Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOL. XiI. MAUNNING. S. C.., WEDNESDAY, FEBRZUARY 7 87 --N.3 THE ANTI-TRUST -BILL ,'-SSES THE SENATE AND AWAiTS THE GOVERNOR S SIGNATURE. it eral O:.her important Mea.sures Pass Their Second rfesding a:al are in a Fair Way to Become Lau---Seme Bils that Ft11 by the Way Side. CoumraA, S. C., Feb. 13 -The t-enate on Saturday discussed two bills at length on their second reading. The first, the house bill requiring the sinking fund commission to lend funds to the several count7 treasurers of the State for the use of their coun ies in prefererce to lending the same .o other applicants for such funds; .be second, a bill extending the pow ers of the railroad commission to the telegraph and express companies. The former passed without very decided opposition, while the latter came in 'or its full share of discussion pro and con. Mr. Buist objected to the -inking fund being loaned to counties. He was cpposed, said he, to lending mnoney on any other security than 8:ate bonds. Mr. Henderson said the security giv a would be just as good as State .onds. He could not see the justice -f lending this money to the bainks at per cent. to relend to the counties At 8 per cent. It was not money paid by the people atd wby not let it to the counties at the 4- per cent., thus sav ng Si per cent. to the taxpayers. Mr. Buist raised other objections to 'ie security and Mr. Moses asked him be knew of any bank in the State . bat would not lend money with the cunty taxes pledged as security. .dr. Buist knew of no such bank. Mr. Buist moved to strike out the -i-acting words. This was voted down .:,d the bill pessed it second resding. A bill to regulate express and tele raph companies, and to extend the powers of the railroad commissioners so as to give them power and authori t y to regulate charges by express com ,.anies for transportation; to regulate chrges of telegraph companies for be transportation of messages by tele graph, or charges by persons engaged a the several businesses named here a ; to apply the powers given to said cumnmissioners by law cver railroad companies to all companies or persons o vning, controlling or operating a Jine or lines of express or telegraph; - nd make the penalty prescribed against railroads for violating com wissioners' rules apply to the compa ) ies and persons herein named whose line or lines is or are wholly or in part in this State waskilled, after sev - ral senators spoke on it. Messrs. Ragsdale, Lovi and Mayfield were for the measure. They argued that the Constitutien required the passage of such an act as this; that numerous cases of unfair treatment by these companies had occurred and for the protection of the people the bill should pas. Messrs. Buist, Dean, Walker, Hen derson and Hay led the opposition iorces. They attacked the bill on the grounds that there was no general complaint against these companies; that in the case of express the compa nies were kept from charging exorbi tant rates by their powerful competi tor, the United States mails; that if losses did occur they were always paid by the companies; and finally, Messrs. Buist and Dean opposed the measure upon the broad ground that legislation was becoming too paternal. The vote resulted in the bill being killed by 18 to 10. A house bill to prevent the employ ment of other than convict labor on I anv State farm was debated on very miich the same lines as in the house. Messrs. Moses, Hay and Connor spoke of the demoralizing effect on free labor - of having the State to compete with the farmers. The State paid more for labor than the farmers could af ford and of course secured it. Messrs. Archer, Norris and Gaines objected to the bill. There were cer. lam times during harvest, said they, t hat it was almost a necessity to have 2 the cotton picked. Unless free labor was employed this could not be done. and a heavy loss would be inflicted by Laving the cotton exposed to the ra'r a'ges of a storm. Mr. Norris also wanted to amend by striking cut the p~roviso against hiring out convicts e-xcept when there was no work on ibe State farms to be done. By a vote a f 20 to 9 the amendment was reject ed I and the bill passed. On Mondey the House anti-trust I bill with the committee amendments .ame up after the disposition of sever al special orders. The only amend- f mKent of importance of these was the change of title. Mr. Henderson moved to amend by adding a proviso hat "nothing in this Act shall affect ihe Dispensary law." The bill was 1 ben passed. The bill declares unlawful 1 a.nd void all arrangements, agree- I iments, trusts or combinations made with a view to lessen, or which tends 1 t o lessen, free competition in the in tortation or sale of articles importede uto the State, or in the manufacture or sale of articles of domestic growth 1 "r of domestic raw materials; to de-C , lare unlawful and void all arrange- ( m~ents, contracts, agreements, trusts or combinati6hs between persons or orvorations designed, or which tend 10 advance, reduce or control the iprice of such product or article topro ducer or consumer of any such pro duct or article; to provide for forfeit - uire of the charter and franchise of any corporation, organized under the lawsI of this State, violating any of the pro-t visions of this Act; to prohibit every corporation violating any of the pro I visions of this Act from doing busi t.ess in this State; to require the At- t torney General of this btate to imsti- I iute legal preceedings against any uch corporations violating the pro- 1 'visions of this Act and t> enforce the t pe*nalties prescribed:; to prescribe pen eities for any violation of this Act; to I authorize any person or corporation 1 damaged by any such trust agreement to sue for the recovery of such danm- t age and for other purpcst s The re was some discussion over the cdaim for Solicitor's extra charges in I mze Broxton Bridge case. Mr. Scar bor- I ough thought the charge should be ji against Coileton County. Mr. lien derson explained that they were enarges incurred at the instance of th~e tirovernor and the State was the pro-s per one to pay them. There was a - s'arp debate~ by