childre'n to Florida. He was
: wice married, armi was the father of thir
-eni childlren, aht - c-om grew to manhoo I
ad womnanhood.-Lancaser Ldgitr.
A Vicious Negro.
Frank Phillips, a negro, was brought
before Trial Justice McMaster this morn
ing charged with larceny and an assault of
a high nature. He was accused by J. H.
Hilard, a young white man, of having
stolen two quilts from his wagon while it
was st:mndiong in the streets yesterday. and~
when accused of the theft, Phillips (w-ho
is an ex c nvict) turned upoin him witha
knife and threatened to cut him. Hei then
dropped the at->len prope. ty and made off,
but was subsequently arrested. In default
tof $300 bail, he was committed to jail to
await irial at the spring term of court for
both the larceny and the assault.
While i'. the court room Phillips mnade
tw tte t tostrike another negro who
tesifid gaisthim. and was only quietec
by a policeman putting handcuffs on him.
-Columbia Daily Record, January 11.
IstnTrToS given out by the friends o:
'Genera! Harrison furnish ground for the
belief that there wili not be an immediate
clean sweep of offici -holders. A corres
pondent recently asked Senator Frye of
Maine whether he expected rapid chanes
inteofcsin that State, and he replied
thathe id ot.He expressed the opinion
that General Harrison would allow compe
tent men at least to serve out their terms
"We irnve -promised not to make a clear
sweep,"- said the Senator, "and 1 think we
oug at to keep the promise." Congressmar
Miliken, of Maine, is not a very enthusias
tic reformer, but he'said the other day: "
think that we shall treat the Democrats ai
Iwell as they have treated us. They have
-ft a goodmany postmasters in nmy district
for two or three years, and I shall riot urge
their that successors be turned out at onc4
unless there is some special reason."
A misfortune much sought by young
men-A young heiress.
The abolition of slavery in Brazil is sal:
to have had a deplorable effect upon the
industries of the empire, and a financial
crash is anticipated. The wants of freed
men being few, they will not work stead
ily. Habits of industry and thrift are yet
to be acquired. The financial outlook is se
unfavorable that bank shares and similar
securities have suffered a decline of thirty
to fifty per cent.
MAKING SHIRTS.
HOW THE WORK IS DONE IN THE
PHILADELPHIA FACTORIES.
Nearly One Hundred Firms Engaged in
the Cusiness in That City-Division of
IL.bor-Something Concerning the Wages
Paid to Operatives.
At the time the "Song of the Shirt"
was written, by working hard from
early morn until late at night a woman
could make one shirt. That <vas before
the introduction of machinery and sys
tems. and when the shirtmiker took
home a bundle of linen and muslin
piec'es and brought back the garments.
made and linished outright.. Naow, with
the systems and machinery in vocuC,
t:om the time the material is cut until it
leaves the ihdsher. it passes through the
hands of sixteen persons, each of whom
does a part toward preparing .t for the
manly bosom. This sy-: is called
e-ui work, and each one in the team
averages one dozen and a half of shirts
in ten hours. Another method of mal:iirg
these garments is the one practiced in
making up custom goods. In these
places the bosoms are bought ready
made, and with the remaining parts are
gh-en to the hands, who make them out
and out. These women will make from
four to eight a day of nine hours, and
the average price for this work is $3 a
dozen.
FROM START TO FILSH.
The materials of which shirts ae
made are linen, muslin, "backing." a
coarse linn used in lining the bosom,
percales, calicoes, flannels and 1'. i.s. a
species of w orked bosom. In the large
shirt factories. where the team system is
practiced, the beginning of :ie work is
thn cutting. The material is lI id out on
long tables at times as many as sixty
ply, the patterns are placed and with a
pencil the marker sizes off each cut. He
is followed by the cutters. who. with
knives, separate the parts and these are
tied into bundles and carried into an
other department where the operators
are. Here the "forelady" distributes the
parts to different girls-the bosoms to
one who returns this part complete, the
sleeves to another, the neck or collar
bands to another, and the cufls or
wristbands to another. In preparing the
bosoms, the pleats are folded by small
girls with steel patterns the size of the
plait required; from these girls it goes to
the operator and then to the examiner,
after which it is taken to a- machine
where the neck receives the proper
slope, and now it is ready for the body
of the shirt. In the meantime the body
of the shirt has been making the rounds
from the first girl who hems it to an
other who attends to the facings, and it
Is now ready for the bosom to be run on
rough, from here another hand who
stitches it down solid. The front and
back are now joined by the other girl,
and together they move on to the next
"lace where the collar bands are put on.
this time the sleeves are ready and
they are put in place.