various members and 1 t he aye and nay vote was called for un Mr-. Scarborousch's motion to in- t definitely postpone the resolution. The debate prcceeded with spirit until Mr. Raigsdale announ:.ed that it was well I that it was the principle of the bill t that was being debated, for the Senate < ha alwread conmed enough time in discussion to discharge the obligation. He called for the vote. It was 1 to 19 against the motion. A message was received from the Governor rEcmmending that the ap prapriation asked for by the State Fair Association be granted. The communication of Mr. L. D. Childs showed that the society had paid back the loan of last year and that the bal ance of cash in the treasury was not saticient to enable the society to car ry out is p'aus this year. tle mes sage was referred to te Finauce Commi-tte. There was s-me deble on the reso lution to appoint a committee to e-x amine into the Siiking Fund Com mission. I was argued by some that the affair had been argued enough, others thought that the merefact of its having come to the rublic through the newspapers was argument for the investigation by the General Assem bly. The Senate passed the resolution amending it to make the committe consist of hve instead of three mem bers. On Tuesday on motion of Mr. Arch er a house bil to require all county officers of the counties of the State to keep open their offices during each week day was indefinitely postponed Twenty-nine counties bad asked to be exempted from the provisions of the biLl before it was killed. Mr. Buist called for the special or. der of a joint resolution authorizing the State treasarer to issue to Samuel Lora, as receiver of the presi dent and. directors of the State bank, or his duly appointei successor, con solidation bonds or sto:k equal in amount to 50 per centum of the par value of certain 6 per cent. State bonds and interest thereon (which bonds were taken and lost or destroyed by Federal soldiers during the late civil war, and to whichi the said receiver by decrees of the court, has been adjudged entitled), and to permit the refunding of the same un der the acts for the redemption of the State debt. Mr Archer moved to indefinitely postpone the joint resolution. He spoke nearly an hour along the line of rgument that there was no proof that these bonds had been stolen. Mr. Gaines spoke against the reso lution. "Strenuons efforts," said he, "are made to impress this general issembly with the idea that the courts have investigated the whole matter: :hat the validity and justness of their :laim has been established beyond all vlestion; that our duty is simply to ke action to remedy a little legal de 'ect. Now to my mind nothiig that ias transpired in connection with this natter imposes even any equitable or noral obligation unon this body. The :ourts have simply authorized these :>arties to c->me here and ask the gen .ral assembly to go outside of the law md make good their loss." Mr. aines spoke along this line, and in :onclusion said that this loss was noth ug more than one of the casualties of he war. It would be as just for those who had lost their slaves and other croperty in the war to come and ask av for such losses as for these claim nts to ask for reimbursement for lost onds. Mr. Buist, in the course of his peech for the resolution, said he vished it distinctly understood that he 7as not interested either directly or adirectly in the matter. As the sen tor from Charleston he had intro tuced the resolution, and after a study f the question he thought it should Mr. Doan and Mr. Ragsdale spoke gainst the passage of the resolution. Mr. Henderson made a clear expo ition of the matter in favor of the ~assage. The aye and nay vote was taken, re ulting in the indefinite postponement f the resolution by a vote of 22 to 7. Lll the senators voted in favor of in efinite postponement save Meesrs. Juist, Henderson, Moses, Mower, Ra ;in, Sloan and Talbird. In the Senate on Wednesday when rir. Brown's bill to require all parents ir guardians to compel their children ir wards to attend school for eight teeks in each year was reached on the he calendar. Mr. Ragsdale moved o strike -out the enacting words, say ng that it was going too far for the state government attempt to sutpercede he government of the family. After ome discussion Mr. Ragsdale's mo ion was adopted by the following rote: Aye-Alexander, Archer, Connor, )ean, Dennis, Douglass, DuBose, laines, Griffith, Love, McDaniel, Mil er, Mower, O'Dell, Ragsdale, Turner, Walace, Williams-18. Nay-Brown, Buist. Mauldin, May ield, McCalla, Moses, Norris, Petti ~rew, Ragin, Sanders, Scarborough, loan, Talbird-13. Mr. Moses' bill to provide that all uits arising between citizens of this state and foreign corporations shall >e tried in State courts and not trans erred to the United States courts, licted isome discussion when it came rp for a second reading. Mr. Mower moved to strike out the ~nacting words. He did so, he said, tot because he was opposed to the bill, )ut because he thought it would be in ~ontravention of the United States )onstitution and laws and hence nu ~atory. It would lead to costly liti ~ation, and besides would become dead letter. Mr. Moses in reply, said if there vas a daubt of the bill being uncon titutional, then the benefit of the loubt should be- given to the State. f this State was good enough for for oreign corporations to do business in hen our courts were good enough to tave their causes tried in. He cited nstances of the cost of trial in United hates courts, anid as a means of pro ection aganst these great costs he roped the bill would pass. Mr. Mower's motion to strike out he enacting words was defeated and he bill ordered to a thir d Rading. Mr. Gaines' bill to amend the dis >ensary law as it relates to distilleries >assed a second reading. Under the resent law distilleries can be estab ished anywhere in the State by a per nit granted by the State board of con-1 rol. Mr. Gaines' amendment pro rides that such permits shall not be ranted unless accompanmed by a peti ion signed by two-tnirds or J>e free tolders of the locality in which it is >roposed to establish the distillery. Mr. Mower's