Now the shirt is hemmed, and then it
is ta'.en hold of by another girl who is a
"feitr." and when her work is done the
garment is ready for the finisher. - This
means placing the gussets, cutting and
sev ing the button holes and putting on
the buttons, by which time it is ready
for the laundry.
in this city ninety-five firms and indi
vidual employers are in the business.
Most of these places are custom stores
and employ but few people, but a num
ber of tI en are extensivo factories, and
the capacity of a few is as high as 150
dozen shirts a day. So far as the manu
facturer is concerned the business of
siirt making has, during the past few
years. not only held its own in this citv,
but it me: rkeived the benefit of d~e
ntural iucrease that comes to a.l
brnches of business, but fashion, during
the past two years, has decreed that the
white should, in a measure, give way to
other colors and texture, and, as these
are nearlv all made outside of the city,
the intr'oiluction of the flannel shirt has
been a severe blow to the operators.
A TABLE OF wAGES.
The firms mentioned above employ a
total of 2.&50 hands, nine-tenths of whom
ar women. They are divided into the
branches mentioned below, and the
average wages for the year round are as
annexed: iy
. arkers.....---------------------- $18 to $'2
Cters....... . ....--.------------. 1 to 13
Boso~ 1:snds.....----------------...8 to 9
Facig unands..........--.-.-.--.-.---- to 7
Ruaerslli..................---.. 6 t 8
Stlm-ners........----.--.--.... to 7
E acmakrs.....-.--------------- to 7
Sleevemsnters.....-...-...-.-...... 5 to 7
Banma.....rs......-..----.... 7 to 8
abaukers......-....--..--......7 to 8
Hemrs.....--..----------.....5 to 7
Joiners.... .... --.--------------- to 7
Nekbanders..........---.------- .-- 5 to 7
Pulig in sleeves.................. 5 to 7
Seanlng up...........-------------- to 7
Felling. ..--.----------------........ 7 to 8
inishing.......................... to 5
The average day's work is nine hours,
and there has been no material change in
the wages for some years. in a few of
the places the work is steady, and in such
factories the wages -are a trifle higher
than those given above. With, the ex
cption of the mnarking, cutting and
what is called the hand finishing, the
work is ali done by machinery'. There is
no apprentice systemn in an; branch of
the business except the cuttmng. When
a girn begins work al. this business she is
p aid from the beginning for what suo
does, but the machine she uses she must
either rent or buy outright.
There is in some of these factories con
sidera ble child labor utilized, p':-ticularly
in the depart ment where the bosoms are
made. The Liner grades of this work are
finished by hand, andl while thiose who ao
this work are the real practical workers
of the tradle, it may be seen that their
average earnings are much lower than
those of any other branch. The reason
of this is that large quantities of the
work are sent to the Ilouse of tihe Good
shephe:d, the Rosine home and other re
foruatory institutions, whero it iu done
for much less money than is paid outside
of those places.-Philadelphia Call.
Began Life Ovcr Again.
I rode up town from the court with a
man who is now prospermng an a respon
ile business position in New York, and
who holds the res pect and coniidence of
his emiployers, who, when I was in the
far west a dozen years back, was in state
prison on the Pacific coast for forgery.
Heu had been employed in a commercial
house, had been bitt~n by the mania ior
stock gatuling, and landed behind bars.
When ne was release~d he came~ eaist Clnd
began life over agan, and his record
shows, n.3 clearly as any record can at
least, that he gathered wisdom freom
chastienenit, and really con -nced a
new life with his new nnme.-httsburg
Bletin.
A Colored Woman on Fire.
About 7 o'clock yesterday morning at
old colored woman named Cindy Washing
to was burned accidentally at her residenci
at No. 90 King street. It seems that she
was near the tire and that her garment.
caught fire. Before she could extinguisi
the flames, her lower limbs were pain fulh~
burned. Her screarns, however, brough1
assistance and her garments, which hac
not been torn from her body, were envel
oped in a blanket, which exting~uished thi
blaze. The woman's injuries are painful,
but not serious.-News and Courier.
Kentuckianis raised enough sunflowei
seeds this summer to supply the wants o1
th whole TUuited States..
As DANGKR"b ' - iTLA5.rlrE.
T-he Highly Explosive Flour Dust Which
Frcquently Wrecks Ruse M1l1s.
(From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)
Hugh T. Ackerman, of Abilene, Kan.,
a gentleman largely inte rested in flour
milling, said to a reporter: "The recent
fearful mill explosion in Chicago, I see
by the papers, has given rise to much
comment and several theories have
been advanced as to its cause. For my
part, after an experien'ce of over twenty
years in the business, I can not see any
good reason for looking beyond flour
dust. Ii a powry. r magazine should
blow up there would be every reason to
ascribe the explosion to the powder, and
the fine flour du-t found in every mill
where great care is not taken to keep it
down, is almost as explosive as gunpow
der. Few people appreciate this, but it is a
fact well known to all millers. Certain
ly a barrel of flour is as harmless an
article as can well be imagined, but in
the process of manufacture a high explo
sive, scarcely less powerful than dyna
mite, is generated. This consists of
nothing more than the fine dust which
comes from the stones. When in mass
it is perfectly harmless, but let it once
become disseminated through the air of
a room in the form of almost impalpable
powder, and it is likely to ex
plode at any moment with terrific vio
lence. I am not scientific man enou-h
to give the reason for this, but 1=--ow
that like many other sun stances -rm
less when in mass, flour dust, when iine
ly divided and confined, is one of the
most terrible a.uts of destruction in
existence. While visitiag Minneapolis
to attend a millers' convonti, a in 1863,
I witnessed acasualty which shall never
forget.
"A large party of members of the con
vention were making a tour of the mills,
and great pains had been taken to put
every thing in the beat order for their re
ception. A number of the visitors had
entered the Washburn mill and were
walking around looking at the machine
ry. Just before their arrival a number
of men had beensetto work with brooms
sweeping the floors and carefully brush
ing the dust out the of corners. As a con
sequence the rooms were filled with
minute particles of the fine dust which
came from the stones, the air being
fairly laden with it. I chanced to be
with another party, and just as we passed
into the street, we heard a sharp explo
sion, instantly followed by a long, rum
bling noise, ending in a peal like a
thousand claps of thunder. I and those
with me were thrown to the ground
with violence and partially stunned.
When I recovered somewhat and stag
gered to my feet I saw in place
of the great Washburn mills a heap of
ruins, the walls being torn in pieces and
a huge irregular hole being made
in the ground. All the neighboring
buildings were more or less injured,
some having half their walls torn
out, while there was not a whole pane of
glass within 150 yards. The noise of the
explosion summoned the fire department
and the conflagration which started up
was at once checked. But the loss of
life was terrible. Eleven mill proprie
tors and over forty workmen, who
chanced to bein the mill at the time, were
instantly killed, in some cases their
bodies being torn to pieces so as to ren
der recognition impossible, while over a
dozen men were wounded by flying
fragments, some of them fatally. It was
one of the most dangerous explaions
ever known.
"At first it was ascribed to the boilers;
on investigation it was ijuni that these
were uninjured, Much tesiimony, was
taken before the coroner's jury, ands the
responsibility fixed upon the flour dust.
It appeared that just before the sweeping
commenced all the windows in the milt
had been closed, so that the particles
were closely confined in the building.
As one said, the air was white with flour,
in a highly divided condition. Both
testimony and experiment proved that
an explosion may occur at any in-tant
when these conditions prevail. Fire is
not necessary; in fact it is
doubtful whether flalme alone will
cause the dust to explode, it going off
much more readily by percussion. No
one was lel t alive in the room where the
disaster commenced, but probably a
workman dropped an iron bar or a ham
mer; or it may even have been occasioned
by a violent stamp of a foot.