bill relating to town hip assessors passed a second reading. t provides: --That from and after he passage of this act the governor hall appoint, upon the recomnmenda ion of the senator and tha members of he house of representatives from the espective counties, three discreet elec ors in each ireorocrted city and own in this State having a population f not less than 500 nor more than 10,--. V)0 who shall be irnown as the bnoard I of assessors of such cities and towns, whose term of office shall be cotermin al with that of the governor by whom such assessors have been appointed and until their successors have been appointed and qualified. The duties heretofore devolved upon the town ship board of commissioners as asses sors shall be devolved upon the board of assessors herein provided for with in the limits of their respective cities and towns. The chairman of such boaxrd of assessors shall be a member of the county board of commissioners while performing the duties heretofore devolved upon the county board of E qualization. An invitation to the senate from the city couccil of Charleston to attend the reception to be given Secretary of the Navy Herbert on the 18th inst., and to visit the war vessels, was re ceived just before the hour of adjourn ment. On motion of Mr. Moses the presi dent of the senate was instructed to ac cept the invitation and appoint a com mittee on arrangements. Mr. Connor wished to amend by providing that the per diem of the senators and attaches should not be paid that day. "I have no objection, but I consider it mere buncombe," said Mr. Moses. After this hasty reply he arose and said he did object to the amendment. It looked little and pizayuriish and as if the peo ple of the State had no confidence in their representatives and were always haggling over small amounts. "And," put in Mr. Mavfield as Mr. Moses took his seat, I just want to say that there it no law against a sena tor turning over his per diem to the State treasurer if he has any scruoles about accepting it." Mr. Mayfield went on to say that the legislature was a hard-working, good tempered bcdy and he was sure the people of the State would not grudge them this day off. Mr. Archer said when he went in a party on such a trip he wished to go along with a dignided body o! men, who were unsurrounded by rabble ana bummers. He objected to bum mers and others because they could save a little money flocking along with the legislature. The president appointed Messrs. Moses, Henderson and Pettigrew a committee of arrangeRment after assur ing Mr. Archer that outsiders would not be permitted to encroach upon the privileges of the senate on this trip. There was nothing before the senate for discussion after the invitation had been accepted, so Mr. Archer seized the golden moment to enter a com plaint against the begzars who infest the State hcuse grounds apd the side walks as the senators leave after ad journment. He said1he was tired of being attacked on aU sides by beggars with their tales of woe - He was will ing to help them, but preferred to do so as he saw fit. He suggested that if the city was anable to care for them that a collection be taken up by the senate to ship them out of the way. While he was. in the% midst of '%; " =L. r1atgsdale rose to a point o order, his point being that there was nothing for discussion before the sen te. Mr. Archer deftly turned the laugh n Mr. Ragsdale by replying: "Well, I rise to a point of personal privilege." When Mr. Archer had finished stating his point of personal privilege, Mr. Bloan, as the representative from Columbia, replied to him, saying it was sadly true that Columbia was in - fested with beggars just no w, but he understood they came from the sur - rounding country. Some of them were mill operatives and he was reliably in formed that many came from the mills in Spartanburg. He and the city would be only too glad to have Senator archer care for his own poor and send them home. He would aid in the senator's proposed contribution. In the Senate on Thursday when the house bill to require the sinking fund commission to lend funds to the several county treasurers of the State, M. Mayfield offered an amendment to strike out all after the enacting words of the billand insert in lieu there of eight sections,practically making it a new bill. It provides that the com mission shall, whenever it is unable to purchase State bonds at par, lend the money in its hands at a rate of in terest not less than 6 per cent. Such loan shall be made upon the se curities of the several coun ties, or upon the note of any county treasurer and subervisor who shall make application for a loan not in ex eesss of one-third of the tax levy of their county ; said note to be paid out of the taxes collected for the fiscal year in which the money is loaned, with the provision that the commis sion can renew the note for one year. Applications for these loans shall be received until March 1st, with the provision that for this year the time shall extend to May 1st. The amend ment provides a penalty for county treasurers violating the provisions of the act. The matter disposed of at the night session of the senate was Cherokee county. It was up for a second read ing. ~Mr. Douglass of U~nion read an afidavit from Col. James G. Gibbes stating that the area of Union county was a bout f600 square miles as in Mill's atlas. The area cut off to form part of Cterokee county is 122 square miles ler.ving but 47S square miles. The Cnsttution requires that 500 square miles shall remain in the old counties. A similar atfidavit was read from Col. John L Young of Union, his figures ditfering slightly from the above. He estimated that after the area was cut off 494G miles wou'd re main in Union county. On this ground Mr. Douglass submitted the matter to the senate for disposal. Mr.Mower on behalf of the com mittee submitted from Colonel Young saving that the above estimate quoteu by Mr. Douglass he had not taken in to consideration the area of incorpo rated towns and one-half of Pac-,iet river. This area taken in lef t in Un ion a few square miles over the con stitutional 5U0 square miles. A tiida vits from other surveyors were read, showing that Union would have 12 or 15 square miles over the constitution al requirements. Mr. Hay of the commiittee dissented from the mnajority report and said he was not satisfied that Union would have 500 square miles left. Fu~rther. he did not think the Constitution had been complied with in selecting a name for the ne w county. Mr. Henderson of the committe showed that the constitutional objec tion of Mr. Hay to the selection of the name was unfounded. As to the area, Mr. Henderson read allidavits from t wo civil engineers who had calculat ed the area of Union county from uinrs atlas the same as Colonel Gibbes, and both said that the area to be cut off from Union was 114 square miles, leaving in the old county 507 sqIare miles. In conclusion, Mr. Renderson submitted that the people had established their county by a fair, honorable election, comnlying with the Constitution in every detail. Mr. Archer oposed the formation of the county. He did not think the required area was left in Union.Messrs. Ragsdale and Mower spoke in fa vor of the bill. The aye and nay vote was thea taken on the motion of Mr. Archer to strike out the enacting words. The motion was defeated by a vote of 25 to 5, Messrs. Archer, Brown, Connor, Hay and Sanders be ing the only ones to vote against es tablishing the county. In the Senate Friday the Dorchester County bill was the special order im mediately after the morning hour and hence, was reached early in tne day. Three members of the committee had submitted a favorable report and three an unfavorable report on the bill. Mr. Mower moved an indefinite postpone ment of the favorable report and opened the debate. After a long de bate a vote was finally taken on Mr. Mower's motion to indefinitely post pone the favorable report. This was defeated by a vote of 2 to 7. The only ones voting against the county were Messrs. Archer, Brown. Doug lass, Hay, McCalla, Mower and San ders. Mr. Buist offerel an amendment to the bill providing that a t o thirds vote be given for the c)unty seat. Mr. Henderson amended the amendment by saying a naijority instead of two thirds. This was done -o that the question can be tested in the courts. Mr. Mayfield's bill for the house bill providing for lending the sinking fund to the counties was taken up for consideration, and passed its third reading and was sent to the House. A Sensation in Union. Usios, S. C., Feb. 10.-Oae of the most astounding sensations that has ever been sprung upon the people of Union was awaiting the citizens Tues day morning. Tie particulars, as near as I have been able to gather them from parties concerned, are: Monday night Dr. W. M Meador, one of the most: highly respected citizens of our town, closed up his drug store, which is in the handsome new bank building, by far the finest building on Main Street and in which is also the Merchants and Planters Bank and several county offices. Dr. Meador was seen to return a short while after leaving the store and enter' the door without striking a light. He came out after some time and left. The oor was then opened by the drug clerk and in company with the police he went in and made a search, find ing a lighted candle in the cellar, with straw and debries saturated with kerosene oil; also a trail of rosin lead ing into the room where the oil bar rels were kept. A barrel of r.sin was near by, also saturated with oil, and an oil tank was a few feet away. A con flagration ever witnessed in Union would have resulted. A policeman was left on guard. Dr. Meador came back to the store at 5:30 Tuesday morning. Finding the policeman on duty, he asked him what he was do ing there. The policeman said he had been put there to watch, as some one had tried to break in. Tne drug store .s run by the Union Drug Company, omosed of Dr. Manning J. Smith and Dr. Meador. The drug store is nly about half insured. I under stand, about $3,000 being the amount arried. It is very hard to believe such charges against a man of Dr.2 eadors high standing. Dr. Meador ni a card in the Ne w Era to day most t emphatically denies that he had any-t hing to do with the kerosene or can Ie and denies that he came back to2 he store that night, iut says he came ack at 5:30 the next morning to get] omne medicine for a headache and ound the policeman on guard andi ~uestioned him as above and did not now what was the trouble until he t aw Dr. Smith next morning. It is a erious charge and the doctor's friends vould be glad if developments would how clearly that he is innocent. The t ntter has been the talk of the townf o day. No arrests have been madee und developments are anxiously ~waited by all.-Columbia Register.t A Train Robber Killed. KIs~anN, ARiz., Feb. 9.-About :20 last evening t wo robbers attempt d to hold up the west-bound passen ~er train on the Santa Fe Line, sixty iles east of this place. After stop ing the train they made the fireman ~et off- the engine and uncouple the xpress and mail cars. Messenger Solers thinking that something was wrong, told his assistant to get off the ar on one side with a shotgun, while e & ot off on the other with a revolv ~r. One of the robbers was standing ear the engine, and the messenger ired at him at short range. The rob er fell dead. The other robber then ompelled the fireman to get on the egine again and run the engine and. wo express and mail cars up the road, here it was stopped and the robbers made an unsuccessful attempt to get nto the express car. The mail car as then entered, and several regis ered packages taken. The robber hen disappearad in the darkness. ne dead robber was taken to Peach Springs, but he has not been identtied. Oficers has lone from Kingman with Indian trailers- It was snowing t the fime, bu'. it is now clea&r, and his tracks will be easily followed. he mail clerk says there were several robbers. The amount of money tak n is unknown. More l'acificos Slain. KiEY WEST, Fia , Feb. s -A letter received from San Cnristobal provinca in Pinar del io, fromn a prominent Caban there states that a detachment f San Martin's Spanish guerillas rai ed a small camp of paciti-:os near here Friday, killing sixteen men. Eight women who were in the camp, were forced to go with the trcops. A family named Dominez, liv-ing rear there who were warned to mn ve to San Christobal last week, and who were not moving quickt enough to please San Martin's otieers, were ar rested Thursday and brutally killed. Two of the party were women. Sherllr4 .