A Warm Reception.
Mr. James Davis was united in the holy
bonds of matrimo:sy on the 25th uilt., to
Miss Amanda Beckham. The father in
law, Mr. Columbus Beckham, three or four
days after the happy event, from some
ause ordered his son-in-law not to put his
foot in his yard again. Davis not under
stnding the old gentleman to be in earnest
upnu his return from bird hunting walked~
up to the house, when the olrd man met
him and let in upon him with a stick. Da
vis bore the beating for a time with for
bearance, but con''luding the thing had
prceeded far enough, turned upon the old
gentlemnan and tire'd a load of birdsb't ato
his leg, whichb pacified the irate pare . ,ho
sought safety in flight, verifying mec old
adage:
"That he who fights and runs away,
Lives to fight another day."
[Lancaste Ledger.
Severely Burned.
Miss Bettie Braswell, -if the Spring
Branch neighborhood, four miles from
Marion, during the convulsions of an epi
leptic lit last Wednesday fell in the fire and
was so severely burned that there is little
hoe cf her recovery. She lives with her
brother, Mr J. W. Bmaswell, and it. wa :i
his h use that the accident occurred. Mrs.
Braswell, was sway from home at the bed
side of her mother, Mrs. W. B. Gasque,
who was at the time very~ ill, and no one
was on the premises with her but her aged
grand mother, and she was (out in the yard.
As soon as the rigor of the fit had spent it
self and consciousness retulrned sbe
screamed-thus bringing her grand-mother
to er aid. Her clott ing was almost com
pletely consumed, her hair was all gone
and her person was horribly burned by the
time the old lady reached her side, Dr.
McMillan was summoned, but he enter
tains but slight hopes of her recovry.
M?rion Index.
Found Dead in a Barn.
Last night, about half-past~ 0 o'clock, a
cored man i nmed George Washingon
Jonsn cale at the Police Station and
sd he had Iound the dead body of a colored
man ini his barn, at the Belmont farm,
about four miles aboye the city. Johrnson
said he did not know who the man was.
le had gone into the loft of the barn to get
some fodider for his horse and stooping
down to pick up a bundle of fodder he
picked up a man's leg instead, He was
very much frightened, and he waited only
long enough to discover that the man was
colored and that he was dead. He then
came to thc city and notified the police au
thorities. Deputy Coroner Rivers will go
up to-the place this morning and hold an
inquest.-News and Courier.
Tt is notieable that the large majortPy of
vicious horses are handled by bad-tempered
Truth is a plant that grn~sps thie soil anid
seeks the sun. From a lirm foundation it
ies higher anel higher.
JAPANESE ARTISANS.
Varpenters Who Work in Crude Ways, but
Achieve Superior ResIts.
The Japanese artisan bas four hands
anid twelve fin.er.. He uses his feet as
an extra pair of hands, and his two great
- s can wrap themselves around the
articls with which he works like an
Anierican's thumb. I saw a cooper at
work mending a bucket. He held the
bucket between his feet while he sat
down to his work and put on the hoops
with a hammer and wedge. His legs
were bare and his cue was tied in the
old Jar :msce fashion, while his almond
eyes cisely watched the work he had
ber.ie him. A fter ten minutes of pound
ig he !:;id down his tools and took a
smoke, and during the hour that I sat
near him he smoked four times. The
Japanese pipe only holds a pinch of
to acco. and he could do this cheaply,
but the time consumed was at least
twetf inutes. This perpetual siesta
on.e of the fe:-eres of Japanese labor.
I a= toCl by vid aeiwrican residents that
i. Japane. e workman will not do one
third as much a day as an American
workman, and in every case they seem
to do their werk in tho' ... lest of w:.
The ethiods of a:e ir Japan are le
direct opposite of those in America. lre
carpenters, for instance, pull their planes
the other way, and when they use the
drawing knife they push it from them
instead of pulling it towards them. They
do most of their work sitting and they
do all the work on the pull stroke in
stead of the push stroke, and they stand
the hoard as a rule at an agle of 45 degs.
against something rather tan lay it on
a or sawhorse as we do. They do
their na, not with chalk, but with
a reel and an inked string when they
wish to saw in a straight line, and the
whole of the work of turning the rough
logs into the finest of cabinet work is
done by hand.
There are no planing mills in Japan,
and the sawmills can be counted on the
fingers of one hand. The usual method
of sawing logs into boards is to stand the
log at an angle against the support and
saw it by hand. The saw used is not the
powerful cross cut saw of America, but
a wide short Japanese instrument, which
has a handle about two feet long, and
which looks like a butcher's cleaver filed
into a saw.
The human sawmill stands on top of
the log or under it, and pulls away for
ten hours a day for about thirty cents.
Skilled carpenters in cities get about
forty American cents a day, and the best
men in the business do'iiot get over forty
five. Still, you will find no better work
men in the world than here. Their work
is done with the use of very few nails,
and they have to he cabinetmakers as
well as carpenters. Every Japanese house
has walls which must move in grooves
in and out every day, and the ordinary
home is as finely put together as a bureau.
The joining of everything is by dovetail
ing. and the Japanese could teach our
Aimerican workmen much in the polish
ing and joining of fine woods.
Speaking of house building, the Japan
ese begin their work at the top. The
roof goes on first, and then they begin to
build the walls and toconstrue the inte
rior.-Frank G. Carpenter.
A Princely Host.
One of the most lovely of Alpine
health resorts is Bad-Kreuth, hamlet
of some half dozen houses bui by the
side of a r'wing of mineral water. The
charm of the resort is not, however, due
to its loveliness, nor to its healin"
waters, but to the fact that its landlorl
la Prince L:dwi;: of Bavaria, a courteous
host, who in his management of the
phiace comLines a lucrative business with
a most generous charity.
The prince, the eldest son of Duke
Maximilian and the brother of the em
prei of Auastr-ia, taurrendered to his
younger brothecr, Karl Theodor, all'his
rights as the headi of the family, because
he wished to marry a lady of inferior
social position, with whom he had fallen
in love.
The marriage proved to be a happy
one, anad to~ this day, though more taan
t!hirty~ years have passed since they were
ui:dthrnce's manner to his wife
is oretha ofa lverthan amdl
aged narried mean. They have no cil.
dren, and live for the greater part of the
year i' a pie suite of apartments at
Bad-Kreuth, where, according to a
writer in Thie CornrhiU M:in 0e, she dif
fuses brightness and happiness around
her, and he shows how a rirnce may
earn an honest livelihood, and be the
first, not to receive, but to render aid.
The whole of the health resort belongs
to tho ducal family. The servants are
theirs, and the entire management of
thle iece is under Prince Ludwig's su.
peritendence. He is his own butcher,
b~eer dairyman and baker.
During Juue, July and August Kreuth
is filled with southern Germans, who
pay liberally for their rooms a'nd board,
an'd ma':e these months the prince'
harvest time. During May and he' tem
ber the prince receives no paying guests,
but fills the house with those he calls his
"friends." They are those who are toc
poud to a-k for charity, but need a little
help-<'ffcers depending upon their pay,
university students, poor professors,
stuggling literary men and artists.
Two or three hundred of these
"friends" are housed, fed and tended at
the ho~tt 1 during May and September at
carefully thre wealthiest gues.ts, and
that, too, without its costing them one
pnny. If at the height of the paying
seaso a room is left vacant, some poor
invalid is invited to occupy it, and no
one can toil from thre manner of the host
or his servants that the new arrival i
not a i'ijonaire.
l'rince Lutdwig never forgets a face or
a n-ume, anod has a pleasant word for
every on'e, whether a paving guest ora
"friend." Lis manner is the same to all,
the sympathretic greeting of a courteous
host and the kindly greeting of a well
bred man.
Efl'ect of the Copyright Law.
The eifect urnon the book trade of the
fl.oposed copyright law is ntot as yet
ctariv understood. The law is demtanded
not t') protect foreign but native authors.