-en Good shots. HorsTos, Tax , Feb. 11.-A dis atch from Menarasville tells of a des perate encounter niear that olace be tween outlaws and a sheritis posse. J. C. Johnson, alias R. J. Smaith, and Jim Crane were killed by the posse. Ano.her man named Untierwood was shot through the thigh and backborne and will die. The fourth outlaw, though wounded. managed to mount a horse end escped. THE ANTI.FREE PASS BILL. REPEALED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRE SEN TATIVES. A Heavy Week's Vkork-Many Bills Passed and a Number Killed-How the Members Voted on thme Free Pass BIll. COLrM3ix, S. C.. Feb. 13. -On Sat urday last the following bills were passed and sent to the Senate: Mr. Crum's bill to save small es tates from being consumed by the costs of administration. Mr. Wingo's bill to require the commutation tax to be expended in the townships in which the taxpayer resides. Mr. Rainsford's bill relative to com pensation for township commissioners while serving as members of the coun ty boards of commissioners. Mr. Ilderton's bill to provide for the removal of any county officer for in capacity, misconduct or neglect of duty, pursuant to article I, section 27 of the Constitution, was ordered to a third reading without debate. When Mr. Robinsun's bill to repeal the anti-free pass act was called up, MZr. Robinson said he was ready for trial. He said it was a reflection on the members to have it intimated that they could be bought by a free pass. Mr. Patton said it would look a lit tile bad for the house to do this. it was not exactly the thing. He would have to call the roll. Josh Ashley believed that every member should have a free pass on the railroads. His people had confi dence in him. He was not afraid of the ayes and noes. He created great merriment by his earnest speech. Mr. Bacot suggested that the best way to preserve the appearance of the thing was to amend by striking out all after the enacting words and in sert instead a provision that should be stated in the charser of all railroads that they must transport all members to and from the capital free of charge. Mr. Winkler insisted on the roll al on the motion to strike out the enacting words. The house refused to strike out the enacting words by a vote pf 40 to 52. The following members voted against repealing the bill: Hon. F. B. Gary, speaker; Asbill, Austell, Ba ot, Bethune. Caughman, Cushman, Gage, Gasque, Goodwin, H. P.; Gra ham, J. S.; Graham, Thomas, A.; Hollis, Johnson, Kinard, Henry J., Lancaster, Layton, Lester, Meares, Miles, Mishoe. Moore, McDaniel, Mc Laurin, McWhite, Patton, Prince, Rainsford, Russell, Simkins, Smith, Jr., Smith, W. S.; Sullivan, Timmer man, Verner, Whisonant, Wilson, inkler, Yeldell-40. The following members voted in 'avor of repealing the bill: All, An lerson, Armstrong, Ashley, Bailey, edon, Blythe, Breeland, Caraway. ,arson, Childs, Colcock, Crum, Da ris, C. M.: Davis, W. C.; DeLoache, Efiott, Humphrey, Ilderton, Kibler, Kinard, J. D.; Limehouse, Living ;ton, Mauldin, Mehrtens, Miller, Joel I.; McCullough, Nettles, Owen, hillips, Plyer, Polleck, Pyatt, Rob nson, Sinkler, Smith, E. D.; Steven on, Thomas, W. H.; Townsend, Wolling, Westmoreland. Wingo, Ailler, J. E , Williams, Wyche-52. This vote repealed the anti free pass ct and if the Senate concurs in the ction of the House the members will e free to accept free passes from the ailroads. Mr. Kinard's bill to require all comn non carriers to pay all damages for oss, damage and breakage of any ar iles shipped over their lines, was aken up. The commiittee amend ents were then adopted. Mr. Ki ard, though no one was opposing the ill, spoke explaining its purposes. ~Ie told of a case he had with the outhern road. Then the bill went to ts third reading. On Monday the bicycle transporta ion bill was the first upon which any iscussion was had. After considerable discussion t he ill was passed. The bill provides at bicycles shall be deemed baggage or the purpose of transportation by ommon carriers and shall be carried nder the same rules and subject to he same liabilities as govern trunks nd other separate baggage of passen ~ers. The Senate bill authorizing the Rail oad Commissioners to require all ailroads to erect at junctional points nion depots and to impose a pennilty or their failure to do so when requir d caused little discussion, and was assed. Mr. Wolling's bill to require all airoads to stop all passenger trains at 11 stations where an agency is main ined came up andl was passed. Mr. Sullivan's bill to require rail ~oads of a length of if ty mile or more o run one passenger train each way ~ach day was passed to a third read g after a few minor amendments, ~hich do not affect the general pro ~isions of the bill. Mr. Sullivan's bill to permit the ~onsgnee to hold the last connecting iae responsible for loss or damage of ~oods was defended by him. He did ot believe consignees should be put o the expense of proving where the lamage occurred. If the last line is ot responsible, it will get damage ut of connecting lines which it had o0 pay consignees. Hs believed it a ~natter of justice to merchants, wno. s a class, are modest and don't take nch hand in politics or ask the Gen ~ral Assembly for much. The bill vas passed. The bill to amend the county gov ~rment Act was introduced primari y to affect Kershaw county only: but embers fromn all counties wanted to et in and the Judiciary Committee eported bacK: a bill. When it came p for discussion half of the members ad other amcndments to otfer. As ntroduced by the committee the bill eads: Section 1. That section 49 of an Act mtitled, '"An Act to provide a system f county government for the several :ounties of the State", approved Jan ary 4, 1S94, being section tS7 of the Revised Statutes of 1S93, be amended by striking out the words "$720.0J"' nd insert in lieu thereof "$600k.0&" o that said section when so amended hall be as follows: Section -49. Tnat thu. salary of thei supervisor in the respective counties hall be as follows: In the county of bbeville, $9U0: in the county of iken, $S00: in the county of Ander on, $S00; in the county of Edgetield, 40; in the county of Berkeley, 8000; n the county of Charleston, 31,000;: in the county of Chester, $S00; in the ounty of Chesterfield, $400; in the cont of (landon. $600: in the county of Darlington, 00: in h county of Fairfield. $65': in the coun ty of Florence, $600; in the county oj Georgetown. $750; in the county o! Greenville. 