Tre American writer has for years been
struggling to get place in a buyers' tmar
et. wvhcre he has had to conmnete with:
t e work not of men who were liis equls
or his sunteriors, but of men whose worha..
whate' er their value, could be got for
nothing. That American authors have
gained the plae they hold in the fall oi
the flood of English books which has.
dluged this market is enormiou::y to
thir crediit. They have forced pl)e~ii to
b""e iv th'e real excellence of their w-orL
i!iaeof tha most cruel Lind of oh
p ition. The iinnediato ect of th.
..-rwi e to sLUmuate Ameria'
writ'r;. It will eh~i pat an er~d to *::
a. J e~le cheap libr.:ries, as ev ery oo
rarth reprinting 'wi!! be protected by~
-sprght.-Curreot Literature.
Anew repor:er was sent to investigate
rumonr thit a well-known citizen had be
cone insane. The next morning the fol
loving paragraph appeared in the paper:
" There was a report yesterday that some
thing was the martter with Mr. Saunders'
head. It is as sound as it has always been.
Titre is nothing in it." The reporter".
caser ended there and then.
A London paper says that the art of the
gdsmith is disappearing, owring to the
chiuapness of diamonds. Tlne value of jew
eley noev depends on the precious stones i:
cotans, rather than upon the beauty of
wi rkmnanship.
You can never judge a man's sorrows by
tire sieo his hat band.
COINCIDENCES.
STRANGE OCCURRENCES THAT HAVE
DEFIED EXPLANATION.
A Discussion of Murder and the Ghastly
Sequel - Dickens' Predictions at the
taces-The "Three Legged Jimas"-What
ihappened to a Friend of the Poet Rogers.
A coincidence of the war, of a serious
nature, is that of the "three Jims." A
group of four men were in the trenches
duiring an artillery engagement. They
were lying on the ground, chatting and
saoking, out o! the direct reach of fire,
when a shell suddenly exploded over
their heads and so seriously injured three
of the men that it necessitated amputa
tion of the left leg in each instance. The
Christian name of each of these three
men was the same-James. The fourth,
who was untouched, bore another name.
The three veteran pensioners havo ever
since been known among their acquaint
ances as the "three legged Jims."
D OwNING'S EXPERIENCE.
A curious story of coincidence is re
lated b.; iabcrt Browning in an English
newspaper as haring occurred to him
self and sister while visiting a remote
valley in Switzerland some years ago,
the circumstances of which are substan
tially as follows:
While strolling about one evening to
admire the calm and repose of the valley,
which lay spread out before them, their
tan unaccountably turned to the sub'ect
of murder, and each began to speculate
as to what their first impulse would be
if they should be so unfortunate as to
nd the body of a murdered man in the
wood. Continuing in this strain, the
Brownings talked until they reached the
hotel, when the matter was dropped.
Mr. Browning applied for the use of a
carriege the next morning, and was re
fcrrcd to the landlord, who informed
them that it would be impossible for
thom to have the two horses intended for
their carriage, as one of them was
wanted to bring in the body of a man
found early that morning, murdered, at
the head of the valley. Questioning him,
Mr. Browning learned that in all prob
ability the murder had been committed
very -oon after the conversation of the
evening before.
On visiting the spot where the body
had been discovered it was found to be
the identical place where, on the previ
ous eveninz, they had stood speculating
as to what they should do in case of such
an event. To heighten the dramatic ef
fect of the coincidence, they were told
that no crime of violence, so far as
known, had ever before been committed
in that valley. The fact that the mind
of the poet should have turned to such a
subject just at that time partakes of the
nature of a presentiment, and the coinci
derco is certainly one of the most pecul
iar on record.
In Forster's "Life of Dickens" a curi
ous story is told of what Dickens called
a "parayivzfg coincidence," experienced
on the boncaster race course. On the
St. Leger day, in 1857, Dickens bought a
card of the races, and facetiously wrote
down three names for the winners of the
three chief races. He had never heard
or thought of any of the horses in his
life, but, as he wrote to Forster, "if you
can believe it, those thred races were
won. one after another, by those three
horse;."