600; in the county ol Hampton, $600; in the county of Hor ry, $500; in the county of Kershaw, $600; in the county of Lancaiter, $400; in the county of Laurens, $600: in the county oF Lexington, 0600; in the county of Marion, :S00; in the county of Marlboro. $700;i the c-un ty of Newberry. $750; ia the county of Oconee, $500: in the county of Or angeburz. $800; in the countv of Pickens,~ 40; in the county of Rich land, $900; in the county of Spartan burg, St.000; in the county of Sumter, $S00; in the county of Union, $600. in the county of Williamsburg, $600: in the county of York, 500: in the county of Saluda, $350; and the coun tv board of commissioners of the fol lowig counties may elect clerks of said board, and their salaries shall be as follows. Abbevile county, $150: Anderson county, $L50: Aiken county, $200: Barnwell county, $350; Colleton coun ty, $150; Lancasier county, $100; Laurens county, $160: Darlington county, $50; Ozonee county, $100: Richknd county, $250: Spartanburg county, $200; Berkeley county, $200; Marion cunty, $200; Newberry coun ty, $20; Sumter county, $200: Wil liamsburg county, $50; Pickens coun tv, $50; Union. county, $150; York county, $150: Provided, This Act shall not take effect until af ter the expiration of the terms now being served so far as relates to Suoer visors. Approved the 9tb day of March. A. D. 1S:6. Mr. Beudon moved to make the salary of the Supervisor $300 as to Colleton county. This was adopted. Mr. Ashley moved to amerd es to salary of clerk of the county board of commissioners of Anderson by strk ing out $130 and making it $100. Mr. Bethune moved to except Ker shaw from t'.o operations of the bill. Mr. Harvey suggested that debate be adjourned, but the House refused to do so. Mr. Mishoe moved to make Horry's Supervisor $300 instead of $500. Mr. Austell moved to make the sal ary of clerk o! the commissioners of Spartanburg $300 instead of $200. Mr. Colcock moved to make the sal. ary of the Supervisor of Beaufort $300; Mr. 0vens to make the clerk's sslary of Spartanburg $100; Mr. Caughman to make the Saluda clerk's salary $100; Mr. Rainsford, the clerk in Edgefield $100; Mr. W. S. Smith, to make .the salary of the clerk of Hampton $75 instead of $50: Mr. Skinner, clerk in Barnwell, $203 in stead of $300. Mr. Glenn proposed an amendment that the Act should not apply to pres ent supervisors. Mr. Winkler held that the passage of the amendment would destroy the whole effect of the bill. Mr. Cashman expressed the hope that the amend ment would be adc pted. right to cit aown the salaries of oli cers without notice. Mr. Winkler said the bill was intro duced for Kershaw county alone. If other counties don't want to come in let them be excepted. He moved to lay the amendment on the table, which was agreed to. Mr. Magill moved to recommit the bill in order to prevent all confusion. Mr. Kinard asked whether if the ill passed now would it legally affect the salaries of the present officers? The Chair would not answer the uest'.on, preferring to0 let the courts ecide that, but Mr. Magill's motion was lost and the bill was passed to a hird reading. The Senate bill to include street ailways in the provisions of the sec ion of the gener'al statutes affecting udgments for in jury, was passed. It rovides that such judgment shall iave priority over any mortgage. Mr. Johnson's bill to provide the pupils attending the free public school ext books at actual cost, was passed after much discussion. On Tuesday the consideration of Mr. Ilderton s bill to provide for a raduated license or privilege tax up-' on certain classes was taken up and assed. The bill provides that all li enses or privilege taxes imposed by any municipal corporation in this State upon any class or classes of per ons made subject to such tax by mu icipal corporations shall be graduated cording to the amount of capital in ested or according to income or ac ording to the amount of business one; the valuation of such capital ivested shall be taken from the au itor's books. The bill to tax the manufacture and ale of cigaretts in this State was then aken up and passed. The bill pro ides that no package of cigarettes old or otlfered for sale shall contain ore than five cigarettes, nor shall ny package of cigarette paper sold or offered for sale contain more than 100 eaves of length and widta novr used. and that every such package of cigar-j ttes or cigarette paper shall have hereon a privileged tcx st-'np as ereinafter provided~ for, which shall e fariuishied to deaders in cigarettes r cigarette paper oy thece mty treas rers of the eg'naties of this State at a ost of 25 cents each, and the proceeds f the sales of su~h stamps sal! be eld by the county treasurers subject o the war rants of the boards of coun-i y commissioners lige the fuinds for rdinary county expenses. On Wednesday when Mr. Caugh an's Jim~ Crow car bill, which had een unfavoraoiy reported. was called p Mr. Meares moved to strike out he enacting words. This brought ont long discussion, after which a vote was taken and the House refused to trike Out the enactng words by- a ote of 80 to 19 as olio.vs: Aves-Anderson, ::on, Chi'd;, olcock-, Davis, C. M. Davis, W. C.; adsden, Ga'e, iott, Holis,Meares, ehrtens, MitcheIll MIcKeovru, P~o ock, Pyatt, Reynolds. Thomas, J. P., ri.; Vincent-10. Nays-All, Armstrong, Asbill, Ash ey. Austell. Bacot, Bailey, Banks. Bethune, Blyte Ureeland, Carra.way, arson, Caughman, Crum, Cu.shmrs:, Da is G. W.: DeL'ae, Dikes EL ards, Efiird, i:>os, 1-ox. Ga"rris Gas ue, Glenn, Giod win. H. P. Grah am, J. S.; ~~ G ha T.A;Hav' azelden. H~enderson, Uumiphey, i. erton, Johnson. ennedy, ilr Einard. H. J. Kiad J. D.Im aster, Layton, LesterLmeos Magill, Mauldi. MIies.ile... : Miller. J. H. ahe McDue Laurin, Me~v W te UO' -re. on, Perritt, Puilips Pi terPrc-, ciace. Simkins, Smith, J. R. Smitn. W. ; Speer, Sturkie, baiivan, Tunomas . ?.