AFTER ?,AY FEARS.
The poet, Samuel Rogers, narrated a
cincidence which, although it may
have been a humorous invention, is quite
within the bounds of possibility, and at
the same time somewhat amusing. An.
oicer who was ordered to India went,.
on the day before leaving England, to
his lawyer's. The day being wet, he
took a hackney coach, and when, he got
oct. as he was paying the driver,
dropped a. shilling,.1He "looked- in Tb~
nmud and slush for it in vain, and so did
the coachman. On his return home after
some years' service lie had occasion
again to go to his lawyer's. When leay
ing he recollected his lost shilling, and,
by scme unaccountable impulse, began
to look for it, when, strange to say, he
found, just at the very spot where-he
had paid the coachman-not the shilling,
but twelve pennyworth of coppers, done
up in brown paper.
Perhans the most astonishing coinci
dence of any we might mention and at
the same time one perfectly authentic, is'
related by that charming writer, "Tav
erner," of The Boston Post. "I was walk
ing." says Taverner, "on my way down
town, with a neighbor who was going
the s'ame way, when my companon, for
no apparent cause, suddenlychaned the
subject on which we were chatting by an
inquiry concerning a common acquain
tance, who had disappeared out of our
lives several years before, and whom I
knew he beld in especial detestation.
** * My friend had heard of him the
year before in San Francisco, and later
asomew'here on the continent of Europe.
'd th~ere is no man,' lhe went on to
sa.-'a I should more heartily enjoy
krio"eking dovn if he would only give me
the provoctioni.' We had at that instant
reahe Tremont street, where, suddenly
tunn the corner, one of the passng
cov' came squarely into collision with
myl frid. slirpped upon a spot of ice as
he :ru-;;gked "to keep his balance and
far "easurcd his length on the side
'wv ii. turned to nick up the hat of the
fallen man ', when I felt myself grasped
by the ar n by miy friend, who whispered:
' 'oe ' cot, Taverner, don't you see it's
t very ma, and I've done it. after all!'
Sure er.h it was the distant traveler,
wh o ha d tu rned ul) to be knocked down,
o o::e2 by a coincidence."-St. Louis
Gle-DemJaocrat.
'oamhing Abont New South Wales.
Now a little bout the~ colony of New
South Wales;. '-This is the oldest and
richest of all the colonies and the parent
ot them all. In 18234 Tasmania, then
Vrwna n Diemien-s L.arnd, was sep
arata'd from New South Wales and be
came an independent colony. Four years.
afer ward the colony of Western Austra
lia was founded, 1336 South Australia
was fouaded, 1810) New Zealand became
indle ndent.1lt31 Victoria wass~eparated,
:: the 'last founded was Queensland in
1830 The northern territory belongs to
Soui"th utralia. with Port Darwin ns its
en pi~.Nw South WVales lies between
-.. and: c d-;. of south lat. and 141 and
1. iia c.st long. It has 800 miles
of sac'a& , with a number of good har
hrs.1 Its gner'al shape is trapezoid, con
-*:inn 310.93S railes, four times as large
as Great Eriai: or Victoria, or twice as
Ia~rge as C.alifornia. As regards the dis
tmaee from the equator it can be com
pared to Cape Colony. Chile and the
lower basin of the L-1 Plata in the South
erni Hemisphero, v.::2 v~ith Texas. Louisi
ana. Mlississippi, the :uth of Spain, Italy
adGecwhich occupy similar poi
ion nothof the line.-Cor. San Fran
algsco Chronicle.
Getting mellow every night is no way to
Ireach a "ripe old age."
A grizziy bear that weherd seventeen
hundred pounds was killkd at Big Horn
Basin, Wyoming Territory, a short time
ago. One hundred and nine shots were
fire d from nine rifles bcfore the brute was
killed.
The place of Mr. Killirgsworth near
Dumnbarton, was visited by a huge wild
cat one night last week. The monster car
ried off a turkey hen and was pursued by
~Mr. K. with his two hounds and captured
near the old Patterson mills after being
shot His eats majesty weighed 241bs and
measured from foot to foot 4j feet.-Barn
well Sentinel