- Timmermnan. Toole, \Verner.WXol ling menant W\in o. W\ink ler. Williams. Wyche, Yeldeil-8. The bill provides that all railroads or railroad companies engaged in this 8tate as common carriers of pasren gers for hire shall furnish separate apartments in first and second class coactes, or separate first and second class colches for the accommodation of white and colored passenzers: pro ided eq.-al accommodations shall be supplied to all persons. without dis inction of race, color or previous condition, in suca coaches. An invitation was read from the Mayor of Charleston inviting the Legislature to visit the city of Char leston oi the 18-h instant. The invi tation said: "The South Carolina and Georgia railroad have generously of :ered a special train to bring you down on the 13:h instant, leaving Columtbia at 7 o'clock a. m., reaching Charleston at 11:10 a. m.. and return ing same day, leaving Charleston at 5:03 o. M., and reaching Columbia at the u ual time. Immediately upon the arriva! of the train a steamer will be waitir, and you will be taken around the har'>or and see the war vessels of the Uni:id States fleet." Mr. B;cot exolained-that the invita tion was o the General Assembly as guests of the city,and that no expense would attach. Mr. Pollock moved a concurrent resolution that the-invitation be-ac cepted and that when the House ad journed on the 17th it stand adjourn ed until the 19th at 12 o'clock. Oa motion of Mr. Sturkie the hour was ebaned to 10 o'clock. Mr. Cushman movel an amend ment that members should receive no pay on the day they took a recess. He held that tha State should not pay for such holitays. Messr.s. Joanson and Sturkie agreed Mr. Gra-quc moved to table the amendmen., and the ayes and noes were demanded. The House voted down the motion very decidedly when a viva voce vote was taken,but on the call many members who had voted to table the amendment changed and Mr. Cushman's amendment was adoo ted by a vote of 62 to 38. Mr. Pcllock moved that employes and attaches should not receive any pav during tbe day. Mr. Rogers held that it was wrong for the House to force employes who had no voice in the matter to be cut orE from their pay. He moved to lay the amendment on the table, which was agreed to. Mr. Ilderton pointed out the incon sistency of the action of the House. They drew pay for visittng Rock Hill. Mr. E. D. Smith held that under the circumstances of the trip members should receive their pay. Tne Legis lature could on the trip inspect the Citadel and it might be well for mem bers to associate with the people of Charleston at which all guns had been fired in recent years. . Mr. Williams and Mr. John P. Thomas held that some members would not and could not go, and they o t iir pay. Mr. Cushman's amendment was then killed by a viva voce voie, the House having reversed its action. The Clemson invitation then came up. Mr. Pollock said no expense would attach to the trip. They would goand return on the same day. It was a legal holiday-the 22d. The invita tion was unanimously accepted. The Dorchester county bill was taken up. The reading of the bill was nearly completed when Mr. Ilderton moved to recommend the bill to the judiciary committee. This brought on a long discussion; which was not concluded at the hour - of adjourn ment. In the House on Thursday Mr. Price's resolution appointing a com mittee to investigate the dispensary was passed. The resolution is a sweeping one, giving authority to the committee to report at the next- ses sion. Mr. Limehouse's bill to declare the law relating to the mileage of all per sons for the payment of whose trav elled mileage prot'ision is made by law was called up with unfavorable report. Mr. Graham moved to strike out the enacting words. Mr. Garris said that his county par ticularly needed this bill. Many peo ole there went through Charleston and charged 110 miles when it should not be over 15 miles. The bill, after this explanation, passed. The bill provides t'hat the payment of the mileage of jurors, wit nesses and other persons required to attend court or to travel to perform any legal duty, said mieage shall be computed and paid for by tue shortest practical route to be traveled over any regular established high way. Mr. Miles' joint resolution authoriz ing the comptroller general to pay all claims for electio-ns for new counties was taken up again and Mr. W. C. Davis moved to strike out the resolv ing words. Hie did this on the princi ple that when people want any thing they should pK- for it. There was eonsiderable disc-assion over the mat ter-the question as to whether the State should pay these expenses, hay ing made no prev-ious provision there for, or whether the counties interested should bear the expenses themselves. Tue sentiment of the House, judging from the debate, seemed to be against estaalshing the urecedent of the State1 paying such exp'en'es. The resolvingj words of th resolution were striecen Out. Mr. Jno. P. Thomaas' bill to amend~ the lasy- so tas to allow alter~s to own 51 '. acres of land in this State was or dered to a third reading, there being~ no opuzsition to i:. In the House Friday waen M-r. John P. Thomas'~ bill to narmi: alien ovnrsnipo 0 ani to tihe extent, 0. 5.000 instead o. 500 -res was taseti I up for its flual reading- there was con sijierablie discussion the !igat being made on this reading. Ftnally on motion of ?e. Starkie the house recommitted the bill the avow ed inention being- to kilil .. The~ senate ar'rivedc at 1:1 and te election of th-e member's of te boird of contr"ol was 'etee into. of Laurens nouuiaaed . . ( . Mles 0f Soartuanburg, a meb: of the ho'e: Mr. pderon nomnat~ed Mr. Alex Iciva"gart of Fliorence but for -.t3 .ll ter'n. Mr. Miles was unai~nusy eectd.He was .then lis .:is uainousiS elected to sue e ahelasMr. Nicholson for the fulte- bgnning in Apjril next. T1o hil the position util recently -eld by J. O. A. Moore, the 'uex pir e" term of Mr. Allen, Mr. Garris noat inated Mr. M. R. Cooper of Colieton Mr. Stevenson presentedl the name ot IMr. J 0. Moone Sanator Henderson seconded the nomination. Senator Pettigrew nom inated Mr. Alex MiTaggart of Flor ence. The ballot resulted as follows, after several changes had been made from Moore and McTaggart to Cooper, the orizinai vte bing very close; Moore 67 Cooper 74, McTaggert 2. Mr. Cooper was there-upaon declared elect The election for four trustees of the South Carolina College was then en tered into. Mr. Cailds nominated Mr. V. A. Clark of Columbia; Mr. Rogers named the Hon. Julian Mitch ell, Sr., of Charleston, Mr. Sturkie presented the name of Dr. W. T. C. Bates of Orangeburg; Mr. Austell named the Hon. A. T. Smythe of Charleston, Mr. Crum nominated Mr. B. M. Sh-iaan of Greenville; Mr. John P. Thomas, Jr., nominated Mr. Robert Macfarland or Darlington Mr. Cauziraan named the Rev. J. A. Sligh of Newberry, but withdrew the nomination later. For the position of one trustee for the colored Sate coileze, Mr. Kibler nominated Prof. *W. K. Sligh of New berry college. Professor Sligh was unanimously elected. The ballot for South Catrolina col lege trustees resulted as follows: W. A. Clark70, Jaliaa Mitchell, Sr., 91. D'.-W. T. C. Bates 93. A. T_ 9,-0 '-7, B. M H -aa land 93. Messrs. Mitchell, Shuman, Macfar. land ana Bates were declared elected. An etfu:t was made to have an a journment before the vote but it fail ed, the members taking the position that the work should be disposed of at once. It was nearly 4 p. m. when the joint assembly was dissolved. There were only a few members left in the the hall when the senate retired. As soon as the senate got be yond the doors, Mr. T. Y. Williams moved that the house adjourn. Famine in India. JuccrVoom, Feb. 9.-O his way to this city the special representative of the Associated Press, who is examin ing into the famine situation in India, visited the poor houses of Bilaspur and Katni. The inmates were found to be in a deplorable condition. The buildings were overcrowded and medi cal attendance was lacking. A man outside one of them was dead and an other was dying. A girl of five years of age weighed only ten pounds and several adults were under fifty-six pounds in weight. The skin in all cases was drawn over the face, show ing the outline of theskulls, and limbs and joints had the appearance of those of articulated skeletons. There is an immense migration to the Assamtea gardens, 1,600 persons going there weekly, deserting their wives and families. Jubbulpoor is the worst of any part of central India. It is esti mated -that the present famine is the greatest of the century and will great ly sarpass that of 1876, botl extends to .zwaipniV and tellary, and is 1,300 miles long and 400 miles wide. This is apart from the scattered districts. In all the rice districts there is no chance of a food supply until September. The government will thus be forced to support nearly allthe population for six months and many of them for eighteen months. Whole villages are deserted. The govenment's policy at first was rather to ignore the famine. It is, however, now alive to the situation and strenuous efforts are made to avert horrible disaster. Out of the 750,000 inhabitants of a ubbul poor about 120,000 are now receiving relief. By the month of May this number will be doubled. The corres pondent has just haeard that the Karai poor house in the Western part of the district has been burned. T wenty-five persons perished. Cholera is reported to have broken out in the Mandaid'Dis trict relief works. Fleet Has a Hard Time. CHARLESTos. S. C., Feb. 8.-The Fern and the Dolphin, of the Block ade fleet. arrived in port early today. At noon th~e battleship Maine, cruis ers Marblehead, Columbia and the Monitor Amuphitrite arrived.- The flag ship New York is expected at any time. The fleet encountered a severe gale Friday night 50 miles off Cape Hat teras. Six men of the Maine were washed overboard, three of whom, Brown, Nelson and Kogal, were drowned. The others were rescued by a crew under the command of Cadet Walter L. Gherardi. The fleet behaved admirably. It was announced last night, owing to the non-arrival of the fleet as expected, some of the ships had been disabled. This was not true. The~ life-saying bureau at Washington, which has stations along the South Atlantic, heard nothing whatever of the squadron. It was the duty of the lifesavers to notify the bureau at Washington promptly in the event of any mishap to any of the war ships. Captain Evans wired to day that in his opinion there was no occasion for the alarm, some of the vessels were slow craft. and the squar dron was probably moving along in consort. This was before the six members of the :Ieet arrived in port. 31is. Burnham-s Suicide. SnnmsE, Fla., Feb. 9.-Mrs. Lucy B~urnham was found dead in her room at the Co-nmercial hotel this morning, having committed suicide by taking chloroform. Mrs. Barnham left sev eral letters for friends in Chicago and elsewhere and a note to the public stating that the burden of life had grown too heavy for her. She was fomryMrs. Lacy Van Evar, art crite 6:theChicago Inter-Ocean. Eighit months ago she was married to Dr-. Barn ham,. the specialist, and they came to Florida. Walked Into a~ Creek. ST. Aman-I. Fla., Feb. 1L.-Yes teda n- Demeire, a deaf mute wa a t aState bind and deaf in tim - by her father who resides atana orda, Fia. The child was not centented and during the after noe escaped from the institution. Serch was made without avail until this morning when the body of the li'ie girl was found iloating in a creek near the~ institute. It is supposed that she was drowned in trying to wade acr.oss the creek. Died on the stage. NE X oa. Feb.10.-Arnand Cas elm ry, while .fnging the role of Tistauo, in Fljotw's Opera of "Mar th'a *e Metrooli'tan Opera House to h roppedl diead in front of the footght an alostin tall view of ore oi .h most brilliant audiences So c ale: was the matter kept, how ever. that ian in the audience knew that a tragedy had taken place before